If there’s one faction in Endless Legend 2 which genuinely deserves to be described as both “evil” and “horrifying,” it has to be the Necrophage. Combining the worst parts of a zombie apocalypse and bug-eyed monsters, the Necrophage can be a serious threat if they’re played right. If you’re feeling like you want to indulge your darker impulses in a 4X game, read on.
Die and Join Us
Unlike other factions, you don’t necessarily buy a wide variety of units. You have Larvae, a single base unit that can be evolved into different types of soldier. Players who favored playing as the Zerg in StarCraft will easily pick up the mechanic. You’ll get improved options as you advance through the tech tree. Furthermore, you get a Larvae when you win a random battle, so your early turns before the first Tidefall event should be played as aggressively as possible.
Bodies Hit The Floor
The Necrophage’s special currency is “Corpses.” Yeah, let that sink in a bit. At the start of the game, the only source of Corpses is through combat. Later Improvements will allow you to generate Corpses, albeit far more slowly than is useful. Corpses are important for both unit evolution and certain Improvements, so random mobs are going to be both threat and opportunity.
We Don’t Negotiate With Our Food
Unlike the other factions, the Necrophage do not have an option for either Bribery or Parley when it comes to dealing with Minor Factions. The only way to stop a Minor Faction village from spawning roaming armies is to conquer it. That said, once they’ve been conquered, you can rebuild the villages. After they’re rebuilt, they will provide Dust (if you incorporate them as a Protectorate) as well as the option to recruit their warriors.
We’re Not Hungry…Yet
As far as the major factions go, while an aggressive posture might work with most Minor Factions, the Necrophage are (to some extent) “agile but fragile.” Their units rely heavily on debuffs and can’t take a hit quite as well as, say, the Kin of Sheredyn. Thus, it’s a good idea to at least maintain some diplomatic relations with the other major factions and try to keep a Non-Aggression Pact (to start). Be cautious of an Open Borders Declaration. It helps your exploration, but it also allows that faction free rein if you reciprocate.
No Other City (Period)
Like the other factions, you can lay claim to a certain territory with an outpost structure created by a unit. For the Necrophage, this starts with a Burrow, which marks your claim and allows you to rapidly move units from one territory to another. As long as you have the Influence, you can evolve the Burrow into a Nest and from there, you can attach it to your city. In fact, as long as you can pay the increasing Influence costs to turn Burrows into Nests, you can attach an infinite number of Nests to the city, essentially creating one giant city across the entire map. With the Burrow’s ability to transport units from one entry point to an exit point in a turn, you can react pretty quickly to any immediate threat.
And – which is more – you’ll be a Bug, my son!” (Apologies to Kipling)
Running the Necrophage is pretty grim when you follow their storyline and think about how they improve their armies. But if that doesn’t gross you out, or you just want to feel like an omnivorous plague upon Saiadha, they’re a sure ticket to victory.
