Psyker Pykinetic Build - High Single Target - Darktide WH40K
 Psyker Build - Warhammer 40k: Darktide 

This build was created during the closed beta in October 2022 and will be updated once Darktide gets released. https://gameslantern.com/article/powerful-psyker-build-for-darktide-warhammer-40-000

Today we are going to take a look at a strong Psyker Build in Warhammer 40,000: Darktide. The build will also explain how to use the Brain Burst ability correctly, because it is the most important ability in your kit and will save your teammates a lot of time and energy.

Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAObKSt8qZM

Psyker Psykinetic Abilities and Passives

To be an effective Psyker you need to learn how to use the Brain Burst ability. It is the most powerful single target ability in the game and oneshots most Elite targets. Let us take a look at all the available perks that you have.

• Psykinetic's Wrath (Ultimate) - Reset the Perils of the Warp meter to zero & stagger enemies in front of you. 
• Brain Burst (Ability) - Target an enemy. After a short duration, this ability deals a high amount of damage to the target.  
• Kinetic Presence (Passive)- Allies in Coherency gain 10% Damage vs Elite Enemies.
• Warp Siphon (Passive) - Killing an enemy with Brain Burst earns Warp Charge. Each Charge grants 3% damage. Warp Charges are retained for 20s. You can store up to 4 Warp Charges.
• Inner Tranquility (Passive) - Reduce Peril generated by 10%.

How to use the Psyker Brain Burst and other Abilities

All these abilities and passives work together with each other in Darktide. Brain Burst is the one ability that you really need to learn how to use. You are responsible that the Elite targets get taken out as fast as possible. 

Brain Burst 1-2 shots Elite enemies, depending on difficulty. That is why it is the strongest single target ability in the game. And that is also the reason why you are responsible at spotting and taking out Elites.

Brain Burst has no range cap, you can literally target an enemy on the other side of the area and you will still hit the target. Once you have locked on to a target you can hide behind a pillar or turn around because the ability only requires a "lock on" and then it will automatically hit the enemy once its fully charged no matter whether you have line of sight or not. That is also helpful when an enemy runs away, all you need is the "lock on" and then he can run as far as he wants, the Brain Burst will hit the target.

While you are charging Brain Burst in Darktide you can easily avoid most enemies. You can still dodge to the right side or backwards to avoid damage from enemies that are closing in. You can also avoid shots this way. Of course positioning yourself correctly also helps, stay close to structures that you can hide behind once you have a "lock on" on your target. 

You can also pre-charge Brain Burst with the right side mouse button to instantly hit a target once you see it (click on target with left mouse button). This is great in case you hear an Elite sound cue, you want to be ready and that way you don't waste time with charging first.

• Unlimited Range
• 1-2 shots Elite enemies
• Doesn't require line of sight once you "lock on"
• You can keep dodging backwards or sideways to avoid damage
• Pre-charge Brain Burst with right mouse button

If you use Brain Burst often enough you will also increase your overall damage thanks to Warp Siphon, which grants you 3% Warp Charge extra damage (up to 4 times), the charges are retained for 20 seconds. This is fairly easy to do because there are hordes of enemies in Darktide.

How to manage Peril correctly

The Psyker in Darktide has a mechanic called "Peril" which basically tests their sanity. If you reach a 100% and are using another ability you are going to blow yourself up. Therefore, it is a wise decision to not let that happen, so what can you do?

When using Brain Burst you will gain Peril. if you use Brain Burst too often Peril will reach a 100%. By pressing the R button you can "meditate/quell" and lower your Peril. You can also just wait until it slowly lowers itself.

In combat you want to make sure to use the R button to "vent" Peril. If you are at 95% and you use Brain Burst you will hit a 100% Peril, it won't immediately kill you. Now you want to make sure to press the R button to quell a bit to get to 90% and then you can use Brain Burst again. This is an effective method to keep using Brain Burst as many times as possible without blowing yourself up. Of course you can also further lower the Peril if you want, but this is the most effective tactic to use it as often as possible in combat.

You can also manage your Peril easily with your Ultimate Psykinetic's Wrath. If you activate Psykinetic's Wrath you push back all enemies and your Peril drops to 0, basically restarting the whole process. 

• Use the R button to quell Peril
• If you are below 95% Peril and you use Brain Burst you won't die, even if you hit 100%. 
• If you enter the "kill myself" animation activate Psykinetic's Wrath to save yourself.
• Use Psykinetic's Wrath to instantly vent all Peril and push back enemies. 

What Talents Should you use as Psyker

Like with Vermintide 2 you also have a selection of Talents that you can use in Warhammer 40,000: Darktide. For this Psyker Build we want to use the following talents:

• Tier 1 - Kinetic Transference
• Tier 2 - Wrack and Ruin (Soulblaze: AoE DoT)
• Tier 3 - Psychic Communion
• Tier 4 - Mind in Motion
• Tier 5 - Kinetic Flayer
• Tier 6 - Kinetic Barrage

To quickly elaborate on what these talents do:

-Kinetic Transference-

Replenish 50% Toughness over 5 seconds on Brain Burst kill. Other classes have to use melee to replenish Toughness. We can simply keep popping heads with Braun Burst and recover 50% of Toughness alongside it. And we will be bursting a lot of heads!

-Wrack and Ruin-

Killing an Elite or Specialist with Brain Burst applies one stack of Soulblaze to all enemies within 3 meters of the target. Soulblaze makes enemies glow blue and they take damage over time for a short duration. 

-Psychic Communion-

Whenever you or an ally in Coherency kills an enemy, you have a 5% chance to gain a Warp Charge. Warp Charges give you 3% extra damage. And with this talent, you get them automatically. 

-Mind in Motion-

Your movement speed is not reduced while quelling Peril. This allows you to move around freely while you are quelling/venting Peril. That way it is even hard for the enemy to catch you.

-Kinetic Flayer-

All attacks have a 10% chance on hit to Brain Burst targets. This cannot occur while at critical Peril and has a cooldown of 15 seconds. This talent gives you free Brain Bursts, it has a fairly long cooldown though. 

-Kinetic Barrage-

For 10 seconds after using Psykinetic Wrath, your Brain Burst charges 25% faster and consumes 50% less Peril. This is one of the best talents that you can select. Often when you are using Psykinetic Wrath you are already under pressure. Now you also get to charge Brain Burst faster and more often in tough situations!

Of course you can play around with these talents as you wish. They don't make or break the Psyker Build for Darktide.

Weapons for the Psyker Build

The Psyker Build for Darktide can use various weapons. However, there are clear favorites that you want to pick for the build if possible.

The Psyker Build uses Brain Burst for long range damage, so what we are left with is mid range and close range. And the weapons that we are using are made for that type of combat. 

Note: You can also use other weapons such as the Staff if you want to do more AoE damage. However, the Psyker Build had most success with the following weapon combo.

Psyker Melee Weapon

To be able to defend ourselves from hordes of enemies we of course rely on our allies which are built for melee combat. However, we also want to deal massive area of effect damage in case we have to go melee.

Therefore we are using a Sword that has a lot of cleave damage. Any sword works as long as it has the cleave tag icon which is marked with the red circle in the image below.

Psyker Ranged Weapon

The Psyker Build in Darktide uses a Shotgun for mid ranged combat. The Shotgun is great at mid range and has amazing stopping power, knocking back even Elites and several enemies. It doesn't matter which Shotgun you pick, as long as the weapon has good Stopping Power. 

Tip: If you reload your Shotgun to max (9), you can actually press the secondary function button to load another shotgun shell into the weapon. Your first shot will deal twice the damage!

In smaller corridors, the shotgun is especially great when enemies attack you.

Psyker Gameplay in Darktide

Here is a gameplay video of the Psyker Build in Warhammer 40000: Darktide. The most important takeaway of the video is that I am focusing on taking out Elites with my Brain Burst attack. If you manage to learn that you will be good to go and of course try to stay close to your teammates.