Trying to use the buffed Crunch talent, have both FreziedBlows and HH but still take 6 years to charge 3 stacks, is the talent not usable for karsolas or am i supposed to stack only 2 or 1 stacks of thrust and Crunch?
neither thrust nor crunch is affected by attack speed, but they do charge slightly faster on pickaxes
6 Likes
I would combine with Thrust and that talent which gives you normal mobility when charging heavy attacks. I wouldn’t use it vs most targets, waste of time.
4 Likes
In the current game where even crushers go down before I can hit them with fully charged Thrust half the time (from kraks, toxins and other armor-destroying things), I don’t even know why would I use any weapons with slow arse moveset, it’s really discouraging when it takes ages to prepare your “super-powerul” attack and hit air with it. And even if it hits a crusher, chances are high he’ll lives anyway and you need to swing your slow-arse weapon again. I stopped using Branx due to this completely.
3 Likes
Thanks alot guys! Gues i’ll stick to the build without Crunch. 
That “problem” changes somewhat in Havoc, but I do share your frustrations with “Press X To Win” options like kraks and Boom Bringer. Especially with talents like Demo Team, which turn vets into mobile krak 3d printers.
Luckily outside that abnormal last event, where you kept regenerating blitz on elite kills, this issue is somewhat limited.
Honestly pickaxes hit so hard, it’s not like Crunch is “required”, just hit them again. 
1 Like
until I find something else, I think Thrust + Headhunter + Crunch + Branx Pickax is the most viable application and only for Auric or lower diff
maybe folding shovel has a reason to live, idk
1 Like
I always found Branx weird, I don’t play much with pickaxes, but I liked Borovian for its moveset, even if the K variant was probably the easiest.
so far I always keep synergies between melee and ranged weapons since one category can’t cover everything.
in that regard my go-to mix is currently
karsolas
slaughterer
thrust
25%flak/maniac
rumbler
adhesive
brittleness blessing (dunno the name right now)
25%carapace/unyielding.
after testing for a while I switched my build actually to crunch and “no stopping me” with taking the talent that gives 15%damage reduction while charging heavies.
with that combo I’m sliding around enemy clusters and going for “leg-meta” with scab maulers and ragers, while effortlessly lawn mowing gunners and the like.
reapers are a rumbler one shot, even and especially in groups and crushers take 2 overheads charged to go down after a rumbler hit.
that is up until auric maelstrom, don’t care for havoc much, but until there it keeps pace and sometimes outdamages scum with boom bringer. go figure 
why karsolas?
the swing pattern is very fluid and reliable to keep up, so you take way less damage in thick encounters due to enormous toughness regen.
used to take the middle left nodes where pushing enemies net you a taunt +15% damage in stagger, so far going almost exclusively heavy the crunch/thrust gets me more damage output and I find myself sliding around enemy clusters rather than pushing them constantly.
1 Like
This is the build i tried using ( only added talents ) but with thrust and crunch it still feels like there are to large gaps between the attacks and dps feels lower. Mind you i didnt do a dps test.
ogryn - Ogryn Build for Darktide - Darktide WH40k
any advice on build what to change ?
The only weapon that requires near full crunch charge is Power Maul.
Pickaxes, Slab shield, the rest– the optimal way to play them is to spam heavy attack rather than charge them completely, especially since they increased elite’s HP so oneshots on many builds are no longer possible.
If you get headtaker/slaughterer/25% after special attack blessings and just spam Pickaxe attacks (pull with special for stagger –> then either use heavies or lights) you’ll get both more toughness back and probably more consistent damage. I only charge heavy attacks against bosses, and not all the time.
Charging heavy attacks to the max is insane DPS loss and slower toughness gain. You only get 15% damage reduction if you have the correct talent, but 15% is honestly nothing.
1 Like
Thanks, in my normal build i use the points for beat them back and crunch for get stuck and no hurting friends and do what you recommended.
I’ll look up some gameplay tips for power maul, never used it but want to try. Thanks
With Crunch, Thrust, 8 Stacks of HH I think it is still possible to one-shot Crusher with overhead heavy. Maybe some other buffs kicked in, but I was able to use it on Havoc recently
1 Like
heres my current loadout i pick for expeditions
i used to go with this one
but found the open world having little opportunity to reliably push enemies compared to the corridor based maps of the normal mode.
so in essence i go for a build that lets me play as independent from useless randoms as possible in an open environment that has gunners pick you out constantly.
keep in mind a build has to fit to your playstyle, this aint higher kung fu or rocket science and any theorycrafting is useless if it doesnt suit you when trying to apply.
most of the time i combine heavy charging with sliding to avoid getting hit/move around the map quickly. if you prefer a slower playstyle this build might not be for you.
recent uploads on my channel feature this latest build, you can check them out and see if its up your alley or not. 
ps: a lot of build efficiency is based on if you play with people (premades) or against/alongside them (randoms).
the later need you to adapt to the fact that they dont give a flying 
about you in a pinch, do the most stupid stuff at the most inconvenient of times and are not to be trusted to fight their way out of a wet paper bag.
so every “min maxing” with 15% here and 20% there aint gonna do you any good if the 3 other buffoons run off to every direction and gunners have it out for you across the open map 
pick a build/playstyle thats as self sustainable as possible and ALWAYS expect them to f-up .
1 Like
Crunch is multiplicative to thrust, so I would use either, or, not both.
1 Like