Beowulf Protocol: Monster Slayer/Status Effect
 Skitarii Build - Warhammer 40k: Darktide 

Power fantasy/Class Ideology: Hive Tyrants. Riptide Battlesuits. Maulerfiends. You’ve eliminated them all. The protocol demands this unit dispatch Monstrous abominations and Elite heretics with high single target damage by stacking multiple status effects through critical hits and ramping up Chordclaw’s damage with repeated strikes. 

Gameplay Scramble Code:

- Critical Hits: To apply status effects on melee hits and ranged damage. The Chordclaw and Probing Strikes are guaranteed critical hits. 

- Dodging: To increase critical hit chance + DPS in melee combat and ensure survival as a frontline combatant. A +3 stamina curio and stamina regen perks help ensure your agility and dodges are topped off for any engagement. 

- Status Effects: Bleed from the Combat Blade and Chordcord Claw. Burn from Servo-Skull and Phosphor Blast Pistol (plus Brittleness). Electrocution from critical melee hits. These all feed Weakness Analysis Doctrine snowballing damage and provide consistent DOT to efficiently defeat high HP targets and supersede armor defense.

- Flensing Protocols + Capacitance: Spec’d to increase our Crit Chance and DPS to better aid the Status Effect loop. The additional stacks push this farther.  Aside from being your Boss nuke, Chordclaw reliably ensures our Flensing Protocols stat buffs remain at full stacks. As such, it’s imperative that you’re consistently reaping Capacitance from melee combat to recharge Chordclaw to max charges as quickly as possible. 

Build Rationale and Perk Reprogramming:

- Ammo and Ranged Weapon: This is a melee centric class. The Phosphor Blast Pistol’s primary purpose is to apply Burn and Brittleness stacks to Unyielding/Boss targets and to engage with Elite threats at a distance when necessary. Infernus and Surgical best facilitate consistency and efficiency of these roles. Accordingly, the right side of the skill tree is relatively vacant and a perk point in Ammo- Cell Augury is better spent elsewhere. However, feel free to swap this perk out with Noospheric Command if the 25% ammo bump helps your confidence and playstyle. 

- Servo-Skull: The Burn stacks provided by Artificer is a crucial block in building our Status Effect damage loop and target debuffs via Weakness Analysis Doctrine. Noospheric Command provides excellent supplemental firepower allowing you to focus on melee combat, remain ammo lean, and help burn down priority high threat targets. 

- Melee Weapon + Weakness Analysis Doctrine and Electro-Strike Conduit: The WAD perk is the foundation for our Status Effect damage and debuff loop. It’s crucial for this build’s synergy. The Lacerate blessing on the Combat Blade provides a reliable, non-RNG means to apply Bleed stacks. Coupled with the Riposte blessing and its inherent high attack speed, the Combat Blade is a standout weapon choice. The Mk VI’s opening heavy attack is a wide lateral slash, which increases the number of critical hit chances to proc Electro-Strike Conduit, which then procs System Shock (stacking Status Effects).  Additionally, when Conduit procs, it stuns the target and Brittleness is applied via System Shock; this is a fantastic back pocket CC to quell aggressive Elites and aid survivability. If you wish to swap the Knife, both marks of the Shock Maul with the Voltage and Skull Crusher blessings are fantastic. The Electrocution and Brittleness imbued by these blessings perfectly synchronize with the build. If you choose the Maul, swap Conduit out for another perk of your choice (Entropic Transfer will grant some damage resistance with Electrocution). 

Ave Deus Mechanica.