Kith's Techmarine Concept

Techmarines are Astartes that have been trained by the Adeptus Mechanicus to provide engineering support to their fellow Angels of Death. While they are often found performing Armoury duties or piloting the Chapter's mighty war machines, the remain capable warriors and are not an uncommon sight on the battlefield.

Hi, I'm Kith and I do game design things. Since I was a Techmarine Apologist in DOW2, I don't want a theoretical Space Marine 2 Techmarine to be Yet Another Turret Babysitter, so I hammered out this design in hopes of preventing that fate. Thankfully, the official Primaris Techmarine miniature provides more than enough material to take inspiration from, so the concept is built around emphasizing those elements:

A mighty Servo Arm

A powerful Forge Bolter

A dexterous Mechadendrite

A wicked Omnissian Axe

And last but not least, Gun™

Now, before we get to anything else, I want to go over the Class Ability I've cooked up for this theoretical cogboy:

Omnissiah's Will 

Your Forge Bolter and Servo Arm will automatically attack enemies within their range for a duration.

Basically, the Servo Arm makes sweeping attacks against melee threats and the Forge Bolter prioritizes ranged enemies (but also isn't shy about shooting targets within melee range). The goal is to provide a buff state that serves both Ranged and Melee, remaining useful regardless of playstyle while also being highly customizable through Perks. This should also work fine for PvP since it will provide a clear indication of a buffed state along with a clear opportunity to attack once it expires.

With that covered, let's talk gear:

• Armor Class: 3
• Primary: Bolt Rifle, Heavy Bolt Rifle, Bolt Carbine, Plasma Incinerator, Melta Rifle
• Secondary: Bolt Pistol, Plasma Pistol, Neo Volkite Pistol, Inferno Pistol
• Melee: Omnissian Axe (standard o-axe), Omnissian Greataxe (large o-axe)
• Equipment: Frag Grenades

I think that it would be best if the Axe was based on the Power Sword and the Greataxe was based on the Thunder Hammer, both for the sake of keeping their functions familiar to the player and for the sake of saving on development time. Additionally, I think it would be wise for the Axe use a different design to distinguish it from the Greataxe, for example:

Outside of that note, the Techmarine's selection of toys represents his role as Chapter Armorer allowing him access to pretty much any specialist weapon he desires. Ideally, Grav Weapons would also be featured in some capacity, but I'd rather not try to come up with anything for those and instead focus on the rest of the class since the existing weaponry is sufficient.

Now, let's talk perks: the real meat and potatoes of a build. Each column has a theme and each row caters to a playstyle, gradually coalescing into a cohesive build in the same way that the existing Class Perks do. However, since each element is designed to be circumstantially useful, they can be easily mixed and matched to create a hybrid build in the same way that the existing classes' Perks can.

It's worth mentioning that I didn't name any of these Perks partially to make it easier to keep track of which playstyle they cater to and partially because I'd rather avoid spending a few weeks agonizing over unique and thematic names when what matters is the design.

With all that in mind, let's get to it:

Supply Sensor

Items and Crates within a moderate range are highlighted.

The Starter is just a nice quality of life perk with some thematic flavor to it - being able to spot supplies through walls means they're more likely to be found, effectively increasing the amount of supplies the players can gather without modifying their value or volume.

Ranged 1

The Forge Bolter bypasses Blocking, dealing 100% damage.

Melee 1

Perfect Parries cause the Servo Arm to strike the Parried enemy for free.

General 1

+50% Grenade effect radius.

Ranged 1 makes the Forge Bolter more reliable (which is nice since it is automated and might make poor decisions on what it targets) and Melee 1 operates regardless of if Omnissiah's Will is active since melee is generally less safe than ranged.

Ranged 2

Ranged hits reduce Spread and Recoil by -5% for 5 seconds, stacking up to -50%.

Melee 2

+50% Servo Arm damage.

General 2

You interact with objects and capture zones 200% faster.

General 2 is inspired by a Techmarine's ability to soothe Machine Spirits, allowing him to be the designated Objective Runner.

Ranged 3

During Omnissiah's Will, your Mechadendrite will draw your stowed weapon and occasionally fire it at enemies for free.

Melee 3

When Omnissiah's Will is activated your Mechadendrite releases a powerful shockwave that deals significant damage to enemies in a 10 meter radius.

General 3

Your Mechadendrite teleports Grenades to where you aim, causing them to detonate instantly on impact and deal +50% damage.

These perks focus on the Mechadendrite, turning it into a variable subsystem that enhances the relevant gameplay style. In a perfect world, each choice would visibly modify the Mechadendrite to justify each function.

Ranged 4

Your team gains +20% Reload Speed.

Melee 4

Your team gains +10% Movement Speed.

General 4

Armor Boosts apply to the entire team.

The Team Perks are oriented towards stuff that hasn't already been covered by other classes but are still broadly useful regardless of build. It's worth noting that General 4 doesn't split the Armor Boost, it causes all teammates to get the full benefit of an Armor Boost when any player gathers one.

Ranged 5

During Omnissiah's Will, aiming directs the Forge Bolter's focus and causes Omnissiah's Will to expire 50% slower.

Melee 5

Executions extend the duration of Omnissiah's Will by 6 seconds.

General 5

Your Grenades gain the ability to instantly kill Majoris enemies on a 180 second cooldown.

Things start getting real spicy here, giving the Techmarine some real power spikes to play with that significantly alter how their class-specific abilities function.

Ranged 6

During Omnissiah's Will, the Servo Arm's attacks knock away non-Terminus enemies.

Melee 6

During Omnissiah's Will, the Forge Bolter automatically performs Gun Strikes.

General 6

+1 Armor Segment.

This is the defense tier, giving the player some tools to keep themselves safe. It's important to note that Melee 6's automatic Gun Strikes provide the same benefits that a normal Gun Strike would. Speaking of, I'm particularly proud of making Melee 6 and Ranged 6 use the opposing portion of Omnissiah's Will.

Ranged 7

+100% Forge Bolter Fire Rate.

Melee 7

+50% Melee Damage and Melee Speed, but disable your Primary Weapon.

General 7

+100% Equipment Capacity. Start with +100% Equipment Charges.

Column 7 is another big power spike and where builds really get defined, going all-in on a given aspect of the Techmarine's kit. As an aside, Melee 7 does not prevent Ranged 3 from working, allowing players to mix the two and still get some mileage out of their chosen Primary Weapon even if they're committing to a choppy playstyle.

Ranged 8

The Forge Bolter instantly kills Minoris enemies.

Melee 8

Melee hits restore 1% Ability Charge.

General 8

Gain +1 Equipment Charge every 30 seconds.

Topping it all off is the Signature column offering a choice between making the Forge Bolter significantly more efficient, making Omnissiah's Will easier to keep up, or making the Techmarine into a miniature production factory.

In summary:

• The Ranged perks emphasize shooting, but since their effects are mostly tied to the duration of Omnissiah's Will, this creates a greater ebb and flow than the experiences of the Tactical, Heavy, or Sniper.
• The Melee perks enable an overwhelming melee presence but provide no mobility or sustain, separating the Techmarine's melee style from the Assault, Bulwark, or Vanguard.
• The General perks alternate between utility, offense, and defense, but ultimately coalesce into making the Techmarine's Grenades plentiful and effective in a way that's unique to it.

I think it'd be cool to have a Techmarine and I hope we get one like this, if not this one exactly. Thanks for reading, and I'd love to know what you think.

(Also I figure it goes without saying since I'm posting in an Ideas subforum but just in case it doesn't: any concept outlined as part of this design is free to use without credit.)