Darktide Zealot Weapon Tier List [UnL]

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wasgwis zealot weapon tier list [Unlocked and Loaded]
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For your weapons you really just need to be sure you can stop disablers before they get to you, and quickly kill Monstrosities and Crushers. Hordes and elite spam should not concern you; your teammates will usually take care of that. Trappers are #1 kill priority at all times, they are pretty much the only thing that can instantly stop you.

The Duelling Sword, Combat Blade, or Chainsword combined with the Agripinaa Braced/Infantry Autogun are always top choices, as they enable high burst damage against all enemy types. It is a very good idea to bring a melee weapon with both high killing potential and good mobility. Feel free to try all sorts of combinations, just remember that it is essential that you be able to quickly take down armored enemies and bosses.

Note: Braced Autoguns now have access to Inspiring Barrage, meaning the Agripinaa Braced is quite possibly tied with the Zarona now for the best ranged weapon you can take on Zealot. If generating Toughness is of no concern to you, the Agripinaa or Vraks Infantry Autogun with the power blessings will perform even better if your aim is good.

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W E A P O N S
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MELEE
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S+ :
Maccabian Mk IV Duelling Sword | Uncanny Strike + Riposte or Precognition | +Flak, +Unyielding

S :
Maccabian Mk V / Mk II Duelling Swords | Uncanny Strike + Riposte or Precognition or Agile (Vet/Pysker only) | +Flak, +Unyielding

A++ :
Catachan Mk III Combat Blade | Mercy Killer + Flesh Tearer ..or Uncanny Strike + Riposte or Mercy Killer | +Crit Chance, +Unyielding

A+ :
Catachan Mk VI Combat Blade | Mercy Killer + Flesh Tearer ..or Uncanny Strike + Riposte or Mercy Killer | +Crit Chance, +Unyielding

A :
Cadia Assault Chainswords | Shred + Bloodletter | +Crit Chance, +Flak

B+ :
Catachan "Devil's Claw" Swords (w/ Parry) | Shred + Rampage or Wrath | +Flak, +Maniacs or +Crit Chance
Turtolsky Heavy Swords | Headtaker + Deathblow or Thrust or Rampage | +Flak, +Maniacs
Agni / Munitorum Shock Mauls | High Voltage + Opportunist or Skullcrusher | +Flak, +Maniacs or +Crit Chance
Rashad Mk III Combat Axe | Brutal Momentum + Headtaker or Shred | +Maniacs, +Flak or +Unyielding

B :
Orestes Mk XII Chainaxe | Thunderous + Bloodletter | +Flak, +Maniacs or +Crit Chance
Atrox Tactical Axes | Shred + Headtaker or Decimator or Brutal Momentum | +Flak, +Crit Chance
Antax Mk V Combat Axe | Brutal Momentum + Headtaker or Shred | +Maniacs, +Flak or +Unyielding

C+ :
Orestes Mk IV Chainaxe | Thunderous + Bloodletter | +Flak, +Maniacs or +Crit Chance
Tigrus Heavy Eviscerators | Shred + Wrath or Rampage | +Flak, +Crit Chance or +Maniacs or +Unyielding
Achlys Mk VIII Combat Axe | Brutal Momentum + Headtaker or Shred | +Maniacs, +Flak or +Unyielding

C :
Indignatus Mk IVe Crusher | Slaughterer or Thrust + Thunderous or Opportunist | +Flak, +Maniacs or +Crit Chance
Crucis Mk II Thunder Hammer | Thrust + Headtaker or Slaughterer | +Unyielding, +Weak Spot or +Crit Damage
Ironhelm Mk IV Thunder Hammer | Thrust + Headtaker or Slaughterer | +Unyielding, +Weak Spot or +Crit Damage


With the addition of Duelling Swords to Zealot's arsenal, the class now has two insanely broken melee options available. If you thought the Chainswords were good, the Duelling Swords make them look like a cheap toy. With access to Uncanny Strike and Riposte, armor is basically turned off on enemies any time you use this weapon. In terms of DPS, the Duelling Sword and Combat Blade are very similar, but the Duelling Sword far outclasses the knife in terms of general performance thanks to its incredibly safe attack profile, as it can essentially stunlock any enemy you are currently fighting, while also keeping you away from everything else thanks to its ridiculous reach and mobility. It even has a slight speed boost on heavy lunge just like the Combat Blade, on the Mk IV, this allows you to boost forward while projecting your poke heavy attack hitbox, combo this with chain sliding and you can rapidly advance on enemy positions and obliterate them without anything being able to touch you. Using this weapon honestly feels like cheating, it will almost certainly be nerfed.


Though they have lost their runner up status, the Chainswords remain great general purpose weapons that are able to handle any situation, they have no true flaws and are still a very strong choice. Heavy Swords destroy hordes and elites but struggle against armor and Monstrosities, which can really hurt you in a clutch scenario if your ranged weapon can't pick up the slack. The Devil's Claw Swords are also quite good if you use the parry to its full potential, but completely mediocre otherwise.


The Shock Mauls are a great alternative weapon choice for a more methodological approach to melee combat. While their killing power isn't as high as the swords, the general utility and more than respectable damage of the electrocution special makes them a solid choice if you want a lighter weapon that can take out armor. The Tactical Axes have great mobility and attack speed, but their purpose is questionable as they don't really do anything better than the other light weapons Zealot has, as they still don't perform well against Carapace and Unyielding. Combat Axes are better in that regard but the low mobility and attack speed leaves you very vulnerable to counterattack, it's hard to recommend them for I-II-V-E-G Maelstroms. The Chainaxe is just as slow but absolutely obliterates armor with the Thunderous blessing and rev attack combo, giving it a unique identity worthy of your consideration.


I want to recommend the Eviscerator, I really do, but it's just too cumbersome and doesn't offer anything truly unique as a tradeoff. While it does give you the coveted Carapace and Unyielding killing power, its low mobility and attack speed will end up getting you killed too. (Yes, attack speed and patterns DO matter for defense, have fun missing every swing you desperately needed to stagger or stop something from hitting you) It is very, very hard to defend yourself with the Eviscerator when you are under heavy pressure. The Crusher and Thunder Hammer have their own niche, but they perform poorly in clutch scenarios as well for the same reasons, as well as low damage output. That being said, most of Zealot's melee weapons are all decent enough that you if you know what you're doing, your class abilities should be able to pick up the slack.

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RANGED
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S :
Zarona Mk IIa Quickdraw Stub Revolver | Hand-Cannon + Surgical | +Unyielding, +Crit Chance

A+ :
Agripinaa Mk VIII Braced Autogun | Inspiring Barrage or Fire Frenzy + Speedload or Deathspitter  | +Maniacs, +Unyielding or +Flak
Agripinaa Mk I Infantry Autogun | Dumdum + Fire Frenzy or Deathspitter or Speedload or Hit and Run | +Flak, +Maniacs

A :
Vraks Mk V Infantry Autogun | Dumdum + Fire Frenzy or Deathspitter or Hit and Run | +Flak, +Maniacs
Vraks Mk II Braced Autogun | Inspiring Barrage or Fire Frenzy + Speedload or Deathspitter  | +Maniacs, +Unyielding or +Flak
Artemia Mk III Purgation Flamer (w/ Blades of Faith) | Blaze Away + Everlasting Flames | +Unyielding, +Maniacs, or +Crit Chance

B+ :
Agripinaa Mk XIV Quickdraw Stub Revolver | Hand-Cannon + Surgical or Crucian Roulette | +Unyielding, +Crit Chance
Accatran Mk IX Combat Shotgun | No Respite + Full Bore | +Maniacs, +Flak or +Unyielding
Kantrael Mk IIb Infantry Lasgun | Headhunter + Deadly Accurate or Infernus | +Flak, +Maniacs or +Unyielding
Accatran Recon Lasguns | Headhunter + Infernus | +Maniacs, +Flak or +Unyielding
Locke Mk IIb Spearhead Boltgun | Inspiring Barrage or Pinning Fire + Gloryhunter or Cavalcade or Surgical | +Carapace, +Unyielding

B :
Accatran Heavy Laspistols | Dumdum + Infernus or Ghost | +Flak, +Maniacs
Ius Mk IV Shredder Autopistol | Blaze Away + Inspiring Barrage or Pinning Fire or Raking Fire  | +Maniacs, +Flak or +Unyielding
Graia Mk IV Braced Autogun | Inspiring Barrage or Fire Frenzy + Speedload or Deathspitter | +Maniacs, +Unyielding or +Flak
Godwyn-Branx Mk IV Bolt Pistol | Surgical + Deadly Accurate | +Flak, +Maniacs
Kantrael Mk VII Infantry Lasgun | Headhunter + Deadly Accurate | +Flak, +Maniacs
Artemia Mk III Purgation Flamer | Blaze Away + Everlasting Flames or Inspiring Barrage | +Unyielding, +Maniacs, or +Crit Chance

C+ :
Zarona Mk VI Combat Shotgun | No Respite + Full Bore | +Maniacs, +Flak or +Unyielding
Columnus Mk VIII Infantry Autogun | Dumdum + Fire Frenzy or Deathspitter or Hit and Run | +Flak, +Maniacs

C :
Agripinaa Mk VII Combat Shotgun | No Respite + Full Bore | +Maniacs, +Flak or +Unyielding
Kantrael Mk IX Infantry Lasgun | Headhunter + Deadly Accurate | +Maniacs, +Crit Chance

D+ :
Crucis Mk XI Double-Barrel Shotgun |  Scattershot + Man-Stopper or Both Barrels | +Maniacs, +Flak or +Unyielding
Agripinaa Mk IX Vigilant Autogun | Headhunter + Deadly Accurate ..or No Respite + Opening Salvo | +Flak, +Maniacs or +Unyielding

D :
Columnus Mk III Vigilant Autogun | No Respite + Opening Salvo ..or Headhunter + Deadly Accurate | +Flak, +Maniacs or +Unyielding

F :
Graia Mk VII Vigilant Autogun | No Respite + Opening Salvo ..or Headhunter + Deadly Accurate | +Flak, +Maniacs or +Unyielding


Zealot's best ranged weapons are those that compliment the class' highly mobile hyperactive playstyle and enable twitchy reflexive snap shooting shenanigans. Guns that fire in quick succession yet with enough force to stagger enemies are always going to outperform other weapons that facilitate a slower, methodological style of cautious play. Your job is to maniacally run around and genocide all that you see, and that means everything is going to be coming at you from every angle and will often be right in your face. That means you need a weapon that you can pull out on a whim, fire off fast, and interrupt an enemy's attack at a moment's notice. Vigilants and the slower firing Lasguns are unsuitable for this task, and have low killing power on Zealot due to reliance on ADS precision and/or inverse damage falloff, so they are best avoided.


Autoguns are a much better option, but there is a reason weapons like the Agripinaa Braced and Autopistol are placed so high on the tier list. In addition to high killing potential, they also immediately interrupt enemy actions, which is absolutely critical for survival while under heavy pressure. Often you will not be able to kill a disabler or distant threat due to other enemies, but you may have just enough time to fire a bullet or two at them to cancel their attack. This can be the difference between a successful recovery or you on the floor in a net. It is the difference between a Bulwark dying 3 seconds after landing a single bullet or it harassing you for half a minute. The Infantry Autoguns and the Vraks Mk II Braced Autogun pump out nearly the same DPS as the Agripinaa Braced Autogun, but they do not stagger consistently, and that fact alone puts them in entirely different tiers.


The Flamer is a particularly strong pick if you have Fury of the Faithful with CDR for fast repositioning and Toughness generation, Blades of Faith to deal with enemies at range, and the Everlasting Flames blessing to negate reloads. Utilizing all three allows the weapon to truly shine as a DPS monster, and negates most of the risk that normally comes attached to the weapon. Shotguns and Las weapons are a comfortable middle ground, balancing killing potential, stagger potential, and mobility in different ways that give you a lot of options to choose from. Infantry Autoguns offer even higher DPS potential than the Braced Autoguns with proper blessings and stats, but ammo management with them can be a bit of a chore.


Note: If you have the Weapon Customization mod, putting the laser targeter and holo sight on the Infantry Autoguns turns them into top tier weapons. Unfortunately the same can not be said for the Vigilants, as it does nothing to solve their poor DPS and fundamental incompatibility with Zealot's playstyle.

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C U R I O S
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BLESSINGS
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21% Max Health
21% Max Health
21% Max Health

All other choices are wrong :)

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PERKS
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Perks stack multiplicatively, meaning they offer diminishing returns as you take more of them.
Three 20% perks is not 60%, it is 0.800³ which equals 0.512 and when subtracted from 1.000 ends up as 0.488.
So three 20% Something Resistance perks are actually only providing you with a total of 48.8% resistance. Two provides 36% resistance.

Taking this into consideration, you get much more value out of your perks by not taking a 3rd resistance perk, and instead allocating the slot to something else entirely. The following perks are the ones I consider to be the most valuable and impactful of the lot:


Best in Slot:
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x2 - 20% Gunner Resistance (basically mandatory)  [ +16% resistance from the 2nd; a 3rd only adds +12.2% resistance - not worth the slot]
x2 - 20% Sniper Resistance (no matter how much you think you won't get sniped, you will still get sniped)   [prevents being chunked]
x2 - 15% Corruption Resistance (significantly reduces damage from Poxbursters, tox gas, and all corruption)   [3 adds very little, only take 2]
x1 - 12% Stamina Regeneration (having just one of these on Zealot is a noticeable improvement)   [2 is noticable but unnecessary]


Good Secondary Choices:
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x1 - 5% Health   (does what it says on the box, ideal for this build)
x1 - 5% Toughness   (alternative to Health)
x1 - 20% Tox Flamer Resistance   (both Flamers, applies to melee, fire, ground flame, tank explosion - NOT tank explosion ground flame)
x1 - 20% Bomber Resistance   (both Bombers, applies to melee, grenade explosions, ground flame, and damage from Tox Bomber gas)


Questionable:
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x? - 10% Revive Speed    (can save missions but its hard to justify reserving the slot for something that only helps under rare circumstances)
x1 - 15% Sprint Efficiency   (some people love this, but I think its a waste of a slot, Zealot doesn't need it at all)
x1 - 12% Block Efficiency   (see above)


Completely Useless Wastes of a Slot:
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Experience
Ordo Dockets
Chance of Curio as Mission Reward
Pox Hound Resistance
Mutant Resistance
Grimoire Corruption Resistance
Toughness Regeneration Speed
Combat Ability Regeneration