Zealot non-stealth, non-martyrdom, thunder hammer build advice

Warhammer 40,000: Darktide General Discussion
1

Hi all, I’m looking for some build advice for my zealot.

I almost exclusively use 2-handed weapons like thunder hammer, relic blade, crusher, Eviscerator. Mostly thunder hammer. The only 1-handed weapon I ever use is the chain axe Mk4.

I use ranged weapons primarily for rapid special/shooter elimination, mostly bolt pistol because it just feels good to use and is very 40k. I’m just not a flamer guy tbh.

I’m going to use Chorus, regardless of other choices, because I like being team support and often play with less experienced friends that need frequent bailing out.

I’m not interested in Martyrdom. I know it’s good, but I just don’t like the cut of its jib.

So the question is: for a zealot using a slow 2-hander like the thunder hammer and chorus, which do you think is the better keystone: Blazing Piety or Inexorable Judgement?

The crits from Blazing Piety synergize very well with a lot of other talents (Duelist, Enduring Faith, Scourge, etc…). Plus I love the TDR from Stalwart. But the weapons I use, with the exception of eviscerator, are poor crit weapons at baseline and don’t have crit blessings. Plus it seems harder to take advantage of Scourge with a weapon like thunder hammer.

I really like the attack speed and dodge bonuses from Inexorable Judgement, which make me feel much faster and more mobile with slow weapons, but then you miss out on all that crit synergy. Plus Pious Cutthroat and Riposte, both in the Inexorable Judgement neighborhood of the talent tree, just got nerfed, which seems to further encourage going Blazing Piety instead.

What do you all think?

2

Both work fine, just take what you like most.

If you go the inexorable judgement route you gotta grab the damage reduction on dodge as that keystone has no DR, but the toughness regen is awesome. Attack speed is also a nice to have and allows you to free the other attack speed node above.

Crit side is better for hordes with the additional bleeding from scourge and now a tad better in cooldown replenishment.

3

I hear you brother.

I too have been playing Zealot 99% of the time since the beginning. I too prefer Space Marine weapons like the Boltgun, Eviscerator, and (most holy of all) the Crucis Thunder Hammer.

As for your conundrum, I’m willing to give you an advice, but I’m afraid you will not like it.

Don’t use Chorus. Use Fury.

Yes Chorus is safe and all. But with Fury you can charge through gunfire and rescue your friends almost instantly thanks to Revive Speed Curios and the Providence talent. And the Cooldown of Fury is half that of Chorus. So with Fury you can save a friend twice as often. And twice again with Redoubled Zeal. :flexed_biceps:

Also, you are right about the lack of synergy with Scourge reducing the total number of Critical Hits versus the Eviscerator. I am fine with this, and so should you. The power of the Thunder Hammer is different, and so is the role of its wielder. The Eviscerator is best for mobs. The Thunder Hammer is the best for bosses. And they both meet somewhere in-between.

As you know, a fully charged Critical Hit with the Thunder Hammer is devastating. And Fury gives you a guaranteed on-demand Critical Hit. Twice. :flexed_biceps:

While you are not hunting big games, the small games you can just bonk on the head repeatedly with light attacks. It’s not particularly quick, but it’s effective. With enough Stamina Regeneration to Block and Push on-demand, you can easily get out of unfavorable positions.

As for the choice between Piety and Judgement. Piety will serve you well against mobs. Judgement will serve you well for hit-and-run tactics. I personally use Piety.

4

This is what I run as my staple all-around zealot build in H40, with relic blade Mk X and the heaviest shotgun. It feeds into the decent Mk X push attack, and rotating between relic blade and using Chorus when the blade overheats. Hence I take the talents which boost dmg on low stam and increase attack speed on push attack. I think I have both 2 x stam regen and 2 x block cost reduction on curios, 2 x T, 1 x HP, the rest is likely gunner resist. You could probably make an argument for ability cooldown reduction, but I don’t like standing around with Chorus much.

Few talent points here are free agents really, I like that extra safety with those top tree toughness regen talents.

Both Chorus and the shotgun suppression allow me to “lead the charge” and push in on shooter packs. Stun nades when you need extra CC when dealing with elite clown cars or to revive someone.

image
image580×838 99.3 KB

5

Thanks for the input fellas.

If going thunder hammer and blazing piety, do you think Scourge and Blinded By Blood are worth taking at all? I can’t tell if their uptime makes them worth taking, or if the +25% crit chance from Blazing Piety is good enough without Scourge.

Also, what are your thoughts about Desperation? How important do you consider it in your heavy weapon builds? I do tend to push and sprint a lot, but my stamina also regens pretty fast, so I don’t tend to spend much time fighting with no stamina.

6

Even with Piety I think you’re way overestimating the IoD uptime on a T Hammer lol. I would be shocked if PCT isn’t more effective even after nerf.

OP, fun fact about IJ I had pointed out to me recently. It secretly also gives dodge distance (+0.5% per stack), dodge speed (+0.5% per stack) and dodge count reset speed (+1% per stack). I think those are some especially nice benefits for the big low mobility weapons you listed.

IJ and BP are probably much of a muchness here, with roughly balanced pros and cons, but I’d go IJ personally.

7

Yep, I was aware of the unlisted doge buffs of IJ. I can’t believe those have remained unlisted for so long…

If it wasn’t for those dodge buffs, IJ wouldn’t even be in the conversation for me. I like how much more dodgy and mobile I feel with IJ, which I agree is much more noticeable on slower weapons. Playing with BP, I feel a lot less mobile but also feel like I’m a lot more tanky (Enduring Faith + Stalwart is a lot of TDR with high uptime) and like I’m doing noticeably more damage.

I haven’t done any math regarding the newly-nerfed PCT vs IoD, but I take your point that PCT may still be more effective on slow weapons. I do feel like I’m able to get a crit at least once every 3-4 seconds with thunder hammer when using BP and scourge, but that’s not based on any real math.

I guess the decision between IJ and BP comes down to speed/dodging/mobility vs damage and tanking.

I have also definitely noticed that my ranged weapons feel stronger with BP as compared to IJ, especially because of crit-activated blessings (e.g. hand cannon, infernus) and blessings that increase crit chance (e.g. surgical, headhunter). Crit chance seems to synergize well with a lot of ranged weapons and their blessings.