“From the moment I understood the weakness of my flesh, it disgusted me,” is a quote that fans of Fatshark’s hoarder shooter Warhammer 40,000 Darktide have been saying for years after asking for a Skitarii. Thankfully, the Omnissiah has praised the Hive World of Atoma Prime Skitarii DLC. The latest class introduces a new way to play the game with a few new weapons that players couldn’t use before and a load of perks to help kill heretics in hopes of appeasing the Machine God. As fun as the class may be, it does skirt the line between the human struggles that Darktide is known for.
The team at Fatshark has been expanding Darktide’s story for some time now. Clear examples of this can be seen in both the Arbites and Hive Scum class introductions, which showcase why they’re now fighting alongside the rejects. The Skitarii are no different. Even though Adeptus Mechanicus has been on the planet for some time now, they’ve taken a passive role until now. Seeing why they’ve decided to call on the aid of their Skitarii was something I especially enjoyed, because we were able to see them in a new light that hasn’t been shown in any Warhammer 40:000 visual media.
This continued into the class creation menu. One of the things that truly caught me off guard was seeing Skitarii in its flesh form. Although it was a bit uneasy to look at, it added an extra layer of immersion because I knew how my character looked under the mask. It didn’t stop there, though. I was also able to decide how my arms and legs looked, including how rusted and worn down they appeared. I even toyed with how robotic their voice was. Admittedly, this was something I spent way too much time toying with.
But being able to do all of that on top of deciding my character’s origin, I felt some connection with this hideous killing machine. As expected, the Skitarii’s cosmetics looked great. I’m just fearful they’ll suffer the same fate as the Arbites and the Hive Scum, and be stuck with the cosmetics we receive at launch.
Many things set the Skitarii apart from other classes, but the main thing I want to highlight is the Servo-skull. This is because you can command it to attack enemies, such as the Arbites Cyber-Mastiff. But on top of that, it can also perform certain actions, such as hacking. This is partially helpful whenever you find yourself getting swarmed; instead of having to stop fighting, you can command your Servo-skull to do the busy work for you.
In lore, Skitarii are some of the best that Adeptus Mechanicus has to offer and excel in all types of combat. This is even reflected in how their skill tree is presented. What makes them special is that they’re the only skill tree that doesn’t bleed down. Instead, it’s built like a circle, which makes it much easier to have a specific build in mind.
For instance, one of the abilities that I became really fond of gave me an extra Servo Skull. But instead of having this one act as a companion, I was able to use it as a throwable flamethrower and clear an area that was full of enemies. While another one essentially turned my hand into a power claw and let me slice through anyone standing in my way.
Admittedly, I wasn’t able to fully tinker with everything the Skitarii had to offer in terms of specific builds. But I’m excited to toy around with them once it’s fully released.
Abilities aside, the class introduces several weapons players can use. The first I wanted to touch on was the Galvanic Rifle. In many ways, this is essentially an M1 Grand and makes a similar sound when it reloads. As fun as it is to use, it can feel a bit underpowered at times. This is purely because of the number of bullets in each magazine. I often found myself switching to my melee item. If I had the Arc Maul or Paired Transonic Blades, I was okay because these two excel when it comes to fighting hordes. But if I had the Mechanicus Power Sword, which is only good against single targets.
The other two guns were great, though. The Galvanic Rifle quickly became my favorite gun because it not only looked cool but also packed a serious punch and held plenty of ammo per clip. While I didn’t use the Phosphor Blast Pistol too much, it did prove to be useful against any bosses that showed up.
The Skitarii class has a lot going for it and adds a lot of flavor to Darktide. But I’m afraid that Fatshark may be going a bit off course with this class. I say this because at its core, Darktide has always been about the human struggle within Warhammer 40:000. That struggle was continued and seen in the other two classes, because at their core, they’re still normal humans like you and me. But the Skitarii does skirt the line between human and something else.
Of course, they still are human at the end of the day, but to put them in the same category as the Hive Scum or Veteran wouldn’t be fair. Even though they’re nowhere near as strong as a Space Marine, they have enough going on under the hood to put up a good enough fight like an Astartes would. I hope the team at Fatshark maintains that human element if they decide to move forward with other classes and avoid those that blur the line between human and super-soldier.
Worries aside, though, playing as the Skitarii is great. They’re filled with a bunch of one-liners that’ll make you laugh because of how robotic they are. On top of all of that, they’re an absolute unit on the battlefield. There are so many ways you can customize them, and they can fit into just about any group. If you’ve been looking for a reason to kill heretics in the name of the God Emperor in Warhammer 40,000 Darktide, then look no further than the Skitarii DLC.
