Dawn of War 4 Preview Details Necron and Adeptus Mechanicus Factions
A hands-on preview of Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4 reveals how the Necrons and Adeptus Mechanicus play, including the AdMech campaign's branching choices and the Necrons' map-spreading economy.
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4 is giving two of its four launch factions distinct identities on and off the battlefield, according to a detailed hands-on preview of the Necrons and the Adeptus Mechanicus. The two armies might both look like robots at first glance, but their campaign structures, unit rosters, and economic systems push players in very different directions.
The Adeptus Mechanicus campaign picks up as the second of four story arcs, following the Orks. Choices made during the Ork campaign can carry over in certain ways — for example, whether the player elevated the beastboss or the warlord from the stars may influence the kinds of Ork enemies that appear later. In the first six AdMech missions, however, the Orks take a supporting role while the followers of the Omnissiah confront the deeper problem of a Necron presence on Kronus.
The campaign centers on Potentia-Delta-9, a technoarchaeologist who frequently puts the pursuit of knowledge above her superiors' directives. She clashes with Sek-Ix-23, a by-the-book machine cultist who disapproves of her loose-cannon methods. At a key point, the Magos Dominate of Kronus issues a final ultimatum: the player can continue as Potentia and go rogue, or take over as Sek-Ix and attempt to restore order. Unlike the Ork campaign, this is not a branching timeline — the same story unfolds either way, but the perspective differs substantially, and the two characters eventually come together before the end.
On the battlefield, the AdMech is a highly ranged-focused faction. Skitarii Rangers and Skitarii Vanguards form the backbone of its armies; both prefer to avoid melee, with Vanguards more durable and effective at medium range while Rangers lay down fire from a distance. Ruststalkers provide deadly melee troops that remain cloaked until they enter combat or get very close to the enemy. Higher-tech specialists from the Cult of the Omnissiah include tracked Kataphron units that melt through armor and elite Kastelan Robot maniples that turn the frontline into a chrome wall of death in the late game.
The faction's buildings form a network called the Noosphere, which grows more powerful as more structures are connected to it, granting bonuses such as stronger defensive turrets or faster unit production. Linking distant structures and resource points requires either cheap, defenseless Cogitator Relays or more expensive Cognis turrets, and anything cut off from the main base loses the network's benefits. That makes the AdMech vulnerable to flanking and deep-strike tactics, forcing a strategic choice at the start of every match: expand quickly with fragile, single-path networks or build more slowly with redundancies and automated defenses.
The Necrons share some traits with the AdMech but differ most sharply in how their economy works. They are what the preview describes as a «goo faction,» spreading a green-and-black machine lattice across the map in a manner comparable to Zerg creep or Undead blight. This lattice emanates from each Nexus of Dominion, a fragile tower structure that also produces dominion, the Necrons' only economic resource. Their economy is therefore based on how much of the map area they control.
The preview also notes that a few technical rough spots remain a few weeks ahead of release, though the Space Marine and Ork missions have received significant polish since earlier coverage. The AdMech campaign is described as having higher stakes, more relatable characters, and some alluring intrigue and ancient secrets to dig into.
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