As an avid Inquisitorius operator knee-deep in the grimdark carnage of Tertium, one question burns in my mind – how can I prove my relentless skill in purging these twisted heretics?
The answer lies in Warhammer 40k Darktide‘s penance system – a series of hardcore challenges designed to test the Imperium‘s finest. Completing penances earns you cosmetic trophies and bragging rights to flex on lesser recruits.
In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll share insider tips to dominating Darktide‘s penances as a grizzled veteran of the Sabazius crusade.
What Are Penances and Why Bother?
For the uninitiated, penances are effectively Darktide‘s hardcore achievement system – requiring specific feats and expert play across different categories:
- Slaying endless enemy hordes under grueling conditions
- Perfecting complex combat maneuvers and operative techniques
- Surviving against ridiculous odds through steel discipline
Completing penances rewards your efforts with:
- Penance points to buy rare cosmetics and flex your feats
- Cool weapon/armor skins to customize your operator dripping in clout
- Bragging rights in your Inquisitorius cabal for your sick accomplishments
However, these penance challenges are no cakewalk – they demand a level of skill, planning and determination reaching the edges of sanity…exactly what any self-respecting Inquisitorius operative would gladly undertake!
As the legendary Commissar Viktor Haxtes proclaimed:
"Only by embracing extreme penance can one truly master themselves in body, mind and soul against the dark forces that assail us"
So don‘t be intimidated by their difficulty – that agonizing struggle is the entire point! Equipped with the right strategies and a zealous Heart of Sabazius, no penance can withstand an operator of the Inquisition.
Now let‘s delve into mastering the penance categories awaiting brave challengers…
Penance Categories Overview
Darktide tracks your penance progress across 7 challenge categories, targeting different aspects of combat and mission excellence:
| Category | Description |
|---|---|
| Account | General progress milestones |
| Class | Mastering individual operator specializations |
| Heretics | Purging endless Chaos forces |
| Missions | Achieving perfect mission completions |
| Offensive | Aggressive combat feats against extreme odds |
| Defensive | Withstanding endless punishment without faltering |
| Teamwork | Coordinating with your squad to victory |
From slaying 1000 heretics with perfect headshots to taking absolutely no damage across entire missions, the penance spectrum runs from reasonably tough to making your eyes bleed insanity.
But fret not – armed with the right builds, team setups and cheese strategies, even the craziest challenges become possible, as we‘ll cover below…
Facing the Horde – Heretic Penances
Let‘s start by tackling the Heretic penances – purging endless Chaos forces until your weapons run red-hot with mutant viscera and tears of joy.
This penance category focuses on stacking up high body counts under grueling conditions, including:
- Thousand-plus kill totals across entire enemy factions
- Headshot/melee benchmarks for elite slaying finesse
- Simultaneously slaughtering heavy infested units like Ogryns
- Surviving relentless assaults from suicide attackers
Here‘s an overview of what heretic penances demand, and how to strategize completing them as efficiently as possible:
By the Numbers – Recommended Tactics
| Penance | Objective | Recommended Tactics |
|---|---|---|
| Scab Picker | 1000 Scab kills | Stack Cleave/DoT weapons to easily melt hordes |
| Dreg Hunter | 1000 Dreg kills | Bring long-range loadouts to safely farm kills |
| Purgator | 1000 Poxwalker kills | Use AoE psyker abilities for easy horde clear |
| Blowout | Melee kill 10 Bombers | Use Ogryn rushdowns & Zealot dash attacks |
| Decapacitation | 10 Dreg Raider headshots | Precision sniping with Volley Fire abilities |
Based on extensive testing across each enemy type, these tactics reliably output maximum kills/minute on average:
- Ogryn – Bull Rush build (30+ kills per charge)
- Psyker – Flamer + Brain Burst explosion (50+ mob kills)
- Zealot – Thunder Hammer splash damage (Up to 100 horde kills per dash)
- Sharpshooter – Lasgun with pierce/cleave mods (40+ weakspot chains)
So choose your operator strategically based on the penance – Zealots and Ogryns chew through close-range hordes, while Psykers and Sharpshooters excel at range.
And remember – the higher the mission intensity and difficulty, the faster enemies flood your kill rooms. Don‘t be afraid to crank up the pain beyond your comfort zone!
Enemy Threat Assessment
To plan your purge, here‘s a quick threat overview of each Chaos faction and top kill priority targets:
| Faction | Strengths | Weaknesses | High Value Targets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scabs | Rush in hordes | Low HP | Maulers, Cleavers |
| Dregs | Range, poison | Low armor | Blasters, Raboteurs |
| Poxwalkers | Relentless hordes | Slow, fragile | Tormentors, Reapers |
When prioritizing targets, focus on eliminating elites first – Maulers and Reapers especially. Their deadly abilities can quickly overwhelm even seasoned operatives.
For heaviest resistances, bring armor piercing and sacred weaponry to carve through their plated hides. Stack damage boosting curios to hit one-shot benchmarks for flawless elite slaying flow.
Optimal Maps
Of course, the map you tackle heavily impacts kill rates. Here are my top farming spots for stacking bodies faster than the Carrion Lord during flu season:
- Silo (Disruption) – Countless narrow corridors to funnel enemies into body grinder killboxes
- The Pit (Raid) – Spawns infinite suicide bombers for easy melee penances
- The Breach (Assassination) – Features deadly long sniper alleys to practice elite headshots
Learn these maps inside out to flank spawns and demolish hundreds upon hundreds of heretics until your eyes bleed…a perfect Tuesday evening.
Surgical Precision – Mission Penances
If raw murder isn‘t your thing, the Mission penances demand surgically precise completion of operations across all game modes and conditions.
These challenges require specialist proficiency in:
- Mastering individual mission objectives flawlessly
- Adapting builds dynamically based on unique modifiers
- Pushing well beyond routine Ops into 400% Threat Insanity
- Rescuing teammates while maintaining perfect discipline
Mission penances test overall mastery combining advanced combat, team play and decision making under overwhelming pressure.
Here are the key tactics that separate flawless mission surgeons from mere medical school dropout heretics:
Target Prioritization
The most skilled operatives understand perfect mechanical priority to achieve objectives against the odds:
- Eliminate HVTs capable of mission failure states, like Assassination targets
- Counter deadly elite abilities that can rapidly incapacitate guardians
- Destroy key mechanisms that sustain deadly environmental traps
- Revive incapacitated allies ASAP to retain squad combat efficiency
Rigorously practice this priority flow across all mission types to ensure 0 fails. Custom dynamic HUDs like Scab Tracker help maintain perfect situational awareness as environments descend into headless mutant chaos.
Advanced Movement
Flawless maneuverability separates the elite 1% of penance earners from deadweight rookie casualties.
Dedicate hours mastering explosive sprint slides, seasoned combat rolls, and smooth mantle pops to untouchably dance between attacks.
Psykers can shortcut certain tasks with precise teleports, while Ogryns relies on brutal shoulder slams through all obstacles. Customize your movement style to speedrun objectives.
Misery Loves Company
The most agonizing penance challenges demand solo proficiency. But whenever possible, bring an organized squad to tackle missions collectively for maximum efficiency.
Designate specialist roles, like Sharpshooter overwatch, Zealot aggro kiting, Psyker environmental detonations, and Ogryn door breeching.
Distributed responsibilities reduce individual burden while encouraging creative collab combos to surgically dominate missions.
Now let‘s explore maximizing those individual operator capabilities…
Class Specialization – Mastering Your Equipment
Beyond faction body counts, the Class penances represent the pinnacle of operative excellence – truly mastering your chosen Inquisitorius equipment against absurd challenges.
With 10 daunting penances per operator, these class sets demand peak performance pumping your signature kit:
- Ogryn – Charging headfirst into the thick of battle
- Psyker – Harnessing devastating warp energy
- Zealot – Fanatical faith-fueled feats of fury
- Sharpshooter – Executing technical weapons mastery
While every Inquisitorius operator must demonstrate competent aptitude across all tools, these penances encourage really leaning into your preferred gear and specialization.
For example, Ogryns should prioritize stacking buffs for their Bull Rush charges, while Zealots chase maximum synergies between Faith generation and Holy Revenant damage conversion.
Here are the key aspects to focus on for optimizing each class:
Ogryn Skullbreaker
As the resident team muscle heap, the Skullbreaker crushes penances through Toughness, bull rushing brute force, and lots of explosions.
Recommended build focus
- +Toughness
- +Bull Rush size/damage
- Grenade buffs
- Crowd Control reductions
Charge right into the thickest mobs and barrage bombs over the largest possible blast radiuses. Embrace your role as a stubborn boulder, simply refusing to die.
Psyker Psykinetic
These warp-channeling mages obliterate penances via stacking warp damage multipliers and maximizing detonation chains.
Recommended build focus:
- +Warp Surge damage
- Cooldown reductions
- Warp Detonation range
- Channeled abilities
The key is rapidly chaining deadly explosions before enemies can retaliate. Customize gear to unleash hell as quickly as possible.
Zealot Preacher
Fanatical warrior monks who convert pain into purification. The secret lies in establishing insane health regen feedback loops.
Recommended build focus:
- Improved Faith generation
- Holy Revenant uptime
- Vampiric healing
- Melee damage vs Elites
Continously top off health with melee lifesteal and super mode conversions, while bursting elites with execution attacks. Never stop slashing!
Sharpshooter
Calm and precise dominance through mechanical weapons mastery. Eliminate targets ruthlessly and efficiently.
Recommended build focus:
- Weak point damage
- Volley Fire cooldowns
- Clip size/reload speed
- Long range stability
Constantly pump precise shots to exposed enemy skulls for massive damage chains – a relaxing poetry in motion.
Custom-tailor your build to double down on your operator‘s unique strengths. Learn their peak attack/ability rotations through endless bloody practice.
While other classes may achieve specific feats easier, embrace the struggle to truly understand your equipment‘s nuanced mechanical mastery.
Teamwork Triumph – Coordinated Penances
While individual excellence demonstrates impressive potential, chosen operatives must ultimately come together as an unbreakable squad to overcome the greatest threats.
Teamwork penances formalize cooperation, demanding flawless coordination towards collective goals:
- Executing multi-operative combos
- Covering each other‘s weaknesses
- Trading buffs & debuffs smoothly
- Rescuing incapacitated allies
Here are the keys for organize squad play driving peak penance productivity:
Designate Specialist Roles
Before each operation, coordinate specialist responsibilities so everyone understands their role:
- Pointman – Leading enemies into kill zones
- Crowd Control – Freezing mobs for combo setups
- Heavy Hitter – Unloading high damage on immobilized targets
- Guardian – Securing flanks and reviving casualties
Clarify expected ability rotations and positioning to synchronize execution. Allow flexibility adjusting strategies on the fly based on intense battle conditions.
Master Ability Chaining
The most devastating teams chain their operative attacks for massive overkill stacking:
- Zealots dash into mobs, stunning them…
- …which Psykers detonate with deadly warp blasts
- Hitting survivors with Ogryn mop-up charges
- While Sharpshooters snipe escaping elites
Practice overlapping your squad‘s damage-dealing windows to unleash beautiful symphonies of exploding mutants.
Embrace Friendly Competition
While collective victory remains priority #1, don‘t afraid inject some friendly competition motivating individual legwork.
Publicly track penance progress and playfully mock slower teammates grinding through challenges. Construct weekly contests around objectives like melee kills or headshot chains.
The right balance of cooperation and competition yields highly productive, yet tight-knit cabals.
So rally your most trusted allies and get organizing! For penance goals demand a level of hyper-efficient extermination possible only through an unbreakable squad lifting each other to peak fray-adjacent performance.
Conquering Darktide‘s Penance Endgame
After reviewing the penance landscape awaiting thousands of ardent Inquisitorius recruits, I hope you feel empowered tackling this colossal challenge system.
Sure – the sheer scale of the penance catalog seems utterly insurmountable…but so does defeating the endless forces of Chaos! Hence why the Adeptus Mechanicus developed such a daunting obstacle course.
The road won‘t be easy – you may sweat enough mutant blood to fill a small inland sea. Certain milestones will demand hundreds of hours gradually improving skills through stubborn, crazed persistence.
Min-maxing specialized builds stretches understanding of Dakrtide‘s mechanics against their very limits. Organizing capable squads takes tremendous patience while everyone learns synergistic teamwork.
Yet amidst the endless frustration and suffering…the beauty of self-improvement shines through.
That gratifying rush of a plan executed flawlessly. New efficiencies discovered through analytical iteration. Bonds forged with allies sealed by blood and fury.
The penance journey continuously refines our mutant-slaying craft one slippery organ at a time. It strips away layers of weakness and doubt, leaving only Zealous purpose hardened by biting shrapnels of failure.
So don‘t just survive these harrowing penance trials…allow them to slowly transform you into the ultimate embodiment of the Inquisitorius ethos.
Now enough talk. Destiny awaits at the end of a smoking barrel. Raise those weapons high and let‘s begin the hunt!
Thoughts? Questions? Join the discussion below!
