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40K: The 5 Most Important Keywords In 8th Edition

3 Minute Read
Jan 19 2018
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We’re 7 months into 8th edition but the most important Keywords are already rising to the top – come see which ones made the cut!

The Keyword system has been an interesting change to 8th edition. It’s prevented a lot of the “Super-Friends” issues we’ve seen in other editions, but it’s also created new issues as folks debate on the difference between Keywords and Faction Keywords (if there is a difference). Regardless of how you feel on the subject, Keywords are here to stay. We’ve got through and picked out the 5 Most Important Keywords to have in the current state of the game. These are based on how useful they are, how important they are in terms of rules, and how many things can influence them. With that said lets dive in:

#5 Infantry

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Keyword Infantry is on our list because there are TONS of abilities in the game that impact Infantry. Sometimes it’s combined with another keyword like Adeptus Astartes Infantry. But other abilities just affect Infantry. For many armies, Infantry can also be synonymous with “Troops” which means they have Objective Secured. But Infantry also gets singled out for enemy effects, too. That’s why it’s one of the most important keywords in the game!

 

#4 Character

 

Being a Character in 40k now has a lot of extra special rules to go along with it. Aside from just making you sound more important, it provides a ton of actual in game benefits like extra targeting restrictions, Heroic Interventions, and other rules shenanigans depending on your codex. In most cases it’s just better to be a Character than to not and because of how that impacts the actual rules on the tabletop, that’s why it’s on our list!

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#3 Daemon

Holy Cow, did Daemon get awesome lately or what?! With the arrival of the Chaos Daemons Codex, being a Daemon just got a LOT better. From “Deepstriking” options, to extra abilities based on your patron chaos god, Daemons jumped up in fame. Especially when you start combining Daemon with things like Lord of War, Primarch, Titanic…It’s almost as good as the next one on our list…

#2 Imperium

You can’t make Imperial Soup with out the Imperium keyword! When you sign up with the defenders of humanity you get a MASSIVE support network that stretches across more codexes than any other faction. Seriously, the soup is strong with this one. Also there are lots of special abilities that only apply to Imperium options. That’s why it’s on our list!

#1 Fly

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Fly is by far the most powerful keyword of all. It allows you hop around the board. You cannot be locked-down by speed-bump units, and you don’t lose any firepower when you fall back. Some of the best units in the game currently have Fly as part of their arsenal – coincidence? We think not! That is why Fly is the Most Important Keyword in the game!

 

Bonus: Dark Reapers

Having Dark Reapers means you can be taken as either Ynnari or Aledari…and I think you know what that means.

 

What do you think of our list? Agree? Disagree? What would your top 5 most important keywords be and why?

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Author: Adam Harrison
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