The Poor State Of Perfect Blocking and Its Buffs

[InferusIcornix]

Hello, Forum!

About a week ago, I started toying with Perfect Blocking and the associated talents and blessings. I found it confusing why some buffs are just straight-up worse than others.

First of all, the only truly tailored class for Perfect Blocking is the Arbitrator. The Zealot and Ogryn have weapons that can lean into Perfect Blocking, but they don’t have sufficient talents for it, even though the Zealot got some lately (still not enough). I think all frontline/melee-focused classes should have options to spec into Perfect Blocking - specifically the aforementioned Arbitrator, Zealot, and Ogryn.

There are only 5 weapons that have Perfect Block blessings. Let’s talk about the Arbitrator and the cool Perfect Block buffs that other classes have no access to.

Retaliatory Force. This gives a passive 15% block cost reduction, and on top of that, Perfect Blocks give +15% damage and attack speed. It lasts for 8 seconds, and best of all, it is RENEWABLE. This buff is present in every fight I need it; I don’t need to worry about cooldowns. I can just Perfect Block to my own liking and reap the benefits. I even take it in non-forceful, non-frontliner builds - that’s how nice this talent point is, in my opinion.

Shield Plates. The same goes for Shield Plates. This is a nice buff to blocking as a whole. It instantly replenishes 10% Toughness on a Perfect Block (in addition to the neat toughness regen on regular blocking), and the cooldown on the Perfect Block part is ONLY 1 SECOND - likely just to prevent players from spamming it into hordes.

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The Problem with Current Blessings

Now, look at the uncool blessing: Counterattack. Perfect Blocks give +12% attack speed, lasting 5 seconds, with a cooldown of 5 seconds. In a vacuum, the attack speed is useful and the blessing isn’t “bad”. However, what makes it obsolete is the context of Darktide, the videogame.

All classes have a talent node that is almost always picked that gives +10% attack speed passively, for the cost of 1 out of 30 talent points. The blessing offers a marginal increase (+2%) but requires a Perfect Block and takes up a whopping 1 of 2 blessing slots. The opportunity cost is huge. You never put a blessing on your weapon without being assured it is impactful.

The Risk Factor. Perfect Blocking itself is a huge drawback for activating a blessing because it is a defensive action that requires you to:

1. Wait for an enemy to attack you.
2. Time a block reaction perfectly.
3. Hope a teammate doesn’t hit the enemy that exact second, or a dog doesn’t pounce, or the enemy doesn’t stumble.
4. Hope your movement trajectory doesn’t dodge the attack completely.

On top of that, some enemy attacks(like overheads) cannot be blocked at all. It is “very cool” to try to Perfect Block in a mixed horde only to get a sneaky Mauler overhead on that block (literally what happened to me when I switched from my Arbitrator to my beloved Zealot). With my trained reaction on Arbitrator, I saw the Mauler wind up, put up the block, and got smacked with a chain blade on my head.

Representation in Builds. If we look at one of the very popular weapons, the Relic Blade, it has two Perfect Block blessings. Do you know how many community builds published on Darktide Lantern equip the Relic Blade with either of these? Zero.(Correction. There is exactly 1 build with counter attack, the build is not serious.) I am pretty sure I clicked on every single link. Even for fun, non-meta builds, these combinations don’t exist because they aren’t reliable enough.

Or let’s take the Shield and Shock Maul on Arbitrator. The amount of builds on Darktide Lantern with either Counterattack or Lightning Reflexes is 3, of which only 1 uses Counterattack. Incredible. And there are literally 0 Arbitrator builds with the regular Shock Maul that use Lightning Reflexes at all. Very cool.

Players are unwilling to invest the brainpower and risk during a match just to gain a marginally better buff than what is already present on the talent tree. Furthermore, classes with specific weapons for these blessings don’t need them! The Arbitrator has an overabundance of attack speed and a better version of Counter Attack (Retaliatory Force). The Zealot has no way to Perfect Block overheads, making the playstyle less preferable, and they already have easy access to standalone attack speed nodes.

Energy Transfer & Lightning Reflexes

Energy Transfer is mostly a joke . It has the exact same effect as Cranial Grounding (or Heatsink while not active) while the weapon is active, BUT requires the player to Perfect Block. This is bad because Perfect Blocking is a “fluff” mechanic by itself and does literally the same stuff as a regular block - unlike a dodge or an attack, which have lots of buffs associated with them in the talent trees.

Then it gets a cooldown of 5 seconds. Its sole purpose is to offset the time wasted in “activated mode” trying to Perfect Block.

• You know what doesn’t have a cooldown? Cranial Grounding.
• You know what has an easier activation condition (just pressing M1)? Cranial Grounding.
• You know what gives damage on top of everything? Cranial Grounding.

Literally no one uses Energy Transfer because the alternatives are better. Crit build? Cranial or Heatsink. Martyrdom build? Cranial. Fatmangus IJ build? Cranial is always on the menu. Energy Transfer forces you to wait before engaging to fish for a block. “You press block and… oh no, the dog pounced! Oh no, you missed timing! Oh no, it was unblockable! If you actually land the Perfect Block exactly at the 5-second mark of the buff? Sorry, sir, no Energy Transfer for you - try again.” It is a self-defeating blessing.

Lightning Reflexes. This one, I think, is actually good. It is more represented than Counter Attack and has a more unique buff: +25% Strength. There are not many blue nodes that give the player +% Strength, especially in this amount, making this blessing unique. Plus, it can stun the attacker. The cooldown is understandable here because it offers a strong self-buff and a strong enemy debuff. I personally wouldn’t mind if the self-buff lasted 5 seconds instead of 3, but it is fine as it is.

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My Suggestions for Improvement

1. General Blessing Changes

• Counterattack & Energy Transfer: Remove the cooldowns.
• Counterattack: Should last 8 seconds instead of 5. It competes with other blessings and loses in uptime and ease of use compared to regular blue talent nodes. If there is a fear of degenerate abuse, put a small 1-3 second cooldown on it, but prolong the duration to 8 seconds regardless.
• Energy Transfer Rework:
  • On Block: Reduce Heat buildup by 20% and increase dissipation by 6% lasts 4 seconds.
  • On Perfect Block: Reduce Heat by 10-15% immediately (Cooldown 6-8s).

2. Offensive Defense Blessing. I almost never see anyone using this. I always thought it should either:

• Give stacks on any spent stamina (push attacks, pushing, sprinting).
• Or give 2-3 stacks immediately on Perfect Block (maybe with a 3s cooldown like Lightning Reflexes).

3. Zealot Perfect Block Talents. Zealot is a DPS melee class that can frontline. They need talents to make blocking relevant, specifically the ability to block attacks they usually cannot (like overheads). This fits the Zealot’s theme as a duelist/secondary frontliner.

• No Respite Rework: “Your Perfect Blocks can block all attacks. Replenish 10% Stamina on Melee Critical Hit. 1s Cooldown.”
  • Note: I don’t understand the point of the current No Respite. I can only imagine some Crit Crusher build with push-attack spam taking this node to avoid being on 0% stamina.
• Retaliatory Defence: “Your Perfect Blocks can block all attacks. On Block Break, you are no longer Stunned and instead restore 50% Stamina. 12s Cooldown.”
  • Note: I think this is the best candidate. It is already a somewhat useful talent and is in the left part of the tree with other block talent, so making it even better wouldn’t hurt.
• New Talent Idea (replacing “The Master’s Retribution”): “After a weakspot or critical hit, your Perfect Block can block all attacks for 4 seconds. Gain 15% increased weakspot and critical hit damage.”
  • Note: I never see anyone take Master’s Retribution. I don’t understand why this thing is in the game by itself.
• The Master’s Retribution Rework: “Your Perfect Block can also block unblockable attacks. Knock back the Attacker on taking a Melee Hit. 8s Cooldown.”
  • Note: At least this makes it slightly less of an unjustifiable waste of a talent point.
• Grievous Wounds Addition: “+50% Stagger on Melee Weakspot Hits. Your Perfect Blocks can block all attacks for 5 seconds after a weakspot hit.”
  • Note: Same as with the previous talents, I never see this used at all. This is a buff with Perfect Blocking in mind.

4. Integrating Perfect Block into Dodge Talents Zealot already has talents that trigger on Dodge. Perfect Block is essentially a “worse” version of Dodge, so it should trigger these talents too to alleviate the forgetfulness of the mechanic.

• Duelist: “+50% Finesse Damage for 3s on successful Dodge OR Perfect Block.”
• Riposte: “+3% Melee Damage after Successful Dodge OR Perfect Block. Stacking 5 times. Lasts 8s.”
• Good Balance: “A successful Dodge OR Perfect Block grants +25% Damage Reduction for 2.5s.”
• Second Wind: “Replenish 15% Toughness on a Successful Dodge. Additionally, your Perfect Block replenishes 10% Toughness with a cooldown of 1-3 seconds.”

By adding these triggers, we incentivize blocking without breaking the game, as dodging is still the preferred method of activation.

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Conclusion. I just wanted to rant about the state of such a basic yet interesting mechanic that has been in a poor state for years. It is only alleviated somewhat by the Arbitrator, but even then, it’s not meta-level play - though on Arbitrator I feel I can at least go in and make an effective build with it, unlike Zealot (I didn’t test it on Ogryn at all).

I think Fatshark is too restrictive with Perfect Block buffs, to the point where it’s a super small niche just for fun (and disappointment) for less than 5% of the player base. I bet 90% of people didn’t even know that Perfect Blocking was a thing in this video game until the Arbitrator came along.

Fatshark, pls fix.

[JanZamoysky]

My issue with perfect blocking is that in 9/10 situations is pays off to be on offensive more than defensive, and far better competing options often exist. Also any bonuses and talent interactions which come from perfect blocking are simply TOO SHORT and pointlessly restrictive, an example:

This isn’t even that bad, there are blessing where the bonus uptime is something like 3 seconds, making it in a lot of cases trash tier.

I like the general idea behind those blessing which require a more “skilful” trigger, such as perfect block, or even a headshot (not like its that hard to land one in DT), but the reward is often not worth it.

[InferusIcornix]

Idk about Bash, honestly, I think it’s fine. I use it on my Crowbar in a crit and attack speed focused build. It is meant to be active for just a few swings, like a Push Attack > Heavy > Heavy > Repeat combo on the Crowbar, or Push > Heavy (Alt Mode) > Light (Alt Mode).

I think the design intent of this blessing is to encourage you to use a very simple input (push or push-attack) which you use regardless and give you a short benefit for it. Would making it last 5 seconds instead of 3 make it even better? Yes. Is it necessary? No.

These blessings are meant for the fighting engagement only. They are very easy to use and trigger because they rely on a proactive input (you choosing to push). Compare this to Counterattack, which is needlessly restrictive because it requires a reactive input (waiting for an enemy to do something successfully and then successfully blocking it, which sometimes isn’t possible).

Counterattack isn’t terrible. I can trigger it almost constantly with only 2-3 seconds of downtime in an engagement, but to do that, I have to run 10-15 meters ahead of my team just to ensure they don’t mess up my activation conditions.

With Retaliatory Force, I don’t have these problems because:

1. It is easier to activate.
2. It doesn’t have a needless internal cooldown.
3. It lasts longer.
4. It provides a better buff.
5. It has a lower opportunity cost (spending 1 talent point out of 30 is much cheaper than using 1 of your 2 weapon blessing slots).

I understand the fear of buffing these blessings. I remember reading somewhere that Lightning Reflexes was overpowered when it first came out because it had no cooldown and gave a bigger buff (I might be wrong on the specifics). Having a 3-second cooldown on a Stun + 25% Strength buff is justifiable - yet even then, the blessing is barely used.

But keeping a 5-second cooldown on a 12% attack speed buff? Why? What is so game-breaking about an Arbitrator with a Shock Maul & Shield having +12% attack speed? They already have +15%, +10%, 10%, and another +10% from talents(Same goes for Zealot). At that point, I literally cannot press M1 fast enough to justify taking a whole blessing slot for even more attack speed. I would much rather take a blessing that improves damage or offers utility like Stun + Strength.

If they lift the restrictions on Energy Transfer and Counterattack such as making them last longer, removing the cooldowns, or in the case of Energy Transfer, implementing an immediate heat reduction on Perfect Block - they would at least become somewhat viable.

They still won’t be best in slot. Proof of this is that neither Shield Plates nor Retaliatory Force are the most picked talent nodes for Arbitrator, despite being very good. If the talent versions aren’t breaking the game, buffing the weapon blessings certainly won’t either.

[Mitradraug]

At this point just make perfect block a proper mechanic for all classes instead of a condition for buffs. The ability to block any attack with reduced stamina cost within 200 or 300 ms won’t be broken.

[ramrod_ikarus]

Impassible on zealot is a game changer and fits the more dodgy theme of zealot better. On a zealot the combination of retaliatory defence and being able to perfect block overheads would be too strong on some weapons. That would make zealot literally unkillable

[ZoroDaOtter]

All of the perfect blessings suck because FS is deathly afraid of people abusing them. The first perfect block blessing, Lightning Reflexes, had no CD on release so people were spamming tap blocking into rager hordes to mass stun everything.

Since then perfect block blessings have been a waste of a slot because FS doesn’t want people spamming block into hordes for buffs.

[InferusIcornix]

I somewhat agree. I checked the builds on Darktide Lantern, and Impassible and Retaliatory Defences are indeed much more popular on the Combat Blade and Dueling Sword. (I assume you meant this weapons specifically).

This is no wonder, because obviously, these are super fast, high-damage meta weapons that have NO blessings with Perfect Block and are inherently incredible with dodging. These are the weapons that benefit the most from having Agile as a talent node. It effectively lets them skip the Agile blessing on the weapon and take something else while still keeping the defensive utility.

As you mentioned, If we give Knives and Dueling Swords the ability to Perfect Block overheads/stomps on top of their insane mobility, it’s going to make them even better and unkillable. ( As ZoroDaOtter pointed out, the DS recently got the ability to parry with its special, so perfect blocks to work on all attacks is not even that crazy of a buff for ds specifically) It would let them negate everything short of environmental floor effects.

This leaves the weapons that actually have Perfect Block blessings (Shock Maul, Relic Blade) with almost nothing, while the meta weapons just get another tool in their arsenal.

Even if we assume we don’t need a Zealot to block overheads with a knife (which is fair), this frontlining(that’s how I usually try to play zealot) ability could be implemented in another way: add a Sword & Shield weapon to the Zealot. I think asking Fatshark for a Storm Shield or something like that is a very popular request. It would enable frontlining and perfect blocking to its fullest without breaking the balance of high-mobility dueling weapons.

Hypothetically, Zealots can survive without blocking overheads by adding additional thinking to their gameplay. But that brings me back to the main issue: Counterattack and Energy Transfer are just bad, and even if buffed, Zealot only has one Perfect Block talent (restoring Dodges).

Currently, Perfect Block is a “fluff” mechanic 90% of the time. You only use it in that 10% scenario where you are out of dodges and need to Perfect Block to get them back.

I believe that some existing talents should trigger from Perfect Block in addition to Successful Dodge. Perfect Block is just a worse version of a Dodge. It is riskier, requires you to rely on enemy behaviour more, and doesn’t work in all scenarios. Allowing talents like Duelist to proc from a Perfect Block won’t break the game.

The Zealot is the fundamental melee class. Its current reliance solely on dodging comes from the fact that Perfect Block has been an overlooked and sidelined mechanic for years. Integrating it into the talent tree fits the class fantasy perfectly.

[dannylew8299]

Change Perfect Block to Block and/or change the duration from 3 seconds to 15 seconds; that would entice me to try these blessings and talents.

At least that’s my scrubbiest opinion on that. Asking me for skill-blocks in this game feels like it should have an equal or better output while taking into account stamina, positioning, and the team.

3 sec duration 3 second cooldown are crazy restrictions to have on blocking abilities in a team game.

[InferusIcornix]

Yes, I touched on this in my rant. I remembered correctly that this was the case with Lightning Reflexes. However, neither Counterattack nor Energy Transfer have the ability to stun the enemy. Even then, there is a room for a potential buff for lighting reflexes: keep the cooldown on the Stun effect, but remove the cooldown from the Self-Buff (+% Strength). Or at least make the buff last longer (5 seconds instead of 3) so I don’t feel punished if I happen to Perfect Block again within that 3-second window.

Overall, if we talk about a regular team comp(with a Psyker, a Rumbler Ogryn, a Grenadier Vet, or Arbitrator) there is almost no reason to take a Perfect Block blessing unless you are the one playing full frontline. So, If I try to stay with the team and play into the “team effort”, I actually have a much worse time triggering my blessings. I played a few Havoc games last night, and what ended up happening was that I would often go a whole minute or more without using either of my two blessings. Why? Because the enemies were in a constant state of suppression or stagger from my teammates’ explosions and crowd control.

There is no such issue with almost any other blessing in the game. Most blessings reward you for attacking (which you always do) or Dodging(which is better and I don’t recall any of them having cooldowns). Perfect Block blessings require you to stop attacking, and wait for an enemy to attack you, and it can’t even avoid all the available attacks, and it holds you in one place - that IS the restriction.

To take that restriction and add:

1. A short duration (3-5 seconds).
2. A buff that is only marginally better than a talent node.
3. AND an internal cooldown.

It is just stupid. The mechanic of Perfect Blocking is already difficult enough to pull off consistently in a chaotic match; it doesn’t need three layers of safety rails preventing it from being useful.

[InferusIcornix]

They actually did something similar already with the Arbitrator talents, which proves it works.

Shield Plates for the Arbitrator gives toughness regeneration over 3 seconds just by blocking, and on top of that, it replenishes 10% Toughness instantly on a Perfect Block with only a 1-second cooldown.

Retaliatory Force for the Arbitrator gives arguably the best buff of any blue node: +15% to both Attack Speed and Damage for 8 seconds. This node is so good that I even considered taking it without using shield weapons or Adamant Will. And on top of that, the Arbitrator has the Adamant Will upgrade that lets them Perfect Block any attack even without using a shield weapon, which is really cool.

The current Blessings for Perfect Blocking are endlessly restrictive. They don’t last long enough or give a substantially big enough buff to justify taking them - except for Lightning Reflexes, which is still just a fringe, marginal blessing for people who really want to use it.

I think the buffs I suggested in the last section of my rant will at least make them somewhat relevant. By adding more talents or making existing talents work with Perfect Blocks for the Zealot (or Ogryn), we can stop Perfect Blocking from remaining the forgotten mechanic that it is right now.

[ZoroDaOtter]

@InferusIcornix

Dueling Swords the ability to Perfect Block overheads/stomps on top of their insane mobility

DS has parry now, so it can block overhead/stomps.

[InferusIcornix]

Ah, you are right. They indeed buffed the Duelling Sword recently. I just haven’t used it since, like, March, so I didn’t even have this in mind.

[ramrod_ikarus]

Close but I am thinking about tac axe . Otherwise full agree

[InferusIcornix]

Yeah, I was also thinking about them. But clicking through another 40 tabs of builds just to check what talent nodes tacaxe builds have was a bit much, and ds and knife was already enough data for me.

[ramrod_ikarus]

Yes but with a catch especially on psyker. Being able to negate any overhead mid combo is even stronger if you ask me. It is nothing I would hand left and right. There is an arbi setup that lets you do that and I had my invincible moments with that: High havoc completely surrounded by crusher and and maulers without available shock mine and still coming out victorious. Stopped playing it because it feels too strong.