Editing Warhammer 40K: Darktide (section)

===Melee Weapons===

*'''Combat Blade:''' Its animations are heavily focused on quick stabs, so take it if you want a fast, high DPS, low range melee weapon like Kerillians dual daggers in Vermintide. Has a lunging heavy attack that can be charged while sprinting, which gives it significantly more mobility than other melee weapons. Its special attack is a staggering jab which causes the next attack to be basically an instant heavy (it does slightly less damage than a true heavy attack and also strangely [[Fail|replaces the damage caused by it to that even if you fully charge up the next attack like a true heavy]], forcing you to cancel it with blocking if you don't want that). Comes with absolutely beautifully animated flourishes in first-person as your character returns the knife to the idle position, and they change depending on when you end your combo. Worth trying out for that alone. Will need a coherent blessing build for it to do anything against Crushers at higher difficulties, but it's possible.

*'''Combat Axe:''' It's an axe, what's there to say other than its heavy attack is easily one of the better ones and does a decent job of chopping though armor, though maulers are still a pain, especially when's there more than one. Not very good at cutting a crowd to pieces (seriously, it can cut through like two enemies at max...and those enemies won't be flak-armoured) but it does the job well enough when each headshot will kill one enemy in that crowd, and if you're aiming for single target heavy armor it does the job well. Its horizontal-slash push-attacks are an option to hit multiple enemies at once, and with the Brutal Momentum blessing it becomes <s>one of the game's best weapons</s>a pre-nerf Power Sword if it had a bit worse cleave damage in exchange for much better dodging stats and didn't have to energize, just headshot some schmuck first.

*'''Tactical Axe''': Axe, but tacticool. Ok, actually, this one attacks much faster than the combat axe but accordingly does less damage though still useful against armour. A bit of an in-between of the combat blade and the combat axe. Getting the Brutal Momentum Blessing for it turns it into a veritable horde clearer while also making it a fine single-target option, making it one of the best weapons in the game... If you can bless it right.

*'''Catachan Devil's Claw Sword:''' According to [[Catachan Jungle Fighters|Catachans]], it's a knife. According to everyone else, it's a bloody sword. As mentioned above its built for precision strikes aimed towards a heretic's neck, preferably decapitating them. Its special attack is a parry that... actually kind of sucks, countering attacks with a crappy slash. But hey, any damage reduction at all can be a blessing. Be aware that heavier attacks will cause parries to consume stamina and enemies like plague ogryns will do significant damage to you even if you successfully parry their attacks.

*'''[[Chainsword]]:''' Wouldn't be a 40k game without one. The light attacks aren't as good for clearing hordes as the shovel, but it's better for taking out bosses and special enemies ([[Rape|or just that one poxwalker which looked at you funny]]) with its revved up special attack which will do massive damage and stagger effectively as having a fucking chainsword saw through you should, but the time it takes for you standing there driving the chainsword through them leaves you vulnerable (so accordingly, you can also turn the high RPM mode off). Take note that headshots and heavy attacks cause more damage even for the revved up attacks (unless you're running it into a Mauler's head, avoid headshotting him with this).

*'''[[Chainaxe]]:''' Handles fairly similarly to the chainsword, except that it's slightly slower due to its light attacks sticking to enemies for a split second on hit to grind them for a bit of extra damage. Increasing attack speed is very noticeable with this weapon since this also causes the light attacks' sawing animation to complete faster.

*'''Shovel:''' Veteran exclusive and all veterans start with one as their stock melee weapon.  Perfect for roleplaying as a [[Death Korps of Krieg|Krieger]], it has good damage and can smack multiple heretics at a time. Its light attacks use the blade for good single target kills, while the heavy attacks use massive sweeping blows from the flat that can stagger more enemies. It focuses more on cleaving though a horde than the Night Fang which rewards more precise head severing strikes. However, it's pretty close to useless against carapace armour without blessings.

*'''[[Power Sword]]:''' Veteran exclusive. Similar yet distinct to the chainsword, the key thing about it is that its special attack button will instead energize the blade and cause it to cut through anyone like butter as expected of a power weapon. Was overpowered at launch when it had infinite cleave and players could swing it an average of 3 times in a row before it lost its charge. Has since been nerfed so it can only be swung once per charge and is subject to cleave limits like any other melee weapon. Look for one with the tier 4 power cycler blessing, it'll increase the number of energized swings back to launch stats.

*'''Heavy Sword:''' Zealot Exclusive. Was mediocre at launch, has since been buffed to specialize in lawnmowering through hordes with light attack spam. It's still mediocre against armored targets (though its special attack does decent damage against them and is liable to stagger them), so pair it with something like the bolter to deal with crushers and maulers.

*'''[[Power Maul]]:''' Zealot Exclusive. When charged up, it'll hit the first target for a good amount of damage (not charged-Thunder-Hammer-tier of course, but still high) and cause a small amount of damage but also basically stagger everything else nearby the first target.

*'''[[Eviscerator|Eviscerator Chainsword]]:''' Zealot Exclusive. Giant FUCK OFF chainsword with a revved up heavy strike, it provides less mobility compared to the chainsword or some shit but who gives a fuck about that when [[Berserk|it can cut two foes in half with one swing with its crazy good cleave]]. The push attacks and the first attack of its heavy attack combo are both horizontal sweeps that you'll want to spam for crowd control. A must-have weapon for female Zealot to cosplay as [[Sisters Repentia]].

*'''[[Thunder Hammer]]:''' Zealot Exclusive. Like the eviscerator, its heavy attacks are wide anti-horde sweeps, while its light attacks are head crushing overhead swings. The special attack powers up the hammer for a single high damage, high recovery energized strike that will completely wreck the shit of whoever it hits...[[RAGE|especially that one poxwalker off to the side while you were aiming for something else because the special attack can only hit one target]]. Can delete crushers when combined with the guaranteed critical hit from chastise the wicked and even bosses if you take advantage of the level 30 perk that lets you use chastise the wicked twice. A fully-built Thunder Hammer basically makes a fighting Daemonhost a refreshing and short diversion from the rest of the mission.

*'''Dueling Sword:''' Psyker exclusive. Looks like a pirate cutlass with a moveset more like a rapier. Has great range + great speed, but limited armor piercing and a relatively narrow cleave arc. Its special attack is a quick thrusting jab. Take it if you want to dodge dance enemies and bosses, it has a dodge cooldown bonus that does not show up in the unit stats. 
** '''Mk2''': The generalist sword, with upward swipes for its light attacks, and a thrust/swipe combo for its heavies. Not very good.
** '''Mk4''': The horde sword, with rapid downward swipes that can hit weakpoints for its lights, and precise thrusts for its heavies. 
** '''Mk5''': The single target sword. Two swipes and a downward slash for its lights, and powerful downward slashes for the heavies. Makes you feel like slamming your sword down on enemy heads. 

*'''[[Force Weapons#Force Sword|Force Sword]]:''' Psyker Exclusive, a sword that can channel warp power. Spectacularly fast and lethal especially at high peril, and if you don't like that you can also quell peril while holding it just like with the Force Staff. Though the Power Hammer and the Ogryn's weapons hit harder with individual hits the Force Sword is probably the best overall melee weapon so far, the ludicrous speed allowing it to both butcher hordes and take down the big bastards. If the RNG smiles upon your perk rolls, it can even block ranged attacks with the Deflector blessing. The special attack costs a bunch of peril to imbue the blade with the warp and makes it headbang the next foe it hits, ignoring any defenses in the process (like the chainsword, headshotting and heavy attacking matters to improve the damage of the warp-charged attack) though it takes some time and leaves you vulnerable from other targets. It also replaces the generic weapon push with an increased AOE force push, while the push attack that follows increases peril in exchange for a single target stagger that can stun even the most heavily armored and resistant bastards (seriously, you will see Crushers lose their footing). You can also use this push attack to maintain high peril if you like using the feat that increases your attack power with peril.
** '''Obscurus Mk2 Blaze Force Sword''': The balanced Force Sword and the initial one on release. Workable, but far outclassed by the specialized Force Swords introduced in subsequent patches.
** '''Deimos Mk4 Blaze Force Sword''': The single target Force Sword, but still usable for crowds. Its thrust attacks do ludicrous damage, and its slash attacks can reasonably deal with crowds. Sadly, it makes the special attack redundant because you can deal more DPS against single enemies with it's light attack -> heavy attack 1-2 combo.
** '''Illisi Mk5 Blaze Force Sword''': The horde clearing Force Sword. Plays similarly to the Power Sword, but with the fun of peril management. You can only make one warp-charged force strike, but you can repeatedly charge your sword to stack up Peril. Stack up Peril-Based damage multipliers (blessings, Warp Unleashed etc.), [[Slaanesh|rub that thing over and over]] and watch it cleave through the zombies even without the force charge. Get Slaughterer so mixed hordes will only take slow you down for a few seconds longer than basic hordes.

*'''Ogryn Cleaver:''' A knife scaled up to Ogryn size, but it would be akin to an [[Ork]] [[choppa]] in anyone else's hands, which is why it's exclusive to the big boys. Is the fastest Ogryn melee weapon and the best Ogryn melee weapon for blending through hordes. The special attack is a quick uppercut to stagger things which unfortunately does very little damage on higher difficulties, but can be invaluable for staggering elites or specials while your team has to a bit more time to kill them than is preferable.

*'''Ogryn Club:''' Slower than the knife, but better at staggering hordes since its heavy attacks are all horizontal sweeps. Its special attack is [[Lulz|pimpslapping]], mostly similar to pushing in effect though it doesn't cost stamina and does at least a small amount of damage.

*'''Ogryn Latrine Shovel:''' Normal shovels are for digging trenches, these are for digging TOILETS. Ew. Fit for an Ogryn because they could probably break a normal one by using them to pick their teeth or something. Like the club, it specializes in clearing mobs with horizontal sweep attacks, though the advantage of Ogryn might makes it cause more damage, especially against armor. Special attack is the Ogryn uppercut.

*'''Ogryn [[Power Maul]]:''' Bafflingly shown off in the Ogryn's class reveal trailer but not present at launch. Has a good mix of vertical light attacks for bashing in elite skulls and horizontal heavy swings to sweep hordes. Just like Warrior Priest's flail and shield back in VT2, continuing to spam light attacks after your first combo or a push attack will turn the Ogryn's combo into wild swings that are perfect for clearing hordes. The special attack powers up the maul similar to the thunder hammer except it makes all enemies in an AOE kiss the ground instead of disintegrating single targets - seriously, basically only bosses can't be staggered by this thing's special attack and it can force groups of Ragers to sit down while they get bonked to death one by one.

*'''Ogryn Slab Shield:''' Comes with a maul that's mostly used for sideways-aimed swings aside from its push attack that strikes downward. Can block gunfire unlike other melee weapons at the cost of some stamina (which is pretty handy since groups of lasmen at Malice difficulty and up will [[Rape]] even unprotected Ogryns caught out of cover). Emperor said you shall be the cover! The shield can also be used to bludgeon enemies to death with its heavy attacks or deployed with the special attack button so the Ogryn cannot move or turn while its active but also cannot lose stamina from blocking (stamina regeneration however will still be momentarily paused after blocking). About the only weapon that can save a teammate that blundered into the open [[Anal Circumference|with three snipers looking at them]] if an ally revives that teammate behind the Ogryn's shield. It is notably more apt at creating a "Tank" playstyle than any of the shield weapons were in VT2 but there is a lot of debate on how useful that is, as you can arguably just collect aggro by walking up to things and whacking them, best defense being a good offense and whatnot. Be prepared to face a lot of ridicule from metagamers if you want to be the "Tank".