MECHANIST

"Why fight one-on-one when I can fight from everywhere at once?"

— Hexel Draan, Mechanist of the Rustcore Rebellion

While soldiers rush in and blades clash, the Mechanist is already working. With a flick of the wrist and a hiss of compressed gas, they bring another gun to bear—unblinking, untiring, unrelenting. These aren’t just machines. They’re sentries. Guardians. Killing lines drawn in metal.

And the battlefield?

That’s just the workshop.

Field Rules

You may have up to 2 active turrets at once.

Turrets are considered Allies, but do not benefit from buffs unless specifically stated.

You may use a Quick Action to:

Change a turret’s target

Force a turret to delay fire

Trigger a turret to self-destruct (dealing 2/3/5 damage in a 5ft radius)

"You want it faster? Don’t blink."

— Jexa Coil, Mechanist of the Cinderfield Circuit

Mechanists don’t just build machines—they push them past their limits. With a surge of energy and a spike of voltage, they force turrets and traps to strike faster, harder, and sooner than anyone expects. But every shortcut comes at a cost.

Overclocking isn't safe.

It’s just brutally effective.

"One step forward, and you’ll be two steps behind."

— Rillan Sproxx, Mechanist of the Broken Chain War

Mechanists don’t just build to kill. They build to predict. Every footstep becomes a calculation. Every corner, a question mark. Where others see open space, the Mechanist sees a blueprint of pain, ready to spring shut on the overconfident and unaware.

You don’t step into their trap.

You walk right into their design.

"You've got three seconds before that thing stops obeying me. Move."

— Duul Mirast, Combat Engineer, Korrigan Defense Line

A real repair takes time. An emergency patch takes a transmission spike and a refusal to let the machine die. It's not elegant. It works.

"Every engineer picks a philosophy. Most just call it instinct."

— Sola Ven, Mechanist-Adjudicator, Broken Veil Station

A Mechanist's strength lies not just in what they build, but in how they think about building. At this stage, the tools diversify and the strategy crystallises. You've seen enough battlefields to know which approach fits the way your mind works.

This is the choice that defines your engineering identity.

"Space is just a variable. I set its value."

— Wren Tack, Field Mechanist, Ironweft Circuit

Machines placed apart are tools. Machines placed together are architecture. The moment two devices cover the same ground, that ground stops belonging to whoever steps on it.

A Killzone isn't a trap. It's a fact of geometry — one the enemy learns the hard way.

When two or more of your active devices (Turrets or Traps, any combination) are within 10ft of each other, that space becomes a Killzone.

Hostile creatures that enter a Killzone for the first time each turn take 2 Energy Damage.

The Killzone persists as long as at least two linked devices remain active.

"Improvement isn't a schedule. It's a reflex."

— Neven Bryx, Mechanist, Dual Axis Accord

The Mechanist doesn't stop building when the fight starts. Every encounter is field data. Every engagement produces a better version of the machine that survived it. This upgrade doesn't happen in a workshop.

It happens here. Now.

"It knows where you're going. It was already there."

— Zash Crae, Senior Mechanist, Shattered Foundry

You don't need to watch every door. You need one machine that does it for you. The Overwatch Relay links a turret to a zone — the moment something walks into it, the trigger is already pulled.

"It doesn't care that you shot it. Neither do I."

— Perix Kolt, Battlefield Engineer, The Weld

Most engineers protect themselves. The Mechanist protects what does the work. Plated joints, hardened casing, and shock-distributed impact framing — the turret becomes an obstacle as well as a weapon.

Your Turrets gain Damage Reduction 2 — all attacks against them deal 2 less damage

Turrets count as Half Cover for allies standing directly behind them relative to an attacker

"Same mechanism. Different purpose. Better options."

— Cayde Hurst, Lead Mechanist, Battle of Meridian Hold

The traps improve because the Mechanist improves. The same chassis, the same deployment window — but now with three different payloads. The right tool for the right body of ground.

When using Tinker Trap, choose which type of trap to deploy:

Anchor Trap: Original — Deals 3 Energy Damage and applies Restrained (1 turn)

Stagger Trap: Deals 4 Physical Damage and applies Staggered (1 turn)

Reveal Trap: No damage — applies Weakened to the triggering creature for 1 turn; all of your Turrets within 20ft immediately fire at that creature as a free activation (this free activation ignores Overheated, but does not remove it)

"The first version taught me what was wrong with it."

— Rix Ollo, Head Engineer, Rust Division

Experience is the most expensive component in any machine. The Mark II doesn't just improve the existing design — it applies everything learned from watching the Mark I fail.

"They ask me if my machines can think. They can aim. That's enough."

— Telu Morr, Systems Engineer, Siege of the Glass Column

There's a moment in every fight where every gun has a clean shot at the same target. The Mechanist doesn't wait for that moment. They create it.

"Show me a battlefield and I'll show you where you should have been standing."

— Wren Tack, Field Mechanist, Ironweft Circuit

You've deployed enough machines to know that how you fight matters as much as what you bring. This isn't a weapon upgrade. It's a fundamental rewrite of your combat philosophy — how you move, what you prioritise, and where you win from.

"I know exactly how far I can push it. A little further than that."

— Kath Zeil, Master Engineer, Shattered Foundry

The overclock was always a calculated risk. Now the calculation has better numbers.

Overclock Pulse now grants +3 Hit Chance and +3 Damage (increased from +2/+2)

When the activated device destroys its target, the device does not become Overheated from that activation

"You walked into a machine. I'm the one running it."

— Faye Drex, Mechanist Sergeant, Ironweft Circuit

The Killzone was never just a damage zone. It was a pressure system — a way of turning every step into a cost. Now it extracts that cost in full.

Killzones (from Killzone Grid) now deal 4 Energy Damage instead of 2 when a hostile enters for the first time each turn

When a hostile creature triggers a Trap and takes Turret fire in the same turn, that creature takes an additional 3 Energy Damage — the machines converge

"Every gun, every barrel, every circuit — on my frequency."

— Sola Ven, Mechanist-Adjudicator, Broken Veil Station

The machines aren't autonomous. They're coordinated. A single channel, a single intent, broadcast at the start of every turn. It's not thought. It's signal.

At the start of each of your turns, issue a Standing Order to all your active Turrets simultaneously (free action, no Energy Cost). The order persists until changed:

Suppress — All Turrets target the hostile with the most current HP

Protect — All Turrets target any hostile who attacked an ally since your last turn (if multiple qualify, closest to you)

Eliminate — Lock all Turrets to one specific designated target; they ignore all other hostiles until the order changes

"Why deploy a weapon when you can deploy an asset?"

— Duul Mirast, Combat Engineer, Korrigan Defense Line

The turret is already doing its job. What if it could do two jobs?

A secondary module adds a second function to any deployed turret — not replacing what it does, but stacking an additional effect on top of it. The gun still shoots. Now it also controls.

When deploying any Turret, spend 1 extra Energy to attach one of the following Secondary Modules:

Spotlight Module — The Turret negates Stealth within 10ft of itself. Hidden hostile creatures in range are revealed.

Signal Jammer — Hostile creatures within 10ft of the Turret cannot use Quick Actions.

Morale Beacon — Allied creatures within 10ft of the Turret gain +1 to all flip results.

"Everything talking to everything. That's when it gets interesting."

— Kath Zeil, Master Engineer, Shattered Foundry

An arsenal is just a collection. An integrated system is something else — devices that share targeting data, trap triggers that cascade through the network, gadgets that serve the field rather than just the user. The Mechanist stops managing machines and starts conducting them.

"Kill my machine. Enjoy the consequence."

— Perix Kolt, Battlefield Engineer, The Weld

The devices don't die quietly. Every turret, every trap, every deployed component contains the same terminal instruction: if destroyed, fire everything that's left.

It's not a contingency. It's a warning they never get to act on.

When any of your active devices (Turrets or Traps) is destroyed, it immediately detonates

Deals 3 Physical Damage to all hostile creatures within 5ft of the destroyed device

This detonation cannot be prevented, negated, or redirected

The explosion resolves before any other effects from the destruction

"Missed? No. Redirected."

— Zash Crae, Senior Mechanist, Shattered Foundry

A wasted activation is an engineering failure. The solution isn't better aim — it's better logic. The turret doesn't miss its target. It acquires the next one.

When a Turret's designated target is eliminated, moves out of range, or becomes invalid, the Turret immediately retargets the nearest other hostile creature within range

This retargeting happens instantly and does not cost the Turret's activation or delay its fire

If no valid target exists in range, the Turret holds position and waits for one

"Good isn't good enough. It never was."

— Neven Bryx, Mechanist, Dual Axis Accord

The devices that have served you this far were prototypes. Everything learned in the field — every failure, every unexpected interaction, every close call — feeds back into a comprehensive rebuild. What comes out the other side isn't just improved.

It's different in kind.

"This is where most engineers stop. I don't stop."

— Kath Zeil, Master Engineer, Shattered Foundry

Mastery isn't a destination. It's a threshold — the point where further improvement requires choosing a direction. The Mechanist's engineering reaches a level where three distinct configurations become available, each representing a different answer to the same question:

What does the perfect battlefield look like?

"Wrong position. Fixed in three seconds."

— Rix Ollo, Head Engineer, Rust Division

Position is not permanent. The Mechanist doesn't re-engineer the device — they re-engineer the situation. A single transmitted command, and the machine is somewhere else.

"Two birds. One magnificent, pre-engineered stone."

— Cayde Hurst, Lead Mechanist, Battle of Meridian Hold

There's a moment at the start of every engagement where the field is still open. One action. One window. The Mechanist makes both count.

"Almost perfect. The calibration fixes that."

— Sola Ven, Mechanist-Adjudicator, Broken Veil Station

Every system reaches a point where the variables are known, the tolerances are mapped, and all that remains is eliminating the remaining margin of error. This is that point. What you choose to refine here represents the absolute limit of your engineering philosophy before the capstone.

"I didn't start a war. I just opened the factory."

— Wren Tack, Field Mechanist, Ironweft Circuit

This isn't another gun on the field. This is the command node — the device that coordinates everything else. When the Command Turret fires, the network responds.

"All at once. All at full power. All of it, now."

— Kath Zeil, Master Engineer, Shattered Foundry

The overclock used to be targeted. Now it's a broadcast. Every device in the network receives the signal simultaneously. The field doesn't just react — it erupts.

Once per encounter, Overclock Pulse may target all of your active devices simultaneously instead of one

Each device benefits from +3 Hit Chance and +3 Damage (the standard Overclock Pulse bonus at this level)

Only one device of your choice becomes Overheated from this mass-overclock

"Quantity has a quality of its own."

— Duul Mirast, Combat Engineer, Korrigan Defense Line

The workshop was never the limitation. The battlefield just wasn't ready for the full output.

It is now.

Your maximum active Turrets increases to 5

Your maximum active Traps increases to 10

When you would exceed either limit by deploying a new device, the oldest device of that type automatically self-destructs (dealing its normal explosion damage) to make room — no action required

"Adaptation isn't a luxury — it's the only reason you're still alive."

— High Marshal Corin Vraen, after his fifth resurrection

Whether through relentless field experience, neural recalibration, or a decade of building machines that outlive their operators, you have reached a new threshold of capability.

Increase two different Statistics by +1 each

No individual stat may exceed the cap of 6

"This is the part they write about. I planned it that way."

— Wren Tack, Field Mechanist, Ironweft Circuit

Every Mechanist has a signature. A design philosophy carried to its absolute extreme, a machine or system that defines everything they were and everything they built. This is it.

Three paths. One was always yours.