The best Darktide classes and how to play them

Looking for the best Darktide class to suit your playstyle? Even with only four different Darktide classes, the game offers a wide variety of fighting styles. You can go for a ranged gun-wielder, a tanky melee expert, and even a staff-waving brain exploder. 

The question is, which class is best for you? Let’s take a look at each individual Darktide class, their abilities, passive skills, starting weapons, and overall playstyle. 

Darktide class system explained

At the very start of the game, when you make your first character, you need to pick a Darktide class. There are four options to choose from: the Veteran, Zealot, Ogryn, and Psyker. Each class has two starting weapons, one melee and one ranged. They also have a unique Ability, an Aura, and a Blitz action. The Ability is an active skill with a short cooldown, while the Aura grants a passive buff to allies within Coherency (near other characters). The Blitz Action is usually a grenade. 

These core abilities determine the class’s playstyle, so be sure to study them closely. As you level your character, you will unlock additional passive abilities. Every five levels, there are three new passives to choose from. 

Darktide Veteran class

• Veteran Playstyle: ranged firearm expert.
• Veteran Starting weapons: shovel and lasgun.
• Veteran Ability: Volley Fire. Instantly swaps to the Veteran’s ranged weapon, highlights priority target (elites and specialists) in red, and increases ranged damage by 50%. 
• Veteran Aura: replenishes a small amount of ammo upon killing an elite enemy. Also works if an ally within Coherency kills the elite.
• Veteran Blitz: frag grenade.

As the name suggests, the Veteran Sharpshooter is a ranged damage dealer with an increased magazine size and high weak spot damage. Their level-based passive skills are mostly focused on decreasing reload time, using more grenades, and increasing weak spot damage even further. You can even opt for a sniper-like build with buffs based on the distance between the Veteran and its target. 

The Veteran Sharpshooter truly shines against elite enemies, specials, and bosses. The increased weak spot damage is useful against Hordes too, but may feel a bit wasted on them. The melee weapon is often a better choice to deal with them; while it’s best to have a ‘buffer’ of melee allies between the Veteran and its targets, the team is unlikely to stop every Horde before they reach you.

A particular difficulty that comes with playing a Veteran is the ammo supply. Not only will you use more ammo compared to other classes, but you tend to reach supply crates a bit later than your teammates. Don’t be afraid to communicate your need for bullets!

If you prefer to use guns and have a good aim, the Veteran may be the best Darktide class for you.

Darktide Zealot class

• Zealot Playstyle: fast melee, Toughness over HP.
• Zealot Starting weapons: combat axe and autopistol.
• Zealot Ability: Chastise the Wicked. Performs a forwards dash, increasing the next melee hit’s damage by 25% and making it a guaranteed critical hit. This ability also replenishes 50% Toughness. 
• Zealot Aura: decreases Toughness damage by 7%.
• Zealot Blitz: stun grenade.

The Zealot Preacher’s base passives include increased melee attack speed, increased damage output when HP is low, and a five-second invulnerability window upon taking fatal damage (once per 90 seconds). The level-based skills offer better Toughness regeneration and HP recovery, additional Ability usage, and increased attack speed. 

As expected with such a kit, the Zealot is a close-quarters melee fighter. Thanks to their stun grenade and fast attack speed, Zealots are great against both Hordes and elite enemies. Beware that they’re quite vulnerable against bosses though. The best way to play them is to swap between melee and ranged weapons often, dodging away from enemies whenever Toughness gets low.

But make no mistake, Zealots are no glass cannons. In fact, the Toughness-based skills make them a surprisingly defensive class, capable of losing a fair amount of HP without dying. Just remember that you only need -45 HP (without additional passives) to get the full attack bonus, so don’t take unnecessary risks.  

If you prefer to be in the heat of the battle, slashing through enemies hordes, and don’t mind a bit of danger, the Zealot is the best Darktide class for you. 

Darktide Ogryn class

• Ogryn Playstyle: heavy melee, team assistant.
• Ogryn Starting weapons: club and shotgun.
• Ogryn Ability: Bull Rush. Charges forward, knocking enemies back while gaining a 25% movement and attack speed bonus for five seconds. 
• Ogryn Aura: +10% heavy melee attack damage. 
• Ogryn Blitz: throws a box of grenades. 

The sturdy Ogryn class receives less Toughness and HP reduction, has an improved melee stagger ability, and doesn’t get interrupted while reviving or assisting allies. Most level-based abilities further improve melee attacks (especially heavy attacks), increase damage resistance, and greatly enhances the Bull Rush ability. 

Big, tough, and incredibly strong, the Ogryn is another frontline fighter, but compared to the Zealot, they’re more focused on heavy attacks and keeping Hordes at bay. While they may remind you of a specialized tank class, don’t overestimate the Ogryn’s ability to draw enemy fire. It may be useful to catch a few bullets for the team, but if you get isolated and overwhelmed, it’s easily game over.

Should you choose this Darktide class, don’t forget about the Ogryn’s support role. They’re the best class to revive allies, and they have a lot of Coherency-related abilities. A potential risk that comes with staying close to the team though, is blocking your allies’ attacks. Try to avoid that.

If taking on the role of this burly brute sounds fun to you, and you don’t mind storming head-first into battle, then this could be the best Darktide class for you. 

Darktide Psyker class

• Psyker Playstyle: ranged psychic, elite-killer. 
• Psyker Starting weapons: sword and laspistol.
• Psyker Ability: Psykinetic’s Wrath. Decreases Peril by 50% and staggers enemies in front.
• Psyker Aura: +10% damage against elites.
• Psyker Blitz: select an enemy and burst their brains. 

The mage-like Psyker starts out with a 10% chance to decrease Peril by 10% upon kills. Additionally, killing an enemy with Brain Burst earns a stack of Warp that increases damage by 3% (up to four stacks, lasting 25 seconds). The level-based passives are mainly focused on enhancing Brain Bursts, adding Warp Charges, and reducing Peril.

This ‘Peril system’ is the number one thing to be aware of while playing the Psyker class. Using psychic powers increases Peril (see the percentage on your screen), and you won’t be able to use psychic abilities like Brain Burst when the meter is full. If you still try to use a psychic ability… Well, you’ll explode. 

Beware that charging your psychic abilities always increases Peril, even if you don’t actually hit anyone. The key to keeping it low is proper time-management, using the Ability, and using the Quell (reload) button to decrease Peril.

Due to the need to carefully manage psychic abilities and the lack of good defensive abilities, the Psyker is a difficult class to play. You have to constantly keep your enemies at bay, avoid being surrounded, and you’ll still be a glass cannon. That said, the Psyker is also a very fun class, and after gaining some combat experience, your Brain Bursts will become absolutely invaluable to the team. If that sounds like a challenge you’d like to take on, the Psyker class may be the best choice for you.