Imacts of patch 1.2 on Necrons

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· Tech
o When a Monolith becomes a Fully Restored Monolith, it no longer loses its control group binding.
o Decreased the second Necron Power research cost from 750 to 550.
o Decreased the first Necron Power research cost from 400 to 300.
Increased Necron Summoning Core’s armor from 0 to 100.



The Summoning Core armour has been fixed, of course. This means that it is now much more viable to get an early core, and you don’t need to defend it so feverishly now.

Also, power researches are cheaper now. Now I always research them when I have the power, as it can make a lot of difference later on.

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· Necron Warrior
o Decreased their accuracy on the move from 100% to 80%.
o Disruption Field upgrade no longer increases the range of Necron Warriors.
o Slightly decreased the Necron Warrior damage against buildings and vehicles.
o Decreased the health bonus of the Disruption Field upgrade.
Teleports will fail when Necron Warriors get knocked down, but the ability will no longer become greyed out.


First of all, accuracy on the move has been decreased. Note, however, that 80% compared to other races’ 15% is still a huge advantage. This means that Necron warriors can cause a large amount of damage while pursuing enemy forces, especially with a good use of the Chronometron. (See the Necron Lord below)

Secondly, Warrior Upgrades no longer give extra range, which means that you’ll have difficulty getting all of your warriors firing on the enemy. To counter this, you can simply move your forces forward while shooting at the enemy until everyone is in range.

Another important change is that Necron warriors now deal less damage to vehicles and buildings. This means that if the enemy fast techs to vehicles, your warriors won’t be able to stand up to them. I have seen 3 land speeders cut through three full warrior squads in no time, without suffering a single loss in return. Also, buildings will go down less quickly, which means that IG bunkers (Now upgraded) or Ork buildings will become much harder to assail. If you expect to go up against these things, try to reach tier 2 ASAP; immortals are invaluable now.

And of course, the first health upgrade for warriors has been decreased. What does this mean? This means you shouldn’t rely on warriors too much, use other units to complement your forces. Also, when it looks like your troops are dieing, teleport! No other race has this advantage, so use it to it’s best effect. Note also that Teleport fails when your troops are knocked down. However, they will still teleport as soon as they get up, so nothing short of a trio Basilisks or Squadron Bomb chuckas will stop you from making your getaway.


Very important note: The second Warrior upgrade still brings warriors to the old 1000 hitpoints. That means a 60% hitpoint boost, in addition to the extra damage! Get this research ASAP.


Lastly, note how Necron warriors are still free. That means that if your monolith(s) isn’t doing anything, you’re doing something wrong! Always have them producing free warriors, and just cancel or delete them when necessary. They are free: No reason not to spam them.

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· Wraith
o Wraiths are now morale immune.
o Decreased the Wraith Claw damage against some buildings.
o Now begin with an ability that reduces ranged damage by 40%. This ability is always active.
o Wraithflight upgrade now increases ranged damage reduction by an additional 40% for a total reduction of 80%.
o Wraithflight no longer grants a health bonus.
o Decreased initial health from 660 to 500.
Slightly decreased the Wraith’s chance to sync kill.



Wraiths: Underused in 1.1, vital in 1.2

Wraiths are tricky to use, but very powerful. They have good ranged damage resistance now, but un-upgraded will still go down really quickly. However, they are also fast, lethal against infantry, detect infiltrators and they can decap points! This makes them the perfect scout unit for the Necrons, both early and late game. While your army is fighting his, they can assault listening posts, kill enemy scouts, decap points, and protect your scarabs. They can also be used to aid your main force by tying up ranged units. This makes them extremely powerful against Eldar, who will outrange and outmanoeuvre your army horribly without them. They are also highly useful against Imperial Guard, or Infiltrated units such as cultists, Chaos marines, Tankbustas or SM scouts.

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· Flayed Ones
o Are now available after building a Summoning Core.
o Are now morale immune.
Decreased Flayed Ones special attacks damage to buildings.



Ah, the flayed ones. While it’s tempting to spam these in large amounts, it is really not recommended anymore. They no longer deal good damage to buildings, so don’t use them for that. Their morale immunity is in fact a disadvantage, as it allowed them to close with the enemy faster when broken.

Instead, use one or two units of them, and they can be very powerful when used right.

First of all, they are now available after building a Summoning Core. This makes them excellent for stopping enemy rushes dead in their tracks. Just build some of these guys, drop them in the invading force, and they’ll run back to their base faster than they came.

Secondly, you can use them to force back a group of enemies defending a position. Is there a large group of space marines with heavy bolters hugging that piece of hard cover? No problem, just advance your force, drop some flayed ones in their middle, and watch them clamber out of that cover in terror while your warriors shoot them to bits.

Or, you can simply use them to guard your Main force from enemy melee units. Nob Squads, Ogryns, and berserkers are all enemy units that’s you’d prefer didn’t carve your warriors and immortals to bits. Just drop them in and engage the melee unit, while your warriors give fire support.

Important note: Always teleport a unit of Flayed ones back to your monolith when they have done their job! That way, you can ready them for deep striking them again, and quickly deploy them wherever necessary. They are the slowest melee unit in the game, so don’t just let them slog it across the battlefield!

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· Thermo Plasma Generators now require Tier 2.
· All turrets other than the Necron Turret now require a Barracks or an Armory.


Note the “Except the Necron Turret” bit.
I often go for an early turret with Necrons. Yes, it sets back your eco, but a raptor/Assault marine/command squad harass can be lethal otherwise. When placed near your monolith, it can often cover your entire base.

And, of course, Thermos are now tier 2. Pitty, as they can be very useful for a Necron. All the more reason to get to tier 2 quickly, I guess.

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· Increased Heavy Destroyer damage against all vehicle types.
· Significantly increased the damage of Pariahs to Monster Medium armor, making them a more effective counter to Krootox.
Necrons now have visual effects indicating Necron Warrior and Wraith upgrades.


Well, the Heavy Destroyer is definitely a good unit to use now. I have seen a few of these guys take out a monolith in no time.

Of course, you can do pretty much the same job with immortals, but the advantage of the Heavy Destroyer is that it’s fast, and less fragile. As such, they can quickly get out of harms way, and if you need an anti-vehicle unit quickly they’ll arrive much faster than immortals.

Pariahs deal more damage to Monster Medium armour now, but Horrors and Ogryin’s are now infantry. As such, I can see this as making much of a difference, but if a krootox shows up it’s useful I guess.

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· Necron Lord
o Added a visual for the Lightning Field ability.
o Lightning Field now charges twice as fast.
o Lightning Field also charges additionally when the Necron Lord inflicts melee damage.
o Decreased the radius of the Lightning Field ability from 15 to 5.
o Decreased the damage of the Lightning Field ability by 50%.
o Decreased the amount of health units receive when resurrected by the Resurrection Orb ability from 50% to 30%.
o Resurrection Orb is now limited to +24 infantry pop cap.
o Decreased Chronometron cool down from 90 to 70.
o Increased the cool down of Night Bringer from 180 to 300.
o Increased the cool down of Solar Pulse from 60 to 70.
No longer receives a health bonus for each Tier 3 Monolith present in the game.


Lightning field became more versatile. Now instead of hoping that the enemy will attack him, it now charges even if he attacks buildings. Faster too. On the other hand, Lightning field now only deals a slight margin of the damage it did before, with 33% radius and 50% damage. Still useful against armies with lots of melee, however.

The Resurrection Orb is now nerfed big time. I still use it sometimes to quickly reinforce my army, but overall it’s just better to use a Tomb Spyder.

Chronometron has now less recharge time, which makes it a very viable choice indeed. It can be used in combination with Solar ray to keep the enemy from firing for as long as possible. But it is also extremely useful in preventing the enemy from retreating. As soon as they appear to pull back, just teleport the lord in their middle, use the phylactery, and have your warriors and wraiths pursue the enemy. Used well, you’ll virtually cripple the enemy’s forces.

Solar Pulse cooldown has been increased... but it’s still immensely powerful against ranged units, turrets, IG bunkers, Ork buildings, or infiltrators.

Finally, the Night bringer can now be used less often, and the Lord can’t get those insane Hitpoint bonuses anymore. Ah well, it was to be expected.