Zealot Preacher is one of the starting classes to choose and players who have plans for maining this class should know about how to create the best build for Zealot In Warhammer 40K Darktide.
Key Highlights:
- The Zealot Preacher is a melee-based class that performs its best in close-range combat.
- Equipping the best Zealot’s feats will be an element in making an efficient build.
- Since the Zealot is a powerhouse in close-range combat, it is important to choose the primary Zealot weapons with high damage so the Zealot can live up to her name.
- Since the Zealot is found lacking in long-range combat, choosing the right secondary weapons is important so they can compensate for it.
The Zealot Class In Warhammer 40K Darktide
Here we will be listing two separate builds- one for leveling up quickly and one that you can use in higher-difficulty missions/ endgame. But before we start, let us first list all the abilities and the passive abilities that the Zealot has.
Zealot Abilities And Passive Abilities
The Zealot Preacher has 6 abilities and here we will explain all of them in detail.
- Chastise The Wicked
- Stun Grenade
- The Emperor’s Will
- Swift Exorcism
- Martyrdom
- Until Death
Chastise The Wicked ability makes your character dash toward the targetted enemy and do devastating damage on the target. It also replenished all toughness and increases the damage of your next melee strike by +25%.
As the name suggests, the Stun Grenade ability enables the Zealot to throw a stun grenade toward the enemy. It stuns all the enemies within the blast radius. It is extremely useful in higher difficulties as it can give you a small breather when you are overwhelmed with hordes of enemies.
The Emperor’s Will ability increases your Toughness Damage Reduction by +7%. This buff will also apply to those allies who are in the range of the Zealot.
Wish to be quick and agile? Then the Swift Exorcism got your back as it increases your melee speed by +10%.
The Martyrdom ability increases by +5% for every 15 missing healths. You can stack this up 3 times so potentially, this ability can increase your damage by +15%.
And finally, the Until Death ability can be a lifesaver, especially in higher difficulties. After every 90 seconds, if you take damage that was high enough to kill you, you will instead gain invulnerability for 5 seconds. So if players end up making a small mistake in higher difficulties then this ability can save them from potentially losing all their progress.
The Zealot Leveling Build
| Levels | Feats for the Leveling Build |
| Level 5 | Purify In Blood |
| Level 10 | Bloodletting |
| Level 15 | Benediction |
| Level 20 | Faith Restores All |
| Level 25 | Rising Conviction |
| Level 30 | Purge The Wicked |
Purify In Blood
The Purify In Blood feat will replenish 100% of toughness whenever you kill an enemy with a melee attack. It is no secret that in the initial difficulties, players will be focusing much more on offense rather than defense. This feat fits perfectly within the leveling-up build.
Bloodletting
The Bloodletting feat directly complements the Purify In Blood feat as upon hitting Bleeding enemies with a melee strike, this feat will increase your chance for a critical strike by 10% for 3 seconds. Thus, increasing your damage even more and allowing you to end more enemies in less time.
Benediction
The Benediction ability increases your toughness damage reduction by +15%. This buff is also applied to your allies who are in the range of the Zealot. In simpler words, this feat increases your survivability.
Faith Restores All
Similar to the Benediction feat, the Faith Restores All feat increases your survivability as whenever you take damage, you will automatically regain 25% of the damage you may take in the next 5 seconds. For the leveling-up Zealot build, we are mainly focusing on feats that boost your damage and increase your odds of survival.
Rising Conviction
The Rising Conviction feat increases your damage by +5% whenever you hit an enemy, and you can stack up this feat 5 times. It is very easily one of the best feats that the Zealot has. At this point, you can start creating your endgame build but if you’ve come this far, why not see this build to its end?
Purge The Wicked
Purge The Wicked ability allows you to perform your ultimate move- Chastise The Wicked twice. Your ultimate move is already one of the most powerful moves that you have. Now having the ability to use it 2 times without any delay can give you a huge upper hand when fighting tougher enemies.
The Zealot End Game Build
| Levels | Feats for the End Game Build |
| Level 5 | Enemies Within, Enemies Without |
| Level 10 | Punishment |
| Level 15 | Benediction |
| Level 20 | Thy Wrath Be Swift |
| Level 25 | Honour The Martyr |
| Level 30 | Purge The Wicked |
Enemies Within, Enemies Without
This feat will replenish the Zealot’s toughness by 7.5% each second as long as they are within the 8-meter radius of the enemy. Using this feat is preferred because as a Zealot, you will be spending the majority of your time in close-range combat anyway so this feat is bound to help you out a lot.
Punishment
The Punishment feat will increase your damage by 10% if you successfully hit 3 or more enemies in a single strike. You can stack this up to 3 times so basically, this feat will allow you to potentially increase your damage by 30%. That is not a small figure as it can give you the damage you need to overcome the mission.
Benediction
We have already explained this feat in the previous Leveling Up build but you decided to skip that and started reading directly from the End-Game Zealot build, then allow us to explain it again.
This feat increases your toughness damage reduction by +15%. This buff will also apply to your allies who are in the range of your character.
Thy Wrath Be Swift
With this feat, you will no longer get stunned by an enemy melee attack, which is extremely useful in higher-difficulty missions, as the last thing you’ll want is to be to get stunned for a short period while being surrounded by a horde of enemies.
Aside from getting invulnerability from stun, you will gain +30% movement speed for 2 seconds whenever you take damage.
Honour The Martyr
The Honour The Martyr feat is an upgrade to your Martyrdom ability. Originally, your ability increased your damage by +5% for every missing 15 health. You could stack it up 3 times but with the Honour The Martyr feat, the stack limit is increased to 6 thus allowing you to potentially increase your damage by +30%.
Purge The Wicked
We’ve already explained this ability as well so we will only cover the main points.
This feat enables the Zealot to use their ultimate ability twice. The Chastise The Wicked ability is already as devastating as it is and being able to use it twice puts you at an advantage.
Weapons For The Zealot Build
The right weapons can give you the help you need to complete the high-difficulty mission you’ve been struggling with. The weapons we are about to list here will increase your chances to get critical strikes and overall increase your survivability.
Primary Weapon
Aside from that, the Crusis Mk II Thunder Hammer increases your melee critical hit chance by +5% and your sprint efficiency by +15%. This weapon offers +10 Impact for 2 seconds on repeated hits. Which can stack up to 5 times. And finally, this weapon also offers +4 power for 3.5 seconds on hit, which can also stack up to 5 times as well.
If the Crusis Mk II Thunder Hammer doesn’t strike your fancy then the Tigrus Mk II Eviscerator is also a solid option as it offers devastating damage and can inflict +4 Bleed Stacks from special attacks as well. The Eviscerator is great at clearing out hordes of enemies with ease.
Secondary Weapon
This weapon will be your best friend in long-range combat so be sure to use it at the right time. This weapon also suppresses enemies within a 5-meter radius on close-range kills.
If the Ius Mk II Shredder Autopistol is not for you then another great option is the Artemia Mk III Purgation Flamer. It offers +20% damage to unyielding enemies and infested enemies. It is extremely satisfying to use and can melt through hordes of enemies with ease. We wouldn’t recommend pairing this weapon with the Tigrus Mk II Eviscerator as you do not want both your primary and secondary weapon to ultimately do the same thing but in the end, it is your choice anyway.
The Artemia MK III Purgation Flame also increases the chance of the elite enemy exploding when you kill it and it is well deserving to be considered one of the best if not the best secondary weapon for the Zealot in the game.
How To Play As The Zealot
Now that you know about the Zealot’s feat and best weapons. The question still remains about which playstyle should you adopt while using these Zealot builds in Warhammer 40K Darktide. Fortunately, the answer is really simple and straightforward.
As a Zealot, you are a close-range powerhouse, so you need to live up to those words. Stay with your team and eviscerate the hordes of enemies coming your way to take the pressure off your team.
One thing many players get confused about is how to use the ultimate ability. If you don’t use it properly then you’ll only end up wasting it. Remember that if you only press the ultimate ability button then the zealot will only rush toward the enemy while not doing anything else.
The proper way to use the ability is to first hold down the ultimate ability button, select your target, hold down the attack button, then release the ultimate ability button, and see your opponent get absolutely destroyed.
Wrap Up
That concludes our guide on the best build for the Zealot Preacher in Warhammer 40K Darktide. We also have guides for BEST Psyker, Ogryn, and Veteran builds just in case you are interested but that’s all from us for now.
Warhammer 40K Darktide is available now on Xbox Series S/X, and PC. We hope our guide helped you out, do let us know your thoughts. Are you using the Zealot right now? If yes then if you think that we missed something worth mentioning or if you have another Zealot build idea then let us know about it in the comment section below.
Next:
- Warhammer 40K Darktide Weapon Unlock Levels
- Warhammer 40K Darktide Tips and Tricks
- Warhammer 40K Darktide Staff Types and Playstyles
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