Drukhari tips

[TemplarGR]

So, i have won my first game with the Drukhari, quest victory (though it should have been Chaos Daemons, lol). I used pretty much everything so i got an idea about how they supposed to be played. Since they are a somewhat weird faction to play for less experienced players, let me give you some guidelines.

First things first, Drukhari are an infantry-focused faction that hits its peak in the mid game and relies on mobility. Their early game is weak because you will be lacking the various buffs and synergies, and their units are baseline weak, especially the earlier units. Also, their late game is also weak, because they lack really heavy combat focused vehicles and air units, or walkers. Their heaviest ground unit, Tantalus, is just a heavy assault transport like the Space Marine Land Raider. Not bad, but you won't be playing tank warfare with the Drukhari, that's for sure. So, the goal for them should be to carefully scout in the early game, and attempt to gain the upper hand in the mid game by hitting at enemy weak spots and slowing their growth. If the game reaches Tiers 9-10 and you are still balanced with your opponent, you will be having a more difficult time once super heavies and other infantry-exterminators enter the game....

Economy wise their units are cheap, you shouldn't struggle much BUT Drukhari are really influence starved. They definitely need a lot of influence, and you should store as much as you can in order to boost the loyalty of your cities (mechanics are still unclear to me but i noticed that it is not production that influences loyalty but total amount of influence, similar to Ork WAAAAAGH). Of course Drukhari gain influence with each kill too, but you still need to make influence producers and not neglect them. Drukhari rely a lot on influence to use important abilities for both their units and faction-wide abilities too.

In terms of units, there are two styles of play and until you reach the end tiers, you need to focus on one: Transport-based warfare and Combat Drug-based warfare... While you can develop both at the same time, it will slow you down, so it is more optimal to focus on one at early stages of the game.

The Transport based group are infantry units that can't use Combat Drugs by default (there is a T10 research to allow all infantry to use them). Such units tend to be squishy on their own, and have less mobility. Since the Drukhari have 3 assault transports, beginning with Venom, their basic vehicle, and ending with Tantalus, their heaviest unit, infantry that lacks combat drugs is better suited as an auxiliary carried unit rather than autonomous infantry. You place the transport next to the target, unload the cargo, hit and kill, and then board the transport again in the next turn. Rinse and repeat. There is research to give significant buffs for 1 turn after exiting transports, that suit this playstyle. Kabalite Warriors and Trueborne(this is a direct replacement of Warriors) should be used to kill organic units, Scourges for anti-vehicle and anti-building duties, and Incubi as your end game melee infantry that can deal damage to both armored and unarmored targets. You should also use the Archon hero with that group. Archon is a relatively well balanced combat support hero with nice weapons and the ability to soak overwatch easily.

The other group of units are those that can use combat drugs by default, the junkies, LOL. They tend to be more mobile even without the drugs, and can be deceptively tanky and deal decent damage too. Combat drugs are an ability that costs 20 influence for 10 turns, therefore it essentially adds an upkeep of 2 influence per unit for as long as you use them. The drugs initially give just a +33% number of attacks, but there are 4 other buffs to research with the latest at T6 (33% morale loss resistance, 33% feel no pain damage resistance, +50% melee damage, move through cover). Those buffs can really transform infantry units (and heroes). Especially melee ones. The first unit at T1 to unlock for drugs are the Wyches. They are a somewhat squishy but fast and very hard hitting melee unit. Later you should upgrade to the Hellions, who should be your primary combat drug infantry until you reach T10 and can switch to Incubii with combat drugs and Tantalus transports. Hellions are great vs organic units and very mobile, they are also very cheap. For anti-vehicle you should rely on Reavers and Ravagers, which you should spam alongside Wyches and Hellions, until you finally replace them with the Tantalus later. Don't make the weaker transports since Wyches and Hellions are very mobile. The hero to use with this group is the Succubus. She is GREAT. She is basically the Drukhari alternative to the Ork Warboss. Initially she seems squishy, but don't let her full you, she can be a beast! She can deal insane amounts of melee damage when fully buffed, and can be suprisingly hard to kill if you stack her no feel pain buffs and give her defensive items. She is also mobile as well. Make sure you give her Dusk Blade in order to life steal. And watch her slaughter everyone. She also buffs other melee infantry up to +50% damage.... For the money, she is crazy aggressive.

I left some units out that are more generic and should be used for both routes. The Haemonculus hero is very important for buffs and heals. And his offensive ability can deal great damage to armor, especially heavy infantry like terminators... That hero can also heal for free every turn the "builder" (doesn't build anything, just clears tiles) unit, Wracks, with an additional ability. Wracks is a tanky infantry that can hold your line, assuming you want to hold a line with Drukhari, and can deal decent melee damage to infantry even in cover, and can also deal nice damage to monsters. They are very slow though. Still, you should have 1-2 Wracks per each Haemonculus hero at least. There is also the Cronus monster unit, which is also important to have at least 1-2 at all times. Each time they have attacked in a turn, they gain a 6hp heal, and they also double the feel no pain bonus units gain at lvl 3 when next to it. It deals decent damage to infantry in cover as well. When you combine Haemonculus, Cronus, and the other buffs units get, infantry becomes really impressive for the price. Just try to place them tactically next to each other to stack the buffs, since most auras are range 1.

As for the air units, they are decent. Nothing impressive but they get the job done, the first air unit is nice vs air and decent vs ground, and the bomber is better vs ground. Standar Gladius fare.

Soul Hunger abilities, the ones you can press at the up-left corner of the screen, should generally be spammed on cooldown. They ARE expensive but they are definitely worth it for all the buffs and income. That is why as i said you should definitely have lots of influence production. Make sure you make enough influence per turn to pay for their upkeep. The ability to create a temporary Webway Gate is really cool, it allows you to either return to your base if you are far, or attack anywhere you want on the map if you are next to a Gateway. Can be very effective.

So, i hope all this helps to make your first steps with the faction.

[Grotzel]

Infantry heavy? Excellent! :) By the way - and please no real spoilers ... but are there any hints in the quests that point to another faction coming like the Drukhari were sort of teased at by the Sister's campaign? Well, that one was sort of the exception (don't think the developers did that in any other campaign) ... but still.

[zimbrax]

I enjoyed reading your tips and I must say that my experience was similar to yours in my first complete game with them. I started with the disembarking method and eventually added drugs into the mix.

Also, they may not have a late game unit per se, but in the late game, with enough influence to sustain Soul Hunger abilities + the disembarking bonuses + the drugs, your infantry can deal insane damage (especially if you combine those buffs with haywire grenades). As such, my first impression is that their late game potential should not be completly disregarded.

Additionally, I also played with new 3 techs per tier option and it felt realy good not having the feeling of falling behind due to researching more than 2 techs per tier.

[Oktopus]

Thanks for typing this up.

Did you not find any need for scourges in addition to your reavers and ravagers?

[TemplarGR]

Originally posted by Grotzel:

Infantry heavy? Excellent! :) By the way - and please no real spoilers ... but are there any hints in the quests that point to another faction coming like the Drukhari were sort of teased at by the Sister's campaign? Well, that one was sort of the exception (don't think the developers did that in any other campaign) ... but still.

I am not sure they have, BUT in the end stage of the quest you defend against massive Chaos Daemons, so.....

[TemplarGR]

Originally posted by zimbrax:

I enjoyed reading your tips and I must say that my experience was similar to yours in my first complete game with them. I started with the disembarking method and eventually added drugs into the mix.

Also, they may not have a late game unit per se, but in the late game, with enough influence to sustain Soul Hunger abilities + the disembarking bonuses + the drugs, your infantry can deal insane damage (especially if you combine those buffs with haywire grenades). As such, my first impression is that their late game potential should not be completly disregarded.

Additionally, I also played with new 3 techs per tier option and it felt realy good not having the feeling of falling behind due to researching more than 2 techs per tier.

Yeah, their infantry is deceptively powerful once you setup your buffs. When i say that they drop in the late game, i do not mean they are utterly useless, just that they lose the "edge" relatively to other factions. It is still manageable to win in the late game if you slacked earlier, but the odds will be worse.

Also, i didn't notice they added an option for more techs per tier prior to advancement. That is actually cool. Will definitely make the armies more well rounded and not just everyone rushing to T10, lol.

[TemplarGR]

Originally posted by Oktopus:

Thanks for typing this up.

Did you not find any need for scourges in addition to your reavers and ravagers?

In my first game (i just began a second one) i tried everything to test it. So i did try the Scourges in combat and i noticed 2 things that bothered me:

1) They really suck vs organics. They rely too much on the Haywire trait of their weapon to do good damage vs vehicles and buildings (for those who don't know, it adds +3 damage to every attack and essentially removes all armor from the target, and Scourges do many attacks, so at full strength it is somewhere near 15 damage). But without it, it deals pathetic damage to organic targets (only 1.5 damage per attack and only 2 armor penetration IIRC).

2) Add to that, the fact that it is relatively squishy without strong buffs, and it becomes really tricky to use effectively without transports. Basically once it uses its jump, it gets stuck and becomes an easy target. If it soaks overwatch, its dead. It is less mobile without its jump since it doesn't ignore zone of control like the Reavers do. On the other hand, if you wait for the opponent to come to you, you are most likely getting hit first...

It is best to have them inside a transport, let the transport or another more resilient target (like an Archon) soak overwatch, and then unleash them to kill a pesky vehicle. Better to leave the jump for the return to the transport. That is how i will be using them. Essentially, the transports are the equivalent of an aircraft carrier and Scourges are the bomber jets, lol. If i need standing anti-armor, i would rather use Reavers or Ravagers.

[Grotzel]

Originally posted by TemplarGR:

I am not sure they have, BUT in the end stage of the quest you defend against massive Chaos Daemons, so.....

Interesting ... that might indeed be a hint that you need not be too worried about the League of Votann. :) Perhaps a bit vague - but still ...

[TemplarGR]

So, having played them a little more, it seems what i wrote in the OP seems pretty accurate. Which is funny considering i keep seeing people getting parts of the Drukhari wrong.

Basically, Drukhari up until the ending stages of the game, have to choose between one of the two playstyles i described above. You can mix them, but it is not optimal.

What is worse, is that units that come with combat drugs by default, are totally useless without the combat drug tech upgrades (which is why many are complaining about them). Especially T2 Painbringer, which gives +33% feel no pain while drugged, is a must-have ASAP. It can transform early Wyches into neutral clearing machines.

The combat-drug group are Wyches, Succubus, Reavers, Hellions. If you go with the drugs, those are the ones you should be mainly using until you reach T10 and research Cult Cold Trader. Then you should only be using Incubi in Tandaluses (with the drugs of course). But Incubi with Tandaluses is the end stage both playstyles converge either way, it is how you reach that point that differs.

Even Wyches with the combat drugs fully upgraded can be a powerhouse, especially if they reach level 6+. They can do insane amounts of melee damage then (even to armor) and can be very mobile and tanky. And they are so cheap to make.... Just spam them with no care in the world, though make sure you have a nice influence production to pay for their drugs.

Once you gain access to Hellions, forget Wyches, make Hellions instead. They are only slightly more expensive, but are even more mobile, can attack air targets, are tankier, and do more damage. They lose the grenades but gain jump. They die easily to beefier units in the mid game, but they are far cheaper than those, 20 food 20 ore and 2 food upkeep for this amount of performance is nothing. They are very spammable and don't need transports, spam away!

Reavers are a very underrated unit as well. In the early game with drugs, they are very very good for the price. Actually, with drugs they are better than Scourges and can actually kill everything, no just vehicles and buildings. And don't need transports. Reavers are a must have if you use combat drugs, if not, do not make them at all and make Scourges inside Raiders. But honestly, with combat drug techs Reavers are one of the best anti-armor vehicles in the game at their tier. They have lance and armor penetration 8, so they ignore all armor. They are ranged, and do around 8 damage at lvl 1 at full strength. For 40 ore and 2 ore upkeep, at Tier 2, how many factions have better anti-armor vehicles?

As for Succubus, i am in love. Such a great little hero.... She eliminates almost anything that doesn't fly.... As long as you are careful with her and don't take badly calculated risks, she is awesome!

If you go with the combat drugs, do not make early transports like the Venom and the Raider, they are useless. The infantry by itself is more mobile, and the ore is better spent on Reavers and Ravagers to support your infantry. You don't need to heal them so much, they are expendable, spamable. Only make Tantalus later in the game, and only after Tantalus research the transport buffs.

Honestly, people should try a game focusing only on the combat drugs units (+ Haemonculus/Wracks/Cronuses obviously, those are generic for both styles) and see for themselves how powerful they are in the early-mid game with the drugs. I would argue they are better than the non drugs alternatives.

Drukhari play like Orks. They benefit a lot by playing aggressively, and the combat drug variation is the most aggressive. They are essentially elven orks, lol. If you love one you will love the other. And since i love Orks and Chaos personally, i really like this faction. It is very fun, actually. I am impressed! And i didn't want them, i wanted Chaos Daemons. Well, good job devs!

[TemplarGR]

As for the other group, the transport-focused playstyle, this is more defensive than the combat drugs one, more careful, more "turtly" or "space mariney", lol. With that style you use units that typically have decent damage on their own but are very squishy and are less mobile than the combat drugs variants.

With that group, you need the Kabalist variants for anti-infantry and monsters, and Scourges for anti-armor and anti-air (except organic anti-air like the Tyranid units.... then you will have to use Reavers or Ravagers or your own air units). Basically, if you play the transport playstyle, do not make any combat drug unit, you need to rush research for the transports and their buffs instead.

Units that belong in the transport group are the Kabalists Warriors + Trueborn, Scourges, and the Archon hero. Later Incubii but you will converge using Incubii anyway, both styles use them.

If you choose this route, DO NOT MAKE Reavers (unless you need anti-air vs Tyranids and you lack air units). Do not make Ravagers either, they are not that good vs infantry and their anti-armor is not better than Scourges. They are not much tankier than the Raider transport either. So you don't need the pure combat vehicles, just don't make them at all and do not research them. Only make air units later.

Playing this style, the key vehicle early on is Venom light transport. Venom is cheap and makes your Kabalist Warriors very lethal. Spam Kabalist Warriors + Venom constantly to clear neutrals. Then upgrade to Raiders and place a mixture of Warriors and Scourges inside. And of course you should end with Incubii inside Tantaluses accompanied by air units, that's your end game.

Also key are the transports researches with that style, get them ASAP. All 3 are great, more damage, more defence, and more healing inside the transport, all are important for the air carrier playstyle, as i call it. Because that is how you play it, you move transport into position, unless the infantry inside, they kill, they come back inside, you move the transport. Rinse and repeat.

[TemplarGR]

As for the rest of the units, Haemonculus hero, Wracks, and Cronus, they are useful for both playstyles, although a bit more useful for the transport oriented one. The reason is that they are slow to move and need to move in tight groups, which is not what the combat drugs units are good for.

Wracks, are tankier than other units, but they are slow and only good vs infantry and monsters. They are the only infantry you have that can hold a line, If for some reason you need to hold a location (which is less often for the Drukhari), you definitely need them. as your backbone. They come with +33% feel no pain as a trait, so at level 3 that becomes +50%, and of course at T10 they can get combat drugs which are very effective on them as they are a melee unit. And not to mention Haemonculus and Cronos adds to their feel no pain resistance, although with combat drugs, they don't need any other buffs after level 3, they reach the maximum 83% on their own. The issue is that unless you are using transports with them, they are very slow and can't keep up with the more mobile Drukhari so they are mostly defensive in nature. And if you are using transports, you don't need them so much because you have the transports as your shield and fallback. The cool thing is that due to combat drugs at T10 they can remain viable even in the end game as a meatshield, more or less like Drukhari's version of Bullgryns, albeit more cost effective. They are the only unit that can clear tiles, so no matter what you should be making them. Their price is awesome.

Haemonculus hero is universal, you need him no matter the playstyle. He is your basic healer and support, very cheap and quite resillient and with nice damage especially when upgraded and gets combat drugs. Then he becomes one of the most powerful healers in the game in terms of damage and resilience. He gets a free action to heal 6hp/turn to Wracks, aside of his normal hero heal ability, so he is definitely one who should be paired with Wracks to provide a meat wall if you need a meat wall. Well, at least the Drukhari get an early game meatwall, the Aeldari did not, lol.

Last but not least, Cronos, is the 3rd of the meatwall group. Again, slow and tanky, supports and heals, not great damage. Cronos alongside Wracks and Haemonculuses comprise the trinity of the Drukhari meatwall, use all 3 in combination and you form a solid line that is very difficult to penetrate without superior fire power.

Those 3 are your Drukhari anvil, and the transport group or the combat drugs group are your hammers. That's basically how the Drukhari are played.