Build Around Your Starting Weapon
For the October demo, build Malum Caedo around Chainsword and Tape Measure for Eviscerator Chainsword, or Neave Blacktalon around Tempest Axes and Sabaton for Whirlwind Axes. Support your chosen evolution with survival upgrades and an unlocked support weapon, checking Keywords to see whether your champion or a follower will wield it.
Make the starting-weapon evolution your main upgrade target, then adjust support choices to the enemies pressing you. Malum's route belongs on Imperial Bastion against Tyranids; Neave's belongs on The Great Parch against Skaven. These are practical demo loadouts, so revisit their pairings and balance when playing the full release.
Compare the Demo Loadouts
| Option | Malum Caedo | Neave Blacktalon |
|---|---|---|
| Stage | Imperial Bastion: Tyranids | The Great Parch: Skaven |
| Starting weapon | Chainsword | Tempest Axes |
| Starting advantages | 120 Wounds and 1 Save; gains 5% Strength per equipped weapon and passive | 20% faster movement; gains 10% Range at levels 5, 10 and 15 |
| Evolution passive | Tape Measure | Sabaton, which increases movement speed |
| Evolution target | Eviscerator Chainsword | Whirlwind Axes with lightning-infused attacks |
| Support priorities | Wounds, Save, Move and Reload | Survival, Reload and Range |
| Optional support weapon | Lasgun after rescuing Trooper Bartosz Kozlowski | Rope & Grapnel after rescuing Lyssa Revenya; check Keywords for its wielder |
| Main survival response | Dodge pounces and prioritize Synapse enemies | Circle packs and leave ranged hazard zones |
Prepare Your Weapons and Recruits
- Start with Malum Caedo or Neave Blacktalon; both begin unlocked in the demo and already carry the weapon their recommended route evolves.
- Check your universe's Objectives for access to the passive you plan to use. Plan around Tape Measure for Chainsword or Sabaton for Tempest Axes.
- Rescue Trooper Bartosz Kozlowski before relying on the Lasgun recruit option for Malum. Selecting the Lasgun can then bring him into your squad.
- Rescue Lyssa Revenya on The Great Parch before planning around her associated Rope & Grapnel. Check the weapon's Keywords when choosing who will wield it.
Malum Caedo: Reach Eviscerator Chainsword
- Start Malum Caedo on Imperial Bastion with his Chainsword, making its evolution the focus of your early upgrade choices.
- Collect experience while keeping a clear movement route, giving yourself more level-up choices without standing inside the Tyranid pack.
- Take Tape Measure when offered so you hold the passive required by the Chainsword evolution recipe.
- Upgrade Chainsword to level 8, its maximum in the demo, to prepare it for evolution.
- Collect an eligible boss chest while carrying the prepared pair to obtain Eviscerator Chainsword.
- Select Wounds, Save, Move or Reload support according to what is ending your runs, keeping survival alongside the weapon route.
Keep watching Tyranids after the evolution arrives. Von Ryan's Leaper can rear up and pounce over other enemies, so move out of its approach instead of watching only the nearest pack. Prioritize Synapse creatures when you can reach them safely: their influence raises nearby lesser bioforms' speed and damage, and killing the source briefly stuns those enemies.
Neave Blacktalon: Reach Whirlwind Axes
- Start Neave Blacktalon on The Great Parch with Tempest Axes and make their evolution your main weapon target.
- Take Sabaton when offered to assemble the Tempest Axes pairing while improving your movement speed.
- Upgrade Tempest Axes to level 8 so the starting weapon reaches its maximum for the evolution route.
- Open an eligible boss chest with the prepared pair to obtain Whirlwind Axes.
- Circle Skaven packs through open space, using your movement advantage to leave ranged hazards while your weapons attack.
Give yourself room to change direction when Vermintide crosses the screen in horizontal lines. Ratling Gunners also create damaging bullet zones, while Acolyte Globadiers leave poisonous clouds. Leave those lanes and clouds early, then resume collecting experience once the route is clear.
Choose Support That Solves Your Problem
Wounds increases maximum health, Save reduces damage from each hit and Toughness restores Wounds over time. Favor defensive support when repeated hits end your run before the evolution is ready. Move helps with repositioning, while Aura extends your pickup reach.
For attack support, Strength multiplies damage, lower Reload means shorter weapon cooldowns and Range increases attack size. Choose according to the gap you need to cover: tougher enemies, long attack gaps or a crowd closing around your attacks. Keep investing in the chosen evolution while adding support that lets you stay alive to use it.
Use Keywords to Choose the Next Wielder
Compare the weapon's Keywords with your champion before selecting it. If the champion cannot use that weapon, an appropriate ally performs its attacks as a follower. Followers cannot take damage or collect items, so keep handling pickups and positioning yourself.
Malum's Lasgun option gives you a concrete squad route: after Kozlowski is rescued, selecting the weapon recruits him, and upgrading it adds more troops. For Neave, treat an unlocked support weapon as a choice about attack coverage, then let Keywords determine its wielder. An extra attack can help cover the horde, but you still need the named passive and a prepared base weapon to finish your evolution.
Keep direct damage in your plan for Imperial Bastion's final encounter. The demo's Norn Emissary resists the status effects its weapons inflict, so avoid making a status combination your entire answer to that fight. Continue protecting an escape route while your attacks work.