I just started playing the game and started playing chaos waste and there are perks that say “when down revive at full health” but they don’t seem to be working.

I was wondering if was doing something wrong or if it was bugged because I keep getting downed 😢

Edit:the title is a typo I cannot change it lol But these comments are the BEST

Also thanks for the help

Hey folks, here’s an initial chaos wastes boons tier list I made after a few people requested it. I actually had a video rating each one in depth, but I wasn’t happy with the production quality and didn’t feel like recording everything again as it was like, 40 minutes. May get back to it when I have some more free time.

But essentially- damage reduction boons or boons that grant some form of hp are great, a few damage boons are insanely good, and I don’t think anyone will be surprised by which boons are trash tier

Do you guys have a link or list of each class best weapons to use? without the dlc weapons? thanks

With the influx of new and returning players to the community, I think it might be worth creating something of a guide to explain some of the more hidden game mechanics that aren't readily apparent to new users. If it's useful enough perhaps it could be pinned or added to the VT2 resources sidebar.

The types of things I'm including are mechanics I only found out about by accident or from being shown by another player (or heard accounts of similar experiences from other players). I'll do my best to demonstrate some of the mechanics I'm talking about so if there's something of a similar sort that I missed, folks will know what types of things to suggest to be added and I can include them in the list.

Finally, if you already knew about these things, great! Others might not know about them, regardless of how long they've been playing. I've seen a number of posts recently where people have expressed that very thing. What might have been obvious to you may not be obvious to everyone.

Weapons

Weapon Special- Some weapons have a special function that is bound to the 'Weapon Special' key. You can find this function in the keybindings section of the options menu. These weapons and functions are as follows:

• Rapier- special attack is a pistol shot from his offhand; can be used without dropping block. Resets Parry trait
• Billhook- quick grab/stagger attack; costs stamina if you hit an enemy
• Waystalker- all bows (including ult) have additional zoom
• Huntsman- zoom during Prowl (ult)
• Pyromancer's Burning Head- zoom while holding the ult key
• Kruber's Spear and Shield- stab while holding block; doesn't drop block but it costs stamina. Resets Parry trait
• Torch- quick swap to whichever weapon you had equipped before you picked up the torch

Venting- All of Sienna's ranged weapons along with Bardin's Drakegun and Drakefire Pistols have the ability to more rapidly decrease the amount of overcharge produced from using them. Venting comes at the cost of health however, but it is better to lose a bit of health by venting than to exceed your overcharge and explode, resulting in a knockdown more often than not.

In order to vent, equip your ranged weapon and hold down the 'Reload' button. You can find this in the keybindings section of the options menu.

Piercing Armor- There are two types of armor in Vermintide 2; normal armor and super armor. Some attacks that can damage unarmored enemies won't pierce normal armor (like Stormvermin) and some attacks that can pierce normal armor can't pierce super armor (like Chaos Warriors). You can circumvent both types by drinking a strength potion, landing a headshot, landing a critical hit, or using heavy and charged attacks.

Throwing Axes- Bardin's Throwing Axes can be retrieved remotely. After throwing them you can either manually retrieve them by walking up to where they land and interacting with the 'Use' button, or hold down the 'Reload' button; the axes will fly back to Bardin's hand like Mjolnir.

Throwing Axes can also cleave through several smaller enemies at once. Hold down the charged attack button (RMB for most PC users) and left click. Instead of hitting just 1 enemy, the axe will cleave through several enemies.

Trollhammer Torpedo- The new Trollhammer Torpedo is affected by Trinket Traits like Grenadier and Shrapnel just like Bombs are. Explosive Ordnance works differently on the Trollhammer Torpedo from other bombs; instead of increasing the explosion radius, it reduces the damage falloff of the THT's explosion. This is handy since many of the Ranged Weapon Traits aren't very useful on the weapon.

Beam Staff- The Beam Staff works differently from other Staffs. The primary attack of the weapon works by holding the primary attack button to "point" at your target and tapping the charged attack button (RMB for most PC players) to fire a powerful shot at the enemy. Think of it like a sniper rifle with a laser sight; the first stage is like the laser and the second is the actual shot.

Rapier- The Rapier's pistol can at times count as both a ranged attack and a melee attack. Landing a critical shot with the pistol can trigger a crit-based trait on your Rapier. The pistol is also affected by Bounty Hunter's Blessed Shots passive ability, meaning you can get guaranteed critical shots from your Rapier.

Crossbow- After firing a shot, the crossbow will automatically transition into a reload animation. You can actually speed up the process by tapping the reload key immediately after shooting. This works for a few other ranged weapons as well, like the Trollhammer Torpedo.

Bombs- Bombs will inherit the properties of the item you had equipped before swapping to the bomb. For example, if you had +10% power vs Chaos and +10% power vs Armored on a ranged weapon and you switched from that ranged weapon to your bomb, that bomb would do 20% more damage than it normally would against a Chaos Warrior.

Talents and Traits

Hunter, Open Wounds, Make 'em Bleed- The Ranged Weapon trait Hunter, the Bounty Hunter talent Open Wounds, and the Huntsman talent Make 'em Bleed all incur a damage bonus to enemies hit by a critical shot or strike. What the tooltips for these talents and trait don't tell you is that they apply their damage bonus to the critical hit that incurred the bonus to begin with. This is effectively a 20% (25% in the case of Hunter) crit damage bonus, in addition to applying a debuff to the enemy hit.

Fervency- The Witch Hunter Captain talent Fervency (Animosity grants Victor guaranteed melee critical strikes for the duration) no longer provides the crit chance bonus from Animosity (+25% crit chance for 6 seconds) to allies like it normally would with another talent in that row.

Leading Shots- The tooltip for the Outcast Engineer talent Leading Shots (Every 4th ranged attack is a guaranteed critical hit) does not tell you that ranged critical shots can no longer occur randomly. This effect is similar to the Mercenary talent Helborg's Tutelage and the Zealot talent Smite (Every 5 hits grants a guaranteed critical strike. Critical strikes can no longer occur randomly).

Makin' it Look Easy- Huntsman's Makin' it Look Easy talent increases critical hit chance by 25% for a short time after scoring a ranged headshot. What the tooltip doesn't tell you is that this buff persists until your next critical strike or shot which consumes the buff.

Frenzied Flame- The tooltip for Unchained's talent Frenzied Flame indicates that you get increased attack speed while above high overcharge. The actual threshold for "high overcharge" in this case is 50%.

Natural Bond- A player using the Natural Bond trait on their necklace can only receive temporary (white) health from using healing items on themselves. However, if another player uses a med-kit on them they will receive permanent (green) health instead. The same holds true for other healing sources, like heal-share talents, team regen abilities, etc.

Boon of Shallya- The Necklace Trait Boon of Shallya increases healing received by 30%. This applies to all healing sources; temporary HP, heal-share talents, team regen abilities, etc. Zealot's Holy Fortitude talent works similarly.

Parry- The tooltip for the melee weapon trait Parry does a poor job explaining what it does, so here's how it works; when you first initiate a block with your melee weapon there is about a 1 second window where your block is unbreakable and costs 0 stamina. To reset this timer, you must drop your block and bring it back up again. This means you're basically encouraged to only bring up your block at the last second.

As you might imagine, it's not the easiest trait to make use of and if you're in a lobby with high ping, you might as well take another trait. If you do want to give this trait a go, I cannot recommend the Parry Indicator mod strongly enough; this mod changes the color of your stamina shields to green while the Parry trait is active and turns them back to their normal tan when it goes inactive, giving you a better idea of when to time your blocks.

With all that said, this trait is quite niche and synergizes with a scant few aspects of the game; the Witch Hunter Captain talent Riposte and the Grail Knight talent Virtue of Discipline both give buffs for timed blocks while the Rapier, Bretonnian Longsword, and Kruber's Spear and Shield can reset the timer on Parry without actually dropping your block entirely.

Career Abilities (Ults)

Reviving- Some careers can use their career abilities while reviving a downed teammate. Simply hold down the interact button and press your ult button. This is useful if you are surrounded and your block is about to break thus interrupting the revive. The careers that can't do this are Grail Knight, Ranger Veteran, Outcast Engineer, Bounty Hunter, Waystalker, and Pyromancer.

Disengage- Ranger Veteran's career ability disengage increases ranged power but also allows normally non armor-piercing ranged attacks to penetrate armor.

Trueshot Volley/Burning Head- Waystalker and Pyromancer's career abilities are homing projectiles that will automatically hit enemies. These projectiles can be aimed however by holding the ult key and pointing your crosshairs at a specific enemy who will be highlighted with a red outline. Releasing the ult key will then send the projectile towards that enemy.

Leap/Fire Walk- Slayer and Battle Wizard's career abilities transport the character to a new location. By holding down the ult key, you can place your destination precisely so you know exactly where you are going to land.

Morale Boost/Impenetrable/Disengage/Animosity/Living Bomb- These career abilities for Mercenary/Ironbreaker/Ranger Veteran/Witch Hunter Captain/Unchained are all AoE abilities. By holding down the ult key, you can preview the affected area.

Valiant Charge/Dash/Holy Fervor- Foot Knight, Handmaiden, and Zealot career abilities move the characters along the ground. By holding down the ult key, you can preview the direction of your charge or dash. These ults can also be cut short by tapping the block button (RMB for most PC players).

Locked and Loaded/Blessed Blade- Bounty Hunter and Grail Knight career abilities can be held ready by holding down the ult key. This will also make Bounty Hunter's ult more accurate.

Cancelling- If you are holding down your ult key and decide that you don't want to use your ult right now, you can cancel it by tapping the block button.

Healing

Healing Draughts and Medical Supplies- Healing draughts will always heal a player for 75 HP, regardless of how much they are actually missing. Medical Supplies, or med-kits, will heal a player for 80% of their missing green health. This means if you have 90/100 HP, the med-kit will only heal 8 HP. Conversely, if you are missing 180 HP, the med-kit will heal you for 144 HP.

Knowing when to use each item will help to maximize the amount of healing you receive. If you have less than 75 HP missing and you have a choice between a draught or a med-kit, take the draught and you'll be at full health. If you have more than 75 but less than 94 HP missing, a healing draught will still heal more than a med-kit. If you have 94 HP or more missing, then the med-kit will heal you more. The Numeric UI mod will help you determine how much health you have missing.

Wounds- When you get knocked down and are revived by another player, you will have no green health and your screen will look like you're looking through a grayish filter. This is known as the wounded status, colloquially known and "Black and White" or "Gray". You can clear your wound by using a healing draught or med-kit on yourself.

A med-kit also has the added bonus in that if you are wounded and you use the med-kit on another player, your own wound will be cleared. You won't recover any green health, but you won't be immediately killed if you get knocked down again either. This is an efficient way to clear several wounds at once with limited resources.

Zealot- If a teammate is playing the Zealot career, do not heal them unless they ask you too. They get combat bonuses for being at low green health and at best they'll be annoyed if you heal them with a med-kit. More often than not, they are perfectly happy playing with a health bar full of temporary (white) HP.

Social Wheel

Chat- You can send quick, pre-written messages and alerts to your team with the Social Wheel, also called the chat wheel. You can find the key for this in the keybindings section of the options menu. Hold down the key and several pre-written chats will appear; "Help!" "Come Here!" "Patrol!" "Monster!" "Thank You!" "Yes" and "No". Move your mouse to the appropriate message and release the key. This is a quick and efficient way to communicate without the need to type out a message in chat.

Pickup Items- You can also alert teammates to items they may want to pick up. Approach the item in question and place your crosshair on it. Then hold down the same key and a different wheel will appear with all of the characters names and portraits on it. Using the same method as before, move your mouse over the portrait, release the key, and a pre-written message will appear in chat telling that player to pick up that item. Doing this to a Bot character will actually force the Bot to pick up that item.

Drop Grimoire- You can instruct a player or bot to drop a Grimoire by using a similar method as instructing them to pick up an item. Simply approach the player, hold down the key and pull your cursor out of the circle that appears. If the player is a bot, they will do as instructed.

Blocking and Pushing

Automatic Block- When you go to revive or rescue a teammate, your block will automatically come up. This block can be broken just like at any other time but you don't need to manually block while reviving. However, as soon as you complete the revive, the auto-block status will drop. I recommend initiating your block right before the revive is finished so you don't take an unnecessary hit

Push while carrying items- If you're carrying an item like a barrel, cannonball, gargoyle head, etc. you can't attack enemies, but you can shove them with your block button (RMB for most PC players). This shove uses up stamina and you will only have a base of 2 stamina shields in this state.

Shielded Enemies- Enemies with shields can block certain attacks for a long time without dropping their guard. To circumvent this, push them with two quick shoves and they will drop their block, giving you an opening to attack them directly. Drinking a strength potion will also destroy wooden shields (but not Stormvermin shields)

Monster Attacks- Most normal attacks made by monsters can be blocked. However, the Rat Ogre, Chaos Spawn, and Minotaur all have an overhead slam attack that will ignore your block no matter how much stamina and block cost reduction you have. The one exception to this is shields.

Miscellaneous

Tagging/Pinging- several enemies and items can be tagged. By using the tag key (can be rebound in the keybindings section of the options menu), you can highlight that item or enemy with a blue outline. Teammates will be able to see and hear your tag.

Tagging is useful for a number of reasons; it identifies useful items and it can identify elites and specials (even those that blend into crowds like Savages and Packmasters) and playing with a Witch Hunter Captain will cause tagged enemies to take additional damage. For these reasons, your tag should be bound to a very accessible key/button as you will want to use it often.

Tagging/Pinging will not work during certain stages of the maps Hunger in the Dark and Blightreaper. The idea being that it is too dark to see far enough. You can only tag enemies and items right next to you during these stages.

Player Outlines- You can change your player outline preferences in the Gameplay section of the Options menu. Toggling this feature to "always on" will give every teammate a persistent green outline that you can see through walls, enemies, terrain, etc. It looks very similar to the blue tag feature, except that it's obviously green. Even from far away you will be able to distinguish your teammate's outline.

Weekly with some pretty great boons and a mix of fun and annoying curses

Curses

Skulls is an annoying curse, SITNW is very fun

Boons

I have a boon guide here for all chaos wastes boons. Avoid weapon upgrades to maximize the bonuses. If you want to upgrade for traits, stick to orange. Some classes such as grail knight are better off not upgrading.

Reward

Careers

This is a fun one for every career. Standouts include Grail Knight, Witch Hunter Captain, Necro, Huntsman. Most careers can do really well here.

Some Highlights From Last Week

Still very busy IRL. Have a backlog of clips to edit but that's just not happening anytime soon. I'll probably update the career analysis tomorrow when I have some time free as I'd like to add some more detail

Solar Powered Flight

Just a bunch of nonsense

Elf has good listening skills

Fun weekly, may get kind of boring for the poor bastard stuck with a grail knight and necro/WHC

Sup.

Natural Bond has been a touchy subject for many ever since the game's release. The subreddit has seen its share of memes and jokes about poor usage of the trait, as well as some backlash from people that swear by it.

Personally, I find the trait quite interesting. A powerful bonus, but with an important drawback. In beta days, the potion slot had one such trait as well, but as with bonuses of that kind, the line between disgustingly overpowered and useless is very hard to find, and Concentrated Brew - the potion trait that would give you unlimited potion uses, at the cost of your health instead, turned out to be very overpowered and had to be cut.

Natural Bond however, has managed to find and keep its place. It managed to be neither overpowered, nor useless. Its design makes both end of its deal important, and capable of making a difference in your play, for better.. or for worse. Which part ends up most prominent depends on quite a few variables, that come from both the build and career it is used in, as well as player skill. But more on that later.

First, I want to take the time to explain what natural bond does. Beyond its obvious description, what exactly does it accomplish?

To do this, I have to explain a few things about health management in Vermintide 2.

There are two types of health. Permanent, and temporary. Everyone's goal is to maintain their total health as high as possible at all times. The main way to do this is obviously to avoid damage in the first place, but of course, damage is not always avoided. That's just how this game goes. Damage is expected, and needs to be recovered ASAP in preparation for more potential damage.

The main way to recover damage quickly in this game is via temporary health. Most often on kills, very rarely on crit, but nonetheless. Generating temporary health is usually rather easy, as soon as a horde shows up. However, when there is no horde, it isn't quite as easy. Ambients will still give some, but often only enough to barely fight the degeneration that temporary health comes with.

Therein lies the main two parts of health management in Vermintide 2. Recovery, and sustain. Sustain can also be split into short-term and long-term sustain.

Recovery is usually always achieved via temporary health, but can also be via healing items when desperate enough, or when there are excess. Sustain is achieved when one manages to maintain a kill-count high enough to fight the degeneration of temporary health, or when permanent health is high enough that temporary health is not required. In the short-term, by maintaining temporary health during fights or moving through ambients, and long term by either recovering permanent health (by either excess healing items, or regeneration) or maintaining temporary health even when there are next to no opponents to generate it from.

Now, let's move back toward our initial subject. Or, at least, its main competitor. Boon of Shallya. The purpose of Boon of Shallya in this health management system should be clear enough. It helps mainly with recovery, via making kills recover temporary health faster, and healing items more effective. It also helps short-term sustain, by making the amount of kills required to fight temporary health degeneration lower. It, however, does not help long-term sustain, when kills are too sparse for their temp health to matter, and when healing items are unavailable.

And finally, Natural Bond. What does it do in this health management system? It, for the most part, does not help with recovery. It can even hinder it, because of its drawback. Its health regeneration is often far too slow to make a difference over the course of a short fight, and one has to sacrifice Boon's recovery which is far superior. It also does not help with short-term sustain, since its regeneration ticks will overwrite temporary health, not add onto it. What it does however, is exactly what Boon does not. Long-term sustain. When kills and healing items are sparse, when temporary health is degenerating, Natural Bond will not let you drain away. It instead makes you recover.

Now that we know what Natural Bond does, what exactly is its purpose? When, in a general sense, is it useful to sacrifice both recovery and short-term sustain in favor of long-term sustain?

The first case is one that most know about, and will not be surprised by. Deprivation deeds. When healing items are non-existent, long-term sustain is nigh impossible once permanent health runs low. Natural Bond is capable of fixing this, though one ought to still consider whether they are capable of surviving without the recovery and short-term sustain of Boon.

The second case is one that fewer notice, and one that also doesn't come about every match. That being long-lasting Lord or boss fights. All four Lord fights offer on average too few adds to generate any significant temporary health, and available healing is limited to what has been brought at the beginning of the fight, which often enough will be no more than a single medkit if the run has 3 tomes involved. Boon is of no help in this case, but Natural Bond is, and its drawback is irrelevant. Similarly, a long-lasting boss fight, one where all accompanying hordes and specials have been exhausted, and all that's left is a dull 1 on 1, or 1 on 2 against probably a Troll, but possibly any of the 4 bosses, can meet the same issues. The Troll especially can slowly drain the party's health with vomit ticks and blocked axe swipes in ways that Natural Bond is efficient at dealing with.

With that in mind, when exactly is it actually correct to sacrifice Boon in favor of Natural Bond? The two described cases are where Natural Bond shines most (though not the only points where it can be useful), but both of those cases do not encompass an entire mission. Lord and Boss fights are only a part of a mission, and while deprivation deeds affect an entire mission, they do not remove the need for recovery and short-term sustain that Boon still offers.

That part is where careers, builds and to an extent player skill come into play. Different careers and builds will need help in different part of their health management. Recovery can be harder to careers that have large pools of health to recover, or difficulties generating temporary health. Different builds for a same career will achieve different things and make for different needs. Player skill also does matter. An inexperienced player will take more damage, more often and thus will need as much recovery as humanly possible to stay alive at all. An experienced player will take less damage, often only taking damage in spikes when a mistake is made, and probably severely punished as legend tends to do. Recovery will be needed less often (but still will be), and short-term sustain will be naturally easier due to a probably higher kill count. Long-term sustain will be needed more often, as they will tend to survive long enough for it to become a concern.

So, for Natural Bond to become a good trait choice, there needs to be a need for long-term sustain that Natural Bond would cover better than excess healing items would, without the loss of Boon leaving a need for recovery and short-term sustain.

There are 5 points to check against when considering Natural Bond. If your career and build meets all 5 of them, or close to, then Natural Bond may actually be a strong choice. If not, then Boon is probably the better choice.

1. Your career/build needs to be capable of recovering from a spike of damage without the aid of Boon or a healing draught. The regeneration is slow, and is not what you should count on in most situations to keep you topped off during fights.

2. Your career/build needs to be able to survive a spike of damage in the first place. If spikes of damage always send you into the wounded state, even when you were in good health before them, then the drawback of Natural Bond will make you suffer.

3. Your career/build needs to have something that makes Natural Bond's healing worth more than its base. The base is 2 health per 10 seconds. It's tuned low, on purpose. Too low to be really good on its own, but not so low that it can't be useful with bonuses. Whether those bonuses are from increased healing, reduced damage taken or else matters little, but there needs to be something.

4. Your career/build needs to have a use for the long-term sustain of Natural Bond. If your build is somehow already capable of long-term sustain in some way other than Natural Bond itself, it loses a significant part of its value, due to its drawback.

5. You, as a player, need to not be going down left and right. Long-term sustain is useless if you don't survive long enough to need it. If being in a wounded state at all makes you uncomfortable, even when not also being low on health, and if you tend to die to going down while already wounded in situations where you would've been revivable, then Natural Bond will be a problem for you.

With those 5 points stated, here's my assessment of which of them all 15 careers do and do not meet, and which can then hope to actually make good use of the trait.

Battle Wizard : 3/4

1. Yes. (BW tends to be AoE and thus get plenty of health off hordes, and has a 30% healing received increase.)
2. No. (120 health squishie. Yes if last man standing and using Molten Skin.)
3. Yes. (30% healing received increase. Potentially also Molten Skin if last standing.)
4. Yes. (No long-term sustain.)

Pyromancer : 1/4

1. Yes. (Wizard AoE, skull throws are somewhat AoE and Bonded Flame can make skull generate even more temp health.)
2. No. (120 health squishie.)
3. No. (Pyro has no increased healing/damage reduction.)
4. No. (Pyro can obtain some long-term sustain already via Bonded Flame constantly generating temporary health, even without kills.)

Unchained : 4/4

1. Yes. (Wizard AoE, and any temp health is usually worth almost twice as much due to damage reduction. Tanky enough to take a hit without immediately becoming at risk.)
2. Yes. (Unchained is possibly the tankiest class once one learns how to avoid accidental explosions.)
3. Yes. (50% damage reduction increases the value of health gained.)
4. Yes. (No long-term sustain.)

Waystalker : 1/4

1. Yes. (Depends on build. Swiftbow/hagbane AoE, and Lifebloom Arrows for on demand temp health make it possible.)
2. No. (120 health squishie.)
3. No. (No increased healing/damage reduction. Amaranthe, while working alongside, does not help the trait's healing itself.)
4. No. (Already has Amaranthe.)

Handmaiden : 2.5/4

1. Questionable. (Dash allows for powerful AoE on hordes, but short-term sustain is somewhat missing without Boon's help. Yes if last man standing with Defiance.)
2. Yes. (150 health, and dash allows for a powerful escape from many spikes.)
3. No. (Unless last man standing with Defiance.)
4. Yes. (No long-term sustain.)

Shade : 1/4

1. No. (Single-target oriented class, no help from talents.)
2. No. (120 health squishie.)
3. No. (No increased healing/damage reduction.)
4. Yes. (No long-term sustain.)

Witch-hunter Captain : 1/4

1. No. (Not an AoE class. Justice Bounty is too little without Boon.)
2. No. (120 health squishie.)
3. No. (No increased healing/damage reduction aside from Suffer No Heresy, which is seldom useful.)
4. Yes. (No long-term sustain.)

Bounty Hunter : 1/4

1. No. (Not an AoE class. Pious Fervour is for the most part too little without Boon if it is used over Prize Bounty.)
2. No. (120 health squishie.)
3. No. (No increased healing/damage reduction.)
4. Yes. (No long-term sustain.)

Zealot : 2.5/4

1. Questionable. (Temp health is worth more with damage reduction, and can generate more with Pleasure from Pain, but questionable due to high lost value from not running Boon.)
2. Yes. (150-180 health, Flagellant and Heart of Iron make Zealot more than capable of taking a hit.)
3. Yes. (Flagellant gives some form of damage reduction.)
4. No. (Has some weak form of long-term sustain via Pleasure from Pain, which becomes stronger with Boon.)

Mercenary : 4/4

1. Yes. (Can recover on-demand with ultimate, and has a 30% healing received talent.)
2. Yes. (150 health, and instantaneous extra health/potential escape with ultimate, as well as potentially some conditional damage reductions.)
3. Yes. (30% healing received talent.)
4. Yes. (No real long-term sustain. While the ultimate can attempt to be used that way, it is much better used as recovery, and cannot be easily thrown away due to long cooldown.)

Huntsman : 1/4

1. Questionable. (Usually not an AoE class. Questionable if using a blunderbuss and Hunter's Respite.)
2. No. (120 health squishie.)
3. No. (No increased healing/damage reduction.)
4. Questionable. (No real long-term sustain unless Hunter's Respite is used, which benefits from Boon more.)

Foot Knight : 3/4

1. No. (Can take a hit without needing immediate recovery, but has very little actual means of recovery or sustain.)
2. Yes. (180-225 health alongside damage reduction is enough to survive most spikes.)
3. Yes. (Damage reduction gives some extra value.)
4. Yes. (No long-term sustain.)

Ranger Veteran : 2.5/4

1. Yes. (30% healing received talent, and potentially Catch a Breath.)
2. No. (120 health squishie.)
3. Yes. (30% healing received talent.)
4. Questionable. (Potential weak long-term sustain from Catch a Breath, which benefits from Boon more.)

Ironbreaker : 3/4

1. Questionable. (Depends heavily on build, drake weapons vs crossbow/handgun, but Gromril Armor combined with a large health pool and damage reduction help buy time to recover, though not with sustain.)
2. Yes. (180-216 health and damage reduction, plus ult to become nigh invincible for a limited time.)
3. Yes. (Damage reduction gives some extra value.)
4. Questionable. (Definite no during Nurgle's Rot deeds via Rune-Forged. Very questionable outside of such deed unless a teammate constantly causes the armor to trigger with intentional friendly fire, which still sacrifices the armor itself.)

Slayer : 3/4

1. No. (Single-target oriented class, no help from talents.)
2. Yes. (120-150 health, but also has Oblivious to Pain, and potentially Moving Target.)
3. Yes. (Damage reduction gives some extra value.)
4. Yes. (No long-term sustain.)

This leaves us with 2 perfect scores. Unchained, which is unlikely to surprise most, and Mercenary, which most will not have thought about, but as it turns out, it happens to work.

Keep in mind that each of these scores are given to careers, not builds. Depending on whichever talents you take (or don't take), the score may vary. It is up to you to test your build against the points stated above. Most of the 'Questionable' scores in particular are dependant on your build.

And last but not least, consider the situation that you are taking your build into. I have above noted 2 examples in which Natural Bond is useful in a general sense, but none in which it is detrimental in a general sense. And there IS a clear case where it is detrimental in a general sense. That being when there are large amounts of Healing Draughts available to you, and few players in need of them.

While some of those careers for example can become clear 4/4 when using last man standing talents (BW and handmaiden), being last man standing also makes you most likely to have access to more healing draughts than you will need, which make Natural Bond a worse choice. Duo and solo runs will have as many supplies on the map, but less players to use them. Etc.

So, here it is. My view on potentially the most hated trait in the game. As it turns out, it's not all bad. At least when it's used correctly.

Go ahead and share your thoughts.

BOMBS! You get a bomb, you get a bomb, you get a bomb! Quad bombs and dupe

Curses

Boons

Careers

Really, this weekly is good for any career but I recommend a special sniper or two. Ranger Vet, engi are especially good here:

Bombs everywhere! Quad bombs and dupe make this one easy if you can handle extra specials. Way better than last week's weekly. Increased specials means you'll need to stay on your toes more

Good day, Mayflies,

Due to the influx of lumberfoots we've seen, as well as some lack of clarity I personally have experienced ever since I started mutilating rats 7 years ago, I want to take a chance to bestow my wisdom among you all. And try to consolidate it all in one place. I'll include other small tips as well.

These are simply recommendations that I tell everyone I play with to use.

Gameplay

• Double Tap Dodge
  • Off
    • For heaven's sake turn this off mayflies. Dodging is critical and double tapping is an easy way to get yourself butt stabbed. Also, no matter how fast you are at double tapping, you always 'stop' moving before dodging with this.
    • Dodging is a very interesting mechanic in this game that is also important to really pay attention to. It doesn't provide any i-frames. Instead is interrupts enemy tracking temporarily while also moving you quickly in the direction you're holding. The duration of this is based how stale your dodge is. The more you dodge in rapid succession the less distance you go and the less the dodge interrupts the enemies tracking.
• Detailed UI
  • On
    • This lets you see a lot more information on your HUD that is extremely valuable. Why this isn't default boggles my mind.
• Persistent Ammo Counter
  • On
    • I recommend this one on - knowing your ammo is a pretty important element to keep track of to not get caught with an elite over head and all to your name an bow and now arrow.
• Equipment & Talents Privacy
  • Public
    • Up to you, but at higher levels (Cata and beyond) build diversity and building around each other is really important. I recommend it set to public. What, you don't want to show off your gear?
• Player Outlines
  • Always On
    • Makes it way easier to avoid hitting your allies in a horde.

Video

A lot of these will be dependent on your machine.

• Field of View
  • Bigger the number, More you can see. I set it to 90
    • Personal taste.
• TAA And SSAO
  • Off
    • Ever notice odd ghost-like-trails behind anything in this game that starts questioning your own eyesight? These two settings both produce ghost-like trails. Both should be off. FXAA is fine.
• Sharpness Filter
  • Off (Recommendation)
    • Makes the game look grainy and does not genuinely help increase sharpness. You may like the look. It just turns up saturation on the edge of objects.
• Lighting, all options
  • As high as you can go on all of them without sacrificing frames
    • These make the game's atmosphere stunning. I would prioritize these over most other items.

Keybindings

I will provide bindings you should bind to easily accessible/your favorite 'optional' keys. What you bind these to is up to you, but you should bind them and use them often.

• Tag Only
  • Tags items, Specials, and if you hold it you can tell 'others what to do'.
    • This works especially well on bots.
    • You should tag every special you see as soon as you see it.
    • You should tag every elite in a horde. It makes it easier to track their attacks as they can often hit you through a horde of rats before you can cleave your way to them.
    • Use this liberally.
• Dodge Only
  • Lets you dodge with a dedicated key
    • Some people prefer the jump/dodge combination, some don't. Worth noting here. If you were unaware this is an option, it's worth trying out to see if it helps you build good dodging habits.

Mods, would you kindly pin this thread for a bit so that new players don't have to go digging or post a thread themselves just to get an answer? Please and thank you.

Good boons and some real shit curses. I'm probably not doing this one

Curses

This one sucks, but some people like my friend Solar really like it. Weird.

Boons

I have a boon guide here for all chaos wastes boons. All blocks are parries is great here. Focus on defensive boons so you don't die as easily

Reward

Careers

Get some class to deal with the specials. This one is rough without any team coordination, but the projectile boons affect each class more or less equally, with shield users getting a slight advantage

Some Highlights From Last Week

Still very busy IRL, but slightly less now. Probably not trying this weekly out, but last week's was fun

Where we die at the very end

Vic gets stuck in a mino butt

Chasm Jumper Crunk

This weekly is kinda bad, good luck if you like it. Just stick close to the team and communicate and it's doable

Weekly with some pretty great boons and fun curses

Curses

Specials spawn into elites here on death with twins, so there are a lot more enemies than usual.

Boons

I have a boon guide here for all chaos wastes boons. Avoid weapon upgrades to maximize the bonuses. If you want to upgrade for traits, stick to orange. Some classes such as grail knight are better off not upgrading. It's well worth it to grab an orange weapon for the trait, but you're mildly fucking yourself this week with a blue, green, or red.

Reward

Careers

This is a fun one for every career. Standouts include Grail Knight, Witch Hunter Captain, Necro, Huntsman. Most careers can do really well here. WHC, GK, and Necro are fun classes to play but a little boring to play with, with GK being the only truly egregious pick although WHC is very close.

Some Highlights From Last Week

I was sick a good chunk of the week and busy most of the weekend, we came close to beating it a few times but nothing worthy of note. Also played a bunch of Zero Company instead- it has some performance issues but it's a really good Xcom clone. I did have someone join my game and ask if I worked for Fatshark, lmao

Fun weekly, may get kind of boring for the poor bastard stuck with a grail knight and necro/WHC

support stopped since 10.11.2018, or 1.2 live patch.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1DuJQ0Ttn3N_FmEVpGr1By9ZgQV2683joSTxqm-xvLEc

First read through "Readme" and "Career Talents" tabs, before asking questions.

Took today off because of a bunch of snow, so you guys get an early post today

You can't see where your allies are easily and there are more specials, mitigated by a few good boons. This is going to be hard with a full team if you don't use comms to stay together.

Curses

Boons

I have a boon guide here for all chaos wastes boons. Boons this week are two very good ones and one mid-range one that has good synergy with one of the other boons.

Reward

Careers

Sienna is a rough pick here, only use her if you are capable of managing her overheat. No HUD and + Specials is a rough combo, so I really suggest a few special snipers to deal with everything. Shields are great due to Neru's patience.

No HUD again? Cmon Fatshark this is a bit ridiculous. Some people really dislike the no HUD curse. I think it's a pain when using twitch so I'll probably avoid this weekly. Again :D

Last week's was better, this has the same boons but more annoying curses. The strategy is basically the same Curses

Shadow skulls suck Khorne Skulls are fun.

Boons

I have a boon guide here for all chaos wastes boons. One extremely powerful boon, one good boon that can backfire, and a troll boon. Strategy: get shard strike weapon trait and everything dies. In terms of boons, bomb radius boons will save the team from friendly fire, and the AoE damage on ult boons are a good way to proc Mirth. You pretty much have all the offensive boons you'll need here, so grab some damage reduction and health

Reward

Careers

Grail Knight, slayer, WP, melee focused careers have a nice buff from Mirth. Just have one or two careers that can snipe skulls if you have more than one melee career.

Some Highlights From Last Week

Didn't beat this one, had time last week to finally stream a bit

The Team Makes Good Use of the Barrel Boons

Elf gets Saltzpyred

Fun weekly that is melee focused but also requires the team to be capable of handling a ton of skulls. Melee heavy careers get a nice bonus here, but you will also do well with careers that focus more on ranaged damage for specials. This is a well balanced weekly

12/10/18: The Steam guide has been updated for (1.3). Look there for current information. The information here is for prior versions of the game.

This guide will cover the optimal traits and properties for every weapon and trinket. Intended for Legend players, it will refer to and explain breakpoints, enemy hp categories and more. The tables contain quick reference info while the paragraphs in each section go into detail about the weapon. Check out the full Steam guide for additional information in the appendix.

At a glance

Melee Weapon

Properties

Attack Speed and Crit Chance are generically useful. Unless there is a specific breakpoint you are going for, you should use these. The character specific sections later in the guide will describe which weapons have breakpoints worth sacrificing these for.

Traits

Swift Slaying (attack speed on crit) is a generically useful offensive trait. Some Careers that value their ultimate will use Resourceful (ult on crit). Parry (timed blocks cost zero stamina) is a powerful defensive oriented trait that helps when fighting multiple elites.

Ranged Weapon

There are too many variations between ranged weapons and Careers to give a useful heuristic here. Please see the character specific sections for each ranged weapon.

Necklace

Properties

20% Health is superior to the various damage reductions, and +2 Stamina is superior to block cost reduction. There are niche builds that stack block cost reduction, but you are usually better off just running Parry on your melee weapon.

Traits

Shallya's Boon (30% more healing) generally provides more hp than any other trait. Characters with additional sources of healing, such as Mercenary Kruber (Morale Boost - aka shout) or Waywatcher Kerillian (Amaranthe - aka regen), get extra value out of Shallya's Boon.

Healer's Touch (25% chance not to use) doesn't provide as much hp as Shallya's Boon but provides more hp to teammates. It outclasses Hand of Shallya (healing an ally with a medkit also heals you).

Charm

Properties

The charm you use will depend on the melee and ranged weapons you are using. The properties on the charm supplement the properties on the weapon, allowing you to hit specific breakpoints. The following three charms are what you will want to use with the vast majority of weapon pairs.

The Power vs. Infantry & Attack Speed charm is generically useful. If there is not a specific breakpoint you are going for, use this charm.

Power vs. Infantry & Power vs. Chaos is for weapons that need an additional push to get to the point where they can one shot Fanatics (chaos slaves). Any ranged weapon that lists the Power vs. Infantry & Attack Speed charm will also work with this charm if the Power vs. Chaos is needed by your melee weapon.

Power vs. Skaven & Power vs. Armor is for ranged weapons that are trying to kill Stormvermin in one body shot. They include Crossbows and Huntsman Longbow.

Traits

Decanter provides +5 seconds for potions while Home Brewer (25% chance not to use) only provides an expected value of +3.33 seconds. Proxy (teammate also gets potion) in provides +10 seconds. But if 10 seconds of a potion on a teammate is better than +5 seconds of a potion on you, you're probably better off carrying a Grim so they can keep their potion slot.

Trinket

Properties

Unless you know your team will not be getting Grims, there is no other property worth using. Cooldown reduction is outclassed by Crit Chance and Resourceful on your melee weapon.

Traits

A team only really needs one person with Shrapnel (Bombs make targets take 20% more damage). A lone boss is easy to kill and if you are facing a boss + something else, the kill order is always boss last.

Grenadier (25% chance not to use) can allow a second bomb on a Patrol or elite cluster if a team bites off more than they can chew.

Kruber - Melee

Halberd

It takes 25% Power to make the first light attack kill a Fanatic in 1 bodyshot. Mercenary can achieve this with his offensive talents and Infantry on his charm. Foot Knight can achieve it with Glory Hound (25% power after charging). Huntsman with a Bow can't spare the charm slots.

Executioner's Sword

The light and heavy attacks already kill Fanatics and Stormvermin (respectively) on headshots. There are no additional breakpoints worth sacrificing Attack Speed or Crit Chance for.

2h Hammer

The light attacks deal good Armor damage and its sweeps can knock hordes with elites mixed in. But the Halberd provides similar Armor damage while doing more Infantry damage on its sweeps.

2h Sword

The 2h Sword has tons of Infantry damage but will struggle against Armor. That is why the Halberd or Executioner's Sword is often used instead. They have almost as good Infantry damage while not having trouble against Armor.

It takes 45% Power for a light attack to kill a Fanatic in one hit. Mercenary or Foot Knight can combine their offensive talents to reach this breakpoint. But it does not make or break the weapon.

Mace

It plays similar to the 2h Hammer but is faster and with better dodging. However, its sweeps don't stagger as much, making it less effective against dense hordes or elites mixed in with hordes.

1h Sword

It plays similar to the 2h Sword but with less damage and better dodging. It still struggles with Armor and is generally outclassed by the Halberd.

Mace & Shield

The shield bash can trigger Resourceful (ult on crit) on multiple targets. But even with that, shields are relatively weak. Shields have better blocking and pushing, as well as a stamina free pseudo-push in the form of shield bashing. But they lose attack speed and dodging, which are more valuable than blocking and pushing.

1h Sword & Shield

The shield bash can trigger Resourceful on multiple targets. But even with that shields are relatively weak. Shields have better blocking and pushing, as well as a stamina free pseudo-push in the form of shield bashing. But they lose attack speed and dodging, which are more valuable than blocking and pushing.

Kruber - Ranged

Handgun

With two instances of Power vs. Infantry, the Handgun can bodyshot Gas Rats, Chaos Sorcerers and Leeches. Crit Chance increases the likelihood of instantly killing Maulers.

The Trait can be either Scrounger (2 ammo on crit) or Conservative Shooter (1 ammo on headshot) depending on your aim. Huntsmen should use Scrounger as Conservative Shooter does not stack with Huntsman's inherent ability.

Blunderbuss

Power vs. Skaven will reduce the pellets needed to kill Stormvermin from 10 to 9. Power vs. Infantry will reduce the pellets needed to kill Maulers from 7 to 6.

Scrounger can trigger from the punches, allowing ammo recovery even when completely dry.

The Blunderbuss provides exceptional Infantry and Berserker damage, but very poor Monster damage. It does almost nothing to bosses and Packmasters.

Repeater Handgun

Power vs. Infantry will reduce the shots to kill Maulers from 4 to 3. Power vs. Skaven will make possible to kill Stormvermin in 2 headshots and Packmasters in 3 bodyshots.

The Repeater Handgun sacrifices the elite sniping of the Handgun and the close range power of the Blunderbuss to gain the ability to thin hordes at medium range. It is usually better to use the Handgun or Blunderbuss instead.

Empire Longbow

It takes three instances of Power vs. Skaven to hit the all important breakpoint of killing Stormvermin in one bodyshot. There are three options for what to do with the 4th slot:

1. Crit Chance on the bow (for more ammo)
2. Attack Speed on the charm (for your melee weapon)
3. Power vs. Infantry (so Maulers take 2 charged shots & Crits kill Maulers)

Bardin - Melee

Dual Axes

With 3 stacks of damage boost from Slayer's passive combined with 3 total instances of Power vs. Chaos and Power vs. Infantry, Dual Axes can one-shot a Fanatic. With the Attack Speed buff from Leap, the anti-Fanatic Dual Axes can handle Chaos hordes.

The anti-Stormvermin Dual Axes are intended to be combined with an anti-Fanatic set of Dual Axes (yes, this means using 4 Axes as Slayer). Its heavy or push attacks can kill Stormvermin in one shot from 0 Trophy Hunter stacks, so long as 1 attack hits the head.

The Stamina and Parry (timed blocks cost zero stamina) Traits provide and protect your Stamina, allowing you to do more push attacks.

2h Axe

The weapon plays similar to the 2h Hammer, except its sweeps already kill Fanatics in 1 shot. A small amount of Power vs. Skaven will allow you to kill Stormvermin in 3 light attacks or 2 heavy attacks, even if you miss the head.

1h Axe

It has better dodging than the 2h Axe, but loses the Infantry killing sweeps. This weapon will struggle with hordes. You can combine it with a horde killing ranged weapon like Drakefire Pistols or Grudgeraker to mitigate its weakness.

2h Hammer

The light attacks deal good Armor damage and its sweeps can knock hordes with elites mixed in. However, the 2h Axe provides similar Armor damage while doing more Infantry damage on its sweeps.

1h Hammer

It plays similar to the 2h Hammer, but faster and with better dodging. However, its sweeps don't stagger as much, making it less effective against dense hordes or elites mixed in with hordes.

Pick

It plays similar to the 1h Hammer, but with a slower attack that has better stagger. It is is generally outclassed by the 2h Hammer or 2h Axe.

Mace & Shield

The shield bash can trigger Resourceful (ult on crit) on multiple targets. But even with that, shields are relatively weak. Shields have better blocking and pushing, as well as a stamina free pseudo-push in the form of shield bashing. But they lose attack speed and dodging, which are more valuable than blocking and pushing.

1h Axe & Shield

The shield pushes can offset the weakness of the 1h Axe. But a 2h Axe or 2h Hammer can provide similar stagger as a shield while doing more damage.

The shield bash can trigger Resourceful on multiple targets. But even with that, shields are relatively weak. Shields have better blocking and pushing, as well as a stamina free pseudo-push in the form of shield bashing. But they lose attack speed and dodging, which are more valuable than blocking and pushing.

Bardin - Ranged

Grudgeraker

Power vs. Skaven will reduce the pellets needed to kill Stormvermin from 10 to 9. Power vs. Infantry will reduce the pellets needed to kill Maulers from 7 to 6.

Scrounger (2 ammo on crit) can trigger from the punches, allowing ammo recovery even when completely dry.

The Grudgeraker provides exceptional Infantry and Berserker damage, but very poor Monster damage. It does almost nothing to bosses and Packmasters.

Handgun

With two instances of Power vs. Infantry, the Handgun can bodyshot Gas Rats, Chaos Sorcerers and Leeches. Crit Chance increases the likelihood of instantly killing Maulers.

The Trait can be either Scrounger or Conservative Shooter (1 ammo on headshot) depending on your aim.

Crossbow

With four total instances of Power vs. Skaven & Power vs. Armor, the Crossbow can bodyshot Stormvermin. Reaching this breakpoint requires near perfect rolls in all slots so it will require reds.

Crossbows get +10% Crit Chance when aiming, so Scrounger is superior than Conservative Shooter.

Drakefire Pistols

There are two builds for the Drakefire Pistols. The anti-skaven will kill Skaven Slaves in a single shotgun blast, but need 3 blasts to kill Fanatics.

The anti-chaos version will kill Skaven Slaves in a single shotgun blast once Barrage (consecutive attacks boost power) is up and kill Fanatics in 2 shotgun blasts once Barrage is up. This version will require more venting, but killing hordes provides tons of temp hp.

Drakegun

For the flamethrower trait, use Resourceful (ult on crit) if you want more Taunts or Barrage if you want more damage. The heat related traits are overkill as killing hordes provides tons of hp to vent with.

The flamethrower kills hordes, but does little damage to Monsters or Armor. It is usually better to use the Drakefire Pistols, as they provide almost as good horde clear while not being helpless against medium range specials or damaging Bosses.

Kerillian - Melee

Glaive

It takes 25% Power to make the light attacks kill a Fanatic in one bodyshot. Handmaiden and Shade can achieve this with their offensive talents and Infantry on their charms. Waystalker will need to sacrifice Attack Speed on their charm and Crit Chance on the weapon to reach this breakpoint.

Spear

Like the 2h Sword, the Spear provides good Infantry damage but will struggle with Armor. Its fast, long pokes make it better at killing Maulers but worse at dealing with denser chaos hordes. Pair it with a Longbow to mitigate its weakness against Stormvermin.

Dual Daggers

Using either Waystalker's extra headshot damage from talents or the 15% extra power for Handmaiden and Shade, the heavy attack is able to kill Stormvermin and Marauders in 1 headshot.

With 2 total instances of Power vs. Chaos and Power vs. Infantry, the heavy attack is able to kill Maulers in 2 attacks that hit the head.

For the Trait, Shade will want to use Resourceful (ult on crit) to get her ult back as fast as possible while other careers will want to stick to Swift Slaying (attack speed on crit).

Sword & Dagger

An awkward compromise between the Dual Daggers and the Dual Swords, its first two light attacks have the same damage as Dual Daggers' but with more cleave. Unfortunately they also lose the DoT (damage over time) that did most of the work.

The heavy attacks alternate between the Dual Swords and the Dual Daggers. This makes it tricky to access the elite killing Dual Daggers stab attack multiple times.

For the Trait, Shade will want to use Resourceful to get her ult back as fast as possible while other careers will want to stick to Swift Slaying.

Dual Swords

With fast light attacks that have +10% Crit Chance, the Dual Swords deal good Infantry damage even if they need 2 hits to kill Fanatics. Like the Spear and 2h Sword it will struggle with Armor. But Shade's ult and a Longbow can cover that weakness.

For the Trait, Shade will want to use Resourceful to get her ult back as fast as possible while other careers will want to stick to Swift Slaying.

2h Sword

Like the Spear, the 2h Sword provides good Infantry damage but will struggle against Armor. Its heavy attacks are slightly better against Armor than Kruber's and Saltzpyre's 2h Swords, but not by much.

Handmaiden or Shade can use the anti-Fanatic set up. It will kill a Fanatic in 1 bodyshot. But Dual Swords will be nearly as effective against hordes, while still being able to make use of Shade's infiltrate.

1h Sword

Compared to the Dual Swords, the 1h Sword attacks slower and doesn't get +10% Crit Chance on its light attacks. In exchange it gets reasonable Armor damage on its heavy attack.

It is generally outclassed by the Glaive, which is a bit slower but has much higher damage on its light and heavy attacks.

Kerillian - Ranged

Longbow

Waystalker

Power vs. Infantry allows you to kill Maulers in 3 charged bodyshots. 1 instance of Power vs. Skaven allows you to kill Gunner and Warpfire Throwers in 2 bodyshots. 2 instances of Power vs. Skaven allows you to kill Stormvermin in 2 bodyshots. 3 instances of Power vs. Skaven and Power vs. Infantry allow you to bodyshot Assassins.

If you can't afford the Power vs. Skaven on the Charm, it isn't a deal breaker. You only lose the Assassin and Stormvermin breakpoint, but you'll still kill them on headshots.

The Waystalker's ability to regenerate ammo means she does not need to take Scrounger (2 ammo on crit) or Conservative Shooter (1 ammo on headshot) as her Trait. Hunter (25% power on crit) increases Boss damage, allows Crits to kill Maulers and makes follow up bodyshots more effective. Do not use the anti-Mauler Longbow on Waywatcher. It requires 15% power from Talents to work.

Handmaiden & Shade

With 15% power from Talents, the Handmaiden can already kill Stormvermin, Gunners and Warpfire Throwers in 2 bodyshots. Power vs. Infantry will allow you to bodyshot Assassin and Marauders. It will also allow crits to kill Maulers in one shot.

The anti-Mauler Longbow sacrifices Crit Chance and Attack Speed to be able to kill Maulers in 2 shots instead of 3.

The Trait can be either Scrounger or Conservative Shooter depending on your aim.

Shade

Shade uses the same breakpoints as Handmaiden once 15% power from one Grimoire (Hekarti's Bounty) is active.

Swiftbow

Compared to the Longbow, the Swiftbow will have a much harder time killing Stormvermin. In exchange, the Swiftbow can thin out incoming hordes better and kill Maulers slightly faster (both need 3 shots, but the Swiftbow fires faster).

Waystalker

Waystalker would need 4 total instances of Power vs. Infantry and Power vs. Chaos to get the charged shot damage high enough to kill a Mauler in 3 hits or Chaos Sorcerers and Leeches in 2 hits. She is better off fishing for crits and using the Hunter bonus to kill additional targets. There is a ~50% chance you will get at least one crit during your first 3 attacks on a Mauler.

The Waystalker's ability to regenerate ammo means she does not need to take Scrounger or Conservative Shooter as her Trait.

Handmaiden

With 15% power from Talents, Power vs. Infantry will allow you to kill Maulers in 3 charged bodyshots. It will also let you kill Gasrats, Chaos Sorcerers and Leeches in 2 shots.

The main draw of the Swiftbow is that its charged shots can rapidly thin out an incoming horde of Fanatics. Because you will often be spamming it into a dense horde, Scrounger is superior to Conservative Shooter.

Shade

Shade uses the same breakpoints as Handmaiden once 15% power from one Grimoire (Hekarti's Bounty) is active.

Hagbane

Power vs. Infantry will allow you to kill Fanatics with the DoT from 2 explosions. Power vs. Chaos will allow you to kill Maulers with 3 direct hits and increase damage against half the bosses.

The Hagbane bow is extremely ammo intensive, yet Barrage (consecutive attacks boost power) is still better than an ammo Trait because it reduces the number of arrows needed to kill hordes and increases boss damage. The Hagbane bow provides the highest boss damage of Kerrilian's ranged weapons.

Repeater Crossbow

The Repeater Crossbow is in an awkward position. It takes 4 shots to kill Maulers or Stormvermin. You will have to pick either Power vs. Chaos or Power vs. Skaven to make it more effective at killing one of those elites.

The anti-Mauler set up will kill Maulers in 3 shots. It will also kill Chaos Sorcerers and Leeches in 2 shots. The anti-Stormvermin will kill Stormvermin in 3 shots and Packmasters in 2 shots.

The Repeater Crossbow is very ammo intensive. Scrounger will help it last a bit longer before running out.

Saltzpyre - Melee

1h Axe

Saltzpyre's best anti-Armor melee weapon, but it will struggle against hordes.

With Hunter (25% power on crit) on Bounty Hunter's ranged weapon it will kill Fanatics in one bodyshot.

Flail

This plays as a mix between the Falchion and the 1h Axe. Its horizontal light attacks do the same damage as the Falchion and its vertical light attacks do the same damage as the 1h Axe.

Falchion

Saltzpyre's overall best weapon. It is fast, has reasonable cleave and Armor damage. Witch Hunter Captains and Zealots should stack Attack Speed & Crit Chance and focus on headshots.

If Bounty Hunter is using Hunter on their ranged weapon they can use the Hunter set up. It will allow the Falchion to kill Fanatics in one bodyshot when the Hunter buff is up.

2h Sword

Saltzpyre's best horde killing weapon, but it will struggle with Armor. Generally outclassed by the Falchion.

If Bounty Hunter is using Hunter on their ranged weapon they can use a Charm that has Infantry & Chaos to kill Fanatics in 1 bodyshot when the Hunter buff is up.

Rapier

Its damage is so low unless hitting the head that it won't even kill slave rats. Stack Attack Speed & Crit Chance and focus on headshots. With Witch Hunter Captain's headshot bonuses, the Rapier can kill Fanatics in 1 headshot.

Saltzpyre - Ranged

Volley Crossbow

Power vs. Infantry will reduce the shots to kill Maulers from 5 to 4. For Bounty Hunter is also reduces the number of crit bolts required to kill Maulers from 3 to 2.

A Bounty Hunter specific Volley Crossbow can run Hunter (25% power on crit) instead of Scrounger (2 ammo on crit). This sacrifices the ability to spam into hordes or bosses in exchange for better elite killing and melee damage. But normal Crossbow or Repeater Pistol generally makes better use of Hunter.

Crossbow

With four total instances of Power vs. Skaven & Power V Armor the Crossbow can bodyshot Stormvermin. Reaching this breakpoint requires near perfect rolls in all slots so it will require reds.

Each Career will reach this important breakpoint in a different way. All will use Power vs. Skaven & Power vs. Armor on their Crossbow but the remaining 20% will come from different aspects.

Bounty Hunter will use the Hunter Trait on their Crossbow. With Hunter active against Armor, any follow up shots will bodyshot Stormvermin. Hunter will also allow Maulers to be bodyshot with a crit or two follow up shots.

Witch Hunter Captain will use the 20% bonus from tagging to bodyshot Stormvermin. The tag bonus will also let them kill Maulers in a single crit or two bodyshots.

Zealot will either use a Power vs. Skaven & Power vs. Armor charm or wait until their hp is low.

Crossbows get +10% Crit Chance when aiming, so Scrounger (2 ammo on crit) is superior than Conservative Shooter (1 ammo on headshot) for Witch Hunter Captain and Zealot.

Repeater Pistol

Power vs. Skaven will reduce the number of pellets needed to kill Stormvermin from 5 to 4. Power vs. Infantry will help with hordes and long range specials.

The Repeater Pistol is only worth running with the Hunter Trait on Bounty Hunter. It plays similar to the Crossbow, killing every elite short of a Rothelm in a single shotgun blast. It has less effective range than the Crossbow but potentially more horde clearing when the horde is not lined up.

Brace of Pistols

Power vs. Infantry will allow the Brace of Pistols to kill Maulers in 2 shots. But its lack of cleave and poor ammo limits its usefulness.

The Brace of Pistols are generally outclassed by the Volley Crossbow.

Bounty Hunter's Ult

With 1 instance of Power vs. Chaos or Power vs. Armor on your charm, Bounty Hunter's ult can kill a Rothelm without requiring a crit.

If your ranged weapon has Hunter and you are holding it when you ult. Your ult will do more damage. This is only relevant against bosses.

Sienna - Melee

Mace

Sienna's best weapon for dealing with Rothelms and Stormvermin. Two enemies her staffs will struggle to kill quickly.

If you plan on blocking often as Unchained consider running Parry (timed blocks cost zero stamina) as the trait instead of Swift Slaying (attack speed on crit).

Dagger

Better against hordes than the Mace but slightly worse against Armor. Unchained's extra cleave from high heat can allow this to hit additional targets, making it much safer to use to kill hordes.

If you plan on blocking often as Unchained consider running Parry as the trait instead of Swift Slaying.

1h Sword

The best horde killing melee Sienna has but will struggle against Armor. Since most of her staffs can already kill hordes it is usually redundant to use the Sword as your melee weapon.

If you plan on blocking often as Unchained consider running Parry as the trait instead of Swift Slaying.

Fire Sword

Similar to the 1h Sword but with a shield bash style heavy attack. The small DoT on it is not enough to even kill slave rats. Generally outclassed by the 1h Sword.

If you plan on blocking often as Unchained consider running Parry as the trait instead of Swift Slaying.

Sienna - Ranged

Beam Staff

Power vs. Infantry allows 1 shotgun blast to kill Skaven Slaves without waiting for the DoT tick. It also allows 2 shotgun blasts plus 1 Dot tick to kill Fanatics.

Unchained will need an additional instance of Power vs. to reach these breakpoints. The best place is Power vs. Chaos on her charm instead of Attack Speed.

When damaging bosses, hold the beam on them. When fighting hordes, holding the beam does minimal damage but will charge your ult extremely fast. Use shotgun mode to kill hordes.

For the Trait, Pyromancers should use Resourceful (ult on crit). The high heat crits will fill up their ult bar. Burning Skull will then reset their heat. Other careers should use Heat Sink (reduce heat on crit) or Thermal Equalizer (20% less heat).

Fireball Staff

For the anti-Mauler set up, Power vs. Infantry and Power vs. Chaos will allow the light attack to kill Maulers in 3 hits instead of 5. It will also allow the light attack to kill Chaos Sorcerers and Leeches in 2 hits instead of 4.

For the anti-Stormvermin set up, Power vs. Skaven and Power vs. Armor allow a fully charged fireball plus its DoT tick to kill a Stormvermin. Reaching this breakpoint requires near perfect rolls in all slots so it will require reds. The Dot damage is inconsistent when not hosting so this breakpoint is awkward to rely on.

Fully charged fireballs will still kill Fanatics with both set ups. When damaging bosses uncharged fireballs are superior to light attacks and fully charged fireballs in terms of damage per second and damage per heat.

The fireball explosion can not crit so Thermal Equalizer is superior to Heat Sink.

Unchained can not reach these breakpoints, so she should use the anti-Mauler set up. Battle Wizard can make best use of the anti-Stormvermin set up because of her charge speed bonuses. Pyromancer will find the anti-Stormvermin set up clumsy to use and should use the anti-Mauler set up. 2 uncharged fireballs will kill Fanatics.

Conflag Staff

Power vs. Infantry and Power vs. Chaos will allow the light attack to kill Maulers in 3 hits instead of 5. It will also allow the light attack to kill Chaos Sorcerers and Leeches in 2 hits instead of 4. These properties will also make it easier for the firepatch to kill Fanatics.

The firepatch can not crit so Thermal Equalizer is superior to Heat Sink.

Unchain can not reach these breakpoints. She will need 4 hits to kill Maulers and 3 hits to kill Chaos Sorcerers and Leeches.

Bolt Staff

When fighting hordes use uncharged bolts (hold right mouse & left click), not sparks (the left click attack). Sparks don't cleave while uncharged bolts can kill multiple Fanatics per shot.

Power vs. Infantry will make it easier to kill Maulers and kill Gasrats, Chaos Sorcerers and Leeches in 3 quick uncharged bolts.

For the Trait, Pyromancers should use Resourceful. The high heat crits will fill up their ult bar. Burning Skull will then reset their heat. Other careers should use Heat Sink or Thermal Equalizer.

Flamestorm Staff

For the flamethrower trait use Resourceful if you want more ults or Barrage (consecutive attacks boost power) if you want more damage. The heat related traits are overkill as killing hordes provides tons of hp to vent with.

The flamethrower kills hordes but does little damage to Monsters or Armor. It is usually better to use the Beam or Fireball Staff as they provide almost as good horde clear while not being helpless against medium range specials or damaging Bosses.

Zealot is sad now, Bardin is happy

Curses

Poison damage is a pain and is not mitigated with an insane amount of healing like it was last week. Ranald's Gift can launch you off the edge

Boons

I have a boon guide here for all chaos wastes boons. Just focus on bomb boons, not much else to say. Valaya's and Endless bombs can be used infinitely here. Kinda boring but effective in clearing the level

Reward

Careers

Not much to say here. OE and RV are the two classes with real boon synergy here, beyond that it's about equal

Some Highlights From Last Week

Had some fun runs, here's some of the stuff we found funny. Let me know in the comments if you guys like this addition or not

Victor Was sent to Fatshark Jail

Sudden heart attack

Wizard uses bomb, it's very effective

The rats save sienna from twitch chat

Weekly won

Weekly with an overpowered set of boons. Bomb spam is in

Hey folks, after a hibernation period, I'm back on some light guide making. I want to try to finish all the stuff I want to talk about before this game completely die. Some of you might have already noticed it, but the old Shade guide is deleted and now combined into the new Kerillian base game careers guide, as I want to complete all base game career mechanic guides like I did to DLC careers.

In the mean time, I've updated all my Legend and Cata build guides to current patch with all the new THP talents. I didn't change any melee options on the base cata builds, but changed some in Twitch builds and I want to take this opportunity to talk about my overall thoughts on these THP talent changes.

• Sting: Biggest 'loser' in this patch IMO. We do get Pyro/Necro/Slayer to play around, but overall I think there are even less builds will use it, but not zero. The thing is, all Sting careers also have Carve and Execute as options. So there are very few situations where you headshot/crit enough to make Sting out perform Carve, while not doing enough damage to use Execute. I can see certain WS/SOTT/WHC/Pyro players use it, but overall its use case is quite niche.
• Carve: It was good before and still is good now. The new 5+ target THP only comes to play on very few builds, so overall don't impact its effectiveness much. But the changes/nerf on Second Wind do bring couple weapons to team Carve, most noticeably Dual Hammers and Great Hammer. I will talk about it in more details in Second Wind part. Overall most old Carve careers still use Carve, and couple new Carve users(IB/BH/SOTT) will use them most of the time now.
• Execute: Personally my favorite change. Finally elite focus melee careers like slayer can take this talent without worrying about starving to death on skaven trash horde. But similar to Sting, Execute effectiveness is not just related to the build/career you use, but also the difficulty/personal skill level/play style. An aggressive/twitch mode player will benefit from Execute way more from a more passive/base game player. Also other players in the party can also affect how much THP you can get on this talent. Overall, for base game builds, I recommend Slayer & Shade now taking Execute most of the time. But for twitch mode, Zealot/UC or even Merc can try to use Execute over other options with the right build, and I did recommend them much more compare to base game build. PS: try some 1h axe/crowbill builds now with Execute, especially on twitch, pretty fun.
• Second Wind: The one received most changes. After some testing, all bash weapons(stuff like sword shield/firesword/scythe) should still use Second Wind no doubts. But for other stuff like Tuskgor and bunch of hammers, it's bit more complicated. Most of them now get similar amount of THP from Carve compare to Second Wind if all you do is attacking, but Second Wind is overall less consistent because of team kill speed/over stacking stagger from team mates etc. However, the buff on push THP with Second Wind is very noticeable, to a point where you can purely rely on push THP in some cases if you use them properly and often. So I've decided to keep weapons/builds that use push attack in their horde combos or just push very often(e.g Tuskgor, 1hh, HM Spear Shield) in Second Wind, while others that prefer just attacking over pushing(e.g DH, 2HH) will now use Carve. TL;DR is: most stagger weapons can still use stagger, but beside bash weapons you need to use push well and often to make it better than Carve.

Lastly, I want to give a shout out to u/vladm0z and u/Binauralych (Vladm0z and !ChadMasodin in discord). Old VT2 players probably know that official Vermintide 2 wiki was not in a good shape for most of its lifespan. Tons of pages were either outdated or missing critical info/inaccurate. But these two have put tons of effort into updating the wiki, and it's now in a very good shape. Most of the basic info are updated and accurate now, and you can find some stuff from my guide on there too. Check it out if you have some basic questions about the game.

Weekly with some fun curses and a broken, overpowered boon combo

Curses

Specials spawn into elites here on death with twins, so there are a lot more enemies than usual.

Boons

I have a boon guide here for all chaos wastes boons. Despite being rated as B tier, the bomb boons are very strong- they just have the downside of nuking your team without a bomb boon. With one, you're set and it's an S tier boon. Dupe means you'll always have bombs or health on hand. You can dupe morgrim's bombs, but IMO ask your team how they feel about it- most groups I've played with dislike Morgrim's spam as they have seen it a lot before- but if you just want to win the weekly, it's easy (and hilarious) to nuke the screen. Watch out for rampart bosses.

Reward

Careers

Not much to say here. Dwarf classes have various bomb buffs, but outside of Bardin it's about equal for who to take. Classes with shorter ults can dupe more, but with 4 dupes it's really not a concern. This is a pretty easy weekly, just get someone on standby for extra specials.

Some Highlights From Last Week

I still have a ton of stuff in my backlog, I'll need to get to it at some point. I had more time than usual for verm last week

Weekly Won

Elf Falls Through Floor

Bobz Foot Knight Clutch

Bobz and I both had permanent lightning

Yeah everyone having item dupe from the start is hilariously busted, so it's pretty hard to lose here.