GW has been making some weird changes on damage profiles for weapons in 9th Edition 40k, and 2 damage is quickly becoming the new D3…
If you’ve been following along with all of the reworked datasheets emerging across the web over the past few days, you’ll know that some of the biggest changes have been made to weapons. Particularly, the damage profiles. So are we going to see old D3 damage weapons moved to 2 damage instead inside the 2.0 and 3.0 codex books?
2 Damage is the New D3: What’s GW Doing With Weapon Profiles?
We’ve done a full breakdown on the Company Command and Vanguard Vet datasheets that you can check out here if you missed it. But let’s pull out some key changes for example.
- Captain’s Relic Blade used to be D3 damage (now 2 flat)
- Power Fist used to be D3 damage (now 2 flat)
- Vanguard Veteran’s Relic Blade for some reason gets 1 point less in Strength from the Captain’s (now 2 flat)
While more and more datasheets are slowly beginning to emerge, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see a clear pattern of D3 weapons moving to 2 flat damage. With that said, there’s one outstanding anomaly that we can’t explain.
Looking at the Terminator Squad’s Chain Fist, this weapon used to be S8 -4AP and 2 flat damage. However, GW changed its profile to do D3 damage instead. The strange thing is that Power Fists and Chain Fists cost the exact same amount of points (10pts each). Maybe GW’s balancing team sees a fair tradeoff between an extra AP and flat damage.
What Does That Mean For Other D3 Weapons?
Factions that have D3 damage weapons pop up all over their units are Custodes and Orks, for example. From Power Klaw spam and just about every single Custode melee weapon out there, they share that variable weapon profile. With that said, could we be seeing weapons like the following, all get moved from D3 damage to 2 damage in the future?
- Power Klaws
- Dethrollas
- Krushin’ Tracks
- Weirdboy Staff
- Adrasite Spears
- Castellan Axes
- Guardian Spears
- Interceptor Lances
- Sentinel Blades
- Venatari Lances
Only time will tell…
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About the Author: Wesley Floyd
Wesley Floyd
Job Title: Staff Writer
Joined: 2018
Socials: @RealmbrushPainting
About Wesley Floyd: Wes has been in the Warhammer hobby since 2015 and joined the Spikey Bits writing team in 2018. He is known for his satirist takes on trending topics and imaginative yet amazingly affordable hobby solutions to painting Warhammer miniatures.
Imperial fanboy, tabletop fanatic, and the self-proclaimed King of Sprues. He knows for a fact that Mephiston red is the best-tasting paint and is the commission painting equivalent of a Wendy’s 4 for $4. If you like what he writes and want to contact him or have your tabletop minatures painted (to a mostly okayish standard), message him on Instagram.
