Every class in Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is unique, but there are a few things all classes share – regardless of their physical or mental state. One of these things is their love of melee weapons. Darktide wants you to get stuck in a lot of the time, so having a good stick to twock enemies on the head is always a good thing.
But with so many weapons on offer, and four classes to pick from, what weapon do you bring with you? Well, the question is partially dependent on you, the player. However, some weapons do fit certain characters better than others, and we intend to give you the best weapon for every class in a very general sense.
More Warhammer 40,000: Darktide content:
Combat Guide | Beginner’s Guide | How To Kill The Plague Ogryn
Understanding Each Class
Before we get into each weapon, we need to talk about the classes themselves. Each class has a speciality in Darktide, and naturally, you want weapons that play into a class’s strengths or cover up their weaknesses. Here’s a quick breakdown:
- Ogryn – Tanky bruiser. Crowd Control.
- Psyker – Single Target Brain Popper. Crowd Control.
- Veteran – Long-range specialist. High single-target damage
- Zealot – Melee specialist. High single-target damage. Crowd Control.
Of course, these are very broad generalisations, but they do give a basic idea of what to look for in a weapon.
Best Melee Weapon For The Ogryn – Cleaver
We are starting this one off with quite the odd choice. The Ogryn has access to a lot of powerful weapons in Darktide, and one of them is the very popular Slab Shield. However, from our experience, the Slab Shield breeds idleness and doesn’t do anywhere near enough damage to be worth taking on higher difficulty levels. This is especially true if you are running without a dedicated team.
Relying on tight-knit teamwork with randoms is not a good idea. What does this leave us with? Well, the Cleaver. Cleavers in Darktide have outstanding amounts of Cleave, and they deal a lot of damage. You will slice entire hordes of enemies in half with this thing, and it’s a wonder to behold. Slap some Traits on this thing, and you are good to go. This plays into the Crowd Control aspect of the Ogryn, and it works very well.
Best Melee Weapon For The Psyker – Force Sword
The Psyker is the squishiest of all of the characters in Darktide. On higher difficulties, the Psyker can barely survive a couple of hits from Pox Walkers, let alone prolonged combat against anything truly threatening. This makes getting into melee quite stressful, as any mistake could lead to your death.
Funnily enough, however, the Psyker is surprisingly potent in melee thanks to their ability to use Force Swords. Force Swords are fairly decent melee weapons as standard, having good stats across the board. However, where they shine is when you use their Alt-Fire to power the blade up. This gives the Force Sword a staggering amount of single-target damage and can be used to deal huge chunks of damage to just about anything.
Not only that, but the Force Sword can also gain the Deflector Trait, allowing the Psyker to block bullets. Pretty darn cool if you ask us.
Best Melee Weapon For The Veteran – Power Sword
Power Swords are some of the best weapons in all of Darktide, which is rather funny when you consider the class dedicated to ranged combat has access to one. Not only that, but the Veteran has access to one of the best ones. Power Swords deal great damage, and when buffed, they can cleave through hordes like a knife through butter.
That’s all you need to know, but we will go one step further. The Veteran can get a Trait called Power Cycler, which makes the powered-up Power Sword even better. If you are running this guy, you need to make sure they are packing a Power Sword. There’s a reason this is one of the very few weapons in Darktide that has received a nerf (and it’s still great).
Best Melee Weapon For The Zealot – Heavy Eviscerator
Look, big knives and fancy swords are cool. But they are toys compared to the brutality of the Heavy Eviscerator. Imagine a claymore – a huge sword that needs two hands to carry. Now attach a chainsaw to the blade and fantasise about the carnage a religious fanatic 40,000 years in the future could unleash. That’s the beauty of the Heavy Eviscerator.
Mechanically, this thing is a beauty. It has great stats and deals very high damage. It’s Alt-Fire, however, is where things get juicy – literally. You rev the Heavy Eviscerator and gain a bucket-load of Cleave, allowing you to effortlessly reduce your enemies to a bloody collection of chunks on the floor. Not only is this the best weapon for the Zealot, but it is also our favourite weapon in all of Darktide.
That’s all we have on Warhammer 40,000: Darktide for today. Be sure to check out all of our other content for more lists, guides, tips, and tricks.
