Dive, Survive, & Revive Zealot
 Zealot Build - Warhammer 40k: Darktide 

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CATEGORY_ZEALOT.INFO

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<Disclaimer>

This is one of my own personal preferred styles of play with the Zealot class. After amassing around 700+ hours of playtime in the game (350-450 dominated by the Zealot, alone) since Darktide's release in 2022- this is  just a collection of my own thoughts and opinions based upon my experiences with the game; feel free to disagree and discuss my points, but, please, leave all rudeness behind.

<Introduction>

This brand of Zealot is extremely effective at taking out elites, specialists, or playing the objective/events while others keep the horde at bay. Using the potent headshot damage of both the dueling sword and the revolver can quickly dispatch of most elites/specialists in 1-2 stabs. Scouting a cluster of gunners, snipers, or other ranged folks to then disappear ahead into the enemy backline, methodically chaining rapier heavy stab headshots to wipe the elites, and clear the way for the rest of the team to clean up the threat between you, to finally meet back up in the middle for proper coherency is an unmatched feeling of power that is very efficient in play. The stunstorm grenades, as well as the ability to turn invisible with the added 6 second long timer augment, also give this Zealot easy ways to rescue your comrades safely, and quickly with the revive speed perks across all curios.

*<Overview>

Overall, this Zealot is a support/specialist class, that can occupy most roles that aren't defined by front-lining or crowd control, but finds itself being most effective diving into the enemy, and clearing away priority targets in the backlines for team advance. That being said, the efficiency of clearing hordes is to be desired. While spamming light swings and pushes can be enough to hold a group from advancing, the time it takes to fully thin out the lot alone is inadequate. Though, with coordination, you can step away to deal with high priority targets, or interact with the event. Boss dealings are the second major downside in the sense that high solo damage is sub-par compared to other builds due to the low range of the rapier, and the low-uptime with the revolver, which is much better used to pick off smaller-in-size high-value targets. Again, however, the nimble nature of this class allows for it to act as a sort of decoy for the boss, or to, again, run off to pick away elites, and play the objective (which I know is a foreign idea to a lot of rejects). Fortunately, this playstyle also holds strong capability in the act of and helping to revive teammates through the use of stunstorm grenades, and invisibility. The stunstorm grenades explode and stun all enemies, minus bosses, in a wide radius to disable movement around the downed player for you, or another reject, to revive said downed player. On top of this, the invisibility allows you to sneak into where the player is and resurrect them with no eyes on you (as long as y'all are both willing to fight what is immediately around upon pickup). These two abilities also allow for high priority in being able to complete event objectives (such as pulling levers, playing auspex minigames, etc) by being able to stun groups who are blocking an objective to clear either that or the horde in ORDER to clear the objective, or by simply turning invisible to take on said objective with no enemy detection. All of that, on top of both abilities being excellent "OH SHIT!" react buttons to help yourself or your teammates in a pinch through the aforementioned debuff statuses. Lots of good here, with minimal amounts of bad, in my eyes, yet will still require some amount of team coordination (chances are, with solo-queuing, there is a high likelihood that horde clear will be covered by one or more of the other players loadouts)

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CATEGORY_WEAPONS_

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THE MACCABIAN DUELING SWORD...aka The Rapier aka The Dueling Sword aka Needle aka The Toofpick

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The rapier has extremely high single target damage within the heavy attack that can effortlessly fell an entire group of elites/specialists, including maulers and crushers, thanks to the high amounts of cleave and penetration on top of the speed in which you can chain charged heavy attacks.. Though the light swipes are capable of holding a horde at bay, don't expect to be clearing large groups by yourself. However, chaining heavy attacks in a horde are an excellent way to keep your toughness up, especially when utilizing the talent, 'Vicious Offering', on top of 'Enemies Within, Enemies Without' (as this build does) to maintain survivability when separated from teammates.

<Stats>

|| Damage [80/80]% || Finesse [60/80]% || Penetration [80/80]% ||

|| Mobility [80/80]% || Cleave Damage [80/80]% ||

Not to say I think Finesse is bad by any means, I just think it hurts the least to be the lowest of the five given stats, especially as the armor cleave and true damage provided by 'Damage', 'Penetration', and 'Cleave Damage' greatly outweigh the full stat bonus of a maxed out Finesse, seeing as the difference in 60vs80% is minuscule in my eyes for this particular stat.

<Perks>

+2 Stamina - To aid in staying in the fight for as long as possible while being able to dodge, push, and block when necessary.

+10% Melee Weak Spot Damage - To assist in the aforementioned rapier headshot/weakspot chaining.

<Blessings>

Uncanny Strike - Obvious pick for what this weapon is good at- pokin' heads with chained heavy attacks. By adding +24% rending PER weak spot hit (up to 5 times) which allows for VERY quick takedowns of your tougher ogryn & armored elites, such as Crushers, Ragers, and Maulers, by practically deleting their armor, with rather easy headshots to chain on these enemy types.

Thrust - Chosen to assist with the chain heavy attack takedowns of, not only smaller clusters of enemies in general, but namely groups of elites of specials in the enemy backline. The stronger your attack, the quicker you kill, and the faster you can move onto the next enemy, with a speedy, charged heavy attack blow to head after head.

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THE ZARONA MK IIa QUICKDRAW STUB REVOLVER...aka The Revolver aka Man's Best Friend aka The Pea 'Chooter

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The revolver's main use is to take advantage of the high headshot/weakpoint damage to pick high-priority enemies from a distance. Whether it be a pesky sniper all the way across the level, or an incoming rager with a few too many pox walkers in the way of a needle stab, the pinpoint accuracy of the Mk IIa's iron sights will line you up for any shot you need at ANY length. With 1-2 shots to kill for most enemies with exposed domes, the speed in which the weapon allows you to swap and drop an enemy can lead to some clutch situations, especially when paired with a solid mobility stat, such as within this build. The slow reload is the biggest weakpoint, but can be mitigated with perks, blessings, and talents, all used within this build, '+10% Reload Speed', 'Speedoad', and 'Sainted Gunslinger', respectively.

<Stats>

|| Damage [80/80]% || Reload Speed [80/80]% || Critical Bonus [60/80]% ||

|| Mobility [80/80]% || Penetration [80/80]% ||

Critical Bonus being used as the dogpile lowest stat distributee is solely rooted in the fact that I favor guaranteed damage to luck based damage (unless I build accordingly, which in this instance, I do not) in the case of this particular playstyle. I am also a believer that high mobility with the revolver has granted me just enough clutch plays to prefer the boost in freedom it gives me in instances like sniping a distant elite/specialist amidst a crowd of fodder and needing to weave between some stray hit queue sounds.

<Perks>

+10% Reload Speed - To help negate the worst aspect of this particular mark of revolver, the painfully slow loading of only 5 separate max shots.

+10% Ranged Weak Spot Damage - To help with the picking off of enemies

<Blessings>

Speedload - Chosen to help reduce the absurdly slow reload time for this particular mark of revolver.

Terrifying Barrage - Used to help inspire panic in large groups that you would be unable to handle alone, and to assist in gunfire towards your team in general. Both used intentionally, and as a reflex to try and even the field, this is never a bad option to bring.

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CATEGORY_CURIOS_

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The way I generally use curios in Darktide is to pick three perks to copy onto all three curio slots, to help maximize target areas, and pick blessings a bit more liberally, and here I will discuss why I chose what I chose for each.

<Blessings>

+1 Wounds - For an added down before dying to assist in survivability and increase room for error.

+2 Max Stamina - To allow for more sprinting, dodging, pushing; general maneuverability.

+2 Max Stamina - To allow for more sprinting, dodging, pushing; general maneuverability.

<Perks>

<All three curios share the same three perks>

+12% Revive Speed (Ally) - To help take advantage of the multiple ways you are able to revive fallen teammates, and be a reliable nurse.

+30% Toughness Generation Speed - To help maintain oneself in battle by keeping toughness high.

+15% Corruption Resistance - For survivability and to avoid losing wounds in ways other than being downed.

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CATEGORY_TALENTS_

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-a brief description-

<Ability, Blitz, & Aura>

-WIP-

<Keystone>

-WIP-

<Passives & Mods>

-WIP-

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TOO_LONG_DID_NOT_READ_

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<Strong Suits>

-Special & Elite Picking

-Backline Infiltrating & Diving

-Ally Reviving & Assisting Revive

-High Survival

-Maneuvering

-Multi-Tasking

-Good at Completing Event Objectives

<Weaknesses>

-Boss Damage

-Horde Clearing

-General Crowd Control

-Risk of Mispositioning & Getting Caught Out

-Relying on Team for Proper Cover While Diving (Not so Much an Issue in Auric/Havoc)

<RECAP>

*(Abridged from above) Overall, this Zealot is a support/specialist class that can occupy most roles that aren't defined by front-lining or crowd control, but finds itself being most effective diving into the enemy, and clearing away specialist/elite backlines for team advance and to generally gain the upper hand. Though lacking in significant horde clearing and boss damage, this playstyle also holds strong capability helping to revive teammates, and providing clearance to clear event objectives, while picking away high-value targets with ease, making it an all around great pseudo-generalist support option.

Thank You for reading, 

MisterBattleSister.

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