The Veteran Sharpshooter is the grizzled shooter of the Dartkide classes. Players will find plenty of ranged weapons, with some unique weapons only able to use. The Veteran has plenty of weapons that are used for many situations. However, it appears some weapons are better than others. Here is a closer look at the Darktide Veteran Build you can use to become an effective marine.
Here is a look at how to build a Veteran Sharpshooter in Darktide, featuring feats, weapons and tips. Image via Fatshark.
Darktide Veteran Class Overview¶
The Veteran Sharpshooter is a great class, which can be used as an elite and specialist hunter while also mowing down hordes, enemy fire support and destroying monstrosity Weakpoints. It is the most versatile of all the DPS-themed classes in the game.
Blitz: To start, you have a great Blitz utility, which awards four fragmentation grenades at the start of a mission. You can use these to blow up many enemies in a horde to make it easier to manage.
Aura: As for your aura, you grant allies ammunition whenever your or an ally in coherency range kill an Elite enemy.
Passives: The Vet has two major passives, such as Make Every Shot Count, which is a 15% damage buff to Weak Spot damage. You also get Be Prepared, which increases your ammo reserves for all ranged weapons by 40%, significantly boosting your firepower potential.
Active Ability: Veterans get access to Volley Fire. This move magnifies your vision slightly, for five seconds, and marks enemy elite and specialist for you (and your team depending on Feat). You also deal 50% ranged damage during this phase.
Overall, the Veteran is all about ensuring it can use its ranged weapon for as long as possible and buffing that play style.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Excellent range | Squishy |
| Best ranged firepower in the game | Weakshot dependent on special or elite enemies |
| Best counter to enemy ranged units | Ammo hogger |
| Multiple builds and personal choices for your own preferences |
Veteran’s Best Weapons in Dartkide¶
Due to the nature of the class, there’s quite a lot of the Veteran weapons that are largely playstyle related. The general theme for your Veteran build in Darktide is about what your ranged weapon counters. The melee weapon then picks up the weaknesses your ranged weapon has, to essentially round out your build and make it balanced. Below you will find some examples of ranged and melee weapons that work for countering elites and armor, while others are paragraphs on horde control.
Anti-horde and shooters ranged weapon: Some people really love the higher quality la Lasgun, while others love the Kantrael XII Lasgun. Meanwhile, some players love the Braced Autogun, especially now that it is buffed, while those who like sniping will love the Helborne. Moreso, the weapons do relatively the same job, which is to mow hordes down when required or to pick off those annoying gunners at the back of the map and take care of those enemies destroying your allies toughness.
Elite and boss killing ranged weapons: If you are going into missions against assassinations, or higher difficulties where you will encounter lots of Carapace enemies, then the Bolter and the Plasma Gun are great additions. The Bolter is a rapid-firing explosive round gun that will chew through enemy hordes, and even monstrosities, bosses, and Elites in any kind of armor. Add in the Volley Fire Bonus damage and weak point targeting, and you will annihilate many things. The same is said for the Plasma gun, which is a better rifle for chunking through rows and columns of enemies thanks to how the gun operates. Once again, it’s a preference thing, but Bolter wins in most players’ eyes.
Therefore, if your role in your party is to take care of hordes and shooters, then you should use a lasgun or braced autogun. If your job in the party is to take care of elites or bosses, then go Bolter or Plasmagun. You can generally know your role by the amount of Psykers or Zealots in your lobby if you’re in matchmaking and will know your role in pre-made groups anyway.
Anti armor melee weapon: If your ranged weapon focuses on sniping and clearing hordes, then you may want a close-range anti-armor melee weapon for when Elites make it through your volley fire. Great examples of weapons in this instance is the Cadia Chainsword, which unlocks around levels 15-20, depending on luck. The Chainsword does decent damage to enemies with high toughness, and flak and Carapace armored enemies. There are other examples, like the Chain Axe, so it’s about finding which one you like and rolling with it.
Horde clearing melee weapon: If you are taking specials out with your gun, then you’ll find you’ll need a better horde-killing melee weapon. The best example here is the Devil Claw weapons. No matter what version you have, the heavy attack does at least one sideways swing, which is fantastic when aiming at neck height for that weak point damage. You get the bonus of hitting unarmored heads and the 15% weakspot damage bonus passive perk to make mowing through hordes easier.
Veteran’s Best Feats¶
Moving onto your Darktide Veteran build, players should look to get the following feats to optimize their playstyle. There are also a few situational or preferential feat options in here, which you can use when they are relevant.
| Potential Feats | Description | Notes | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Map dependent | At Arms Length is the popular one: Replenish 5% Toughness a second while more than 8 meters from enemies. | This is the generally the more efficient playstyle to recover your toughness, which is handy for recovering toughness against enemy ranged characters, and also falling back when the swarm runs in, as you typically frag the area anyway. Confirmed Kill is the next best choice, especially if you’re playing a melee Elite killing weapon on tighter maps where enemies swarm. Overall its largely a map preference pick,but Arms Length is by far the best option no matter the playstyle. | Level 5 |
| Build dependent | Sniper grants up to 20% increased damage based on distance between the target. Tactical Reload is good for when you have ammo spare in weapons like the Bolter and Plasma, as they have long reloads. Demolition Stockpile is also handy on missions where there are lot of hordes and you will naturally be using your grenades, such as Endless Horde condition. | Overall, this is largely a preference pick, relating to your weapon of choice, condition, build, role and map design. You will likely change this every time you enter the lobby if you’re playing to min-max. | Level 10 |
| Preference | Bio-Optics show allies in the coherency range marked targets while the Vet is in Volley Fire. Demolition Team grants 5% chance per kil to get a grenade on enemy kill. Covering Fire grants 10% Toughness to allies in melee range of a kill you got with your ranged weapon. | This is largely how you want to support your team. Team with two zealots or Vets will likely enjoy the grand perk. While a melee-heavy team will love the Covering Fire perk. Bio-Optics is also a great addition for Psykers looking to help you kill elites with their Brain Bust. Support your team in whatever way you like, as they all grant value no matte the situation. | Level 15 |
| Camo Expert | While standing still, enemies are significantly less likely to target you. | This is the best for your ranged Volley Fire synergy and regular shooting. Avoiding threat means you can keep enemies in that 8 meter distance for your first perk, while also still drilling enemies weakspots, such as monstrosities or other elites who may move towards you and make it harder to hit them. | Level 20 |
| Deadshot | +25% Critical Chance and 60% sway reduction, but lose 10% stamina when alt firing. | Crit chance and sway reduction are massive for your ability to actually hit weak points, or areas where armor does not cover enemies. Losing the stamina is worth it, especially since you should be standing 8 meters from the action anyway. | Level 25 |
| Preference | Volley Fire now has better toughness generation, or provides some damage buff to particular enemies or weakspots. Getting kills refresh the duration. | This depends on your role, as detailed in the guide earlier. If you’re on big bad duty, then the The Bigger They Are is the go-to to nuke Ogryns and Monstrosities easier. If you’re on horde and shooter duty, then Counter-fire is the best option. | Level 30 |
The vast majority of this build is about granting you the tools to do your job with your gun. Remember, knowing your role before you enter a game is the play for Veteran, making it easier to work out what you need to priortize enemy and feat-wise.
Darktide Veteran Tips¶
Weapon preference and then using it in the right situations makes or breaks a good guradsman.
Here is a look at some Veteran tips in Darktide to help you with some playstyle and general useful tidbits that go hand in hand with the build. If you have any other tips to share, feel free to let us know in the comments section.
- The Rock says know your role: As mentioned in the guide, Veteran players will want to know what to prioritize. Elites and other annoying enemies are the best targets to kill. A veteran hitting these enemies that counter their team will be so effective on the battlefield.
- Shooters and your team toughness: Enemy Gunners and regular shooters will drain you and your allies toughness. Take out the gunners the best you can, as these enemies can decide how fight go in open spaces, and not the horde
- Frag Out: Grenades are an important part of managing hordes. Use them wisely to clear out hordes while your Ogryn tank has them funneled, or to protect a downed ally who needs help.
- Positioning is key: Players will want to get into vantage point, making it easier to click heads. Look for areas to climb or perch yourself to get those easy headshots and see over the horde for those annoying marked targets you need to kill.
- Share ammo: Veterans have much more ammo in reserves than every other ranged class. Let others get the ammo if you still have a few magazines full of ammo to go
- Ammo Boxes: Ammo Boxes are the best friend of a Vet, so make sure to have one for when you do get low, as they are incredibly efficient for a Vet’s reserve ammo
- Weak Points: Weak Points are the best way to be efficient with the Vet, taking advantage of some feats, your passive, and ultimately conserving ammo.
- Cover: Cover will make a huge difference to your survivability when fighting ranged enemies, especially while you don’t have access to Camo Expert. On maps where there is little cover spots, Camo Expert is too useful to mitigate any toughness destruction.
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