Thinking about buying Mechanicus -- should I also purchase Heretek?

[Son of Sam]

As title says I'm considering purchasing the base game, but I'm wondering if buying Heretek now for my first play-through is worth it or if I should hold off until after I've played it through at least once.

And if I should buy Heretek, should I get the base DLC or Heretek +?

Thanks for any input!

[Kamen Rider]

well first off i dont reccomend that you buy either the omissiah edition or heretek+ edition unless your really into the soundtrack and the art book and an e book, they come with a new in game weapon each too but...eh youll live without it imho having said that this games soundtrack is awsome...so maybe you want it? I dont know up to you

The Heretek dlc gives you acess to a new class that can basically increases your damage the lower your health drops that makes it like a high risk high reward character

2 new stealth based units to recruit

weapons that are basically straight upgrades to weapons that exist in the base game but you cant really use them in the early game due to cognitions points cost

the new missions are hard but dont intigrate into the overall story narrative in any real way

at the ~$8 its right now it seems worth it? but its all a value proposition

[Porygon]

I would highly recommend playing through the base game to see if it's your "thing" first before getting ANY DLC. Basically:

Base game is, well, the base game. Very good! If you like it, try Heretek.

Heretek is a healthy addition to gameplay, several new levels with new plot, many new items/weapons, two new soldiers, and a new tech priest upgrade tree. I'd recommend it after you finish the base game, on it's gameplay merits alone.

Omnissiah Edition and Heretek+ are both purchases to make only if you're invested. I snapped them right up but only because I really, really like the game. :) Those two DLC options are more support the game, get cool freebies rather than serious gameplay value.

[nemserultnem]

Importantly - you cannot 'add' Heretek DLC into an existing save game, you have to start a new one for it to take effect, meaning that you can only benefit from the 'first the base game, then heretek DLC' approach if you intend to play the whole game twice. My experience is that it's quite repetitive itself already to be played twice (even around some 35% of awakening level, ie. at around halfway through the game) without any significant replay value changes like trying different areas etc (only option being whose mission line you neglect somewhat and some alternate endings), unless you're pushing yourself into additional challenges for achievements on the second run (ie. difficulty options like no canticles, no melee/ranged weapons etc).

[Porygon]

To an extent I get this. It's not as replayable as XCOM, for example, a similar game in the genre.

However the first time I played the game, I realized quickly that I wouldn't be able to explore every option. There's a LOT of potential strategies/builds, some of them very cheezy and fun. That can't be fully appreciated in just one playthrough. It's much more entertaining to really get your money's worth from the game.

For example, in my first playthrough I never would have tried an exclusive Dominus build for a tech priest. I was too concerned with winning to try a fringe build. Now on my second Heretek run I took the risk of fully speccing out a Dominus tech priest and giving him only the most powerful, expensive ranged weapons. Now I have this hilarious support build priest that runs around smacking down several opponents at a time with the Plasma Culverin. XD Couple him with the Vanguard Alpha Skitarii (which I never got to try in my first run) and that's just one possibility...

[Zaphied]

Speaking as someone that did replay this multiple times, if a turn based tactics game is your idea of fun then this works quite well. In every playthrough I did something drastically different with builds. AoE map bombing, melee priests, Skitarii gun lines, wall piercing lasers. If you get into it enough some have recommended random priest builds option. And yes it can be repetitive but that is like saying the tabletop is repetitive for rolling dice and measuring.

DLC is more for 40k fandom than the game as the weapons they provide do require a bit of play time to get the most out of. If you play with them on early missions, especially so the harder modes, you will have a poor time. Soundtrack is easily one of the absolute best. Heretek DLC allowing you to determine how the battle sets up for those missions was really novel and did not eat into tomb wake up time.