Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is a game where players have 4 different 'rejects' to choose to play as. There's the Psyker Psykinetic, the Zealot Preacher, the Veteran Sharpshooter, and the Ogryn Skullbreaker.
And, while these reject operatives may not be quite as diverse as the classes for each character in Vermintide 2, there are a lot of nuanced differences between them. So, let's go over some small but everpresent things players will notice when playing as each operative in Warhammer 40k: Darktide.
8 Psyker: The Whispering Will Start To Become Disturbingly Comforting
Starting with the operative we've played the most, the Psyker's whole gimmick is based on their Brain Burst and Peril systems. Every time the Psyker uses any Warp-based actions, their Peril goes up, which is a measurement of how loud the voices of Chaos Demons in the Warp are when attempting to corrupt their mind.
The thing is, most of the time the Psyker is at high Peril between 80 to 98 percent, and this is the area where these Demons are constantly whispering, screaming, and all sorts of noises right in the ears of the player using the Psyker. So, when playing as the Psyker, players will become almost uncomfortably familiar with the voices in their heads.
7 Psyker: Suddenly You're Much More Aware & Critical Of Team Pings
Pinging Special and Elite enemies in Darktide is somehow even more important than it was in Vermintide 2, thanks to the introduction of guns. And, at least in the early levels, the Psyker is the go-to Operative a team relies on for taking these Elites out from afar.
Because of this, Psyker players will start to become acutely aware of when their allies aren't pinging Elites often enough or fast enough. So, help the Psyker keep their sanity and always ping Elite enemies as soon as they pop up, and in exchange, the Psyker will ping every bit of ammo they don't need for their allies.
6 Sharpshooter: You'll Become Unintentional Rivals With Your Psyker
Let's be honest, the Sharpshooter and Psyker operatives have some overlap in regard to their roles on the team. It was likely Fatshark's intention for the Sharpshooter to be general ranged cover or Gunner suppression while the Psyker is the Elite killer, but that's not how it actually turned out as Suppression doesn't really work as well as the tutorial makes it seem.
And, while Psykers still remain the better Bulwark, Crusher, and Reaper killers on higher difficulties, they're constantly beaten to the punch on all the other Specials by the Sharpshooter. So, more often than not, if both of these operatives are on the same squad they'll end up 'fighting' over who gets each Elite enemy kill or competing for raw burst damage against bosses in the Assassination mission types.
5 Sharpshooter: Allies Are Suddenly Bigger & More In The Way Than Before
Similar to the Psyker's sudden ability to notice when their allies aren't pinging enough, the Sharpshooter players will start to slowly but surely take notice of just how often their allies like to move directly in front of each other.
Sharpshooters need a constant line of sight because, although friendly fire isn't a thing in Darktide, allies can still block each other's projectiles with their bodies. So, Veteran Sharpshooters will start getting annoyed with their Ogryn teammates much more often than they ever did with the other Operatives, usually without even realizing why.
4 Zealot: You'll Be Diving Into Hordes Much More Often
Now, as of the time of writing this, Zealot has some issues with their class. Their passives don't quite work as intended, Maytrdom works of percentages rather than flat health or bonus damage, and so on. But, for the most part, the Zealot is a mixed-damage class based around being in the thick of combat and being rewarded for it.
Because of this, Zealot players tend to play very aggressively. It's sort of their whole gimmick, and they tend to use Chastise the Wicked to hunt down Elites or groups of Gunner enemies. But, this also causes them to separate themselves from the team much more often than they would as any other character, which can be very dangerous on higher difficulties.
3 Zealot: Suddenly You'll Start Muttering To Yourself About "Heresy"
Roleplaying as any of the characters in Darktide is pretty easy. Ogryn players like to remove words from their sentences, talk like Forest Gump, and keep words simple. Veteran players talk like they only know military lingo and they're leading a black ops mission. And Psykers constantly talk about voices, their nerdy magic, and the Warp. But, what about Zealots?
Well, the Zealot is probably the easiest class for players to unintentionally roleplay as their whole gimmick of being hyper-dedicated to the Imperium, the Emperor, and all their teachings are so absurd it's funny. So, most Zealot players, half the time without even realizing it, start muttering about 'heresy' or the Emperor.
2 Ogryn: You're The Literal Lifeline Of The Squad & You Know It
While the Ogryn isn't some unstoppable wall that can't be killed, they're absolutely the closest thing to it in Darktide. If everyone else is down, it's very likely that the last one up is the Ogryn, at least until people start playing on Heresy or Damnation difficulty.
Between this, their Toughness Regenerating Blitz ability, and their Loyal Protector passive, Ogryn players will quickly notice just how much their squad relies on them staying alive and ready to revive at all times.
1 Ogryn: Your Size Becomes A Problem The Better People Get
When a group of friends first starts playing Darktide together, they're likely just getting used to the game and aren't at all worried about being in each other's way or reacting within an instant to an Elite enemy showing up.
But, as they level up more, increase the difficulties they play at, and get more used to the general gameplay loop of Darktide, this changes. Ogryn players especially will start to notice how much more critical their Sharpshooter allies are of them being in the way or how big they are. It really is the Space Marine experience because they're 8 feet tall, are basically unkillable, and they're always in each other's way. Not only that, but Ogryn players will also constantly come around corners just to have their allies shooting at them (not that it deals damage), thinking that they were one of the Ogryn-type Elites like the Bulwark, Crusher, or Reaper.
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is available now on PC, Xbox Series X/S, and Xbox Game Pass.