Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus 2 is all about its hero characters

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Originally published on September 3, 2024.

In a unique fashion, Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus, launched in 2018, offers an exceptional experience. At first, you engage in turn-based tactical combat, but soon find yourself drawn to purchase its enchanting Original Soundtrack (OST), immersing yourself in it as you light incense in reverence for the Omnissiah. The forthcoming sequel, Mechanicus 2, being developed at Kasedo Games, will welcome back composer Guillaume David to continue his captivating musical contributions, alongside the recurring adversaries from the original game: the Adeptus Mechanicus and the Necrons.

Contrary to expectations, Mechanicus 2 is aiming for grander scales than its precursor, as evident at Gamescom 2024. Instead of just featuring the Cult of the Machine God, it will also offer a Necron campaign. Furthermore, gameplay has been refined with some notable changes.

Mechanicus 2 is reintroducing the original’s “Cognition” system, a feature that reflects Tech Priests learning about their foes as they engage in battle, thereby enhancing their awareness of vulnerabilities. Yet, it operates slightly differently now. Kasedo aims to guide players towards optimally employing specific units, offering Cognition Points as incentives for such strategic choices.

In simpler terms, your Servitors can accumulate Thought Points for your team by absorbing attacks – they’re designed for that role, essentially acting as shields. Meanwhile, your Skitarii Ranger units gain Thought Points when they attack from a certain range.

In the updated setup, units no longer maintain permanent spots in the turn sequence. During your turn, you’re free to pick and activate any of your units that haven’t performed an action in the current round. The only exception is the enemy units, which still follow a fixed initiative order.

The developers note that this modification significantly enhances the tactical layers within the game. Timing the correct deployment of units is crucial, as it could tip the scales from a loss to a win.

In a nutshell, both the initiative and cognitive adjustments significantly impact the main characteristic of combat today: It’s all about maximizing the potency of your character heroes during your turn, aiming to establish the most effective actions that will empower them.

In the heat of battle as a gamer, I utilize Cognition Points to ignite my squad leader’s exclusive Canticle, a powerful ability that mirrors their unique character traits. For instance, Scaevola amplifies damage output for all Mechanicus troops. These points aren’t chosen before combat anymore; instead, they’re tied to our hero characters. Besides enhancing the leader’s Canticle, I can also pump up my hero characters with Cognition Points, granting them extra movement range and access to more of their impressive abilities.

The developers emphasize that leaders play a crucial role in the strategy of both sides, which they consider a distinctive aspect of our tactical game. They explain that all other units primarily serve to enhance the abilities of the leaders during their turns.

The Necron faction’s mechanical advantage for elevating their leaders is called Dominion. Unlike the Adeptus Mechanicus’ focus on cognition, which revolves around comprehending adversaries, the Necrons’ Dominion represents their ambition to rule and reclaim what was once lost – they accumulate points as a result of inflicting damage.

As the creators of the Necron mechanics explain, they aimed to instill a feeling of growing power as the game progresses. By accumulating enough Dominion Points, players advance through Dominion Levels. At specific Dominion Levels, rewards are granted. For instance, ascending to each Dominion Level enhances the likelihood of Necrons’ Gauss weapons causing extra damage.

In addition, there are new environmental factors and a unique mechanic called “cover” introduced. Unlike traditional tactics games where cover reduces damage or the probability of being hit, this cover blocks the line of sight and prevents any attacks. However, it’s only beneficial to the Mechanicus; the Necrons, being machine-like entities without fear of death, will instead try to eliminate the cover from the battlefield using their potent assaults.

Players will find that they can utilize “nearly all infantry options from the board game” as playable units for each of the two factions, a fact that brings great enthusiasm to those who possess Mechanicus or Necron armies in their collections.

The developers explained that they have put in significant work to broaden the range of goals within the game, addressing a frequent complaint about the first edition’s limited mission variety. To enhance this aspect, a new strategic war map will be introduced, which enables players to deploy all their teams on various missions. However, during Gamescom, there was less emphasis on showcasing the strategic war map as the prologue mainly concentrated on combat and character introductions for both sides.

In this campaign, events will be linked to activities such as building bases and acquiring upgrades. However, each decision comes with a risk of success or failure, so players need to make thoughtful choices. To enhance player experience based on feedback from the previous game, Kasedo aims to offer detailed information about the outcomes and benefits of these decisions.

Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus 2 is planned to be released in 2025 on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.

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2025-04-18 12:16