Arbites
10-25% Damage vs Electrocuted enemies.
10-25% Rending vs Staggered Enemies.
Gain 7-10% Close Damage for 3.5 seconds after killing an enemy at close range, stacking 5 times.
14-20% Strength for 5s when every pellet in a shot hits the same enemy.
Do you want to be a [nearly-indestructible] button-down, Oxford-carapace, Lex-wielding psycho who casually stalks from room to room with an Exaction Mk III Exterminator Shotgun, pumping round after round into traitors and heretics? Then this build is for YOU!
Probably the most fun you can have with this class...
For Melee, either the Branx Mk III Arbites Shock Maul, Munitorum Mk III Shock Maul, Agni Mk Ia Shock Maul, or Indignatus Mk IVe Crusher would also work great here, but you need blunt/crushing weapons for stagger capability. What the Exaction Mk III Exterminator Shotgun and Exaction Mk VIII Exterminator Shotgun lack in magazine capacity is compensated for in responsiveness and stopping power. One shell, one kill. The Locke Mk IIb Spearhead Boltgun is great if you don't mind waiting 4-6 business days to present and reload, but Space Police ain't got time for that!!!
The Curios are less important - I prefer x3 Toughness, the copy-pasta meta is x2 Toughness, +3 Stamina. Having x3 Ability Regen is useful in that it drops your base cooldown from 45 seconds to 39.6, and has a good synergy with Malocator (more on that below).
What you get with this selection is a healthy balance of toughness generation, extra damage against staggered enemies (pretty much everything with @Concussive), Ability Regeneration, some extra ammo capacity for the shotgun, and a nice upgrade for Mr. Doggo (Voltaic Mandibles Augment).
The Blitz is less important, Remote Detonation is good but relies heavily on positioning/timing, and the dog's responsiveness can be hit or miss (sometimes he's a fur missile, sometimes he needs a minute to figure out what he's doing). Voltaic Shock Mine is good, too, but you only get a couple of them, and they have a very limited range (3 meters, the tooltip is wrong). Arbites Grenade isn't a Krak Grenade by any stretch of the imagination, but it's good for a quick get-out-of-jail-free card when you need it, and you get 4 of them.
Castigator's Stance makes you effectively invincible, save for a Scab Trapper net or getting Barreled to Narnia (i.e., the true Final Boss of Darktide). It lasts 10 seconds, and +12% Combat Ability Regen, shaves about 5.4 seconds off so that you can use it at least once every 30 seconds. Shave another 4 seconds off for each Elite or Special you kill, thanks to Malocator.
Execution Order offers a lot of killing potential, especially Mr. Peanut Butter, but more importantly, gives you Malocator to improve your Ability uptime.
Use the Maul and Shield to stagger the heresy out of chaff enemies while scanning the horizon for elites, gunners, and specials. With this build, you should have no problem one-shot head-shotting gunners and specials with your shotgun at range, but if you happen to miss, the doggo will have your back.
Maulers, Ragers, and Crushers are easily CC'd by Emperor's Little Helper®, leaving you free to beat them to death with their own shoes...
Clutch Potential: When Your Teammates are Badies (or Console Players... Same Same)
