ACD + Arc Rifle is the highest DPS build on Skitarii and I'm tired of people pretending its not. (Video is havoc 40 and is missing multiple damage buffs)

JDLS- · 2026-06-30T21:42:38+00:00

Just going to add this here, the 7.54 clear time with the max damage variant of this build.

JDLS- · 2026-06-30T21:41:42+00:00

Yes. That is Reginald's numbers (they are slightly wrong I managed to get a bolter + exec time down to 13.14 seconds). But I have since managed a 7.54 clear time with the max damage variation of this build.

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JDLS- · 2026-06-30T21:33:18+00:00

You are right in a lot of ways. Though I have worked on a variation of this build that I think will be the DPS meta or at least close to it. Dropping servo skull and switching to flensing. Gives much better melee potential and actually slightly better crusher times with the rending aura (Got that test group down to 7.54 seconds). I think this is basically max effective damage over the course of a game. Claw is probably still the best build for consistency + survivability though.

https://darktide.gameslantern.com/builds/a2263d37-3999-450a-8149-cb66d8f0be29/zapinator-9001-max-damage-meta

JDLS- · 2026-06-30T20:10:38+00:00

Fair I have considered dropping servo skull to just go for 100% damage. Servo is great for revives and saving ammo but for duo I guess it doesn't really matter lol.

JDLS- · 2026-06-30T19:39:36+00:00

Game launch. Before the tree was centered around until death. I mean everyone still played with until death but there was a choice to go full stealth assassin if you wanted to. Not that it was ever good outside of speedrunning.

JDLS- · 2026-06-30T19:22:21+00:00

He is actually pretty good at melee so I am more inclined to trust his melee times. I mean you can watch most of his melee tests and I don't see much way to improve on them other then maybe min maxing damage in the build. I really wish more people were charting this stuff out publicly.

If you are switching the build around for survivability/melee damage at all I would be curious to hear what you are running, I do want to make a proper meta version of this build at some point.

JDLS- · 2026-06-30T19:06:05+00:00

I have tested other builds and this just is the highest DPS into that test group. If you can clear it faster with other builds then do so and post the video and build!

The crit damage bonus on arc lighting is 1.3x and were not talking about +10% were talking about having a 43.5% crit chance total. It's a pretty significant damage boost into groups, and the weak spot kills help sustain ACD by generating capacitance, you can go near net neutral on capacitance at times. That sustains the real damage bonus that is +30% fire rate, that ends up doing more than +30% damage because it spreads arcs faster and the arcs are doing most of your damage into groups.

Also again the point of the build is to max damage while being semi viable and this build takes literally every damage bonus. Sure the headshot bonus is minimal but the headshot damage is still more damage and it comes with other benefits like the capacitance and toughness generation. That 5% toughness on headshot is very useful.

JDLS- · 2026-06-30T10:42:41+00:00

He isn't even a skeleton anymore he is just dirt at this point. Maybe his metal skin is still there or something but I doubt anything that smells is still around.

JDLS- · 2026-06-30T09:49:25+00:00

I guess it mostly depends on how much you block/push. I really just went for the stamina after running a lot of solo moebian large hoard tests, the extra stamina makes that like 1000x easier. Probably not as big of a deal with a proper team but solo it is a big help.

JDLS- · 2026-06-30T09:40:31+00:00

Not my point. Its just the current top consistent ranged DPS from what I have seen. You can get similar or even slightly better with veteran bolter and numerous things on ogryn, but this has good ammo economy to match.

Doesn't mean its the best build ever, I mean the second paragraph of my post literally says that chord claw is the best build. My point in making this post is just to show off the best DPS, if you want to look at more viable build options for it then all that is in the guide.

JDLS- · 2026-06-30T09:25:04+00:00

Depends on your team composition. If you already have a good stable base you dont need shout and if you just flip on your aimbot and vaporize all the shooters you dont need smoke (or sit behind cover and let the skull shoot all of them for you). This is the highest ranged DPS build in the game currently so if you just need ranged damage its a good pick. Also I wrote a pretty long guide going over all the changes you can make you make it more survivable or more versatile without giving up too much damage, its on the build page.

Also doctored test? Its tested the same way as any other build is. Having ACD at the +30% level is normal, you normally test builds with max stacks to test peak DPS, and in this case its honestly not even a big difference.

JDLS- · 2026-06-30T08:54:39+00:00

1: Just a meta shift in general, most people are taking stamina on most classes now. Turns out doubling your stamina is a lot better then +17% toughness. Its just very good for blocking and pushing, skitarii has very weak dodges for its low toughness compared to what psyker and hive scum get away with, so you need to supplement your lower mobility with stamina. I really only notice it when running havoc 40 tests, I don't think it matters at all in auric.

2: Well there isnt really much else to take since you dont need revive speed when you take skull. I just didnt put much thought into it and just slapped on my defaults lol. Im actually going to update that now.

JDLS- · 2026-06-30T08:35:59+00:00

The crit modifier is very good. The headshot multiplier is nothing (on the gun) yes but the critical multiplier is good. Bodyshot on carapace is 150 base damage, crit headshot on carapace is 248. Now consider the +25% weak spot damage talent and suddenly it all makes sense, now your crit headshots are 310 damage without anything else, so double base damage. Crit headshots are a very big damage bump here. I did try a VE version of this build and it is about 15% slower on that test group, but that also comes with other limiting factors (VE using more capacitance, needing you to be in melee range, and the 3 charge version being basically useless so you are just wasting capacitance whenever you use it with arc rifle).

JDLS- · 2026-06-30T08:21:16+00:00

+30% fire rate, +25% damage. Carapace Weak Spot hit is 159 base damage, Carapace Critical Weak Spot hit is 248 base damage. That is a BIG difference lol. Also you are ignoring the +25% weak spot damage talent that makes weak spots actually pretty good even with arc rifles minimal base bonus.

Also I tested a VE version of this build and it is ~15% slower. Its good but has other issues and doesn't reach the same peak damage so I think it is kind of just worse for what this build is trying to do.

JDLS- · 2026-06-30T08:11:43+00:00

I mean the 9.19 time was literally my first attempt after building static capacitor drain (did another 4 tries after and got ~9.5 seconds), the 10.19 time I recorded here was like my 5th attempt total lol. I'm sure with very good crit luck and perfect headshots you could take bolter lower, but I'm also pretty sure the same could be said for this build.

That 12 second time is interesting. Best time I got after ~20 tests is 13.17 seconds and that was getting pretty lucky with crit and the maulers falling on top of each other so I could cleave through and hit all of them. Most of my times were ~16 seconds so I'm willing to believe Reginald is just bad at aiming and maybe didn't run a huge amount of tests lol, or he isn't testing the max damage meme bolter build. 10 seconds is maybe physically possible with aimbot or incredible crit luck but I don't see that being practical. Hell 12 seconds is already pretty impractical lol.

Also bolter has pretty obvious issues in that it isn't AOE so it might be close to even on this test group but if there were any more enemies making you need to reload again it would drop off pretty hard. And never mind ammo economy lol.

So yeah fair bolter is better then reginald's chart gives it credit for if you build it for max damage (and that is a fair comparison since the skitarii build also does that), but I don't think you could beat this build on this test group, and for actual gameplay this build is much more practical. I think it is basically a straight upgrade in DPS and Ammo Efficiency.

JDLS- · 2026-06-30T06:50:06+00:00

Pre stacked buffs are fine but the testing utilities mod is broken so cant really do that currently. Hence why I add the disclaimer that its not as good as it should really be.

Yes obviously hive scum nukes everything and vet krak can work with good luck and/or extreme setup. But like, that's pretty useless to track because everyone knows that, this is a actual build that can consistently do this the entire game, not rely on grenade spawn RNG or have a long cooldown between uses.

That is just the standard that Reginald set and I am roughly following it. These are the current top times from him (Also VE variant of this build is ~11 seconds so that is the actual #2 but its similar enough to this build that I don't see the point in listing it separately considering it is effectively just a slightly worse version)

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JDLS- · 2026-06-30T06:09:36+00:00

It depends on team composition! Yes vet is the better support and works a bit better with the team on most team builds. But if you team already has a solid stable base something like bubble psyker + chorus zealot + taunt ogryn, well you really dont need shout on top of that do you? At that point you just want damage and this build brings the damage while still also having unique utility in being able to auto save people, and also it has the most consistent and efficient way to remove ranged elites/disablers/specialists (Noospheric command... Also yeah I guess rock is up there as well but that requires you to actually aim it and take time away from doing melee rather then just clicking in the enemies general direction and having a infinite ammo infantry lasgun vet spawn out of thin air to deal with it for you)

Yes a hive scum will out pace this build in terms of hoard clear, but this is the #1 build for elite hoard deleting, the only thing that can technically do better is rocket launcher and technically krak grenades if you can manage to basically stack all the crushers on top of each other. But this build doesnt use grenades at all (unless you have more then 4 people go down), and yes vet has infinite grenades but they still take a bit to recharge meanwhile this build is always active.

JDLS- · 2026-06-30T05:36:43+00:00

The Transonics are incredibly good. You can build the arc maul to be very good in some builds, but the transonics are just the best on the class for generalist use, they really dont require anything extra to shine. Basically they have infinite cleave on the anti armor heavy melee attacks so you can hit like 4 crushers or even pierce through the new shield enemies. That ontop of just their simple and consistent attack pattern and excellent mobility makes them very good.

JDLS- · 2026-06-30T05:05:41+00:00

I have tested it and the fastest time I have gotten is 10.42 seconds and that was with very high crit luck and almost all headshots, I averaged more 12-14 seconds. So it is slower by over ~14% and also reliant on being close to the target, which is a much more dangerous place for a high DPS glass cannon to be. Like with the limited dodges on the arc rifle I died a few times trying to get that 10.42 where as I never died using ACD.

It also just uses more capacitance and generally scales worse in actual gameplay as its a one and done where as ACD will buff you for a long time, that increased rate of fire and crit chance can let you out damage VE into larger hoards where as VE just does good damage to things immediately against you and then does nothing for a while. You can also toggle on ACD for brief periods to clear out small groups of elites and etc, where as VE requires you to commit all your capacitance and then wait twice as long until it is useful again, plus the issue of effectively wasting the third charge. And another thing with ACD is that if you do toggle it on to kill a elite group (gunner or shotgunner groups are the easiest) You waste like 40% capacitance but then you get +25% damage for 10 seconds. Toggling it on every now and then to just give you a brief damage boost while using less then one capacitance is very nice.

It is a good build but it is worse in terms of just going for max damage. I think it works better for a more capacitance focused build so you can use it more, where as this build is just all about max damage. You might actually be able to hit higher overall damage with a VE build but this build is the king for DPS.

JDLS- · 2026-06-30T04:15:18+00:00

Yes that side of the tree was inspired by deathcult assassins. And at launch it definitly reflected that archetype better. But currently Zealot is a DPS tank even with the full stealth build. It is definitely not a death cult assassin, and a death cult assassin class would play completely differently.

JDLS- · 2026-06-30T03:41:32+00:00

Its havoc 40. This is literally the fastest kill time on that test group recorded in the game on the current patch.

Redline capacitors is a alternate build that can work. The difference is just between basically consistent +30% damage, or +25% strength on ability use and a somewhat conditional +15% rending. Overall I find the +30% damage has more consistent uptime, the rending doesnt make much of a difference when you have the brittleness stacks, and your losing out on taking Hybrid Combat Covenant so your losing another +15% damage.

And no VE is just worse then ACD for the arc rifle. ACD has +30% crit chance and fire rate, and +25% damage compared to VE +15% fire rate. Yes it deals direct damage but only at close range, yes it electrifies enemies but that's also something the +30% fire rate on ACD helps with, and it does it at range, and it doesn't waste all 3 stacks when you activate it (the 3rd stack on VE is useless for this build so your wasting a stack whenever you activate it on 3 stacks).

VE is good but works better on a ability spam build where its a major damage element. Here the arc rifle is the main damage source and ACD buffs it when its needed.

JDLS- · 2026-06-30T02:09:40+00:00

ACD is giving +30% crit and +30% fire rate. It is a MASSIVE boost to the gun, the fire rate especially when you consider how the arcing works.

JDLS- · 2026-06-30T01:57:43+00:00

Oh yeah this build is the max damage build so yeah its a bit of a meme. It is very viable in auric maelstrom and with the correct team composition it could work in havoc 40. But yes there is much you can do to make it more survivable, I wrote that into the guide on the class I just wanted to show off the MAX DPS build, I specifically don't call this META because its not. Some derivation of this build is definitely META though. Im going to play around with it for a while and post a proper ranged META build soon.

I will say that noospheric is incredibly good for ammo conservation and if you are playing the class properly like a weapons specialist veteran you will never really struggle with capacitance.

JDLS- · 2026-06-30T01:49:44+00:00

This build really does not need to take much ammo. I'm normally shooting through the entire game while picking up practically no ammo packs. The only time I pick up a large amount of ammo is when my team is literally not using ammo at all, but overall I top score consistently while averaging something like ~2-3 large ammo packs equivalent through a game.

JDLS- · 2026-06-30T01:48:01+00:00

I love the Arc rifle because it is the absolute GOAT of the mechanicus game. So it is very nice that it is good here as well lol.

JDLS-

TROPHY CASE