Mathematically Correct Arbites [Meta - Auric]
 Arbites Build - Warhammer 40k: Darktide 

Build goal:
Max out Brutal Momentum kill potential with PA -> Light -> Light -> Light horde clear combo against all enemies excluding ogryns/bosses.

(Note: PA triggers the "15% damage for 5s on heavy attack node)

With this build, you can consistently kill 4 shotgunners/gunners/ Dreg Bruiser / Scab Bruiser / etc per swing, after the first 1-2 swings into a horde.. With LIGHT attacks!

8-12 kills per second from your melee alone into anything other than carapace/ogryns with maxed out move speed talents/stats, allowing you to move from horde to horde like a feral animal. Hotswapping to your shotgun whenever you see a thick pack of enemies cranks this up even higher.

It prioritizes damage nodes that provide %Total Damage on the *FIRST* swing, not on "staggered enemy" or "electrocuted/suppressed" enemy. This way, we can fully lean into Brutal Momentums one-shot capabilities.

You either take Exaction Mk III Exterminator Shotgun to compound your horde clear capabilities, or Locke Mk IIb Spearhead Boltgun if you have issues against ogryns / are in havoc. 

I've done testing in havoc, and you can maintain almost all of your BM breakpoints all the way up into Havoc 40, but it *does* get difficult to survive without taking Forceful as a keystone. This is an Auric focused build.

Weapon choice:
Atrox Mk VII Tactical Axe was buffed somewhat recently to have the strongest lights out of any of the three options. Considering Arbites has an *incredible* amount of damage as a class, there's 0 reason not to prioritize light attacks, instead of trying to build a glorified Rashad Mk III Combat Axe by building around Mk2's heavies. The PA staggers ragers, and you can 2shot dreg/scab ragers without too much trouble, especially with castigators or k9c4 and your taxe dodges.

Note: Because Arbites has *so* much flat damage, we ignore building around crits. When you oneshot everything important anyway.. Crits become a little less important. (Breakpoints!) That is why I dump cdmg and go for 80 mobility instead - it just feels nicer.

Additional note: This build also works with shield and maul - but it's slightly worse. Shield/Maul is slower and has slightly less kill potential, although it has slightly higher TTK against carapace/boss enemies.

As for your secondary, I either go for the boltgun if I desperately need ogryn/boss damage, otherwise hotswapping to the duckbill shotgun for incredible chaff clear (and March) value / ranged enemy clearing value (as it has incredible range). Again, we don't take Scattershot because you have so much damage - crits really don't matter. 

Ability choice:

The correct answer is always Castigator's Stance , if you're running Execution Order , in my opinion.

With the cdr from your curio, your ability cooldown becomes about ~40s.

With the CDR from Execution order's subnode Malocator (assuming good uptime), your ability cooldown then becomes ~20s. (Yes, your cooldown begins immediately upon use - not when the ability duration ends, like scriers.)

With the Castigators subnode Writ of Execution , you gain a stacking damage buff on elite kills that add up to a massive 50% damage increase - and it lasts the full 10s while you're in castigators, and an additional 10 seconds after your last elite kill. 

This means that you have a theoretical near 100% uptime on a 50% damage buff, while you're in a dense horde.

Additionally, Castigators already has an incredibly broken feature - the ability to ignore zoners and ragers, something that used to exclusively belong to Zealot's Until Death . Pop the stance and kill your way out of danger. Anything that allows you to resist being "darktided" is incredibly valuable.

BTL is still good, but these two incredibly broken features heavily outweight it in my opinion - especially considering that this build already comfortably gives you all of the movespeed you could possibly need.

Talent Choice:
Everything I have selected prioritizes things in this order:

Flat first-hit damage -> damage reduction -> toughness generation.

I was able to hit every single first-hit damage node, as well as every important damage reduction node, and almost all of the good toughness generation nodes.

If pressed, I would drop "No Lenience" (keystone subnode) for Target Neutralized or Force of Will.

Q&A:
" What would you take in Havoc, since this lacks Havoc level boss damage? "
- I would drop March for Monstrosity Hunter , Voltaic Mandibles Augment and Canine Morale for Ammo Belt and Target Neutralised .  If my team lacked damage, I would drop a toughness generation node for Keeping Protocol .

I would also use boltgun anyway in havoc as a general rule, with carapace/unyielding and Puncture / Shatter (Brittleness on hit).