What Are The Best Vermintide 2 Traits That Obliterate Foes?

The rats look to wreak havoc once again in Warhammer: Vermintide 2. In this sequel of the cherished co-op action game, you and up to three friends must reach your goal whilst enduring an onslaught of familiar enemies. To give you an edge in combat, your gear can be imbued with traits that will help you fend off the Skaven horde. The ratmen already hate you, but that implies that they are still alive, to right that wrong, here are 10 of the best traits for exterminating the little buggers.

10. Barrage

Rat ogre problem? Turn him into swiss cheese. Not the kind that the rat would like though

Trait Stats: ​Consecutive ranged attacks against the same target increase power by 5% for 5 seconds, stacks up to 5 times.

Barrage provides an easy way to boost your damage against a single target. Especially useful against bosses.

9. Hunter

Warning. Hunting trolls may be prohibited in some regions

Trait Stats: ​Ranged critical hits grant a 25% power boost against enemies that share the same armor class as the target, the effect lasts for 10 seconds.

Big enemies with lots of health like bosses won’t last long with the Hunter trait in tow. You can tell the story of how you killed a troll by… well you still had to shoot it a lot but it was fewer than if you didn’t have the trait.

8. Conservative Shooter

A bullet saved for a ratmans skull is a bullet earned

Trait Stats: ​Headshots replenish 1 ammo.

Conservative Shooter is a great choice if your a good shot, and it’s especially good for weapons like the handgun or the crossbow since these weapons are easier to land headshots with. Oh, and if you manage to score multiple headshots, you get 1 ammo for each headache you caused.

7. Heat Sink

Flamethrowers are fun, but a flamethrower that you don’t have to cool is even better

Trait Stats: ​Critical hits remove 4.0 overcharge.

Anyone that has used the drake gun or the flamewave staff will tell you that the worst part about using them, is the risk of overheating that forces you to stop using them. With Heat Sink, you can unleash your pyromania worry free. You see, when the flamethrower burst triggers a critical hit, it vents 4 points from the overcharge for each enemy it passes through, so when the overcharge meter is high and it looks like you’ll have to take a break from burning things, one crit hitting a horde of enemies and your weapon is completely vented, allowing you to continue with the rat roasting.

6. Shrapnel

No matter what nasty monster blocks your path, throwing a bomb at it is always a good response

Trait Stats: ​Enemies hit by your bombs take 25% increased damage.

When the threat of additional enemies showing up in the middle of the boss fight looms, or your speedrun is impeded by a big monster. Whatever the reason, if you need to defeat a boss sooner rather than later, Shrapnel is the way to go when it comes to bomb traits.

5. Resourceful Combatant

Career skills are powerful abilities and this trait allows you to use them more frequently. One homing fireball is bad enough to the rats, the prospect of a second would send them running with their tails between their legs if they weren’t afraid of tripping on them

Trait Stats: ​Melee critical hits reduce the cooldown of your career skill by 2%

Whether you want to use your career skill more often, or if you used it to get out of a tight spot and want to have it available as soon as possible, Resourceful Combatant can help you out. This trait is a particularly good fit for the Pyromancer, Troll Slayer and the Witch Hunter Captain.

A side note: the trait says it reduces cooldown by 2%, but it seems to always reduce the recharge timer by at least a second so it’s also useful for the career skills with shorter cooldowns.

4. Scrounger

Hit him with one shot and you get two back. Nothing out of the ordinary

Trait Stats: ​Critical hits with this weapon replenishes 2 ammo.

This ranged weapon trait is great for keeping your ammo supply from running out. I’m often surprised when firing a dozen shots from Saltzpyre’s brace of pistols into a horde and finding out afterwards that I have more ammo than when I started.

3. Decanter

When the going gets tough, the tough get potions

Trait Stats: ​Increases the duration of potion effects by 50%.

Potions are powerful items that can get you through difficult situations. But believe me, there are few things more frustrating than drinking a potion, only to have much of its duration wasted due to a gutter runner or a packmaster disabling you. Luckily, with the Decanter trait, there’s bound to be some left for you to enjoy the effect of the potion before it wears off.

2. Grenadier

Deja vu demolitions

Trait Stats: ​25% percent chance to not consume bomb on use.

The joy of killing rats goes through what's left of the roof when you get an extra bomb to throw. My favorite use of the Grenadier trait is for throwing a bunch of bombs at a boss to push it off a cliff.

1. Swift Slaying

There is never enough time to do or slay all the things that we would wish

Trait Stats: ​Melee critical hits increase attack speed by 20% for 5 seconds.

In terms of offensive prowess, no trait is equal to Swift Slaying. Not only does it help you kill hordes and bosses alike, but it also increases the chance of refreshing the duration of the effect since you’ll be attacking more rapidly.

You may also be interested in:

• Vermintide 2 Best Builds For Every Career
• Vermintide 2 Red Weapons Guide
• Vermintide 2 Bosses Guide
• Vermintide 2 Classes, Ranked Worst To Best