Bullwarks are scarier than Crushers

Until they open up, they are completely invulnerable to many builds. And they are often found guarding captured operatives, and not just one at a time. This creates an urgent need to kill or at least stun the Bullwarks immediately, but there is no such option

in before the skill issue

You just need to practice more. There is an animation to know that allow to attack them, you can learn to parry them and this will stagger them and there is holes in the defense. Learn them.
Also, there are weapons that are effectives against them. Agri shotgun that permits to open shield, Kantrael shotgun special that burn them, flamer etc etc.

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…yah so many ways to open them up or just wait for the opening dodge and bonk on head.

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So that’s the whole point: you have to wait for their animations. Not to attack, but to wait. It’s very engaging when there are many enemies around who don’t wait for the player while the player is waiting for a Bulwark’s animation. It’s very engaging when everything can depend on a fraction of a second and you have to wait. For example, FotF with DS4. Well, at least can you open his shield with the first heavy attack after using the ability? NO!!!
By the way, from an in-game perspective, why does the Bulwark even swing its club? Take away his club and let him only push with his shield - he’d immediately become twice as dangerous as he is now. Captain Wolfer needs to think about the rational use of the Bulwarks

They certainly are more annoying

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Bulwark are a threat… ok
But they should remain like that.

Again, practice and you will, at the end, rage against yourselves when you will get killed. Because when you will have practiced enough, if you end on floor because of a bulwark, this is because you made a fantastic error.
And I do such errors close to every days. Often at the first mission I launch. Or sometimes just because I had an horrible work day.
But no, we don’t need to change anything about bulwark. We have multiple tools to deal with them and they collect several weakness.

About the “there is too many of them”
Since introduction of Auric, we have too many elites and specials. And this has become worse with patch 13
However, I don’t think they will reduce spawns.

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Bulwark shove is deadlier than any of their attacks, it they aren’t able to trap you and then hit stun you they aren’t likely to do much besides block damage. Like all of the other enemies in the game they’re only threatening with other enemies around.

However Shield Stormvermin were a lot better designed in that all classes had an option to open their block. Here only certain weapons, blitz or ult (or a dog) can block break Bulwarks.

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I miss the shield guys in VT2, they would probably provide a nice reason to use a heavier, slower weapon in Darktide too

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I have been practising shooting their heads over the top of the shield. You need something accurate like a helbore. Can get about 50% of my shots into their head from 20m in the psykh. More variable performance in missions ofc.

The hitbox is tight to the shield. The hitbox for the head is more like an afro.

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they’re really annoying when their shield covers specials behind them. the trapper can shoot at you through the shield, you have to get rid of the bulwark.

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Problem is trapper design, not bulwark
About trapper, I would totally agree
Net should not go through a lot of enemies

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yeah, i’m for giving the net cleave only against certain hitmass. it should go through hordes so trappers aren’t useless, but not enemy ogryns.

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Bulwarks are better than they used to be. You can actually hit them around the shield now, BUT that also makes some weapons far more useful than others because of their attack animations. The issue of hyper-density, overlapping Bulwark shield blobs…especially when some of them are in the staggered state won’t be ever solved.

Skaven shield enemies >>>>> Bulwarks.

Also I find it helps to not solo them. Yeah yeah quickplay numpties… but it’s nice to hit them in the back instead of the front (or side when they stagger and their shield is still effective smh).

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The scary part is the 6-8 dreg ragers hiding in between the phalanx of 4-6 bulwarks taking turns stripping all your stamina with shield bashes.

Skill issue I’d say, should just whip out my infinite cleave weapon, take 2 steps back and start blasting! As god intended in a tide game with the deepest bag of melee mechanics.

A single bulwark isn’t an issue, it’s when they pile up 3 or more and can cover each other, or specialists hide behind them. Then they usually require either team effort, kraks, or similarly memebuilds such as soulblaze/voidblast or their likes.

Not that there’s anything wrong with bulwarks imo. Except perhaps that they can stack up very close and their shields cover each other, turning them into something of an invulnerable deathball. Stacking enemies generally is wonky.

Perhaps also a sliiiightly more forgiving attack-window of opportunity when they move the shield aside to swing at you would go a long way towards making smaller numbers of them more maneagable solo.

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You would absolutely hate Monks in VT2

What builds are you running?

Some you can just jump and shoot them in the head.

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Why, monks have a window to counterattack, DT ragers do not.

As witnessed by the laughable maniac dmg on most melee weapons at launch, something the tickle hammer still a victim off, the originally intended counterplay for such situations is literally to start blasting.

I guess.

DS is so overtuned that complaining about it being inefficient in one particular case is just golden. Take the thunder hammer then, and you will open bulwarks with just a charged hit of it. Or use OP crap but at least learn how to play around its small flaws.

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