9 Things I wish I knew before starting Darktide, Warhammer 40K

With the Darktide pre-order beta now underway, we thought it would be a good time to share some tips to help you get a head start in the game. 

Below are nine tips to give you a good basic understanding of the game and how you can effectively navigate your way through its systems and combat. 

The Hub is one of the first things you will see in Darktide after creating your character and completing the prologue. From here you will be able to visit the Mission Terminal in the middle of the hub to begin missions, but there are also other features you will want to make use of. 

Firstly, there is the Armoury, which will allow you to purchase new gear for your character. Note that some weapons have a level requirement associated with them, so they will not show up here until you hit that level. 

Next up there is the Requisitorium, which is kind of like a more specialized version of the Armoury. You won't be able to interact with the Requisitorium until you reach level 11, after which point there will be various challenges on offer here. Completing these challenges will earn you tokens which you can spend on high quality weapons, curios or cosmetics. 

Finally there is the Psykhanium, which you can use to test out your build and weapons against many different enemy types in the game. 

Every five levels, you will unlock a new talent choice for your character. There are always three to choose from and they will change the way your build works in various ways. Some will grant you additional special abilities or modify existing ones, whereas others are simple stat buffs. 

When you have decided how you want to specialize your character, you can make more informed choices about which talents you want to choose. You can always change them at any point while you are in the Hub, so play around with them as much as you want until you find a combination that works for you. 

In Darktide, there are various roles that your character can fulfil. These are not the same as roles in MMO type games, i.e. tank, healer and DPS. Generally all characters in Darktide are focused on damaging enemies, but it makes sense to specialize against different enemy types, such as armored elites, specials, bosses or hordes. 

While the traditional tank that absorbs damage and distracts enemies with a hard taunt ability does not exist in Darktide, it does have its own take on the tank build which is best performed by the Ogryn class, using massive amounts of stagger to stun enemies and knock them back, creating more space for team mates to operate. 

Different classes specialize naturally in different roles - the Veteran Sharpshooter is gifted at sniping specials from long range while the Psyker is great at taking out armored elites, however there is some flexibility there that allows each class to fill different roles depending on which talents and weapons they have equipped. 

In combat it's very useful to make use of dodging to avoid damage, from both melee and ranged attacks. Just like in Vermintide 2, mastering the timing of dodges can make you avoid almost all sources of damage, which makes your ability to stay alive and keep fighting in tough situations much better. 

You can also make use of sprinting, or press crouch while sprinting to slide along the ground - a good way of moving to cover or attacking enemies while evading gunfire. 

Transitioning between ranged and melee combat without taking too much damage is key to staying alive in Darktide, and mastering these basic movement tools will make this much easier. 

There's often more to weapons than meets the eye, Melee weapons have light and heavy attack chains, and each swing in the chain has different features. For example, some weapons have light attacks that do large amounts of cleave damage with heavy attacks that offer precise single target damage for taking on tougher foes, whereas other melee weapons this could be a reverse, or a combination of both. 

Also, all weapons in the game have a special effect that you can activate. This can range from a simple flashlight on a ranged weapon, to powering up the chain on a chainsword for extreme single target damage. It's good to play around with each weapon you use to find out which combos work for you. 

Toughness is a new mechanic in Darktide. It is basically a shield on top of your healthbar that absorbs damage, giving you an ability to withstand small melee hits and most ranged attacks without losing health. 

Different classes have different ways of regenerating toughness, but staying close to your team is a generally good way of doing this. 

Coherency is another new mechanic. Players in Darktide have Coherency Auras, which provide buffs to nearby allies. The effect of Coherency auras depends on the class that is providing it, but generally speaking this is a mechanic that rewards you for sticking with your team, which is pretty much always a good idea. 

There are many different types of enemies in Darktide. Most of them are not very dangerous on their own, but in situations with many enemies in play, some types can become a huge threat simply by being there, and you will want to take them out as soon as possible. 

As a rule of thumb, specialized enemies are the most dangerous and should always be targeted first. These include enemies that grab players and stun them, such as hounds and trappers, area denial enemies like the Tox Flamer, or high damage specials like the Scab Shotgunners and Snipers. 

In a tough situation these enemies can cause all sorts of problems for you, so they should be dealt with as qucikly as possible. 

This is the final point for today. We touched on it a bit earlier in the explanation about Coherency, but there are many reasons to stay with your team. If you are caught by a disabling special enemy, then you will definitely want a friend close by to help you. 

There's also a detail in the game's coding that punishes those who stray too far from their buddies. Like the Vermintide games, Darktide has an AI Director which essentially chooses which enemies to spawn and when to spawn them. The AI Director is programmed to spawn special enemies close to players who are by themselves, so if you have to leave the group then be sure not to linger for too long before returning.

We also have a Darktide Build Editor which will allow you to create and share your own builds, and a Builds page where you can view builds created by other players. This is still a WIP but be sure to keep an eye on it as the beta and game launch progresses if you want new build ideas.   

We hope you enjoyed this article about Warhammer 40,000: Darktide.