Orks Tips for Dawn of War 2

Dawn of War 2 has been released about a week ago and many among you have undoubtedly tried their hand at its addictive multiplayer component by now. Most likely many of you have also stumbled across the fact that there are a lot of highly skilled players to be found in ranked matches already.

So for those of you who are newer to this game – or those of you who are simply looking for a little help with their play – I’ve written a couple of guides to get you started on the right track. Based on my own experiences with the multiplayer beta and full release version of course.

This is the fourth post in the series and serves as a guide to the greenest and meanest menace in the Warhammer 40K universe: the Orks.

Heroes

You start a multiplayer game with choosing your hero and this decision can have a lot of impact on your play. The Orks offer three distinct heroes, which all have their uses. Still you’ll soon find out that the Warboss is by far the most popular choice of hero for the Orks.

The Warboss is a melee powerhouse with both incredible damage dealing and damage tanking capacity. It’s a little bit on the slow side, but a definite frontline hero who can wreak havoc amongst your opponents forces. Just make sure it doesn’t get stuck at range, because your Warboss needs to be in range to be able to do anything. An ideal hero for an offensively oriented Ork army.

The Kommando is a stealth hero much like the Lictor Alpha of the Tyranid. It’s a ranged hero which can infiltrate, making it next to impossible to counter without making spotter units. The Kommando might not do a whopping amount of damage, but sure can come in handy when you’re in need of a quick point grab behind enemy lines.

The Mekboy is a tiny ranged hero which can repair your vehicles and provides support similar to the Space Marines Tech Marine. This is clearly a support hero which you want to keep away from the frontlines. Its turrets are useful defenses, but not quite on par with their Space Marine counterparts. The Waaagh Banners it can build are useful buffs (defense, damage and speed) for allied forces, so while the Mekboy can’t take much on directly, it’s a good hero to have around.

The Mekboy is a nice utility hero with useful turrets and Waaagh! banners

Teamgames

In teamgames you can expect to be called upon for both defensive and offensive manoeuvres. Your forces are strong and numerous – and you possess both excellent defensive weaponry as well as overwhelmingly powerful offensive melee units. Another strength of the Orks in teamgames is their impressive anti-vehicle weaponry.

But while you can handle both offense and defense, you’ll generally want to leave defense to any Space Marine teammates you have. You’re more suited for breaking through defenses than setting them up, particularly in early game when you lack suppression units (Orks get them in tier 2). Most of your units can break suppression however, which makes them ideal for charging straight into enemy lines and wreaking havoc up close and personal.

Obviously if you’re in a team without any Space Marine teammates, then you’ll be called upon for taking a more defensive posture. An Eldar player would be able to fill in for your lack of suppression fire during early game. Ask your teammate if he can spare a Shuriken Weapons Team if you’re put on defense of a victory point.

Don’t expect to be doing any hit & run attacks, because your units are only barely faster than the Space Marines. But if you like battling it out on the frontlines, then you’ll feel right at home with the Orks.

Early game

Your early game will consist of moving to whatever victory point is nearest to your opponents closest victory point and pushing on from there. Focus primarily on taking resource points and handle victory points afterwards.

In this stage of the game playing Orks is fairly straightforward. Generally you’ll want to push forward with several squads of Slugga/Shoota Boyz and use their Waaagh! abilities to reinforce each other. Improve this frontline later on with a Stikkbommaz squad for their grenades, which can decimate entrenched forces and are particularly useful for taking out deployed ‘weapons teams’.

As an Ork player you’ll be dependent on both requisition and power. Fortunately your power requirements are a little lower than Space Marines, so you can generally deal with having less power points captured than your opponent. Just make up for it in requisition points!

Slugga Boyz will be the squad you start out with and your main melee force until you hit tier 3. These units can take a fair amount of punishment and can use Waaagh! to improve their speed, defense and offense. Later on they can also brush off suppression effects, which comes in handy when storming well-defended positions. Slugga Boyz are best used… in any situation really.

Shoota Boyz are your main ranged unit. They’re not very accurate or damaging, but once you have them upgraded (do this asap!) they can pack quite a punch against infantry. With their abilities they can be used as temporary suppression units without deployment time and they also have the Waaagh! ability. You won’t win a straight firefight with the Eldar or Space Marines, but they’re good to have around as support for your Sluggas.

Stikkbommaz are light melee units, which are excellent melee fighters, but that’s not their primary task. The grenades they can throw pack a nice punch and are ideal for taking out deployed suppression units. They throw three grenades at a time, but it costs a bit of Waaagh! to use them. There’s only three of them and they’re not your the most heavily armored units you have, so take good care of them

Stormboyz are much like the Assault Marines of the Space Marines. A melee unit that can use a jumppack to reach ranged enemies, without a knockback effect. Ideal for taking on deployed suppression units or simply engaging in ordinary melee combat. Unfortunately they’re a little expensive and Stikkbommaz are a more effective method of tearing through heavily fortified defensive positions.

Lootas are useful deployable suppression/anti-vehicle units

Mid game

Much like Eldar players you will want to reach tier 2 fast. A lot of useful units are gained in this stage, which will really help out your frontline assaults.

Your approach to mid game combat should be the same as it was in early game. Take your forces on all-out assaults, but exercise a little more caution and have a squad of Lootas or Tankbustas deployed behind your main force. You won’t be up to taking on vehicles unless you have a squad of Tankbustas or upgraded Lootas around. Don’t bother with Tankbustas if you’re facing Tyranid!

Try to expand your hold on the economy and keep the pressure up on the opponents victory points.

Lootas are your main infantry suppression unit. They can also be transformed into formidable anti-vehicle weapons by upgrading them. Not quite on par with the Eldar/Space Marine deployed suppression units, but definitely worth having at least one of!

Tankbustas are a pain in the ass for anyone using vehicles. Not only can they take a substantial amount of damage, but they’re extremely capable vehicle killers. You will want to have these as long as you’re not facing Tyranid forces. Their rocket barrage ability is very useful against both vehicles and infantry. They knock a lot of things around, which is a perfect prelude to a massive melee Waaagh! attack.

Deff Dredd is a weird twin-saw walker which is intended for taking out infantry en masse. It’s the least powerful walker in DoW 2, but it’s also very inexpensive and you’ll want to have one to face off against Tyranid or Eldar players. They’re best left out of the battle until it is underway so that they do not take the brunt of your opponents firepower immediately. They can run into battle too, which makes them ideal for this kind of approach.

Wartrukks are your armed infantry transports. They have a powerful anti-infantry gun and can reinforce nearby infantry units. It’s also your first unit that can detect infiltrated units, which makes it particularly useful against Space Marines employing a Scout-oriented strategy. Usually it’s not a good idea to have more than one of these, unless you opt for a two-front approach where you have one Wartrukk reinforcing each force.

Late game

Now you want to gather your forces and strike hard at whatever victory points your opponent has left.

Before you strike you’ll want to build at least one of the new units you’ve gained in tier 3. A Nob Squad is a good idea, because they tear through anything in melee and your Tankbustas can take care of any vehicles that might appear. Looted Tanks are another option, but are slower and relatively weak (for a ‘superunit’) and can easily be replaced by less expensive units (Lootas for anti-infantry, Tankbustas for anti-vehicle).

A different strategy you can employ is to redeploy your forces to defense and build a Kommando squad for swift strikes behind enemy lines. Uncap their victory point(s) and resource point(s) while your main force keeps the enemy at bay. It’s a bit of a gamble, so you’ll be better off using it only when you’re ahead in points.

The Nob Squad is a group of elite Ork melee warriors. They can be upgraded to become even more formidable and are the ultimate infantry killers… Additionally, their defensive capability is so enormous that they can even tank vehicles to some extent, giving your Tankbustas extra time to take care of them. Your ultimate unit, but very expensive both in terms of resources and population. Much preferred over Slugga Boyz if you can afford them.

A Kommando Squad is the Ork infiltration unit. Unique in that it’s only available at tier 3, but it’s also relatively powerful for an infiltrated unit. Kommandos do a fair amount of damage, but can’t take a whole lot of it. Unfortunately they require an upgrade to be able to use infiltration, which makes them a little less cost-effective than the other tier 3 units.

The Looted Tank is your superunit and doesn’t really look like one. It’s a slow-moving unit with relatively little in the way of defenses, but a fair amount of firepower. It’s inferior to the Space Marines tank, but also a little less expensive to build. They’re best used as a support unit for your army, covering your forces from behind and focusing fire on vehicles or grouped forces. Their main cannon blasts throw infantry units in every direction, which can make them ideal anti-Tyranid units.

Nothing beats a Tankbusta for taking down vehicles!

Best practices

• Most of your forces, especially melee forces, can take a lot of damage and resist suppression. This makes playing Ork much more straightforward than any other race: simply run in and kick ass? It’s an option with the Orks.
• If you have a Mekboy hero then use its Waaagh! Banners. You want to place them near defensive positions so that your opponent will have a much harder time (re)taking it.
• Your basic melee and ranged forces (Sluggaz and Shootaz) have a powerful ability called Waaagh! This makes every ally within a specific radius do more damage, have improved defense and move faster. A powerful buff which you’ll want to be using as much as possible. Alternate between squads to keep it going almost indefinitely.
• As an Ork player your strength lies in numbers. Not quite numbers like the Tyranid, but don’t expect to win a straight-numbers fight with the Eldar or Space Marines. So gather an overwhelming force before you attack a formidable defensive position. Also add a Nob Leader to your squads whenever you can!
• If you’re facing Space Marines or Eldar then it’s a good idea to keep your Tankbustas out of sight until you spot their first vehicles. Make them think you have nothing to counter their vehicular strengths and then come forth with the most effective anti-vehicle unit in the game.
• Don’t rely overly much on vehicles. The Orks strengths lie with their infantry, which range from powerful melee (Nobs) to powerful grenades (Stikkbommaz) to powerful anti-vehicle (Tankbustas). Your vehicles can dish out quite a bit of damage, but are much easier to destroy than entire infantry squads. Plus your infantry squads are more mobile and more easily protected. (heavy cover / buildings)

That’s it for all the races in Dawn of War 2.

A list of general tips for multiplayer gameplay will soon follow, so keep an eye out for future DoW 2 articles on GameDrone!

You can read the other DoW 2 guides in this series at:

• Eldar Tips for Dawn of War 2
• Space Marines Tips for Dawn of War 2
• Tyranid Tips for Dawn of War 2

Related Posts:

• March 9, 2009 -- 22 Tips for Dawn of War 2 Multiplayer (0)
• February 28, 2009 -- Tyranid Tips for Dawn of War 2 (12)
• February 24, 2009 -- Eldar Tips for Dawn of War 2 (19)
• February 25, 2009 -- Space Marines Tips for Dawn of War 2 (30)
• July 24, 2010 -- Resolving StarCraft’s color glitch on modern systems (6)