Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is another new spin on the chaotic hack-and-slash genre of adventure games and brings new gameplay features that set it apart from Vermintide 2. Moving from Vermintide to Darktide, we have discovered many new tips and tricks that will shake up the horde-killing formula. In this short article, we will go over seven tips and tricks for Warhammer 40k: Darktide to prepare you for the fight on Tertium.
1. Sliding is Powerful
One of the first new features coming from Vermintide is the ability to crouch and slide. Sliding is extremely common in video games nowadays, but it’s still extremely strong in Darktide for a few major gameplay reasons.
Changing from a prolonged sprint into a quick slide can allow you to slip underneath enemies’ defenses and avoid a few shots at approaching ranged units, especially if you are out of ammo. Not only does it look cool, but it feels incredibly satisfying to slide underneath someone and slide their torso in half.
Another reason sliding is extremely powerful is the vastly increased amount of ranged enemies you will encounter throughout every mission. A new mechanic added to Darktide is Suppression, which occurs when you are overwhelmed by enemy gunfire.
Darktide’s tutorial level does a great job explaining this new feature. Yet, to summarize the tips provided by Darktide, if multiple ranged attacks are targeting you, you will be immobilized/disoriented, making it difficult to aim or block against other attacks. Utilizing your slide to maneuver from cover to cover is a safe bet against swarms of Scab Gunners or other ranged units.
2. Useful Tip: Know Your Grenades in Darktide
Grenades are not only a resource that needs to be managed, like health and ammo, but most of the four classes in Darktide rely on a supply of grenades. However, each grenade is different depending on the class. For example, the Veteran: Sharpshooter’s grenade is a standard frag grenade that detonates after a short time. The Zealot: Preacher has a Stumm grenade, which stuns enemies caught in its blast.
The Ogryn: Skullbreaker throws the entire box of grenades which hits a single target for lots of damage. Despite being a box of grenades, the grenades don’t explode unless you have a talent that modifies it. The Psyker: Psykinetic doesn’t have grenades and instead uses his brain burster ability.
Grenades are extremely strong and have different uses depending on your class, but since your amount of grenades is limited, it makes them a highly sought-after resource. Use them wisely since they are far more important than finding a bomb in Vermintide. Please share any extra grenade drops with your team; you’re more likely to make the experience more difficult to overcome if your teammates need more resources to keep up.
3. Knockback is Strong
Knockback is extremely strong, and those experienced with playing Vermintide 2 on Legend difficulty will agree. Some career abilities like the Psykers Psykinetic’s Wrath or the Ogryns Bull Rush have a knockback feature. Knockback is extremely powerful since it gives you a lot of space, knocks down weaker foes, staggers elites and bosses, and gives you a lot of breathing room.
It is excellent for disrupting hordes or pushing back enemies in order to revive your teammates. Knockback is also extremely powerful since, in Vermintide 2, you can use knockback to interrupt Life Leeches, Chaos Spawn’s grab, and many other moves that would deal tons of damage to your teammates. Take this Darktide tip to heart and be prepared to knock back elite units.
The Ogryns Bull Charge is great for reaching teammates who have been separated or charging into a squad of traitor guardsmen in the backline. The Psyker’s knockback is also great since it seems to have an incredibly huge range compared to Vermintide’s knockback abilities. Still, always appreciate crowd control abilities, especially when you run out of space to maneuver around.
4. A Fairly Obvious but Necessary Darktide Tip: Aim for the Head
While melee isn’t the primary focus of Darktide, it’s still important to note that melee strikes deal more damage if you aim for the head. It’s a small note, and for newer players, it’s an essential tip, especially if you aren’t familiar with playing any of Fat Shark’s previous titles.
It’s vital to know about the extra headshot damage in Darktide, especially when using a duelist weapon like the Combat Axe, which does significant single-target damage.
5. Don’t waste your Ammunition
As we previously mentioned in our Darktide grenade tips, resources are scarce, and ammunition is stretched thin in higher-difficulty modes. Know the strengths of your weapon and how much ammunition reserves you have. For example, the revolver doesn’t have a vast supply of ammo, but it is extremely powerful at eliminating one target at a time. Using the revolver to chip through hordes of enemies isn’t its strong suit, so it’s best to save your ammo for dealing with more significant threats.
In comparison, the Auto Pistol is excellent for suppressing enemies and hordes, but using it against a Scab Mauler or a Plague Ogryn does next to nothing. Darktide’s Veteran Sharpshooter class can resupply their ammunition with every elite kill, but aside from that small trait, there’s little you can do to replenish your ammo, which makes ammo pick-ups more important to scout out. Be sure to share any extra ammo you come across, especially since there’s an icon that turns yellow or red when your ally runs out of ammo.
6. Read your Talents
Another very common but necessary Darktide tip is always to read your talents. Every class in Darktide has a choice of equipping a new talent every five levels and commonly follows a theming. For example, every class’s first talent gives them an additional unique way to restore Toughness, or the final talent option modifies their ultimate ability.
This also goes for your abilities since many players in the Darktide beta test didn’t know the Ogryns grenade didn’t explode or the Zealot’s ultimate ability fully restored your Toughness. Take the time to carefully read your talents to find which option fits your playstyle.
7. Know your Weapons
Lastly, inspect your weapons before starting a mission. In Darktide, many weapons have variants that alter their heavy and light attack chains. For example, the Katachan Knife’s variants can change its moveset from horde-clearing swipes to single-target overhead swings. Nothing worse than dropping into a difficult mission and realizing that your weapons moveset changed when you equipped an upgrade.
Inspect your weapons after upgrading or purchasing a new weapon from the vendor. Learning your weapon’s movesets is also extremely important since some weapon combos perform best when interrupted or swapped after a few attacks.
For example, if your weapons light combo is two sweeping slashes, then an overhead, blocking after the second attack to reset the chain, will significantly increase your horde cleaving power, rather than waiting for the third attack to finish.
Wrap Up of our Tips and Tricks for Darktide
That’s our short guide to mastering some tips and tricks for Darktide. We will have more information to showcase as we get more experience with the game and get our hands on the 70+ weapons and the entire talent roster for all the characters. But, for now, these are some pieces of advice that will improve your odds of survival when surviving in the depths of Tertium.
If you are finding that you need more help surviving the hordes, you may also want to check out our companion guide to combat in Darktide.
Good hunting, Rejects!
