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Best Darktide Zealot build, weapons, and feats

The best Darktide Zealot build grants you power and protection while brawling, with excellent crowd control and the ability to burst single targets with ease

Best Darktide Zealot build: a solider holds a giant warhammer at the ready
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Warhammer 40k Darktide 

The best Darktide Zealot build, while primarily focused on hand-to-hand combat, has a versatility that is vital to your squad’s chances at survival. The Zealot’s central ability, Chastise The Wicked, propels your forward into a group of enemies, but what do you do when you’re in the midst of the horde?

This build connects your sustainability and your damage; by utilising the Zealot’s Martyrdom ability, you’re able to deal consistently high damage as long as you’re able to manage your health appropriately, with the Until Death ability saving you should things get out of hand. Your primary focus with this build in the co-op game is to get into the mix and stay there, with your teammates providing additional damage when you need it. Being a one-person army, however, it’s likely you won’t need any.

Best Darktide Zealot build

The idea behind the best Darktide Zealot build is to be on the frontlines and in the enemy’s face as much as possible. You’ll have enough cleave damage with your melee weapon to deal with whatever the game throws at you, and the feats we have selected ensure that you can Chastise The Wicked to either get in or out of trouble. Being low on health will increase your damage, but it’s vital that you manage your toughness shield to remain alive.

Weapons

Here are the best weapons to use as the Zealot in Darktide:

  • Crucis Mk II Thunder Hammer
  • Artemia Mk III Purgation Flamer

It’s nearly impossible to look past the Thunder Hammer on the Zealot, as it will most likely be your primary source of damage. The Thunder Hammer has a huge horizontal swing on its heavy attack, enabling you to gain talent stacks rapidly, and the large damage area will keep the hordes at bay with ease. The Thunder Hammer also has a charged special attack that deals an absurd amount of damage to a single target; used in combination with Chastise the Wicked enables you to jump into a group of enemies, single one out for execution, then dive out before they’re able to react.

The Flamer is perhaps the most iconic Zealot weapon, and for that reason alone it’s worth the inclusion here. Unreal AOE damage puts the Flamer up there with the best Darktide weapons, and with it in hand, you’ll have no trouble at all thinning the endless herd of Pox Walkers.

Feats

Here are the best feats to use as the Zealot in Darktide:

  • Enemies Within, Enemies Without: Replenish 5% toughness per second while within five metres of three enemies.
  • Punishment: Attacks that hit three or more enemies grant +30% impact for five seconds. Stacks five times. At max stacks, gain uninterruptible.
  • Benediction: +15% toughness damage reduction (Allies in coherency).
    Thy Wrath Be Swift: You no longer get stunned by enemy melee attacks. When you take damage, gain +20% movement speed for two seconds.
  • Rising Conviction: +4% damage for five seconds on hit. Max stacks five.
  • Purge The Wicked: Chastise The Wicked now has two charges.

As you can see, a lot of the feats we’ve applied to the best Darktide Zealot build work towards keeping you alive and keeping you in the fight. With Enemies Within, Enemies Without, you’ll want to be within arms reach (hammer’s reach?) of the enemy at all times, as this will keep your toughness topped up constantly. If you find that your toughness is about to break, simply use Chastise The Wicked to re-position and completely refill your shield.

Punishment works perfectly with the Crucis Mk II Thunder Hammer, as its powerful heavy attack swings horizontally and is able to hit multiple enemies at once. This also feeds into Rising Conviction, which gives you a percentage damage increase with every hit.

Purge The Wicked can give you safety if your toughness is about to break, but it can also be used to burst down a single target and get to relative safety. With the extra charge to Chastise The Wicked, you can dash into the enemy, do your thing, and dash back out.

Curios

For your three curio slots, it’s best to aim for items that increase your toughness and health. Damage isn’t an issue with this build, but if you’re juggling a low health bar to maintain that extra power, it can be easy to get overwhelmed – especially if you’ve already used two charges of Chastise The Wicked.

There you have the best Darktide Zealot build, a mobile, heavy-hitting brawler that can deal with almost anything that the FPS game can throw their way. If you’re still undecided on which of the Darktide classes is for you, we have builds for all of the remaining character types: Veteran, Ogyrn, and Psyker.

If this is the class you’re sticking with, you can earn more Darktide cosmetics by completing Penances or unlocking shops by increasing your trust levels. Finally, we’ve got your back if you’re wondering whether Darktide crossplay is a thing.

 

When he's not writing guides at PCGamesN, PK is usually found waiting for the respawn timer in League of Legends, hanging around a tavern in Baldur's Gate 3, or fighting his way through the Settled Systems in Starfield. PK's extensive knowledge of video games is matched only by his extensive wardrobe of flannel shirts, which he has been curating since he was born, proving he was always meant to be a games journalist. He watches an episode of Star Trek every night before bed, and he loves toast, even though it makes him feel a bit sick. Buttery goodness exacts a heavy toll, one that he's willing to pay.