Summary
Warhammer 40,000: Darktideis out, and it’s the newest installment into a very popular yet pretty niche sub-genre of games. These types of games are entirely focused around progressing through a series of levels in a squad and fighting through hundreds of enemies while doing so. Other games in this genre include titles likeLeft 4 Dead,Back 4 Blood,World War Z Aftermath, and of courseWarhammer Vermintide 2.
Now, in thiswell-received yet admittedly flawed game, players have 4 different character types to choose from, the Ogryn Skullbreaker, Psyker Psykinetic, Veteran Sharpshooter, and the Zealot Preacher. Each of these classes has its own unique playstyle and mechanics. So, with that in mind, let’s go over some experiences with each class inWarhammer 40,000: Darktidethat players will feel the biggest hit of dopamine going through.
Updated October 10th, 2023 by Jacob Buchalter:With the massive Class Overhaul update that Fatshark has introduced to Warhammer 40k: Darktide, each of the four classes now has their own handful of highly varied builds instead of just a couple of slight variations. And, thankfully, it seemed that the design mantra behind this long-awaited Class Overhaul was making sure the new changes felt powerful and fun more than they were balanced and flawless. Because of this, players who are coming back to the game (or experiencing it for the first time throughsomething like Xbox Game Pass) have been discovering entirely new sides of their Rejects to enjoy. So, let’s comb through some of the general opinions on this update so far and pick out some of the new satisfying aspects each class has to offer.
12Psyker: The New Assail Blitz Ability = Yondu’s Yaka Arrow
First up, let’s talk about one of the Psyker’s new Blitz abilities, Assail. This ability takes up the 3rd weapon slot by default and replaces the Brain Burst slot players are probably used to having. When equipped, the Psyker pulls out a bundle of floating Warp Crystals, and can either throw them generally at whatever enemies they’re looking at or they can right-click to specifically aim at far-away targets. The thing is, these Crystals aren’t just standard projectiles, they literally follow the Psyker’s line of sight while they’re active.
Not only that, but the sheer amount of damage they can put out (with the right build) easily outclasses the DPS potential of Brain Burst. While this overpowered damage does fall off on the harder difficulty levels, everyone trying out the Psyker has been truly channeling that iconic scene of Yondu from the firstGuardians of the Galaxymovie when he uses his Yaka Arrow to quickly take out a whole slew of highly-trained enemies. At the end of the day, it’s just a Psyker throwing some Warp Crystals around, they’re not anywhere near the level ofsome of the strongest Psykers inWarhammer, but mechanically this ability just feels so strong.
11Ogryn: The Right Weapon + Point-Blank Barrage = 1 Happy Ogryn Killing Machine
Before this Class Overhaul, the Ogryn did have some pretty powerful DPS-heavy builds, but for the most part, the class was used as a wall, swarm handler, or wave clearer. However, now that the new Talent Trees are out, players are quickly discovering that Ogyrn has the ability to absolutely shred waves of enemies using the right Talents. The Combat Ability Point-Blank Barrage, in particular, plays a huge part in this.
When active, this Ability can increase the Ogryn’s rate-of-fire, majorly increase their reload speed,add more Rending damage to their shots, and even regain Toughness for the Ogryn while they’re using it. Combine this Combat Ability with either the Krourk Mk V Twin-Linked Heavy Stubber or Lorenz Mk VI Rumbler and Ogryns pretty much have free reign of the battlefield to clear waves of Scabs, pick off elite enemies, mow through monstrocities, and more.
10Zealot: Just Swinging The Eviscerator Around
The Zealot’s Eviscerator was one of the most fun melee weapons to use inDarktidelong before the Class Overhaul update. Thankfully, after the update, this weapon wasn’t ruined but is instead just as fun but with a stronger Zealot now swinging it. Remember, the Eviscerator is literally a gigantic greatsword-sized chainsaw blade that excels in single target shred when revved up and cleaving through waves of enemies any other time.
So, for the Zealot who wants to be in the thick of it, there’s no weapon as satisfying as this one. Additionally, with all the new Talents incentivizing Zealots who stay near groups of enemies such as ‘Enemies Within, Enemies Without’, ‘Thy Wrath Be Swift’, and ‘Punishment’ the Eviscerator feels stronger than ever before once the Zealot gets all their buffs built up.
9Ogryn: Simplicity At Its Best With Rock, Box, & Boom
Out of all the playable ‘rejects’ inWarhammer 40k: Darktidethe Ogryn players seem to be the ones most likely to roleplay. They all love to name their big lovable oafs the most basic and simple names, they love to speak in broken English when using voice chat, and they love the idea of a big guy swinging around a stick and throwing rocks in a setting with space magic and highly advanced technology.
So, when the Class Overhaul came out and players saw that Ogryns now had access to not only a big Box of Hurt but also an Ogryn Sized Grenade and a large Rock as their Blitz ability, they were overjoyed. And, regardless of which one the player ends up picking (between Big Friendly Rock, Frag Bomb, and Bombs Away), all three Blitz options are just incredibly fun to use.
8Ogryn: The ‘Impacts’ Of Each Blitz Ability
In the initial release ofDarktide, Classes and Talents were pretty simple (arguably ‘too’ simple). After October’s Class Overhaul update, however, each of the Reject classes has a lot more variability in their potential builds. All that said, Ogryn’s ‘Big Box of Hurt’ is still around, and is actually better than it ever was before. Initially, this was the Ogryn’s Blitz Ability that allowed them to chuck a box of grenades at an enemy (all with their pins still attached) for high single-target damage. Post Class Overhaul, the Big Friendly Rock Blitz Ability is now the go-to single-target choice, the Frag Bomb is the AoE choice, and the Bombs Away variant of the Big Box of Hurt is sort of in the middle.
Ignoring all their modifiers, damage numbers, and utility, however, all three of these Blitz Choices have incredibly satisfying visual and audio effects when they hit their intended target. The Big Friendly Rock is hilarious in every sense of the word and has this thick ‘thudding’ noise when it hits an enemy, the Frag Bomb is incredibly loud and fills the entire screen with the explosion, and the Bombs Away Box of Hurt has it’s iconic thud noise when hitting enemies as well as a bunch of new little explosions when all the grenades inside hit the ground.
7Psyker: Being The ‘Point & Kill’ Elite Enemy Killer
The Psyker Psykinetic isDarktide’sversion of a mage, this is pretty obvious as soon as players see any footage of the Class. This Warp-sensitive individual can channel the extra-dimensional Warp energy into all sorts of miraculous spells using staves, but their only option for the longest time outside of this was the Brain Burst. Brain Burst was (and still is) this absurdly powerful single-target ability where the Psyker literally pops the enemy’s head using Warp energy. In a gameplay sense, this usually meant the Psyker was often the ally that would quickly take care of Elite enemies as long as people made sure to ping them.
Being the one that the giant Ogryn, obviously capable Veteran, and seemingly invincible Zealot rely on to take out the most important Elite enemies (such as Snipers, Gunners, and so on) is incredibly satisfying. And thankfully, the Class Overhaul gave Psykersa ton more build optionsas well as a whole other equally powerful option for taking out Elites using the Assail Blitz Ability.
6Zealot: Even More Grenades For More Fun
For a long while, afterDarktidefirst came out, Zealot was in a bit of a weird spot. A lot of their passive abilities didn’t quite work how the descriptions made it seem, they were constantly interrupted during their Chastise the Wicked Combat Ability, and it seemed like they just needed some dedicated fine-tuning. This isn’t to say that Zealots weren’t powerful, as in the hands of the right playerwith the right build, they could easily become arguably too powerful. But, compared to the other 3 Classes, it always felt like Zealot’s kit didn’t mesh as organically as the others. Nowadays, however, things are different.
Not only didthe Class Overhaul give Zealot players a lot more room to experimentwith builds, playstyles, and more, but it also gave them two other Blitz Abilities to try out. Stunstorm Grenades' pre-Class Overhaul were incredible and could basically nullify any hectic situation. This is still true, but Zealots can also choose Immolation Grenades to easily clear out waves of Unarmored Enemies or use Blades of Faith to pick off tougher enemies. In essence, the satisfying part is the same as it ever was, as it feels incredibly good as a Zealot to have a quick and easy response for stressful scenarios, whether this is stunning a group of tougher enemies, melting a mob of Unarmored Enemies, or chucking a knife into the face of a Crusher.
5Veteran: Doing The Psyker’s Job For Them
This is probably the first example of satisfaction from griefing other players on here, but most of the time it isn’t done intentionally. To put it simply, both the Veteran Sharpshooter and the Psyker Psykinetic are fantastic Rejects for taking out Elite enemies. But, the Psyker’s primary function in a squad used to be focused on clearing out these Elites, while the Sharpshooter is more multi-faceted and based around general ranged cover-fire and enemy gunner suppression. However, post-Class Overhaul, Psyker now has more options in terms of playstyle thankfully.
All that said, there will often be times when both a Psyker and Sharpshooter are in the same game and every time the Psyker is just about to finish casting their Brain Burst, the Sharpshooter will, intentionally or not, snipe the Elite or Special Enemy they’re currently channeling Brain Burst onwith a few quick Lasgun shots. This is all coming from a Psyker main, and funnily enough it’s not just the Veteran that can sub out the Psyker for this ‘Elite Killer’ role now, as Ogryn’s Big Friendly Rock and Zealot’s Blades of Faith also do the job comparably well.
4Ogryn: Being The ‘Rock’ Of The Group
To reiterate,each reject inDarktidehas its own ‘role’ to fill in a squadfor the most part, and it used to be that, while possible to build characters in unique ways, each reject would typically end up filling their intended role. However, thanks to the Class Overhaul that’s constantly being mentioned, each reject has a lot more roomto tailor their Talent Trees into entirely unique roles. But, somehow, regardless of what build the Ogyrn goes for, they almost always still end up as the foundation of the group.
Maybe the Ogryn’s size has a bigger impact on the mentality of their allies than anyone expected, but it’s probably just due to the fact that regardless of the build, the Ogryn is always tanky, and always very easy for allies to see in the middle of a horde. This is all to say that, as an Ogryn player, it’s nice having this constant sense of satisfaction from having almost every squad (pre-made or not) gather around the Ogryn.
3Psyker: The Option To Work Well In A Secondary-Tank Role
First off, before even getting into this next specific case of satisfaction, let’s just mention how amazing it is that Psyker’s are still able to spec into off-tank builds inDarktide.When this concept was first discovered by the player base, it honestly felt a bit unintended. Sure the Kinetic Deflection passive was obviously intended, but it really seemed like Fatshark wasn’t initially aware of just how instantly this passive made Psyker’s able to easily tank entire hordes or even Monstrocities. Essentially, what this specialization boils down to is that when Kinetic Deflection was active (as wellas a few specific Cuio effects), players could use their Peril to block attacks instead of Stamina,and with the right Talents based around Peril Quelling, it was incredibly difficult for enemies to get Psykers to Critical Peril levels. This essentially meant Psyker’s had an ability to infinitely block enemy attacks, as long as they were careful.
All of this is still in the game after the Class Overhaul update, it’s just that Kinetic Deflection is now a bit out of the way for most builds on the Talent Tree. However, it’s not ‘that’ out of the way, and it’s easily worth a couple of extra Talent Points to give the player’s Psyker the ability to just hold off a Plague Ogryn on their own without really worrying about losing any health or even Toughness.
