Last Stand
Not to be confused with Humanity's Last Stand.
The Last Stand is a multiplayer mode for Dawn of War 2. It was also released by itself as The Last Standalone.
In the Last Stand, you and two other players take control of Warhammer 40,000 characters, fighting wave after wave of AI attackers in an enclosed arena. The mechanics are basically the same as standard Dawn of War II, except you only control one unit (you can't even control summoned AI minions). There are twenty waves of increasing difficulty; each is themed around a particular force, so you won't fight Eldar and Orks at the same time, for example. If you die, your teammates must revive you; if all of you die, the game ends. You get a score at the end of the game, with modifiers for time, number of rounds without dying, control of the the two capture points on each map, and how many enemies you killed, as well as a bonus for completing all twenty rounds.
There's also a metagame at work; each character has a variety of wargear, which is unlocked by playing the game (although this can become something of a grind). For the most part, each character has a number of interesting builds, and each character plays so differently that it's worth trying them all out.
Although it's the "other" multiplayer mode, Last Stand is so much better than the original multiplayer mode that it's earned comparisons to Defense of the Ancients, a spinoff mod for Warcraft III that was so well-designed it launched an entire genre. Whereas Last Stand was tiny in Chaos Rising, it came into its own in Retribution, with the addition of a new map and tons of new wargear and the removal of a large number of incredibly annoying bugs. Eventually, it was launched as a standalone game, called the Last Standalone, although Relic didn't bother developing it further; they moved on to Company of Heroes 2, but that wasn't released until their parent company (THQ) fell apart and they were bought by SEGA (yes, that Sega). In other words, we have no idea if or when there will be more Last Stand content, which is a shame, because it really is a good game.
Tell Me More!
The first map, Bloodied Coliseum throws you primarily against Eldar, Space Marines, Tyranids, and Orks - I.E. the four cardinal races. You will also periodically see a smattering of Imperial Guard units. At wave 16, the game throws, as a boss wave, 3 health-buffed clones of your heroes, who have asshole AI scripts that allow them to revive one another and generally turn the match into a pass-or-fail session of how quickly your team can deliver a series of explosions directly on top of them and orbital strike them until the squad can see hell. At wave 20 these cocksuckers return, along with Araghast the Pillager. The fucking clones remain the priority, because if you don't kill them, they'll revive each other, as well as the Lictor Alpha, Force Commander, and Warboss from previous waves, because that's fucking fair.
The second map, Anvil of Khorne, is widely-considered the better of the two maps, though it's far harder for newcomers to handle. It throws literally every race at the team, as well as bosses Superheavies throughout (so you will need to fight the Swarmlord, Battlewagon, Land Raider, Baneblade, et al). The final wave also drops Gabriel Angelos, some squads of Termies and a Land Raider or two for fair measure. Interestingly, this is orders of magnitude easier than Bloodied Coliseum reviving boss faggotry with a capped-out team and generally more fun.
You all play hero units - there's one of each race (including a DLC hero if you paid for it, thanks a dicking bunch Relic). Interestingly, though each hero has about 2-3 "common" builds you'll see for them, there's enough customization and tactical choices that you can potentially come up with about a dozen viable builds for each. To further help you out, /tg/ was nice enough to get these little guides together for your use:
- Eldar Farseer
- Ork Mekboy
- Space Marine Captain
- Tyranid Hive Tyrant
- Chaos Sorcerer
- Imperial Lord General
- Tau Shas'O Commander
As you play, your hero of choice gradually levels up, earning new wargear and goodies to play with, including weapons, armor, accessories, and more, which is a major component of what makes the game so addicting - and even better, you can customize your hero's color and emblem using the army painter, for that psychological edge. Each character maxes out at level 20, at which point you have the option to reset to level 1 and earn accessories that do nothing but give you additional score for the scoreboard in-game.
Wise Words of Wisdom
THE CAPTURABLE POWER NODES DO NOT BRING EXTRA EXPERIENCE FOR LEVELING UP, THEY ARE SCORE MULTIPLIERS, SO UNLESS YOU ARE A "PRO" AND WANT TO GET A HIGH SCORE OR ARE ACHIEVEMENT HUNTING, DON'T EVEN BOTHER; BEFORE THINKING ABOUT IT YOU NEED TO LEARN TO PLAY AND LEVEL UP YOUR HERO, THE HIGH SCORES WILL COME ALONE BY THEMSELVES ONCE YOU HAVE MASTERED THIS GAME.
Far more pressing and important: On Bloodied Coliseum, you can predict from where the doppelgangers are coming from: they almost invariably come from the same corner where the first group of Eldar banshees from wave 9 came from.
Quick-And-Dirty Build Guide
Move these into their individual pages when those are finally up to code.
Space Marine Captain
BUILD 1 - SELF-HEALING TANK
Gear you need: Inscribed Combat Shield, Lightning Claw, Sacred Relic Armor, Litanies of Zeal, Jump Pack, Parable of the Stalwart Brother, Dreadnought Drop Pod.
Maps: Anvil of Khorne
Explanation: Keep fighting, every time you land a blow you heal yourself and your allies (including the dreadnought) 5hp, the Lightning Claw is the fastest weapon the captain has, more even than the chainsword, which by the way can only damage one target while the Claw can damage the whole squad and with the Relic Armor turns this into an area of effect attack so more enemy squads receive damage, in combination with your other items and the dread soaking up some of the enemy fire you may be able to clean a large chunk of the wave, remember, if the situation becomes to dire you always have the jump pack to escape, earning some precious seconds of life and regeneration, it also allows you to throw yourself and disrupt enemy formations.
BUILD 2 - ORBITAL NUKER
Gear you need: Bolter, Artificer Armor, Rite of Fortitude, Jump Pack, Parable of the Stalwart Brother, Orbital Targeting Beacon.
Maps: Anvil of Khorne, Bloodied Colosseum
Explanation: You are the nuker of the team, unleash the lance batteries! Remember the beams will take a bit of time to appear, so this is better used at the beginning of the wave when enemy units are spawned and wait for the spawning point gate to open, alternatively you can use the stun grenades which come with the bolter to keep your intended target in place, then the beams will do the job of immobilizing the enemies, by the way, try to stay out of danger as much as possible, while you have 225 hp you are not intended to be a tank, the hp is just for you to survive long enough to unleash your nukes, use your jump pack to help yourself.
Eldar Farseer
BUILD 1 - DECEIVER-RUNNER
Gear you need: Pistol of the Warseer, Witchblade of Isha, Armor of Idranel, Runes of the Harlequin, Runes of Evasion, Runes of Fleetness, Spirit Stone of Vigor
Maps: Anvil of Khorne, Bloodied Colosseum
Explanation: The most Eldar build ever, the idea of this build is to keep yourself out of the fight while you make the enemy do all the dirty work (sounds familiar to you? Yeah, you get the idea), keep casting Confuse on your enemies so they kill each other and Fleet of Foot whenever you see they are closing on to you (you are unshakable by the way, and the witchblade of Isha gives you a lot of energy), prioritize larger targets wheneve you can as they can one-hit other units, watch how wraithlords, carnifexes, Juggernauts, dreads and dreffs decimate their own armies. Oh, and remember wave 16 at Bloodied Colosseum? If you see a clone trying to resurrect another clone cast confuse, this will disrupt him, and don't worry about your clone SHE CANT CAST CONFUSE.
BUILD 2 - RESURRECTER-RUNNER
Gear you need: Pistol of the Warseer, Witchblade of Isha, Armor of Idranel, Runes of the Harlequin, Runes of Warding, Runes of Fleetness, Spirit Stone of Vigor
Maps: Anvil of Khorne
Explanation: A variant of the DECEIVER-RUNNER, the RESURRECTER is built to keep your allies alive, you just stay out of the fight as much as possible as you need yourself alive, then, everytime you see an allied die run to him with Fleet of Foot, cast yourself Ward and resurrect him, tell your allies to fight, no matter if they are going to die again, as long as you stay alive you can resurrect them, while a bit tedious this strategy is great whenever you end in a team of newcomers or low hp nukers, as in the long run they will decimate the wave.
Tau Commander
- Note* The Tau Commander is by far the most diverse hero in the game, being able to easily switch between all rounder, tanks, fire support, and blob counters with a switch of only one or two items.
BUILD 1 - GOOMBA STOMPER
Gear you need: Xv8 'Armored' Crisis Battlesuit, Stimulant Injector, Shield Drone Controller, Command Issue Plasma Rifle, Coolant Injectors, Iridium Plated Shield, Anti Armor Missile Pod
Maps: Anvil of Khorne, Bloodied Colosseum
Explanation: You are a short range, damage tanking jump trooper. Combining the heavy crisis suit with the Iridium shield gives you a double "heavy" trait, allowing you to instakill some blobs on impact from your jump (Tyranids in particular are vulnerable to this). The damage resistance provided makes the Commander nearly impervious to small arms fire, while the Stimulant Injector gives you a chance if any heavy melee units like Nobz get too close. Your main strategy will be disrupting blobs with your jumps while focusing on hard targets with your plasma rifle and missile pod. The Shield Drone will draw fire and provide damage resistance, while the Coolant Injectors allow you to hop around the map like a hyperactive frog that crushes blobs underfoot when it lands. This build is excellent for achieving the "Dynamic Entry" achievement, and for kiting mobs while slowly whittling them down in dire situations where your other two teammates are down and it is too risky to revive them.
Mekboy
BUILD 1 - Lulzplosions
Gear you need: Pokkit Rockit, Zap Knife, Mad Teleporta pack, (recomended-Sturdy bits),Roks, Juiced Up tellyporta.
Explanation: With this build, lulz ensue as enemies that hit you, enemies you hit, and yourself, are randomly teleported around and explode, often killing them instantly. This can effectively deal with the "spamshee" wave (wave 9 on BC), as the sheer amount of victims causes humongous groups of explosions (friendly fire is dealt by these explosions-Stay away from allies), this also means you have one ability, Roks, which will recharge thankfully fast allowing you to deal with enemies from the non melee waves. It is heavily recommended that you have a captain who can instantly revive you.
Sorcerer
BUILD 1 - Knockback spam
Gear you need: Fairly much only the Orb of Unholy Might is required
Recommended teammates: Tau+Lord General
Strategy: On Bloodied Coliseum, have the Tau abuse the map quirk that allows him to never be hit by melee units (this is achieved by having him deploy his drone on some of the rocks on the lower corner of the map near the chain, and then jumping into the rocks giving him permanent heavy cover) It is best if he has twin linked Flamethrowers or burst cannons and the anti tank missiles. The lord General must have a flamer or grenade launcher with the bolter turret. Essentially everyone camps next to the Tau in his glitched spot (If you get the right staff, you can teleport in there just before he lands so you can both stay safe) Depending on armor and weapons you should have enough energy recharge to be able to recast Unholy might exactly as it wears off, causing all of your firepower to deal knockback, this makes the burst cannons ludicrous as they can actually keep units hovering in midair from the sheer amount of knockback they are taking, the lord general and his minions can also cause ridiculous knockback to anything that even TRIES to get close. The only things you need to worry about are your clones and vehicles.
BUILD 2 - KABOOM
Gear you need: Sword of Spite, Armor of Might Undivided, Sigil of Greater Sorcery, Sigil of Master Sorcery, Daemonic Gift of Sustenance, Icon of Summoning
Explanation: You are essentially the team's main source of mob-killing with your doomblast spam, and all your armor and items help make sure that you can at least survive whatever they throw at you. Seriously, don't stop running into a group and doomblasting unless thr group just proves to be too big. However, even then, you can use doomblast to give yourself room against them.
Hive Tyrant
BUILD 1 - INVINCIBILITY LULZ
Gear you need: Bio-Feedback, Synapse, any minion summoning (Genestealers recommended because of how cheap they are, especially with Synapse), maybe Explosive Decomposition.
Explanation: The big draw to this build is that you can kill your minions and re-summon them again, not only making them a cheap near-infinite shield thanks to Synapse and Bio-Feedback, but also a walking source of bombs if you decide to equip Explosive Decomposition. Armor, on the meantime, is a largely open choice, though Poison Cysts could help with clearing out some swarms. Weapons are also largely open, but talons and claws better utilize the free invincibility.
BUILD 2 - SUPPORT TYRANT Gear you need: Weapon: Venom Cannon Armor: Poison Cysts Accessories: Toxin Sacs, Psychic Scream, Tyrant Guard Nest Commander Item: Synapse or Evolution
If invuln-spamming Genestealers isn't doing it for you, and whilst there's a certain beauty to that to be sure, you may prefer a hands-on approach. Don't worry - /tg/ has your back. There's something to be said for a far more frontline build designed to work with teammates - and good god, does this build deliver. Venom Cannon has absolutely monstrous armor-penetration and high damage, whilst Poison Cysts gives you armor and health to spare - as well as the Tyrant's single greatest crowd-control move. Psychic Scream can effectively turn entire ranged force groups that would otherwise be terrifying (such as the Marine Squads on Wave 6 of Bloodied Coliseum) into a complete non-issue by crippling their attack and defense. This build easily can support an unoptimized team, and turns into complete murder when paired with a Tau Commander that has a shield drone: Bunker down in the shield-field and spam the hell out of Toxic Miasma the second enemies get close. Tyrant Guard is there to draw fire, something it excels at.
BUILD 3 - INFECTION TYRANT Gear you need: Weapon: Devourer Cannon Armor: Poison Cysts Accessories: Toxin Sacs, Explosive Decomposition, Ravener Nest Commander Item: Evolution
This is a high-level build well-suited for squad support. Devourer Cannon's gestate affects an entire squad and stacks with Toxin Sacs. Throw in the Ravener for ranged damage and you can kick back and relax as your larvae-shooting gun quickly mulches squads and slowly grinds down even heavy enemies into submission.
BUILD 4 - MORE LIKE RAPE-VENER
Gear you need:
Weapon: Enlarged Scything Talons
Armor: Articulated Carapace
Accessories: Toxin Sacs, Implant Attack, Ravener Nest
Commander Item: Evolution
Every single game needs some kind of "Nutter" build that makes absolutely no sense but somehow works well on its own merits, such as the infamous Krazypantzoff Walker Army of Doom. This is one of the most spetacular in Last Stand, and it's disturbingly powerful. The general gist is simple: create the single most powerful Ravener you can muster, and back off as it kills FUCKING EVERYTHING. With this loadout, the Ravener will kill any conventional enemy in one shot, a Wraithlord in 2-3 bursts, a Carnifex in 6, and a Warboss in less than ten. Vehicles, infantry, nothing can survive more than a few barrages from your hideously over-powered Ravener of doom, and all you need to give up for it is the ability to do much of anything but summon the damned thing. Articulated Carapace is, in a weird case of irony, the best armor for this build - The Ravener benefits from doubled Swift, as well as Fearless, and perhaps most critically, you have one target that you absolutely NEED to use Horror on in Wave 16 - your counterpart's Ravener, to take it out of the fight.