Hey Darktide gamers, it’s time to level up your gaming skills! Are you looking for the best perks to improve weapons in Darktide? Whether you are just starting out or a seasoned veteran of the game, this blog post is designed to give you all the information you need on weapon perks.
We will cover which ones are best for each type of firearm and what advantages these perks can provide so that you can tailor your loadout for any given situation. So grab your mouse or controller, ready your reflexes, and let’s dive right into selecting weapon the best weapon perks in Darktide!
All Available Weapon Perks in Darktide
Warhammer 40K: Darktide has a multitude of perks and blessings that dramatically impact your weapons and gameplay style. As your character earns trust and progresses into Darktide’s late game, you will discover rarer weapons with blessings and perks. We have already covered the best weapon blessings in Darktide in a previous article.
Even if there are far fewer weapon perks in the game, we still thought it worth talking about them and highlighting the better ones you should look out for. But before we begin, we will quickly list all currently available weapon perks in Warhammer 40k: Darktide.
- + Melee Damage (Elites)
- + Ranged Damage (Elites)
- + Stamina
- +Stamina (Weapon is Active)
- + Sprint Efficiency
- + Reload Speed
- + Attack Speed
- + Crit Chance
- + Block Efficiency
- + Melee Critical Hit Chance
- + Ranged Critical Strike Chance
- + Damage (Carapace Armoured Enemies)
- + Damage (Flak Armoured Enemies)
- + Damage (Infested Enemies)
- + Damage (Maniacs)
- + Damage (Unarmoured Enemies)
- + Damage (Unyielding Enemies)
- + Melee Damage (Specialists)
- + Melee Damage (Groaners, Poxwalkers)
- + Melee Weak Spot Damage
- + Ranged Damage (Specialists)
- + Ranged Weak Spot Damage
These are all the available perks you can find in Darktide’s weapon arsenal. Note that not all weapons can obtain all these stats, even if a weapon has a special melee attack.
The 6 Best Darktide Perks
1. +Damage (Unyielding Enemies)
Darktide’s Elite units are very commonly unyielding enemies; they are highly resistant to being staggered or knocked back by your weapons and abilities. The list of Unyielding enemies includes:
- Crusher
- Bulwark
- Reaper
- Mutant
- Rager
Ragerers and Mutants are far more common than Bulwarks and Crushers, and they are both extremely difficult to keep at bay. Mutants are especially difficult since you require an outrageous amount of stagger to knock them off-balance. Otherwise, you are forced to dodge them.
When compared to other perks, we found that having bonus damage against Unyielding enemies makes it a bit easier to overcome them whenever they break your frontlines, since their main role is to separate you from your allies.
2. Increased Samina Perks in Darktide
There are technically two different weapon perks in Darktide that will provide you stamina, and while both provide the same benefits, we ultimately enjoy having a consistent amount of Stamina.
Regardless of whether you choose increased Stamina or Weapon (Stamina is Active), you will have more pips in your bar to block, push, and sprint for longer durations.
There isn’t a significant difference between having bonus stamina or having it limited to when your weapon is equipped, but regardless, more stamina has a substantial impact on your gameplay.
Related Guide: In-Depth Warhammer 40,000: Darktide Beginners Guide
3. Block Efficiency
Block Efficiency is extremely important and often underestimated by newer players. Veteran Vermintide 2 players won’t hesitate to tell you that Block Efficiency is a lifesaver.
Having high Block Efficiency results in your character taking less Stamina to block attacks. If you have low maximum Stamina, increasing your Block Efficiency will allow you to take more hits from all enemy types before your guard is broken.
Block Efficiency also makes tanks even harder to break. An Ogryn with a Slab Shield and high Block Efficiency can guard against anything Darktide throws at you, even a Daemonhost. Trust us; you’ll want to prioritize this weapon perk once you reach Heresy Difficulty in Darktide.
4. Weak Spot Damage
Weak Spot Damage can be applied on melee and ranged weapons, increasing their damage for hitting Weak Spots. A lot of Blessings in Darktide require you to land Weak Spot kills to activate them. On top of that, striking their head always does more damage. Stacking this Perk might not be beneficial if you use a weapon that has difficulty landing headshots, like Force Staffs or Flamers.
5. Crit Chance
Having a higher critical hit chance in Darktide is always beneficial, even if you can only obtain around 5%. Still, an extra 5% critical chance is helpful and actually influences your damage more than you might think, especially if you have a weapon with high fire rate or attack speed.
There’s a reason why nearly every Vermintide 2 weapon build recommends rolling for that 5% crit chance, and we are sure Darktide will be no different.
6. Attack Speed
Lastly, there’s Attack Speed. It’s absolutely no surprise that we recommend obtaining extra Attack Speed. Whether it’s a ranged or a melee weapon, having more Attack Speed simply means having a higher damage output.
The 3 Worst Darktide Weapon Perks that We Don’t Recommend
While the majority of Darktide’s stats are beneficial, there are a few options we recommend avoiding. Of course, this is purely our opinion, and if you do enjoy having these stats on your weapons, more power to you.
1. Sprint Efficiency
Having more Sprint Efficiency means you can sprint for longer and further. Those who have played a lot of Darktide will know that you don’t usually sprint an extraordinary amount during combat. This stat mainly influences movement outside of combat or during objectives like scanning objects.
2. +Damage (Groaners, Poxwalkers) + (Infested Enemies)
When it comes to Darktide’s most common enemies—Poxwalkers, Groaners, and typical Infested enemies—there isn’t a significant reason to increase your damage towards them. Whether playing on the lowest or the highest difficulty, you won’t have a problem dealing with Darktide’s cannon fodder.
As long as your weapon is not underpowered for the difficulty you are playing on, you should not have a problem with Poxwalkers. That being said, investing in this weapon perk in Darktide is somewhat of a waste, and we recommend investing in other stats.
Related Article: What are Wounds in Darktide?
3. Reload Speed
Lastly, there is Reload Speed. This last stat is somewhat subjective, depending on the gun. Weapons such as the Heavy Stubber could benefit from a faster reload, but most of Darktide’s arsenal does not necessarily require extra Reload Speed.
This is a personal preference, but we don’t see many situations where we would want a faster reload speed instead of more damage or a higher critical chance.
Again, we can see this stat becoming useful on a lot of Ogryn guns or other weapons such as the Flamer, but Lasguns or Autoguns don’t need this buff. At the time of writing this, Force Staffs can also gain the Reload Speed stat via weapon perks in Darktide, which seems absolutely pointless since these weapons have a unique stat called Quell Speed. It is a small yet humorous note to point out.
Refining Weapon Perks in Darktide
We also want to point out one part of the upcoming crafting system in Darktide. By visiting the Shrine of the Omnissiah, you can select the “Refine Item” option to upgrade or reroll your perks.
We wanted to draw your attention to this since maximizing your weapon perks in Darktide will have a major influence on how and when you play over time. Right now, it’s possible to upgrade these advantages up to four times, making them more powerful by increasing their percentages even further.
Conclusion on the Best Weapon Perks in Darktide
These are our picks for the best weapon perks in Darktide. Our list was mainly focused on the best perks to obtain overall across all weapons and classes in Darktide. We encourage you to try out new things if you find a perk that fits your loadout, weapon, or play style. After all, Darktide still has a lot of potential for diverse builds and playstyles to customize your Rejects. One of our favorites is the Psyker Soulblaze build in Darktide.
If you have enjoyed our brief look into Darktide’s stats and want to learn more, then check out our guides for Weapon Rating and Power in Darktide.
Good hunting, Rejects!