Amplitude has unveiled the third of Endless Legend 2's four early access factions today, and they're one of my faves from the last game: the Necrophage.
Broadly, it seems like this ravenous insectoid hive works similarly to its Endless Legend 1 variation: nothing will stop the Necrophage from consuming everything in their way. "They have little use for diplomacy," says Amplitude, "and minor factions are little more than extra food for the swarm."
Individual bugs aren't really important: they live to fight and serve their queen. And the cities and races they crush are used to fuel their economy and increase their numbers. If one of their armies takes heavy losses, it doesn't matter—only winning counts, as a victory allows them to spawn larvae that can grow into more powerful, specialised units.
Along with their ability to proliferate and their distaste for diplomacy, the faction's other hook is that it only maintains a single city: its hive. They can still conquer new regions, but only so they can ravage them and send resources back to their home. And to help with this, these diligent bugs can build tunnels all across the world, allowing them to move swiftly.
Just like in the first game, this is some compelling faction design—stripping an empire down to a singular drive, the need to consume, in turn letting warlike players focus on fighting and swallowing up the world, rather than making buddies and placating minor factions.
This just leaves us with one more faction—at least in early access. Given that it's already been teased, the smart money is on the Broken Lords—a faction made up of spectral knights encased in armour. The Broken Lords were an Endless Legend 1 faction, too, so we'd be getting two old faces and two new ones when Endless Legend 2 hits early access this summer.
