The Art of the Clutch

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> "*Motherf\*&er, that was beautiful.*"
> ― unknown dwarf, after player ArticBC saved the day
>
>

Vermintide is a cooperative four-player team game, but there's something magical that happens when you're the last player standing and your whole team is looking to you to save the day: CLUTCH TIME.

You may only need to stay alive long enough to revive an ally dangling from the packmaster's pole, or perhaps you've got an entire section of the map to deal with on your own, but either way you're suddenly responsible for every aspect of survival in the end times: horde clearing, special & boss killing, and working the map objectives. Unlike true-soloing, however , you're probably aiming to revive your teammates as soon as possible. Here are some tips to help develop your clutch game so that you can reap the satisfaction and gratitude of being "that guy/gal" sooner rather than later.

* Listen very, very carefully to your headphones, especially for the tell-tale laughter of the packmaster. Getting knocked down or caught is game over, so you'll need to make locating and killing packmasters, assassins, and leechers your number one priority when they show up. If you can spare a moment, ask one of your dead teammates to "watch your six" for specials while you play.
* Your dead teammates can often be an excellent resource. Loot their mute and helpless corpses for the health, potions and bombs that could help you pull out a win. Again, if possible, you can ask your dead teammates to help you locate the spot they died.
* If you're the last person standing during a boss fight, you will need to be crafty if you hope to revive any teammates that are only downed because if the boss is close to you he will interrupt any revive attempts. If you have (or can loot from a dead teammate) an explosive bomb, the stun effect on the boss may last long enough to revive a teammate. Otherwise, you'll need to exploit ledges, ladders and other vertical terrain features in order to create distance between yourself and the boss. Now might be a good time to consider a hero loadout that makes reviving easier if you find yourself in this situation fairly often.
* Your ability to stay alive on your own will depend heavily on your ability to kill rats without taking excessive damage. Whether this involves "holding out" in a corner or nook and using crowd-control style weapons or moving quickly around the map while killing trailing enemies (kiting) will depend on the weapons you've brought to the fight. Choose your strategy accordingly.
* Your CLUTCH game has to be your A-game. That means you need to become comfortable being under pressure without backup. The best way to simulate clutch gameplay is to play in true-solo mode. Having "been there and done that" will give you the confidence to play as calmly and methodically as possible. If true-soloing is too far out of your comfort zone, you can try playing "duo" with just one teammate. Your margin for error will be much slimmer as a duo than during four-person play, but you won't be as vulnerable to insta-failing via assassin, packmaster, leecher, or accidentally walking off a ledge.
* If your situation is *truly* hopeless it is considered polite to leap to your death or otherwise end things quickly so that the team can restart the map or head back to the Keep. If you're just looking for clutch practice, do it in solo or duo mode where you can fight against hopeless odds to your heart's content without forcing your teammates to chill and watch.