Ecclesiarch's Lament (Zealot Tank/Support - Relic Sword & Flame Recon Lasgun)
 Zealot Build - Warhammer 40k: Darktide 

Synopsis:

Forged in the crucible of ceaseless war, The War-Dog Ecclesiarchs of Atoma wade into the tide of abominations as unbreakable bastions, their bodies layered in blooded scraps and the iron will to endure what lesser souls could not. 

Knights armored with Relic Sword and Recon Lasguns that spit fire - focused on using Critical hits to spread fire with their Lasguns and create massive spiraling buffs to turn their swords into tools of Critical judgement. 

With Shield of Contempt, Beacon of Purity, and the soul-shaking Chorus amplifying his allies’ survival, he becomes not merely a frontline fighter, but a sanctified bulwark; an exalted protector who stands where all others break.

Breakdown of Curios:

- Toughness is King on Zealot, so we run 2 +16%-17% Toughness Curios

- You can run either a +2-3 Stamina Curio or another +16%-17% Toughness Curio for the last slot

- If you are worried about survivability you can swap to another Wound curio - we aren't running Martyrdom though, so you won't get much benefit out it. 

Breakdown of Weapons:

- @Relic Sword: We go Relic Sword for that Tank aesthetic and frontline capability. We use nodes in the tree coupled with blessings to amp it's crit chance to allow it to stay in "Charged" mode longer with higher damage output, allowing us to get through Carapace Armored enemies, all while being good at general horde removal as well. 

• 25% Damage to Carapace and 10% Damage to Elites allows us to use the sword to carve through tankier enemies easier, as the uncharged mode of the sword is capable of dealing with Flak and Unarmored on it's own
• Heatsink allows us to stay in charged mode longer, as does Cranial Grounding while also giving us a small damage bump. 

- Recon Lasgun: Weird pick, you can obviously swap this out for Flamer or another weapon of your choice, but there are a few reasons why I like using Recon Lasgun on this build: the first being "Stripped Down" blessing which allows us to completely avoid ranged fire while sprinting above 50% stamina, which helps us reposition around the battlefield easier. The second is "Infernus" which allows us to easily proc Fire DOT on crowds and specials since we are transferring a lot of Crit chance to our ranged damage as well. This weapon does NOT work well into heavy Carapace enemies, so I would rely on Relic Sword in place of that.

Breakdown of build path:

Your Choice of Point:

- Thy Wrath Be Swift/Prime Target/Punish Impiety: I bounce this point between these three perks: Thy Wrath is good if you feel like you can't get your attacks off from being interrupted, Prime Target is good if you want a way to generate more toughness while also getting a 10% dmg buff, and Punish Impiety is good if you find your weapon is slow, and use the push attack, as that +10% attack speed is very nice. 

Rest of the Tree:

- Disdain: Meta on every build, always take

- Second Wind: You are always dodging, giving you constant 15% toughness regen,  always take on every build

- Duelist: Same as Second Wind, you're always dodging, 50% finesse buff will always be up, always take on every build

- Purge the Unclean: 20% extra damage into Bosses and Elites (like Crushers and Bulwarks) is important for helping Relic Sword break through Auric and higher. 

-  Stun Grenade (Blitz): Take whatever you want here, I took stuns because it felt thematically appropriate to being a Support Tank

- Sustained Assault: Is always up during hordes, 20% extra melee damage is very nice and it's only 1 point from first node, always take on every build

- Desperation: We will be consuming stamina running and push attacking, giving us another 20% bonus. I usually take this on every build

- Faithful Frenzy: Optional node, however 10% extra attack spped is nice and lets you go Benediction instead of BoP for Aura. 

- Against The Odds: Increased 50% cleave and an extra 10% melee damage is very nice while surrounded, which is usually when you'd want those bonuses. I take this on most builds. 

- Shield of Contempt: I usually go damage on my Zealot builds, so I skip this node normally, however for this Tank/Support build this will be perfect in providing ourselves and our teammates a little more sustain, fitting in theme with the build. 

- Providence: I find this node to be an alright passive support node, however it feeds into 2 of the stronger nodes in the tree (Abolish Blasphemer and Good Balance) AND it's the only way you get to the BoP aura, so I usually take it on my builds. 

- Good Balance: This node gives you a constant 20% DR buff, always take on every build (if I can) 

- Abolish Blasphemer: This node is great for helping into Elites, which you usually want extra damage for - however, this perk I would say could be switched out with anything you like, as it's not super important. 

- Beacon of Purity (Aura): I find most Zealots bring the Benediction Aura, and cleansing Corruption is great on higher difficulties, all while fitting into the "support" archetype. Use this or Benediction. 

- Chorus (Ability): This allows us to give extra toughness to teammates, giving us that tanky front of the line identity we want in a tanky/support zealot. 

- Ecclesiarch/Holy Cause: Either is good, if you have more trust in your teams performance though take Ecclesiarch - if you are wanting to use this as an emergency break, go Holy Cause for extra DR. 

- Scourge: Causing bleed on Critted enemies is great, and hitting bleeding enemies goes up to 30% increased crit chance, so this helps us get great crits which feeds into the bottom of our tree. 

- Invocation of Death (Keystone Modifier): 100% Ability Regen will constantly be going with our crit chance, which is better than the max of 50% ability regen we'd get from Martyr's Purpose. I usually take this modifier over the other 2 in all my builds because of it. 

- Enduring Faith: Since we will constantly be getting crits, a 40% DR buff like this is amazing. Always take this if you run a crit build. 

- Blinded by Blood: Free 15% damage from ALL sources on bleeding enemies. Good pick. 

- Blazing Piety: Increases our gains from Crit Chance, and since we go through the right tree we get extra benefits to crit chance and extra benefits to Toughness Regen based around our crits, making us even tankier.