Mechanist (Techmarine) Version 2.0

​(THIS IS AN FURTHER FLESHED OUT AND UPDATED VERSION OF A PREVIOUS IDEA)

​​Machinist (Techmarine)

Ability:

Tarantula Turret: Summon a stationary turret in the selected area that lands dealing damage and proceeds to targets enemies in its range for 12 seconds.

(A Tarantula Turret is often the most used and seen ability for a techmarine or mechanicus related character in video games, for examples look to Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor-Martyr and Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team. I believe that for this game it should be no different and with good reason.

This turret would have a range limiting its usage to hold down an area or prevent being overwhelmed. It would also prioritise targets of a higher level and for even more control, target enemies tagged by players if within range also.

A common fault people run into in higher difficulties is becoming overwhelmed by waves of enemies and being backed into a corner leading to a down which can further lead into death. I believe that having a turret to place down will help make this less painful by creating a killzone of sorts where you are fighting, allowing you to over time have less of a wave to deal with by removing a couple of targets while fighting).

Starting perk:

Any gun strike able to be performed by the player is instead automaticly performed by a shoulder mounted bolter.

 (Gun Strikes are one of the most important features of the game flow in Space Marine 2, rewarding the player with a high burst of damage for them succeeding at a parry or dodge. This system isnt without its risks though, as many will know Gun Strikes have a notable animation lock which can sometimes, if used at a bad time, cause more problems than solve in the field.

So we come to the Mechanist passive skill, an automatic and non-animation locking Gun Strike. This will capture the fantasy of playing a Techmarine with having extra limbs to perform tasks and help the class itself have both a unique style of combat and allow them to be quite tanky when in melee range.

This skill will activate whenever a Gun Strike can be performed and WILL NOT lock the player into any animation allowing them to continue fighting in melee combat or otherwise. Again granting them a completely different style of play than other classes along with their new weapons).

Weapon Options:

Omnisian Axe:

What is a Techmarine without his axe! I believe this weapon would play quite similarly to the thuder hammer at first glance, having slow wide swings with quite high damage. Unlike the thunder hammer though we have extra limbs to make use of granting the weapon a unique moveset utilising these arms during melee combat.

I think a stance swap mode featuring a horde mode and single target mode similar to the power sword would be most advisable. Having slower wide swings in horde combat and then moving to single target down swings when needed. This can be enhanced by having an extra limb following melee movements for an extra attack during combat much like the tabletop itself where the servo-arms have the [extra attacks] characteristic.

For an example a left sweep followed by a servo-arm doing the action in a repeating motion for less damage or in the case of a single target, a downswing from the axe followed by a foward stab from the servo-arm.

Grav Pistol:

Now ranged weapons are certainly more freeform when it comes to techmarines, they have been shown to use all manner of weapons but most recently with the primaris introduction they are shown using grav pistols.

Grav weapons in of themselves are shown as a constant beam of energy which upon reaching a target, slowly collapses them upon their own weight. This makes them stronger against larger targets and far less potent against smaller ones.

Now when it comes to Space Marine 2 we already have a beam weapon in the Neo-Volkite Pistol and it itself does much the same during gameplay where its better against larger targets due to making use of its buildup of smaller explosions.

As such I dont believe a grav pistol has a place in the game unless it was significantly changed from what the lore dictates.

Core perks:

 1-1. Performing a melee execution restores 15% of your secondary weapon's ammo. Cooldown is 30 seconds.

 1-2. When your health is less than 30%, armour damage is reduced by 40%.

 1-3. Secondary weapon damage increases by 25% but melee damage is reduced by 10%.

 2-1. Finisher gun strikes on majoris-level or higher enemies restore equipment charge by 1. Cooldown is 60 seconds.

 2-2. If you are surrounded by 7 or more enemies, melee damage increases by 15%.

 2-3. Gain a permanent extra armour segment.

 3-1. Damage against marked enemies increases by 20%.

 3-2. When your secondary weapon is out of ammo, killing 15 enemies in rapid succession restores ammo reserve by 15%. Cooldown is 40 seconds.

 3-3. Enemies hit by your secondary weapon take 10% more damage for 5 seconds.

Team perks:

 1-1. Every 100 seconds, all squad members restores equipment charge by 1.

 1-2. Gunstrikes performed on Majoris or higher level enemies restore 10% ability charge for any squad member.

 1-3. Every 40 seconds, all squad members restore 10% of their ammo reserve.

Gear perks:

 1-1. When the Tarantula Turret's deploy time expires, it leaves behind a random equipment pickup.

 1-2. Initial drop area and damage of the Tarantula Turret is increased but its bolter damage is reduced.

 1-3. Killing 10 enemies with an equipment charge restores 15% of Tarantula Turrets cooldown.

 2-1. Allows a second Tarantula Turret to be deployed but reduces turret range by 5 meters, increases total recharge time by 15%.

 2-2. Once a gun strike finisher has occured, killing 25 enemies in rapid succession spawns a armour pack. Cooldown is 80 seconds.

 2-3. Empowers the Tarantula Turret with 15% increased damage and 8 extra seconds of deployment time, increases total recharge time by 10%.

 3-1. When Tarantula Turrent is in cooldown, health damage is reduced by 25%.

 3-2. While the Tarantula Turret is on the field, you take 30% less ranged damage and deal 10% more damage.

 3-3. Any finisher gun strike restores 5% total health

Signiture perks:

 1-1. When active, Tarantula Turret deals damage over time to all enemies within 8 meters.

 1-2. Replaces Tarantula Turrets bolter weapons with a pyreblaster, Reduces total recharge time by 10%.

 1-3. Executions of Majoris-level or higher enemies create a armour pack. Cooldown is 80 seconds.

When it comes to perk options I believe that the Techmarine should aspire to be similar to the Bulwark in some parts. Having skills to provide help for the team and itself of course.

The biggest part of this is having options to both restore ammo, restore equipment charges, create armour packs and even provide a new aspect in that of marking enemies using the tag system for extra damage.

Ammo restore is pretty staightfoward, ammo allows you to continue to kill and while plenty classes have 1 or 2 ways to restore some ammo these are often not taken over other options due to it either being to little or having better options. This shouldnt be a must pick though so we have more options of ways to support the team.

Equipment restore is one aspect that all players have access to on classes but we have to have a class which allows everyone to restore together without the use of perk. Having a team member do it for you without your own perk use will allow more freedom for previous classes and provide some unique teamplay for the Techmarine and team.

Armour pack creation. Now why not just have an armour segment restore? The answer is simple. With the introduction of prestige perks and a minor perk or two previously we have perks designed to activated when picking up an armour pack to lets say restore your ability charge.

So creating the armour pack will in turn balance it so only one team member at a time can be buffed by the armour itself and if running the prestige perk to restore ability charge create more options for further teamplay and cooperation.

Tagging system, this again is pretty staightfoward. Taking inspiration from the Witch Hunter sub-class in Vermintide 2 and the Focus Target skill in Darktide we can now support the team by providing extra damage to any target marked by the Techmarine while also making the ability the Tarantula Turret focus said target if its within range.

Thank you for taking the time to read this extensive fan class description! The techmarine is my ideal class to be added to the game and even on the tabletop I use them often, they are by far the coolest variant of a space marine, at least to me.

I wished to do the class justice by providing this document and giving my thoughts and reasoning for the choices made so please, feel free to comment and add to it in your own way. Having more ideas for perks, weapons and skills is always amazing.

Once again thank you! And behalf of all 6 Iron Hand fans including myself I salute you.