[Updated to version 5.2.3]

This guide is meant both to teach the specific mechanics of weapons and talents of the character, as well as to showcase many different builds for distinct playstyles.
The goal is that you can find interesting, yet effective builds that best suit your preferences, even those weapons and talents which everyone keeps saying are trash simply because they are not "meta".
Everything you see here has been properly tested throughout several games.

Disclaimers:
When talking about breakpoints, I don't consider Wargors specials even though they technically are. What I mean is, if you read "all specials", that means all specials EXCEPT Wargors.

I tried to adjust the properties' percentages to the bare minimum required to reach the intended breakpoints, but sometimes it's just impossible. If you want to make sure you reach them without perfect stats, use the breakpoint calculator (link below).

Legend:
THP = Temporal Health Points
Pv* = Power vs *something* (S for Skaven, C for Chaos, I for Infantry, etc.)
BCR = Block Cost Reduction
CDR = Cooldown Reduction
AS = Attack Speed
DRv* = Damage Reduction vs *something* (S for Skaven, C for Chaos, AoE for Area of Effect)
SBS = Shot Body Shot
SHS = Shot Head Shot
CW = Chaos Warriors
SV = Stormvermin
LAtt = Light Attack
HAtt = Heavy Attack
PAtt = Push Attack
L* = Light attack number *something*
H* = Heavy attack number *something*
BlockCancel = Pressing block input to reset attack combos

Check my other guides:
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3032728547
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3035006334
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3176406871
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3186904330
Here are some links to other great stuff made by the community:

• Breakpoint calculator v14.11b (thanks to OrangeChris [original author] and VernonKun [current author]): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1n8fq0MF6xvZlwSSM__O6N8mEsgHbPKbrBWA8NJOSPx8/edit?gid=62597031#gid=62597031
  
• Royale w/ Cheese guides (thanks to, well, Royale w/ Cheese): https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/id/dylanrong/myworkshopfiles/?section=guides&appid=552500&p=1
  
• Armory mod wiki: https://forums.fatsharkgames.com/t/guide-armory-weapon-stats-info/49286
  
• Vermintide 2 Arsenal comparator (by me. This a WIP spreadsheet made to quickly compare different weapons): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1NfBK30PuLJGwoOSqrah24tMRUh53WGE2AwvZzbijSyU/edit?usp=sharing
  
• A great Bounty Hunter guide that goes very deep into his mechanics (by Jaysea):
  https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2457614039

Victor is the best all-rounder character in the game. All of his weapons are flexible and, between all careers, he can fulfil any role in the team.
His overall gameplay has a high skill ceilling, but it's relatively easy to learn the basics, even for beginners.
Every weapon has it's own specific quirks that makes them unique. Special attacks, weird attack patterns, different types of cleave and armor penetration, etc.
Learning all of that takes time, therefore I recommend that you practice with them one by one. This is true for both melee and ranged weapons, and adding talents and passives only adds to the difficulty.
Victor's weapons are not very strong on their own, but in combination with the right talents you can become a death machine.
The contrary is also true though, forget to change one or two key talents and you are screwed. So it's very important that you pay attention to your gear before joining a match.
Thankfully his careers have a lot of variety, so it's always possible to make them work.

Fast strikes, horde-clear, armor penetration, headshot bonus, improved block, cheap pushes
The Rapier is a weapon with very fast attack speed and high damage and cleave against unarmored enemies, making it excellent at dealing with hordes with its light attacks.
The heavy attacks have a lot of armor penetration and headshot bonus damage, making them extremely good against armored elites.
The Rapier has decent stamina, very high dodge distance and good and cheap pushes. Despite not being a shield weapon, it also has increased block cost reduction.

You can shoot the pistol sidearm by using the "weapon special" key, normally bound to the Middle Mouse. You can use this while blocking without exposing yourself. It's good to stagger enemies at short to medium range, with the exception of elites during their attack animations and some specials. Additionally, this action resets the timed block window.
Heavy attacks have two different charging stages, each dealing different amounts of damage.
Combos:
- vs hordes: LAtt spam
- vs mixed hordes: PAtt+L2+L3
- vs elites: HAtt spam

Horde-clear, armor penetration, shieldbreaker
The Falchion is a weapon with fast attack speed and very high damage and cleave against unarmored enemies, making it excellent at dealing with hordes.
The heavy attacks and light attack 3 (overhead) have some armor penetration, not a lot, but enough to kill armored elites at a decent rate.
The Falchion has decent stamina, very high dodge distance and good and cheap pushes.

Light attack 3 and heavy attacks break wooden shields.
Combos:
- vs hordes: LAtt spam
- vs mixed hordes: LAtt spam // HAtt spam
- vs elites: HAtt spam

Armor penetration, shieldbreaker
The Axe is a weapon with fast attack speed and very high damage per hit and armor penetration, which makes it incredibly strong against elites. Unfortunately it can't cleave through enemies, making it terrible at fighting hordes.
The Axe has decent stamina, high dodge distance and good and cheap pushes.

Heavy attacks break wooden shields.
Combos:
- vs hordes: LAtt spam
- vs mixed hordes: LAtt spam
- vs elites: HAtt spam

Horde-clear, shieldbreaker
The Greatsword has very high cleave (heavy attacks can even cleave through armored enemies) and high damage against unarmored enemies, making it an excellent choice to fight hordes. The only way it can deal damage to armored enemies though is through its push attack, which makes it a bit worse in high difficulties.
The Greatsword has decent stamina, average dodge distance and good pushes.

Push attacks break wooden shields.
Combos:
- vs hordes: LAtt spam
- vs mixed hordes: HAtt spam
- vs elites: PAtt

Horde-clear, stagger, ignore shields
The Flail has very high cleave (heavy attacks can even cleave through armored enemies) and high stagger strength. It's damage is not the greatest, but it has some decent armor penetration. Very dependant on talents buffs to work.
The Flail has decent stamina, good dodge distance and good and cheap pushes.

All attacks ignore shields.
Combos:
- vs hordes: HAtt spam
- vs mixed hordes: HAtt spam
- vs elites: LAtt spam

Fast strikes, horde-clear
The Axe & Flachion is a well-rounded weapon with good mobility on its light attacks. It has low cleave but very fast attack speed and deals high damage against all types of enemies. It's basically good at everything and very easy to use.
The Axe & Flachion has decent stamina, very high dodge distance and good pushes.

Combos:
- vs hordes: PAtt+L2+L3 // L1+L2+BlockCancel
- vs mixed hordes: LAtt Spam // L1+L2+BlockCancel
- vs elites: HAtt spam

Stagger
The Billhook is a balanced weapon with two major strengths: high single target damage on heavy attacks and the special attack, which can interrupt almost any enemy. It also has long range with some attacks and a strong push attack, which makes it a relatively safe weapon.
The Billhook has decent stamina, high dodge distance and good pushes.

Special attacks costs half point of stamina when hitting an enemy. In addition to its horde-clear combo being reliant on push attacks, this makes the Billhook very dependant on stamina.
Special attacks can interrupt every enemy movement/attack except Monsters, Lords and Globadiers suicide runs. This means that they can even interrupt Chaos Warrior's overheads and Packmasters drags.
Light attack 3 and Special attacks increase your movement speed.
Light attack 3 chains into Light attack 2.
Heavy attack 1 deals extra damage to monsters.
Combos:
- vs hordes: PAtt+L2
- vs mixed hordes: PAtt+H2
- vs elites: Special+H2

(Warrior Priest only)
Horde-clear, improved block, high stamina, stagger, ignore shields
The Flail & Shield has insane horde-clear, with very high damage against all types of enemies, cleave (heavy attacks can even cleave through armored enemies) and stagger strength. All of this while being very defensive and easy to use.
The Flail & Shield has high stamina, high dodge distance and very strong pushes.

Heavy attacks ignore shields.
While charging heavy attacks, you can block attacks.
Combos:
- vs hordes: HAtt spam
- vs mixed hordes: H1+H2
- vs elites: L1+L2+BlockCancel

(Zealot and Warrior Priest only)
Horde-clear, armor penetration, stagger, shieldbreaker, complex combos
The Reckoner Great Hammer is slow, but it has good horde-clear thanks to its high damage, cleave (some attacks can even cleave through armored enemies) and stagger strength. It's also excellent against elites due to its high single target damage and armor penetration.
The Reckoner Great Hammer has decent stamina, short dodge distance and good pushes.

It has a special attack that is a push attack when playing as Zealot, or a funny punch when playing as Warrior Priest. Other than memeing it's pretty bad.
Ligh attacks 1 and 2 and Heavy attack 3 break wooden shields.
Combos:
- vs hordes: H1+H2+L3
- vs mixed hordes: H1+H2+L3
- vs elites: L1+L2+H3

(Zealot and Warrior Priest only)
Fast strikes, horde-clear, stagger
The Paired Skull-Splitters have fast attack speed and excellent cleave, making them insane at killing hordes. Their attacks also have high stagger strength (although they need some extra power to reach stagger breakpoints).
The heavy attacks, specially the first one of the chain, deals good damage against elites, so it doesn't really have a clear weakness.
The Paired Skull-Splitters have high stamina, good dodge distance and very good pushes.

Combos:
- vs hordes: LAtt spam
- vs mixed hordes: L1+H2+H3
- vs elites: H1+BlockCancel

(Warrior Priest only)
Armor penetration, stagger, shieldbreaker, AoE
The Skull-Splitter & Blessed Tome specializes in high single target damage with both light attacks and heavy attacks. The heavy attacks can be thrown normally, but when they are fully charged they gain a special effect. Heavy attack 1 makes you dash forward when fully charged, while Heavy attack 2 creates an explosion that deals good damage and has high stagger strength.
The Skull-Splitter & Blessed Tome has decent stamina, good dodge distance and very good pushes.

Heavy attacks break wooden shields.
Special attack button allows you to pre-charge heavy attacks. Swapping to the other weapon doesn't remove the charge.
Combos:
- vs hordes: LAtt spam
- vs mixed hordes: L1+charged H2
- vs elites: L1+H2

(Warrior Priest only)
Armor penetration, improved block, high stamina, stagger, shieldbreaker
The Skull-Splitter & Shield is a very solid shield weapon with high stagger strength on its attacks and high armor penetration. It takes time to kill hordes with it, but that's to be expected on a shield weapon.
The Skull-Splitter & Shield has very high stamina, short dodge distance and very strong pushes.

Heavy attack 1 is a shield slam that breaks wooden shields.
Combos:
- vs hordes: (L1+)L2+H2
- vs mixed hordes: PAtt+L3
- vs elites: PAtt+L3

(Zealot and Warrior Priest only)
Armor penetration, high stamina, stagger, shieldbreaker
The Skull-Splitter Hammer push attack is excellent at killing hordes of infantry, even if they have shields, but it struggles a lot with a mix of infantry and armored elites. If the elites are isolated though, the heavy attacks have good armor penetration and stagger strength, making it easy to kill them.
The Skull-Splitter Hammer has very high stamina, good dodge distance and good and cheap pushes.

Heavy attacks break wooden shields.
Combos:
- vs hordes: PAtt
- vs mixed hordes: PAtt+L1+L2
- vs elites: HAtt spam

Mid range, armor penetration, special sniping, rapid fire
With high clip size and good breakpoints on specials, the Brace of pistols is a reliable and flexible weapon, capable of killing several enemies before having to reload.
Left click
Shoots a bullet. It doesn't have a long range, but thanks to its clip size it's more forgiving on bad aim.

Right click
Holding Right Click changes fire type to automatic (holding left click shoots bullets non-stop). Shooting this way is only faster, the projectiles are exactly the same and deal the same damage, but you do loose some accuracy.

It reloads two bullets per animation, making it more flexible but it also takes longer to refill the entire magazine. It requires good ammunition management since it needs more than one bullet to kill elites and specials.

Mid range, horde-clear, special sniping, rapid fire
Volley Crossbow shoots very quickly and has a high capacity magazine, but reloading it is extremely slow.
Left click
Shoots a single bolt, that deals decent damage and is capable of cleaving through one or two regular infantry enemies without loosing much damage.
Useful to snipe specials at mid range without wasting ammo.

Right click
Looses accuracy, but shoots three bolts simultaneously in a horizontal pattern (one left, one center, one right).

Shooting in this mode is good against close range specials and elites, since it can kill them quicker than the regular shots, but it can also make you waste some ammo. It is also good to clear thick hordes of infantry thanks to its cleave.

Short range, special sniping, rapid fire
Repeater Pistol has very short effective range (10 meters), making breakpoints very unreliable. Having 8 bullets per magazine and a quick reload speed makes it decent in theory, but it's low damage and range makes it very hard to not run out of ammo.
Left click
Shoots a single bullet, dealing decent damage.
Useful to snipe specials at mid range without wasting ammo.

Right click
Makes the barrel spin. Shooting during this time shoots all the remaining bullets in the magazine at once, which is a very high burst damage capable of killing elites at short range (except Chaos Warriors). Obviously this costs a lot of ammunition and should be used carefully.

Long range, armor penetration, special sniping
The Crossbow is Viktor's best weapon to snipe specials, but it lacks damage on its own to reach important breakpoints. This means that you will need to take advantage of your careers buffs.
It has a decent amount of ammo and reload speed, so missing shots is not as punishing as with other sniping weapons.
Holding right click zooms in the camera and improves your accuracy.

Short range, horde-clear, AoE
Griffon-foot Pistols are Viktor's shotgun, but they are not like any other shotgun in the game.
Left click
The spread pattern of this weapon is very wide, making it absurdly strong against hordes of infantry, but it lacks armor penetration, making it terrible against armored elites.

Right click
Viktor punches enemies with the weapon's grip, dealing barely any damage but pushing regular infantry away.

It reloads two bullets per animation, making it more flexible but it also takes longer to refill the entire magazine.

The Witch Hunter Captain is an excellent melee dps, capable of killing both hordes and elites with ease.
The passive "Witch Hunt" and the career skill "Animosity" grant a lot of utility to the entire team by providing extra damage, crit chance and cc.
You don't loose stamina when blocking frontal light attacks, which can help you gain time for your stamina to recover or to regroup with your teammates if you get separated.
Additionally your headshots have 25% bonus damage and critical hit headshots instantly slay man-sized enemies (all enemies except Chaos Warriors, Wargors, Monsters and Lords).

Some general tips when playing as Witch Hunter Captain are to stay near other frontliners to cover their flanks and kill elites as soon as they get close; while also keeping an eye on specials to kill them if your teammates can't or are too busy.

• Strengths: High single target damage, good horde-clear, all-rounder, easy to play.
  
• Weaknesses: Squishy, poor mobility, slightly dependant on rng.

"Animosity" pushes nearby enemies away, throwing them to the ground and interrupting their attacks, making it an extremely strong ability in tough situations. Additionally, it greatly increases crit chance to yourself and all nearby allies, boosting everyone's dps. Using it during hordes is never a bad idea, since you can recover it relatively soon with your fast-attacking weapons.

• THP on crit/headshot can generate tons of THP if you can land headshots consistently, which you should when playing Witch Hunter Captain in order to take advantage of his passives.
  
• THP on hit is very strong and reliable with how fast Victor's weapons are. A great option with high cleave weapons like Flail and Greatsword, or if you are not good enough at landing headshots.

• "Riposte" encourages bad habits and rewards you with something you already have plenty thanks to your career skill. It opens two properties, since you won't need extra crit chance, but the other two options in this row are too strong in comparison.
  
• "Deathknell" is not a straight 50% extra damage, but it still is a big buff, plus it sinergizes greatly with the Rapier and the Axe, helping them reach key breakpoints.
  
• "Flense" is the strongest and most consistent talent in this row, improving both horde-clear and single target damage. It's always the right choice unless you want specific headshot breakpoints.

• "Mainstay" is hard to take advantage of and Witch Hunter Captain's melee weapons don't excel for their stagger strength, the only one being the Billhook due to it's push attack combo and the special attack being able to stagger any non-boss enemy.
  
• "Assassin" requires landing headshots consistently (or being lucky with the crits), but it provides a lot of extra damage and bypasses the stagger system completely. This is the best choice by default.
  
• "Enhanced Power" doesn't benefit a melee focused career as much as the other options and it's not necessary to reach breakpoints on ranged weapons either.

• "Templar's Knowledge" is weak. If you manage to find a very specific breakpoint that this talent helps reach then it can be ok, but I haven't found one yet.
  
• "Heretic Sighted" is generally strong, plus you get the buff immediately and consistently.
  
• "Wild Fervour" gives the most value, a whopping +20% crit chance (shared between the team). The only downside is that it triggers after the tagged enemy dies, but on Cataclysm there are enough elites and specials to consider this talent the best choice. On lower difficulties though it's tied with "Heretic Sighted" in value.

• "Charmed Life" helps a lot at kiting enemies. Pairs greatly with "long" range melee weapons like the Rapier and the Billhook.
  
• "Cast Away" helps with weapons that rely on push attacks (billhook, greatsword). On Cataclysm having extra Stamina Recovery is mandatory on melee focused careers, so choosing this talent opens up a property on your trinket.
  
• "Always Prepared" is a decent choice if you are using a ranged weapon that requires extra ammo (like Volley Crossbow and Repeater Pistol), but you should always focus on melee combat, for which the other two options are better. If your team has low ranged, special-sniping weapons, then it can be good.

• "I Shall Judge You All!" is not good given how easy it is to apply "Animosity" (tagging enemies is literally free and instantaneous). The other two options in this row actually give benefits to using the career skill.
  
• "Fervency" is great with weapons that typically struggle against elites such as the Flail, the Falchion or the Greatsword. Loosing the extra crit chance buff on your allies and on your ranged weapon is a high price to pay though.
  
• "The Unending Hunt" is always a good choice. On Cataclysm difficulty there will always be a lot of enemies, so you won't have trouble triggering this talent. Refunding 40% of the cooldown is insanely valuable since it allows you to spam the career skill during hordes for more cc and more crit chance on you and your allies.

A high dps build with insane single target damage that also has strong horde-clear. It requires landing headshots consistently, otherwise it falls short in the highest difficulties.

---

Griffon-foot Pistols is mandatory when using the Axe due to its terrible horde-clear.
For the Rapier both Level 5 talents are equally good, choose based on your ability to land headshots.
A melee dps usually focuses on killing elites first and then helps the frontliners to keep the hordes under control. It is mandatory that you hit enemies in the head, otherwise you will do little damage against both regular infantry and elites.
The Rapier's fast attack speed and inherent bonus headshot damage make it incredibly strong at clearing hordes and, with Level 10 talent "Deathknell", it can reach key breakpoints against elites with its heavy attacks.
The Axe is also excellent against elites, but lacks cleave to clear hordes effectively, that's why you have to pair it with the Griffon-foot Pistols.
With the Billhook it's relatively easy to land headshots, making Deathknell a strong talent on it. On the other hand, Flense is more consistent and helps a lot at killing infantry, but Deathknell is better at killing armored enemies, specially Chaos Warriors.

While killing specials is not your priority, there is no reason to not help your team when the situation allows it. If you see your team struggling on their own, you can always use the career skill to gain some time to swap to your ranged weapon and quickly kill a special or two. Remember to tag your target in order to trigger the passive "Witch-Hunt", it's important to reach breakpoints.
Rapier breakpoints:
Cataclysm:
- Witch Hunt (tag passive), Deathknell, Assassin, +9.5%PvC and +5%PvA:
Fully charged heavy attack:
1SHS SV, Monks, Savages, Wargors and all specials
2SHS Bestigors and Maulers
3SHS CW

Axe breakpoints:
Cataclysm:
- Witch Hunt (tag passive), Assassin, Deathknell, +20%PvC and +10%PvI:
Light Attacks:
1SBS Skavenslaves
2SBS Ungors, Fanatics and Clan Rats
3SBS Gors and Marauders
1SHS all regular infantry except Marauders
3SHS SV, Bestigors, Monks, Savages and Wargors
Heavy Attacks:
1SHS all regular infantry
2SHS all elites except CW
3SHS CW
Combo: 1 Light Attack + 1 Heavy Attack (both headshots):
1 SV, Bestigors and Savages
2 CW

Brace of Pistols breakpoints:
Legend:
- Witch Hunt (tag passive), +10%PvS, +10%PvC and +20%PvI:
1SBS Assassins, Globadiers, Leeches and Blightstormers
2SBS Ratlings, Warpfires, Packmasters and all elites except Bestigors and CW
1SHS Ratlings and Warpfires
Cataclysm:
- Witch Hunt (tag passive), Deathknell, +10%PvS, +10%PvC and +10%PvA:
1SBS Assassins
2SBS any other special
3SBS SV, Maulers, Monks and Savages
1SHS all specials except Packmasters
2SHS Packmasters and all elites except Maulers and CW

A bruiser is a frontliner that controls hordes through doing damage and killing multiple enemies quickly. With his fast-attacking weapons and the extra damage from passives and talents, Witch Hunter Captain can do a great job.

---

Axe & Falchion doesn't really need "Charmed Life" or "Cast Away" as Level 25 talent, which opens up the possibility to pick "Always Prepared" and increase the ranged weapon usage (more special sniping, killing elites from afar or simply thinning down hordes before they get close).
Billhook can take advantage of Level 15 talent "Mainstay" due to it's push attack combo and the special attack being able to stagger any non-boss enemy.
As a bruiser, your job is to hold the frontline by killing every enemy that gets close to you. All the melee weapons listed above can kill regular infantry very easily and safely thanks to either their range or their speed as long as you play aggressively.
Easier to play than the Headhunter build and, therefore, more reliable. Good for holding the frontline, but can suffer a little against elites.

• Axe & Falchion is very easy to use and the bonus headshot damage and extra crit chance from Witch Hunter Captain's passives and abilities, it looses its weakness against armored elites; making it an absolute powerhouse of a weapon. Shields are its only counter.
  
• Billhook reaches a lot of breakpoints with Level 10 talent "Flense" against both infantry and elites. Remember to use the special attack to interrupt elites attacks (even Chaos Warriors), then follow it up with a heavy attack to deal a lot of damage.
  
• Flail has amazing horde-clear, even with elites and shielded enemies mixed in thanks to its high stagger, armor penetration and the ability to ignore shields with its heavy attacks.
  
• Greatsword has longer range than the Flail, but it looses its armor and shield penetration, making it better against pure infantry hordes, but worse against mixed hordes. This doesn't matter at all if you land a crit headshot, since it will instakill any man-sized enemy, and push attacks can also deal with armored elites pretty decently.
  
• Falchion can be used against infantry by just spamming light attacks, but it will require some combo mixing against elites and shielded enemies. High skill ceilling weapon that can deal amazingly well in any situation.

While killing specials is not your priority, there is no reason to not help your team when the situation allows it. If you see your team struggling on their own, you can always use the career skill to gain some time to swap to your ranged weapon and quickly kill a special or two. Remember to tag your target in order to trigger the passive "Witch-Hunt", it's important to reach breakpoints.
Billhook breakpoints:
Cataclysm:
- Witch Hunt (tag passive), Flense, +10%PvC and +10%PvA:
H1+H2 combo:
2SBS SV, Bestigors, Maulers, Monks and Savages
1SHS SV, Bestigors, Monks and Savages
2SHS CW

Volley Crossbow breakpoints:
Legend:
- Witch Hunt (tag passive), +20%PvS, +10%PvI and +10%PvA:
1SBS Assassins
2SBS any other special
3SBS (1 volley) SV and Maulers
1SHS all specials
2SHS Wargors and all elites except Maulers and CW
Cataclysm:
- Witch Hunt (tag passive), +20%PvS and +20%PvI:
2SBS Assassins, Globadiers and Packmasters
3SBS Ratlings, Warpfires, Leeches and Blightstormers
1SHS Assassins
2SHS any other special

Brace of Pistols breakpoints:
Legend:
- Witch Hunt (tag passive), +10%PvS, +10%PvC and +20%PvI:
1SBS Assassins, Globadiers, Leeches and Blightstormers
2SBS Ratlings, Warpfires, Packmasters and all elites except Bestigors and CW
1SHS Ratlings and Warpfires
Cataclysm:
- Witch Hunt (tag passive), Deathknell, +10%PvS, +10%PvC and +10%PvA:
1SBS Assassins
2SBS any other special
3SBS SV, Maulers, Monks and Savages
1SHS all specials except Packmasters
2SHS Packmasters and all elites except Maulers and CW

Crossbow breakpoints:
Legend:
- Witch Hunt (tag passive), +10%PvS and +10%PvC:
1SBS SV and all specials
1SHS all specials and elites except Maulers and CW
Cataclysm:
- Witch Hunt (tag passive), +20%PvS and +10%PvM (at least +25% combined):
1SBS Assassins, Ratlings, Warpfires and Packmasters
2SBS Globadiers, Leeches, Blightstormers, SV and Monks
1SHS all specials and elites except Maulers and CW

Bounty Hunter is a ranged dps that focuses on killing elites, specials and monsters/lords from afar thanks to his garanteed ranged critical hits and career skill.
"Blessed Shots" passive garantees one shot from your ranged weapon to be a critical hit every 10 seconds. This passive, in combination with the weapon trait "Scrounger", which restores ammunition whenever you land a critical hit (ranged weapons only), basically gives you infinite ammo with no effort at all.

As mentioned before in this guide, Victor's weapons are not strong on their own. Thankfully "Blessed Shots" is usually enough to reach breakpoints on elites and specials with ranged weapons, while there are some talents that increase the damage of melee weapons to make them (barely) decent enough to use in high difficulties for self-defence. Still, it's best to get away from the frontline and focus on shooting from a safe distance.
Note: Rapier's special attack counts as a ranged attack and triggers "Blessed Shots", essentially wasting it since it does very little damage.

• Strengths: Insane single target damage, high ammunition sustain, flexible builds, high build variety.
  
• Weaknesses: Squishy (low base hp and thp generation), poor mobility, terrible horde-clear (except with shotgun build).

"Locked and Loaded" deals insane burst damage from far away but, due to it's long cooldown, it's very important that you have "Blessed Shots" ready and/or aim to the head of the enemy to get the most value out of it. Regular elites die in just one bodyshot, but Chaos Warriors and monsters/lords will need good aim.
Besides one high damaging bullet, it also shoots 10 shotgun pellets in a cone, making it more flexible. Enemies that are in front of and very close to you will also be staggered, making it safer to use when overwhelmed (similar to a shield bash).
There are two talents in the level 30 row that modify the effects of the career skill significantly, check them out below.

• THP on crit/headshot can generate tons of THP if you can land headshots consistently with melee weapons.
  
• THP on kill can be good on very specific situations in Cataclysm, where elites are abundant, but as a ranged career it will be easier for you to kill them with your ranged weapon or career skill instead. Still, it's the best choice for weapons with high damage per hit like the Axe.

• "Open Wounds" incresases the damage taken by enemies after you hit them with a crit (both melee and ranged). This also applies to your allies' damage and to the critical hit that triggers it, making it an incredible damage boost. Shotgun shots (griffon-foot, repeater pistol alt fire and career skill with level 30 talent "Indiscriminate Blast") only apply this effect on the enemy hit by the center pellet, but if the same attack/projectile cleaves through and hits several enemies, all of them will receive the debuff. This effect stacks with "Shrapnel" but not with "Make 'Em Bleed", "Witch-Hunt" or "Off Balance".
  
• "Steel Crescendo" effect trigger when you run out of ammo. As a ranged career, this plays against your core strengths, so it's not worth it in any situation.
  
• "Weight of Fire" is a consistent damage boost to your ranged weapon and career skill. Can help reach breakpoints on weapons like Volley Crossbow and Brace of pistols. It takes into account the clip size, not the current amount of ammunition loaded.

• "Smiter" if you have trouble landing headshots with your melee weapon.
  
• "Assassin" if you can land headshots consistently with your melee weapon.
  
• "Enhaned Power" increases damage of career skill and ranged weapons, but also cleave, which helps greatly at fighting hordes.

• "Blessed Combat" is an almost permanent damage boost as long as you use both weapons to hit enemies. It also resets "Blessed Shot"'s cooldown if you kill an enemy with your melee weapon, making it excellent for hybrid playstyles.
  
• "Cruel Fortune" is a consistent cooldown reduction for Blessed Shots. Unless you are playing like a true ranged/sniper character, "Blessed Combat" is superior.
  
• "Prize Bounty" gives great ammo sustain to weapons like Crossbow, Volley Crossbow and Repeater Pistol, if you only use them eventually. It has an interesting combo with the Crossbow, since it allows you to shoot twice in a row without reloading. When using Volley Crossbow's and Repeater Pistol's secondary fire, which normally consume 3 and 8 ammo respectively, they will consume none thanks to this talent.

• "Rile the Mob" grants movement speed to nearby allies very consistently, but it gets severely outclassed by the other two options in this row.
  
• "Salvaged Ammunition" makes killing enemies with your melee weapon reload (not restore) your ranged weapon (1 kill, 1 bullet/bolt). This can save you a lot of time during hordes, making it excellent for hybrid playstyles.
  Additionally, killing elites when completely out of ammo will restore 20% of your max capacity. This is great to never run out of ammo during a game in high difficulties. Any source of damage from you triggers this effect, even bombs and barrels [not entirely sure of the last one though]. One good way to take advantage of this is to shoot your last shot to finish off an elite.
  
• "Job Well Done" grants permanent damage reduction as a reward for killing elites and specials. Since your main job in any team will be to snipe those enemies, you should get the stacks very fast, and the added survivability is extremely valuable in high difficulties.

• "Just Reward" compensates the crossbow's low hordeclear, giving the career skill a nice cooldown reduction and allowing you to spam it against hordes more frequently.
  
• "Double-shotted" is an excellent choice to deal with several chaos warriors in a row and to maximize monsters/lords damage, but it requires very good aim to get the cooldown refresh. There is a catch to this talent though, it removes the shotgun pellets completely, making you more vulnerable when in a pinch.
  With the recent nerf, this is no longer the (unquestionably) best choice at high skill levels, but it still is great to increase your single target damage, specially against monsters/lords.
  
• "Indiscriminate Blast" makes the career skill better against big groups of enemies, either if they have shields or armor (it's great against stormvermin patrols).
  The problem with this talent is that it removes the sniper bullet, so you loose the ability to one-shot Chaos Warriors and it will deal way less damage against monsters/lords. Its use is very niche and it also takes away the skill's biggest strengths, so it's hard to recommend.

A ranged-focused build that relies on "Blessed Shots" to snipe elites and specials in quick bursts of damage.

---

The Crossbow has two setups, one with Enhanced Power and Crit Power, that relies more on "Blessed Shot"; and another one that's a bit better on non-crit shots. If you use the level 20 talent "Cruel Fortune", you should be getting crits consistently enough to make the first setup worth it.
With the Crossbow, your main priority should be to kill specials and elites at long range.
With Scrounger and "Blessed Shots" every 6 seconds, you can shoot non-stop and never run out of ammo.
With the Repeater Pistol, you can oneshot regular elites with the secondary fire and "Blessed Shots". If specials spawn, a few shots with the primary fire should be enough to kill them, check out the breakpoints below, but be wary of its low effective range (10 meters), since this makes breakpoints very unreliable. You can also shoot at regular infantry with the primary fire to thin hordes down a little bit or to kill stragglers that are surrounding the team.
Thanks to the level 20 talent "Prize Bounty", you can shoot a volley (secondary attack) and loose no ammo instead of 8.

Use your melee weapon to help your frontliners, covering their flanks so they don't get overwhelmed, but don't try to fight on your own. Remember that the level 10 talent "Open Wounds" is also applied by melee weapons, making you a bit stronger at melee combat.

Reserve your career skill to quicky kill Chaos Warriors and to deal high damage to monsters/lords. In fact, during boss fights, they should be your top priority.
With the Crossbow build you can use your career skill more frequently, which allows you to use it just to clear groups of regular infantry.
Crossbow breakpoints:
Legend:
- With Open Wounds and +10%PvS:
1SBS Assassins, Ratlings, Warpfires and Packmasters
1SHS all enemies except Maulers and CW
Crits 1SBS all enemies except Wargors and CW
- With an additional +20% Crit Power and +10%PvC:
Crits also 1SBS Wargors
Cataclysm:
- With Enhanced Power, Open Wounds, +40%Crit Power, +9.5%PvS and +9.5%PvC:
1SBS Assassins
2SBS any other special and SV
1SHS SV, Monks, Savages, Wargors and all specials
Crits 1SBS all enemies except CW and Wargors
- With Open Wounds, +8%PvS, +20%PvC and +9.5%PvB:
1SBS Assassins
2SBS any other special, SV and Savages
1SHS all specials and elites except Maulers and CW
Crits 1SBS all specials, SV, Bestigors and Maulers
Crits 1SHS Monks, Savages and Wargors

Repeater Pistol breakpoints:
Repeater Pistol has very short effective range (10 meters), making breakpoints very unreliable in a real game.
Legend:
- With Open Wounds, +20% Crit Power, +9.5%PvS, +8%PvC and +10%PvI:
2SBS Assassins
3SBS Monks, Savages, Globadiers, Leeches and Blightstormers
4SBS Maulers, Ratling Gunners, Warpfire Throwers and Packmasters
1SHS Assassins
2SHS Monks, Savages and all specials except Assassins
3SHS SV and Bestigors
Crits 1SBS Monks, Savages and all specials except Packmasters
Combo: crit1SBS + 1SBS Kills SV, Maulers and Packmasters
Full burst (secondary fire) 1SBS all enemies except Stormvermin, Bestigors, CW and Wargors
Full burst (secondary fire) crit 1SBS all enemies except CW
Cataclysm:
- With Open Wounds, Hunter, +20%Crit power, +7.5%PvS, +7%PvC and +8.5%PvB:
3SBS Assassins
4SBS Globadiers, Leeches and Blightstormers
5SBS Monks, Savages, Ratling Gunners, Warpfire Throwers and Packmasters
1 crit SBS Assassins
1 crit SHS Monks, Savages and all specials except Packmasters
Combo: Crit SBS + 1SBS Kills Monks, Savages and all specials except Packmasters
Crit full burst (secondary fire) 1SBS all specials and elites except CW

A flexible hybrid build with high ammunition capacity and dps.

---

Scrounger provides infinite ammunition while Hunter largely increases damage dealt by both weapons for 10 seconds.
Boon of Shallya can compensate the "bad" level 5 talents Bounty Hunter has available, but Barkskin can save you from very tough situations.
Your main priority shoud be to kill elites and specials with your ranged weapon and then to thin down hordes with your melee weapon.
You can use Volley Crossbow to clear thick hordes as bolts have some decent cleave. It also has very nice breakpoints against both elites and specials, but it takes time to learn them. Thanks to the level 20 talent "Prize Bounty", you can shoot a volley (secondary attack) and loose no ammo instead of 3.
With this build the Brace of pistols is very flexible, but the ammunition sustain is not enough to be constantly shooting it. In Legend, it can be enough to kill elites and specials, but in Cataclysm you will have to constantly swap between both weapons to take advantage of the level 20 talent "Blessed Combat". This talent not only increases your damage, but also resets the cooldown of "Blessed Shot" every time you kill an enemy with your melee weapon. Use this to quickly swap to the Brace of pistols and shoot once, triggering Scrounger and recovering ammunition.

Reserve your career skill to quicky kill Chaos Warriors and to deal high damage to monsters/lords. In fact, during boss fights, they should be your top priority.
Volley Crossbow breakpoints:
Remember that secondary fire shoots 3 bolts (volley) and they all crit with Blessed Shots passive.
Legend:
- With Weight of Fire, +7.5%PvS, +7.5%PvC and +9%PvA:
2SBS Assassins, Globadiers, Leeches, Blightstormers and Packmasters
3SBS SV, Maulers, Ratlings and Warpfires
2SHS SV, Ratlings and Warpfires
Crit volley: 1 SBS all enemies except CW
Cataclysm:
- With Enhanced Power, Weight of Fire, +15%PvS, +9%PvC and +6%PvA:
1SBS archers
2SBS Assassins and Packmasters
3SBS any other special (4SBS if they are far away)
1SHS Assassins and Packmasters
2SHS any other special
1critSBS Assassins
1critSBS+1SBS all specials
Volleys:
1SBS all specials
2SBS all elites except Chaos Warriors and Wargors
1SHS SV, Monks and Wargors
1 crit SBS SV, Maulers and Monks

Brace of Pistols breakpoints:
Legend:
- With Weight of Fire, Enhanced Power, +10%PvS, +10%PvC and +20%PvI:
1SBS Assassins, Globadiers, Leeches and Blightstormers
2SBS Ratlings, Warpfires, Packmasters and all elites except Bestigors and CW
1SHS Ratlings and Warpfires
Cataclysm:
- With Weight of Fire, Blessed Combat, +20%PvS, +10%PvC and +10%PvI:
1SBS Assassins
2SBS any other special
3SBS all elites except Bestigors and CW
1SHS Globadiers, Leeches and Blightstormers
2SHS SV, Monks, Savages, Ratlings, Warpfires, Wargors and Packmasters
Crits:
1SBS Globadiers, Leeches and Blightstormers
2SBS SV, Maulers, Monks, Savages, Ratlings, Warpfires and Packmasters
1SHS all specials except Packmasters
2SHS all elites except Maulers and CW

A "ranged" build that can clear hordes extremely quickly with just a few shots.

---

Barkskin provides more safety if you don't position yourself properly and keep a safe distance while using the shotguns. Natural Bond on the other hand can help regenerate for free the hits that you may take once in a while. Choose between one and the other depending on the amount of risk you take while playing with a shotgun.
The Griffon-foot Pistols are by far the best weapon in the game to clear hordes. It has insane damage against unarmored enemies and the way the pellets spread horizontally make it extremely strong.
With "Blessed Shots", the Griffon-foot Pistols can easily kill armored elites (not Chaos Warriors though) as well as they tear through infantry and berserkers; compensating the weapon's only weakness.
Use your melee weapon only to push enemies away, kill armored elites, get some free reloads with the level 25 talent "Salvaged Ammunition" or to refresh the cooldown of "Blessed Shots" thanks to the level 20 talent "Blessed Combat". Remember that the level 10 talent "Open Wounds" is also applied by melee weapons, making you a bit stronger at melee combat.

You can use your career skill to kill specials that are out of reach of your weapons, or you can reserve it to quicky kill Chaos Warriors and to deal high damage to monsters/lords. In fact, during boss fights, they should be your top priority, but don't shoot them with the Griffon-foot Pistols, as they do very little damage to monsters. Use your career skill and melee weapon only.
Breakpoints don't matter with a shotgun.

Zealot is an extremely aggressive bruiser career with high damage and attack speed, making him capable of killing anything that gets close.
His core passive "Fiery Faith" increases his power the lower his permanent (green) health is. THP is not taken into consideration for this effect. Ideally you want to be at low permanent health at all times but compensate it with tons of THP. It's not necessary that you stay at 1 health, somewhere around the twenties or thirties is enough to steamroll the game while also having a relatively safe amount of permanent health that won't decay over time.
"Heart of Iron" is a very helpful passive for his playstyle, allowing him to not die for 5 seconds when taking lethal damage. This effect has a long cooldown, but it allows you to play hyper aggressively without risk of getting killed. An interesting mechanic regarding this passive is that it doesn't make you completely invulnerable, it's just that your health won't go below 1; this means that taking hits will refund part of your career skill's cooldown like normal.
Unfortunately, this passive is bugged, probably due to lag. It very commonly triggers after getting killed instead of preventing it.

Zealot has crazy THP generation with pretty much all of the weapons available to him, which encourages to keep attacking non-stop, this strategy is called "hit trading".
Usually, you will try to prevent taking damage as much as possible by playing defensively when necessary (blocking, pushing, dodging, etc.). "Hit trading" consists on taking a hit or two willingly in order to not interrupt your attacks. Bruisers like the Zealot or Markus' Mercenary career can sustain some damage without a problem, and they need to attack as much as possible to not loose control of the horde.
People usually think of Zealot as a tank because he can sustain a lot of damage, but in this game being a tank has a different meaning. Tanks mitigate damage proactively by staggering, blocking and pushing enemies, and Victor doesn't have good weapons to do any of those things.

Curse Resistance is not that important with Zealot, since the health "lost" by curse effects still counts to get stacks of "Fiery Faith", but it still is recommended

• Strengths: Insane horde-clear, insane dps, tanky, good mobility, easy to play.
  
• Weaknesses: Risky playstyle.

"Holy Fervour" is a long dash that grants a big amount of attack speed (25%) for 5 seconds. This is a very useful tool to reposition yourself and help the team deal with the thickest parts of hordes. Suddenly changing the flank you are covering can put your allies at risk if they are unaware, so make sure to never leave stragglers behind your team before using the career skill.
You can cancel the dash at any time by pressing the block button (right click).
Just like any other career skill, it can be used while reviving a downed ally. This is particularly useful since it allows you to keep reviving the ally while far away from them.

• THP on hit is very strong and reliable with how fast Victor's weapons are. A great option pretty much always.
  
• THP on kill can be good on very specific situations in Cataclysm, where elites are abundant, but generally speaking THP on hit is more consistent.

• "Castigate" is a great dps buff for risky playstyles.
  
• "Smite" combines great with dual weapons or weapons that already have high attack speed, opening up 1 property slot in both your weapons and in your trinket.
  
• "Unbending Purpose" is objectively worse than the other two options in this row, not even good enough to reach extra breakpoints. On top of that, it's just a plain and boring stat increase.

• "Smiter" is a consistent boost to your single target damage, specially useful against elites and monsters and when using low cleave, low stagger weapons like Axe & Falchion, Axe, Rapier and Falchion. It can also be used with other weapons, as it provides a flat increase in damage, so it's never a bad choice.
  
• "Mainstay" is very strong with weapons that have either high attack speed or high stagger strength, as well as for weapons that use pushes in their combos. Paired Skull-Splitters, Billhook (push combo and special attacks), Greatsword, Flail, Reckoner Great Hammer and Skull-Splitter Hammer benefit greatly from this talent.
  
• "Enhanced Power" is theoretically a good combo with your passive "Fiery Faith", but for a melee focused career the other two options always grant more damage.

• "Crusade" is great for kiting weapons such as billhook and rapier due to their long range. The extra movement speed will make you dodge attacks by simply walking, which changes the playstyle quite considerably.
  
• "Holy Fortitude" is a must for very aggressive weapons with short range such as paired hamers, axe & falchion and greatsword; or to improve weapons with low THP generation like the Billhook.
  
• "Armour of Faith" is the safest option for more regular, less risky playstyles since it provides a high amount of damage reduction. Works great with weapons that don't need extra healing. Damage reduction allows you to play on low health without the risk of getting instakilled by a big burst of damage.

These talents determine your main defensive strategy (kiting, hit-trading or tanking respectively).

• "Devotion" increases movement speed when taking damage instead of reducing it. This is great to escape from dire situations and reposition.
  
• "Redemption through Blood" makes you restore all your stamina when taking damage, this allows you to block way more when surrounded by enemies. This talent is a must with Billhook.
  
• "Calloused Without and Within" is a flat amount of damage reduction.

These talents have to be chosen accordingly with your Level 20 talent. They help at kiting, pushing & blocking or hit-trading & tanking respectively.
Combos: 1-1, 1-3, 2-2, 2-3, 3-1, 3-2

• "Faith's Flurry" is a nice increase in damage during the effect of Holy Fervour. Ideal for weapons with low damage against elites, or when the other two options are not as valuable. It can also help reach stagger breakpoints on some weapons.
  
• "Feel Nothing" allows you to play even more aggressive without being punished. A nice trick is that getting hit while the effect is still on reduces the CD of the career skill, which can be abused to be permanently unkillable against enemies with high damage like Chaos Warriors. It basically encourages playing bad, and trying to take full advantage of it is very risky.
  Another way to use it is as a panic button, but the duration is too short and reserving the career skill for 3 seconds of unkillability is not a worth trade, plus it doesn't always work when used right before getting hit (like "Heart of Iron").
  
• "Flagellant's Zeal" reduces the cooldown of the career skill after the attack speed buff finishes by (at most) half, allowing you to reposition more frequently to help your team better and have more time with the extra attack speed. Some weapons (Greatsword and Flail) have such high cleave and attack speed that by the time this talent's effect kicks in, you already have your career skill available again, making it a bit redundant; but the extra mobility is always very valuable.

Check the breakpoints to see the amount of stacks of "Fiery Faith" you should stay at.

A bruiser build reliant on fast attack and movement speed, capable of killing all types of enemies while easily kiting them.

---

With the level 10 talent "Smite" you will need to micro correctly your attacks. Get stacks with light attacks, then use heavy attacks on elites; or shoot your ranged weapon to restore ammunition with Scrounger.
For the Paired Skull-Splitters and the Axe & Falchion: Heavy attacks give two stacks of "Smite", but only one of the hits deals the extra damage from the garanteed crit.
As your level 25 talent you can choose between "Devotion", which further increases movement speed to prevent getting hit more than once; or "Calloused Without and Within", which grants a bit of damage reduction. Both are equally good with this build, the first helps you at kiting after making a mistake, while the latter is more consistent survivability.
Unlike the other builds, you should kite and dodge attacks, since you don't have the same absurd amounts of THP healing or damage reduction.
The extra movement speed can help you at closing distances faster, which compensates some of these weapons low range.
For the most part, you should spam light attacks to farm THP and quickly dispatch hordes, while using heavy attacks to kill elites. The Axe and the Flail are slightly different though.
The Axe is excellent against elites, but lacks cleave to clear hordes effectively. Still, with the extra attack speed from "Castigate" and power from "Fiery Faith" to reach breakpoints on regular infantry, it can work perfectly fine by just spamming light attacks on them.
The Flail plays the opposite way, its heavy attacks are excellent at clearing hordes while the light attacks are better against elites.

While killing specials is not your priority, there is no reason to not help your team when the situation allows it. If you see your team struggling on their own, you can always use the career skill to reposition, swap to your ranged weapon and quickly kill a special or two.
Volley Crossbow breakpoints:
Legend:
- With 5 stacks of Fiery Faith, +20%PvS, +10%PvC, +10%PvB:
1SBS Assassins,
2SBS any other special
3SBS (1 right click) SV, Maulers, Monks, Savages
Cataclysm:
- With 6 stacks of Fiery Faith, +10%PvS, +10%PvC and +20%PvI:
2SBS all specials except Ratlings and Warpfires
3SBS Ratlings and Warpfires
1SHS/crit Assassins
2SHS/crits any other special

Brace of Pistols breakpoints:
Legend:
- With 5 stacks of Fiery Faith, +10%PvS, +10%PvC, +10%PvI and +10%PvA:
1SBS Assassins, Globadiers, Leeches and Blighstormers
2SBS all other specials and elites except CW
Cataclysm:
- With +10%PvS, +10%PvC and +10%PvI:
And 4 stacks of Fiery Faith:
1SBS Assassins
2SBS any other special
And 5 stacks Fiery Faith:
1SHS Globadiers, Leeches and Blightstormers

A bruiser build with an extremely aggressive playstyle. Thanks to its insane THP generation you can ignore blocking and dodging completely and spam attacks non-stop.

---

Boon of Shallya might seem overkill when you already have "Holy Fortitude", but you will always be taking damage (on purpose hopefully), so having as much healing as possible is always good. Healer's Touch on the other hand allows you to heal your allies with medkits for free, useful to get rid of your own wounds more often or to simply help your team more.
You DO NOT want Barkskin with this build, read the Playstyle section to understand why.
Increased healing and high THP generation for more hit-trading and more aggressiveness.
Given the Greatsword's, Falchion's and Axe & Falchion's low stagger strength, it will be more common for you to get hit, making "Holy Fortitude" very strong to keep you healthy while playing hyper-aggressively.
"Feel Nothing" can help you fight big groups of elites without the risk of dying to an overhead attack. Once the effect is about to finish, the extra healing from "Holy Fortitude" will help you recover THP faster. Just like with "Heart of Iron", taking damage while under the effects of "Feel Nothing" will still refund part of your career skill's cooldown. When you are fighting a bunch of enemies with high damage (like Chaos Warriors), you can refund "Holy Fervour" before the effect wears off. With good timing, carefulness and luck, you can chain them to be unkillable for a very long time. Any source of damage reduction counteracts this strategy (Barkskin...).

For the most part, you should spam light attacks to farm THP and quickly dispatch hordes, while using heavy attacks to kill elites. The only exceptions are:

• The Greatsword only has its push attack to kill armored elites.
  
• The Flail plays the opposite way, its heavy attacks are excellent at clearing hordes while the light attacks are better against elites.
  
• With the Billhook, use push attacks against hordes and mixed hordes; and use special attacks followed up by a heavy attack to the head to kill armored elites.
  
• With the Skull-Splitter Hammer you should use push attacks against hordes of pure infantry (unarmored). Spam light attacks to stagger elites and heavy attacks to kll them.

While killing specials is not your priority, there is no reason to not help your team when the situation allows it. If you see your team struggling on their own, you can always use the career skill to reposition, swap to your ranged weapon and quickly kill a special or two.
Reckoner Greathammer stagger breakpoints:
Light attacks 1 and 2 (sweeps) and push attacks stagger breakpoints:
With 2 stacks of Fiery Faith interrupt all elites except CW overheads and Monks and Savages combos.
With 4 stacks of Fiery Faith, they also interrupt Savages combos.
With 5 passive stacks and +8%PvC it reaches more stagger breakpoints:
Light and heavy attacks can interrupt all elites (except CW overhead).
Heavy attacks and Push/Special Attacks can interrupt Savages combos (but not armored enemies).

Crossbow breakpoints:
Legend:
- With 5 stacks of Fiery Faith, +10%PvS, +10%PvC and +20%PvB:
1SBS SV, Monks, Savages and all specials
Cataclysm:
- With +20%PvS and +9%PvC:
And 2 stacks of Fiery Faith:
1SBS Assassins
2SBS any other special, SV and Monks
1SHS all specials and elites except Maulers and CW
And 3 stacks of Fiery Faith:
1SBS Ratlings and Warpfires
And 5 stacks of Fiery Faith:
1SBS Packmasters
2SBS Bestigors and Savages

Brace of Pistols breakpoints:
Legend:
- With 5 stacks of Fiery Faith, +10%PvS, +10%PvC, +10%PvI and +10%PvA:
1SBS Assassins, Globadiers, Leeches and Blighstormers
2SBS all other specials and elites except CW
Cataclysm:
- With +10%PvS, +10%PvC and +10%PvI:
And 4 stacks of Fiery Faith:
1SBS Assassins
2SBS any other special
And 5 stacks Fiery Faith:
1SHS Globadiers, Leeches and Blightstormers

A bruiser build with a standard playstyle. Having high damage reduction allows you to commit harder to attacking at a lower risk.

---

For the level 25 row: Either "Devotion" and "Calloused Without and Within" work very well in this build. The first one allows you to reposition after getting hit, while the latter helps you sustain more damage and keep yourself at the frontline for longer.
For the Axe though, you might consider "Redemption through Blood" since pushes will be very important to keep the hordes under control.
These weapons already have high THP generation on their own, which makes "Armor of Faith" an equally viable option. The high damage reduction allows you to play on low health without the risk of getting instakilled by a big burst of damage at the cost of recovering from hits slowlier.
For the most part, you should spam light attacks to farm THP and quickly dispatch hordes, while using heavy attacks to kill elites. The Axe and the Flail are slightly different though.
Weapon specific tips:

• Greatsword and Falchion: Thanks to the extra power from level 30 talent "Faith's Flurry", you can achieve insane stagger breakpoints on these two weapons, making them super strong against both infantry and elites. They play very similarly, although the combos are different.
  
• The Axe is excellent against elites, but lacks cleave to clear hordes effectively. Still, with the extra attack speed from "Castigate" and power from "Fiery Faith" to reach breakpoints on regular infantry, it can work perfectly fine by just spamming pushes and light attacks on them.
  
• The Flail plays the opposite way, its heavy attacks are excellent at clearing hordes while the light attacks are better against elites.

While killing specials is not your priority, there is no reason to not help your team when the situation allows it. If you see your team struggling on their own, you can always use the career skill to reposition, swap to your ranged weapon and quickly kill a special or two.
Flail stagger breakpoints:
- With Opportunist, 6 stacks of Fiery Faith, +5.5%PvS and +9%PvC:
Heavy attacks interrupt all attacks except CW overheads.
Push attacks and Light attacks 1 and 2 (sweeps) interrupt SV, Maulers, CW (except non-attacking and overheads), Bestigors normal attacks, Wargors, Monks normal attacks, Savages (non-attacking and normal attacks).
Pushes interrupt SV and Wargors
- With 10 stacks of Faith's Flurry:
Push attacks and Light attacks 1 and 2 (sweeps) interrupt Savages combos and Bestigors charges and overheads.
Pushes interrupt Maulers

Greatsword stagger breakpoints:
- With 6 stacks of Fiery Faith, +6.5%PvC, +7%PvS, Enhanced Power and 10 stacks of Faith's Flurry:
PAtt interrupt all attacks except CW overheads and Monks and Savages combos
Heavy attacks can interrupt SV, Wargors, Monks and Savages (including their combos

Falchion stagger breakpoints:
- With 5 stacks of Fiery Faith and +10%PvS, L3 interrupts SV overheads. Pushes interrupt SV attacks
- With 5 stacks of Fiery Faith and +6%PvC: Pushes interrupt Maulers and Wargors when not attacking, Wargors normal attacks, and L3 and HA interrupt Wargors Overheads
- With 6 stacks of Fiery Faith, +9.5%PvC/PvA and 10 stacks of Faith's Flurry:
L3 and HA interrupt all enemies except CW, Bestigors, and Monks combos. With extra +10%PvC/PvA, L3 and HA interrupt all attacks except CW overheads and Monks combos.

Crossbow breakpoints:
Legend:
- With 5 stacks of Fiery Faith, +10%PvS, +10%PvC and +20%PvB:
1SBS SV, Monks, Savages and all specials
Cataclysm:
- With +20%PvS and +9%PvC:
And 2 stacks of Fiery Faith:
1SBS Assassins
2SBS any other special, SV and Monks
1SHS all specials and elites except Maulers and CW
And 3 stacks of Fiery Faith:
1SBS Ratlings and Warpfires
And 5 stacks of Fiery Faith:
1SBS Packmasters
2SBS Bestigors and Savages

Brace of Pistols breakpoints:
Legend:
- With 5 stacks of Fiery Faith, +10%PvS, +10%PvC, +10%PvI and +10%PvA:
1SBS Assassins, Globadiers, Leeches and Blighstormers
2SBS all other specials and elites except CW
Cataclysm:
- With +10%PvS, +10%PvC and +10%PvI:
And 4 stacks of Fiery Faith:
1SBS Assassins
2SBS any other special
And 5 stacks Fiery Faith:
1SHS Globadiers, Leeches and Blightstormers

Warrior Priest is a melee-only career with a good amount of damage reduction, THP generation and high stagger strength, perfect to fulfil the tank role in any team.
The lack of a ranged weapon and mobility makes you very vulnerable to specials though, therefore you should stick close to your team and wait for them to deal with them. Although your career skill gives you an option to deal with them yourself safely.

"Implacable" grants a flat 40% damage reduction, but half of the damage reduced is dealt as DoT over 3 seconds. While this means that only a 20% of the damage will be reduced for sure, you can mitigate a varying amount of the DoT by generating THP or through your career skill's effect.
He also has 100% Curse Resistance passively, which opens up a property space in your Trinket when playing for books.

Barkskin doesn't work well with "Implacable" passive (the self-DoT). Boon of Shallya increases both THP generation and the healing from "From Fury, Fortitude", ideal if you get hit frequently. If you don't, then Natural Bond might be a good option as well to minimize the use of healing items.

Holding your weapon inspect button and then pressing your Career Skill button will let you inspect his tome.

• Strengths: High stagger strength, good horde-clear, good dps (during Righteous Fury), very tanky, excellent supporting career skill
  
• Weaknesses: Low single target damage (when not in Righteous Fury), no ranged weapons, poor mobility

"Righteous Fury" is Warrior Priest's core passive. Saltzpyre gains Fury when enemies die nearby. At 100% Fury, he briefly enters Righteous Fury and his attacks Smite the enemy for 20% of the attack's damage. Saltzpyre gradually loses Fury while out of combat, this decay is much faster if Righteous Fury is active.
While under the effects of this passive, you should play more aggresively to get as much value as possible from it, since your damage when outside of Righteous Fury is a bit lackluster.
"Shield of Faith" Saltzpyre imbues himself or an ally with a shield, rendering them immune to damage and ranged knockbacks (Ratling Gunners and Warpfire Throwers attacks) for 5 seconds. During this time they can also trample through lesser enemies. Upon expiring, the shield explodes, inflicting damage on nearby enemies and a burn DoT.
The shield explosion can stagger Assassins and Leeches, but not Packmasters, although the damage from the burn helps at killing them (therefore liberating the catched ally).

• THP on stagger is absurdly strong with weapons with high stagger strength such as shield weapons, but for Warrior Priest only Skull-Splitter & Shield and Skull-Splitter Hammer can make it work.
  
• THP on hit is very consistent with any weapon, but it's specially good with high cleave weapons. For Warrior Priest, those are pretty much all the weapons available.

• "Unstoppable Force" reduces the cost of pushes with high cleave weapons. This is excellent for weapons that rely on push attacks like the Skull-Splitter Hammer and... that's it really.
  
• "Rising Judgement" gains an extra stack with the heavy attack that triggers its effect, so, even if you are only spamming heavy attacks, you will always get at least some extra damage. It only increases damage, not cleave nor stagger. Hammer & Tome's heavy attack 2 explosion doesn't benefit from this talent, only the weapon hit. Best pick for Paired Skull-Splitters and weapons with mixed combos like Reckoner Great Hammer.
  
• "Sigmar's Executioner" can work great with high single target damage weapons in Cataclysm, since there are lots of elite enemies to keep the buff going, although you will be competing for last hits with your allies. On the other hand, it's worthless in lower difficulties.
  It can be good with very aggressive builds that focus on killing elites, but the lack of consistency and due to Warrior Priest weapon's having small crit multipliers make it worse than "Rising Judgement" in most scenarios.

• "Smiter" is a consistent boost to your single target damage, specially useful against elites and monsters. Best pick for most weapons.
  
• "Mainstay" is very strong with weapons that have high attack speed and/or high stagger strength (Paired Skull-Splitters), as well as for weapons that use pushes in their combos (Skull-Splitter Hammer).
  
• "Enhanced Power" doesn't benefit a melee focused career and it's not necessary to reach breakpoints on ranged weapons either.

• "Blazing Bright" makes Victor gain Fury when taking damage. Entering Righteous Fury grants Victor Shield of Faith. It gives more survivability, but it's kinda boring.
  Trick: when combined with Level 30 talent "The Comet's Gift", you can let yourself get hit on purpose to fully charge the fury, then the automatic shield this talent provides upon entering Righteous Fury will heal you back up. An absurdly strong combo that makes you almost unkillable.
  
• "See My Wrath". Using Shield of Faith grants Victor 50% Fury. Smite now deals 40% of the attack's damage (instead of 20%). Incredible buff to your offensive capabilities. Spam Shield of Faith to activate Righteous Fury more often or to extend its duration.
  
• "From Fury, Fortitude" Each Kill now grants (additional) Fury and, during, Righteous Fury, they also restore permanent health to the whole team. This talent can only compete with the others if you can kill elites consistently, since they heal more health.

• "Prayer of Vengeance" increases Power vs Monsters to the whole team. It's only useful in very specific situations, but they are the most dreadful ones. Plus it's the only offensive talent in this row.
  
• "Prayer of Might" helps your shield weapons reach stagger breakpoints on plague monks. It can also help your teammates reach stagger breakpoints, but this can only be taken advantage of with premades.
  
• "Prayer of Hardiness" helps the whole team, preventing squishy allies from getting oneshot by elites overhead attacks.

• "Unyielding Blessing" increases the duration of Shield of Faith to 10 seconds. Additionally, the shielded hero's attacks cause the shield to pulse staggering nearby enemies. The pulse only staggers regular infantry, so it's not very valuable in Cataclysm, but even more so because stagger is useless if you are invulnerable.
  
• "United in Prayer" allows you to help an ally from a distance while keeping yourself safe at the same time. Good choice if you tend to use "Shield of Faith" in yourself frequently. It is easier to use and doesn't leave room for mistakes. Great in combination with Level 20 talent "See My Wrath" to not loose supporting capabilities while spamming your career skill for aggressiveness.
  
• "The Comet's Gift" makes "Shield of Faith" useful as a reactive defensive tool instead of a preventive one. If an ally gets hit hard you can heal them and protect them from further damage. It allows more sloppiness on your part and it can also revive teammates immediately (it doesn't heal wounds though). It's very hard to use correctly since it basically forces you to be constantly aware of your allies' health. Best in a coordinated, balanced team.

A full tank build with high stagger strength. Very reliable frontliner that can dish out some serious damage during Righteous Fury while always protecting the team.
Setup 1:

Setup 2:

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For the Charm properties: pick AS unless you want to reach specific stagger breakpoints with the Skull-Splitter & Tome (Opportunist) and with Skull-Splitter Hammer.
CDR is great for Warrior Priest given how useful Shield of Faith is (specially with the Level 20 talents); but extra Movement Speed is also nice for a melee only career.

- Level 5 talents: "Slayer of the Wicked" (THP on hit) if your first weapon is Flail & Shield or "Eternal Vigilance" (THP on stagger) if it's Skull-Splitter & Shield. Unless your second weapon is Paired Skull-Splitters, in which case "Slayer of the Wicked" will always be better.
- Level 15 talents: Pick "Smiter" for Skull-Splitter & Tome and Reckoner Great Hammer; and "Mainstay" for Paired Skull-Splitters and Skull-Splitter Hammer due to the fast heavy attacks chain staggering enemies (and the push attack combo for Skull-Splitter Hammer). Skull-Splitter Hammer pushes being cheaper in addition to the Level 10 talent "Unstoppable Force" allows you to spam push attacks non-stop.
- Level 20 talents: "Blazing Bright" increases your surivability and clutch potential, while "See My Wrath" increases your overall dps against all types of enemies to an almost absurd level.
The 'defensive' setup makes you very tanky and increases your supporting capabilities. The 'aggressive' setup gives you more damage and more chances to play boldly by spamming Shield of Faith.
Soak pressure and damage from your team. Focus on supporting them by holding the frontline with high damage and stagger, protecting your team and killing enemies at the same time.

Flail & Shield is amazing against hordes, that's why it's best paired up with Skull-Splitter & Tome or Reckoner Great Hammer, since they have high single target damage.
On the other hand, Skull-Splitter & Shield has a strong anti-elite attack (push attack), therefore it makes sense to pair it with Skull-Splitter Hammer or Paired Skull-Splitters, as they are amazing at killing infantry.
You can of course mix and match any other way you want, but the ones mentioned above are the most optimal.
Flail & Shield stagger breakpoints:
- With Opportunist, Prayer of Might and +10%PvS:
Pushes and Heavy attacks interrupt all attacks except CW overheads.

Skull-Splitter & Shield stagger breakpoints:
- With Opportunist, Prayer of Might and +5%PvS:
Light attacks 1 and 2 (sweeps) and shield bashes (Heavy Attack 1) interrupt all attacks except CW overheads.
Pushes can interrupt plague monks combos.

Skull-Splitter & Tome stagger breakpoints:
- With Prayer of Might and +10%PvA stagger breakpoints:
PAtt and H1 charged interrupt all except CW overheads and monks and savages combos.
H2 charged explosion interrupt all except CW overheads.
H1 and H2 (uncharged) interrupt SV and Wargors.
- With Opportunist, +9.5%PvC and +10%PvA:
H2 AoE interrupts all attacks
PAtt and Heavies (all variants) interrupt all except non-attacking CW, CW overheads, non-attacking Monks and Monks combos
- With Opportunist, Prayer of Might and +5%PvC:
[The +5%PvC only reaches breakpoints on: LAtt interrupting Savages combos and H1 (charged) interrupting non-attacking CW]
LAtt interrupt SV, CW normal attacks, Wargors and Savages combos
H1 and H2 (uncharged) interrupt all except non-attacking CW, CW overheads and Monks combos
PAtt and H1 (charged) interrupt all attacks except CW overheads
H2 AoE interrupts all attacks, even Savages last combo attack

Reckoner Great Hammer stagger breakpoints:
- With Prayer of Might and +8%PvC:
Heavy attacks can interrupt all attacks except CW overheads and plague monks combos.
Light attacks can interrupt all attacks except CW overheads and plague monks and savages combos.

Skull-Splitter Hammer stagger breakpoints:
- With Prayer of Might:
Light attacks 1 and 2 (sweeps) and push attacks can interrupt all attacks except CW overheads and monks combos.
With an additional +10%PvS/PvA:
Heavy attacks can interrupt SV overheads.

Paired Skull-Splitters stagger breakpoints:
- With Prayer of Might they can stagger elites more easily.

A robust and tanky bruiser build with great horde-clear and a secondary weapon to kill elites.

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Level 20 talent "From Fury, Fortitude" works better with a high dps build, since killing more enemies will restore more health. Still, "See My Wrath" is a huge dps buff, making it very strong too.

If you pick "Sigmar's Executioner" at Level 10, focus on killing elites to get stacks, which will increase your overall DPS. It's trickier to make this setup work since you will be competing for elite kills with your team.
More aggressive build with slightly higher damage at the cost of lower stagger strength.
Hold the frontline for your team by killing and staggering all enemies that come close to you.
You raw dps won't be as high as other bruiser's (Mercenary or Zealot), but the high stagger strength from your weapons compensates it.

Use your main weapon to clear hordes and the secondary to kill elites and mixed hordes.
Skull-Splitter Hammer can also be used to fight hordes with shielded enemies since it's push attacks will break their guard and dispatch them quickly.
Skull-Splitter Hammer stagger breakpoints:
- With +8%PvC/PvA: light attacks 1 and 2 (sweeps) and push attacks interrupt all enemy attacks except CW overheads and monks and savages combos.

Here you have links to some examples of the builds showcased in this guide.
- Headhunter (Rapier): https://www.ranalds.gift/build/1kHN6mrEYP4zf2RYk73E/view
- Headhunter (Axe): https://www.ranalds.gift/build/HFkdTOmWc6uB95f1PhDC/view
- Witcher of Ubersreik: https://www.ranalds.gift/build/Hz0FxLPxtqpMK9aOyd3a/view
- Bounty Sniper: https://www.ranalds.gift/build/u45jR5xDH6l4aWB2x05V/view
- Brunner's Adept: https://www.ranalds.gift/build/QDePiYURg1xsLVmIzytp/view
- Griffon Hunter: https://www.ranalds.gift/build/7nNvQHulgCP53bmnlIIx/view
- Speedy Boy: https://www.ranalds.gift/build/RaJ99hEhEKDZnCZBa7Y0/view
- Holy Healing: https://www.ranalds.gift/build/nJurrjkfjCzFU2gHhM6m/view
- Armored Bonks: https://www.ranalds.gift/build/AwCVdHT3Gvm4fW6TCRhy/view
- Warrior Priest Tank (1): https://www.ranalds.gift/build/L7soJDHj1wUU4Texob9T/view
- Warrior Priest Tank (2): https://www.ranalds.gift/build/0d9soi1ZGeZVxG4cF6RP/view
- Warrior Priest DPS: https://www.ranalds.gift/build/pHqGjuhbX9yuAlmOumTB/view