Sister of the Thorn Full Support [Cataclysm]
 Sister of the Thorn Build - Vermintide 2 

This is a full support build for the Sister of the Thorn in Vermintide 2. 

Before I get started explaining the build, please note that this build is strictly intended for Cataclysm difficulty. We are doing a lot of support functions that aren't needed on lower difficulties, or at least not with nearly enough regularity. On lower difficulties you should spec your Sister of the Thorn in a more general or DPS focused manner.

Also, please note that this build is difficult to play, and requires fast inputs, high situational awareness, fast reaction times and good time/resource management in combat. You can play the build reasonably well without all of these traits, but utilizing everything is difficult and takes a lot of practice. 

If you still want to learn more, then allow me to explain how it works. 

Weapons

Our melee weapon is the Dual Swords. We're using this weapon because it has a high base Crit Chance, so you can proc Lingering Blackvenom more easily, spreading poison damage to enemies and debuffing them to take 12% more damage. You can swap this weapon if you want something like Sword & Dagger that does more damage overall. 

The ranged weapon is the Deepwood Staff. The most obvious purpose of this weapon is the special attack that allows you to suspend non-boss enemies in the air. I have also put Inspirational Headshot on this weapon, due to its light attack which shoots three rapid projectiles. This means that in high-intensity situations, you can refill your allies' stamina by scoring headshots with the Deepwood Staff. Good spatial awareness is needed for this, don't do it if you are under immediate melee threat, unless you are supremely confident with your dodging ability. 

Using Inspirational Headshot replaces Thermal Equalizer, which is the usual go-to trait. This means you also need to vent a lot, often actively venting in combat, in between carrying out supporting actions. The Sister of the Thorn usually gets lots of Temporary Health from allies thanks to the Sustenance of Leechlings passive, so the venting shouldn't be too dangerous. Again, please be careful not to get caught by a melee attack when you're venting. 

Talents

• Weavebond - You should use this talent on lower-damage weapons like the Dual Swords. If you decided to switch to something like Sword & Dagger, consider switching to Martial Blessing. A good chunk of our THP will be coming from Sustenance of Leechlings anyway. 
• Atharti's Delight - Melee Strikes against Poisoned Targets also applies Bleeding. Gives you some extra DPS output if you do a melee hit against an enemy who you've already poisoned. This Talent is non-essential, you can change it if you want. 
• Mainstay - Will help you to push more melee damage when needed. 
• Radiant Inheritance - Consuming your Radiance gives your party 15% power and 5% crit chance for 10 seconds. You are most likely to consume your Radiance (the second ultimate that Sister of the Thorn has) in high-pressure situations, so the buff can be really helpful for your allies. Incandescence is also a valid alternative, I used to use that but decided the buff is more useful on balance. 
• Lingering Blackvenom - Critical Strikes produce a small explosion of Blackvenom, poisoning nearby enemies and causing them to take 12% more damage from attacks. When you don't need to use your Thornwake Ultimate or Deepwood Staff, try to apply this debuff with your Dual Swords. 
• Tanglegrasp Thicket - Vines erupt from your location to the spot you are aiming at. The vines pull away enemies, dragging them to the target location, depending on their mass. More detailed info about this below. 

How to Use Your Ultimate

We're using the Tanglegrasp Thicket version of the Sister of the Thorn's Ultimate. This is often overlooked, but it can be a real gamechanger. A lot of players don't know how to use it properly, and just use it to create a wall. 

To properly use Tanglegrasp Thicket, you should aim behind the enemies, as far as possible away from your current position. This works best in chokepoints, like narrow corridors, but it can work fairly well in the open, too. 

Not only does this stagger the enemies and prevent potentially block off a corridor, it can be used to separate enemies, depending on their mass. Light enemies, like hordes and clanrats, are pulled very far by the vines, most or all of the way to wherever you aimed the vines. They then get flung behind the vines and can get stuck there for a while. Heavier enemies like Stormvermin and Chaos Warriors instead get staggered, but aren't pushed back much, if at all. This separates the horde enemies (including those annoying shielded enemies) from the dangerous elites. This makes life much easier for your melee frontliners, who can quickly cut down all of the Elites without the horde getting in the way. You can do the same if a horde of enemies is causing issues during a boss fight. You can also use this to rescue an ally who has just been downed, creating space for long enough to get a revive done. 

Build Summary

Here is a summary of all the tasks that this build fulfils, in the usual order of priority:

1. Use Tanglegrasp Thicket to create space for Revives, when an ally is downed in a high-intensity situation.
2. Use Tanglegrasp Thicket to separate Hordes and Shielded Hordes from Elites, Specials and Bosses, making the latter much easier to eliminate.
3. Use your Deepwood Staff to CC dangerous elites and specials, sometimes in direct follow-up to Tanglegrasp Thicket. 
4. Use Deepwood Staff light attack headshots to restore your party's Stamina in high-intensity situations, if it is safe to do so. 
5. Use frequent venting to sustain tasks 2 and 3, when it is safe to do so. 
6. Use your melee weapon to activate Blackvenom, poisoning and debuffing enemies. 
7. Use your melee weapon to hit Blackvenom victims, making them Bleed also. This is only worth doing on high-HP enemies. 
8. General DPS output. SoTT can still push reasonable DPS against hordes, even with this setup, which is probably one of the least DPS-hungry setups possible. In calmer situations, this is the best way to help your team.