Edit 2 (20/12/23) - The latest hotfix made it such that using the sawing attack of a Chain Weapons and then activating Shroudfield causes you to stop sawing. Phantom Strike still works for the Revolver however ( which is great)! Edit: Gameslantern link should be up now. Silly me put it on private instead of unlisted... If you have a decent Assassin on your team doing their job (as shown), please remember to provide some covering fire for them if you can! Maybe toss a grenade for some support if you see them struggling a little! Sometimes they can get overwhelmed because more and more ads are spawning towards them. On the other hand, if you see a moronic speedrunner, offer absolutely no support and no covering fire. These bad apples ruin the good name of proper assassinating!
I have seen people running this or similar, and I am glad you called out that many people do in fact just play this as a speedrunner/solo build, which just hurts the team. probably about 1/10 playing a similar build will actually stay with the team and in those cases they were enjoyable to play with. Great vid as always
So, I've been running a near identical zealot build myself, and you just taught me about phantom double striking; defo gonna add that to my repertoire for taking out big targets and the like
Why would you take Lacerate on one of the best weakspots weapons in the game? Flesh Tearer stacks bleed faster, you have on demand crits, and doesn't force you to bodyshot. That is like taking a sniper and making it shoot faster, but only if you don't scope in. Not to mention you also take Uncanny Strike which needs weakspot hits to activate. So against a Crusher do you bodyshot for the bleed or weakspot for the rending? Flesh Tearer would just give you the bleed stacks since you have on demand crits, AND let you get the massive weakspot bonus that the knife has. The Finess damage bonus applies to weakspots and crits seperatly, so even more damage.
It’s one thing to show a shot of the build then some gameplay. But the breakdown of each skill followed by tactics, really cements the idea of builds you demonstrate. I found it difficult to play high tier zealot unless I’m using the multi wound builds based on the original zealot skills. After watching this, I’m again tempted to try stealth zealot. Great work Ryken!
The first time I saw a stealth zealot build was from ChocoB (can have misspelled that) where he was using the first knife you get and the Mk 3 revolver. I got the weapons and tried it out. It's now my most competitive build where I can beat damnation reliably. It's tough in theory, but for me it turned out to be really easy. So I got caught off guard in the beginning of this video xD Even though you have to play risky, I feel like I have so much more survivability and mobility that charging towards the heretics, stealthing and killing a VIP only to find yourself in the middle of everything feels totally manageable and not dangerous. Meanwhile I feel like my psyker losses 90% toughness from a single stray hit and dies if there's some harsh winds that day-
Playing with this build you have so many tools to get out of trouble (since that's really the only thing it needs), that other, more squishy classes like the Psyker can feel like you are a glass vase sent to the battefield.. It's a struggle sometimes, trying to readjust to the lack of mobility and speed after playing for so long!
@@purplefood1 I'm not quite sure honestly... After a bit it feels like your playing more on instinct then rational thinking and stuff. You have to get lucky with your blessings, but it's not the end of the world if you get the wrong ones. I only have one of the blessing, and the rating is 480. But it's enough for damnation. You'll always have to be in the thick of battle, and it's your job to initiate combat, especially with ranged troops. If you see a horde of gunners, it's your job to run up and force them into melee. The build centers alot around critical hits and bleed stacks, which isn't something you actively have to think about. Tbh alot of the build works passively, and you'll notice in melee, you basically won't take damage, since you'll regenerate your toughness so quickly. You don't do too well against armor, keep that in mind. Crushers are your enemy. The revolver isn't bound to the build it's simply a great ranged weapon. You can pick off snipers, trappers, bombers etc with it. And finally, the thing that really ties the build together: your movement skills. You'll notice how fast you are with this build, and you need to know how to dodge properly. If you don't, your going to have a bad time- Anyhow, hope something here helps, and sorry for the rant '^^ Good luck, and slay some heretics in the Emperor's name!!
@@LinJer. Yeah just tried it out and I think you're 100% right, whole thing is pure instinct. Felt insanely fast compared to my eviscerator build which is my preferred one. Still need a bit of time to get used to things but it's definitely fun to play, also still need to work on my movement and awareness but it's coming along.
@@purplefood1 Hey that's great to hear ^^ And yeah, this build is insanely fast, which is why the movement is so important. And both your movement skills and awareness will be sharpen the more you play, so it's not an issue! Hope you'll continue to enjoy the build Purple!
Awesome video! Something I also love doing with my shroud build is acting as a high risk combat medic or objective player. Activating shroud just as you approach a downed or captured teammate often allows you to get them up in the middle of some crazy scenarios. This is particularly useful when that teammate is a lightning psycher who can immediately start zapping away the horde you find yourself in.
Quick tip. The 20% combat ability cooldown reduction on backstab kills procs as long as you hit their back. Good dodging after punches with the knife make it easier to sneak backstabs when the enemy density is too thick to get around. I like to use the aspect that gives a massive rending bonus on backstabs to ensure that whenever I do get a shot at the back, it'll be a kill. I like to use this setup with a heavy eviscerator. The sweeping heavy attacks make it easier to hit the targets back when standing next to them, and I have an easier time cutting my way out if the messes I get myself into when I jump into the wrong backline.
I appreciate the disclaimer at the beginning of this video about misusing this build. It won’t stop my tears the next time a stealth zealot runs off into god knows where and rage quits when they go down 100m from the group, but perhaps I’ll put on a brave face anyway
I am so glad you mentioned Rear-Guard. I swear that 90% of the time that my team of randoms got bogged down it’s because of enemies coming up from behind. When I play Veteran I’ve decided to dedicate as much time as possible to playing a rear guard style. Since I did that I haven’t failed one mission. Close calls but no fails. That’s not to say that everyone should all play rear guard all the time. I’d actually say Ogryns should almost never be anything but vanguard (melee builds at least). Ranged builds are just more easily able to fire backwards and stay with the team.
Thank you for making this! Not only did I learn a ton on how to be better at this build, but also is good for the community in general to use it for the team’s benefit and not selfishly
I just made a new stealth vet build after seeing a Reddit post about it yesterday, and now I have a stealth zealot to add to the rotation too! Liked the highlighting of different strats too, gives something concrete to try and focus on for fundamentals.
Insanely fun build. Wanted to try it before closing the game and ended up playing for 8 hours straight xD. It's just nice removing those annoying Gunners for the team. I also love to farm Plasteel with this build. You don't have to separate much from the group, but can look into every sideroom and still keep up the pace
Thank you for making this video! It’s how I plan my Stealth Zealot!!! I use the new heavy laspistol though, with Reassuringly Accurate for toughness boost and Ghost to deal with gunners. There’s no better feeling than blazing through a line of gunners untouched!!! FOR THE EMPEROR!!!!
Phantom strike works with the other quick fire stub revolver, if you unload while doing a phantom strike you can take out a crusher. As long as you have the hand cannon blessing
Yup! Can get 3 shots out quickly, but because of how it forces you to fanfire to get the most value, its more restrictive than the Zarona since you can take your time with the second shot
I tried this build out last night and holy shit it’s a blast I’ve never used shroudfeild on zealot before and it’s so much fun being so speedy and just one hit back stabbing shit thank you for posting this now time to grind for a better knife
Beat my first damnation mission with this build it was the twins too. We also had a stealth veteran a taunt ogryn, And a phyker doing stuff? Me and the vet where pumping out damage and revives when anyone went down while the ogryn kept the melee twin distraction. I focused on the ranged guy and obliterated him.
Looks fun man, I love challenging myself on my zealot. My other chars are fun, but nothing mows down heretics in chaotic melee like a zealot. This will be fun to add to my builds list. Cheers!
*Bug has been patched as of 12-20-2023* Soooo there is also a bug for this build... If you use your ability while sprinting forward at the same time, it doesn't use your ability. (you still go invisible but there is no cooldown.)
Yes - I am aware of the bug, but I don't like incorporating blatant bugs into my builds nor wish to encourage something so cheesy as well :) (reduces the longevity of the video as well since its no longer relevant once fixed)
@@rykenxiv Sounds fair! But for us ppl who just play the game "casually" Its all for fun. More pressure on Fatshark to fix it too. Had fun today messing with it, but it became boring after a couple games. Extremely broken though.
I think the Agripinaa Combat Shotgun deserves a shoutout for this build. Shroudfield makes loading a secondary special round easy if you need it and the standard fire will wipe out a hoard of pox walkers and groaners pretty easily. Hoard clear will be the area this build struggles the most (especially if you opt for knives over either grenade) and the shotgun provides a lot of the same utility as the revolver while also making trash mob and mixed hoard clearing easier. Full Bore is a must but the secondary blessing is mostly up to user preference. I personally like Flechettes for more bleed synergy.
I use that build for 'no-ammo pickups' Auric Maelstrom, where the game is littered with hordes of crushers and maulers. My other build (cruxis) doesn't work there and gets overwhelmed with the sheer mass of enemies, the cleave being way too unreliable. The knife builds work better. You move faster, you can slide away from danger a lot better, and of course you have the DPS to decimate the heavy spam (meat in a can) coming towards you. Otherwise, it's actually OP, and kinda boring. There's not much thought involved in general combat. It's very effective against bosses, weakened or otherwise, and great for doing objectives and getting your teammates back up. If you end up to be the last man standing, you can literally rush the rez point in shroudfield, rez a guy, throw a flashbang rez another, and kill all on the spot. 'Clutching' isn't really much of a problem. Yeah, I go with flash over the other too, it's just too good in Quickplay.
As an already rearguard type Zealot player thinking about making an assassin build the Rearguard and Flicker are the tactics that would come most natural to me and require the least retraining and change in battlefield assessment. It's already what I mostly do. So I think I'll try this.
Been doing a build similar to this lately and it really is alot of fun. However I've also ran into speed runners and have made sure that whenever I'm in a pub I stick with the group so they know I'm not one of them, and then break off when a fight is about to begin so I can target the enemy's gunners/specials. Really enjoyable when everything clicks. I also use revolver/dagger (sometimes eviscerator because it's just fun and its damage is also amazing) but I'm having a rough time getting the right blessings.
When you show up half way through a game to a team that's down and manage to turn it around solo and revive those who stayed to what they thought would be a bitter end.
This build looks like solo suicide squad. The most important thing of this build would be another video explaining how you use it and how to make it work as a noob.
Blades of faith while running around with a revolver seems a little overkill, was going to look at the build to see the reason for them points wise but the link it going to a 403 page. Stealth Zealot is always a good time though and build sounds solid 👍 *EDIT* Realized you did show the talents and yeah, figured it must of been pretty tight so makes sense to have BoF. Another hard hitting close range gun or flamer would work pretty well, but either way still a solid build :)
Yea, I would have liked to take Immolation with this build because it would give the ability to secure positions and works extremely well with Uncanny Strike! But alas, the limited number of points means I can't :
This build is almost identical to my self-named stealth crackhead with a knife build, its super high octane and fun, but mine is a crit stacker with blazing fury instead of momentum. The choice between master-crafted shroudfield and perfectionist is one ive been waffling back and forth on, the longer stealth is real nice but so is one shot backstabbing maulers and crushers.
This may have worked for me because I haven’t leveled enough. However instead of a revolver, I used a laspistol. It wasn’t to take down enemies, but to stop gunners from shooting so that I could close the range until I could stab them. This way I could have increased toughness in curios. If I needed long range shooting, I just used the knifes.
One of the original weapons I considered was also the Laspistol! I gives you a lot of firepower to engage from medium distances against shooters when running Interception!
Love the little narrative bits to help enhance the build depth. Just curious, would you be interested in someone recording voice lines for those? I do a lot of wh40k re-creations with custom voice filters and whatnot if you're keen on that.
Another huge tip: I typically run the 6s version. While I don’t gain the damage boost, it really helps with reviving downed teammates in hard to reach situations. Other than that, this build is what I main.
@@rykenxiv didn’t even notice, lol. But yeah, this build is insanely fun. The only hard part I have with it is people running it and thinking they can be solo. If anything, I treat it more of as a support build that can dish out damage when needed. This build’s job (how I treat it) is to mess with enemy lines and overall help support the main damage dealers, with racking up some insane kills along the way ;)
I have been using this loadout since the new knife getting added to the game, giving a much better option for horde clear and cleave while being able to do strike down attack combo from special attack follow-up. However, I run Fury instead of stealth since it is degenerate for me to pass aggro to my teammates. I rather take most dangerous enemy aggro and kill them before they reach to my teammates. Plus stealth as of now is still bugged and gives infinite stealth. Still, I love being able to become a mini Eversor with a butter knife.
I love the stealth builds. Frequently we get stuck in bad fire fights, unable to make any ground against the hail of infinite ammunition that is the new gunner spawn rates. How do you deal with it? By being behind the heretics. Shield psyker, ogryn shield or charge, and the myriad of stun mechanics are all very valid ways of dealing with such problems, too.
What really annoyes me is that after I made my own stealthy knife zealot I realised that they are extremely good at supporting the team, you can be wherever you are needed at a moments notice you can enter stealth and revive teammates you can do massive damages to bosses and snipe elites with you stub revolver and throwing knives and yet 9/10 stealh Zealots just rush ahead like morons.
It's strange to me how people complain about rushers in the comments. I never, ever, encountered these so called rushers in Damnation or Auric. The only time I encountered toxic players or solo rushers was in Heresy. And the guy was a 200+ level zealot that was very bad at playing the game. I don't understand how people can stay in Heresy long enough to reach level 200+... If you want to stop playing with bad / toxic people, maybe stepping out of easy mode is a good idea. (also there is an exploit with this build and the current event map in hard mode : hitting a shield doesn't count as an attack and doesn't deactivate your camo)
The difficulty levels are self-filtering. Players who run and complete Damnation and Auric frequently know that speed comes with doing things slowly. Speedrunning in Auric without consideration for the team will speedrun you back into the Mourningstar
I pick Until Death, Holy revenant and Benediction combo on my every zealot build. Its too powerful to ignore, especially on a stealth build. Even if you wont go down once, +15% toughness damage res is just too good and another +50% from Enduring faith is more than enough (for me). Its refreshing to see more variations of "stealth meta" builds. But the sad thing is that stealth zealot is the most difficult and punishing build to play but at the same time its "cOoL" which attracts bad players. Yes, you can delete almost any enemy in 1 hit and your ult cooldown is nonexistent (Fatshark please dont nerf Scourge+Lacerate+Invocation of Death combo), but you'll get torn apart for 1 mistake not only by enemies but also by your team in a game chat.
This video is an attempt to rectify the bad rep this build gets - hence why there is a disclaimer as well as the incorporation of tactics to give direction to players who might genuinely be trying to use this build better. For the speedrunning morons however, they aren't going to be the type to learn from mistakes anyway, so this video probably won't reach them or will fall on deaf ears. Nothing can save them but the Emperor's mercy.
OR... Or hear me out now: DON'T use stealth on zealot, and just stick with FotF. If you use the flank routes + dodge slides you can get to ranged packs well enough, keep a 20% attack speed buff with almost 100% up time because of the crit CDR + have a toughness restore, and not randomly dump aggro from things you didn't even know you had on you as a zealot - the safest class in the game. EDIT: He's 100% right about lacerate. Anyone who says you don't need it is dead wrong. It's the only mandatory blessing even just t1 gives you guaranteed additional 30% crit. That's so much more damage and CDR. Maniac damage is wasted on a dagger. You one shot them all on a headshot other than mutant which requires a crit headshot, but is otherwise still a 2 shot. I can see it being a thing if you use a MK VI maybe. Using 5% crit for better crit consistency which will net you more reliable breakpoints on anything you don't one shot headshot (which is very little), and Unyielding for murdering bosses which can be super nice when an absent minded teammate pulls a demonhost you can take that thing out right quick. 100% with him on the Gunner resist. It's BiS. For all classes. Super underrated. The net 49% DR vs them is the most noticeable perk you can get on a curio.
Against Crushers specifically, since Carapace takes severely reduced bleed damage, having Uncanny Strike removes that damage resistance and allows you bleed a Crusher as if it was a regular Flak Brusier!
Because the punch chains into the heavy overhead and is very spammable! The punch also has very strong stagger now, so you can punch to stun an enemy then get a heavy overhead stab safely!
playing my Psyker lately been running into so many speed running idiots lately running ahead with no purpose. some have decent skill but are such bad teammates.
been runnin a build like this with zealot for a long time, its easily my favorite way to play zealot. although i use stun grenade instead of blades consecrated blades DESPERATELY need a buff, they should at LEAST be able to one shot ranged scabs/dregs with a body shot, ridiculous they cant
Screw the slow pokes. It's not just with this speed monster build that I leave people behind, it's when I'm actively trying to accommodate them with my ogryn who is slow himself or my psyker who needs their help to take the blows. Too many times now. So yea, I run ahead as hard as I can and I take out all the specials I come across just so they can see that stream of my name rolling up in the top left over and over while I simultaneously hoover up all the resources I see and they watch that list roll along too. MOVE FASTER
I dread playing with 95% of the people using this build. They are playing a solo-adventure game with not a single thought spared for team-play. Introducing the perks and abilities that make it so easy to enable this behavior was the worst idea Obese Whale could ever have considered. Flies straight in the face of the entire mechanic meant to keep people playing as a team (coherency) and allows them to ignore it entirely. While rushers have always been a thing, it wasn't as prevalent, and has never been easier than it is with this build. I could count the people doing it on one hand, during active-play the first year the game was out pre-rework. At the end of the day the build is fine in theory and the players abusing it are the problem, but that doesn't change the numbers of them you run into. Hell the other day I ran into TWO of them, and they both ran off into the sunset. Suffice to say I spent most of that round spectating along with another unfortunate veteran. No we didn't win.
The narratives are fun but they make it a lot harder to understand what the benefits and mechanics of these builds are. Trying to read the talents while simultaneously listening to the narrative is pretty tough.
@@rykenxiv I think upon watching the video a second time, you're achieving that balance pretty well. The combat tactics section particularly cleared up a lot of the build potentials to me. Thanks as always for the great guides!
Use the keep swinging mod, my finger and my mouse have never been happier. I use the hold to light melee functionality on one of my side mouse buttons so I can still use the main one to heavy attack things
No matter what you say in the vid as a disclaimer on how to or what to do with the build. People will abuse it in the way of ruining people's games just so they can solo missions. Vote kicks don't happen because people just leave and the cycle of new people coming continue. It's best not make guides showcasing this build/weapon use because new players will pick it up and tunnel vision there way to everyone's block list. I've set my knife stealth support zealot aside awaiting fatshark changes/nerfs to Zealot tree in some way in the future and I can't stop people leaving the loading lobby or the start of the round when they only see the knife before seeing stealth skill. Knives are probably the biggest problem with most builds. Provides too much mobility and people fly to their deaths.
AKA the absolute garbage rage inducing for the other 3 build, this and the veteran equivalent. 7 out of 10 pugs i've joined that people has this build just hit not even kill the enemy to run and reach to the next door. You might as well go play a single player game. Also when the person aggros all the mobs and go stealth those mobs will run to your other 3 teammates.
@@agedgouda8809 The build enables the annoying playstyle on a larger scale. A good player could do it before, but now every child and their dog can do it, which has made it much more prevalent. It's the build AND the player.
@@agedgouda8809 1% of the Zealot players that use this build play with the team. Newbs that see guides like this despite the disclaimer will try this build and 100% everytime play it WRONG for teamplay and cause wipes trying to "clutch" which is cringe to say/think about. (I really hate it when kids in this wanna clutch all the time and refuse to work as a team)
@@NatoRadeX that has not been my experience tbh. most of my runs fail from a psyker or a vet dying too early bc theyre made of paper. idk if i can recall a single time i can attribute a loss to a stealth zealot. now i dont play a TON of solo quickplay, usually hop on with my 4 stack, so im sure id see annoying zealots eventually. but after levelling all classes to 30 i rly rarely see zealots that suck specifically bc of how they use a stealth build
Thank you for making this video! It’s how I plan my Stealth Zealot!!! I use the new heavy laspistol though, with Reassuringly Accurate for toughness boost and Ghost to deal with gunners. There’s no better feeling than blazing through a line of gunners untouched!!! FOR THE EMPEROR!!!!
Edit 2 (20/12/23) - The latest hotfix made it such that using the sawing attack of a Chain Weapons and then activating Shroudfield causes you to stop sawing. Phantom Strike still works for the Revolver however ( which is great)!
Edit: Gameslantern link should be up now. Silly me put it on private instead of unlisted...
If you have a decent Assassin on your team doing their job (as shown), please remember to provide some covering fire for them if you can! Maybe toss a grenade for some support if you see them struggling a little! Sometimes they can get overwhelmed because more and more ads are spawning towards them.
On the other hand, if you see a moronic speedrunner, offer absolutely no support and no covering fire. These bad apples ruin the good name of proper assassinating!
Gameslantern link is broken for me, anyone else?
I have seen people running this or similar, and I am glad you called out that many people do in fact just play this as a speedrunner/solo build, which just hurts the team. probably about 1/10 playing a similar build will actually stay with the team and in those cases they were enjoyable to play with.
Great vid as always
So, I've been running a near identical zealot build myself, and you just taught me about phantom double striking; defo gonna add that to my repertoire for taking out big targets and the like
@@TheRealSykx yup me too, you're not the only one
Why would you take Lacerate on one of the best weakspots weapons in the game? Flesh Tearer stacks bleed faster, you have on demand crits, and doesn't force you to bodyshot.
That is like taking a sniper and making it shoot faster, but only if you don't scope in.
Not to mention you also take Uncanny Strike which needs weakspot hits to activate. So against a Crusher do you bodyshot for the bleed or weakspot for the rending? Flesh Tearer would just give you the bleed stacks since you have on demand crits, AND let you get the massive weakspot bonus that the knife has. The Finess damage bonus applies to weakspots and crits seperatly, so even more damage.
When I saw this in my recommended the timestamp covered up just enough of the build name in the thumbnail to make it say "The Phantom Ass"
Unintentional clickbait to get dat ass
Bro I loved the way you made the skills name into a little story for the character super cool
I'm glad you like it
It’s one thing to show a shot of the build then some gameplay. But the breakdown of each skill followed by tactics, really cements the idea of builds you demonstrate. I found it difficult to play high tier zealot unless I’m using the multi wound builds based on the original zealot skills. After watching this, I’m again tempted to try stealth zealot. Great work Ryken!
The first time I saw a stealth zealot build was from ChocoB (can have misspelled that) where he was using the first knife you get and the Mk 3 revolver. I got the weapons and tried it out. It's now my most competitive build where I can beat damnation reliably. It's tough in theory, but for me it turned out to be really easy. So I got caught off guard in the beginning of this video xD
Even though you have to play risky, I feel like I have so much more survivability and mobility that charging towards the heretics, stealthing and killing a VIP only to find yourself in the middle of everything feels totally manageable and not dangerous. Meanwhile I feel like my psyker losses 90% toughness from a single stray hit and dies if there's some harsh winds that day-
Playing with this build you have so many tools to get out of trouble (since that's really the only thing it needs), that other, more squishy classes like the Psyker can feel like you are a glass vase sent to the battefield.. It's a struggle sometimes, trying to readjust to the lack of mobility and speed after playing for so long!
Do you have any tips to make it work? Gonna be watching the video but i wanna try this out
@@purplefood1 I'm not quite sure honestly...
After a bit it feels like your playing more on instinct then rational thinking and stuff.
You have to get lucky with your blessings, but it's not the end of the world if you get the wrong ones. I only have one of the blessing, and the rating is 480. But it's enough for damnation.
You'll always have to be in the thick of battle, and it's your job to initiate combat, especially with ranged troops. If you see a horde of gunners, it's your job to run up and force them into melee. The build centers alot around critical hits and bleed stacks, which isn't something you actively have to think about. Tbh alot of the build works passively, and you'll notice in melee, you basically won't take damage, since you'll regenerate your toughness so quickly. You don't do too well against armor, keep that in mind. Crushers are your enemy.
The revolver isn't bound to the build it's simply a great ranged weapon. You can pick off snipers, trappers, bombers etc with it.
And finally, the thing that really ties the build together: your movement skills. You'll notice how fast you are with this build, and you need to know how to dodge properly. If you don't, your going to have a bad time-
Anyhow, hope something here helps, and sorry for the rant '^^
Good luck, and slay some heretics in the Emperor's name!!
@@LinJer. Yeah just tried it out and I think you're 100% right, whole thing is pure instinct. Felt insanely fast compared to my eviscerator build which is my preferred one. Still need a bit of time to get used to things but it's definitely fun to play, also still need to work on my movement and awareness but it's coming along.
@@purplefood1 Hey that's great to hear ^^
And yeah, this build is insanely fast, which is why the movement is so important.
And both your movement skills and awareness will be sharpen the more you play, so it's not an issue!
Hope you'll continue to enjoy the build Purple!
Awesome video! Something I also love doing with my shroud build is acting as a high risk combat medic or objective player. Activating shroud just as you approach a downed or captured teammate often allows you to get them up in the middle of some crazy scenarios. This is particularly useful when that teammate is a lightning psycher who can immediately start zapping away the horde you find yourself in.
Quick tip. The 20% combat ability cooldown reduction on backstab kills procs as long as you hit their back. Good dodging after punches with the knife make it easier to sneak backstabs when the enemy density is too thick to get around. I like to use the aspect that gives a massive rending bonus on backstabs to ensure that whenever I do get a shot at the back, it'll be a kill. I like to use this setup with a heavy eviscerator. The sweeping heavy attacks make it easier to hit the targets back when standing next to them, and I have an easier time cutting my way out if the messes I get myself into when I jump into the wrong backline.
I appreciate the disclaimer at the beginning of this video about misusing this build.
It won’t stop my tears the next time a stealth zealot runs off into god knows where and rage quits when they go down 100m from the group, but perhaps I’ll put on a brave face anyway
I am so glad you mentioned Rear-Guard. I swear that 90% of the time that my team of randoms got bogged down it’s because of enemies coming up from behind. When I play Veteran I’ve decided to dedicate as much time as possible to playing a rear guard style. Since I did that I haven’t failed one mission. Close calls but no fails. That’s not to say that everyone should all play rear guard all the time. I’d actually say Ogryns should almost never be anything but vanguard (melee builds at least). Ranged builds are just more easily able to fire backwards and stay with the team.
Thank you for making this! Not only did I learn a ton on how to be better at this build, but also is good for the community in general to use it for the team’s benefit and not selfishly
I just made a new stealth vet build after seeing a Reddit post about it yesterday, and now I have a stealth zealot to add to the rotation too! Liked the highlighting of different strats too, gives something concrete to try and focus on for fundamentals.
Insanely fun build. Wanted to try it before closing the game and ended up playing for 8 hours straight xD. It's just nice removing those annoying Gunners for the team.
I also love to farm Plasteel with this build. You don't have to separate much from the group, but can look into every sideroom and still keep up the pace
Thank you for making this video! It’s how I plan my Stealth Zealot!!! I use the new heavy laspistol though, with Reassuringly Accurate for toughness boost and Ghost to deal with gunners. There’s no better feeling than blazing through a line of gunners untouched!!! FOR THE EMPEROR!!!!
Wow the narrative part I absolutely love how you joined all the ability names.
I use this as a support build because the speed is really handy when a team member gets downed far away, and it's fun to bleed things.
Great work my man. This is valuable info
Phantom strike works with the other quick fire stub revolver, if you unload while doing a phantom strike you can take out a crusher. As long as you have the hand cannon blessing
Yup! Can get 3 shots out quickly, but because of how it forces you to fanfire to get the most value, its more restrictive than the Zarona since you can take your time with the second shot
This build is pure BEAST. People talk smack about combat blade zealots, this is a game changer
I tried this build out last night and holy shit it’s a blast I’ve never used shroudfeild on zealot before and it’s so much fun being so speedy and just one hit back stabbing shit thank you for posting this now time to grind for a better knife
Best builds and build vids on RUclips. Keep up the good work!
Glad you like them!
Beat my first damnation mission with this build it was the twins too. We also had a stealth veteran a taunt ogryn, And a phyker doing stuff? Me and the vet where pumping out damage and revives when anyone went down while the ogryn kept the melee twin distraction. I focused on the ranged guy and obliterated him.
Holy shit Im actually first here :D Been waiting for more build videos mate. Thanks for the content.
Yay! I have a handful more things to make before the end of the year! Stay tuned for more :)
Thank you!!! I’m usually all about glass canon builds, and I’ve also really been missing Shade from V2.
I love the way you explain all the talents like it's story keep it up!
Glad you enjoy it!
Looks fun man, I love challenging myself on my zealot. My other chars are fun, but nothing mows down heretics in chaotic melee like a zealot. This will be fun to add to my builds list. Cheers!
*Bug has been patched as of 12-20-2023*
Soooo there is also a bug for this build...
If you use your ability while sprinting forward at the same time, it doesn't use your ability. (you still go invisible but there is no cooldown.)
Fatshark no doubt will fix that bug though.
@@thunder2434 Ummm yeah? but its live right now so.... enjoy
Yes - I am aware of the bug, but I don't like incorporating blatant bugs into my builds nor wish to encourage something so cheesy as well :) (reduces the longevity of the video as well since its no longer relevant once fixed)
@@rykenxiv Sounds fair! But for us ppl who just play the game "casually" Its all for fun. More pressure on Fatshark to fix it too. Had fun today messing with it, but it became boring after a couple games. Extremely broken though.
@@kccts44 i'd consider myself a casual player and that sounds like it removes the fun
I think the Agripinaa Combat Shotgun deserves a shoutout for this build. Shroudfield makes loading a secondary special round easy if you need it and the standard fire will wipe out a hoard of pox walkers and groaners pretty easily. Hoard clear will be the area this build struggles the most (especially if you opt for knives over either grenade) and the shotgun provides a lot of the same utility as the revolver while also making trash mob and mixed hoard clearing easier. Full Bore is a must but the secondary blessing is mostly up to user preference. I personally like Flechettes for more bleed synergy.
I use that build for 'no-ammo pickups' Auric Maelstrom, where the game is littered with hordes of crushers and maulers. My other build (cruxis) doesn't work there and gets overwhelmed with the sheer mass of enemies, the cleave being way too unreliable.
The knife builds work better. You move faster, you can slide away from danger a lot better, and of course you have the DPS to decimate the heavy spam (meat in a can) coming towards you.
Otherwise, it's actually OP, and kinda boring. There's not much thought involved in general combat. It's very effective against bosses, weakened or otherwise, and great for doing objectives and getting your teammates back up.
If you end up to be the last man standing, you can literally rush the rez point in shroudfield, rez a guy, throw a flashbang rez another, and kill all on the spot. 'Clutching' isn't really much of a problem.
Yeah, I go with flash over the other too, it's just too good in Quickplay.
As an already rearguard type Zealot player thinking about making an assassin build the Rearguard and Flicker are the tactics that would come most natural to me and require the least retraining and change in battlefield assessment. It's already what I mostly do. So I think I'll try this.
Been doing a build similar to this lately and it really is alot of fun. However I've also ran into speed runners and have made sure that whenever I'm in a pub I stick with the group so they know I'm not one of them, and then break off when a fight is about to begin so I can target the enemy's gunners/specials. Really enjoyable when everything clicks. I also use revolver/dagger (sometimes eviscerator because it's just fun and its damage is also amazing) but I'm having a rough time getting the right blessings.
When you show up half way through a game to a team that's down and manage to turn it around solo and revive those who stayed to what they thought would be a bitter end.
My duo partner always runs this, he always clutches when we need it
This build looks like solo suicide squad. The most important thing of this build would be another video explaining how you use it and how to make it work as a noob.
Blades of faith while running around with a revolver seems a little overkill, was going to look at the build to see the reason for them points wise but the link it going to a 403 page. Stealth Zealot is always a good time though and build sounds solid 👍 *EDIT* Realized you did show the talents and yeah, figured it must of been pretty tight so makes sense to have BoF. Another hard hitting close range gun or flamer would work pretty well, but either way still a solid build :)
Yea, I would have liked to take Immolation with this build because it would give the ability to secure positions and works extremely well with Uncanny Strike! But alas, the limited number of points means I can't :
This build is almost identical to my self-named stealth crackhead with a knife build, its super high octane and fun, but mine is a crit stacker with blazing fury instead of momentum. The choice between master-crafted shroudfield and perfectionist is one ive been waffling back and forth on, the longer stealth is real nice but so is one shot backstabbing maulers and crushers.
I'm running similar build with the vet. It's pretty good as well.
This may have worked for me because I haven’t leveled enough. However instead of a revolver, I used a laspistol. It wasn’t to take down enemies, but to stop gunners from shooting so that I could close the range until I could stab them. This way I could have increased toughness in curios. If I needed long range shooting, I just used the knifes.
One of the original weapons I considered was also the Laspistol! I gives you a lot of firepower to engage from medium distances against shooters when running Interception!
That introduction gave voice to my pain 😫
Another great build...
Nice Guide, as always =)
btw the Gameslantern link is broken! (403 THIS ACTION IS UNAUTHORIZED.)
Should be fixed now!
Love the little narrative bits to help enhance the build depth. Just curious, would you be interested in someone recording voice lines for those? I do a lot of wh40k re-creations with custom voice filters and whatnot if you're keen on that.
Another huge tip: I typically run the 6s version. While I don’t gain the damage boost, it really helps with reviving downed teammates in hard to reach situations. Other than that, this build is what I main.
My builds runs the 6 seconds as well (Master-crafted Shroudfield) :) More time = more opportunity to find openings or get into better positions!
@@rykenxiv didn’t even notice, lol. But yeah, this build is insanely fun. The only hard part I have with it is people running it and thinking they can be solo. If anything, I treat it more of as a support build that can dish out damage when needed. This build’s job (how I treat it) is to mess with enemy lines and overall help support the main damage dealers, with racking up some insane kills along the way ;)
I run a similar build - now try putting Sprint an Ability activation on the same button, then press down while moving forward...
Looks like this just got fixed!
I have been using this loadout since the new knife getting added to the game, giving a much better option for horde clear and cleave while being able to do strike down attack combo from special attack follow-up. However, I run Fury instead of stealth since it is degenerate for me to pass aggro to my teammates. I rather take most dangerous enemy aggro and kill them before they reach to my teammates. Plus stealth as of now is still bugged and gives infinite stealth. Still, I love being able to become a mini Eversor with a butter knife.
Nice build. Thank you.
No problem 👍
I love the stealth builds. Frequently we get stuck in bad fire fights, unable to make any ground against the hail of infinite ammunition that is the new gunner spawn rates. How do you deal with it? By being behind the heretics.
Shield psyker, ogryn shield or charge, and the myriad of stun mechanics are all very valid ways of dealing with such problems, too.
Can i use the short sword instead of knife to the same effect or do i need to use a knife?
What really annoyes me is that after I made my own stealthy knife zealot I realised that they are extremely good at supporting the team, you can be wherever you are needed at a moments notice you can enter stealth and revive teammates you can do massive damages to bosses and snipe elites with you stub revolver and throwing knives and yet 9/10 stealh Zealots just rush ahead like morons.
Ain't that the truth..
My hand can't handle more than 1 or 2 knife missions, I wish there was one other weapon that had the bleed blessings that the zealot had access too...
It's strange to me how people complain about rushers in the comments.
I never, ever, encountered these so called rushers in Damnation or Auric.
The only time I encountered toxic players or solo rushers was in Heresy. And the guy was a 200+ level zealot that was very bad at playing the game.
I don't understand how people can stay in Heresy long enough to reach level 200+...
If you want to stop playing with bad / toxic people, maybe stepping out of easy mode is a good idea.
(also there is an exploit with this build and the current event map in hard mode : hitting a shield doesn't count as an attack and doesn't deactivate your camo)
The difficulty levels are self-filtering. Players who run and complete Damnation and Auric frequently know that speed comes with doing things slowly. Speedrunning in Auric without consideration for the team will speedrun you back into the Mourningstar
I concur
I pick Until Death, Holy revenant and Benediction combo on my every zealot build. Its too powerful to ignore, especially on a stealth build. Even if you wont go down once, +15% toughness damage res is just too good and another +50% from Enduring faith is more than enough (for me). Its refreshing to see more variations of "stealth meta" builds. But the sad thing is that stealth zealot is the most difficult and punishing build to play but at the same time its "cOoL" which attracts bad players. Yes, you can delete almost any enemy in 1 hit and your ult cooldown is nonexistent (Fatshark please dont nerf Scourge+Lacerate+Invocation of Death combo), but you'll get torn apart for 1 mistake not only by enemies but also by your team in a game chat.
This video is an attempt to rectify the bad rep this build gets - hence why there is a disclaimer as well as the incorporation of tactics to give direction to players who might genuinely be trying to use this build better.
For the speedrunning morons however, they aren't going to be the type to learn from mistakes anyway, so this video probably won't reach them or will fall on deaf ears. Nothing can save them but the Emperor's mercy.
OR... Or hear me out now: DON'T use stealth on zealot, and just stick with FotF. If you use the flank routes + dodge slides you can get to ranged packs well enough, keep a 20% attack speed buff with almost 100% up time because of the crit CDR + have a toughness restore, and not randomly dump aggro from things you didn't even know you had on you as a zealot - the safest class in the game.
EDIT: He's 100% right about lacerate. Anyone who says you don't need it is dead wrong. It's the only mandatory blessing even just t1 gives you guaranteed additional 30% crit. That's so much more damage and CDR.
Maniac damage is wasted on a dagger. You one shot them all on a headshot other than mutant which requires a crit headshot, but is otherwise still a 2 shot. I can see it being a thing if you use a MK VI maybe. Using 5% crit for better crit consistency which will net you more reliable breakpoints on anything you don't one shot headshot (which is very little), and Unyielding for murdering bosses which can be super nice when an absent minded teammate pulls a demonhost you can take that thing out right quick.
100% with him on the Gunner resist. It's BiS. For all classes. Super underrated. The net 49% DR vs them is the most noticeable perk you can get on a curio.
5:42 wait uncanny strike increases your bleed damage, when i try to look this up i cant any where it says it also increases your bleed damage
Against Crushers specifically, since Carapace takes severely reduced bleed damage, having Uncanny Strike removes that damage resistance and allows you bleed a Crusher as if it was a regular Flak Brusier!
Bolt pistol or double barrelled shotgun in place of the revolver now they're out ?
Double Barrel has some really good potential me thinks!
Why do Dagger users weave in punches while fighting? I see it a lot but dont know why
Because the punch chains into the heavy overhead and is very spammable! The punch also has very strong stagger now, so you can punch to stun an enemy then get a heavy overhead stab safely!
playing my Psyker lately been running into so many speed running idiots lately running ahead with no purpose. some have decent skill but are such bad teammates.
been runnin a build like this with zealot for a long time, its easily my favorite way to play zealot.
although i use stun grenade instead of blades
consecrated blades DESPERATELY need a buff, they should at LEAST be able to one shot ranged scabs/dregs with a body shot, ridiculous they cant
link doesnt work
Should be fixed now!
no holy revenant = heresy
Screw the slow pokes. It's not just with this speed monster build that I leave people behind, it's when I'm actively trying to accommodate them with my ogryn who is slow himself or my psyker who needs their help to take the blows.
Too many times now.
So yea, I run ahead as hard as I can and I take out all the specials I come across just so they can see that stream of my name rolling up in the top left over and over while I simultaneously hoover up all the resources I see and they watch that list roll along too.
MOVE FASTER
I dread playing with 95% of the people using this build. They are playing a solo-adventure game with not a single thought spared for team-play. Introducing the perks and abilities that make it so easy to enable this behavior was the worst idea Obese Whale could ever have considered. Flies straight in the face of the entire mechanic meant to keep people playing as a team (coherency) and allows them to ignore it entirely.
While rushers have always been a thing, it wasn't as prevalent, and has never been easier than it is with this build. I could count the people doing it on one hand, during active-play the first year the game was out pre-rework.
At the end of the day the build is fine in theory and the players abusing it are the problem, but that doesn't change the numbers of them you run into.
Hell the other day I ran into TWO of them, and they both ran off into the sunset. Suffice to say I spent most of that round spectating along with another unfortunate veteran. No we didn't win.
The narratives are fun but they make it a lot harder to understand what the benefits and mechanics of these builds are. Trying to read the talents while simultaneously listening to the narrative is pretty tough.
Noted! I'm trying to find a balance between weaving narrative and technical explanation!
@@rykenxiv I think upon watching the video a second time, you're achieving that balance pretty well. The combat tactics section particularly cleared up a lot of the build potentials to me. Thanks as always for the great guides!
Like the rat build. Lol
Assassin Zealot is great, but after 2 games you have to switch to something else or your index finger will fall off. =)
Use the keep swinging mod, my finger and my mouse have never been happier. I use the hold to light melee functionality on one of my side mouse buttons so I can still use the main one to heavy attack things
But i want to run in and die
You can do that with any build.. technically.
No matter what you say in the vid as a disclaimer on how to or what to do with the build. People will abuse it in the way of ruining people's games just so they can solo missions. Vote kicks don't happen because people just leave and the cycle of new people coming continue.
It's best not make guides showcasing this build/weapon use because new players will pick it up and tunnel vision there way to everyone's block list.
I've set my knife stealth support zealot aside awaiting fatshark changes/nerfs to Zealot tree in some way in the future and I can't stop people leaving the loading lobby or the start of the round when they only see the knife before seeing stealth skill. Knives are probably the biggest problem with most builds. Provides too much mobility and people fly to their deaths.
evrytime during pre-lobby, when i said, oh this zealot is loner build, my gf knows im gonna yell and swear during the game
Iink says unsafe wtf lmao.
AKA the absolute garbage rage inducing for the other 3 build, this and the veteran equivalent. 7 out of 10 pugs i've joined that people has this build just hit not even kill the enemy to run and reach to the next door. You might as well go play a single player game. Also when the person aggros all the mobs and go stealth those mobs will run to your other 3 teammates.
He addresses that in the first 10 seconds lol. It’s not the build, it’s the player.
@@agedgouda8809 The build enable the player. The average player base can't even do a simple ping in heresy+.
@@agedgouda8809 The build enables the annoying playstyle on a larger scale. A good player could do it before, but now every child and their dog can do it, which has made it much more prevalent.
It's the build AND the player.
@@agedgouda8809 1% of the Zealot players that use this build play with the team. Newbs that see guides like this despite the disclaimer will try this build and 100% everytime play it WRONG for teamplay and cause wipes trying to "clutch" which is cringe to say/think about. (I really hate it when kids in this wanna clutch all the time and refuse to work as a team)
@@NatoRadeX that has not been my experience tbh. most of my runs fail from a psyker or a vet dying too early bc theyre made of paper. idk if i can recall a single time i can attribute a loss to a stealth zealot.
now i dont play a TON of solo quickplay, usually hop on with my 4 stack, so im sure id see annoying zealots eventually. but after levelling all classes to 30 i rly rarely see zealots that suck specifically bc of how they use a stealth build
bla bla bla useless build
this build is ASS.
Thank you for making this video! It’s how I plan my Stealth Zealot!!! I use the new heavy laspistol though, with Reassuringly Accurate for toughness boost and Ghost to deal with gunners. There’s no better feeling than blazing through a line of gunners untouched!!! FOR THE EMPEROR!!!!