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Some of the toughest enemies inWarhammer 40,000: Darktideare able to shrug off nearly everything that your Strike Team throws at them. From heavy armor to daemonic fortitude, these monstrous foes pose a major challenge, especially on high-difficulty missions. If you want to even the odds, look for a weapon that grants Rending.
Rending is granted by certain Weapon Blessings, and it makes a huge difference against the hardiest of Nurgle’s minions. Of course, to really get the most out of a good Rending weapon, it pays to know exactly what’s happening behind the scenes each time you take a swing or pull the trigger.
How Is Damage Calculated In Warhammer 40,000: Darktide?
Darktide has a fairly complex damage system, especially for a shooter, but the main thing to know is thatdamage is calculated based on the enemy type you’re attacking.Each weapon has a different damage range, depending onwhat kind of armor or other defensive powers your target has, if any.
In general, weaponsdeal less damage to armored enemies. Weapons withPenetrationreduce this penalty, but don’t eliminate it. To see a weapon’s base damage range for each target type, choose theView Attack Breakdownsoption while inspecting it.
Different spots on a target’s body may have different forms of protection; for example, if an armored enemy isn’t wearing a helmet, hitting their head will let you use your weapon’s unarmored damage rating.
Damage to an enemy can be further modified by other factors, like buffs or your weapon’s Bonus Stats,such as Finesse.
How Does Rending Affect Damage?
Rending is typically presented as a percentage, as is Damage. If the conditions are met for an attack to be Rending, based on the Blessing that grants it, then the percentage isadded to the weapon’s Damagestatbefore calculating damage based on the enemy’s protection.
Essentially, this grants the weapon alarge damage boost that willovercome some or all of the penaltyfor attacking an armored opponent.
For example, take a look at theCatachan Combat Bladepictured above. It has a base Damage of 36, and grants35 Rendingif it attacks an opponent from behind. A heavy attack from the blade deals 120 damage to an unarmored opponent, but only32 damage to an enemy in Carapace Armor.
Attacking from behind, the Rending bonus from the weapon’s Blessing triggers,nearly doubling its Damage rating.Striking a Carapace Armored enemy from behind will deal63 damage instead; still not the same as if it had struck an unarmored opponent, but a lot better than it would have done without Rending!
Does Rending Increase Damage Against Unarmored Opponents?
As of the balance patch added to Darktide onOctober 5, 2023, Rending does grant a small bonus against unarmored opponents. If an attack with Rending hits an opponent against whom the weapon would deal full damage, itadds one percentage point to its damage rating for every four points of Rending.Effectively, this means that Rending is only one-fourth as effective against unarmored foes… but it’s still technically effective, nonetheless.
