Let them bleed
 Zealot Build - Warhammer 40k: Darktide 

This build is easy to get into and works with most play styles for Zealot. This is focused more on melee enemy clearing rather than range. What holds this build together is Inexorable Judgement, Blinded by Blood, and Scourge since were focusing on creating bleed opportunities  for Flak, Elite, and Carapace enemies. The main things you have to focus on is always having stacks of Inexorable Judgement.

Should I stay moving during down time in missions like in elevators? 

Yes, you don't have to be in combat to create stacks of Judgement and to be honest its during those times where you can create a free max stat of 20% Attack Speed, 20% Range Damage, and 20% damage. By taking Eternal we basically have 10 seconds of deleting most enemies in front of us and tanking allot of trash damage because of Retributor's Stance. 

So how exactly am I suppose to use this build? 

It's easy, as long as you stay moving you'll gain the benefits of Judgement. This build main draw back is the Chain-Axe slow swing speeds in between hits, but you can juggle trash mobs really good with a simple combo I found. The main combo you want to do during clearing trash mobs goes like this: L1, Push L1, L1. Dodge, repeat. The more you do it the more you'll see a rhythm that you can follow and always keep a stamina bar up. The axe comes with a 3 stack of Dodge so you should always have some spare stakcs left over in case of emergency. When dealing with Flak enemies you can pretty much one-shot them with as long as you have special activated with a heavy attack. You'll delete every enemy with one charged up heavy except for Crushers they'll require at least one charged up heavy attack with special activated and a normal special light attack. The reason we focus allot on reeving up the chain axe so much with heavies is because we are using Bloodletter blessing and using Blinded by Blood and Scourge for extra damage to enemies that bleed. You'll also receive a huge bonus of damage if you manage to back stab these enemies since we are also taking Backstabber. 

What about our ability Fury of the Faithful? Is there a specific way to use it? 

Honestly I'm a huge charge head first into my problems kind of Zealot player. You use to close gaps between mobs or if I notice allot of special enemies are grouping so I can deal with them and give my team some breathing room. I would avoid using it against mobs of Crushers and Maulers since the animation to rev up and kill them takes a second and their over head swings will take away all your toughness and most of you first wound. When dealing with these mobs I recommend focusing on the smaller one fist rather than the Crushers since I've noticed with the new patch they'll spawn more Scab Rager and Maulers rather than Crushers. You can throw an Immolation Grenade to double dip into damage with fire and bleed. If you're going to charge in with Fury of the Faithful try to save a charge in order to get some free toughness or disengage from a crowd you need to get out. If you're out of charges start focusing on backstabs and weakpoints kills since we took Pious Cut-Throat and we can build a free charge relatively quickly. 

How does this build do against boss type enemies?

Really well and even excels at certain bosses like Plauge Ogryn, Beast of Nurgle, and Twins. The only one I feel it struggles a bit is with Chaos Spawn since its allot more proactive and faster than the others - maybe its just me and a skill issue since I struggle with a Chaos Spawn even though I can mostly solo the twins and any other boss relatively easy. But the main thing you want to do with boss enemies is the same thing we would approach a Crusher. Activate your special, aim for a back stab or weak point, build bleed, and press forward. Every iteration I've seen when hitting a back stabs you'll knock off a little less than 1/4 of the a health bar. If you activate Fury of the Faithful with a heavy attack, special, and bleed already built up you'll knock off a over 1/4 of the health bar. So don't be afraid to be aggressive but still dodge and avoid getting hits since you'll benefit more from Judgement stacks when dealing with boss enemies. When it comes to the twins or any other boss that come with a bubble shield, just activate special attack and do a light attack since it will shred the bubble quicker. If one of your teammates triggers a Daemon Host guess what? This does insane damage to her if you build up your heavies and go for backstabs. The bleed alone will knock a decent chunk of the health. 

Okay that covers the Chain-Axe part of the build, but why are we taking the Shredder-Pistol? 

To be upfront with you guys, we're not taking this to clear mobs of enemies or kill special enemies (but you can if you want). We are using this weapon to disrupt enemies and close gaps when we need too. The Shredder-Pistol has comical stagger to all enemies except Crushers, Maulers, Scab Rager, and Mutants. Anything else will get stagger and cancel their attacks. If you get pinned in a corner you can take it out and create a lane to escape and get out of danger. Here's the best part about Shredder-Pistol, IT CAN STAGGER THE NEW PLASMA GUNNER!

How exactly does the Shredder-Pistol stagger those new annoying Plasma Gunners? 

I found this out by accident during the event where it constantly spams Plasma Gunners. They come with Flak armor in their upper body and a carapace helmet, so where does the stagger come from? Well these heretic idiots forgot their pants at home, or maybe Nurgle forgot to give them a pair, I really don't know. But their legs don't come with armor and you can shot a short burst to stagger them to cancel their shots and close the gap to let our Chain-Axe carve them up. And yes, the axe will one shot them with a heavy revved up attack. Once you close the gap with them their basically free kills because they take out their melee shovels and will try to fight you. They attack slow and don't do allot of damage if they hit you. One thing I do notice from them I see them try to retreat allot to go back to their range damage. You can stop them from doing that if you just push them. Just maintain aggro if they take out their melee weapons and you should be able to clear them. Or just heavy attack them in the back for a free backstab kill. 

That's pretty much it for this build. It's really straight forward and fun alternative to the Eviscerator. All you really need to do is close gaps, stay moving, and delete heavies to allow some space for your team to move forwards with you. 

Some things you can switch from this build if you prefer some different play styles. 

Shredder Pistol -> Flamer: Take Unyielding and Crit Chance perk with Everlasting Flame and Blaze Away Blessing. Aim for trash mobs or special enemies and you'll kill majority of them. I don't usually take it because of its short fuel tank, bad reload speed, and long animation to take it out.

Immolation Grenade -> Any other Blitz equipment - with the new tree re-work you can take any other one you want. I prefer Immolation due to the fact you can double stack damage with fire and bleed. 

Backstab or Restoring Faith -> Punish Impiety - I know a complaint for the axe is its slow swing speed in between swings. If you want just a bit more attack speed you can switch out a passive for Punish Impiety since the combo I listed above for trash mobs works with the push. 

Have fun with this build because its been my go to for a fun run. I don't think its a meta kind of build, but its a fun one. Any question or inputs feel free to add me on steam or discord. 

https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198800652594/

Discord: mcloving146