We're happy to announce that Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2's first Pre-Order Beta is live!
As announced earlier today in our Overview trailer Part 2, all players who have pre-ordered will now automatically receive access to a week-long beta ending on December 12.
This first open Beta will feature the skirmish mode in multiplayer and against AI, as well as the basics of Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2’s epic battles with the campaign prologue.
Please keep in mind that this is an actual Beta and we'd love to hear your feedback about the game. Don't expect an entirely polished experience as we're still working on ironing out technical issues and balancing.
You can post your feedback about the game in the Steam Discussion or the official forum.
It's your first time playing the Battlefleet Gothic: Armada, and you're feeling a little overwhelmed? That's understandable, there's a lot for you to take in when you first launch the game.
We've written a handy little guide to help new players get to grips with what to do when they first launch the game, and introduce the basic key mechanics, as well as showing you the easier factions to play.
Quick Start Guide
[Solo - Prologue]
Firstly, you'll need to learn how to play the game. To do this, follow the steps below:
- Click New Campaign
- Click Launch Prologue
This launches a short series of missions set during the Fall of Cadia. Here, you'll learn how to move, select units, how stealth works and how to bring war upon your enemies.
Please note that you are unable to save during the prologue.
Once the prologue is completed, you'll be ready for battle! In the Pre-Order Beta, skirmishes are available vs AI players, as well as against other human players in 1v1 and 2v2 modes.
[Battle mode]
To start setting up a skirmish, you will need to select Battle on the main menu. From here, you'll be able to play any of the twelve factions featured in Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2.
For players new to the game, we recommend playing one of the less micro-intensive factions, such as The Imperial Navy, Chaos, Necrons or T'au.
To complete the faction selection, you have access to sub-factions.
It only changes in most cases the fleet color. Few sub-factions also grant you access to new skills (see bellow).
Once you've selected your faction and sub-faction, you'll need to also select two skills and upgrades. The locked skills you see here unlock when you play multiplayer matchmaking.
Then, select your fleet. For new players, we recommend using one of the premade fleets, to get a feeling for how that faction plays.
You will also be able to create you own custom fleet. But let's do this later, when you will be at ease with the game.
You also have opportunities to tweak the match to your liking before starting.
To open the Skirmish map settings, click on the wheel button on the down-left corner of the screen.
- You can disable victory by Domination or change the amount of points required for victory.
- You can add environmental effects such as Space Titans, should you want to discover them in your skirmish.
Battle difficulty and enemy faction selection
When playing against an opposing AI, you are able to choose against which faction to play.
To do so, click on the Launch button (the big one, you can't miss it). A pop-up will allow you to choose the enemy faction as well as its difficulty.
Indeed, you can reduce (or increase) the difficulty of your opponent by changing the fleet points they have available.
"I have some friends on Steam playing the Beta too, can I play with them?"
Yes, of course! To do this, you'll need to invite them to your battle. From the Battle menu, you'll simply click "Invite Player" on the right side of the screen. After inviting them, you can play against them, or with them in a 2vAI mode. In 2VAI, each player will have 600 fleet points available to them.
If you're looking for a more detailed guide on Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2, please read the How To Start Guide on our forums.
Thank you, and good luck out there!
Focus Home Interactive and Tindalos Interactive