Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor – Martyr (Catch All)

One thing I haven't mentioned is that there is a cover system. At this point it's very clunky but when it works, it looks and feels really cool. How it works is when your character is close to cover there is a highlighted yellow dot. Holding the space key will move your character to that position and lock them in cover. From here your cover will absorb most of the damage will still allowing you to shoot and use skills on any enemies that are in the line of sight. Enemies also take advantage of the cover system. They haven't done a good job of developing skills that use the cover system (either for your character or flushing enemies out). There have been many times where my character is in cover with a clear line of sight on an enemy but won't shoot his gun or use any skills. Also, many times it looks like I should be able to take cover behind something and just can't. It's a good system and unique to this style of game but needs a lot more to make it feel cohesive.

Garion, there's no controller support yet. With how the skills work, however, it feels like a controller would work great for this.

Is it worth jumping into now, Vector?

SpyNavy wrote:

Is it worth jumping into now, Vector?

Not really. What's there is only interesting as a view for the future. I think when they release on early access on Steam it might be worth getting. There's barely a game there just mechanics.

That is supposedly in August. Is that really enough time to give us more than barely a game?
When you said 6 classes I was stoked. But then when you explained it is mostly just weapon load outs for the 2 classes I knew about, I was bummed.
This really puzzles me because it seems the Van Helsing releases were incredibly brisk and this is slogging along in the opposite fashion.

fangblackbone wrote:

That is supposedly in August. Is that really enough time to give us more than barely a game?
When you said 6 classes I was stoked. But then when you explained it is mostly just weapon load outs for the 2 classes I knew about, I was bummed.
This really puzzles me because it seems the Van Helsing releases were incredibly brisk and this is slogging along in the opposite fashion.

This is a lot more ambitious than Van Helsing. It definitely feels 2 years away from a full release, though. Each class does have one unique skill but that's tied to the armour and I'm not sure if anyone can wear any armour.

Anyone checked this out recently?

I'm very tempted to try it.

I haven't played the latest updates. Unless a lot has changed I'm very skeptical of their road map and early 2018 release timeline. It just feels extremely early in regards to structure, movement, UI, and "oomph".* The level design and mission structure were extremely relative as well.

There's a lot in place but, as of two months ago, it was very empty.

*after playing a lot of diablo-likes, I've come to the conclusion the way enemies react to getting hit by skills is very important. They need to stumble, cry out, and have their attacks delayed. Inquisitor didn't have this. You'd fill chaos and tyranids full of holes and they'd just come towards you with just a ever-so-slight pause.

The release date is 5/11.

I find this fun enough as an ARPG with some interesting mechanics.

As for buying in at the tail end of early access a couple things to consider are there will be a full wipe when the game goes live, and it the base price will not change between now and then.

Think I am going to wait for a sale on this one.

Vector wrote:

I haven't played the latest updates. Unless a lot has changed I'm very skeptical of their road map and early 2018 release timeline. It just feels extremely early in regards to structure, movement, UI, and "oomph".* The level design and mission structure were extremely relative as well.

There's a lot in place but, as of two months ago, it was very empty.

*after playing a lot of diablo-likes, I've come to the conclusion the way enemies react to getting hit by skills is very important. They need to stumble, cry out, and have their attacks delayed. Inquisitor didn't have this. You'd fill chaos and tyranids full of holes and they'd just come towards you with just a ever-so-slight pause.

Curious if you've played recent releases, Vector.

For about 10 minutes and a lot changed. I’ll be looking at it again in the coming days.

I'm mostly curious about the oomph because I think it's an important thing a lot of the games overlook.

Replayed for about 20 minutes last night and got part way through the tutorial. Decided to give the Psyker class a try since it wasn't unlocked last time I played.

-Skill tree and its UI are still really bad. Definitely looks like placeholder.
-If the controller is plugged in, it defaults and you need to exit the game to disable it
-enemies now react to getting hit and there's a force to your attacks. It doesn't have the polish and precision of Diablo or Torchlight but it feels good now
-there's a new option for the cover system. It can be toggled on in the options menu. You can click an area on screen and if you tap space, this will lock your character into that spot. From that spot, you can target enemies without worrying about accidentally leaving cover. You cannot leave cover, however, unless you disengage by tapping space again. The other option is holding space and disengaging by letting go of space. I found I was accidentally moving out of cover or sticking to cover points that actually left me exposed. I definitely need to play around with it a lot more.

Vector wrote:

Replayed for about 20 minutes last night and got part way through the tutorial. Decided to give the Psyker class a try since it wasn't unlocked last time I played.

-Skill tree and its UI are still really bad. Definitely looks like placeholder.
-If the controller is plugged in, it defaults and you need to exit the game to disable it
-enemies now react to getting hit and there's a force to your attacks. It doesn't have the polish and precision of Diablo or Torchlight but it feels good now
-there's a new option for the cover system. It can be toggled on in the options menu. You can click an area on screen and if you tap space, this will lock your character into that spot. From that spot, you can target enemies without worrying about accidentally leaving cover. You cannot leave cover, however, unless you disengage by tapping space again. The other option is holding space and disengaging by letting go of space. I found I was accidentally moving out of cover or sticking to cover points that actually left me exposed. I definitely need to play around with it a lot more.

Do you know how close the version you played is to the final build?

I'm not even sure why they put a cover system in, it's not like Inquisitors need cover usually, right? Hell, I'm not sure loot-based ARPGs need cover, it's mostly about moving forward and chewing through enemies. Dodge, yes. Hide, no.

Well, I guess if you're playing as a sniper it makes more sense. Guess I should wait till I've played it to make comments like this.

I'm willing to put up with a fair amount of jank in the game if the basic loop of killing, loot getting and customization remains interesting. Bonus points if the game allows me to feel like a badass in a spacesuit.

///

Game will have a series of free DLC released after launch in the form of seasons. Here's what they will contain:

Spoiler:

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/SFyDFAH.png)

So, stuff and more stuff including campaign stuff. Aight.

NathanialG wrote:

Do you know how close the version you played is to the final build?

The last update was March 14th and on March 21st they announced there would be no more updates as they want to hit their May 11th release date. They are still labeling this as Alpha. Based on the quality of their past games (which I enjoyed quite a bit),. I'd say the mechanics, art, etc. is in place but the balance, story, and UI are all missing. It feels like the actual release should still be closer to the end of Summer or beginning of Fall rather than a month from now.

garion333 wrote:

I'm not even sure why they put a cover system in, it's not like Inquisitors need cover usually, right? Hell, I'm not sure loot-based ARPGs need cover, it's mostly about moving forward and chewing through enemies. Dodge, yes. Hide, no.

Well, I guess if you're playing as a sniper it makes more sense. Guess I should wait till I've played it to make comments like this. ;)

I haven't tried it out but, from what I can tell, the Sniper class doesn't have cover but does have a dodge. It seems it's the Pysker and Crusader classes that only use this mechanic. I think it does make sense considering cover is a big part of the tabletop (I think?) and Dawn of War games. The cover is destructible and your character has a large health pool so it's very common to be in the open and just going for pure firepower.

I should say that ever class (and their are 3 subclasses per class) has a different mechanic. I haven't played enough to know in detail but essentially:

Crusader: tanky space marine that has to reload weapons
Assassin: dodging sniper or melee
Pysker: magic! and they can explode if they use their spells too much without using their main weapon

There isn't any visual character customization (Crusaders are men bound in armor, Assassin's are skinsuit wearing women, and Pyskers are crew-cutting sporting blonde dudes).

It's, structurally, a mission based game. Instead of open areas like other games of these type, you choose a mission with assigned tasks in a small map. At the end of the mission you gain rewards for completing (loot and money) and collect any items you found (I haven't found any loot in the world but it is there, apparently). As such, it's a much slower paced game. The Crusader and Pysker are very ponderous. I wish the move speed was sped up a little since there have been large periods where I've spent minutes walking across a relatively large room to enter another just to find it's empty.

Are the missions random? It sounds like there are a lot of random missions, which is what I'm really hoping for.

These last couple post are dragging me back toward mild enthusiasm.

Thanks, Vector, your reporting on this game has been extremely helpful.

Veloxi wrote:

Are the missions random? It sounds like there are a lot of random missions, which is what I'm really hoping for.

Yes, there are random missions.

There are also story missions which won't be (as?) randomized.

Edit:

Vector wrote:

There isn't any visual character customization (Crusaders are men bound in armor, Assassin's are skinsuit wearing women, and Pyskers are crew-cutting sporting blonde dudes).

Btw, this makes no sense to me outside of a budget concern. ARPGs lean on the look of the character... It doesn't kill a game for me by a long stretch but is still something I would've loved.

I can sort of see why they might try doing a cover system. ARPGs aren't really about twitch skills but timing and positioning are still important. If they're making cover matter (and doing breakable cover?) that means they can tune encounters to be more projectile heavy. It hopefully encourages different tactics and skills use and further help differentiate a tanky character who can soak up damage to a class that is more frail.

Or it could get really obnoxious where you step into a room and are bombarded by a withering hail of enemy bullets. Making cover too important could really take the wind out of the power fantasy.

Veloxi wrote:

Are the missions random? It sounds like there are a lot of random missions, which is what I'm really hoping for.

garion333 wrote:

Yes, there are random missions.

There are also story missions which won't be (as?) randomized.

This is correct. Right now, I've only played the tutorial/chapter 1. Those missions are curated but it seems a lot of missions are random. They've designed a whole mission generation system called "Tarot" that is supposed to really randomize every aspect of a mission while greatly increasing the rewards. Since the missions are short and there seems to be a large variety of objectives, I don't think the randomization is a bad thing. I haven't played far enough to see how the location variety pans out. Two years ago they only had two locations. Right now, I've only come across space hulks but am very early on.

NathanialG wrote:

These last couple post are dragging me back toward mild enthusiasm.

This is fair and what I would suggest. They are going for the most ambitious loot action-RPG that I've seen. There are mechanics built on top of mechanics all couched within a loved universe and aesthetic. I don't expect them to hit all their targets but as long as they can get the movement, loop, and combat everything else will fall into place.

Maclintok wrote:

I can sort of see why they might try doing a cover system. ARPGs aren't really about twitch skills but timing and positioning are still important. If they're making cover matter (and doing breakable cover?) that means they can tune encounters to be more projectile heavy. It hopefully encourages different tactics and skills use and further help differentiate a tanky character who can soak up damage to a class that is more frail.

Or it could get really obnoxious where you step into a room and are bombarded by a withering hail of enemy bullets. Making cover too important could really take the wind out of the power fantasy.

So far both of these are true. Even in chapter 1 (which acts as a tutorial) I would encounter areas without any cover and I wasn't sure if they wanted me to retreat or fight. Since your characters have huge health pools, regenerating health, and 5 health stims it's very possible to soak up damage. The only time I got into real danger was when I forgot to use my skills effectively.

I do like how they've assigned skills to your weapons (Psyker is a little different) and those are tied to right and left mouse button and 1 & 2. Then you have a limited skill (grenade, etc) assigned to 3, and a class skill/resource assigned to 4. That's it. Switching between your weapon sets (two each) can greatly change what skills you have available. Weapons matter a tonne too. Pistol, melee, sniper rifle, plasma, ballistic, laser, and flame all come into play. Any one-handed weapon can be mixed with any other one-handed weapon; Plasma Pistol and Sword or Laser Pistol and Autopistol, for example.

I played through all of chapter 1 with the Assassin's class (Sniper), just now, and unlocked the main hub (which is your ship). I haven't done anything beyond that but I took some notes to share:

-Assassin class moves much faster. This speed felt right while Crusader and Psyker felt so slow. There is a movement skill tree that increases movement speed (first level is +2%)
-the reload mechanic is based on the weapon type: ballistics reload, laser overheat, plasma have slow rate of fire, etc.
-Assassin's have an Adrenaline resource that is gained by killing enemies (it doesn't tick down) and that allows them to dodge (this was incredibly wonky) or use their class skill which spawns 2 limited time (around 5 minutes) clones
-Assassin's do take cover and this made a lot of sense for the Sniper class
-I got more used to the cover system and I'm coming around to the toggle option. Once your in cover, you just highlight where you want to go with your mouse, hit space again, and your character will sprint to that point. It made moving from cover to cover in a couple of boss battles a lot more fun that trying to position my character
-Really feels like co-op would be fantastic. Having 3 classes and 9 subclasses to play with that all do very different things while flanking, stunning, etc. enemies has me excited
-weapon switching is inconsistent. There were many times when I would switch off the sniper rifle to the lasgun only to still be on the sniper rifle. It's not automatic, has a short animation, and can be overruled by other actions (reloading or damage maybe). It felt clunky and should happen regardless of what's going on
-There is both an account level and a character level. From reading the tutorial, you skill points are on the account level side. So every time your account goes up, all of your characters (even level 1) get those skill points. Character level seems to mostly be based on unlocking news parts of the universe to take missions in
-Everything on the skill point tree is passive; There are so many options in the tree but most are locked off and can only be unlocked by completing tasks that are account wide (I think). It's weird without much feedback. The one thing I like is you aren't pumping points into individual skills but moving through the different trees
-inventory management is standard but lacks organization. There's no sort or junk option. Since you're not collecting loot it's not as big a deal and your main hub has a grotesque storage box but it would be nice to favourite, junk, and autosort before selling, breaking down or storing
-there is crafting but the game hasn't asked me to engage with it yet

Dammit, you're gonna make me buy this aren't you? DAMMIT.

From my limited observation so far I think the cover system is more for the standard baddies so they are a little tougher to gun down.

That being said I have yet to encounter higher difficulty levels so it may be more critical for hard mode content.

Edit: there also seem to be some talents and gear effects that grant regen when in cover.

Btw, included in the launch version will be:

Customizable character appearance.
*You will be able to adjust the colour of equipment materials.
*You will be able to add and modify the amount of grime, scratches, etc.

Color alone is a welcome addition.

After watching a few videos last night I'm all on board with the cover system. It's not perfect, but can be used quickly, which was my main fear with it originally.

Sadly, the retinue system won't be in at launch, and its questionable whether it will be in at all.
Thats a damn shame, because thats one of the things I was really looking forward to!

Does anyone know if you can customize your ship in any way? I do love me some housing, and that seems the closest we get here!

Razgon wrote:

Sadly, the retinue system won't be in at launch, and its questionable whether it will be in at all.
Thats a damn shame, because thats one of the things I was really looking forward to!

Does anyone know if you can customize your ship in any way? I do love me some housing, and that seems the closest we get here!

It's not in as of now and I haven't seen any indication that it'll be in there on release.

Release date pushed to 6/5 due to some issues with the console release.

https://steamcommunity.com/games/527...

I'm fine with that. Bought the game to support such honesty.

And they're doing another beta build, which is huge. This might end up being great for word of mouth.