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Hive Scum Build Guide: The MOST TOXIC Build, Literally!
This guide explores how to maximize the toxic potential of the Hive Scum in Warhammer 40k: Darktide, focusing on creating a 'toxic time bomb' and how to scale the build for optimal damage and team support. An experimental build is presented for further customization.
To optimize the cooldown time and benefits of the Stim Cartel:
With this iteration, the toxic time bomb has a cooldown time of 20 seconds and provides allies with a combat and utility buff for at least 15 seconds. The build is self-sufficient and works on any difficulty.
Recommended loadout to maximize cooldown regeneration:
With this loadout, each kill reduces the Stim Cartel cooldown time by 2% (approximately 1 second per kill). The time bomb also contributes to cooldown regeneration. The Stim Cartel significantly increases chem-toxin damage, allowing for quick eliminations of heavy enemies.
Reason for not using the Dependency keystone:
This build is experimental and may be subject to change.
1. 🧪 Creating the Toxic Time Bomb: Basic Components
- ✅ Combat Ability: Steam Supply with all supporting modifier nodes.
- ✅ Booby Trap: Converts the Steam Supply into a weapon that deals 200 base damage and applies 7 stacks of chem-toxin within a 3-meter radius.
- ✅ Fast Acting Stims: Reduces the duration of the Steam Supply to 5 seconds, acting as a fuse for the bomb and accelerating the cooldown time.
- ✅ Practice Deployment: Allows resetting the Steam Supply cooldown time when picking up a stim.
| Node | Effect |
|---|---|
| Booby Trap | Severe damage to unarmored enemies and maniacs. Effective against the Dreg faction and Flak armor. |
| Fast Acting Stims | Reduces the duration of the Steam Supply to 5 seconds and accelerates the cooldown time. |
| Practice Deployment | Resets the Steam Supply cooldown time when picking up a stim. |
00:00 - 01:25
1. 🧪 Creating the Toxic Time Bomb: Basic Components
- ✅ Combat Ability: Steam Supply with all supporting modifier nodes.
- ✅ Booby Trap: Converts the Steam Supply into a weapon that deals 200 base damage and applies 7 stacks of chem-toxin within a 3-meter radius.
- ✅ Fast Acting Stims: Reduces the duration of the Steam Supply to 5 seconds, acting as a fuse for the bomb and accelerating the cooldown time.
- ✅ Practice Deployment: Allows resetting the Steam Supply cooldown time when picking up a stim.
| Node | Effect |
|---|---|
| Booby Trap | Severe damage to unarmored enemies and maniacs. Effective against the Dreg faction and Flak armor. |
| Fast Acting Stims | Reduces the duration of the Steam Supply to 5 seconds and accelerates the cooldown time. |
| Practice Deployment | Resets the Steam Supply cooldown time when picking up a stim. |
01:26 - 03:13
2. ⏱️ Optimizing Cooldown Time and Benefits of the Stim Cartel
- ✅ Minimum investment: One point in any tier one node of the Special Stim Cartel sets the Stim Cartel cooldown time to 15 seconds.
- ✅ Initial problem: The Stim Cartel is wasted by only providing a tier one benefit.
- ✅ Optimization: Use the Stim Cartel to obtain a tangible benefit for the team.
To optimize the cooldown time and benefits of the Stim Cartel:
- ✅ The maximum duration of a stim buff is 20 seconds (5 seconds within the box's radius and 15 seconds afterward thanks to Fast Acting Stims).
- ✅ Invest points to reduce the stim cooldown time to 20 seconds.
03:14 - 04:56
3. 💪 Superior Choice: Attack Speed Branch of the Stim Cartel
- ✅ Investment of three points in the attack speed branch.
- ✅ Benefits: +8% attack speed, +50% weapon swap speed, -15% stamina cost.
- ✅ Comparison: Similar to three stacks of Ogryn's Frenzy Blows, Veteran's One Motion, and the Zealot's aura.
- ✅ Alternative: Damage branch (+8% power), similar to one stack of Blaze Away or Slaughterer.
With this iteration, the toxic time bomb has a cooldown time of 20 seconds and provides allies with a combat and utility buff for at least 15 seconds. The build is self-sufficient and works on any difficulty.
04:57 - 07:50
4. 💀 Scaling the Build: Sample Collector and Maximizing Toxic Damage
- ✅ Sample Collector: Kills regenerate a percentage of the Stim Cartel cooldown time (1% for regular kills, 2% for enemies infected with chem-toxin).
- ✅ Allows taking larger buffs in the stims without feeling the weight of the additional cooldown time.
- ✅ Example: Invest in the damage branch to maximize chem-toxin damage, increasing the Stim Cartel cooldown time to 51 seconds.
Recommended loadout to maximize cooldown regeneration:
- ✅ Bone saw
- ✅ Needle pistol
- ✅ Blackout grenades with the Pocket Toxin talent
With this loadout, each kill reduces the Stim Cartel cooldown time by 2% (approximately 1 second per kill). The time bomb also contributes to cooldown regeneration. The Stim Cartel significantly increases chem-toxin damage, allowing for quick eliminations of heavy enemies.
07:51 - 10:22
5. 🧪 Experimental Build: Focus on Toxic Damage and Team Support
- ✅ In your face: Additional chem-toxin damage based on distance to the enemy (with the needle pistol).
- ✅ Blackout grenade: Additional source of chem-toxin for Sample Collector.
- ✅ Gunslinger improved aura: Ammo economy support for the team.
- ✅ Pickpocket: Solves ammo problems when using the needle pistol.
- ✅ Punching above one's weight: Additional chem-toxin damage against elites and monsters.
- ✅ Toxin mania: Additional damage against enemies infected with chem-toxin.
- ✅ Targeted toxin: Weakens enemy attacks.
- ✅ Toxin renewal: Restores toughness with melee kills with the bone saw.
- ✅ Keystone: Adrenaline frenzy (to improve the bone saw in melee combat) and Adrenaline assassin (to build stacks).
Reason for not using the Dependency keystone:
- ✅ Cooling the box faster is not useful if the stim is on cooldown.
- ✅ Different cooldown times can cause desynchronization.
- ✅ Risk of deploying a box that only works as a toxic time bomb.
This build is experimental and may be subject to change.