Unlike the majority of other horde shooters out there, Warhammer 40,000: Darktide pits players against both zombie-like creatures as well as an actual armed fighting force in the form of the Moebian heretics and Dreg cultists. They use a variety of weapons to fight players, and they also wear armor to mitigate incoming damage.
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide - What is Finesse Damage?
Finesse is a core stat for some of the more elegant melee weapons found in Warhammer 40,000: Darktide. Here's what it does.
Carapace Armor is the toughest form of protection that enemies in Warhammer 40,000: Darktide can wear. Anything clad in Carapace Armor is virtually immune to blades and bullets, making them extremely dangerous. Thankfully, there are a few different ways to deal with this.
How to Beat Carapace Armor
Carapace Armor is worn by a number of different elite enemies. Crushers are completely covered in Carapace Armor, while Maulers, Reapers, and Bulwarks only have coverage in specific parts of their bodies (heads for Maulers, arms for Reapers and Bulwarks).
As mentioned, Carapace Armor is very resistant to bladed weapons, bullets, and lasgun fire. However, heavier melee weapons like Chainswords, Axes, Thunder Hammers, and Clubs can penetrate Carapace Armor to a limited degree. Heavy attacks from all melee weapons pierce through, but only to a limited degree.
A Catachan Sword, for example, will always have difficulty damaging Carapace Armor by default, even with heavy attacks. To find how much damage a weapon deals versus different armor and health types, go to the inventory and click on the Inspect button marked at the bottom of the screen when selecting Wargear.
The special functions of Chain, Power, and Force weapons greatly increase their effectiveness against Carapace Armor. Even light attacks will punch through armor plates when a Chainsword is revved or if a Thunder Hammer is primed, but a heavy attack will deal significantly more damage in comparison.
As for ranged weapons, very few can penetrate Carapace Armor. The Veteran's Lucius Mk III Helbore Lasgun can kill fully-armored Crushers with a single shot even on Damnation difficulty if players have the right build equipped. Other effective anti-armor ranged weapons include the Bolter, Plasma Gun, the Psyker's Surge and Void Staves, and the Ogryn's Grenade Gauntlet (to a limited extent).
The best way to get rid of enemies wearing Carapace Armor for any class is to find a source of Rending, which essentially translates to armor penetration. Rending can also be acquired from certain skills.
Rending either increases a weapon's damage versus armored targets or reduces the armor value of an enemy depending on the Blessing. Anything that adds percentage Rending only affects the weapon itself. Meanwhile, Blessings that inflict flat Rending stacks reduce enemy armor, making them more vulnerable to all sources of damage.
Notable Rending Blessings include:
- Shattering Impact
- Hand-Cannon
- Supercharge
- Uncanny Strike
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is available now on PC and Xbox Series X/S.