How do YOU select who to invite for havoc missions when you are hosting?
What’s your criteria?
classses?
level (true level mod)?
havoc clearance?
talent build / weapons?
titles / frames?
a combination of the above?
do you avoid certain classes, builds, weapons (or titles even)?
My criteria is:
Fatshark in their infinite wisdom made the penance for helping people through havoc the same exact number as ‘play havoc games’,
So that along with there being no consequences if I’m in someone else’s game verses if I play my own, means ‘I do not host havoc’ and just hope a 40 pops up for me to do my 1 a week at this point.
(it would otherwise be based on a mixture of factors, what classes do I already have/what classes do I feel I need, how experienced do they look/is it a Reject that just hit 30 looking for a carry verses a true level 800+ that looks like they just wanna play, and ‘does my premade that needs a fourth feel generous or just want a win’, as I wouldn’t likely be doing a partyfinder otherwise).
It’s really luck of the draw. Sometimes I’ll select Havoc 40 people and they just try to speedrun and ruin the mission.
As careful as I try to be, a lot of it is out of my control which sucks since I’m the one getting demoted if we fail. This is a mechanic I truly hate.
The one thing I didn’t care about previously in this game was having console players, but with how often they get disconnected, if I’m the host, I now try to steer clear of Xbox/PS5 players just to minimize the instances of being stuck with bots in Havoc if they get yeeted by the servers or their own connection. I’ve only had it happen once when all four of us got kicked out and got a mission aborted mission. I HATED that the game then decided that was a fail and I lost an attempt. Why was I being punished as if I failed the mission when it was the fragging game server that had an aneurysm?
First come, first serve.
If we die, we die
havoc clearance at first, then if you see they suck despite being level 40 you just take a mental note of the guy and keep in mind when hosting again
no need to talk to them, just silently disband your party and make a selection of the names you feels they are good players
this system works pretty well despite the game being dead as long as you are the one doing all the damage (purgatus shrieker is the best)
if you want to be a supportive guy like shout vet or chorus you might want to restrain from that if you are going in with randos
first 3 pc, non-xbox applicants get the invite
Assuming I’m hosting a Havoc 40, I’ll look at these things in order.
1 Havoc Clearance - Preferably 40. But not always a solid indicator. Usually at least above 35
2 True Level - Realistically this is only a way to gauge how much time they have played. I feel like this is often unrelated to their skill/performance.
3 Class - Arguably the most important thing to me, but I’ll look at the previous two factors first to determine if they’re an instant accept or not. As much as I know clearance and level do not equate to skill, my monkey brain still interprets bigger numbers as better.
4ish - Titles. Mostly just a meme. I feel like players with “Auric Storm Survivor” potentially perform poorer than the same users without that title. Ultimately, I never reject someone because of it.
All things considered, I think I’ve determined that it often does not matter who you pick. It’s impossible to judge someone’s skill and your likelihood of beating that mission by looks alone. Unless you’re a fresh level 30 Ogyrn with 0 havoc clearance. Then I’m probably not accepting your request 
First and foremost I do like balanced teams.
Maybe its because I’m a VT2 “Veteran” but I find Vet, Zealot, Ogryn, Psyker squads the most fun.
Ogryns are most often insta accept unironically. A good shield Ogryn is severely underrated and I prefer them over having a second zealot or psyker. LVL 40 Ogryn mains are the true hidden gigachads of this game tbh
Other than that I’m kinda open to everything. Since I only host havoc 35+ I make sure the clearance level of those who “apply” is more or less arount the havoc level.
If possible I do like to have another lvl 40 player in my party - but its not mandatory.
A high level havoc with decent lvl 30+ players which try but ends up being a fail can be more intense and fun nevertheless than a lvl 40 run with 4 players who basically sleep through the level because they are so good.
So many people choosing havoc clearance which is the easiest to cheese. Quite weird.
True survivor insignia usually puts people to top of my list if hosting a high rank game.
Then I want one of each archetype and I want them to have bubble and toughness thingies (can never remember the naming conventions of anything in this game lol).
I’ve not hosted in about 2 weeks though as I’ve been getting my help 100 havocs penance…so I doubt anyone will choose me as my hosting rank is about 19 now lol. (But I still have no idea if people see 19 next to my name or 38 or 40 or what? I have a 40 above my head in the mourningstar).
had a great match the other day where i could play out the strengths of my branx freely and it was a blast.
doubt a second zealot could have killed that stuff faster 
buuut on come the odd guy in my comment section : “with smite everything works”
well guess what sherlock, 2/2 zealot psyker would cycle stun their enemies even harder but THATS an accepted method cause its the most “efficient” classes.
seems no matter what perfomance you lay down as ogryn its only “because others enabled you” while jerking each other just fine with books and bubbles…
My experience is all that stuff doesnt matter much, i have to play with psyker to carry the team, if i play with other classes i got 50% chance to win.
If you use mods, ones allowing you to inspect teams gear and “true level” really help. My criteria is usually this:
If you can’t view the above or don’t use mods, then look for somewhat prestigious titles like Auric Storm Survivor, Havoc Forged, True Survivor, or one that you feel is right. Borders like the one for a million kills or 500 special operation missions, or banners like Twins Hard Mode are good indicators that you probably got someone who will at least “TRY” (this is key), or have played the game a lot.
That said, I’m not this picky myself, I’m just throwing a bunch of tips at you. What I care about most is having people “TRY” to beat havoc. “TRYING” to make a sensible build, “CARING” what debuffs there are, “TRYING” to stay as a group, “CARING” about prioritizing specials/elites and saving your teammates from a trapper/dog. If everyone “TRIES” and “CARES”, it’s not so bad.
Here’s a story:
I play with a friend who’s really good at non-Havoc stuff, like, really good. Carries a lot, clutches a lot on Damnation/Auric, etc. But I took him into a high havoc and he refused to change up his build, or stick closer to the team, got dumpstered, said it was too hard, and never came back lol. He’s not a bad player by any means, and we’re both Vermintide veterans, but he just didn’t “CARE” to put in that extra effort, and I think that’s the biggest thing.
So looking for those prestigious titles and character levels can help you zero-in on someone who tries and cares, but there are definitely a lot of diamonds in the rough too.
Best of luck!
thing is, if the mode forced me to completely change the way i play, i might rather not play at all.
i’d suck as a psyker, am bored as a vet, cant stand the zealot for whatever reason but ogryn… that really clicks with me.
but in the same vein i loathe campish games like counterstrike or tarkov its either fast paced action or nothing at all.
so shield aint my style no more despite having played it for around 6 months exclusively before the pickaxe came around.
and i’m getting good results with it.
books and bubble gonna wololo anyways, no matter my loadout.
but the difference between being a defence “filler” and really getting stuff dead quick without dropping myself, for my experience is huge.
especially when it comes to randoms i rather play to my strenghts with a build i can compensate for others failures than being dependend and jogging along.
for example i’d never play a gunlugger ogryn, just not my style.
pickaxe though flows naturally without much effort.
I’ll preface this by saying “ultimately, play how you want”, but there’s definitely smart ways to play in both Havoc and the “normal” mode, and personally I take the path of least resistance almost always, to benefit my team, and myself.
I have many builds with all classes and have 2k+ hours (40 Havoc, True Survivor) between all of them, almost equally. In the normal game, if I want Grimoires, I’ll specifically choose Zealot with curse removal to help my team. For quick plays, if I’m playing Auric Malestrom and I see specials can become a boss, I’ll take a build more tailored to help with bosses if I see no one else is. If I am playing an Auric with pox hounds, I’ll run something with more aoe to help deal with them. Almost always, I’ll make a decision to benefit my team, unless I’m doing build science lol, but even then I do it intelligently.
I won’t get into the specifics of “how an individual plays Darktide”, but there are options regarding gear/talents, some are just good, some are just bad, some are good with a team, some are bad with a team, some are good while not in coherency, and some are good while in coherency.
As a note, I’ve personally beaten Havoc 40 multiple times and seen it done with every Psyker ability. Smite, BrainBurst, Assail, CritAura, DmgAura, CooldownAura, Shield, VentingShruek, and ScriersGaze. I’ve seen Zealots not use book, and I had an Ogryn carry the team once. There are many viable builds and playstyles, you just need to find/make one and recognize its strengths and weaknesses, and most importantly, play as a team. It’s unnoticeable in the normal game, but you are punished for wandering off far out of coherency 
Honestly I use discord if I am doing Havoc seriously. Otherwise I stick to havoc under 20 usually and just bring and accept whatever.
I need people willing to talk on voice chat more than anything.
I will usually just get my 40 each week via someone else. If I host a 40 I just take whoever. Maybe we get lucky and they get a free trip to 40 instead of grinding each level.
Also got True Survivor just joining others’ games too.
I basically just invite anything but Vets, not that vet is bad but too many need babysitters, while I prefer zealot, if we want a vet i’ll prolly play it myself.
Its more of a class deisgn flaw than a player issue as well, high havoc is very unkind to that career.
I actually find shout plasma vet with duelling sword is pretty safe. I think the issue is too many people come from FPS games, pick Vet, and don’t learn the melee mechanics and when Havoc introduces such stifling ammo scarcity it’s harder for people to adapt to the “tide” genre. People who play zealot are more likely to have a better grasp on the important mechanics. And zealot does have good tools in it’s kit, like going invulnerable. And for Havoc two zealots is better than two vets.
But this is purely anecdotal.
Now someone going into Havoc with Ogyrn at high levels? That’s some confidence right there.
I agree with you, I also think Vet is fine, but the way its designed for high havoc it doesn’t get a lot of build variety, you are sort of forced into running exactly what you described, or popping on a recon las, the combination of reduced ammo and also 98% ranged damage resistance really pushes your usefulness into Plas which is fairly ammo efficent, or recon with infernus which is great because the dot isn’t getting mitigated in a similar fashion.
The real thing I notice is people saving shout, when it should basically be popped on CD just to keep as much blanket toughness on as possible
Anyone within 5 ranks of Havoc level I’m attempting.
The better your clearance/truelevel/frame/title, the higher priority you have to be accepted.
Aim to always have at least one Psyker and Zealot. Vets less so, avoid Ogryns.