Warhammer 40,000: Darktide Arbites DLC review — I am the Lex

As lawlessness runs rampant on the streets of Tertium and monstrosities overwhelm the reject forces of the Mourningstar, the Adeptus Arbites step in to enforce the Lex. In the first paid expansion to Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, you will take up arms as an Arbitrator to relentlessly pursue those who would desecrate the holy law alongside your Cyber Mastiff companion.

The first thing we should talk about is the hallmark feature of the new class, which is of course the dog. I had reservations about the usefulness of an AI companion, but those were quickly squashed the very first time I picked up the class. The dog is very active in attacking foes, and will fiercely target any elites that you ping. There are also a ton of skills that you can unlock to modify the Cyber Mastiffs behavior and killing potential. If you want the dog to be an elite devouring monster, you can do that. If you'd prefer the pooch to skulk in enemy backlines and ravage ranged units, you can do that too. I appreciate that you can control the dog as little or as much as you prefer, but I do think that Arbitrators who take a more active role in guiding their dog will see more success in higher difficulties. The dog isn't the only thing that the Arbites class brings to the table though, with a vast skill tree of over 80 nodes that you can tinker with.

Beginning with the Blitz abilities, the Arbites class has access to the Arbites Grenade, Voltaic Shock Mine and Remote Detonation. The grenade ability is the most straightforward, being a quick toss option with an impact detonation that can stagger large enemies or clear small areas. The mine requires more setup but with a larger payoff, locking down an area with electricity for around 15 seconds. The Remote Detonation is probably the most niche pick out of the Blitz options, generating an electric blast around your Cyber Mastiff when activated. Your dog isn’t always going to be exactly where you want them to be at all times, so your mileage with this ability will vary greatly depending on how well you can time it. 

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Moving down the skill tree into the combat abilities, the Arbites bring three powerful options to the table. My favorite was definitely Break The Line, a forward shove that will stagger enemies and briefly increase your damage. While the shove doesn’t do any damage on its own, the ability is on a wickedly short cooldown which more than makes up for it. If you prefer a more supportive playstyle, you might prefer the Nuncio-Aquila. This is the ability that the Arbites class starts out with, and deploys a small drone that offers up buffs to your teammates while debuffing any foes that enter its range. Finally there is the Castigators Stance, and while it’s definitely the least flashy ability, it certainly is no slouch in terms of lethality. When activating this ability, you lose the ability to sprint, but instead gain base movement speed and reduce damage taken by a whopping 80 percent. This is for those players who want to relentlessly tank damage while slaughtering their foes in an endless march. None of these abilities feel like they are an obvious pick over another, which really opened up the build diversity.

While you're free to build your Arbitrator however you like, there are two key paths to consider when activating your first set of keystones: playing with the dog and playing solo. While the dog is admittedly extremely useful and features plenty of skills to juice up their power, keeping the hound at home also offers a wealth of benefits. If you choose to go dog-less, you'll gain access to the Lone Wolf keystone, which grants you increased damage and attack speed, increased toughness damage reduction, and most notably, an increased Blitz charge paired with Blitz charge regeneration every 60 seconds. That means you can walk around with five Arbites Grenades in your pocket that also regenerate passively every minute, yeah it's about as insane as it sounds. Playing with and without the dog is a vastly different experience, and the diversity in the skill tree options really lends a lot of replayability to this class.

The Arbites class also brings four additional unique weapons to the arsenal: two new melee options and two ranged weapons. On the melee side, you'll start out with the Arbites Shock Maul, a crushing weapon that has the ability to stun electrocuted targets. If you want some ranged defensive capabilities, you can also wield the Shock Maul and Suppression Shield combo, which includes a special aoe attack that charges from blocking. You can also take a shield in with the Shotpistol & Riot Shield, the first time we've seen a shield paired with a ranged weapon. What really stole the show for me in the ranged category was the Exterminator shotgun, which is an unbelievable killing machine capable of unleashing a horizontal wave of justice. This shotgun can also perform a special reload to load the gun with either electric shells or armor debuffing shells depending on your weapon variant. While you still have access to some of the other weapons in the game like some of the autoguns, shotguns, axes and crushers, these new weapons are deadly additions that are both effective and fun to use, so I found myself gravitating towards using them. That isn't to say that they are blatantly better picks, but rather that they fit nicely into the game and feel great to add into my build.

If there was one downside to the new class, it would be that they don't fit neatly into the narrative of the game. Prior to their release, the entire cast of characters are nobodies, quite literally rejects rising through the ranks over the course of the game. The Arbitrator is tasked with simply tagging along, and while the narrative was never something that was truly engaging, it is certainly noticeable that they don't fit in the same way the original cast did. For me, it wasn't a large enough issue to really impact my experience, but for new players, I would suggest playing through the game on an original class first if you want to experience the campaign as it was intended.

The Arbites class brings a jolt of new life into Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, featuring a diverse and interesting skilltree that offers a ton of build variety. Toting an arsenal of punchy and deadly weapons, the Arbitrator with or without their mechanical hound fits well into any team and is a fantastic addition to the game. With a very reasonable price tag of $12, Developer Fatshark has set the bar high for future classes and I hope that they continue to support the game with fun and engaging content like this in the future.