Context: High crit build for Psyker, after testing I’ve found even without Riposte I’m getting crits very consistently so Blessing 1 will be Uncanny for the ability to cut through bruiser armor and potentially apply higher DoT for Flesh Tearer.
Knife was chosen for the versatility it offers, now it’s really just a toss up between Flesh Tearer and Precognition. Which of the two is better suited for horde clear? Also, is Flak even needed if I take Uncanny or is it wasted?
The knife… isn’t great for horde clear in general. Worse so on Psyker (vs Zealot).
I mean, it’s OK with say lacerate but it’s not speedy.
Not using a staff for horde clear is, idk, less common than using it to clear chaff. But if you do prefer a melee weapon then I’d still recommend the mk4 duelling sword right now. It’s got big guy poke and swish swish horde clear.
Blessings = Ymmv. Take those that stack power on hit for example.
Precognition is best for singular heavy attacks, like Duelling Sword’s 4 poke. The window is also kinda small in my opinion. 20% crit chance blessing, on the other hand, is always great in any situation with both lights or heavy.
My favorite knife blessing is Haymaker. It’s the best blessing against multiple ragers and maulers. It oneshots them, and mutants too, as long as you stack the full 20%. Push attack counts as a heavy, so it can consistently hit weakspot with a chance to oneshot enemies.
If you want horde clear with a knife just stack 2 bleed blessings and light attack spam, while dodging left and right. Uncanny Strike is not a horde clear blessing. It’s a blessing to kill armored elites. You don’t need it for Bruisers, because their head is not flak anyway, and you’ll want to hit it during fighting with a horde.
Lacerate/Flesh Tearer → good boss damage, works against everything, but needs crit in the kit
Riposte/Flesh Tearer → probably BIS for crit Zealot specifically (longer bleed stacks = more crits overall due to Zelly’s early passives) and insane 20% extra crit
Lacerate/Mercy Killer → requires body shots and weakspot hits at the same time, not good
Flesh Tearer/Mercy Killer → probably best boss damage, but depends on weakspot hits
Uncanny Strike/Riposte → great against elites and Crushers (safest option?)
Haymaker/Riposte → potentially the best setup against large groups with heavy attack focused-playstyle, but depends on the luck. on average it works well enough, oneshots ragers, mutants and maulers all the time
Executor → requires stacking while being already weaker than other blessings, also most enemies won’t live long enough for full effect to take place
Precognition → overrated on knife in my opinion, but works best with Riposte due to innate synergy (Riposte/Precognition is worth checking out at least)
Ruthless Backstap → only for stealth playstyle to flank armored elites (not sure if it works on Bulwarks), problem is everyone but Crusher already dies in 1 stealth backstab without that blessing, so…
Smackdown → meme
All this is my opinion, not a fact.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t it increase bleed DoT?
Yes, I agree it’s not the best. If I wanted the best Horde clear for Psyker I would just go Illisi with Slaughterer but as I’m using Surge with this build I’m really looking for high mobility and just enough combat capability that I can hold my own against a horde until Shriek or Assail is ready. The real damage in this build comes from Assail, Shriek and Electrokinetic Staff + Surge + Nexus.
So it’s a toss between Combat Knife, Dueling Sword or Tac Axe.
Well, you can’t go wrong with any of those 3 to be fair.
I tend only to use a knife on the zealot as the tree bleed-related skills overlap nicely with lacerate. Other classes don’t get that synergy.
I think I’d go mk4
Assail + knife, but its too long.
Purgatus +shriek is much better.
Really Psyker needs some bleed talents. I’d really like to see a bleed talent that removes corruption or enhances movement speed.
It might, I haven’t tested all these weird interractions from blessings. But I think that currently equipped weapons affect everything you do, even your abilities to some extent. For example, some blessings can boost Vets shredder frag grenades or Psyker’s Shriek. I don’t really like to rely on these hidden tricks and techs, because it’s often really hard to tell if anything’s changed in terms of damage or anything else.
My friend who plays Surge Psyker the most uses combat blade the most, strictly for extra mobility to reposition themselves mid fight and survive when enemies get to close.
Exactly the reason I use it. Psyker has obscene amounts of ranged damage potential, the price of that is very little forgiveness for taking melee damage. Since ambushes are frequent on higher difficulties, mobility becomes very important for Psykers.
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