Havoc 40 Dying is Illegal
 Arbites Build - Warhammer 40k: Darktide 

It's against the Lex to die. For you and, more importantly, your teammates. They can't die because you won't allow them to die. 

This build is meant to lock down an area and stand fast when the overwhelming horde refuses to quit. It is havoc 40 tested and I have gotten extremely positive feedback from my fellow true survivors. Bosses? Doesn't matter. 20 Crushers? Doesn't matter. 500 Ragers? Doesn't matter. So long as your team stands (and they will stand god damn it) all heretics will be gibbed. I'll be upfront, you will not top the leaderboard for damage with this build, and, if you do, something went wrong. It's not your job to do damage, that's for the filthy rejects, it's your job to control the battlefield and command. And if they do die, you can clutch with your insane CC and toughness regen. This build is most effective in the hands of a player with a lot of game knowledge concerning the strengths and weaknesses of all classes so you know where to spend your time and when to deploy your abilities and blitz. 

For these notes we will cover the talents, weapons, curios, attack patterns, general play, and some advice for havoc 40 and clutching therein. 

The Talents

Lower Tree

Force of Will, Up Close, and Walk It Off give you insane toughness when you are in the thick of it. Hitting things gives you toughness, killing things gives you toughness, stamina use gives you toughness. Good. You will be doing all of these things non-stop. Your main horde clear combo (see weapons section) requires push/block. You will be gaining toughness constantly whether you are fighting or repositioning.

Hammer of Judgement is just good. It's really good. You're going to be hitting so many things in single strikes most of the time, so you will have this up constantly. Horde clearing to get this extra 10% attack speed means that when you single out a lexbreaker in their stupid armor you can dunk on them with rapid overhead heavies and just slap shit out of them. 

Blitz

We are taking Voltaic Shock Mine. Shock mines are slept on, but the law doesn't sleep so wake the fuck up. They are so god damn strong on high difficulties. 15s of hard CC lightning nonsense is wild and it synergizes with your shit kicking melee weapon blessing and special attack, your aura, and your ability. With Lone Wolf you have a new one of these babies every 60 seconds. Every time you are at 3 mines, drop one, I don't care where. You can fall back on it later and it's free. It. Will. Save. Runs. Downside is that they do take time to pull out, set up, and then they take a moment to activate. Being smart and setting one up before a horde will negate this. If you find a grenade box and your ogryn is running rock or is full of their grenades, drop every single shock mine (in a wide area) and then pick up the box. If you play smart you will almost always have 1 mine in the bag, use your last one wisely and try to time it so that when it fizzles out your next mine has regened.

Middle Tree

We're taking Concussive because of course we are, this should be on every build. More stagger = more damage + enemies can't do anything. It's just good. We're taking Suppression Protocols because of course we are; it synergizes with hammer of judgement perfectly, and less damage = less dying (WHICH IS ILLEGAL). 

Aura

Breaking Dissent is obvious. This is so good because your mines will stagger everything; your melee will stagger everything. Let your team earn their place next to you by giving them +10% damage.

Lone Wolf

Infinite shock mines is just hard to argue with. If you are going mines, go lone wolf. 3 mines. Bunch of buffs. Absolutely sick. (You can dry your tears of missing your pooch with the severed arms of heretics). Take this if you are going no dog.

You can go dog with this build, i.e. take Remote Detonation. It is also a good option and provides a good safety net (W dog). Consider Man and Cyber-Mastiff if you want more toughness regen, or Voltaic Mandibles Augment if you want more consistent damage and stagger (more options in the Keystone section below). This version will help you kill bosses more reliably with stagger and electricity. But it takes more micro management and if you miss a shock because your dog is all the way on Cadia and you can't tell because your screen is covered in blood, limbs, and tears... well, you'll wish you had mines, but you'll be glad you have your good boy. 

Ability

Nuncio-Aquila (aka the boombox) is core to this build. This ability is actually insane. Constant toughness regen for you and your team, increased damage, decreased recoil, immune to ADS interruption, W suppression, W impact... it's actually insane. Oh, by the way, it lasts 20 seconds. This. Will. Save. Runs. Throw this propaganda boombox down, drop a tesla coil shock mine, and break dance all over those dumbass heretics. Take Inspiring Recitation, you actually have to. Extra attack speed, extra damage reduction, and increased ally rez speed. These three things together is what makes your team undying. Even if they go down, you'll pick their ass up in an instant and you'll be able to because everything around you is stunned for 15 seconds because you dropped a mine. Big W. Note this does not affect speed when you are rescuing teammates (at least I don't think it does but then again when rezing teammates every second feels like an hour), but the shock mine will still stop everything from attacking you and the toughness regen will keep those shitty gunners from stopping you. This is insane. I really can't stress how good this combo is. It single handedly tables the turns in the most impossible situations. 

Don't be stingy with deploying the boombox, but be wise. Even if your team doesn't stay on it for the full duration it does come back relatively quickly. But be warned, with this thing down your strongest asset is in the wing. Be smart.

Left Top Tree 

Arbites Revelatum, you're dodging all the time, take the extra damage. Zealous Dedication, you're killing all the time, take the extra crit chance. Soulguilt Scan, you should be hitting weakspots more often than not. You're playing havoc, you've likely programed your brain to do this without thinking. This talent synergizes with concussive. Stagger synergizes with everything. This extra bit of damage goes a long way with your blessings with your melee weapon. Honestly, I run these three talents on almost every build. They are too good.

Middle Top Tree

Justified Measures, you're attacking all the time, take the extra damage. Street Smarts, this is not the best thing in the world, it's a means to an end. Extra dodge is pretty sweet, extra duration is nice too. We're mainly taking this to get Monstrosity Hunter. Want to kill crushers in 2-3 hits? Want to smash through bulwarks and reapers? Here you go. And I'll say it, you probably don't want to hear it: you suck at killing bosses. Not you in particular you, you as an arbitrator. Unless you are building a very specific bolter build (iykyk), you are very likely to suffer against bosses. You do ok, don't get me wrong, but bosses will take a good chunk of time and high havoc is ultimately a game about time management. Take the extra damage, keep your teammates alive.

Right Top Tree

Ok, so here's where it all comes together. Hold the Line is insanely good, it basically fully negates chip damage. Target the Weak makes your staggered attacks even stronger. The Emperor's Fist is also just so good for first hits; extra damage, extra impact = more stagger and things die faster. It helps hit some breakpoints on tougher enemies faster. Weight of the Lex lets you just shit on anything that is not one hit already, helps kill bosses, and synergizes with your blessing on your melee. This build lets you one shot almost any human sized enemy depending on how many stacks you have from brutalizing poxwalkers. Ragers, Maulers, Crushers, Bulwarks, Chargers, Reapers; your main combo against these will be single target overheads over and over until they die (usually 2-3 hits). This blessing synergizes with your melee weapon very very well. Strike Down for extra armor penetration, it's just good. 

Keystone

Forceful is excellent for a support build with no dog. So long as you are hitting things (shouldn't be a problem in high havoc) you get more stagger (impact) and more damage resistance. Plus with Will of the Lex you get regenerating toughness, and Targets Acquired you get extra cleave and attack speed, both of which are huge at higher difficulties. More attack speed means more stagger which means enemies can't do anything to you as they are stagger locked. Extra cleave means more enemies are stagger locked. It's just really good.

If you go dog then maybe consider going Execution Order, with Malocator and Efficient Killer (extra crit) or Keeping Protocol (extra boss damage). This is probably the best keystone because of the highlighted enemies (extra information), all the buffs to you and your dog, and it sures up your weakest dimension (boss killing). The main tradeoff is you won't be taking shock mines because you won't be taking lone wolf and there just aren't enough grenade pickups in high havoc; save them for your oggy. Taking Execution Order without the dog is... ok. You are missing out on a lot of what it gives as at its base it'll only give you some extra toughness. If you go the dog route, consider taking your last point in either Efficient Killer, Keeping Protocol, Man and Cyber-Mastiff, or Voltaic Mandibles Augment; all of these are to taste, but i'd recommend using the free point for Unleashed Brutality. This will help you take advantage of Execution Order more because your dog will prioritize your marked enemies more. I haven't tested the dog version of this build as much so go with your gut. 

Cool. That's the Talents.

Melee Weapon

We're taking Branx Mk III Arbites Shock Maul. You can take Branx Mk VI Shock Maul and Suppression Shield, you can take Indignatus Mk IVe Crusher, you can take Agni Mk Ia Shock Maul, these are all excellent, S tier options. Here's the thing. Branx Mk III Arbites Shock Maul is absolutely S+ tier and synergizes with this build insanely. Whether you go mines or shock dog High Voltage gives you crazy damage. ALSO when you heavy attack you automatically electrocute enemies (this includes cleaved enemies). Electricity sets up your weapon special, which on hit, electrocutes an enemy with sustained CC and damage. You essentially take them out of the fight. In two attacks you can stop a rager or a mauler in their tracks and they just die to DOT damage; you can walk away and look really cool doing it. We're also taking Relentless Strikes because, again, most everything dies in one hit from this thing. Anything else you just cycle H1 and Special attack until it falls over (2-3 hits). Perks are Unyielding and Carapace; these will round out the enemies that won't die in 1-2 hits. 

Combos: You really only need 2. For hordes = Push/Block + H Attack, H1, H2, repeat. This gives 3 big, wide sweeps. Loads of stagger = more damage, toughness, and attack speed. Uses 1 Stam to push/block which gives extra toughness. Keep an eye on your stamina, and consider switching to another combo that doesn't require push/block to regen after like 10 cycles. For anything else = H1, Special Attack, repeat. Not joking. This will melt heretics and CC them into the ground. The other combo worth mentioning is just light attack spam. This is good against bosses and boss shields, and with Nuncio-Aquila your attack speed goes stupid and it's very effective to light spam for maximum DPS. I will also use this against mixed hordes, especially to get stamina back. It's great damage but you sacrifice the broad stroke CC of the heavy cycle; use your judgement. 

Ranged Weapon

To no one's surprise we're taking the Exaction Mk VIII Exterminator Shotgun ermm I mean sniper rifle. Full Bore because the spread is tiny for a shotgu - I mean sniper rifle, you will be getting this buff all the time. Sustained Fire because whatever doesn't die from this quickdraw, 1k damage, shit slapping shotg - I mean sniper rifle, the next 2, 3, or 4 shots will. This thing whips out as fast as a zarona, hits hard at close and long range, has excellent ammo economony, the only downside is the reload speed, which isn't too big of a deal if you're used to running the zarona. It's just good. You can one shot every special except chargers and dogs with headshots. "What if that trapper is hiding in a mixed horde?" Ok. Punch a hole in that horde with the first shot and chances are that first shot will kill that trapper. If not, well you have 3 more. It does decent boss damage as well. It's just really, really, really good. Maniacs and Flak covers everything you need. Always keep 1 shell loaded, you'll thank me later.

Curios

Pretty standard fare. 2x toughness, 1 stam. Ability regen is necessary to get your Nuncio-Aquila back ASAMFP because you're entire play ebbs and flows with this being up or down. 2x gunner resist, smarter people have done the math and this is efficient, use the other slot to get Ally rez to force your teammates to stay alive faster. And of course, 3x stam regen. You need your stam. You need it to get people up, you need it to run and push/block, you just need it. With these three you should almost never run out of Stam in your horde clear rotation. 

General Playstyle

You are essentially the glue, the rock, the bastion, the support, the frontliner, the last one standing. Aside from consistent boss killing, there isn't much you can't do. The question is what should you do. The key is to fill any role as needed, and take a step back to survey and decide what to do next. Your job generally is to stay in the middle of your team and stagger everything you can and sure up any weakspots in the team dynamic. What you don't kill outright your team can mop up while the heretics trip over their shoelaces. With hordes of armor I will often H1, special, move on to the next; let your team finish them off as you sequentially CC each one i.e. CONTROL the battlefield. This principle is true for every role in the team. Your horde clear is excellent, but if you have an oggy or a purg or smite psyker, leave it to them (unless they need help). Your special clear is excellent, but if you have a veteran with plasma, zarona, bolter, bolt pistol, leave it to them (unless they need help). Your armor clear is actually crazy, this is the only enemy group that I engage consistently simply because you shit on them fast and can CC them to the point they are out of the game. You stagger them and they can't hurt your teammates. Again, I don't even go for full kill; I cycle H1 overhead and weapon special to stun one and then do it to the next and the next... your team will mop up while the crushers stand there doing nothing. Essentially, empower your teammates, set up ally-ops, and pick up any slack. Vet kills 3/4 trappers and has to reload? Whip out your sho - I mean sniper rifle and take care of it. Psyker stun locking the horde with smite but is about to get overrun? Whip out your smash stick and finish the job. Armor threatening to overrun your position? Get to stunning. You get the point. 

You boss killing is ok but this is where you horde clear and keep everything off of everyone elses back so they can smash down the boss. If all is clear regarding pressure, light spam their shield under your boombox. Make sure you get a weakspot hit on the boss every 4 seconds to stack concussive, and your aura will give your team +10% damage, then go back to horde clear, special clear, and armor clear, etc.

The real work of this class is when you hear that horde sound. On high havoc that means a big ass mixed horde of 1000 poxwalkers, 100 crushers, 50 mixed specials, 3 bosses, and the twins might just show up in the next 3-5 seconds. Cool. Drop your shock mine and wait until the heretics are just about to break on your line, then drop your Nuncio-Aquila to scream at your team to not die. If things are bad, drop another shock mine 2 seconds before your first fizzles out. If things are really bad, I consider dropping the last shock mine, but this is truly last resort. If your team dies, honestly, you did something wrong, and you need to redeem yourself, and you will need a shock mine and your Nuncio-Aquila to get them up or rez them off a clutch. 

Pro tip regarding the bastion setup (i.e. Nuncio-Aquila + Voltaic Shock Mine), on high havoc you will get pushed back 9/10 when the wave crashes on your position. Instead of throwing the mine and the Nuncio in front of you, or even on your feet, drop that shit 5-10 feet behind your team, and it will be dead center of the conflict. If you don't, you risk fighting on the outside of your nuncio's range as the heretics will get stunlocked in the range but take up the whole circle with their big, dumb, stupid bodies. If things look really, really bad, consider dropping your second mine 10-20 feet behind the first one for a layered defense to fall back on. Once Nuncio-Aquila is on cooldown, you're really just hoping to stunlock the horde until it's back up again, and this is typically what I save the second mine for. Your team should be saving their abilities for once nuncio is on cooldown (i.e. book, bubble, taunt, etc.) and using them to hold fast while you recharge your boombox.

Notes on Havoc:

The hardest modifier to deal with is the one that gives enemies immunity to CC; this directly fucks Arbitors and directly fucks this build. You have to play even smarter than you already are. If you need to drop a mine, you must do it well before you engage so that the least amount of enemies have CC immunity. Your combo becomes light attack spam to maximize weakspot damage. I have cleared Havoc 40 with this modifier, it can be done, but this is the hardest modifier for you to deal with and other builds may be more efficient. 

Boombox completely negates pox gas. Drop it during a pox grenade, or during the vents. It will outlast the duration of the gas and you will regen toughness faster than it can break it down. Note this typically is true for 1 instance of a grenade or vent, if they are stacked it will only be effective for 1 rotation.

The bastion is extremely effective against rituals. Much like psyker bubble, drop the boombox on the witch to maximize the radius, get extra attack speed, and drop a mine if you are about to get crashed on. This allows you to fully focus the cultists and deal with the ritual.

The bastion is extremely effective against the twins especially if you have a med pack. You basically can tank the whole encounter (to include those shitty pox mines) and light spam the shields down. The mines keep the hordes at bay and you can hard focus the twins down with your team. Remember to get the weakspot shots in when their shields are down to "stagger" them so your team can take advantage of your aura (+10% damage). 

Notes on Clutching:

It is exceedingly rare that this build is not the last one standing in my play throughs. Your toughness regen and CC keep you very safe and if you are playing by the above playstyle you are rarely fighting on your own (you are fighting with at least 1 teammate in all instances). You will not clutch by clearing rooms; it is inefficient and lets be real it's havoc 40, its also unrealistic. Your job now is to methodically work forward using your mines to CC big groups and time your CD on the boombox for picking up your team. I have a few neat tricks for you. So try to make space for yourself using your stunlocks and stagger, try to get your boombox off CD and at least 2 mines. Bait and control the horde till they are nice and bunched up and drop a mine at your feet. Pull them in, and run/side dodge right past them while they are stunlocked. Haul ASS. Make sure to stagger any enemy you run by so you get toughness regen as you will likely be taking gunner fire. If you get a grenade box or regen one mine, drop it behind you. That horde you left behind will run into it, buying you more time. Keep 1 mine at all times during a clutch, if you have to drop it, you are waiting to get another mine before you go for rez. When you do get to the rez point, deploy the bastion i.e. shock mine and boombox. The time it takes to deploy the bastion should give you enough stam regen to tank a hit or two while you get the most valuable teammate up for CC (i.e. oggy, smitker, book zealot, be smart). The hardest clutches you will do is when a boss or bosses are on the field. Fortunately, if you know good movement tech and use your CC wisely, you should just be kiting the boss since the rest of the enemies will be CC'd. Your game now is making time by parkouring around to get distance from the boss and then go for rez. Multiple bosses are the most difficult clutch and since you aren't killing many enemies in a clutch you will have a huge wave crashing on the rez position which means the boombox and the mine are even more crucial. 

And there you go. Go forth, murder, and remember: Dying is Illegal.

Video soon.