How does one play GreyKnights?

[Tomminator]

Hello there hopefully helpfull people!
I have recently picked the game up, played each race a few games (mostly vs A.I:) and decided that I really really like Grey Knights, something about Elite Badasses that don't need not strong Vahicle and just run around bashing stuff seems pretty awesome to me.
However I don't really know how to play with them, I suck ass...
So my question is, how do you play Grey Knights?
Note that I don't mean in a buildorder kinda way, I have found those online already, but in a general playstyle kinda way.
What are my objectives, what are my strengths and weaknesses and what is my general role and purpose as a grey knights player in 1v1, but most importantly in 2v2 and 3v3 team games (since I find those more enjoyable and want to get my friends to play them with me).
(Just like SM in teamgames are not as much about getting kills and picking off stuff, but more tanking and engaging and basickally beeing the backbone of the other armies)

Sorry if that was too long, thank you very much for your help

[Nurland]

GK relies heavily in unit synergy. Support abilities like energy restoration and damage resistance buffs and Librarians buffs.

[Sub_Zero]

Simple question and here is a simple answer for you. Lately I've been using 2x strike squads in T1, sometimes give grenade launchers for stormtroopers, full set of items that help improving staying power of the the Bro Cap (he is just nuts with that) then I get in T2 that exceptionally good vindicare assassin and it is always awesome to see purifiers, so I buy them as well. And here is a little trick I would love to tell about. I purchase the teleporter, I teleport and then I immediately start rebuying that T1 wargear that only works when the health is lower than 50% and that way he becomes so ludicrously hard to deal with. Though this way he cannot cause a lot of damage. So you have disruption (grenade launchers), solid ranged base (2x strike squads), decent melee unit (purifiers), amazing AV-fighter (assassin) and one big tough fella (your bro cap). You can throw on top of that a librarian or a razorback. I rarely get to use terminators though but that doesn't mean I lose games, I just buy a lot of stuff, all the named units require some investments to be worthwhile. But there are so many other builds, if I invest more time in this race I will definitely try all variations. That is a really interesting race to play.

[Tomminator]

Hmm I was more looking for like a philosphy of playing not build order, but it seems like you can go pretty aggressive with themT2?

From Nurlands comment it seems they usually take ina support role, not main damage, not main tank but support where its needed, is that correct?

Or how do you play them like how do you act and behave, more like macro strategy during teamgames instead of smaller more specific things like build orders

Thanks for the replys tho, already helps quite a bit, just hoping for even more

[Tomminator]

Also one last thing, when im in T3, how do I decide if I should get Termies, Paladins or LandRaider?
Thank you all for helping me <3

[Ace of Swords]

Well in T3 generally the no brainer choice are paladins, simply because you will have gathered alot of anti infantry while you were t1-t2 so you want to go with a safe choice that does decent anti infantry, is very resistant and can consistently deal with tanks,super tanks and other super units, though if your team is already covering AV and there's alot of elite infantry/shi standard termies are the way to go other wise Paladins > then termies spam, if your team needs a foward base even though you can't retreat to the LRC you can still walk back and heal up/reinforce to it, and it's quite useful especially in 3v3s.

[Tomminator]

Ahh okay, thank you very much, that helps a lot already

Soo the only question I have left is the one from the beginning.

What should my general playstyle be? What is my role within a team?

[Forestradio]

Buff your allies and tank damage. You have a faction (as Nurland said) that is very good with unit synergy esp in t2 onwards so don't hesitate so share those buffs around to your allies.

AoE buffs of all kinds have huge snowball in teamgames, and you are on a race that has a shitton of them, and WATH (which you should be timing to affect your allies every engagement, esp if they have melee units) is really good here from the start of the game to the finish.

Apart from that, it depends on your teammates and their hero choices, for example BC+apo is an entirely different combo than BC+FC, just as BC+sorc is entirely different from BC+CL. Any specific combination here that you have in mind?

[Ven]

This is a very general question so my answer might be a bit meh.

if you are really new to the game; i would suggest just play. you will probably get flak for being "bad" but in all honesty, the only way you're going to learn to play and after that get better, is by playing. experiencing different unit compositions and what counters what, what works best vs certain factions etc.

this game has a fairly steep learning curve, but dont get discouraged if you keep on getting stomped online. you wont learn or get better with an attitude such as "i suck, im never going to get better" just keep playing, and you'll get the hang of it.

there are some good resources available to get familiar with certain units such as the codex, these forums and the casters such as indrid. using these resources can really help you learn the race you want to play.

as for specifically GK, i personally think its an okay beginners race, not great but its a decent starting point, i personally think that SM is probably the best "begginers" race to learn the game, but maybe that's just me. just like everyone else said GK is fairly buff-centric, not as buff-centric as say orks or nids mind you.

[lolzarz]

I'd say it would help to get a METOL BOCKS, er, Rhino. Gives you loads of mobility and significant firepower in T2.

[Cheah18]

But if you get a METOL BOCKS then Chaos will take it away

[lolzarz]

But if you get a METOL BOCKS then Chaos will take it away

Wait, is that in response to my usage of the Metal Box meme, or do you actually mean that Chaos has very good Rhino counters?

[Cheah18]

'we will take away... their metol bockses'

Chaos has good rhino counters?

[Surprise Attack!]

'we will take away... their metol bockses'

Chaos has good rhino counters?

PC is great in T2 vs Rhino and can soak up a lot of damage. Back it up with something else and you have some great AV options!

[Ven]

chaos has horrible rhino counters. but atleast its easier to kill as chaos as it is SM.

the only real "counters" from chaos to rhinos right now is:

Havocs

doomblast on rear armour, if you're lucky.

plague sword.

-----

Havocs are countered by the BC himself. this is why chaos and SM struggle vs GK with the lack of power melee ext in T1. doom blast only works on rear armour and even then you'll only get off 1-2 before they're forced off. plague sword is PC only; and even then; he can be focused down and prevented from even getting in to combat in the first place.

SM has FC powersword and devs... no really thats it. nothing else in T1 does enough damage to even scratch the rhino.

chaos and SM, especially SM; can barely even do damage to the rhino in T1 if the rhino is used well, they are by far the best races to use it on as its basically unkillable and will win you the game in minutes. other races do not have this issure with the rhino, with T1 power melee or just simply enough ranged dps.

PC is great in T2 vs Rhino and can soak up a lot of damage. Back it up with something else and you have some great AV options!

you forget that the rhino is a T1 unit. if you counter something worth 30 power a tier too late with an investment of over 30 power; you've already lost.

[Cheekie Monkie]

SM has FC powersword and devs... no really thats it. nothing else in T1 does enough damage to even scratch the rhino.

chaos and SM, especially SM; can barely even do damage to the rhino in T1 if the rhino is used well, they are by far the best races to use it on as its basically unkillable and will win you the game in minutes. other races do not have this issure with the rhino, with T1 power melee or just simply enough ranged dps.

What's wrong with snipers? They do decent pew pew to the BC, bleed storms well (bolstered by the fact that hiding behind the rhino does nothing vs snipes) whilst being able to pressure the rhino itself.

[Cheah18]

Lol at pew pew becoming the new preferred term over dps. I support this change.

[Daddy]

Can someone explain to me how Grey Knights handle Long Range vehicles. I am talking about those pesky Leman russes with bunker supports.

The GK Rhino is a very risky choice as it goes down very fast.

Vindicare assasin maybe gets a shot or two, but the vehicle just pulls away. He has no snare option or anything to back it up. That and the low health makes him very easily killed and micro intensive.

Paladins are a great choice, but because they are melee, I have to risk throwing them into enemy lines and even then they would have to chase the tanks down, only that they are slow as heck.

In that case I suppose I should get mass psycannons and focus fire. Then again without a snaring options the tanks just back off and I constantly have to chase the tanks around.

In Chaos my other main race, the choices were simpler. get a setup team with a lascanon, or a Tdred.

[Ven]

well chaos has some of the best AV in the game. GKs AV is fairly weak.

i would reccomend trying to bait out the tank if you can, then snare it using a interceptor krak grenade (or rely on teammate snares if you're playing a teamgame) then rain heavy melee/psycannons/vinicare shots down on it.

[Daddy]

Actually the AI on Extreme difficulty Solves that issue with this LOL. It gives it's purgation squads a missile launcher.

Try it out!

But seriously, that would be a cool option for GK's.

[Sub_Zero]

Can someone explain to me how Grey Knights handle Long Range vehicles. I am talking about those pesky Leman russes with bunker supports.

I think here you need a combination of vindicare assassin + interceptors' AV-grenade. This way interceptors take all the fire and the vindicare assassin can be safe for some time, throw the grenade, then your Bro Cap is already there tanking like crazy and that is a winning situation for you. I seriously think that the vindicare assassin is the best AV-unit in the game in terms of his accessibility and cost. His ability to cause really high damage and move fast is invaluable. His fragility should NOT scare you, grey knigts have good tools to stop enemies in their tracks (and jump units' jumps on your assassin can be easily dodged if you anticipate it and counter it respectively by moving away before they even land) and good tools to prevent ranged units from firing in the form of interceptors, your everlasting hero and terminators. Not to mention the vindicare assassin can hide from sight by standing in/behind cover

[Torpid]

Don't forget you can buff the damage of the VA with shrouding of the GK librarian or the mind blades global too.

[Daddy]

What situations would you use energy restoration for Strike Squad?

[lolzarz]

What situations would you use energy restoration for Strike Squad?

When you have units whose abilities are absolutely crucial to your victory. Examples include the Purifiers' psychic field, a major source of splash damage. Using them to rescue your interceptors is also possible, as Purification should give them enough energy to teleport out and retreat. Also useful for the Brother-Captain and the Terminator Librarian, both of which are very energy-intensive; can't rely on Canticle of Absolution to do everything.

[Daddy]

So this suggests keeping the Strike squad behind and supporting, rather than engaging aggressively.

So suppose I don't play with interceptos, or librarian. I am left to assume that It is not worth it to purchase the justicar on my SS. If I will be keeping them behind my lines in T2.

It would be then easier on my population cap and possibly upkeep to just buy a purg. squad with psy cannons for added ranged firepower.

I am just trying to brainstorm SS utility past T1.

[Cheekie Monkie]

Not necessarily. The justicar provides an extra oomph of plasma damage and his melee potency makes the SS a match for un upgraded melee squads.

Purification can also be used to help stormtroopers maximise their plasma blast and ensure that energy intensive allied armies and commanders work in tip top shape. That farseer is going to be able to spam so much more shit thanks to you.

[Dark Riku]

How about the always useful Energy Burst they have.

[Raven]

Skip IST/Strike Squads, put a lot of opening req into building power, and then go triple Purgation and arm them all with psycannons. Keep them guarded with your Brother-Captain and any other units of your choice.

Your opponents will absolutely hate you for this, but provided that you can stave off any jump infantry, it's absolutely hilarious.

[Swift]

Skip IST/Strike Squads, put a lot of opening req into building power, and then go triple Purgation and arm them all with psycannons. Keep them guarded with your Brother-Captain and any other units of your choice.

Your opponents will absolutely hate you for this, but provided that you can stave off any jump infantry, it's absolutely hilarious.

I hope you can make this viable in 1v1.

What kind of opponents do you get for this to work?

[Raven]

I hope you can make this viable in 1v1.

What kind of opponents do you get for this to work?

I can't say I play 1v1 much; I prefer team games. As for opponents, psycannons act as pretty much anti-everything, so it works against about any faction (but of course, it's a generally a risky idea to invest in so much infantry anyways; I mostly do it because its funny).