Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus II news & patch notes

Hi everyone. 

Today, we’re releasing a major technical update for Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus II, built around an upgrade to a newer version of Unity. 

Internal testing and feedback from the public beta of this build indicate that the upgrade improves baseline performance and optimisation across a wide range of hardware configurations. However, performance gains will vary depending on your system and settings, and we want to be clear that some players may see limited or no noticeable improvement from the engine upgrade alone. 

To provide greater control over performance, the update also introduces two new graphics settings: 

• Mesh LOD Quality: Controls the level of detail used for 3D models at a distance. Reducing this setting may improve performance, particularly during larger or more visually demanding skirmishes.

• Background Effects: Controls the visual effects displayed in the backgrounds of environments. Reducing or disabling these effects may improve performance in affected areas.

We recommend experimenting with these settings to find the best balance between visual quality and performance for your system.

We have also added a much-requested option to restart a mission from the War Map before it is launched. This allows you to reconsider your deployment and select a different leader or force without needing to reload an earlier save.

Our support for the game is continuing, and we will keep reviewing player feedback and investigating reported issues following this release. Please look forward to future news and updates. 

Thank you to everyone who has submitted bug reports, tested the public beta or shared detailed feedback with us. Your reports have been extremely valuable in helping us identify issues, verify fixes and prioritise our ongoing work. We also greatly appreciate your continued patience and support.

Alongside the Unity upgrade, new graphics options and mission restart feature, this update contains a large number of bug fixes. You can find the full changelog (English only) below.

Campaign, Progression and Stability

• Fixed an issue that could cause campaign saves to become stuck on an infinite loading screen after completing a mission.

• Fixed an issue during Vindication where the Deceiver seemingly failed to return after using Grand Illusion, preventing the final skirmish from progressing.

• Fixed an issue where manual saves could disappear after relaunching the game, and loading an older save could remove newer autosave checkpoints.

• Fixed a softlock that could occur when multiple Matrix Explosion effects resolved simultaneously and killed the currently active unit.

• Fixed a softlock that could occur when a Corpuscarii Electro-Priest’s attacks were blocked.

• Fixed an issue where Hyperspace Hunter could teleport a Deathmark into an inaccessible area, preventing the skirmish from being completed.

• Fixed a freeze that could occur when moving a Kataphron Destroyer immediately after deployment during the final skirmish of The Jaws of Defeat.

• Fixed an issue where a unit could become unselectable after ending its movement on a corpse.

• Fixed an issue that could result in an infinite loading screen around Territory Expansion missions.

• Fixed a freeze that could occur when retrying a mission with a different leader after abandoning it following Scaevola’s death.

• Fixed a Necron campaign progression block after Oszereon where no activities remained available to advance time.

• Fixed a potential softlock that could occur in the final skirmish of Pontifex Maximus.

• Destroyed Forge Cities will no longer reappear as available Forge City Assault targets.

• Fixed an issue where successfully defending a Forge-Temple could still result in its destruction and prevent queued construction or upgrades from completing.

Combat, Skills and Upgrades

• The Necron Lord’s upgraded Resurrection Orb can now correctly target eligible units undergoing Reanimation Protocol after reaching Dominion level 8.

• Triarch Praetorians can no longer use Judgement From On High while Immobilised.

• Treasure of the Technomandrites now correctly buffs the Warscythe and Voidscythe.

• Grav-wave Shock Mines now reliably stop affected enemy units when triggered.

• The Arc Pistol can now correctly damage environmental objects.

• Khepra’s Cantic Thrallnet now causes affected enemy units to activate according to the updated turn order.

• Videx’s movement now correctly ignores damaging ground effects, including burning ground.

• Videx’s Optimised Benediction upgrade now correctly reduces the cost of Benediction of Omniscience for Fulgurite Electro-Priests.

• Khepra’s Servo-skull now correctly grants Cognition when its effect is applied to an enemy unit.

• The Sicarian Infiltrator Princeps’ Servo-skull and Kill Analysis effects now correctly grant Cognition when the marked target is killed.

• The Sicarian Infiltrator’s Arc Grenade now correctly damages Canoptek Scarab Swarms and Wraiths.

• Faustinus can no longer repeatedly refresh his weapon uses by using Dominus Spatial Alternator.

• Captrix’s movement Canticle will no longer become permanently unavailable following attacks of opportunity.

• Fixed the interaction between Scaevola’s Master of Xenarite Technology and the self-damage caused by Dirge of the Steel.

• The Kastelan Robot’s Phosphor Blaster now correctly benefits from Energised.

• The Technomancer skill now correctly reduces the remaining Reanimation Protocol cooldown.

• Enemy Skitarii and Necron units encountered during Starvation will now engage each other as intended.

• Fixed an issue where purchasing Refined Bionics II did not increase the ranks of available units.

• The Wraith Form tooltip now correctly describes the skill’s Dominion scaling, including its Dominion level 10 range and damage increases.

• Skorpekh units affected by Eternal Revenant now immediately revive when killed by Burning or Irradiated effects.

• Captrix’s Omniscrambler now correctly applies Final Data-whisper to allied units rather than enemy units.

• Scaevola’s Contamination upgrade no longer allows Devoured From Within to transfer to Scaevola.

• Videx’s Electro Incantation now correctly reduces the Cognition cost of Incantation of the Iron Soul for both Corpuscarii and Fulgurite Electro-Priests.

• Captrix’s Dodge and Improved Dodge effects now apply correctly.

• Hehki can no longer generate Dominion during deployment by repeatedly applying statuses through Quantum Reanimytes.

• The Lokhust Heavy Destroyer’s final Gauss Destructor pierce upgrade now works correctly when beginning a mission with 3 locked Dominion.

• Videx’s locked Motive Force Ritual skills can no longer be used during skirmishes before being unlocked from the Reliquary.

• Radial Suffusion Field now correctly transfers Irradiated when a unit dies from the status.

• Rho’s Machine Harmony upgrade now correctly applies the bonus Data-Choir stack.

• Videx’s Remote Prognostication upgrade now correctly allows Auto-Divinatory Parchments to target eligible allied units.

Interface and Localisation

• Fixed several mission descriptions and dialogue lines that were not displayed in Korean during the Necron campaign.

• Fixed untranslated English text appearing in the Lord’s Chamber interface.

• Fixed inconsistent turn durations displayed for Construct a Forgeworks between the action description and character portrait.

• Fixed an issue where destroying a Forge City during the Necron campaign could trigger incorrect Adeptus Mechanicus post-mission dialogue.

Audio and Visuals

• Adjusted certain battlefield ambient tracks that could drown out gameplay sound effects.

• Fixed an issue where Deathmark’s legs could flip backwards during certain animations.

Achievements

• Fixed an issue where Epilogue Unlocked! could fail to unlock after completing both campaigns.

Hello everyone.

As previously mentioned, the team is currently working on a performance-focused update for Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus II. This build includes a major engine update, with the aim of delivering meaningful performance and optimisation improvements.

The build is still undergoing testing on our side. However, because PC performance can vary significantly depending on hardware, drivers, settings, Steam cache state and other system-specific factors, we also want to gather feedback from a wider range of real player setups before moving the update to the main live branch.

For that reason, we’re making the upcoming performance update available through an optional public Steam beta branch.

This will allow players who are currently experiencing performance issues, or who simply want to help test the build, to try it ahead of the full release and share feedback with us.

Beta Branch Details

• Branch name: public_beta

• Branch password: mechanicus2beta

Instructions on how to access the branch:

• Right-click Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus II in your Steam Library.

• Select Properties.

• Go to Betas.

• Enter the beta access code above.

• Select the beta branch from the dropdown once it appears.

• Allow Steam to update the game.

To return to the current live version, go back to the Betas menu and select None.

Please remember:

This is an optional beta branch, not the default live version of the game.

The build is still in testing and may contain issues or regressions.

We’re not asking all players to switch over – only those who are comfortable testing a work-in-progress build.

The current live branch will remain available as normal.

Feedback from the beta will help us better understand performance across a wider range of hardware before the update is released fully.

Reporting Performance Issues

If on the beta branch you continue to experience severe optimisation or performance issues, please report them through our existing bug report form (https://forms.gle/L6JrusUkoSzaZU5PA).

When reporting performance issues, please include as much detail as possible, especially:

• your hardware specifications

• a DxDiag file, where possible

• your in-game graphics settings

• the mission/skirmish where the issue occurred

• whether performance changed compared to the current live build

• whether you had previously cleared your Steam shader/cache files on your local machine

Thank you again for your patience and for continuing to share detailed reports with us. We know the current performance issues have been frustrating, and we want to make sure this update is tested as thoroughly as possible before it becomes the main live build.

First, thank you to everyone who has reported issues and shared feedback since the launch of Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus II.

We know we’ve been quiet since launch. That hasn’t been because we’re ignoring the issues being raised – it’s because the team has been focused on investigating, fixing and preparing updates as quickly as possible.

We’re painfully aware that many players are experiencing performance issues, including lower than expected frame rates and unusually high GPU utilisation. Improving performance is a critical priority for us, and work is continuing on a more substantial optimisation update.

Today’s update addresses a number of commonly reported bugs and includes a small FPS improvement for many players. However, we want to be clear that this update is not intended to resolve the main performance concerns raised by players. That work is ongoing and will require a further update.

We understand how frustrating these issues are, and we appreciate your patience while we work to address them. We’ll share more details on the optimisation update as soon as we’re able.

Update 1.0.0.25 Patch Notes

General

Implemented a change that results in a slight FPS improvement for many players.

Fixed an issue where the Shadow Quality setting could reset to High after relaunching the game.

Fixed a missing placeholder icon for some skills.

Fixed an issue preventing certain territory expansion missions in the Adeptus Mechanicus campaign from loading.

Audio

Fixed a number of SFX being incorrectly tied to VO volume.

Fixed some missing VO dialogue.

Fixed some instances of dialogue being wrongly assigned to different characters..

Gameplay

Fixed an issue where Videx’s Motive Force skill could grant an incorrect number of Energized stacks.

Fixed an issue in the Vindication skirmish where reaching the extraction area before killing all enemies could incorrectly result in a defeat.

Fixed an issue where triggering a Kastelan Robot’s Deadly Demise trait could skip allied unit turns and disrupt turn order.

Fixed an issue where recruiting a high number of units for a mission (19+) could prevent units from being deployed into a skirmish.

Fixed an issue where the Necron Deathmark Skill Improvement upgrade increased the cooldown of Hyper-dimensional Jump instead of reducing it.

Fixed an issue where the Expanded Sicarian Armour tooltip could obscure the upgrade button and prevent the upgrade from being selected.

Fixed an issue where Nanoscarab Cloud did not gain an additional use at Dominion 8.

Fixed an issue where The Hungry Void command protocol did not apply to the Voidblade.

Fixed an issue where multiple units could be deployed onto the same cell during the deployment phase.

Fixed an issue where Pteraxii Sterylizors had access to Purgation Protocol before unlocking it.

Fixed an issue where A Call for Flesh could sometimes fail to spawn a Flayed One.

Fixed an issue where Khepra’s Emergency Protocol skill could not be activated after being unlocked.

Achievements

Fixed an issue where the Tech-Acquisitor achievement could fail to unlock after reaching 10 Cognition Points with Scaevola.

Fixed an issue on Xbox where the achievement notification pop-up did not display correctly.

We’re incredibly proud to announce that Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus II has launched.

Take command of the techno-religious forces of the Adeptus Mechanicus or lead the deathless legions of the Necrons across two full narrative campaigns, where every tactical engagement and strategic decision shapes the fate of an embattled world.

We’d love to hear your feedback in our Discord channel, where you can also benefit from shared strategies, insights and war stories from our dedicated community.

Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus II will officially launch on May 21st, 2026, coinciding with the start of this year’s Warhammer Skulls Festival.

Since our first reveal in Warhammer Skulls two years ago, and right up to our demo last October, we’ve been incredibly grateful for all the feedback, excitement, theories and patience from our community. We’ve been hard at work refining and expanding the experience, and we cannot wait to finally place it in your hands.

To celebrate the announcement, we’ve released a new leader deep-dive video to introduce you to two more key characters in the war to come: Lector-Dogmatis Videx, a zealous preacher of the Machine God’s orthodoxy, and Lord Obasis, the Sankhotep dynasty’s implacable bulwark against disorder.

Whether you’re terraforming new ground in the name of the Omnissiah, or awakening to reclaim a domain that was once yours, the bitter war for the world of Hekateus IV begins on May 21st.

Wishlist now and join us in our community Discord for all the latest news and discussions.

Mechanicus II is officially set to launch next spring. Since the Next Fest demo in October, we’ve been parsing every data-fragment of feedback, from long-time disciples of the Omnissiah and newly initiated alike. One of the most frequent requests was for the return of lingua technis, the distinctive machine-code language of the Machine God’s faithful that helped create the unique atmosphere of the original title. Given the demand, we’re committed to adding it as an optional setting at launch for anyone who prefers it over standard voiceovers.

We’re also hard at work on performance optimisations and tightening up the moment-to-moment experience, particularly with regards to the speed of gameplay. Some of you noticed the animation speed-up settings in the demo, some didn’t – either way, it’s staying. On top of that, there’ll be an option for the Move action to be automatically selected when a unit is chosen, helping keep the pace snappy and reducing input overhead. Ultimately, our priority is to ship a version of the game that meets the standards you expect – and the ones we set for ourselves.

In the meantime, there’s still plenty left to show you before release. A major focus will be systems that weren’t part of the demo, especially leader customisation. The first of five spotlight videos is now live, covering one Adeptus Mechanicus leader and one Necron leader – starting with Tech-Aquisitor Scaevola and the Necron Lord Ominekh.

We’ll also be showcasing our non-leader units through a series of profile cards, beginning with the six units featured in the demo. While not exhaustive, they’ll give you a solid look at the key weapons, skills, traits, and upgrades that shape each unit’s identity. Expect new cards weekly from now through launch across all our social channels, including Discord – feel encouraged to drop in and take a look.

Thank you for your continued support as we advance toward launch. The cog continues to turn.

Steam's triannual festival of demos starts today, and Mechanicus II is taking part.

The demo's been out just over a week now, and the response from the community has been really encouraging. Thank you for the support, feedback and bug reports – we’ve been reading it all!

We've just pushed an updated demo build with the following fixes and improvements:

• Added controller support.

• Minor optimisation improvements – investigating this has been and continues to be a priority.

• Fixed issues caused by changing difficulty mid-skirmish.

• Fixed a bug causing Skitarii Rangers' faces to disappear.

• Fixed a soft lock when exiting to the main menu at the exact moment a tutorial triggered.

• Fixed font rendering issues in French, Simplified Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.

• Fixed UI issues on 16:10 displays.

• Fixed an error caused by alt-tabbing between windows.

• Added missing loading-screen quotes in several non-English languages.

New to the community? Join us on Discord to discuss the game with us and your fellow acolytes of the Machine God, and maybe even take part in our character colouring competition, in which you could win prizes worth over £600!

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The demo of Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus II has just finished exloading into the Steam-sphere, and is available right now!

This is your chance to command both factions in tactical skirmish combat as you uncover the origins of a new and epic planetary conflict between the techno-religious acolytes of the Adeptus Mechanicus and the ancient, deathless Necron legions.

Download, engage and test your tactical logic against the alien threat.

Don’t forget to join our Discord to share feedback, meet the community, and get the latest updates!

The Omnissiah has blessed us with a glimpse of what to expect from Warhammer 40,000 Mechanicus II. Get a first glimpse of what’s to come in the sequel:

Whether you’re a faithful servant of the Omnissiah or aligned with the ancient dynasties, wishlist today and prepare for the battles to come.

The Omnissiah calls, and we’re answering at Gamescom! For the first time ever, Mechanicus II will be playable on the show floor. Step into the next chapter of the critically acclaimed turn-based tactical series and experience the beginning of the war for Hekateus IV first-hand.

This is your chance to retake command of the Adeptus Mechanicus forces, and to also get a taste of leading the Necrons of the Sankhotep dynasty against their world’s invaders. We can’t wait to show you what’s in store – see you in Cologne on 20-24th August!

In the latest episode of Deep Strike, Bulwark Studios’ Romuald Carbone and veteran writer Ben Counter take you behind the scenes of the critically acclaimed Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus. Discover how the Adeptus Mechanicus and Necrons were brought to life in our favourite turn-based tactical, and get some juicy insider information about Mechanicus II! 

Watch it now on Warhammer TV (Warhammer+ subscription required.)

We’re very pleased to announce that Team MoDakBul, who provided post-launch Korean localisation for the first game, will be providing their services once again for Mechanicus II.

Big thanks to both Team MoDakBul and our Korean-speaking players for your support. We’re excited to make Mechanicus II more accessible to even more of you on day one!