Which race to choose in Warhammer 40,000: Darktide

Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is the latest entry into the Warhammer franchise that spans several games in a variety of genres. With most of their games being either real-time strategy, turn-based strategy, or ARPG, Darktide is a first-person action-adventure game similar to the likes of their previous entries, the Warhammer 40,000: Vermintide series.

The mechanics of Darktide are also quite similar to Vermintide since you cooperate with allies to fight back hordes of AI-controlled enemies. These enemies attack in waves and you can team up with up to three other human-controlled players to drive them back. The game also gives you four different choices of characters for you to pick your ideal class, with each one suiting a specific playstyle.

Regardless of which class you choose to play, the premise of the game remains the same. There is a supposed Chaos infestation led by the Chaos god, Nurgle on the planet of Atoma Prime in the Hive City of Tertium and your Inquisitorial squad is tasked to contain it. Depending on the class you play, your role in battle will vary, which is why it is best to learn everything about each class before you begin playing.

Warhammer 40,000: Darktide Classes

As of the day of launch, there are four distinct classes to choose from in Warhammer 40,000: Darktide. Each class has predefined qualities and abilities and is fully customizable as per your choice. Customizable options include your choice of class, a detailed appearance editor, and your preferred gender for your class. As far as the classes themselves go, they are as follows.

• Ogryn: The hulking bruiser of the squad.
• Psyker: The psionic offensive specialist.
• Veteran: The precision sharpshooter who exploits weaknesses.
• Zealot: The fanatic that blazes a trail through the battlefield.

While each class is distinctly different from the others, there are a few similarities between them such as having a regenerating shield. Each class also comes equipped with its own melee and ranged weapon, class passives, unique ability, aura, and tactical action. The unique ability is the class’ active skill and the aura is the team-oriented passive skill while the tactical action can vary based on the class chosen.

To better understand these classes, we have broken them down in more detail.

Ogryn: Skullbreaker

Ogryns use their massive size to deal heavy damage in close-quarters combat while also protecting their team with their high defense and beneficial auras.

• Strengths:
  • High defense
  • Great horde control
  • Powerful team-based aura
• Loadout:
  • Melee – “Brunt Special” Mk I Bully Club
  • Ranged – Lorenz Mk V Kickback
• Ability:
  • Bull Rush – Charges all enemies and knocks them back, increases attack and movement speed by 25 percent for five seconds.
• Passives:
  • Excessive Force – 25 percent increased chance to cause stagger (for melee).
  • Loyal Protector – Cannot be interrupted while assisting or reviving allies.
  • Thick Skin – Reduces toughness and health damage taken by 20 percent.
• Tactical Action:
  • Big Box of Hurt – Tosses a box of grenades, dealing heavy damage.
• Aura:
  • All allies get an increased 10 percent bonus to their heavy melee damage.

Psyker: Psykinetic

Psykers are the best crowd-controllers in the game, dealing heavy area-of-effect damage and buffing themselves up while also providing strong elite-destroying potential to the team.

• Strengths:
  • Powerful elite killer
  • Buffs himself by blowing up enemy brains
• Loadout:
  • Melee – Catachan Mk I “Devil’s Claw” Sword
  • Ranged – Accatran MG Mk II Heavy Laspistol
• Ability:
  • Psykinetic’s Wrath – Discharge Warp Charges, creating a wave of energy that knocks back all enemies and reduces your Peril level.
• Passives:
  • Battle Meditation – Provides a 10 percent chance to lower your Peril level by 10 percent each time you kill an enemy.
  • Warp Siphon – Brain Burst kills provide a three percent stacking damage buff, up to four instances.
• Tactical Action:
  • Brain Burst – Target an enemy to cause their brains to spontaneously explode.
• Aura:
  • All allies get an increased 10 percent bonus to their damage against elite enemies.

Veteran: Sharpshooter

Veterans stay at a safe distance and snipe their enemies quickly while targeting enemy weaknesses and setting priority targets up for the team to kill.

• Strengths:
  • Easy to play and master
  • Targets enemy weaknesses to burst them down quickly
  • Consistent headshots to shred through the toughest of enemies
• Loadout:
  • Melee – Standard-issue Munitorum Sapper Shovel
  • Ranged – Kantrael MG Ia Infantry Lasgun
• Ability:
  • Volley Fire – Increases your ranged damage by 50 percent for five seconds. Also allows you to set all specialists and elites, with the exception of Ogryns, as priority targets.
• Passives:
  • Be Prepared – All ranged weapons have a 40 percent increased ammo capacity.
  • Make Every Shot Count – Adds a 15 percent increase in damage to shots targeted at enemy weak spots.
• Tactical Action:
  • Frag Grenade – Tosses a timed grenade that creates a delayed explosion, dealing heavy damage.
• Aura:
  • Killing elite enemies will restore some ammo to you and your allies.

Zealot: Preacher

Zealots are berserkers by nature, jumping into the fray without fear. They bask in their pain, turning it into additional attack speed and damage while they temporarily cheat death.

• Strengths:
  • Increased damage with lower health
  • Likely the last to die in battle
  • High attack speed
• Loadout:
  • Melee – Rashad Mk II Combat Axe
  • Ranged – Ius Mk III Shredder Autopistol
• Ability:
  • Chastise the Wicked – Charges into an enemy with a 25 percent increased damage buff on your next attack. The charge also replenishes your toughness.
• Passives:
  • Martyrdom – Gains a stackable five damage buff each time you lose 15 health. This buff stacks up to three times.
  • Swift Exorcism – Grants a permanent 10 percent increase to your attack speed.
  • Until Death – When you take a lethal blow every 90 seconds, you become invulnerable for the next five seconds instead of dying.
• Tactical Action:
  • Stun Grenade – Tosses a grenade that stuns all enemies caught in its blast radius.
• Aura:
  • All allies get an increased seven percent bonus to their toughness damage reduction.

Which class should you choose?

Now that you know what each class specializes in and what their strengths are, picking one purely boils down to a matter of personal preference. How do you like playing squad-based co-op games?

• If you prefer being the front-lining tank and absorbing damage for your team to keep them alive, Ogryn is definitely the way to go.
• If you like dealing consistent damage from a distance and killing elite enemies off quickly while disabling them, Psyker is your choice.
• If you like dealing burst damage by exploiting enemy weaknesses with rapid reload times, you should probably go with the Veteran.
• If you prefer being in the thick of battle, relishing the thrill of surviving death and outputting heavy damage constantly, Zealot would be your main class.

Now that you know which class works best for your playstyle, we encourage you to go out there and practice your chosen class to your heart’s content. Warhammer 40,000: Darktide provides a lot of quality content with even more to come down the line, so keep playing your favorite class while we update you as new content is added.