'Darktide': Psyker Psykinetic Class Starter Guide And Build

The Psyker in "Darktide" uses the ruinous powers of the Warp to devastate heretics with eldritch flame, lightning and kinetic violence. This class is particularly effective at dealing with crowds thanks to the variety of Force Staves at their disposal.

The Psykinetic subclass is the only one available as of the "Darktide" pre-order beta, and it specializes in knocking enemies down with its unique ability and popping the heads of elites and specials with its iconic Brain Burst.

Unlike the Veteran Sharpshooter, the Psykinetic is less straightforward. There are plenty of nuances to consider when playing this class, and mastery over all of them is required if players want to complete the hardest of missions.

Psykinetic Role and Playstyle

As mentioned, the Psykinetic is primarily an Elite Killer thanks to Brain Burst. The class also has the unique Peril mechanic, which represents how close the Psyker is to getting consumed by whatever daemon is lurking in their mind. Going beyond 100 Peril causes the Psyker to explode.

Brain Burst locks onto targets, and after a few seconds, a bolt of Warp Lightning strikes their heads. This ability deals a ton of damage, and it can be cast even if the player breaks the line of sight. Use it near cover to remain in relative safety while taking down ranged threats like Snipers, Gunners or common riflemen.

Kills with Brain Burst will net the Psykinetic a Warp Charge, which grants bonus damage on all attacks plus some other goodies depending on the Feats they have equipped.

In horde scenarios, the Psykinetic's Wrath ability can be used to serve two purposes: quell Peril and knock down enemies. In a pinch, it can also be used to interrupt charging specials like Pox Hounds, Pox Bursters and Trappers.

Heresy and Damnation Difficulty

As of the pre-order beta, the use of Brain Burst on Heresy and Damnation is a bit iffy. It doesn't deal enough damage to kill important elites and specials in one hit, and the charge time on each cast is too long to consider using the skill. With the possible exception of Bulwarks, targets are better off getting shot or slashed instead.

Building Warp Charges with Brain Burst also becomes problematic since enemy horde density is much thicker in these difficulties.

Due to Brain Burst's lack of damage and unreliability on high difficulties, the Psykinetic's role shifts heavily toward crowd control.

Arsenal Notes

The Psykinetic subclass has access to a large selection of melee weapons and guns bar exclusive picks like Eviscerators, Power Sword, Flamers and all Ogryn weapons. In exchange, they get access to Force Staves, which all do different attacks:

• Trauma: AoE kinetic blast
• Purgatus: Flamethrower
• Voidstrike: Heavy projectile
• Surge: Chain Lightning

Voidstrike and Trauma staves are slower but deal more damage, and they are good for bursting down crowds of weak enemies.

Meanwhile, the Purgatus and Surge staves are better at controlling hordes with stun and stagger effects while dealing damage over time with burning and shocking attacks, respectively.

The Surge Staff is arguably the most useful of all the staves. Voidstrike may have the highest damage output, but Surge can stop enemies in their tracks. This is especially useful against mobs of Ragers and Pox Bursters as streams of lightning can stun them indefinitely.

As for melee weapons, the Psykinetic can use Force Swords, which are designed for dealing with single targets. Their attack arcs are limited to vertical swings and stabs, but this is compensated for by their charge mechanic that buffs the weapon's next attack massively.

Using Staff attacks and Force Sword charges will increase the Peril counter. At max Peril, players have a few seconds to use Psykinetic's Wrath to prevent themselves from exploding.

Soulblaze Build

An interesting build for the Psykinetic involves the Soulblaze effect, which is essentially a fancy term for Burn. It can be caused by scoring kills on elites with Brain Burst or by using Psykinetic's Wrath. The Feat build goes as follows:

• Essence Harvest
• Wrack and Ruin
• Psychic Communion*
• Mind in Motion
• Kinetic Overload*
• Ascendant Blaze*

The marked Feats are essential. The rest can be swapped for other options.

The build revolves around earning Warp Charges and inflicting Soulblaze stacks to enemies with Ascendant Blaze. Brain Burst isn't necessary for this build since Warp Charges can be gained passively by killing targets normally.