Keyless - Havoc - Slicin' n' Sizzlin'
 Psyker Build - Warhammer 40k: Darktide 

Goal / Traits

This is my main hybrid melee/purge build I use with PuGs. The goal is not only sit in the backline spamming flames but integrate more melee game play, all while maintaining the benefits of having a flame Psyker with a shield. While spamming flames is still part of the game play, it is not the only thing you will and should be doing. 

Please see Kuli's guide (https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3094028505) on Pysker traits for a more detail on the traits themselves. 

Top Tree

Melee will be your main form of quelling through By Crack of Bone and damage boosting through Uncanny Strike, with the added bonus of toughness regen through Warp Expenditure. Battle Meditation is here because sometimes you can not get into melee, and this keeps you casting for longer without having to manually quell. Meaning, you can keep killing. Quietude is usually hated, but the build relies heavily on quelling and rebuilding peril so it fits nicely here. If you absolutely do not like it, you can easily drop it and pickup something else. 

The critic traits Mettle, Perfect Timing and Empathic Evasion are all great picks for purge staff builds since you have infinite cleave, your opportunity to get critics, even with low critic chance, scales. If you had to drop anyone of these three, I would drop Perfect Timing as I enjoy the speed of Mettle and the ability to push while casting or dodging range attacks while in melee with Empathic Evasion. The extra damage 15% damage from Perfect Timing is somewhat lack luster unless it helps you reach a specific break point. 

Finally, Perilous Combustion is a must take basically on all builds because there are so many elites in Havoc and so much value to be gained from elite kills giving soulblaze. On top of all this, this trait lets you exceed the normal 16 stack limit on soulblaze. 

Blitz and Top Middle Tree

After the buffs to Kinetic Flayer where the cooldown is 12s and only hits specials and elites (no poxbursters) this trait alone makes Brain Rupture great. Pair for purge M1 clicks, you can M1 any special and one shot them every 12s. While on paper it might not sound that good, in practice it is extremely satisfying and saves you from having to CC then headpop or melee them. Regardless, Brain Rupture is extremely underrated for sniping specials and gunners and is easily the best general use blitz (as of 2025). 

Lightning Speed is used to get to By Crack of Bone and is a somewhat useful boost to melee speed.By Crack of Bone has historically not been that great because it actually quells too much, which made maintaining high peril difficult while in melee. However, with Warp Ghost + high havoc means you have no passive quelling, so this trait starts to shine at quelling while still killing. Malefic Momentum is a great source for boosting damage for both soulblaze and melee, as you will be doing lots of both. Souldrinker gives us extra crit and toughness regen and is a no brainer on soulblaze builds.

Aura and Bottom Middle Tree

To maintain compensate for no Warp Siphon, we need to take both Seer's Presence and Psykinetic's Aura. Although Psykinetic's Aura was nerfed, it is still a S tier perk and  the CDR is still quite good in Havoc where elites are plentiful. The remaining traits here are your survivability traits. Empathic Evasion is great for avoiding shooters, even if you are not running Warp Nexus on purge staff. One with the Warp is great toughness damage reduction, as your goal is to maintain high peril. Finally, Just a Dream is a S tier perk that allows you to eat a lot of damage and can help maintain high peril. However, this trait is risky and takes getting used to, as you can easily explode if you get hit at high peril while casting.

Ult and Bottom Tree

Here the ult, as expected, is Telekine Shield with Telekine Dome and Sanctuary. However, if you need an extra point, there is an argument to drop Sanctuary. Vulnerable Minds is taken to boost Monstrosity/Ogryn damage, which can be quite lacking with Psyker. Likewise, Warp Rider is a great trait for boosting damage at high peril. Defensive wise, we take Kinetic Deflection and Warp Ghost which are two more S tier traits. Kinetic Deflection is great to increase ability to tank hits. Meanwhile, Warp Ghost it gives extra stamina and toughness replenishment with a downside that is actually not an upside, decrease to passive quell. This decrease basically removes passive quelling in high Havocs which allows you to easily sit at high peril. While it can be tricky getting used to, not having passive quell is actually a huge gain.

This is a keystone-less build as you do not need Warp Siphon as the increase in bubble uptime is typically overkill and usually compensating for a team that has bad positioning. Additionally, it is a massive point investment just to get to the keystone. If your team is frequently wiping because of bad positioning, you might need to take Warp Siphon or be more patient and precise with your bubble. If you want to take this keystone, you really only need the initial Warp Siphon trait, as elites are everywhere in Havoc.

Play Style

Your goal is to get 12-15 stacks of soulblaze, then switch to melee and start stacking Uncanny Strike to boost damage on armor, quell, and regen toughness. To maintain high peril you can spam force sword specials and cancel or go back to pumping flames. Weaving M1 sword + M1 purge attacks works very well for keeping up peril. Use left clicks to push busters and stun all human sized enemies. Head pop will usually one shot these targets. The Deimos force sword is one of the best melee tools Psyker has. While it does not have the mobility or a parry like the Dueling Sword, it makes up for this by having Deflector and two forms of CC that can CC any non-monstrous enemy. The push attack and H2 will be your best friend for CCing elites when up close, particularly for crushers.