Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus

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Jaddison
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Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus

Post by Jaddison »

Anyone playing this?

Bought it before release then never realized it released.

Downloaded installed and played tutorial so far.
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GreenGoo
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Re: Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus

Post by GreenGoo »

Nope, would love some impressions though.
Jaddison
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Re: Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus

Post by Jaddison »

Played tutorial twice. Ass kicked twice but that is by design apparently.

Very good setting with a view that is how you might imagine a machine/human would look at things- this is the movement view which sees the whole area, tunnels, rooms, areas of interest. You move to places by clicking and your whole team goes.

When you see an area with red markers it is bad guys- move there and you enter combat. You have three choices before entering. Which ever one you select sets the terms of the fight for you. In the first you could charge in, stick to doctrine or be defensive (as an example). You have cannon fodder servitors that are useful but die easily....which appears to be their main purpose in life.

You get to place team, though in some fights they will enter in waves and not all be available from the start.

Actions are fueled by CP points which are accrued in various ways. A servitor being hit gives a cP point as it reveals information about the enemy. Some interesting mechanics around CP points.

Priests have equipment,which is sparse in the tutorial but you get more as you play or discover them. They have attributes and upgrades you can buy with "energy" won during a mission.

Haven't played beyond tutorial but it is interesting enough to bring me back.
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NickAragua
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Re: Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus

Post by NickAragua »

Time for some thread "Necronmancy" (har har har)

Picked this (+Heretek expansion) up at the recent Steam sale and, uncharacteristically, blew all the way through it.

The first attempt, I actually had to restart. I was doing (I thought) well, so I tried the first Heretek mission too early (it says "easy" for difficulty) and got overrun by swarms of Xenarite tech priests (melee version) and servitors. Got the 'game over' cutscene and everything. Defeated by traitors, how appropriate.

Second attempt, I plowed all the way through. A solid Warhammer: X-Com type game overall.

The basic mechanics are, you get a free move and also any number of attacks that cost between 0 and 6 (I think? depends on the weapon used) "cognition points" (CP). You can also use CP to make an unlimited number of extra moves on your turn (as long as you've got the CP). You get CP via some abilities on your tech priests, by killing Necrons and by scanning Necron obelisks (remotely once in a while or by standing next to them any time).

Initially, it's a little tough, because you don't have a way of quickly racking up "cognition points" (CP), so you're stuck doing one move and one or two weak little attacks. It's enough for the first few levels, but then the number of Necrons per fight starts going up while your tech priests aren't quite there with the upgrades yet. Eventually, you get abilities that a) expand the max number of CP you can hold at a time and b) generate CP rapidly. At which point your tech priests can sprint all the way across the map and make 3-4 attacks, while the Necrons are still putzing around with their one move and one attack.

By the end, I had five fully upgraded tech priests (you can have up to six but that seems like overkill) and had unlocked all but one type of mook (expendable troops that you can take with you on missions). Including a "Castellan Robot", which is a 2x2 giant motherfucker with a flamethrower and the ability to punch things. Each guy had at least one discipline maxed out and a bunch of other upgrades besides.

I completed all of this "Scaevola" character's missions and I'm not terribly sure I'm happy about how it turned out. I might go back and beat the game a couple more times once I've "cooled off" a little.

A couple of pro tips:

- Initially, you have to waste regular attacks finishing Necrons off (otherwise they get back up in a few turns and start shooting at you again). Later on, you can get "Infestus Dendrites", which let you whack the bastards for free as you walk by.

Non-story spoiler:
Spoiler:
- Hit 'space bar' in the Missions screen on the ship to see the 'secret' levels. They're pretty fun and you can even do a hidden boss fight.
- There are some disciplines which are worth the investment even if you aren't going to go all the way up the tree. Examples include the +4 weapon range upgrade, the +1 CP at the start of your turn if your CP gauge is empty, the +1 HP/turn from the Xenarite tree. The Explorer tree also has an ability that gets you +3 movement and the ability to not trigger "opportunity" attacks (when you walk away from a melee-capable unit, it'll whack you normally).

- Don't dally too long when you go into a Necron tomb. That alertness gauge doesn't just increase the number of bad guys and how fast they regenerate, it also goes into the global alertness gauge after the mission, which limits how many missions you can run in a campaign. Once you're up to 100% awakening, you're fighting the final boss whether you want to or not.

- That being said, don't just beeline for the boss, you'll miss out on (potential) blackstone (which you use to upgrade your tech priests) and CP. Try to keep the awakening rating at 3% or so per mission.

- If you've got Heretek, hold off on starting those missions until you rack up 3-4 tech priests and have some solid healing capability in addition to being able to negate armor somehow. There's a lot of bad guys in them and they come running at you one at a time. But the good part is they don't advance the awakening meter, so you can do them all for a "free" power boost.

- If you see terminals, scan *then* destroy. Scanning gives you blackstone. Destroying reduces the awakening meter a bit. You do have to run up to them to scan, but it's worth it. You don't get to do it after completing the objectives, either, so get it done before escaping/killing the last necron/whatever.

- On the tomb map, sometimes you'll see a group of Necrons in a particular chamber. Unless your squad is on the verge of death, take them down. It automatically lowers the awakening rating quite a bit, so unless you take twenty turns, it's a net benefit.

- You can bring as many of a type of mook as you want/have blackstone for. If they survive, you get most of the blackstone back. If your priests get shot up, they use up a lot of blackstone to repair, more so than the mooks, so try to have the mooks take the damage for you if you can.
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Lordnine
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Re: Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus

Post by Lordnine »

This has a free weekend right now. I downloaded it on a whim expecting a low budget X-Com clone but I have been surprising engrossed by it. I would actually say it has more of an "Incognito" mixed with "Darkest Dungeon" feel to it. The first couple missions are gruelingly hard but that largely comes down to the tutorial not explaining a few things. After that it seems to get a lot more manageable.

Worth a look if you enjoy the 40k setting.
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Lordnine
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Re: Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus

Post by Lordnine »

And finished. I picked it up after the free weekend ended. Overall I enjoyed it quite a lot but I feel like it falls short in a few areas. The late game feels quite grindy and lacks mission variety. This is somewhat offset by the fact that your party is insanely powerful by the end game but not in a good way. Once you get to the point where all missions are "hard" you are going to be fighting three battles per mission. The reality though is that I could often kill off an entire encounter in a single round of battle. I would have preferred one single battle that was harder instead of three small ones that were intended to burn down my resources. Speaking of that, the 6 boss battles were actually quite unique and most offered a fun puzzle.

If you love 40k, the game is still worth a look as they nail the setting and developing your Tech Priests and early combat is a lot of fun, I just think it would have been a much better game at 15 hours instead of 27.
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Paingod
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Re: Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus

Post by Paingod »

NickAragua wrote: Sat Jul 18, 2020 1:25 amTime for some thread "Necronmancy" (har har har)
Couldn't have said it better.

I picked this up during the Winter sales and have been enjoying it, but feel like I'm slowly slipping behind the enemy in power. At mission 5 (I think) I couldn't complete it before I had added 6 Wakening.

I'm fairly sure it came with Heretik by default, though, so I need to maybe restart and try those missions first to build a little padding and help keep things smooth in the Necron combats. I appreciate the tip/guide post and will put it to good use.

Tactically, it's no XCOM - but it doesn't pretend to be. It's obvious you're intended to play it a different way. I'm okay with that. It's just hard to accept losses so easily.

2021-01-06 Edit:
NickAragua wrote: Sat Jul 18, 2020 1:25 amThere are some disciplines which are worth the investment even if you aren't going to go all the way up the tree. Examples include the +4 weapon range upgrade, the +1 CP at the start of your turn if your CP gauge is empty, the +1 HP/turn from the Xenarite tree. The Explorer tree also has an ability that gets you +3 movement and the ability to not trigger "opportunity" attacks (when you walk away from a melee-capable unit, it'll whack you normally).
I restarted and instead used this as a guide for my first builds. Previously I had tried to work down individual lines (This guy is a Leader, he gets Leader perks. This guy is my Medic, he gets Medic perks). Going back and doing it over, I gave each +1CP at the start of their turn, 1 Healing at the start of a turn, and -2 CP for the next attack (3 cooldown). After that I was able to start walking through missions MUCH easier. Focused builds might have long term benefits, but it was really hurting me early on. I struggled to get CP each round and often had to rely on free attacks and/or basic movement.
NickAragua wrote: Sat Jul 18, 2020 1:25 amIf you've got Heretek, hold off on starting those missions until you rack up 3-4 tech priests and have some solid healing capability in addition to being able to negate armor somehow. There's a lot of bad guys in them and they come running at you one at a time. But the good part is they don't advance the awakening meter, so you can do them all for a "free" power boost.
I probably should have waited a little, but couldn't help myself and jumped into the first one with 3 guys and 4 Sniper goons. I crawled out with 1 guy and 3 snipers. The repair bill was 370 blackstone, but it didn't seem to charge me and I ended that with over 400. It doesn't help that the game called it an "Easy" mission - but it was absolutely not.
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Lordnine
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Re: Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus

Post by Lordnine »

Paingod wrote: Tue Jan 05, 2021 7:48 am It doesn't help that the game called it an "Easy" mission - but it was absolutely not.
This is not well explained by the game. The difficulty rating only refers to the number of combats you will face in a mission. Easy means you will have one fight. Hard is three. There is another difficulty rating beyond that but is pretty much reserved only for boss fights.

As far as losing units, the game intends for you to lose servitors (the basic melee troop). They are bullet sponges for your troops to be used instead of cover since there is no true cover in the game. They are free to bring and you are not penalized for losing them. Later on you can even get some skills that reward you when they take damage.
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NickAragua
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Re: Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus

Post by NickAragua »

Lordnine wrote: Wed Jan 06, 2021 4:10 pm As far as losing units, the game intends for you to lose servitors (the basic melee troop). They are bullet sponges for your troops to be used instead of cover since there is no true cover in the game. They are free to bring and you are not penalized for losing them. Later on you can even get some skills that reward you when they take damage.
Yeah, one of my favorite servitor types is the guy that gives a CP when he's hit.

But yeah, it's ok to lose the servitors, as they don't progress in any way unlike the tech priests.
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Paingod
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Re: Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus

Post by Paingod »

Lordnine wrote: Wed Jan 06, 2021 4:10 pmAs far as losing units, the game intends for you to lose servitors (the basic melee troop). They are bullet sponges for your troops to be used instead of cover since there is no true cover in the game. They are free to bring and you are not penalized for losing them. Later on you can even get some skills that reward you when they take damage.
NickAragua wrote: Wed Jan 06, 2021 5:10 pmBut yeah, it's ok to lose the servitors, as they don't progress in any way unlike the tech priests.
I'm starting to try and be okay with it. It's a hard pill for someone who takes pride in completing combat in most tactical games with minimal losses. I've been leaning heavily on the Sniper servitors. I lug a trio of them into a fight and spawn as many as I can in the first turn. They have good (physical 6-8) damage and excellent range. They punch through even the heaviest armors I've come up against (4). I know I could mix up damage types to avoid it, but they're very generally useful. More useful to me than the lugnuts that toddle 4 spaces and whack things for 2 points of damage (even though they generate CP).
Lordnine wrote: Wed Jan 06, 2021 4:10 pm
Paingod wrote: Tue Jan 05, 2021 7:48 am It doesn't help that the game called it an "Easy" mission - but it was absolutely not.
This is not well explained by the game. The difficulty rating only refers to the number of combats you will face in a mission. Easy means you will have one fight. Hard is three. There is another difficulty rating beyond that but is pretty much reserved only for boss fights.
This is extremely good to know. I've been confused by this and it makes perfect sense now. I'll absolutely stop shying away from Hard fights now.

My Tech-Priest builds are still all identical. I've focused hard on getting +CP abilities and items for them, and it's really paid off. Combat starts with 6 CP in reserve (either through lucky rewards or using a Canto) and my main units have enough actions and abilities to easily consume all of it - and replenish half of it. I've had one or two missions now where I eliminate every enemy on the screen on Turn 1 and have to mill around until the next wave spawns. Each has an Axe with 5-7 damage Physical/break 2 armor (2 slots, 1 CP), a gun with 2-4 physical (1 slot, 1 CP), a AoE cone 5-7/1-2 Energy melee (1 slot, 3 CP, every other hit is free), a pair of spikes to steal 1 CP, a shield to block 5 damage (3 turn cooldown, 1 CP), and a 3m move/+10% crit/+2 DMG buff until next attack (1 CP), and -2 CP to next attack (3 turn cooldown, 1CP) in addition to 2 physical/1 energy armor, +4 Range, +3m move, immune to Opportunity attacks. These dudes can stride across the whole map in 2 actions.

The last mission I did last night was the second "free" mission (in the Archives) - and I wiped the floor with the three hostile priests and 5 servitors. I think one of my units was hit once.
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