the ex FPS sweat
 Veteran Build - Warhammer 40k: Darktide 

Boltgun - Damnation shots to kill

• Reapers & bulwarks = 2 ADS headshot crits. 1 crit 1 non crit with 3 stacks of mark target. 1 headshot crit with EXE stance 
• Crushers = 2 ADS headshots with EXE stance kills. 1 ADS headshot with EXE stance, 3 stacks mark target, and combat stim will kill. 4 noncrit bodyshots in EXE stance will kill. 3 noncrit bodyshots with EXE stance and combat stim will kill. You can near instantly kill 5 crushers with a single magdump this way on damnation with minimal effort.
• Maulers = 2 ADS body shots kill
• Ragers = 1 ADS headshot with EXE stance kills. 1 body crit + 1 noncrit bodyshot kill maniac ragers. 1 body crit + 2 body shots kill scab ragers. 
• Muties = 3 headshots but that's unrealistic, use power sword to 1 shot them. Otherwise 6 noncrit bodyshots kill if you want to full auto.
• Shotgunners = 1 headshot kills. 1 bodyshot crit kills. 1 bodyshot with EXE stance kills.
• Flamers, grenadiers, snipers, trappers = 1 headshot kills. 1 bodyshot crit kills.
• Plague Ogryn - EXE stance + 5 stacks markeed target + combat stim + ZERO crit hipfire magdump = ~80% of HP. It isn't easy to do, but by Big E is it fun and satisfying when you can pull off all 15 shots. A stagger from another player will help immensely, but I feel like a gigachad dumping all 15 shots while they charge me before I swap to my sword to block.
• Chaos Spawn - Same setup, wildly unrealistic to get all 15 headshots though. Off the top of my head, I think I've done ~40-50% of its HP in my most accurate magdumps towards the head.
• Beast of Nurgle - You can 1 mag this guy lol. I'm not sure if it requires lucky crits, but if your teammates are helping at all it won't survive a reload.

- Crits are made a reliable possibility with the Surgical blessing. 10% every 0.2 seconds is crazy, and I just welcome the crits as they come. Shattering Impact is specifically for bosses. 4 shots = 40% brittleness. 

Boltgun on Heresy - not a deep dive, so I'll give an anecdotal sumamry: You can get away with a lot of body shot kills that don't even have to crit vs some specials. Crushers are still 2 shots to kill to the head, but I think only one of them need to crit. Reapers never survive a headshot in EXE stance that I can remember. You can kill a Plague Ogryn with 1 mag dump to the head given the same setup of EXE stance, 5 marked target stacks, and combat stim.

All in all, Boltgun has always been my favorite weapon. It's definitely more difficult to get the same value that a Plasma can get, but I enjoy dealing with its recoil and having to flick towards headshots. The sheer number of specials and elites I kill in every run scratches an itch left behind by the PVP games I've quit playing. Just make sure to take advantage of the fast reloads via 1 in the chamber and special kills. 

Power sword heavy attacks while energized - notable Damnation breakpoints

• Muties = 1 headshot.
• Shotgunners = 1 headshot
• Ragers = 1 headshots with 5 stacks of marked target. Otherwise, 2 headshots.
• Flamers, grenadiers, trappers, and snipers = 1 bodyshot, so long as they are the first target hit. If anything gets in your way and you they are the 2nd target in your cleave, you'll need a headshot to kill them.
• Maulers = 3 body swings with 5 stacks of marked target.
• Flak gunner elite = 1 headshot.  Unarmored gunner elite = 1 headshot with 2 stacks of marked target.
• Reapers = 2 headshots
• Bulwarks = 5 backshots (ayyo?) with 5 stacks of marked target. 3 with EXE stance and 1 lucky crit.

Powersword on Heresy - You can 1 shot all ragers with the energized power sword heavies. Even cleave 2 at once. 

When to use your Frags?

• Most importantly - the director wants to end your run with a crusher / mauler wave during a horde. The run WILL end if no one uses utility, so don't risk counting on others CDs being available, you have regenerating grenades. Walk towards your nearest teammate inbetween you and the crushers while equipping and tossing the frag at the teammate's feet. If you're up front, just drop the frag at your feet. Pop EXE stance if you have it and delete the crushers. If you don't have EXE available, that's fine, just make sure to leave 1-2 shots in the gun before you reload either way. If the situation is not under control at this point, drop another frag at your feet before you reload and mag dump again. Just make sure you're listening for audio cues and dodging appropriately. 
• When a teammate is downed or gets netted, drop a frag on them as you revive. Usually this is enough with our stamina pool, but remember that you can throw out a single shove attack too. That + the frag should guarantee a revive in nearly every situation while making sure the person you're reviving doesn't get ruined again while standing up.
• Objectives - I'll usually drop one on the hacking station before I use it. Usually I play solo queue so I have to pray that the hacking cues are close together. Sometimes my teammates will cover me, but even on damnation I feel like it isn't very likely lately.

Aaaaand that's my favorite build! If you are or you used to be a sweaty FPS gamer, I feel like this build should be really fun for you. You'll have the ammo economy to kill well over a hundred elites and specials in your games while rarely going red in your ammo pool. Usually, a single ammo crate or 2-3 ammo bags are all we need to sustain a mission. So in your typical game, while making use of headshot breakpoints, you should have an over abundance of ammo.