Warhammer 40k: Darktide - Veteran Class Guide (Abilities, Feats, & Weapons) (2024)

The Sharpshooter Veteran Class in Warhammer 40,000: Darktide acts as a long-range sniper against the hordes of enemies players encounter, using their feats, abilities, and weapons in tandem to quickly eliminate high-priority targets such as powerful Elite creatures. Seasoned warriors for the Emperor of Mankind, Veterans are versatile troops of the Astra Militarum that prefer to support their allies who delve into the heat of battle from afar rather than jump into enemy waves themselves. Although this class may struggle to keep up when ammunition gets low, there are ways for the player to use the traits of the Veteran to mitigate most of their disadvantages.

Players who choose the SharpshooterVeteran have two starting weapons that reflect the overall philosophy of the class' playstyle. A standard issue Unitorm Sapper Shovel for melee attacks and a Kantrael M7 Lasgun for their ranged weapon, the Veteran class does not rely on special weapon variations to get the job done, as their best skills are derived from their Coherecny Aura, Class Ability, and Passive Abilities.

While players have multiple class Feats they may equip as they progress through more levels, there are two of these natural passive abilities available at the beginning that help set a foundation for the Veteran in early missions.

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Aim For the Head Using the Veteran's Weapons

As stated previously, the Veteran's weapons do not need to be anything special to take down enemies effectively and are only limited by the player's preference. However, there are certain universal strategies players should keep in mind when wielding the Veteran Sharpshooter's arsenal.

Many of the ranged weapons the Veteran makes use of have high critical hit rates, making them incredibly potent against high-health targets named Elites. Serving as mini-bosses of sorts, these Elite enemies can be a hassle to take down unless the Veteran gives extra attention to their weak points while other members of their co-op team in Warhammer 40k: Darktide draw its animosity.

For later builds of the Veteran Sharpshooter, players might consider equipping the Munitorum Mk III Power Sword and Accatran Mk VId Recon Lasgun as their main loadout solely for the consistent rate of fire the latter ranged weapon brings combined with the high melee damage of the Power Sword. The Sharpshooter Veteran may have the second-highest health pool among the four classes of Warhammer 40k: Darktide at 150 total, but it has far fewer methods of survivability as the bulky Ogryn or balanced Zealot. These weapons give the player more chances to escape dangerous encounters at higher-level stages of the game.

Support a Team with the Veteran's Coherency Aura and Passive Abilities

Seemingly small factors such as ammunition count could be lost in the chaos of Warhammer 40k: Darktide's hack-and-blast battles, but more often than not teams who get lost in the frenetic scraps with enemy waves will run into trouble related to those details. The Veteran sports a Coherency Aura called Scavenger Hunt unique to its class that affects not only their allies within a specific range, but also themselves when in the throes of combat. Whenever the Veteran or a teammate kill an Elite enemy in the range of the Coherency, they both regain a small amount of ammo, putting them in better circumstances against incoming foes.

The Veteran Sharpshooter also has two Passive Abilities that give players an advantage right from the start, assuming they adhere to the skills that make this class practical. The Be Prepared skill gives the Veteran a 75% increase to their Ammo reserve for all their Ranged Weapons without reducing clip sizes. This lets players unload far more rounds into enemies before needing to find more ammo, letting them stay further away without having to worry about running out of shots.

The other trait called Make Every Shot Count, accentuates the Veteran's critical damage to high-priority enemies, boosting their Weak Spot Damage by 15% indefinitely and encouraging players to aim carefully at opponents.

Deal Heavy Ranged Damage When Entering Volley Fire

The Class Ability of the Veteran, Volley Fire, acts as a transformation of sorts, automatically switching the player to their Ranged Weapon once activated. For four seconds, players deal 50% more Ranged Damage while also designating Elite and Specialist enemies as Priority Targets for all their team to see.

Foes marked this way are visible anywhere on a map, making it much simpler for allies to target them or plan based on their movements or other enemy behavior in Warhammer 40k: Darktide. A powerful ability that makes the Veteran even more deadly when considering the extra damage to Weak Spots, players must work around the cooldown of this Class Ability in order to use every benefit from its effects.

Sample Feats for Later Veteran Builds

As players progress through the Veteran class, there are multiple Feats they unlock through different tiers that can be equipped to improve their build. Those looking for a higher emphasis on weak point eliminations might wish to add Exhilarating Takedown, which restores 10% of the player's Toughness when eliminating an enemy with a ranged attack to a weak point. Likewise, the Sniper feat unlocked at Level 10 gives players higher damage the farther away they are from a given enemy.

The first-person melees of Warhammer 40k: Darktide makes it difficult for the Veteran to reload all the time, making the Level 10 feat Tactical Reload interesting, as it gives the player a 20% increase in their reload speed as long as they have not emptied their clip. The Curiostraits that players should focus on while building their Veteran character are likely Stamina and Toughness, to boost their durability and mobility when in larger battles. Using the Veteran's Tactical Weapon, the Frag Grenade, also helps in correlation with these feats to grant the player a better chance to escape situations, not in their favor.

A new Feat slot unlocks for the Veteran Sharpshooter every five levels, so players may build their class appropriately as they reach these goals. Only one Feat from each tier, up to six in total, can be used at once, limiting the Veteran's abilities based on the options the player selects. No matter what abilities, weapons, and feats the player decides to use for the Veteran class in Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, the job they fulfill for their team remains important in every scenario as they push back the tide of enemies that inevitably challenge them.

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