LORETIDE - Veteran - Mordant Acid Dog - Mk VI Combat Shotgun + Mk III Power Sword
Build for Darktide

Link to Discussion thread.

MORDANT ACID DOG

By Denartes

1. Series Foreword

Welcome to the Driptide series, where I craft themed builds, pulling from Warhammer 40,000 lore, along with fitting cosmetic setups, focusing on fun and variety over strict adherence to the meta. While these builds may not always align with the current meta or the most optimal configuration, they promise an engaging experience for those seeking something different.

Before I make a build public, it undergoes extensive playtesting and adjustments to prove its viability in Auric Damnation. This ensures that although they can be unorthodox, you will be able to enjoy the build without worrying about being deadweight.

This also means that these builds aren't just for those who enjoy playing dress-up. They will perform well enough that if you are just wanting to try a new weapon, or find these builds interesting, you can certainly use them without any of the cosmetic stuff.

Often, a weapon has been selected for thematic coherence first, with the build then designed around these weapons. For example, it makes thematic sense for a Hive Ganger to use the Shredder Autopistol. So, although there are significantly better weapons, my Hive Ganger build is as optimised as I believe the Shredder can be so that I can still roleplay a Hive Ganger without signifcantly affecting the team's performance. In this particular instance, I acknowledge that even with such a build, a weapon like the Shredder is so low in performance that the average player is likely to struggle. In such instances, this will be indicated by the build difficulty metric in the Overview section.

2. Contents

1. Foreword
2. Contents
3. Lore
4. Overview
5. The Drip
6. Primary Weapon
7. Secondary Weapon
8. Curios
9. Talents
10. Tactics

3. Lore

Warhammer 40,000 Wiki - Mordant Acid-Dogs

The Mordant Acid-Dogs are regiments of the Astra Militarum, raised from the Mining World of Mordant Prime, located in the Segmentum Obscurus. Specialising in subterranean tunnel fighting, these regiments are often deployed in combat zones where their skills in navigating dark and confined spaces are advantageous. The harsh, night-shrouded conditions of Mordant Prime, combined with the constant exposure to highly corrosive bioluminescent bacteria, have bred an extremely tough and resilient class of warriors, well-suited for conscription into the Imperium's military forces.

Mordant Prime itself is a grim world, perpetually dark and largely uninhabitable on its surface, save for the mining operations that extract a unique, potent acid from bioluminescent bacteria. The miners and their clans, who live and work in vast networks of tunnels and caverns, have developed a strong aversion to mutations, often purging any such taint with the very acids they mine. This deep-seated hatred of mutants makes the Acid-Dogs particularly zealous in their combat duties. Equipped with an array of standard and scavenged wargear, they are known for their resourcefulness and proficiency in using a wide variety of equipment, often taking trophies from their enemies as a result of the intense combat stress they endure.

4. Overview

Build Difficulty: Hard

Easy - Meta or extremely strong, can easily carry Auric Damnation.

Medium - Competent players will do well, average players will do okay but will struggle if last alive.

Hard - Mechanical complexity, unique setup, or a bottom tier weapon requires a high level of player skill. Only expert players will be able to clutch.

This build is a challenging yet rewarding playstyle, emphasising close combat prowess and an unconventional weapon selection. Centered around the Lawbringer Mk VI Combat Shotgun special shell and the Munitorum Mk III Power Sword, this build performs best in melee encounters, but requires exact positioning and strategy. With the Power Sword as the primary tool against Monstrosities and Crushers, perks like Unyielding and Carapace amplify damage, while blessings like Power Cycler and Surge augment combat effectiveness. The Lawbringer shotgun, equipped with Man Stopper special shells, transforms into an area-of-effect powerhouse, especially with blessings like Scattershot, enhancing critical chance and synergising with the shotgun's cleave potential.

Talents take the usual Voice of Command for the strong crowd control and toughness regeneration, with Kraks and passive grenade regen, as well as many buffs to the Power Sword and increased critical chance and reload speed for the Lawbringer. Tactical choices, such as utilising the Lawbringer special shells for horde clear and grouped elite stagger, highlight the adaptability of this build. Overall, this build offers a unique playstyle, combining melee finesse with an underappreciated shotgun setup to provide a refreshing change in gameplay to Veteran players looking to try something new.

5. The Drip

• Primary Weapon - Absolution Cerulus.
• Secondary Weapon - Crucis Nightshade Camo.
• Head - Infantry Flak Helmet (Ice Scar Camo).
• Upper Body - Commando Battle Armour (Ice Scar Camo).
• Lower Body - Meatshield's Sentry Uniform.
• Accessory - None.

6. Primary Weapon (Melee)

Munitorum Mk III Power Sword

The Lawbringer will only be used for special shells on grouped enemies, or for anti-shooter as needed. Otherwise the Power Sword will be doing most of the work. I haven't usual perks like Flak or Maniac as this build requires the Power Sword to fulfill a few roles that you would otherwise have options for.

Sunder is a key blessing as it will allow you to cleave through mixed elites much easier, it almost feels like playing a Zealot with a Perfect Strike Eviscerator!

Perks

1. Unyielding - The Lawbringer does pitiful damage to Monstrosities so the Power Sword becomes your best option to handle bosses.
2. Carapace - The Lawbringer also does pitiful damage to Carapace armour, and it's not worth trying to build in rending/brittleness. With this perk and the Sunder blessing energised heavy sweeps will do short work of Crushers and Maulers.

Blessings

1. Power Cycler - Obvious choice, two additional energised attacks are required.
2. Sunder - Brutal Momentum is much more common than Sunder. However, Sunder makes energised heavy attacks cleave through Crushers, which is critical as this is your only tool for them.

Attack Combos

For everything:

Special > Heavy > Heavy > Heavy > Repeat

If you find the charge keeps getting removed due to incoming melee attacks, then add in a few extra steps to give yourself room between activations:

Shove > Backwards Dodge > Special > Heavy > Heavy > Heavy > Repeat

Notes

Some players may prefer the Mk VI Power Sword for the faster activation and the nice 2 tap combo on Crushers (charged special attack + light with Brutal Momentum + Carapace).

7. Secondary Weapon (Ranged)

Lawbringer Mk VI Combat Shotgun.

The Lawbringer is one of the least popular shotguns, usually due to the special shell being considered weak. The special shell fires a large number of pellets out in a flat fan shape, which will cleave through 1 normal enemy. If firing at a horde, you will notice these pellets will hit the front and second ranks. The damage is not significant and usually quite pitiful against elites, although the stagger is enough to knock even Crushers to the ground.

If you combine this shell with the Man-Stopper blessing however, on critical strikes you will have infinite cleave, and with the critical damage, will often be enough to 1 shot an entire horde. When faced against elites, Man-Stopper procs will allow you to either stagger or knockdown everything, this provides incredible crowd control against mixed hordes and grouped elites.

The normal ADS fire is similar to the other shotguns and is passable for emergency anti-shooter duty, if you can consistently land weakspot hits.

Perks

1. Increased Ranged Critical Strike Chance - Extra crit chance is needed to boost Man-Stopper procs.
2. Reload Speed - We need to be able to load special shells as fast as we can.

Blessings

1. Man-Stopper - This will make your special shell cleave through everything, letting you put grouped elites on their ass.
2. Scattershot - At 5 stacks, which is easy to reach even with a non-man stopper special shell, you get a significant boost to crit chance.

8. Curios

Max Health and Toughness are taking to boost our survivability, while Stamina is used to compensate for Deadshot consuming our Stamina. Combat Ability Regeneration gives a noticeable boost to Voice of Command uptime. Stamina Regeneration is used to ensure that we can get more Stamina back in between aimed special shell shots using Deadshot.

Stats

1. Max Health
2. Toughness
3. Stamina

Perks

1. Combat Ability Regeneration
2. Toughness
3. Stamina Regeneration

9. Talents

The main focus of talent distribution with this build is to ensure maximum damage against Monstrosities and Crushers with the Power Sword, while giving increased Crit Chance and faster reload for the Lawbringer shotgun.

Top

Close Order Drill and Confirmed Kill provide your main Toughness damage reduction and regeneration, while Tactical Reload gives you faster reload (including the special shells). Vanguard and the Movement Speed Boost passive are point fillers, although they are a nice boost to manvoureability!

Blitz

Krak Grenades serve as ranged tools against Crushers and prove effective against Monstrosities. They can also aid in emergency situations or revive attempts.

Aura

Survivalist complements the voracious appetite of the Lawbringer Combat Shotgun. Its ability to sustain ammo levels, especially when coupled with the weapon's immense cleave potential, ensures a steady supply throughout the run, allowing teammates to benefit from more ammo pickups.

Middle

Demolition Stockpile stands out with its 60-second grenade regeneration rate, and in my opinion is too valuable to overlook. Critical Chance Boost enhances Man-Stopper procs.

Combat Ability

Voice of Command, with the Duty and Honour modifier, are incredibly potent right now as the crowd control and Toughness boost give you a tool for controlling fights and rendering your team almost invincible. It is also useful to give you space to revive teammates if necessary.

Bottom Left

Precision Strikes is an obvious choice for the increased weak spot damage, amplifying your Power Sword's effectiveness. Fully Loaded, while increasing ammo reserves, serves as a filler leading to Superiority Complex, offering further damage boosts against Elites for both the Power Sword and shotgun.

Bottom Middle

For The Emperor! buffs team damage upon using Voice of Command, and Tactical Awareness increases the spammability of your shout dramatically, which will you too keep the team buffed and topped off as much as possible. Iron Will significantly boosts survivability and also lets us get to Bring it Down!, further strengthening the Power Sword against Ogryns & Monstrosities.

Bottom Right

Close Quarters Killzone, paired with For The Emperor!, augments melee damage upon shout use. Desperado mitigates the Power Sword's slow attack speed, facilitating more effective heavy swing spam.

Keystone

No Keystones are used in this build.

10. Tactics

Hordes/Mixed Hordes

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Specials

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Ragers/Maulers/Crushers/Bulwarks

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Shooters/Gunners/Reapers/Snipers

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Monstrosities
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Hordes/Mixed Hordes

The potent crit chance will allow you to swiftly dismantle entire hordes using Man Stopper's enhanced special shells. The horde-clearing capability rivals, if not surpasses, Kantrael fire shells. When necessary, rely on Power Sword's energized heavy swings if you find yourself in a tight spot.

Specials

Employ precise ADS fire on weak spots with a right-click to dispatch most specials in 1 or 2 shells. Against Mutants and Poxhounds, use energized Power Sword attacks for optimal effectiveness.

Ragers/Maulers

Utilize shotgun special shells for their combination of high cleave, critical damage, and strong stagger ability to effectively engage rager/mauler groups from a distance. With the Survivalist aura, this approach often maintains positive ammo reserves. If they get into melee range iwth you, Power Sword heavy swings will clear them.

Bulwarks

Standard options include Krak grenades, evasive maneuvers into melee range, or targeting weak spots with ranged shots while they are staggered.

Crushers

For single or groups of Crushers, energised heavy attacks are very effective. Kraks are also available, and for groups you can throw a Krak at the lead crusher then shout to push it back into the others, this will often kill 2 - 3 Crushers for one grenade.

Use energized heavy attacks for both solitary and clustered Crushers to devastating effect. Kraks are your ranged option to deal with Crushers; for groups, initiate with a Krak aimed at the lead Crusher, then use shout to push it back into the others, often neutralizing 2-3 Crushers with a single grenade.

Shooters/Gunners/Reapers/Snipers

Precision is key—utilize Lawbringer's right-click shots aimed at heads.

Monstrosities
The heavily buffed weakspot damage and unyielding damage modifiers will make your energised heavy attacks do significant damage to bosses. When being targeted by a boss, prioritize evasion, blocking, and interweaving melee strikes in when you can. Krak grenades and shout serve to stagger bosses, giving you a window to get melee attacks in.

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