Heh, it’s funny. I haven’t played nearly as much Zealot as Psyker (and some Vet), and not for a long time as I started on Zealot way back but then got a bit bored and went hard on Psyker for a long time. Martyrdom always seemed really dumb to me, probably because I saw some really… not good plays using it, and because of all the wounds, it’s really obvious when someone is using Martyrdom. (Compared to all the other dumb plays you see, where you don’t really know the build, such that most likely Martyrdom sticks out, even if numerically it might not have more dumb plays/players than other builds.)
All of which is to say that I tried your build, and… Martyrdom isn’t nearly as sweaty or glass cannon as I had imagined. You have all the talents for ‘second chance’ stuff… and if play smartly (as you pretty much always have to do anyway, on any build), the only times I actually went down was in situations I would have gone down on any build.
In fact, the biggest problem I had with Martyrdom was to work counter to my instinct and training, and actually allow myself to take damage
As for the build itself, it probably works a lot better on Old Chaxe, simply because with that one you’re spamming heavies a lot, triggering toughness on heavies. And yeah it does work, elevating Chaxe to become good. Which probably means it’s bonkers on other, better weapons
Also with with MK4 people probably over estimate how long you need to charge before it spits out a heavy. Especially with increased attack speed, heavies are a lot quicker than one might think.
Thats exactly what happened to me in regards to martyrdom. Its actually just a great time to play though i wont pretend i never ever go down most games i am able to spend the entire game on 1 wound and never go down thanks to until death and general toughness gating.
The newly buffed mk4 chaxe is actually just a good weapon now. A martyrdom chaxe mk4 is just a super flexible weapon. Its horde clear isnt as good as a dedicated horde clear weapon but it can get big boy output that something like the heavysword cannot. Im still doing all my fancy testing but i’m pretty sure mk4 is better than mk12 with martyrdom. Maybe even without it.
I have yet to try Mk12 with martyrdom, but I am starting to fall in love with the combo of “I can’t die, and if I do, I just heal by hitting things” and super quick staggering lights when it comes to dealing with for instance packs of ragers. Obviously the ideal thing is to take them out with ranged, but just the ability to be able to leeroy into them and feel pretty safe is absurd. And delicious.
Since Mk12 lacks the super quick stagger of the lights, I think it would be a far more dangerous weapon.
Also I might drop the Stamina curio from your build. I don’t find that I ever push or block enough that I ever get low on Stamina - even with plenty of sprinting.
You might not need it anymore to be honest. A lot of my stuff is centered around the old way of chaxe. The changes have been dramatic and not all of them are clear. 3 of us are enthusiastically testing and we are still not certain how its best used on vet or zealot yet.
But the lights are amazing. I think the light/heavy system on the mk4 is better than the 12 for the same reasons you have mentioned.
Autopistol for ranged slot just because I felt like it TBH, mostly for mobility for running around and even post nerf it does a good job at dealing with flamers, dogs, trappers and bombers plus decent stagger on demand.
Been running HT + Slaughterer on the Chaxe for max brain-dead mashing and the damage output is pretty crazy. Easy two shot Ragers with lights, could one shot with relevant perks. 3 lights to the head kills crushers with Carapace perk, or one FotF rev light, or with full blessing and martyrdom stacks rev heavy head shot without Ult. Very solid boss damage. Kills at least 2 poxwalkers per heavy which refills toughness pretty quick. Team wide barkskin + a lot of general DR. I’ve not run martyrdom builds extensively but this is probably the comfiest I’ve felt with a Martyrdom build. You barely ever even bother revving normal lights and heavies just clean everything up so well.
Gonna give both martyr builds a try later, haven’t really delved too much into martyr because eating damage on purpose feels weird. thanks for your input guys
You don’t HAVE to play Martyr build that way. Personally I like to just play very aggressive/not worry about hit trading until I’ve lost a few wounds of health, then get a little more defensive and let the rest of my health come and go as it pleases. I’ll usually even take medicae when there’s surplus. You’re quite tanky if you play that way and you still output a lot (just not optimal) DPS.
