The best way to get Curios in Warhammer 40K: Darktide
Darktide Curios are a lot like talismans from the Vermintide series, letting you buff certain stats, reduce particular damage types, and just generally add a little buildcrafting element that you can tweak towards your playstyle. Though the Darktide pre-order beta doesn't feature crafting right now, you can still get Curios and equip them to your Reject.
If you're just starting out in the beta, you might want help choosing a class, to check out some Darktide tips, or learn about how to change your appearance. Either way, here's how Curios works in Darktide, as well as the best way to get them in the game.
How do Darktide Curios work?
Curios grant stat boosts that can help you deal with the unrelenting hordes and specials that Darktide throws at you. So far, the pre-order beta Curios seem to buff toughness, health, stamina, or your number of wounds as a primary. If you get a rarer blue Curio instead of a green, it will also grant a secondary buff such as experience, damage reduction against specific enemy types, Curio drop chance, or corruption resistance for carrying Grimoires.
In Vermintide 2, orange rarity talismans and above also featured a trait, but as far as I can tell, there are currently no orange Curios in the Darktide pre-order beta. In terms of the best Curios to equip, I'd say that getting an extra wound is a must. Darktide's wounds are effectively lives, where if you get downed then revived, one wound will become corrupted, lowering your overall health. More wounds means less HP lost when you are revived. Speaking of health, buffing max HP is also far better than buffing toughness since 10% toughness represents less damage absorption than 10% HP does. It's also easy to regen toughness just by being close to allies or killing enemies.
How to get Darktide Curios
Your first Curio slot unlocks at trust level eight, with subsequent unlocks at level 16 and 24. This will also unlock Curios for purchase at the Requisitorium. What Curios are available for sale is pretty random, so if you want a particular perk combo, you may have to check back between shop resets. Another good way to get Curios is to stack the ones that feature a Curio drop chance. Unlike in Vermintide 2, where you can only combine certain talismans, Darktide lets you stack whichever you please.
If you find three Curios with a 15% Curio drop chance, you can get a 45% chance of getting a Curio instead of the weapon that sometimes drops at the end of missions. Considering the weapons you get from missions seem pretty substandard to those you can just buy in the shop, I'd recommend having Curio drop chance equipped all the time. You can also get random Curios from Sire Melk's Requisitorium at trust level 11, but considering this costs valuable currency you could use to get orange weapons, I wouldn't recommend it.