DOW2: Retribution thoughts

[Darksider]

So, i'm waiting either for a price drop, or until I save enough money to buy a new comp to play at max settings (some of the Chaos Rising levels were like slideshows at higher settings) to buy this, but i'm interested in the basic plot. Could someone spoilerize the following for me?

1. What happens to the sub-sector as a whole? I know that Spoiler

Typhon gets Exterminatus'ed

, but what about the rest?

2. What happens to Gabriel Angelos? I know he isn't the SM campaign hero. Also, what of the others from the DW2 and CR campaigns like Tarkus, Avitus, and Cyrus?

3. What happens to Eliphas? I know that Abbadon rezz'ed him after CR, is he leading Chaos forces in this?

[Sharp-kun]

Only done the IG campaign, so this may be slightly off:

1. What happens to the sub-sector as a whole? I know that Spoiler

Typhon gets Exterminatus'ed

, but what about the rest?

All survive.

2. What happens to Gabriel Angelos? I know he isn't the SM campaign hero. Also, what of the others from the DW2 and CR campaigns like Tarkus, Avitus, and Cyrus?

Spoiler

I'm told Gabriel becomes the new Chapter Master if you do the SM campaign. In the IG one he appears to die fighting Kyrus. Cyrus is one of your squad in the SM campaign and the others don't appear.

3. What happens to Eliphas? I know that Abbadon rezz'ed him after CR, is he leading Chaos forces in this?

You play as him as Chaos. If you don't choose Chaos, he doesn't show up at all.

The main characters only seem to appear if you're doing their campaign.

[Coaan]

You play as him as Chaos. If you don't choose Chaos, he doesn't show up at all.

The main characters only seem to appear if you're doing their campaign.

This is incorrect - Spoiler/reason below.
Spoiler

In the first tutorial mission as the space marines, you kill Eliphas, presumably to avenge Davian Thule who seems to get done in regardless. It's like this for every campaign. Each side gets one of their major opponents to kill right off the bat.

[Lonestar]

Spoiler

I'm told Gabriel becomes the new Chapter Master if you do the SM campaign. In the IG one he appears to die fighting Kyrus. Cyrus is one of your squad in the SM campaign and the others don't appear.

Spoiler

Nope, Tarkus is one of your squadmates in the SM Campaign.

[Lonestar]

Just finished campaign with the Lord General. What is this RoF increase wargear that everyone is talking about?

Wasn't wargear, it was one of the traits you could pick as you levelled up.

[xthetenth]

Just finished campaign with the Lord General. What is this RoF increase wargear that everyone is talking about?

Wasn't wargear, it was one of the traits you could pick as you levelled up.

Yeah, and it's hilariously broken. It also synergizes brilliantly with gaze of the tiger, which is yet another hilariously broken guard thing. It's a plasma gun where you can kill a squad of three terminators with two shots. You can also put it on or next to the lord general and get bolter grade fire rate. I was playing with that on Merrick and him with the lord general and Merrick was wiping multiple squads before the lord general could get in melta range. Guard borders on a war crime with its current arrangement in campaign.

[Nephtys]

Lord Bernn's execute ability can be improved to make both himself and the squad(s) affected invulnerable. For 30 seconds.

30 seconds is a lot of time to kill things.

[xthetenth]

Damn, and I thought the ork campaign dialog was funny. The Guard campaign is the funniest one out there and that isn't counting the jokes. To round it out the Inquisitor is a brutalitator of a mass debuffer and mob debilitator.

[Ritterin Sophia]

I really thought the addition of the memes into the game were pretty cool.

Dakkamasta 9001: Dats a big numah so its gotta have a lotta dakka.
Chopped Up Armour: Dis looks chopped! I can tells from sum of da hack marks, and from seein' quite a few chops in me time!
Two References to 'DRIVE ME CLOSER!'. The most obvious is the Lord General shouting it and the second is The Colonel's Deathblow (Colonel Nelson of the Krieg 23rd Armoured Regiment was known for pushing his regiment into close combat with the enemy, often closing to point-blank range while waving this sword from the cupola of his command tank. He met his end on Frizzen Prime driving this through an Ork Deff Dread).
Cruel Lightning Claws: A reference to Gorb, a respected member of Relic Forums.
A 'Double Rainbow' reference in Double Shootaz: Double Shootaz all the wayz! Worrr dat's so intense...
Power Klaw references Tenacious D: It haz da powa... ta move you! Into lotsa placez. All at da same time!
Heavy Big Shoota is a 'Meet the Heavy' from TF2 reference: It costs 40 teef to fire dis shoota when yous count ta free. Dat's 'ow many teef rattled outa me mouf when I did it, anyway.
The Catachans make a 'Predator' reference: Go! Run! Get to the Valkyrie.
The final one I've found is when you give normal Guardsmen new equipment, they say, "It's dangerous to go alone! Take this!'

[SylasGaunt]

The ork campaign also has a wargear drop known as the Slappa Choppa. Youz can slap yuz problemz away wit da' slappa choppa.

[Steel]

Well fuck me I can see why Diomedies kept his helmet on the whole time. Also the voice was cooler.

Not massively enthused by the new campaign. Its slipped further down the simplification slope, and I don't think its actually streamlined play. Missions are even possibly slightly more linear than before too.

Theres now even more micro with the fact you're able to get dozens of squads, each with a bunch of abilities.

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

Not massively enthused by the new campaign. Its slipped further down the simplification slope, and I don't think its actually streamlined play.

This pretty much sums up how I feel about the campaign, too. Way too many game designers can't tell the difference between actually streamlining gameplay and just dumbing something down.

[Kojiro]

This pretty much sums up how I feel about the campaign, too. Way too many game designers can't tell the difference between actually streamlining gameplay and just dumbing something down.

Maybe they took cues from the 40K design team?

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

I don't know about that. The 5th Edition ruleset was pretty solid. It's the codex redesigns that drive me off the wall, which, granted, do suffer quite a bit from stupid in the name of "streamlining".

[Kojiro]

I was more talking about the simplification, which 5th Ed 40k is almost insulting in. I don't want to derail the thread into why that's the case but I'd be happy to talk about it via PM or a new thread if you'd like.

[Thanas]

So....is it worth buying?

EDIT: By which I mean that I would most likely try to play as Eldar, and would be interested to know if the campaign is anything other than mindless click, recruit, attack (repeat ad infinitum).

[Pietia]

So....is it worth buying?

Not really. On Normal it is quite possible to leave the game unpaused and e.g. go make some tea. If you're not in a middle of some scripted encounter, the troops will take good care of themselves. I'm not sure if it is even possible to lose a mission in this game (other than not finishing two of the missions in time). Thinking, utilization of special abilities of the heroes etc. are optional.

[Lonestar]

So....is it worth buying?

Having played through one of the campaigns...I liked it. But then I am a mindless fanboy who also owns all the expansions for the original DoW.

I will say it tied up some plot threads dating back to the original DoW.

[Vendetta]

If you liked Dawn of War 2, this is more Dawn of War 2 with five new variations on the flavour.

At its core, Dawn of War 2 (singleplayer) is sort of the Halo of RTS games, it refined down the gameplay to a few core elements that worked well together, and then served up a campaign based on repeating those elements in slight variations. You get Avitus set up to suppress an enemy, taunt someone onto Tarkus, and then use the force commander to pummel face, occasionally sniping or jumping on a HVT with Cyrus or Thaddeus.

Retribution just varies that up by providing slightly different recipes for the races and how their heroes interact with the core concepts of shooty bitz, fighty bitz, cover, and suppression and what synergies they have between them.

[Hawkwings]

Of what I've seen in all the campaigns so far (finished IG, played through the first or second missions on most other races) Tyranids look to be the most "different" of all the campaigns. For one, you've only got one hero. Plus he (it?) doesn't talk at all. I'll be playing through that campaign just to see how they deal with the motivations of the swarm.

[Lonestar]

Having played through one of the campaigns...I liked it. But then I am a mindless fanboy who also owns all the expansions for the original DoW.

I will say it tied up some plot threads dating back to the original DoW.

Also, if you get it we can battle on Steam.

[OmegaChief]

Or play Last Stand together, which is arguabley more fun.

[Lonestar]

Or play Last Stand together, which is arguabley more fun.

Honestly, I just want to see if he is as stern a Germanoid over Steam voicechat as he is on the board.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

I'm rather torn on whether the Ancient should go melee or range.

[Nephtys]

I'm rather torn on whether the Ancient should go melee or range.

Give that hero a heavy plasma cannon, and watch the carnage of his special attack go off. It's ridiculous.