Are you having trouble managing the suppression effect in Darktide? Don’t worry, you’re not alone! Facing off against foes and coping with this game mechanic can be tricky – but it doesn’t have to be. In this complete guide, we’ll provide all the information and advice you need to get a handle on playing with (and avoiding) suppression.
From illuminating how exactly suppression works in Darktide to sharing some tips for succeeding despite it, by the end of this article, you’ll feel empowered to take on any situation in-game using your newfound knowledge.
So, What is Suppression in Darktide?
Darktide has a bunch of new elements that shake up the standard of horde-slaying shooters like Left 4 Dead. While Vermintide 2 focuses more on melee combat, the shifting focus for more gunplay in Darktide has resulted in more gameplay mechanics. One of the newer mechanics that plays a prominent role in Darktide is Suppression.
Suppression is a status effect that occurs whenever a ranged weapon hits you and you have no Toughness. It causes your accuracy to decline severely, making it difficult to retaliate while under fire. Suppression also lowers your movement speed because feeling the impact and recoil of a bullet would make a regular mortal stop in their tracks or make it ridiculously hard to return fire while being shot.
Suppression only gets stronger when firing an automatic weapon like an Autogun. For example, Gunners and Reapers both use fully automatic weapons, which will actively Suppress you while dealing tons of chip damage unless you are in cover. It’s also showcased in Darktide’s tutorial that enabling counterfire from cover while being suppressed also has the same penalties.
In Darktide, suppression makes ranged enemies far more dangerous. Aside from poking down your Toughness or your HP, they also act as some ranged crowd control. Being suppressed by a few stray shots will make you stagger and throw off your aim for a few seconds, but being fully suppressed by a Reaper or a Gunner can practically stunlock you while making it nearly impossible to counterfire until you escape into cover.
Related Guide: How to Defeat Maniac Enemies in Darktide
Supressing Your Enemies
However, Suppression isn’t a mechanic tied only to your enemies; your ranged weapons can also Suppress your foes. Of course, Suppression will always become more noticeable and prominent when using an automatic weapon rather than a revolver. However, this means you can suppress other ranged units or make roaming squads scramble into cover.
If you want to easily suppress your enemies, we recommend you run with a Veteran Sharpshooter build that has a weapon with lots of ammo capacity. In this way, you can lay down lots of covering fire if desired.
How Do You Counter Suppression in Darktide?
Suppression is difficult to fight against, and in most cases, it’s better to retreat into cover or wait until the enemy has to reload. If you have the opportunity to flank or have an alternative way to approach the enemy, you can avoid a lot of stray bullets when trying to duck and slide under fire. The Ogryn Skullbreaker and the Zealot Preacher both have charge abilities, which can make closing the distance to a ranged threat significantly easier and help you avoid Suppression.
Of course, it’s important to note that you will not be Suppressed until your Toughness is fully broken, so the more Toughness you have, the more bullets you can take before you’re Suppressed.
How can you use Suppression to your Advantage in Darktide?
In Darktide, suppression can shift the tide of battle in your favor in several small ways. Suppose a roaming squad of guardsmen spotted you and had a chance to get into cover before you could gun them down. If you take small potshots at them, making an active approach will Suppress them, making them less likely to retaliate against your advance until you are already in melee range.
There are several traits that you can equip or find on various weapons across all the classes. For example, there is a weapon trait called Terrifying Barrage, which Suppresses enemies within a 5m radius on a close-range kill. This trait will help Suppress and lightly stagger any nearby enemies that aren’t being already gunned down, which can be extremely handy for all classes to help alleviate the pressure of melee enemies or those who are about to flank you.
Suppression isn’t as helpful when dealing with bosses, elites, or special enemies in Darktide since they shrug off crowd control effects much better than the common soldier or cannon fodder, but you will be fighting those lesser enemies for the majority of each level, so Suppression will aid you, even without you knowing.
Summary
Suppression is a serious status effect in Darktide that can make it difficult to retaliate or even move. When under fire from an automatic weapon, the suppression gets even stronger. Thankfully, there are ways to counter suppression such as retreating behind cover or attacking when the enemy has to reload.
You can also turn things around on your enemies. As an example, utilize traits like Terrifying Barrage to help suppress enemies yourself.
Overall, Suppression in Darktide is both helpful and harmful to everyone. You are bound to notice the downsides of being Suppressed more than the upsides, but we assure you that returning fire on your enemies and keeping them pinned behind cover does help you in the long run. Suppression is a mechanic that only a few other games have tried, and only time will tell if this mechanic sees more common play across different games.
What’s your experience with suppression been like? Let us know below!
If you enjoyed our short breakdown of what Suppression is and how it affects your gameplay in Warhammer 40K: Darktide, check out our explanation for all weapon stats and traits in Darktide. Good hunting, Rejects!
