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Warhammer 40,000: Darktide has a lot of enemies – heck, it has a lot of enemy types. Sure the majority of the things you are killing are throwaway chaff, but interlaced in the horde are powerful enemies known as Specialists. These enemies are a cut above the rest, and they can very quickly ruin your day if left alive for too long.
Specialists, as the name implies, are enemies who specialise in one thing, and that thing is throwing a spanner in the works. They will either disrupt your team, pray on stragglers, or simply deal a lot of damage. Thankfully, most of them lack resilience, so providing you can spot them, you should be able to kill them.
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Gunner
Gunners are one of your most common Specialists, and they often come in multiples. Gunners pack a large machine gun and will use this to pelt your team with suppressing fire. This will make it much harder to fight and move, forcing players to seek cover to take out the Gunner before they take too much damage.
Gunners will also hang around other ranged enemies, making them especially dangerous to take out in close combat as you could take substantial damage closing the distance. The best way to kill them is to suppress them or to snipe them with a Psyker, Grenade Gauntlet, or a Veteran Sharpshooter.
Shotgunner
Shotgunners are about as common as Gunners but pose a different threat. Shotgunners are all about dealing damage – not suppressing. They will use their powerful weapons to get up in your face and unleash a burst of buckshot. This is devilishly effective and can very quickly strip your team of Toughness – especially weaker classes.
Shotgunners are not too tough, however, and their character model is noticeable from a distance thanks to the large trophy wrack that ordains their frame. This makes them easy pickings for any ranged character, although we found the Pskyer to be incredibly effective due to the nature of their Brain Burster.
Sniper
Snipers are physically frail, and can often be taken out by accident. However, if they get set up they are a seriously dangerous force that wreaks havoc on your team. Snipers will usually fire one shot from cover, and then relocate, making them very slippery. Thankfully, their biggest weakness is their laser sight.
You can very quickly spot a sniper by their laser sights, and because of this, Snipers are very vulnerable to things like Psykers – especially since Brain Buster doesn’t need line of sight to work. Do be aware that taking a hit from a sniper will deal massive damage, stun you briefly, and knock you back. Engage with caution.
Flamer
Flamers are another damage-dealing Specialist, and one of the most annoying. Flamers have a very clear audio cue – a faint clicking in the distance. Imagine lighting a gas cooker, and you have the right idea. Flamers will lay down a stream of fire that does several things to your party.
Firstly, it blocks off paths. This makes navigating levels harder, and it also makes getting to the Flamer more difficult. Secondly, it deals high, continuous damage. Flamers will instantly remove all of your Toughness if you get hit by its flames before dealing HP damage in droves. How do you stop them then? Hit them. With anything. Flamers will be interrupted when they take damage, so hit them with anything, and then go in for the kill.
Bomber
Bombers are like a combination of Sniper and Flamer. They also have a very clear audio cue – the sound of a grenade pin being pinged. Bombers throw incendiary grenades that deal about as much damage as a flamer, and then they run away to get to a new haunt, like a Sniper.
Bombers are incredibly dangerous because they hang back, disrupt your team, and then vanish. You need to be quick on the trigger to take them out, so make sure your Veteran Sharpshooters and Psykers are ready for action. You could also use an Ogryn to charge at the Bomber, knocking him down and leaving him open for a quick kill.
Poxburster
Another disruptive damage dealer, Poxbursters are evil little cretins that always appear at the worst possible time. Not only that, their audio cue is the most ominous. You know a Poxburster is on the way when you hear the ticking of a timer that gradually gets louder.
Poxbursters often appear from unexpected angles, making them a pain to deal with as they don’t often move with the horde. They excel at hitting you when you are distracted, and their damage is nothing to scoff at. Thankfully they have low HP and just about anyone can gun them down. Do be aware that they explode even on death, making them very effective in cramped corridors!
Hound
The Hound is one of the tougher Specialists in Darktide, which makes sense considering what they want to do. Hounds will charge at a member of your party, pin them down, and then maul them. This can be lethal if left for too long, and there is no way for the mauled party member to escape once they are caught,
Hounds prey on teams with limited situational awareness, or on teammates that struggle to stick together. You will need to work together to down a Hound, although the best way to avoid damage is to simply dodge out of the way at the last second. This will leave the hound dazed, and therefore, an easy target.
Trapper
Trappers are another Specialist that can take an ally out of action. Trappers launch nets at your team, and these nets will incapacitate anyone they hit. Trappers will then run away to find a better angle for their next shot. Trappers, on their own, are annoying but not dangerous.
Where Trappers shine is when they work in tandem with other specialists or enemies. For example, a Trapper netting an ally whilst a Flamer douses them in flames. This is a death sentence. Trappers are noticeably larger than regular enemies and are very susceptible to being headshot by a Sharpshooter or burst from a Psyker.
Mutant
The final Specialist on the menu is the Mutant. Mutants are hulking monstrosities that charge at enemies, beat them half to death, and then toss them away. Rinse and repeat. Mutants are very dangerous and can kill people if they manage to throw them off the map. They also have a lot of HP.
Mutants are very large, however, and this makes them very vulnerable to bullets. When you see (or hear) a Mutant, all of your attention should be on focusing it down. Providing you aren’t in a limited visibility area (like a corridor), you should be able to gun down a Mutant long before it gets to you.
That’s all we have on Warhammer 40,000: Darktide for now. We have plenty of other content covering the game, however. Give it a gander for more tips and tricks.
