The Zealot is one of the 4 classes playable in Warhammer 40,000:Darktide and is the most melee focused class. With powerful melee weapons like the “Thunder Hammer” and “Eviscerator” building the Zealot to utilize these power weapons becomes a priority. Luckily this guide is here to show you 5 ways to build the Zealot to make them just as both fun and powerful as the weapons they wield.
5. Stealth Zealot
I worketh unseen.
This Zealot build is all about being sneaky and flanking the enemy. The “Shroudfield” ability is this build’s bread and butter by giving the Zealot the ability to become completely invisible to enemies and by using various skills like “Backstabber” and “Pious Cut-Throat” attacks from behind not only do more damage but also lower “Shroudfield’s” cooldown.
The “Loner” aura allows the Zealot to always count as having someone next to them to allow the Zealot to constantly regenerate toughness adding some durability to this flanking playstyle. Finally the “Blades of Faith” grenade gives the Zealot throwing knives which can also backstab.
Weapons to use with this build are the “Thunder Hammers” and “Combat Knives” for their high crit and weakspot damage for easy one-shots.
Use this build if
- You want to play a self-sufficient Zealot.
- You want a flanking playstyle.
- You want to focus on targets by yourself.
4. Tank Zealot
God emperor , see me!
This Zealot build is all about durability and taking damage. The main combo that this build revolves around is the “Martyrdom” keystone and both the “Until Death” and “Holy Revenant” skills. The “Martyrdom” keystone gives an 8% melee damage boost per lost wound and both “Until Death” and “Holy Revenant” lets the Zealot live at one health then heals them for an amount of damage that they deal.
Combining these three skills lets the Zealot stay at low health while getting a major damage boost and using the “I Shall Not Fall” and “Maniac” modifiers gives “Martyrdom” an additional 5% toughness damage reduction and 4% attack speed buff per missing wound too. Just be warned that the “Until Death” and “Holy Revenant” skills have a 2 minute cooldown after being used.
Weapons to use in this build are the “Eviserator” “Crusher Power Mauls” “ and Chainswords” for their fast normal attacks and strong damage which can both benefit from “Martyrdom” and its modifiers.
Use this build if
- You want to play a tanky Zealot.
- You want to play a safe Zealot with a large safety net.
- You want to play loose and free with your health.
3. Ranged Zealot
There’s judgment in the dark.
This Zealot focuses on ranged damage for both their guns and throwing knives. Using the ranged backstab combo we used in the “Stealth Zealot” build to capitalize on the damage of the throwing knives as well as using skills like “Anoint in blood” and the “Blazing Piety” capstone to increase the Zealot’s ranged damage more.
“Anoint in blood” allows the Zealot to reach up to 25% ranged damage depending on how close they are to their target and the “Blazing Piety” keystone lets the Zealot get 15% crit chance for 8 seconds when 25 enemies die near them. The “Shroudfield” ability is used differently in this build as a quick reposition tool instead of a get away/ long flanking tool like it was in the “Stealth Zealot” build.
Weapons to use in this build would be the “Infantry” and “Braced” autoguns for their high damage and fire rate in order to get a lot of critical hits. Or on the other end the “Shotguns” and “Revolver” can deal a lot of ranged backstab damage in a single shot and has the potential to one-shot a lot of enemies.
Use this build if
- You want to play a Zealot with a focus on more ranged weapons.
- You want to use guns but also want to stay close to the combat.
- You want to use stealth in a more combative way.
2. Support Zealot
Thou art redeemed!
This Zealot focuses on supporting their team by restoring toughness and getting rid of corruption. The ability “Chorus of Spiritual Fortitude” is one of the strongest abilities in the game giving the Zealot a relic that pulses every second for around 7 seconds that restore toughness in an area, overheals toughness to 100 extra toughness, and pushes back every enemy including bosses. While it has a minute cooldown this ability lets the Zealot give space to their teammates, shield everyone around them, and can be a big help to revive teammates.
The “Beacon of Purity” aura is also very strong giving the Zealot the ability to clear corruption for themselves and nearby allies. While it doesn’t cleanse fully corrupted wounds it helps a lot by cutting down the corruption damage some enemies do like poxbursters, tox flamers, and pox bombers .
Any of the Zealot weapons are viable in this build since the build focuses on team support, so using a weapon type to cover your team’s faults would be good like a “Thunder Hammer” to help with bosses or a “Eviserator” to help with hordes.
Use this Build if
- You want to play a support focused Zealot.
- You want to clear objectives easily.
- You want to stop getting hit with a lot of corruption.
1. Rager Zealot
Smite thee!
This build focuses on what the Zealot is great at melee. All this build wants to do is run into the enemy and cleave them in half which is possible by both the multiple speed giving skills this build has and the strong “Fury of the Faithful” ability.
“Fury of the Faithful” is an ability that lets the Zealot charge an enemy and deal massive damage by giving them both a 25% melee damage increase and a guaranteed crit of that melee hit. This lets the Zealot take chunks out of bosses and one shot most other enemies. Combine that with the “Blazing Piety” keystone for more crit chance and the “Invocation of Death” modifier which lowers ability cooldown by 1.5 seconds on a critical hit and this Zealot will be zooming around the map cutting everything in half
Weapons to use in this build would be the “Eviserator” for both its high damage and high cleave as well as the “Thunder Hammer” which synergizes so well with “Fury of the Faithful’s” damage boost that it can kill bosses in two hits.
Use this build if
- You want to be in the middle of an enemy horde.
- You want to take down bosses with ease.
- You want to run headfirst into any situation and win.
