Best Chem Toxin Hive Scum Build in Darktide

by

In the game Darktide, the Hive Scum are nimble, close-combat fighters who excel at both shooting and melee attacks. They’re incredibly mobile and use a variety of dangerous, improvised weapons found within Tertium’s criminal underbelly – everything from dual pistols to crude knives and poisonous saws.

There are many ways to create a Hive Scum character in Darktide, but if you want a build that performs well both while leveling up and in challenging missions, this Chem Toxin build is a great option.

This character build has performed well on Damnation difficulty, and we anticipate it will also be successful in Auric missions.

Best Hive Scum Leveling Build in Darktide

Okay, so I’ve been experimenting with builds for Hive Scum, and I’ve found that going with the Chem Toxin path is seriously the fastest way to level up. Here’s why it works so well…

  • It’s good for both ranged and melee combat.
  • The damage it deals is more consistent than a melee Rampage build.
  • You get free Stimms that you can share with the entire squad.
  • It has very low ability downtime.

While other character builds are perfectly viable, the Chem Toxin build is arguably the most fragile. This might make it challenging on higher difficulties like Auric. However, the benefits from skills like Stimm Supply and related perks can compensate for its low durability, making it a potentially powerful option.

The great thing is, you don’t need to be very high level – just 25 – to get the key abilities for this character build. The images show you how to progress, but prioritize unlocking these specific perks as quickly as you can.

  • Precision Violence: Gain Toughness on Melee Hit. Critical Strikes and Weakspot hits replenish more Toughness.
  • Anarchist: Gives you and teammates in Coherency more Critical Chance.
  • Stimm Supply: Drop a modded medcrate that releases Stimm fumes. Affected allies heal Corruption over time, and they are affected by whatever Stimm you have equipped. Get all three of Stimm Supply’s nodes to get the following effects:
    • Booby Trap makes your Stimm crate explode when its duration expires.
    • Fast Acting Stimms reduces your crate’s duration to 5 seconds, but its effects will linger for 15 seconds even after leaving the cloud. This also makes Booby Trap trigger faster.
    • Practiced Deployment instantly recharges Stimm Supply when you get a new Stimm or if your custom Stimm cools down.
  • Punching Above One’s Weight: Deal more damage against Elites and Monstrosities.
  • Hive City Brawler: Grants up to 20% damage reduction based on available Stamina as well as up to 20% bonus melee damage based on missing Stamina.
  • Adrenaline Frenzy: Gain bonus attack speed and melee damage upon reaching 30 stacks of Adrenaline. Stacks are gained through Melee Hits.
    • Stoked Rage increases Adrenaline Frenzy’s duration to 20 seconds.
  • Potent Tox: Gain 10% bonus Chem Toxin damage.
  • Sample Collector: Kills replenish 1% of your custom Stimm’s cooldown. Killing enemies affected by Chem Toxin replenishes 2% instead.
  • Coated Weaponry: Melee Critical Strikes apply 1 stack of Chem Toxin to your target.
  • Toxin Mania: Gain up to15% base damage per nearby enemy affected by Chem Toxin.
  • Toxic Renewal: Replenish 15% Toughness when an enemy affected by Chem Toxin dies from a melee attack.

Use any points you have left to get perks that help you stay alive, like Burst of Energy and Targeted Toxin.

Using Practiced Deployment and Sample Collector allows you to get multiple uses out of Stimm Supply during large enemy encounters, but only if you can apply Chem Toxin to a lot of enemies before they are defeated.

Stimm Lab Setup

The Hive Scum’s Stimm Lab is unique compared to classes like the Arbitrator in Darktide. Investing points in any Stimm Lab upgrade lets you create a customized Stimm that combines the effects you’ve chosen. Keep in mind that the more potent your Stimm (higher Viscosity), the longer you’ll have to wait before you can use it again.

We suggest focusing entirely on increasing your attack speed and cooldown regeneration in this build. Faster attacks let you apply the Chem Toxin effect more frequently, and quicker cooldowns mean your teammates can use their skills more often. While you won’t personally need much cooldown regeneration thanks to certain perks, it’s still a helpful bonus.

If I’m getting wrecked a lot, I usually switch my skill points to the defensive upgrades instead of focusing on attack speed. It helps me stay alive longer!

Using Stimm Supply will temporarily disable your custom Stimm. It’s best to use your custom Stimm first whenever you can, before using Stimm Supply.

Best Chem Toxin Hive Scum Weapons

Weapon Blessings Perks
Bone Saw Refined Lethality — Increases weak spot damage against enemies with Chem Toxin Decapitator — Gain Finesse when you one-shot enemies.
  • Damage to Unarmored
  • Damage to Flak Armored Enemies
Needle Pistol Ghost — Become immune to ranged attacks for a short duration after hitting weakspots. Stripped Down — Become immune to ranged attacks when sprinting while your Stamina is above a certain percentage.
  • Reload Speed
  • Damage to Carapace Armor

The Bone Saw is a strong choice for this build, mainly because it automatically applies Chem Toxin with each attack. It’s effective for both clearing out groups of enemies and taking on tougher foes like Elites and Specialists. While not ideal, the Bone Saw’s special ability can coat the blade with Rend, offering some effectiveness against enemies with Carapace Armor, but save that for emergencies.

You can also use Shivs combined with either Flesh Tearer or Lacerate. The bleeding effects from these abilities will combine with the Chem Toxin you apply with critical hits using the Coated Weaponry skill. Shivs are a simpler weapon to use, but applying Chem Toxin with them isn’t as reliable because it depends on landing critical hits.

For dealing with tough enemies, the Needle Pistol is your best bet. It’s especially good at taking down Elites, Specials, and Bosses. In Darktide, armored enemies like Crushers can be really difficult, but the Needle Pistol’s Chem Toxin quickly destroys their health. It’ll make short work of most other threats too.

The Chem Grenade is a top choice for dealing with Hive Scum thanks to its strong damage and the lasting effect it has on an area. It also applies Chem Toxin to enemies, boosting the effectiveness of any skills you have that work with that toxin.

When choosing equipment for your Curios, focus on increasing Toughness first, then Stamina. If necessary, look for items that also boost your Health and Wounds.

Weapon Blessings

Improving your Bone Saw’s Finesse and weak spot damage helps you quickly eliminate weaker enemies on harder difficulties. This makes controlling groups easier without significantly reducing your damage against tougher enemies like Maulers and Ragers.

We also discovered that defensive Blessings, like Ghost and Stripped Down, are more helpful with the Needle Pistol than offensive ones. Because this build is fragile, these defensive boosts will keep you from being overwhelmed by groups of enemies who attack from a distance.

When you land a critical hit with a weapon that uses Chem Toxin, it will build up the toxin’s effects faster. Also, the damage Chem Toxin deals seems to be boosted by perks that improve your damage against different types of health and armor.

How to Play the Build

Your primary goal should be to eliminate heavily armored enemies like Crushers as fast as possible. The Chem Toxin is very effective – even with a basic Needle Pistol, just five shots can often kill a Crusher on Auric difficulty (especially in the Psykhanium). A single headshot with that same pistol is usually enough to take down most Elites and Specials too.

Remember, you also provide support to your team. Before a major battle, use Stimm Supply to boost everyone’s stats, then fight until the enemy is defeated. Here’s some advice on how to use this strategy effectively:

  • Keep in mind that Stimm Supply will explode thanks to Booby Trap. This is great if you’re getting swarmed by a gaggle of Ragers.
  • Stimm Supply’s cooldown only begins after the crate disappears from the map. If you want to refresh it quickly with a Chem Grenade, make sure the crate isn’t on the field anymore.
  • Chem Toxin deals less damage against Infested enemies.
  • Human-sized enemies (except Maulers) die to a single Needle Pistol shot to the chest.
  • The Bone Saw has to crowd control combos:
    • Light → Heavy
    • Push Attack → Heavy → Heavy

Read More

2025-12-04 18:07