Spec Ops Grenadier
 Veteran Build - Warhammer 40k: Darktide 

Boom, goes the dynamite...

This build is all about raining hell down on your enemies, while having options against most enemy types, and tricks and tools to get away from most difficult situations. You'll get all this while gaining with some sweet team-utility support benefits.

The main points of this build are:

• Burst insane amounts of damage to most enemies in a short period of time.
• Amplify the damage done by teammates.
• Escape from dangerous situations.
• Provide other utility to the team.
• Have some explosive fun!

THE MAIN BUILD CHOICES

Let's go through the main choices in this build in a tight package:

• TALENTS:
  • Several grenade-focused talents to make you the grenadier you were born to be.
  • Shredder grenades for an additional grenade as well as versatility, not to forget the bleed!
  • Fire Team aura for that extra +5% of damage.
  • Infiltrate to revive teammates and to escape from dangerous situations.
  • Focus Target! for even more amplified damage against specials and big targets.
• WEAPONS:
  • MK IV Chainsword for its superior versatility. Cleave and Bleed -focused perks help you succeed against hordes as well as bigger foes. +25% Maniac damage makes sure that special-boosted heavy attack can easily 1-shot Mutants, and if not, the bleed will surely finish them off.
  • Agripinaa MK I Autogun is the proper pick here, since it is one of the most underrated weapons of all time. Its solid damage, good ammo capacity and excellent accuracy can send many specialists straight to hell in no time. Raking Fire is also brilliant when comboed with Infiltrate and Low Profile.
• CURIOS:
  • I almost always prefer having a single +1 Wound with two +X% Toughness curios. This will make sure you can survive from both more ordinary as well as more difficult situations easier.
  • For their secondary perks, try to priorize +X% Revive Speed, then +X% Toughness Regeneration. This helps keeping both you as well as allies alive and going. The third option can be pretty much whatever you want, but I often prefer Damage Resistance: Snipers against those occasional "surprise shooters", as well as tightly-packed hordes and snipers combined, which can make evading them harder. 

SO, GRENADES?

Yes. As mentioned, grenades are the main point of this build. Grenade Tinkerer and Twinned Blast provide you with a lot of versatile ways to cause damage, while Grenadier, Demolition Stockpile, and Demolition Team can make sure you rarely run out of them at a tight spot.

The reason why we use the Shredder Grenade instead of Krak Grenade is quite simple: You'll get an additional grenade this way (3 by default, instead of 2 Krak; +1 from Grenadier), as well as ways to lay waste of both hordes and bigger enemies, but more about that soon. If at any moment you have the full 4 grenades in your stockpile, feel free to chuck them at almost any group of enemies or a single bigger one.

IF IT BLEEDS...

Now, more about the Shredder Grenade. The 6 stacks of bleeding it causes to any enemy it damages can be a huge deal, especially when combined with Serrated Edge alongside with the Chainsword's Bloodletter. So, combine grenades with bleed-heavy attacks to quickly wear out Crushers and even Bosses, with little effort. So, when encountering a boss, mark it to boost damage with Focus Target, throw a grenade or two at it, then try to poke at it with your Chainsword, preferably with special-boosted attacks for some serious extra bleed. Also note that the Bring it Down! talent makes boss-slaying and ogryn-killing even easier.

SO, WHERE DOES THE 'SPEC OPS' COME FROM?

I call it the 'Spec Ops Grenadier' for its utilization of Infiltrate and Low Profile. You can go full-on commando with this style, easily escaping from the clutches of death to redeploy yourself in a better location, possibly to revive fallen teammates (which is a lot easier with +Revive Speed curios and Leave No One Behind) or to circle around nastier specialists and gunners and lay waste of them from behind, using your ranged weapon's Raking Fire, or perhaps even a sneaky grenade...

Infiltrate has an unbelievably large versatility in terms of usage, and to me it is shocking that so few actually use it, especially when compared to Voice of Command. Low Profile makes you -90% less preferable target to enemies for 10 seconds after the Infiltrate ends, meaning you can sometimes even use the ability and attack right away just to refill your toughness and to catch a breath. Just be sure to help your (now sort-of-a-"more-aggrofied") allies with a helpful grenade or two! Overwatch also helps you have your ability available even more often, meaning it is even harder for enemies to catch you off-guard.

ONCE MORE; IN PRACTICE!

We'll go through this build's main points in practice, just to be sure.

• HORDES:
  • Use the Chainsword's go-wide heavy attack.
  • Use grenades.
• SHOOTERS:
  • Try to gun them down from distance, if possible.
  • Use Infiltrate to close down on them, if needed.
  • Use grenades.
• SPECIALISTS:
  • Mark them up, to bring them easily down with Focus Target!
  • Shoot them with the Autogun.
    • Kill mutants easily with special-boosted heavy Chainsword-attacks.
  • Use Infiltrate, if they get too close or are in a nasty cover.
    • Note that the Autogun's Raking Fire is brilliant with Infiltrate's Low Profile. Shoot them in the back!
  • Use grenades.
• ELITES:
  • Against unarmored elites, use several quick Chainsword attacks to stack up some bleeding.
  • Against armored elites, use special-boosted heavy attacks to cause a lot of bleeding.
  • Mark them up, if needed.
  • Use grenades.
• BOSSES:
  • Mark them up.
  • Try to stack them up with bleeds.
  • Use grenades.
• IN EMERGENCIES:
  • Use Infiltrate to reposition yourself.
    • You should priorize on reviving downed teammates.
  • Use grenades.

(Not too surprisingly, almost all the problems in life can be solved with grenades. Really makes you wonder...)