Devlog #14

Dear friends, in this log we will look at the Technicus archetype. We will explore how the character evolves up to level 30, and unravel the features of the new subclasses.

Technicus

Technicus is an engineer who specialises in repairing his teammates' armour and controlling a support drone.

Like Medicus, this class is designed to support the team. However, it is much more difficult to control and requires high-quality equipment to reach its full potential, especially at high levels. The main mechanics of this class are built around the ‘Drone’ effect: the more you have, the higher the chance of applying positive effects to allies with your skills.

It is also the only class in the game that can simultaneously strengthen allies while attacking enemies. A hero with high-quality equipment can make a significant contribution to the team, but cannot yet compete with the Medic due to their inability to restore health.

In the early stages of the game, support classes are usually weak due to their limited number of skills, so players often recruit both Technicus and Medicus to their team. They work well together, as one repairs armour and the other restores health. Together, they can withstand bosses and prolonged waves of enemies on the ‘Horror Movie’ difficulty setting.

At level 11, the hero gets to chose between two archetypes: Mechanicus and Libritor. Surprisingly, despite significant differences in gameplay mechanics and style, these characters work well together on the same team.

Mechanicus

Mechanicus is an advanced version of Technicus, requiring a thoughtful approach to unlock its full potential. To make the most of this class, you need to carefully study all their skills and apply them at the right moment. With good equipment, the hero is capable of applying a significant number of positive effects with their attacks. Combined with repair skills, this makes them a serious competitor to medics closer to level 15 and beyond.

The hero has a number of unique abilities and mechanics. ‘Ultrasonic Beacon’ removes all positive effects from enemies and can be very useful against bosses or creatures in the Blood Crater that have accumulated "Bloodlust".

The effectiveness of skills such as ‘Flashbang Mine,’ ‘Locust Mine,’ and many others in the Mechanicus branch depends on the amount of droning. They receive significant enhancements, extolling the skill of competently managing the character's droning. Therefore, the player's task is to accumulate the maximum amount of droning as quickly as possible and use it at the right moments without wasting it. This greatly increases the hero's effectiveness.

Libritor

The Libritor guys don't like to sit in the rear: their squad was created on Tenebris, and their combat techniques, adapted to the realities of this harsh planet, have rightfully earned them a place on the front lines.

Steam post image Libritor is a hero who deals significant damage and has powerful area attacks. He has abandoned the use of drones and submachine guns in favour of a heavy machine gun. Instead of droning, he gains the ‘Overheat’ effect. This effect significantly increases the hero's damage, but reduces his accuracy and inflicts the ‘Burning’ status on the hero.

Like all technicians, he requires in-depth study of the class and careful analysis of all mechanics. However, if his potential is fully unlocked, he is capable of dealing the highest damage in the game. However, to do this, the hero prefers a personal medic or technician and very good equipment that will apply a large amount of ‘Panacea’ and repair armour.

Yes, and that is what makes him so unique. The hero can simultaneously deal heavy damage and apply a large number of positive effects to allies. However, the high demands on equipment and the complexity of the mechanics make him a specialist class making him not the most popular class.

Engineeris

Upon reaching level 21, Mechanicus transitions to a new subclass: Engineeris.

The Technicus and Mechanicus divisions regard the Engineeris as gods, with a mixture of admiration and envy. This is because the guys from the supply department teamed up with a group of scientists and managed to take apart some crystalloids. As a result, they obtained new technologies, which they immediately applied in practice. The result was impressive!

The hero can make short leaps in time right in the middle of the battle. Sending enemies to the next round without taking action or bringing back allies who have already made their move - for an extra turn! The hero is clad in medium armour, but his maximum droning reserve is significantly higher than that of Mechanicus, which significantly increases his combat capabilities.

For example, using the ‘Engineer's Zeal’ skill, the hero immediately receives the maximum amount of droning. This ability allows him to use the powerful ‘Antimatter Shot’ skill. It instantly deprives the enemy of initiative and immediately sends the poor guy to the next round. If these actions were directed at the boss, it will give your team a chance to catch their breath and regain their strength. All this is quite fun and dynamic to play, allowing you to get out of the most difficult situations.

However, play wisely and don't rush to spend all your droning on powerful skills. For example, by unlocking the ‘Special Training 3’ talent, the hero will gain a unique ability: in the event of a fatal wound, the character will not die, but will survive with a health amount equal to the number of droning points on them. Powerful, isn't it?

The character has many unique features and is eagerly awaiting the release of version 1.0 of the game to show off all his glory. The bugs are already writing a petition to ban this hero, but we remain unshakeable!

Armatus

Upon reaching level 21, Libritor transitions to a new subclass, Armatus.

‘What a beast!’ exclaim those who see Armatus for the first time. Indeed, compared to the other units in the engineering group, Armatus looks like a real colossus. Tons and tons of armour hang over you, and the muzzle of a large-calibre machine gun commands respect and instills awe in one’s heart.

Like all mechs in the game, Armatus has a special slot in its inventory - ‘External Armour’. This piece of equipment gives the hero a significant amount of armour, allowing the unique talent ‘Frenzied Soldering Iron’ further enhances the hero's attacks in proportion to the number of overheating effects on the hero.

In a global context, the hero is a direct continuation and development of the Libritor class, but it's not that simple. The new talent tree offers two fundamentally different playstyles.

The first is aggressive, dealing significant damage doubling down on the immolation, both yourself and the enemy. It will perfectly complement a team that includes a flamethrower or a marine specialising in fire attacks. The “Mobile Crematorium” talent increases the character's critical damage when maximum overheating is reached, and the “Burning Giant” talent causes enemies to ignite on critical hits. The hero competes directly with other characters who also deal damage.

The second style of play involves a fundamentally different approach. Overheating of the hero no longer carries such risks, and the maximum amount of it is reduced to 20 units. In this case, the character becomes a multifaceted hybrid, capable of dealing damage, controlling enemies, and applying a large number of positive effects due to their new talents.

The “Extreme Cooling” talent increases the hero's accuracy by +50%, which largely negates the negative accuracy penalty from overheating and helps unlock the potential of the indestructible hybrid.

This allows you to assemble a formidable team consisting entirely of engineers of various specialisations and orientations, and then unleash technotronic hell on your enemies. The ‘Technical Crew Deployment’ talent directly hints at this, strengthening both Engineeris and Armatus.

In conclusion

Finally, it is worth noting that this archetype is a source of pride for us in the field of game design. We sought to create it without imitating standard classes from other games, and we believe we have implemented some original ideas.

We would like to express our special gratitude to our animator and programmer for their extra efforts in creating these characters. Thanks to their work, they turned out exactly as we had imagined them.