Like in life, Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is all about trust. Trust in your teammates, your weapons, and your abilities is important when you’re thinning the hordes that have overrun the Hive City of Tertium. But the Trust system is also the primary mechanic for leveling up your operative.
Your operative’s level is the Trust level you’ve obtained with the Inquisition while stationed on the Mourningstar, the station that serves as the main hub for missions and gear while playing Darktide. By leveling up your Trust, players will unlock new weapon families, features, and services on the Mourningstar, perks, and more.
Players can also equip their operatives with different cosmetics, filling slots for upper body, lower body, back accessory, head, frame, and insignia. They can equip camo skins for their weapons, too.
Looking to earn Trust and unlock new cosmetics? Here’s how.
How to earn Trust and raise your level in Darktide
You can earn Trust and increase your Trust level just by playing the game, simple as that. The more higher-difficulty missions you complete, the more Trust you will earn afterward. Additionally, players can earn additional Trust during missions by completing secondary objectives if they are available.
Based on the missions we’ve played, it doesn’t look like individual performance during missions affects how much Trust you receive, so focus on accomplishing the mission rather than seeking personal glory.
How to unlock, earn, and acquire cosmetics in Darktide
There are numerous ways to acquire different cosmetics while playing Darktide.
Raising Trust level with each class
As you progress through the main story and increase your Trust level for each class, you will earn basic cosmetic items for each class.
Completing Penances (challenges)
Penances are Darktide’s in-game challenge system, providing numerous milestones for players to reach by completing various mission types, offensive and defensive feats, and more.
Specifically, players can earn more class-specific cosmetics by completing individual Penances while playing each class. Each class’s Penance category allows them to have four sets of upper and lower body cosmetics, plus a headpiece.
Watch to earn Twitch drops on Dec. 2 and 3
Players can link their Steam/Game Pass accounts to their Twitch account, then watch any Darktide stream that says it has drops enabled from Dec. 2 to 3. Players will earn some cosmetics and potentially some Aquilas (the game’s in-game premium currency).
Anyone with a connected account that watches for two hours can earn up to four different weapon camo skins.
Purchase with earned gold or premium currency
Players can use gold earned from missions to buy basic cosmetics for operatives and weapons from the Armoury Exchange. Multiple missions will have to be completed first to purchase a single cosmetic here.
The flashier cosmetics can be bought from the Commodore’s Vestures, which serves as the game’s in-game store. Players can purchase Aquilas with real money, then buy specific cosmetics or bundles for each class. Players can earn some Aquilas from Twitch drops, or if they bought the Imperial edition.
