Warhammer 40,000: Darktide - 10 Best Curios (2024)

In Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, Curios are incredibly important. Curios, for those unaware, are defined basically as any sort of 'rare' or 'unique' object. And, in media, this word is usually used to describe ancient relics, artifacts, or mysterious items. In Warhammer 40,000: Darktide however, Curios are what players use to apply a variety of different buffs to themselves, almost like rings or pendants in other games. While weapon blessings and perks modify that weapon itself in Darktide, Curios modify the player equipping them. There are a wide variety of Curio Perks, and at the highest rarity, they can have up to 3 Perks and 1 Blessing.

Now, at max level, players in Warhammer 40k: Darktide can equip up to 3 Curios at once, of any rarity between Common, Rare, Epic, and Legendary. This isn't going to suddenly propel players to the level of a Primarch in terms of strength or anything like that, but it'll have a big impact in general. So, which Curio Effects, both in terms of blessings and perks, should players always keep an eye out for?

Updated October 8th, 2023 by Jacob Buchalter: Warhammer 40k Darktide has had quite the experience after it was released. At first, the game faced a ton of backlash due to a variety of factors, with one of the primary things being how simplistic the classes were in comparison to Fatshark's previous game, Warhammer Vermintide 2. However, the dev team buckled down and has been working for the better part of a year on a big class overhaul update. Now that it's out, the game is seeing player numbers very similar to (and sometimes even surpassing) what it was showing on release. So with that in mind, let's take another look at some of the best Curio effects to look out for as players return to the game or experience it for the first time with Xbox Game Pass.

10 Toughness & Toughness Regenerations Speed Perks Or Blessings

Let's make something clear right off the bat, some of these recommendations will apply more to specific classes in Darktide than others. For example, the bonus Toughness percentage and Toughness Regeneration Speed Curios do wonders for Zealots and Ogryns but aren't the 'best-in-slot' thing for Psykers to use, as many Psyker players will notice their Toughness still almost entirely disappears after only a single hit.

Ogryns and Zealots just have a lot of different passive bonuses and Talent Tree bonuses related to Toughness overall. Plus, even if it's more noticeable on other classes, either of these Toughness-related Perks and Blessings is amazing for all four classes. The bonus overall Toughness is also a rare example of a Curio Effect with both a Perk and Blessing effect, giving players access to a whole lot of extra Toughness.

9 Max Health Perks & Blessings

This is a Curio effect more in line with Psyker and Sharpshooter builds, though of course it still depends on user preference. The Psyker, after the Class Overhaul update, now has a lot of ways to both mitigate Peril and quickly regenerate Toughness (especially using a Soulfire build). However, that said, when Psykers do take damage, it has a much larger impact than on any other class.

Additionally, since Psykers only have a single Wound (by default) before they're captured in higher-difficulty missions (Heresy and above), having +25 percent extra Max HP allows them to take an extra hit or two before going down. While this may not sound like much, it's usually the difference between life and death. And all that's just for the Psyker. Every other playable class in Darktide benefits greatly from the bonus Max Health, especially the Ogryn and Zealot. Additionally, this is one of the few Curio effects that has both a Blessing and Perk variant, allowing players to stack their Max HP amounts pretty high.

8 Chance Of Curio As Mission Reward & Experience Perks

This next Perk effect is a unique inclusion, as it basically amounts to 'use it while leveling up to 30, then never again afterward'. After players reach level 30 (or arguably even level 25+) in Darktide, any Curio with either of these effects almost always has those effects rerolled at Hadron. The Bonus Experience effect should be obvious, given that there's no reason to keep it when players are already at max level, however, the Curio Chance effect has a bit more reasoning behind it.

While it may seem worthwhile to use when farming for that 'perfect' Curio, thanks to the massive changes Fatshark has made with Hadron's area over time, it's never been easier to get the exact effects a player wants on their Curio. So, while this effect may have been situationally worthwhile in older patches, nowadays it's really not worth it. Of course, for players still leveling up, feel free to use either of these effects constantly and make sure to get the highest 'tier' of them put onto the Curio at Hadron. But, once those players hit max level, it's time to reroll any Curios with these effects on them.

7 Damage Resistance (Snipers) Perk

This next recommendation is another odd one because while the entry title does say 'Snipers' specifically, this is really just a recommendation for players to build Damage Resistance against whatever Elite enemy they find themselves struggling with the most.

Snipers are the most obvious pick, as they have massive bursts of instant damage and often get at least one shot off before they're killed, but there's an argument to be made for getting Damage Resistance against any other Elite enemy (outside of maybe Bombers or Pox Hounds). So, for players who often find themselves feeling happy they're all healed up, only to lose a big chunk of their health to a random Sniper shot, this Perk Effect is worth looking into.

6 Block Efficiency Perk

Block Efficiency may not initially seem important as players are leveling their characters. But, the further they get in the game and the harder the difficulty they attempt, the quicker they'll realize that Stamina and Block Efficiency are vital. It was crucially important in Vermintide 2, and it's just as important (if not more so) in Darktide. The higher one's Block Efficiency is, the less Stamina they'll lose on average while blocking attacks.

Now, players who have become proficient at clearing Malice-level missions may wonder how beneficial this really is, given that Dodging and Pushing are more beneficial than Blocking (in general) at that difficulty. But, once they move up to Heresy and Damnation, these players will have to quickly adapt to blocking just to survive, and now that classes like the Ogryn, Zealot, and even the Psyker (when blocking using Peril) can tank Monstrocities even easier, Blocking Efficiency has another layer of reasoning as to why it's worth investing in.

5 Additional Wound(s) Blessing

Now, when rejects first start out in Darktide, Wounds might seem like something only people who plan to die should build into. The Sedition and Uprising difficulties are too easy after a couple of levels worth of experience, even for new players, and Malice is only truly tough with a bad team. But, as soon as players start moving up to Heresy and Damnation difficulties, they'll notice how much of an impact proper Perks and Blessings on Curios can make.

Sure, it may seem like a player is building themselves in a way to prepare for when they fail, which isn't the most 'efficient' use of their limited Curio slots. However, especially in the new Maelstrom missions, there can sometimes be more Elite and Monstrocity-type enemies swarming the outcasts than basic Scabs. And, in the scenarios, it's very beneficial to have an extra Wound or two before fully getting 'captured', as rescuing teammates in these chaotically difficult missions is also pretty difficult. Thankfully, these +1 Wound Blessings Stack as well, making already hardy classes even more difficult to kill.

4 Stamina Regeneration Perk & Max Stamina Blessing

If a player has a bunch of extra Block Efficiency on their Curio Perks yet only has three 'pips' of Stamina to block with using that Efficiency, it's really not going to matter. Curios that grant additional Max Stamina (Blessings only, not Perks), as well as increase Stamina Regeneration Perks, are absolutely crucial once people get a handle on the 'ebb and flow' of Darktide's 'incredibly tactical' melee combat.

Even Psykers running the Kinetic Deflection Talent Tree passive (which lets them block with Peril instead of Stamina) need to keep this in mind since their block will 'switch' to using Stamina once they're at 98 percent Peril. In general, this Perk effect (and especially the Max Stamina Blessing) is mostly sought after by Zealots and Ogryns, as it allows them to freely control an area of enemies using blocks and shoves much easier so that the rest of their squad can focus on clearing in front of them or picking off Elite enemies.

3 Combat Ability Regeneration Perk

Originally when Darktide first launched, Combat Ability Regeneration was a bit of a 'bait' Perk to invest into. While being able to use Combat Abilities more often sounds nice, the actual percentage effect it had, even at the max 'tier' of Perk level, was very minimal. Nowadays, however, it's a lot more noticeable thanks to some fine-tuning on Fatshark's part. Additionally, the Class Overhaul allowed players to specifically spec their Talent Points into Cooldown Reduction or 'Regeneration', which would stack on top of the Combat Ability Regeneration.

However, this is still one of the lower-ranked Perks to keep an eye out for. It's obviously leaps and bounds better than bonus Experience Perks or Curio Reward Chance Perks, but no one is going to give up their Bonus Health Perk for a +4 Percent Combat Ability Regeneration one.

2 Damage Resistance (Gunners) Perk

Gunners in Darktide are, to some people, even scarier than Elite enemies, Specialists, or even the Monstrocities. These basic enemies (as well as the Specialist Enemies using guns) can absolutely shred both a player's Toughness and their HP in just a couple of seconds depending on how 'exposed' the player is. The Suppression mechanic that Darktide introduces in it's tutorial is actually a lot more complex than it initially seems, and even after all these months of updates players still find themselves frustrated with how some gun-wielding enemies don't seem to get Suppressed on higher difficulties.

And, while there are some strategies that groups of players can implement to counterplay this (Deflector Sword on Psyker, Slab Shield on Ogryn, using cover and corners in general), nothing helps more than overall damage reduction. There are Damage Resistance Perks on Curios for just about every enemy type, from Poxwalkers to Elites, but the ones for Gunners seem to make the biggest impact overall, at least on average. There are obviously some classes where certain Damage Resistance Perks for certain enemy types are better, but as a whole Gunner, Damage Resistance is the most used by the player base. Just remember, while these Resistances do stack across multiple Curios, the math is a bit more complicated and three Curios with +20 Percent won't exactly add up to +60 Percent Damage Resistance overall.

1 Revive Speed (Ally) Perk

It used to be that Ogryn's were the teammates best for reviving others, thanks to how their Loyal Protector passive used to work. Now, after the Class Overhaul, reviving allies (especially newbie Psykers) is everyone's job but the Ogryn's, as most of the time they'll be busy mowing everything down or taunting all nearby enemies. So, it pays to look out for Perks that buff Ally Revive Speed, even if it's not an exciting effect that helps players deal more damage. This way, veteran players can help keep the influx of Game Pass players around by making sure they make it through each mission, which is a reward in a whole other right.

As long as players learn (or remember from their time in Vermintide) that they can block before starting the revive process to automatically block while reviving, any class can easily revive their ally in the middle of a swarm of disgustingly 'too human' Scabs. Granted, this Perk isn't really worth using at any level before Tier 3, but thanks to the way the 'Entreat Hadron' area of the hub works now, upping that Tier isn't very difficult.

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