DoT Melee/Ranged Hybrid Skitarius
 Skitarii Build - Warhammer 40k: Darktide 

Build Summary

This is a hybrid Melee/Ranged build with a hefty focus on DoTs in the form of both Bleed and Burn, both of which trigger off of our crits. To supplement the two the build uses largely generic damage bonuses, as well as consistent Brittleness debuff from Electrocution, negating the need for uncanny strikes on our Melee. This results in a DoT powerhouse which also softens up targets for allies. It is also a relatively fast moving build due to our weapon choices.

Furthermore the build has a few flexible points to customize it further towards damage or utility if so desired. More on that later in the guide.

Core Gameplay Loop

The biggest asset of this build is the ability to maintain max stacks of Burn, Bleed and Brittle simultaneously. To achieve this we do the following. Note that this full combo is overkill on anything that isn't a Boss or Captain of some sort.

1. (Optional); Use Voltaic Emitter ability at 2-3 charges. 2 is to disable nearby ranged enemies. 3 is to also get electrocution on ALL attacks.
2. Double-Ping bosses to sick our Servo-Skull on them. Servo skull applies burn per shot and amplifies damage taken by the enemy.
3. Shoot the boss 6 times with our Phosphor Blast Pistol. On average you should crit 3 of the shots to apply a total of 15 stacks of Burn. Our skull will passively maintain these stacks so long as it has a clear line of fire.
4. Swap to your Melee and start slashing to apply bleed stacks. Be sure to dodge attacks to trigger the bonus crit chance!
5. Watch their HP bar drain away.

Talent Swaps & Customization

• Galvanic Marking Array for Moebian Conductor: 
  • GMA has a very consistent uptime thanks to our skull, but could fall off in bossfights without elites. In these cases Moebian Conductor becomes a more consistent buff-on-demand option.
• Invigorating Overload for Critical Power Overload: 
  • Swapping Defense for Offense. I'm not entirely sure on how large the radius on Critical Power Overload is, but it feels relatively small to me. It still adds another way to Electrocute enemies though.
• Omnissian Recharge Litany & Residual Current Buffer for Channeled Motive Force: 
  • This swap frees up 1 talent point, which can allow you to pick whatever you want in the tree. My personal choice here would be Medicae Servo-Skull for easy revives. Other good options are Critical Power Overload, Weakness Analyysis Doctrine, Entropic Transfer or Mobian Conductor. Another solid QoL option here is Target Prioritization Psalms to help you identify nearby specialists more quickly. 
• Uncapped Arrestor: 
  • I'm not sold on how necessary the melee speed from Uncapped Arrestor really is, especially with how fast the knife is already. However since we're at the mercy of crit-RNG for bleed stacks I've chosen to keep it for now, but you could swap it for any of the options listed above.

Note that if you choose to take Medicae Servo-Skull you might want to replace revive speed on your curios with either Gunner Resistance or 5% Toughness.

FAQ:

• How do we Electrocute enemies for Brittleness?
  • Electro-Strike Conduit applies Electrocute on melee crits. If we use Voltaic Emitter at 3 charges the Voltaic Motivator talent makes it so all our attacks, including ranged, apply electrocute on hit.
• Why do you choose Flesh Tearer instead of Lacerate?
  • On paper Lacerate should be more consistent. However even the smallest Skitarii are quite tall and prone to hit weakspots as a result, in which case Lacerate does not trigger. As such I've opted for Flesh Tearer instead. The knife has quite good weakspot damage numbers anyway, so it works out.
• Why do you use Maniac Damage on Pistol?
  • Since our skull maintains the Burn from our pistol passively, we'll be swapping to our knife in boss encounters very quickly. As such I've option for Maniac damage because fighting ragers in melee sucks. You should also use the pistol to take out priority targets like Flamers or grenade-throwers. Flak damage is a suitable alternative to Maniac damage.
• Why do you use Toughness Regen on Curios?
  • Most of the Skitarii toughness recovery comes in the form of Regen talents, which this stat should amplify.
• How do you maintain talents that trigger on Ranged kills?
  • The Servo Skull passively maintains these quite easily by shooting things for you, but you should still shoot priority targets with the pistol yourself.
• Why did you skip X damage talent?
  • Many newer Skitarii will end up dying a lot while getting a hang of the class. As such I've tailored the build more towards toughness regen and damage reduction. As you grow more familiar with the class you may wish to shift some of the defense into more offense instead.
• Why skip the 25% weakspot damage talent?
  • DoTs do not benefit from weakspot damage, only generic damage buffs. As such I've favoured those despite the fact that we'll go for weakspot hits with our knife.
• Why not use ChordClaw instead?
  • Voltaic Emitter provides us some CC and an additional way to apply Electrified to enemies. Additionally dumping 3 charges generates us up to 15 stacks of Power Overload through the Powerdrive talent. Oftentimes this will result in you triggering an overcharge  on ability use, when you most need it.
  • You can still run Chordclaw, it's good. So good in fact that I expect it to get nerfed.