Venenum Temple Assassin
 Hive Scum Build - Warhammer 40k: Darktide 

*Slaps Needle Pistol* This bad boy can make you as lethal as an Officio Assassinorum agent, my guy. Want to try it?

Now that we've got our hands on the cool new class, it's time to make it interesting. So here you have a build that feels like playing a real, bona fide assassin. You poison people, you zipline though the map, you mow down hordes and take down priority targets. What's not to love?

So, number crunch time: this build is based on the very silly iteration between Chemical Dependency and a very low Viscosity Stimm. Basically you want to inject your first stimm the very second the game starts, and keep doing so every 21 seconds. This means that after the first 63 seconds of a mission you'll be at max Chemical Dependency stacks. This also means: 

- -30% Ability Cooldown (for a grand total of -42% AC for Rampage, meaning that its new Cooldown is 17.4s)

- +15% Crit Chance (+5% for node and +5% for Aura, for a grand total of 25%, 30% with the Shivs, 45-50% after a succesful Dodge or a perfect block. Basically, every other hit is a guaranteed crit)

- +15% Toughness Damage Reduction (+10% from node, +20% depending on our current Stamina, for a total of 45%, that becomes 70% during Rampage. The preexisting bonuses mitigate well the debuff after Rampage.)

Our stimm gives us "only" +8% Attack Speed (for a total of roughly +30% thanks to Swift Endurance, that gets bounced to around +50% during Rampage). The other bonuses are also handy, but nothing to write home about. 

What really matters is that you're basically attacking as fast as you can click, and every other attack procs 1 stack of Chem Toxin and 8 stacks of Bleed. This also means that every Weak Spot Hit after that has a total +85% damage, but that's basically flavor. If the enemy happens to die after a crit you get 15% of your Toughness back thanks to Toxic Renewal, on top of whatever Toughness you're getting back already with Precision Violence. Oh, and for survivability's sake you also replenish a full 50% with every use of Rampage or a Stimm, so around 5-6 times per minute (more if you actually kill something and get your Stimm back sooner with Sample Collector).

You deal +10% Melee Damage thanks to the node, +15% on your first hit, plus another 25% on Weakspots, +15% on staggered enemies, +15% on Elites and Monstrosities, up to +15% depending on the number of Toxed enemies around you thanks to Toxin Mania and finally up to +20% depending on how much Stamina you have left. That means a whopping, clean +115% if you happen to headshot a staggered big guy while exhausted and surrounded by three poisoned guys, but generally a very high bonus overall. And this is not considering the juicy +50% Rampage applies on top of it all. 

Some reasons to take (and love) Blackout as your Blitz:

- It's hella fast.

- It replenishes itself.

- It gives you some breath during crowded moments. 

- It procs Toxin thanks to Pocket Toxin.

- It stuns, so enjoy your +15% Damage.

You're always going to be mobile, ziplinign through the map like a madman thanks to Sprint Efficiency and tons of Stamina. This makes you theoretically vulnerable to Gunners and Snipers, but during congested moments you can just throw your knives from short range or switch to your Needle Gun from greater distances: you can shoot it while closing up distance from them, and for the first half of your sprint you're going to be immune to their fire. Also, a single shot from this can kill most Ranged enemies, in time, so hitting them and running away is a very valid alternative. Sweet, huh?

Some could argue that Adrenaline Frenzy sinergizes better with a Melee oriented build, but while it gives you even more raw damage and speed, this builds gains a ton of survivability. And, come on, it plays with poisons. Isn't it fun? You can crit a Crusher a couple times and see it die from the ton of dots you just applied. 

Obviously the class just released, so there's going to be a lot of time to improve on it. But the build checks all my boxes: it's fun, engaging, nuanced and requires skill. I hope you'll find it as fun as currently am.