Are you looking to build the ultimate Psyker loadouts in Warhammer 40K: Darktide? Then you’ve come to the right place! Psykers are powerful characters that can bring untold destruction, but only if they have the proper weapons and equipment. Choosing your weaponry for a strong Psyker build is essential for success – we’ll help you do just that with this guide. Here you will find our top 6 best weapons for any Psyker loadouts, so strap in and let’s dive into the world of Darktide!
What Makes Psykers Awesome to Build in Darktide
Psykers are the spell-casters of the Warhammer 40K universe. They draw their powers from the Immaterium, also known as the Warp. These Psykers wield extraordinary psychokinetic powers, including the ability to crush their opponents’ skulls with their minds. However, this power significantly damages the user’s mental state or may even bring forth Daemons from the Warp.
Unsanctioned Psykers can be dangerous, and there are many reasons why these powerful spellcasters are hunted. Those who survive can become powerful assets in battle. Darktide has several weapons that help the Psyker become a versatile caster capable of performing multiple roles if equipped with the right staff.
Psyker’s Top 5 Best Weapons in Darktide
1. Catachan Mk I “Devil’s Claw” Sword
The Devil’s Claw Sword is a basic melee weapon found throughout three of the four classes in Darktide’s class roster. Despite its size, this oversized knife packs quite a punch and does an impressive job of cutting through hordes. We chose the Mk I version for the Psyker because we thought its Relentless heavy attacks would help create space for the Psyker so they could continue to Quell and cast spells.
The Devil’s Claw Sword offers a lot of mobility and has a relatively high dodge cap, allowing you to easily slip away or push hordes back. Its Special Action is Parry, an excellent defensive option that enables a highly damaging counterattack.
Other versions of the Devil’s Claw Sword provide better single-target damage or cleaving, but we found this to be one of the best weapons in Darktide for Psykers since they need more extra defense to stay alive.
For blessings, we recommend Savage Sweep and Devastating Strike. These weapon blessings pair exceptionally well with each other and help offset some of the weapon’s downsides.
2. Obscurus Mk II Blaze Force Sword
The Force Sword is a weapon exclusive to the Psyker, allowing them to channel the powers of the Warp like a Force Staff. This fast-acting weapon combines Assassin light and Strikedown heavy melee attack types in Darktide.
The Psyker also has a unique blocking animation where they create a small barrier that blocks melee attacks. Despite its appearance, you must get the Deflector Blessing to block ranged attacks.
Still, this special block animation also allows you to push and knock back foes further than a standard weapons shove, but it generates Peril. On top of this, the Active ability on the Force Sword empowers the weapon with the Warp, making your next attack deal tons of damage at the cost of a decent amount of Peril.
However, this weapon’s downside is that the light and heavy attacks strike with a vertical or uppercut strike, making this weapon sometimes hard to wield. Also, if you shove or use the Active ability too much, you can overload your Psyker, resulting in them exploding.
If you can manage these few downsides, this is an excellent Psyker weapon in Darktide. We recommend using the Slaughterer, Shred, Unstable Power, Exorcist, or Deflector Blessings.
Related Guide: What is Weapon Rating in Darktide?
3. Maccabian Mk II Duelling Sword
The Duelling Sword is surprisingly a Psyker exclusive. Yet, it’s one of the best melee weapons you can equip. We specifically picked the Mk II version since it has the best moveset. The Duelling Sword has loads of different stats, including Finesse and Penetration, plus it’s a Swiftstrike weapon.
All these weapon stats combined give the weapon an unmatched light attack flurry that can flick the heads off Poxwalkers with ease and heavy thrust attacks that can puncture through thick armor.
The Duelling Sword is pretty good when used defensively. On top of a high mobility stat, a high dodge cap, and excellent Stamina efficiency, it’s a fantastic weapon, but don’t let the low max Stamina fool you. The Duelling Sword is great for all melee combat situations, and we highly recommend it for Psyker characters in Darktide. For Blessings, we suggest using Rampage and Shred.
4. Equinox Mk IV Voidstrike Force Staff
All Force Staffs completely shift how a Psyker plays and what role they excel in combat. The Voidstrike Staff is one of the most versatile staffs a Psyker can have. The Voidstrike Staff’s secondary charges up a giant orb that blasts through dozens of non-armored enemies or knocks down and damages the first armored target struck.
This staff is terrific for horde clear, allowing you to easily take out 20 or more Poxwalkers in a single charged attack or continuously knock down Elites and Special enemies in Darktide.
It’s fantastic for all forms of combat, and its charged attack is great for sniping distant targets. That is why it has easily made our list of the best Psyker weapons in Darktide. This staff also has a relatively low Peril cost, allowing you to spam charged secondary attacks repeatedly. For Blessings, we recommend using Transfer Peril, Warp Flurry, or Warp Nexus.
5. Rifthaven Mk II Purgatus Force Staff
Players often compare the Purgatus Force Staff with the Zealot’s weapon Flamer, and while they both use flame attacks, they operate slightly differently. This Force Staff uses Soul Blaze, which stacks much higher than other flame stacks, theoretically giving it more damage. Both the light and charged secondary attack can push back lesser enemies, giving you the power to control hordes of enemies while burning them to ash.
This weapon is a little underwhelming on lower difficulties, yet we assure you the Purgatus Staff grows in strength when put against more enemies on Heresy or Damnation. The only downside to this weapon is you don’t have the standard Force Staff light attack, making you rely on your Brain Burst to eliminate any ranged threats. For Blessings, we recommend using Warp Nexus and Warp Flurry on this great Darktide Psyker weapon.
For more information on how to complete a Psyker Soulblaze build in Darktide, check out our companion guide.
6. Nomanus Mk VI Surge Force Staff
The Surge Force Staff is one of the best crowd-control tools in Darktide. This lightning staff can stun Elites and Specials for several seconds on a fly charges secondary attack, allowing your team to dispatch them quickly. It’s especially noteworthy with certain enemies. For example, the Bulwark will lower their shield when stunned, and you can hit Gunners while they are behind cover.
This is a fantastic crowd-control weapon, but there are a few heavy downsides. First, the lightning radius is very small and doesn’t do much damage even when the weapon has bonus critical hit chance scaling.
This makes the weapon underwhelming against hordes and is mainly ideal for stunning priority targets. Still, it offers unparalleled crowd control for your team and can save your allies whenever they become overwhelmed.
We still recommend Warp Flurry and Warp Nexus for Blessings because there are limited options for Force Staff blessings.
Disclaimer for our Darktide Psyker Weapons List
Before we conclude, we want to give a quick disclaimer for our rankings of the best Psyker weapons in Darktide for your loadouts. We are not ranking these weapons in order; we think our choices are currently among the best options for Psykers to equip.
We also made our picks based on how each weapon performs on Heresy difficulty and above. Every weapon in Darktide is at least moderately viable, and if you enjoy using a weapon that’s not mentioned on our list, that’s completely fine.
Related Article: What is Rending in Darktide?
Wrap Up on the Best Weapons for Psykers in Darktide
Those are our picks for the best Psyker weapons in Darktide. The Psyker is an amazing class that can easily eliminate Elites and Specialist enemies with or without a Force Staff. These staffs mainly fixate on a Psykers play style for more damage or crowd control, but they are becoming somewhat underpowered due to recent nerfs.
Still, don’t let the recent nerfs put you off from trying this extremely fun class. Manage your Peril, and stay in the backline so you can provide the specialized Warp power only a Pyker can wield. If you enjoyed our picks, check out our other lists for the best Ogryn weapons in Darktide or the best curio perks in the game.
Good hunting, Rejects!