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Darktide Enemy Hidden Mechanics: Survival Guide (Part 1 - Elite)
This video is the first part of a series on how to deal with Darktide enemies, focusing on elite enemies. It covers base armor types, strategies, and tricks for Bulwarks, Crushers, Reapers, Gunners, Shotgunners, Plasma Gunners, and Ragers.
1. 🛡️ Base Armor Types and Their Impact on Damage in Darktide
- ✅ Each enemy has a base armor type, but hit zones can have different armor types that override the base.
- ✅ The base armor type is used to calculate DOT damage (bleed, burn, toxin, soul blaze) and explosion damage (except on the Twins, which use light armor).
- ✅ The bolt pistol only takes into account the base armor type due to its large impact radius.
00:00 - 00:57
1. 🛡️ Base Armor Types and Their Impact on Damage in Darktide
- ✅ Each enemy has a base armor type, but hit zones can have different armor types that override the base.
- ✅ The base armor type is used to calculate DOT damage (bleed, burn, toxin, soul blaze) and explosion damage (except on the Twins, which use light armor).
- ✅ The bolt pistol only takes into account the base armor type due to its large impact radius.
00:58 - 04:57
2. 🛡️ Strategies and Tactics for Facing Bulwarks in Darktide
- ✅ The Bulwark's shield performs an unblockable bash attack that consumes all stamina.
- ✅ The Bulwark cannot perform another bash until after two attacks, creating a window of opportunity.
- ✅ The Tactical Axe's special attack aimed at the head always stuns the Bulwark.
- ✅ Weapons like the Shock Maul and the Crusher can easily open the Bulwark's shield with their special attacks.
- ✅ The Ogryn's Cleaver's uppercut and pickaxe attacks are effective for opening the shield.
- ✅ The parry of the Devil's Claw and Dual Swords can negate the stamina damage and stun from the shield bash.
- ✅ DOTs (damage over time) such as burns and toxins can be applied by aiming at the feet or above the Bulwark's head.
- ✅ In melee combat, dodging to the left and attacking simultaneously is a simple but effective tactic.
- ✅ Positioning is key when facing multiple Bulwarks.
- ✅ Decoy tactics can be used to manipulate enemy slots and facilitate access for attack.
| Weapon/Tactic | Effect against Bulwarks |
|---|---|
| Shock Maul/Crusher | Opens the shield easily with special attacks |
| Ogryn Cleaver (Uppercut) | Opens the shield consistently |
| Devil's Claw/Dual Swords (Parry) | Negate stamina damage and stun |
| Lindner Grenades | Lowers the shield and applies toxin simultaneously |
04:58 - 08:56
3. 💥 Mastering Crushers: Attacks, Strategies, and Advanced Tips
- ✅ Crushers have three types of attacks: overhead, side swing, and minor hits (punch, kick, pommel hit).
- ✅ The overhead is unblockable (except with shields) and has two variants: running and standing. The standing variant has greater stun resistance.
- ✅ The side swing can inflict massive damage if not blocked.
- ✅ Minor hits inflict less damage but can stun slightly.
- ✅ It is possible to parry overheads; a perfect parry costs less stamina.
- ✅ There are three levels of stun: light, medium, and heavy. Enemies are immune to the same type of stun for a short period of time after being stunned.
- ✅ Controlling a large group of Crushers is more important than focusing on killing a single one.
| Attack | Description | How to Counter |
|---|---|---|
| Overhead | Unblockable attack (except with shields) | Dodge or parry |
| Side Swing | Inflicts massive damage | Block |
| Minor Hits | Low damage, slight stun | Block or dodge |
08:57 - 11:23
4. 🎯 Mastering Reapers: Tactics for Survival in Darktide
- ✅ Reapers are priority targets due to their high ranged lethality.
- ✅ Their main attack is the stubber, which has a long range but high spread.
- ✅ When a Reaper is ready to fire, take the opportunity to eliminate it at range or get close and stun it.
- ✅ If it is too dangerous to kill the Reaper due to crossfire, use line of sight to force it to approach.
- ✅ When facing Reapers in melee combat, slide to avoid ranged damage, stun it, and then rotate and dodge.
- ✅ Dodging around a Reaper forces it to stop firing and turn, giving you time to eliminate it.
- ✅ Reapers will attempt to reposition in melee combat if they are not firing.
- ✅ Reapers have a downtime after firing their stubber, the duration of which depends on the difficulty.
11:24 - 13:42
5. 🔫 Strategies for Overcoming Gunners in Darktide
- ✅ Gunners are similar to Reapers and can be neutralized with similar tactics.
- ✅ Gunner resistance on curios can help maintain stamina long enough to reach cover or eliminate the threat.
- ✅ Gunner resistance does not protect against Scab Shooters.
- ✅ If the Gunners are too far away to eliminate at range, run and slide from cover to cover until you can close the gap.
- ✅ Gunners are vulnerable to suppression.
- ✅ Gunners do not inflict health damage until stamina is completely depleted.
- ✅ The sprint dodge angle mechanic allows you to avoid ranged attacks from Gunners when they are to the sides while sprinting.
13:43 - 16:07
6. 💥 Key Tactics for Facing Shotgunners and Plasma Gunners in Darktide
- ✅ Shotgunners are easy to deal with, but can be dangerous if caught off guard.
- ✅ They inflict a lot of damage and stamina damage at close range, but the damage drops off significantly at range.
- ✅ Shotgunners switch to their ranged weapons if you have a ranged weapon equipped.
- ✅ Plasma Gunners' ranged attacks ignore the broken stamina grace period.
- ✅ Plasma Gunners apply a debuff that reduces stamina regeneration and coherence stamina regeneration.
- ✅ Blocking plasma shots with a shield or the Deflector blessing prevents the debuff.
16:08 - 19:23
7. ⚔️ Mastering Ragers: Advanced Strategies for Survival in Darktide
- ✅ Ragers have a devastating melee combo that can quickly take you down.
- ✅ Most of the Ragers' attacks hit twice, which inflicts a lot of stamina damage.
- ✅ Once a Rager starts its combo, it is locked into finishing it unless stunned.
- ✅ Dodging Ragers is easy once you memorize their attack patterns.
- ✅ It is best to lure Ragers before entering an area.
- ✅ Managing stamina is crucial when fighting Ragers.
- ✅ Many things in the game can easily stun or stagger Ragers.
- ✅ The parry of the Devil's Claw swords is very effective against Ragers.
- ✅ An advanced technique is to block the hit with a push attack and then damage the Rager with the attack portion of the push follow-up.