I haven’t played Warhammer 40k Darktide in years. I can’t inform you exactly once I last loaded up Fatshark’s first-person shooter, but I practically needed to blow the dust off the menu screen when it will definitely loaded up, creaking and wheezing with surprise exertion. As Omnissiah’s favourite son, I’m here to check out the brand new Skitarii class and put this biomechanical soldier through their paces within the infested underbelly of Hive Tertium.
But first, I actually have to endure the opening cutscene. Darktide’s cutscenes are unparalleled in the case of realistically-rendered depictions of the forty first millennium, however the introduction to the Skitarii DLC is especially gruesome. A Tech-Priest is intent on recruiting a brand new soldier to send into the horrors embedded throughout the Hive Cities of Atoma Prime. Thankfully, she has quite a few willing recruits.
The grisly scene in query begins when the volunteer Skitarii disrobes. We’re confronted with the grim reality of war within the forty first millennium: a scarred, grey body with cables snaking along fleshy furrows and all manner of servos and fans implanted directly into the chest and ribcage. That is the precise Cronenbergian reason why Adeptus Mechanicus piqued my interest when approaching the narrative of Warhammer 40k. Don’t get me flawed, but it surely’s quite a bit to soak up when loading up the sport for the primary time in years.
Praise The Omnissiah
I haven’t played Darktide for thus long, not since it’s bad, but because my tastes have modified. I play fewer live-service games full stop, and people I still play, I play less. I’m more Mechanicus 2 than Space Marine 2. Give me a chunky narrative to read 100,000 words of deep lore moderately than an incremental upgrade meaning my Big Sword now does 0.2 percent more damage to poison-based opponents.
You picking up what I’m putting down? Nevertheless, the pull of the Omnissiah is powerful—my love of the Machine God (and its dark cousin) has been well-documented on these pages—brought me back, and once I’d sculpted my latest Skitarii primary to my precise flavour of disgusting, I donned my robes and headed into the Hive City to bring irradiated justice to the foul worshippers of Chaos therein.
After trialing each of the Skitarii’s weapons, I got here to a straightforward conclusion: the Galvanic Rifle is an ordinary rifle. Boring, powerful, and reloads in a way completely at odds with my expectations. The Phosphor Pistol is more useful, however the tick damage isn’t strong enough to compete with the perfect ranged weapon in your arsenal, the Arc Rifle.
Let’s be honest, all of us need to shoot bolts of lightning that jump from cultist to cultist, and the Arc Rifle perfectly fulfils that fantasy. Brace the Arc Rifle for a bonus bolt of lightning spreading to the horde in front of you and reroll for the blessing that gives one other jump, and also you’ll be culling the hordes with ease.
This also pairs well with the Arc Scourge, which is effective against enemies with the ‘electrocute’ debuff applied to them. Naturally, all Arc weapons apply this to foes, so doubling up works well. The Power Sword will certainly see play, too, however the Arc Scourge could be my go-to melee weapon if it wasn’t for the chokehold that the Transonic Blades have on me.
Transonic Blades, often wielded by merciless Ruststalkers moderately than regular Rangers, are the best melee weapon in Warhammer 40k. As lethal as they’re stylish, there’s nothing I like greater than running straight into an enemy horde and listening to the dual blades sing. Like a ballerina with razor blades for hands, the frantic melee becomes a graceful dance as even essentially the most formidable foes fall at my fingertips.
Surprise Claw
The Skitarii has a bunch of bonuses alongside its devastating armoury. The Servo Skull is a private favourite, as it could possibly complete those annoying mid-mission minigames for you, which might ordinarily take you out of the fight. I’ll still watch an Ogryn fumble the tiny keypad of their uncoordinated hands before offering to assist—I could also be logical, but I’m not completely devoid of humour—but keeping the whole squad within the fight in any respect times is a definite advantage.
After which there’s the Chordclaw. The Skitarii’s special ability could also be its best. The brutal mechanical appendage grabs opponents with scything talons, decapitating lowly grunts and dealing major damage to larger bullies. Seriously, three hits from the Chordclaw can take out a Crusher on the toughest difficulty. Use this ability as often as you may, if only to see its gruesome animations.
When you get the hang of switching between the Transonic Blades’ two weapon profiles and utilising your Chordclaw, the binharric chant of the Omnissiah starts to make sense. The information-psalms speak to you, and the prayers you bestowed upon your machine limbs on the Mourningstar come to fruition. That is an incredibly powerful being to unleash on Hive Tertium, as long as you may forget what horrors lie beneath your dusty robes.