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Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is one of the best integrations of the 40k universe in the video game space to date. It is loud, scaled to perfection, and filled with little nods to the wider world the game is set in. In short, it’s quite the love letter if you are a fan of Games Workshop’s flagship series.
Darktide has you running around various industrial locales, fighting all manner of heretic, mutant, and vile ne’er-do-wells in an attempt to complete a variety of objectives. It is a cooperative game, so you have some pals providing support, so it’s not all grimdark all of the time. Not only that, you get to play as one of four classes, each bringing something new to the table. Question is, which class is the best?
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Zealot
Before I go any further, there are no bad classes in Darktide. All 4 of the classes are a blast to play and have their role on the battlefield. However, one class has to come in last, and we have chosen to plonk the Zealot in that position. Why? Well, the Zealot does what the Ogryn does, but doesn’t do it as well.
Here us out. The Zealot is a melee blender capable of wielding some of the most deadly close-combat weapons Warhammer 40,000 has to offer. Mechanically though, especially early on, it just feels like a squishier Ogryn without a dedicated playstyle. As you level up, the Zealot comes into its own, but until that point, it feels a smidge outclassed.
Veteran Sharpshooter
Next up is the Veteran Sharpshooter. This guy has a place on any team, and unlike the Zealot, plants himself firmly in the unique camp from day one. To understand the Sharpshooter, you need to understand Darktide. Darktide is a game that gets in your face and often forces you to engage in close-quarters combat. The Sharpshooter wants nothing to do with that.
Instead, the Sharpshooter provides devastating ranged support using incredibly powerful rifles. We are talking about the pin-point precision of a Lasgun, the shredding potential of an Autogun, and the unrelenting fury of the Plasma Gun. There is a gun for every job, and when that fails, you have a grenade. It’s all fun, all of the time – especially if you like traditional FPS gameplay. In short, the Sharpshooter is a safe pick that does the job.
Psyker
The Psyker is where things start to take a turn for the whacky. Psykers are humans who have – due to an unfortunate mutation – become able to harness the power of the Warp. For the uninitiated, the Warp is an alternate dimension filled with daemons and terrors unimaginable. Oh, and Gods. Think Hell, but worse. Then, imagine a partially insane person using that energy as a weapon. That’s the Psyker.
Of course, having all of this power leads to some downsides. The aforementioned insanity is one, but so is a frail physical body. The Psyker is arguably the most fragile character in the game, but also one of the most powerful and diverse. Coming with a unique Peril mechanic, a series of unique weapons that grant new Powers, and the ability to deal incredibly single target and AOE damage on a dime, the Psyker fits into just about any team.
Ogryn
Last, but not least, we have the Ogryn. This guy is an Abhuman – basically, a huge humanoid that towers over even the genetically enhanced Astartes. These guys are strong, tough, and almost unshiftable when the fighting gets heated. Ogryns pack the strongest weapons at a range (although they are not very accurate…) and hit like a train in melee.
Not only that, their weapons are very unique being part explosive death machine, and part crowd-controlling beat-stick. Ogryns can stand back and unleash a dizzying amount of firepower, or get stuck in with a poop-scooping shovel and bonk zombies on the bonce. It just works. The final feather in the Ogryn’s cap is their ability to tank for your team. This makes them indispensable on the battlefield and a heck of a lot of fun to boot.
That’s all we have on Warhammer 40,000: Darktide for now, but feel free to check out the buckets of other articles we have covering this game.
