Zealot Dueling Sword Post-Nerf (2026)
 Zealot Build - Warhammer 40k: Darktide 

Intro

This build is loosely based on the Mr. E video below for the sword build and the talents (mostly), the rest is my personal recommendations.

Weapon Notes

Melee: Originally, for the sword blessings, I wanted to go with Riposte and Precognition to maximize the dodge spam, however I found that using Thrust and Uncanny Strike is better as it gives you the much-needed damage for the Crusher, Scab Mauler , and other such armored boys. HOWEVER, as you can see, I am not using that combo, but instead of Thrust  I'm using Relentless Strikes . The reason for this is that I don't wanna spend a bunch of time charging up my heavy attack. I want to take advantage of the dueling sword's strength, and that's quick heavy attacks. Why would I want a blessing that negates that? I don't. So I use Relentless because I throw out my quick heavy over and over while still getting strength stacks. Another reason is that I get much more Brittleness stacks from Uncanny Strike because I'm throwing out more attacks. When attacking heavy armor enemies, I recommend a quick first light attack to start off the stacks of the two blessings (DO NOT DO THIS IF YOU JUST ACTIVATED YOUR Fury of the Faithful), then immediate heavy attack chain. Scab Mauler will go down in 3 heavy pokes, a Scab Rager in 2, and a Crusher in 4-5.

If you're thinking about going with Riposte, I would pass. it doesn't activate as often as you think. There are actually multiple types of dodges in the game, the and average dodge spam doesn't cut it. "Riposte only activates on successful dodges (timed parries); standard dodges to avoid damage do not trigger it." Meaning you dodge the attacks with the "woosh" sound. But this isn't good enough to waste a blessing on

Ranged: You can use whatever gun you like, however you should only be using it about 20% of the time to perhaps help out a teammate or pick off a gunner or sniper.

Curios: I like a healthy mix, you can go how you like, but i recommend to definitely have at least +1 wound cause otherwise you only get 2 total and unlike everyone else I'm not a darktide badass that never dies. Also definitely hove Gunner Damage Resistance because we will be running around with our sword out most of the time, and stam regen definitely doesn't hurt so we can be running around more often.

Talent Notes

Mr. E uses the Blades of Faith for his Blitz however because of the higher power revolver I'm using making it redundant, I find Stunstorm Grenade to be much better for team survivability. Plus you can stun and poke everything to death.

Talents are fairly self-explanatory. We use Fury of the Faithful as our ability because it allows to charge after those Crushers and Maulers and etc and give them a massive damaging heavy attack poke. We want to use both the ability modifiers as well so we can chain ability activations together over and over.

I'm using Martyrdom with almost all the keystones to get that sweet 50% extra damage and 30% (6% x 5) attack speed which gives you insane horde clear and massive poking potential. You absolutely want the toughness keystone mods too, to make sure you're not easily dying. Plus, with Until Death, and the Fury of the Faithful giving you constant toughness replenishment, you'll be pretty set

Playstyle

Heavy attack. Dodge. Repeat. If you get overwhelmed, using your special, so you can block and counter attack, very useful. Get around enemies and hit their backs and heads. It's really that simple. it's like being on crack, very addicting. However you must know how to dodge, slide, dodge-slide, block, counter-block, push-attack, and generally do your advanced movement properly.

Closing Thoughts

Feel free to add me on Steam, if you have any ways to make this build better, and I'm always looking for friendly guys to play with on the weekend (no girlies plz): 332095079