After spending over two hundred and fifty hours in Darktide, I’ve certainly seen a few things—and let me tell you, I’ve seen some gruesome stuff while eviscerating hordes of poxwalkers and nurgle-blessed hive inhabitants. But if there is one class that has truly gripped me, it’s the Zealot. Is it the satisfaction of grinding off a Mauler’s face with the chainsword? Or the rush of sliding into melee range and de-limbing traitor guardsmen as they futilely try to bayonet me? Whatever the answer is, it never gets old.
I’ve always had a fondness for the cogboys in red, but Fatshark has really excelled with this cyborg warrior. The Skitarii class is truly something special. First off, their sheer scale is impressive; the smallest variant is the size of the tallest Darktide human, making its larger forms loom ominously over the battlefield. There’s a genuine pleasure in looming over enemies, burbling that binharic cant as you bat them aside with your Arc Maul.
The Skitarii’s voice options are a highlight. During character creation, you get to choose your Forge World and customize the bits and bobs welded onto your robot man, even tuning the Voxcaster. This customization allows for a unique identity, helping players avoid awkward matching teammates—especially when you know you’ll be surrounded by Skitarii for an entire month.
Skill-wise, the class offers varied approaches. While some classes focus purely on damage, the Skitarii provide excellent utility. You can bring Servo Skulls to reanimate allies at range, deploy flamethrowers into choke points, or use them to solve Data Interrogation minigames—a tempting proposition indeed.
For a melee-focused Zealot, I gravitated toward the Chordclaw. It looks wonderfully wacky, like something pulled from a jack-in-the-box, but instead of a boxing glove, it fires out a massive clawed appendage. This weapon is essentially an “I want this to die” button, guaranteeing critical hits, applying bleed and electricity, and delivering three potential strikes that chunk through bigger foes.
Coupled with the Integrated Refraction Emitter, a shield that uses grenade charges to grant immunity to ranged attacks while periodically electrocuting enemies nearby, the Skitarii’s radial skill tree offers incredible freedom compared to previous classes. They can automatically acquire targets and emit electrifying explosions, making the charge mechanic—gaining buffs based on whether you are low or high in charge—a truly unique design choice.
The weapon feel is equally masterful. The Galvanic Rifle and Paired Transonic Blades are absolute works of art. The rifle feels like an M1 Garand, offering a satisfying rhythm when firing and reloading. Similarly, the dual-blade combo offers two distinct movesets—horizontal slashes for groups and downward strikes for single targets—making melee combat incredibly versatile.
If there’s one thing I hope for the future of Darktide, it’s that the Skitarii proves to be more than just a taste. It offers a level of uniqueness that edges out other classes, and I have high hopes that this class will lead the way in what we can expect from future class designs. It’s certainly better than Hive Scum, and for me, it’s making the Arbites look pretty tame.
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Credit: PC Gamer
