Recon Lasgun Veteran
 Veteran Build - Warhammer 40k: Darktide 

Current iteration of my veteran build meant for playing Auric Maelstrom and pushing to Havoc 40.

Recon Lasgun 

Base Crit - 7%

Crit Perk 5%

Reciprocity - 25%

Ammo neutral around 35% crit with Survivalist Aura. Able to maintain max burn stacks around 15% crit. I prefer the Mk VIc because it just feels easier to control while being more ammo efficient. The Mk XII would totally work too.

So the idea is that you melt high priority targets and bosses. You have enough crit to keep max burn stacks up basically without doing anything. Dodging gives you additional crit which just ups your Ammo economy. 

Onslaught applies 40% brittleness that increasing your burn ticks by 10%-600% depending on armour type. 

Skirmisher increases your burn ticks by 25%

Focus Target! increases your burn ticks by 20%

Bring it Down! increases your burn ticks by 20% against Monstrosities and Ogryns.

+25% Damage (Maniacs) increases your burn ticks by 25% against Mutants, Dreg Ragers, Flamers, and Trappers. 

Your job is to kill specialist enemies ASAP. That's Scab Trappers,   ​Pox Hounds, Mutants, Poxbursters, ​Scab Bomber, ​ Tox Bomber, Scab Flamers, Tox Flamer ​s, and Scab Snipers.

If you can't shoot them at least tag them. And please remember not to shoot Poxbursters next to your teammates.

You also should be focusing on Reapers, Dreg/Scab Gunners, and Dreg/Scab Ragers. You will body all of them.

Don't be afraid to unload a burst into a Crusher either. Onslaught will strip their armour and the burn stacks will start chewing through their HP. This will make it easier for you to swap to your melee weapon and secure a quick kill or make it easier for an ally to secure the kill. Just try to avoid mag and dumping crushers as it will hurt your Ammo efficiency. You can totally kill a crusher with just your lasgun if you really need to, it's surprisingly effective. 

Tag bosses and melt them.

Your Shredder Frag Grenades mostly just exist to stun hordes, help secure revives, and feed Out for Blood. Use them often but try to save 1 for emergencies. Try not to pick up Grenade Ammo unless literally noone needs it. 

Power Sword easily feels like the most complimentary weapon for the Recon Lasgun because it chews through hordes and can chunk Crushers. 

Problems with the build. 

I personally dislike the activation mechanic on the Power Sword though it's just so good I still use it. 

Feel free to pick whatever Melee Weapon you prefer.

Sapper Shovel is probably the most lateral option being that it can function as a lower damage but more utilitarian Power Sword.

Obviously Combat Blade and Dueling Sword are high tier options but struggle against mixed hordes. 

Tactical Axe and Shock Maul are solid alternatives.

Rashad Combat Axe works. 

I could see Devil's Claw working.

Your melee weapon is primarily meant to keep mixed hordes off your back and kill or control Crushers. Unfortunately there's practically no good way to fit Trench Fighter Drill so make sure whatever Melee Weapon you choose doesn't need the extra 10% Attack Speed. 

This build can't fit the Grenade Tinkerer. On higher difficulties that renders Krak grenades useless. I use the Frag grenades because there's very little difference between the Frag with or without Grenade Tinkerer. Smokes work too but the lower duration hurts. 

Potential Changes

In order to afford Focus Target! several good talents had to be skipped. 

These include:

Superiority Complex

Trench Fighter Drill

Grenade Tinkerer

Serrated Blade

Exploit Weakness

The only truly free skill point is Out for Blood. I don't recommend dropping it but you could and you could put it into any of the skills above.

Another option is to drop Focus Target!, Bring It Down!, and Toughness Boost +25. That gives you 3 skill points, 4 if you're willing to drop Out for Blood. I'd say depending on your play style Trench Fighter Drill and Exploit Weakness can be very powerful and Superiority Complex is nice to have. If you want Grenade Tinkerer you can swap the Frag Grenades for Krak or Smoke. 

You could swap +25% damage (Maniacs) to either Flak or Unyielding.  Flak is always good and Unyielding makes you do insane Boss and Reaper damage. 

Overall though this build shreds. I recommend giving it a go as is.