This is an overview of the perks available to the six different classes in the Multiplayer/Special Mission mode. Currently the pages on the wiki dedicated to these classes are often incomplete and other guides and videos more or less ignore most of the less desireable perks. To make things somewhat more interesting, this guide will also contain some additional information, comments and ideas.
General
The comment sections accompanying each individual perk overview have been created by a player with limited playtime and are therefore not based on thorough testing and experimentation but instead on more superficial impressions and comments from other players. Most of my playtime has been on the second highest difficulty in Special Missions with Brothers Barachiel and Nahum.
- Only one perk may be chosen per class at any one time.
- Numbers are given as in the game. In some cases it’s unclear if absolute numbers or percentages are being used.
- Resilient and Machine Spirit are available to all classes.
- Ruthless is shared between Assault Specialty and Interrogator-Chaplain.
- Burning Absolution is shared between Tactical Specialty and Interrogator-Chaplain.
- Executioner is shared between Heavy Weapons Specialty, Assault Specialty and Interrogator-Chaplain.
- Slayer of Beasts is shared between Assault Specialty, Tactical Specialty and Interrogator-Chaplain.
Librarian
- Adamantium Will: Psychic damage taken reduced by 33 %
- Warp Disruptions: Randomly alters Psy power damage by -33 % to up to + 50 %
- Sword Specialist: 25 % increased attack rate with Force Sword
- Axe Specialist: 25 % increased attack rate with Force Axe
- Battle Psyker: 30 % increased damage with Force Weapons
- Precognition: Armor perforation with Bolters increased by 10
- Resilient: Increases HP for each body part by 30 %
- Machine Spirit: 30 % increased Hacking speed
Comments:Adamantium Will might be interesting if it offered more than just 33 % reduction of psy damage. Immunity on the other hand might actually make it worth considering.
Warp Disruptions is probably the most interesting perk of the Librarian and it may actually be a good addition to some builds.
Three more perks are dedicated to the Librarian’s force weaponry, which may not be impressive, but are nice customization options nevertheless. Just wrapping the damage bonus into the Specialist perks and varying the values a bit, would reduce the clutter and make things a bit more interesting though.
Precognition is a similar case, even if it is just the weakest of the three Bolter perks in the game. It’s still a Bolter perk for a class that has no other choice but to use one when going with force weapons.
Resilient is the second perk common to all classes and it seems to be the be-all-end-all for those people playing on No Mercy. It is also one of the main reasons why most other perks look comparatively weak. When it’s very easy to die at any moment, survivability becomes the main consideration.
Machine Spirit is available to every class, but mostly likely barely ever used by anyone.
Heavy Weapons Specialty
- Assault Cannon Specialist: Increases armor perforation of Assault Cannon and Vengeance by 10
- War Machine: Increases reload speed x2
- Crushing Arm: Increases attack rate with Power Fist by 30 %
- Mine Specialist: Increases area of effect and damage of Mines by 50 %
- Executioner: Increases critical rate by 10 % (Shared with Assault and Chaplain)
- Resilient: Increases HP for each body part by 30 %
- Machine Spirit: 30 % increased Hacking speed
Comments
Again, some decent ways to customize a character, even if they are not all equally competitive. However, at least War Machine can definitely be useful, and especially so with the particularly slow Plasma Cannon.
The armor perforation bonus of Assault Cannon Specialist doesn’t seem strictly required when running a Vengeance, but it should be decently useful on the Assault Cannon. The increased rate of criticals from Executioner should also be a good fit for the Assault Cannon as well as the Vengeance and Spear of Caliban, as they all offer a fairly high rate of fire.
Crushing Arm on the other hand seems weak in comparison, but all of the Heavy’s guns are clunky and War Machine won’t always be enough to avoid ending up in a chaotic melee.
Mine Specialist is exactly what it sounds like and together with the decreased ability cooldown might make for a good rearguard action.
Assault Specialty
- Lightning Claw Specialist: Increases armor perforation by 10 and attack speed by 40 %
- Wielder of Maces: Increases armor perforation by 30 and attack speed by 20 %
- Zealot: Prevents enemies (except giant Genestealers) from parrying you
- Lion’s Bravery: Reduces taken range damage by 20 %
- Slayer of Beasts: Increases damage inflicted on giant Genestealers by 15 % (Shared with Tactical and Chaplain)
- Executioner: Increases critical rate by 10 % (Shared with Heavy and Chaplain)
- Ruthless: Allows you to sprint three times longer (Shared with Chaplain)
- Resilient: Increases HP for each body part by 30 %
- Machine Spirit: 30 % increased Hacking speed
Comments
The Assault Specialty has perks available that are dedicated to Lightning Claws and to the Mace of Absolution. Neither the Purgatory Sword nor the Thunder Hammer get a perk, but they certainly don’t need one.
Zealot may be useful to some builds, but without any testing I could only speculate. Maybe people have something to say on it in the comments.
The ranged damage reduction from Lion’s Bravery seems difficulty to fit in, as it would be most useful when not running a Storm Shield, but then the Lightning Claw perk has to be sacrificed….. Personally I don’t see its use. It might have made more sense on another class.
Slayer of Beasts might be useful when running a Hammer, but it’s probably overkill with the Sword.
Executioner has a similar problem as Lion’s Bravery as it competes with the Claw perk. Doesn’t seem like a good fit for the class.
Ruthless’ sprinting increase should be fun for those weird Terminators that are more interested in plunder than in actually “purging the Xeno”.
Apothecary
- Blessed Blood: Slowly regenerates HP
- Aura of Devotion: Increases Mass Heal’s range by 30 %
- Chirurgeon: Increases damage in enemies arms and legs
- Mantle of the Redeemer: Increases perforation of Redemption by 20
- Surgical Precision: Increases perforation of Storm Bolters by 20
- Resilient: Increases HP for each body part by 30 %
- Machine Spirit: 30 % increased Hacking speed
Comments
Blessed Blood is somewhat redundant as Auto Heal already does do exactly that, only better. It may not be useless and it is certainly a unique flavourful option to have, but it really should have been moved to another class.
Aura of Devotion may be useful in some situations, but those are probably the kind of situations the squad shouldn’t have ended up in the first place. Perhaps there are some cases where the increased area can be useful, but I doubt that it’s consistently worth the slot.
Crippling arms and legs with Chirurgeon might be useful when praying (to the Emperor) and spraying (for the Emperor) with Bolters a lot. Perhaps also when using a Redemption that hasn’t accuracy upgraded (?)
Mantle of the Redeemer is the only Redemption perk in the game and outside of Resilient there isn’t much competition for it on the Apothecary.
Surgical Precision isn’t as good as the Tactical’s Strategist perk, but technically better than the Librarian’s Precognition. On the other hand, the Apothecary has some strong competition in Redemption and Hellfire, whereas the Librarian will often end up with a Bolter.
Tactical Specialty
- Eternal Warrior: You cannot suffer critical hits anymore
- Strategist: Increases armor perforation for Storm Bolters by 20 and Power Fists’s attack rate by 30 %
- Skull-Bolter Missiles: The Skull Bolter fires one missile every two seconds
- Slayer of Beasts: Increases damage inflicted on giant Genestealers by 15 % (Shared with Assault and Chaplain)
- Burning Absolution: Increases the Spear of Caliban’s armor perforation by 30 % (Shared with the Chaplain)
- Resilient: Increases HP for each body part by 30 %
- Machine Spirit: 30 % increased Hacking speed
Comments
Eternal Warrior might be useful on the highest difficulty, but directly competes with Resilient.
Strategist is the best Bolter perk as it also includes improved melee. It makes sense as the competition here is at least as strong as for the Apothecary, with Spear and Flamer as options.
Skull-Bolter Missiles is essentially very similar to the Mine Specialist perk, as it provides additional support for something that some Terminators might enjoy doing.
Slayer of Beasts feels like an interesting and somewhat competitive additon in this case, especially with the Spear, but…
…there is also Burning Absolution, which provides more armor perforation for the same weapon.
Interrogator-Chaplain
- Avenger: Extends the effects of Retribution by three seconds
- Leader: Extends the effects of Litany of War by five seconds
- Redeemer: Increases the Crozius‘ attack rate and armor perforation by 30 %
- Burning Absolution: Increases the Spear of Caliban’s armor perforation by 30 % (Shared with Tactical)
- Executioner: Increases critical rate by 10 % (Shared with Heavy and Assault)
- Slayer of Beasts: Increases damage inflicted on giant Genestealers by 15 % (Shared with Assault and Tactical)
- Ruthless: Allows you to sprint three times longer (Shared with Assault)
- Resilient: Increases HP for each body part by 30 %
- Machine Spirit: 30 % increased Hacking speed
Comments
Avenger and Leader extend the duration of two abilities which are already considered quite good in their base form, but it still seems like a good investment for particularly sticky situations.
Redeemer is good support for a more melee-oriented Chaplain, which is a good option to have.
All other perks are familiar from others classes. Slayer of Beasts and Burning Absolution create a similar problem as for the Tactical. Executioner seems like a better fit than for the Assault, though perhaps not as good as for the Heavy.
Overall the Chaplain could have needed something to make him a little more unique. The Crozius is a start, but it would have been good to adjust the arsenal a little more as it essentially just is copied over from the Tactical Specialty at the moment.
