(This was written with the help of ChatGPT. My English isn’t great, so there may be awkward parts.)
After the Bound by Duty update, Zealot definitely became stronger thanks to damage-boosting nodes and better pathing options. No one denies that.
However, from the perspective of many players in the Asian/Korean community (including myself), Zealot still has several major shortcomings—especially in high-level content such as Auric and Havoc. I’d like to summarize these issues below and hear feedback from others in the global community.
1. No access to Rending, Cleave boosts, or meaningful debuffs (Bleed, Brittleness, etc.) through talents
Zealot is supposed to be a melee-focused class, yet it currently cannot gain Rending or Cleave bonuses through class talents. With the recent rise in the durability and value of Carapace and Flak enemies, this issue has become even more noticeable.
As a result:
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Weapons that can still use the Uncanny Strike blessing remain meta picks.
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Alternatives such as the Eviscerator or Hammer are usable but not nearly as efficient.
Additionally, Zealot has no way to inflict Bleed or Brittleness through talents.
Brittleness is already considered one of the most important high-difficulty debuffs, yet Zealot must rely on weapon blessings or once again lean on Uncanny Strike spam to help deal with Carapace armor.
Meanwhile, Bleed is even harder to apply consistently.
This raises a simple question we’ve been asking:
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Ogryn gets Bleed on hit.
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Veteran gets a talent that applies 2 stacks of Bleed on hit.
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Why is Zealot—THE melee-committed class—the only one without it?
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And how come Veteran can stack Bleed, Brittleness, and Rending on their own while also outperforming Zealot in melee damage in many cases?
Zealot technically has many utility skills that look powerful on paper:
Duellist, Thy Wrath Be Swift, Scourge, Riposte, etc.
However, most of these require very specific and often impractical conditions to activate:
| Skill | Activation Requirement | Issue |
|---|---|---|
| Duellist | Successful dodge triggers buff | Requires frequent dodge triggers during intense melee |
| Riposte | Triggered after dodging attacks | Stacks drop too quickly |
| Scourge | Hitting bleeding enemies or crit-first hit | Relies on external Bleed application or RNG |
| Punishment | Hit 3+ enemies at once | Difficult vs. mixed/elites, low overall impact |
Many players outside Korea often describe Duellist as “broken” or even “overpowered,” but Korean Havoc/Auric Zealot players largely disagree.
In Havoc 40-level gameplay, you rarely get to trigger “successful dodge” conditions consistently, because:
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Combat usually happens inside a Psyker dome shield.
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Ogryns often taunt or knock enemies down.
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Group synergy reduces opportunities for dedicated dodge-based engagements.
Example (from a Korean Zealot player):
(Image: Duellist uptime approx. 24.5%, Riposte uptime approx. 46.8% out of a 25-minute run)
Even worse:
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Duellist’s uptime only indicates active buff duration, not actual window for landing crits/weakspot hits within its 3-second timer.
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As a result, its real damage gain is significantly lower than the uptime suggests.
This is why many Korean players don’t even take Duellist—it’s just not reliable or efficient in real high-difficulty group play.
Riposte: Looks decent on uptime, but still underwhelming
In the same image:
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Riposte uptime: 46.8%
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BUT maximum stack uptime: only 26.7%
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Average stack: just 2.75 (not even reaching its ideal stack frequently)
This means the total average damage gain across an entire match is less than 9%.
Ironically, the standard node located at the bottom left simply provides a constant +10% melee attack power, yet it actually performs far better than the repost.
Despite this, Riposte was nerfed in a recent hotfix, which many Korean Zealot players found confusing and frustrating.
Meanwhile, Veteran’s Skirmisher does the same concept – but far better
Veteran’s Skirmisher is conceptually similar (stack-based melee damage buff), but:
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Activated by just sprinting or sliding
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10-second duration
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Base damage bonus (applies to everything)
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Easy to maintain
Example (Skirmisher in a melee keystone Veteran Havoc run):
(Image: Skirmisher uptime above 90%, max stack uptime 74.8%, avg stack 3.5)
So Veteran can get a near-permanent 25% damage boost, simply by moving, even with no enemies nearby—yet Riposte got nerfed despite having less than half the uptime.
Scourge is also unreliable
Scourge can theoretically boost crit chance up to +30%, but:
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Requires enemies to Bleed (which Zealot cannot apply alone)
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If the first hit is not a crit, stacking is inconsistent
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Netcode issues sometimes prevent stacks from building, especially if target dies on hit
Example (Korean player using Bleed Dagger in Havoc):
(Image: Scourge uptime only 30–40% even with a Bleed weapon)
Meanwhile, Veteran’s Desperado provides +10% melee crit chance +25% finesse damage essentially all the time, achieving similar or superior value with no hassle.
So in many real runs, Veteran outperforms Zealot even in melee, which feels wrong since Zealot is supposed to be dedicated to melee.
Punishment (stagger talent) also feels weak
Even after its recent buff, it requires hitting 3 or more enemies at once.
The full-stack effect is barely noticeable in practice, making it rarely worth picking.
Conclusion for this section
Many Zealot talents have:
Difficult activation conditions
Low uptime
Rapid stack decay
Unreliable real-world value vs. high-difficulty gameplay
Meanwhile, other classes (especially Veteran) achieve equal or superior results with far less effort
What could be improved? (Community suggestions)
Here are some potential solutions that many Korean Zealot players would like to see considered:
1. Soften or rework strict activation conditions
Most conditional talents should:
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Have more flexible triggers, or
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Gain longer stack retention, or
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Decay gradually instead of disappearing instantly (similar to Psyker’s keystone design)
2. Example reworks (conceptual proposals)
| Current Talent | Suggested Alternative (example) |
|---|---|
| Duellist (requires dodge success) | Gain +20% finesse damage for 3s on weakspot hit instead |
| Riposte (dodge-based stack) | Trigger via stamina spend (e.g., sprinting, sliding, pushing) like Skirmisher |
| Scourge (requires Bleed target or first-hit crit) | Gain stacks on critical hits or on successful melee hits during combat |
| Punishment (hit 3+ enemies) | Either reduce condition to 2 targets or increase buff value significantly |
3. Add access to core melee debuffs
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Allow Zealot to apply at least one: Bleed, Rending, or Brittleness
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Thematically fits Zealot’s identity as a melee zeal-driven executioner
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Prevents over-reliance on specific blessings like Uncanny Strike
4. Consider merging redundant nodes (e.g., Revenant-related)
Some nodes (like Revenant and similar layered passives) could be streamlined to improve pathing and synergy.
I’d love to hear opinions from other Zealot players, especially outside the Korean scene.
Do you feel the same? Are these issues mainly regional (Havoc/Auric with specific team comps), or do you think Zealot still lacks something fundamental in its design?
