Mordian Iron Guard, Urban Assault [H40]
 Veteran Build - Warhammer 40k: Darktide 

Mordian Iron Guard, Urban Assault:

     As a child of Mordian you grew up in the destitute hab blocks on the planet within the dark half of the planet, knowing the other half of the planet has full sunlight. Like billions of others and your parents, you know your fate is to work in one of the many manifactorums on the planet for the Emperor... It is a very meager living... However as destiny would have it, you were walking outside the grim hab blocks in the neighbourhood and encounter a ruthless hive gang. Knowing you might die, you resist the gang and receive a brutal beating. Afterwards, you see a flash of blue as the gang disperses. An officer in a fine, neatly pressed uniform picks you up and offers you a chance to join the Guard.. A year on, you make your parents proud and become a master of ruthless efficiency, line infantry shooting, drilling, cleanliness, disciplined habits, Lasgun accuracy, close quarters combat and a prestigious appearance. Now you battle the Emperor's enemies in urban climates with excellence and ruthlessness. You have changed.... Welcome to the Mordian Iron Guard!

     In introducing this build, I believe it is important to note that the Kantrael Mk IIb Infantry Lasgun is a fantastic ranged weapon. It fires quickly, burns enemies with Infernus and stacks armour brittleness rapidly with ranged Onslaught for yourself and teammates, while being efficient at long range. The viability of this build also works up to the Havoc 40 difficulty. While playing, it is important to focus on gunners and ranged elites first with precision headshots if possible. Infernus can help burn the rest of enemy health or whittle down bosses effectively. It is crucial to let your teammates deal with armoured elites and the horde first as you deal with priority targets. Don't be that undisciplined Guardsman that just mag dumps on hordes and steals ammunition... Ideally, picking up minimal ammo drops with the Kantrael Mk IIb Infantry Lasgun is important as ithe gun is very ammo efficient with high ammo capacity in combination with the Survivalist aura. The breakpoints on the Kantrael Mk IIb Infantry Lasgun of +Flak/+Elite Damage work well to take out elites and common armour enemies. Alternatively, other Lasgun perks that also work are: +Flak/+Maniac (general usage for common enemies), +Flak/+Unyielding (mix of common armour and boss damage), +Flak/+5% Crit Chance (common armour damage and increased burn chance) and +Unyielding/+5% Crit Chance (boss damage and increased burn chance). Mobility is the important dump stat for this weapon as the 80% stat won't benefit the poor dodge distance of the gun.

     Secondly, both Combat Blades work well with the build utilizing excellent mobility. The Catachan Mk VI Combat Blade is efficient at general usage with sweeping attack patterns and the Catachan Mk III Combat Blade being efficient at single armour and elite damage. Both First Target or Mobility are the ideal dump stats for the Combat Blade marks. My choice blessings for the build are Uncanny Strike (stacking armour brittleness on headshot) and Flesh Tearer (8 stacks of bleed on critical hit) because I find they both provide consistent damage to all enemy types while synergizing well with the Reciprocity and Desperado talent nodes. For the Combat Blade perks I chose +2 Stamina/+Maniac because I despise Mutant line breaking on higher difficulties. However, you can find great usage in other options such as: +2 Stamina/+Flak (general armour damage), +2 Stamina/+Unyielding (boss damage) or +2 Stamina/+Carapace (heavy armour damage) and you can replace the Stamina with +5% Crit Chance to initiate bleed quicker.

     Thirdly, this build can utilize any of the three types of grenades: Shredder Frag Grenade , Krak Grenade and Smoke Grenade . I pick Shredder Frag Grenade for crowd control, space creation and the newer Rampage modifier on Havoc mode. Krak Grenadeis always a general top choice for deleting armour and dealing with Havoc modifiers such as Encroaching Garden or Rotten Armour... Lastly, Smoke Grenade is useful for open maps to cancel out gunners. 

     Finally in looking at the keystone options for the build, my personal preference is Weapons Specialist as it boosts both melee attack speed, while also boosting ranged attack speed, reload speed and critical chance. In my opinion, Weapons Specialist is the most fun option turning your Lasgun into a rapid firing machine gun and perfect for holding the firing line. Speaking of holding the line, the Voice of Command ability is perfect for pushing back units, providing a large golden toughness boost to the entire team and reviving teammates. A second keystone variation that can be used with the build is Focus Target! which boosts the entire team's damage to a single tagged target by up to +20% damage at max stacks.

     In conclusion, it is always important to have fun and experiment with different parts of builds in order to find what works for you. In the end my word is not law and this build isn't the ultimate "Meta" in Darktide. For the ultimate pristine look feel free to pick up the Mordian Parade, Iron Sun and Iron Edge skins. Enjoy!

"No remorse, no mercy, no forgiveness...",

-GuardsmanLXXXIX