Regarding the issue of nerfs to the Dueling Sword and Plasma Gun

Warhammer 40,000: Darktide Gameplay Feedback
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Subject: Feedback on Excessive Nerfs to Dueling Sword and Plasma Gun

Dear Fatshark Team,

First of all, thank you for your continuous updates and balance adjustments for Warhammer 40K: Darktide. As a dedicated Chinese player with over 1,700 hours of gameplay, I would like to share my concerns regarding the recent excessive nerfs to the Dueling Sword and Plasma Gun, which have significantly reduced their viability and disrupted core playstyles for certain classes.

The Dueling Sword Nerf Has Severely Weakened Melee Builds
The Dueling Sword was once a staple choice for Zealots and some Veteran builds, excelling in melee combat due to its high attack speed and agile moveset. However, the recent adjustments have drastically reduced its damage and attack speed, severely impacting the Zealot’s survivability and damage output in high-difficulty content.

In Auric Maelstrom missions (Difficulty 5+), melee-focused classes already face significant risks when engaging heavily armored enemies. The excessive nerf to the Dueling Sword makes it extremely difficult for Zealots to efficiently eliminate armored foes, increasing the likelihood of player deaths and team wipes. Additionally, the reduced elite damage further diminishes the Zealot’s impact in high-level gameplay.

While you buffed weapons like the Chainsword and Tactical Axe, they remain suboptimal against armored enemies:

The Chainsword’s rev attack locks the camera onto enemies, making players vulnerable to surrounding threats.

The Tactical Axe deals too little damage, resulting in slow kill times.

The Plasma Gun Has Become Overly Punishing
The Plasma Gun was previously a Veteran’s signature weapon, offering high burst damage that rewarded skilled heat management. However, the recent changes—reduced ammo efficiency, harsher overheating penalties, and weakened charged shot benefits—have made it unnecessarily difficult to use.

Many players report that the Plasma Gun now frequently self-destructs due to minor heat management mistakes, while its charged shots are often less effective than firing two quick uncharged shots. This has turned a once high-skill, high-reward weapon into a “high-risk, low-reward” option.

Conclusion
We kindly ask you to reconsider the extent of these nerfs and provide more balanced adjustments in future updates. Both the Dueling Sword and Plasma Gun are beloved weapons that should remain viable for skilled players without feeling overly punishing.

Thank you for your hard work and dedication to the game.

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The changes haven’t even happened yet, and what they’ve listed isn’t all the changes either. I know MTLs have issues with past/present tense but this is really jumping the gun.

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There is always a reason for nerfs. These two weapons in particular have been a problem for a long time because of how overwhelmingly powerful they are. The nerfs are reasonable and justified. Of course, I don’t think it’s acceptable to weaken them to the point of being completely unusable, but weapons that combine overwhelming firepower with exceptional mobility simply shouldn’t exist.

Even without the Duelist Sword, there are still strong weapons for Veterans, such as the Combat Axe and Power Sword, and there are plenty of viable builds. The reason why there hasn’t been much outcry over the Power Sword despite its top-tier damage is because its mobility is below average, there’s a clear trade-off between damage and mobility.
And if you can’t complete Maelstrom or Auric without using the Duelist Sword, then it simply means your skill level isn’t suited to the difficulty.

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This thread doesn’t make any sense, is it AI translated or something?

Like, how are players supposed to report on an update that isn’t even out yet?

Also if Vet player somehow keep exploding from using Plasma charged shot, they only out themself as being more dumb than average Psyker.

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The Zealot’s presence in Auric Maelstrom (Level 40) was already quite limited - they were essentially just prayer-bots most of the time. Now with the Dueling Sword’s damage nerfed, their combat effectiveness has dropped even further, reducing them to nothing more than glorified prayer machines

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Lol, the translation makes it sound like you’re serious. Zealots weak in AM :smiley:

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It’s also based on speculative notes that Fatshark removed.

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Sorry for using AI translation - my English isn’t strong enough. Psykers can at least vent overload by screaming or get lucky with random cooldown procs, but Veterans have no safety net for Plasma Gun misfires. In Auric Maelstrom (Level 40), having two players downed by accidental explosions means instant mission failure.

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While nerfs are understandable, the adjustments went too far. The damage reduction on this weapon is excessive. The Dueling Sword’s special counterattack now feels nearly useless when facing hordes of elites or armored enemies.

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The changes haven’t happened yet.

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Have you used the duelling sword’s counter attack?

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You’ve probably used the DS so much that your sense of balance has been dulled.
You shouldn’t be using the DS as the standard for how the game should be balanced.

Even without the DS, Zealot still has several game-breaking skills like Chorus and CDR that need to be addressed.
The same goes for Havoc, it shouldn’t be used as a standard either. That game mode is clearly unfinished and its balance is all over the place.

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I’ve used the counterattack of the Catachan Devil’s Claw sword, and it only performs well against a small number of enemies. When multiple enemies attack at once, your special attack is completely useless. At least the old special attack could interrupt one enemy—if you’re using this weapon, it’s like you’re playing Dark Souls while everyone else is playing a hack-and-slash power fantasy. On higher difficulties like Damnation , there’s no time to wait for enemy attacks to counter with a special move—you have to be aggressive. Playing too defensively on this difficulty will just get you overwhelmed by the endless horde.

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That’s a no, then.

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OP is probably talking about Havoc, not Maelstrom, judging by the number 40 there.

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Good point, well spotted. Still silly.

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For Zealots in Damnation, prayer is practically the only viable option. Only the most elite players can make Charging work, because Damnation’s difficulty is simply too high for it – one misstep and you’ll get shredded by enemy gunners. Why not buff other skills so average players can actually clear Damnation T40 with different builds?

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Then why don’t YOU try clearing Damnation T40 with the Catachan Devil’s Claw sword?

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Damnation. Not AM, not havoc (40). Damnation.

What are your thoughts about heresy?

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Bro they haven’t happened yet. All we have are leaks which are likely not the final version.

Nothing screams “this weapon is my crutch” more than posting about nerfs that haven’t happened and haven’t even had the details officially communicated yet.

How about we wait till we at least know for sure what changes they’re planning before screaming bloody murder?

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