Necron Wargear

The Ankh of the Triarch, ancient symbol of the Necron Empire

This page describes the various wargear and weapons used by the Necrons in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. The Necrons are an ancient and mysterious intelligent race of undying robotic warriors who resemble human orEldar skeletons. The Necrons have lain dormant in their stasis-tombs on various Tomb Worlds across the galaxy for millions of years, pre-dating even the rise of the ancient civilisation of the Eldar. The Necrontyr, the organic humanoid precursors of the Necrons, were obsessed with technological advancement to overcome their short lifespans.

As a result of this obsession with scientific research, Necron technology is far in advance of anything the modern starfaring races of the galaxy can produce, including the wonders to be found on the Eldar Craftworlds, and may seem impossible or supernatural to younger, inferior races. While Necron weapons almost invariably teleport away or self-destruct along with their defeated wielder, it is whispered that this may not be the case with Necron artefacts recovered from the depths of Tomb Worlds. Only the insanely strong or strongly insane would dare plumb the depths of a Necron Tomb in search of mythical treasure.

Weapons

Annihilator Beam

An Annihilator Beam is a weapon only unleashed when a Tesseract Vault is used as part of a Baleful Necropolis formation at the centre of a group of eight Monoliths. In this formation, a Tesseract Vault is able to project this beam of potent force a short distance and smash aside or disintegrate almost anything in its way. Such is the Annihilator Beam’s power that it poses a threat even to war machines as large as Titans. If a Tesseract Vault draws power from its surrounding Monoliths, it can increase the otherwise short range of the beam and fell targets from further away. Thus, a fully realised Baleful Necropolis formation is a potent threat to any foe at extreme ranges.

Abyssal Staff

An Abyssal Staff is a weapon used only by Cryptek Psychomancers, and can be considered their signature weapon and symbol of office. Taking on the appearance of a simple staff, its ornate head is as dark as onyx and decorated with arcane symbols designed to prey on the subconscious fears of mortals. An Abyssal Staff is capable of summoning gouts of shadow that are emitted in a similar way to how flames may be emitted from an Imperial Flamer. However, to succumb to the swirling ebon mists and shroud of despair called by an Abyssal Staff is to be swallowed in impenetrable madness, for it is designed to strike at the sanity of the foe and sap their willpower to live, thus causing enemies to be turned into gibbering wrecks of their former selves if they are not slain outright by the experience.

Aeonstave

An Aeonstave is a weapon used only by Cryptek Chronomancers, and can be considered their signature weapon and symbol of office. Taking on the appearance of a simple stave with an ornate head, the sapphire crystalline headpiece of an Aeonstave contains a massive chronal charge that, when unleashed, can trap a foe in a bubble of slow-time for an extended period of time, severely degrading the enemy’s physical capabilities and power to defend himself. This is because each blow from an Aeonstave generates a low-level stasis field that encapsulates the foe and moves him outside the flow of the normal space-time continuum.

Cutting Beam

A Cutting Beam is a weapon only utilised by the insect-like constructs known as Canoptek Acanthrites. The Cutting Beam mounted within an Acanthrite’s thorax is capable of firing a short range, highly concentrated shaft of thermic energy ray that is able to slice apart the toughest of materials, dissecting steel, stone and flesh with equal ease and with the precision of a surgeon’s scalpel blade. These lances of burning heat are similar to those emitted by an Imperial Meltagun, save for being far more focused and prolonged. Canoptek Acanthrites often use their Cutting Beams for the destruction of armoured vehicles and troops, as well as the systematic and rapid dismemberment of bunkers and fortifications.

Death Ray

Close-up view of a Doom Scythe's ventral turret-mounted Death Ray

A Death Ray is a ferocious weapon most commonly found as the primary weapon for Doom Scythes. The Death Ray is aptly named and rightly feared, for there is seldom a warning before the weapon strikes, for any sound it makes is lost under the unearthly wailing of the Doom Scythe’s engines. A particularly alert foe might recognise the nimbus of energy building up around the focusing crystal, or the abrupt change in air pressure; but few recognise the significance in time. The nimbus pulses one final time and an irresistible beam of blinding white light bursts from the Doom Scythe’s underside, vaporising infantry and tanks alike, leaving only charred and rutted terrain in its wake. A single Doom Scythe can carve its way through an entire armoured column so long as its Death Ray remains operational and a full squadron can reduce the sprawling spires of a hive city to fulminating slag in less than an hour. Mounted as part of an underslung turret on a Doom Scythe, a Death Ray fires a narrow beam of intense energy capable of passing through many enemy units and vehicles before the energy is dissipated, often vaporising whole battle lines with a single shot and leaving nothing but a line of ruin in its wake.

Focussed Death Ray

A Focussed Death Ray schematic

A Focussed Death Ray is a ferocious armament that can be mounted as the primary weapon on a Sentry Pylon. The coruscating beams of force emitted by the Focussed Death Ray are able to slice through entire ranks of enemy soldiers and whole columns of armoured battle-tanks with contemptuous ease. Utilising an advanced focussing array, a Sentry Pylon is able to project its crackling ray over far greater distances than previously encountered versions of the Death Ray weapon, and with a destructive potential that is horrifyingly effective. When fired, the narrow beam of intense thermal energy fired by a Focussed Death Ray will vaporise everything along its line of fire, and often passes through several enemy units before the energy finally dissipates; leaving nothing but a line of charred ruin in its wake.

Death Sphere

A Death Sphere is a devastating anti-matter weapon of mass destruction carried by Night Shroud bombers. A potent relic of the ancient and apocalyptic conflict known as the War in Heaven, a Death Sphere is a self-enclosed containment vessel carrying an anti-matter warhead capable of wiping from existence anything it encounters. Unlike the conventional bombing munitions of the younger races of the Milky Way Galaxy, the Death Spheres carried by a Night Shroud and its larger brethren are containment vessels that electromagnetically imprison the merest fragment of anti-matter. They are kept out of phase with the rest of the material universe until the sphere detonates, unleashing a wide annihilating energy blast of pure gamma radiation that is capable of destroying virtually anything within its radius. Anything lucky enough to survive the initial detonation is often left blinded and pinned; easy prey for advancing Necron forces that are soon to follow in the Night Shroud's wake. The true marvel of Necron science is not merely the caging of such destructive forces, however, but their precise control and the safety of their use, for should a Death Sphere be broken by hostile action, its energy harmlessly dissipates out of phase with reality instead of detonating in a likely cataclysmic wave of force upon contacting any form of normal matter.

Doomsday Cannon

A Necron Doomsday Ark firing its Doomsday Cannon

A Doomsday Cannon is a devastating wonder of the Necrons' advanced technology, easily eclipsing the primitive directed energy weapons of the Imperium of Man. Only found mounted on a Doomsday Ark -- which is in itself nothing less than an enormous self-propelled Doomsday Cannon -- this is a weapon that can win a battle with a single shot. Even fired at low power, a Doomsday Cannon is a fearsome weapon; when firing at full effect, its searing energy beams burn many times hotter than more conventional Plasma Weapons. Infantry squads caught in the Doomsday Cannon’s fury are obliterated instantly whilst armoured vehicles are reduced to glowing slag. In the face of a shot from a Doomsday Cannon, nothing less than a Titan’s Void Shields can hope to offer more than a fool’s hope of protection.

Eldritch Lance

An Eldritch Lance is a weapon used only by Cryptek Plasmancers, and can be considered their signature weapon and symbol of office. Taking on the appearance of a simple stave with an ornate head, its long shaft is laced with arcane circuitry and its flared tip studded with focussing crystals. An Eldritch Lance is capable of emitting a beam of furious annihilating energy at significant ranges. The passage of this beam makes the air seem to scream with agony, and its power makes a Staff of Light, already a potent weapon, seem like little more than a child's toy. An Eldritch Lance’s beam is most effective when used to incinerate armoured vehicles and heavily armoured infantry, for only the heaviest forms of vehicle armour are able to stop its passage without being vaporised. For those rare cases when a Cryptek’s enemies survive long enough to engage him in close combat, an Eldritch Lance can be wielded in a manner akin to a spear, albeit with effects on flesh and armour similar to those caused by Power Weapons.

Empathic Obliterator

The Empathic Obliterator is a unique staff carried only by the Necron Overlord Trazyn the Infinite. This terrible weapon is rightly feared by the enemies of Trazyn, and there is a dark rumour that the staff contains technology derived from that of the long extinct Old Ones. When an enemy is slain by the staff, a psionic shockwave bursts forth from his body, potentially killing nearby creatures of a similar mind and purpose. Hence, an entire squad can be wiped out with a single blow of this horrific weapon. The Empathic Obliterator suits the personal combat style of Trazyn as he disdains physical combat with "inferior" beings of flesh and blood.

Exile Cannon

Forward view of a Canoptek Tomb Sentinel and its Exile Cannon

An Exile Cannon is a powerful and arcane weapon that can be used as a convenient method for banishing large amounts of unwanted debris, machinery and failed experiments from Tomb Worlds and battlefields into a pocket dimension outside of the normal space-time continuum. However, these arcane ray projectors can also just as easily unleash their energy beams to blast and banish foes, armoured vehicles, and alien creatures to a long and horrifying death from starvation by casting them into other dimensional realms beyond the material universe. The Exile Cannon uses technologies similar to those employed by the smaller Transdimensional Beamer, and is a Canoptek Tomb Sentinel's primary weapon.

Gauntlet of Fire

A Gauntlet of Fire takes the form of an armoured glove and vambrace, whose length crackles and flows with virdian flame. The gauntlet’s mechanisms are controlled by a series of sub-mechadermal filaments, allowing the wielder a level of control over the gauntlet as fine as that over his own hand. A Gauntlet of Fire is capable of firing a great column of green flame, with similar effects to an Imperial Flamer, or can be used in close combat for fiery attacks that are more likely to hit and harm the foe, as well as set them alight for a time. Gauntlets of Fire are weapons found exclusively as part of the armouries of Necron royals, such as Necron Overlords, Necron Lords and Necron Destroyer Lords.

Gauss Weapons

Schematics of various Gauss Weapons

Gauss Weapons are a form of exotic energy weapon used exclusively by the ancient and extremely powerful xenos species called Necrons. These weapons destroy the enemy by firing a green-tinged blast of lightning-like energy that shears apart the target's atomic bonds, literally stripping their bodies apart atom by atom and molecule by molecule. The Imperium of Man is confounded by the nature of the energy used by these weapons, not only because the most basic weaponry of the Necrons can cause great harm to even the most advanced vehicles deployed by the armed forces of the Imperium, but also because by all the physical principles known, these weapons should overheat and malfunction as a result of the tremendous energies they unleash, destroying the warrior who is firing it. This has been proven many times by the Tech-priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus who have examined captured Necron weapons, and yet the Necrons have perfected this unknown technology which is based on scientific principles that were either never discovered or have long been lost to Mankind.

Gauss Flayer

A Necron Gauss Flayer

Gauss Flayers are rifle-like weapons used byNecron Warriors. They consist of a metal stock, a transparent tube containing the unholy and unknown energy the weapon fires, and an axe-like bayonet underneath the muzzle. The weapons fire green, lightning-like beams at the enemy, which strip the targets away molecule by molecule. The beams are capable of stripping away almost anything, even ceramite armour and starship hulls, with ease. It is, supposedly, extremely painful to be shot with a Gauss Flayer, and victims die as much from shock as the damage caused by the beams. Gauss Flayers are the most common of all the weapons carried by the Necron soldiery, in no small part due to the fact that every single Necron Warrior is armed with one of these potent weapons. However, both Doomsday Arks and Ghost Arks mount linked arrays of five Gauss Flayers on their sides to repel would-be flankers and assaulters. Tomb Stalkers also are commonly armed with two Gauss Flayers on their forelimbs so as to better engage with the enemy at range.

Gauss Blaster

A Necron Gauss Blaster

A Gauss Blaster is essentially a heavier, double-barreled variant of the Gauss Flayer. Gauss Blasters fire more powerful beams than Gauss Flayers, and are extremely potent against infantry and light vehicles alike. Gauss Blasters are most commonly wielded by Necron Immortals as their main weapon. However, Tomb Blades have been known to make use of twin-linked Gauss Blasters as their primary weapon instead of their usual twin-linked Tesla Carbines. Necron Pariahs also make use of a form of in-built Gauss Blaster integrated into their Warscythes.

Gauss Cannon

Schematic of a Necron Gauss Cannon

A Gauss Cannon is larger than the more common Gauss Flayers and Gauss Blasters, and consists of four barrels instea of the one for the Gauss Flayer and the two for the Gauss Blaster. Gauss Cannons fire more powerful beams than Gauss Flayers, and are more similar to Gauss Blasters in strength. However, Gauss Cannons have a better capability to be fired on the move, and shots from Gauss Cannons also contain greater armour penetration abilities; being able to rip through even Astartes Power Armour with ease. They are extremely potent against infantry and light vehicles alike. Gauss Cannons are most commonly used by Necron Destroyers as their standard armament. However, both Catacomb Command Barges and Annihilation Barges are able to mount an underslung Gauss Cannon instead of their usual Tesla Cannon.

Heavy Gauss Cannon

A Necron Heavy Destroyer armed with a Heavy Gauss Cannon

A Heavy Gauss Cannon consists of a single, elongated barrel Gauss Cannon that sacrifices the rapid firing rate of Gauss Flayers, Gauss Blasters and Gauss Cannons for greater power. Primarily serving as anti-vehicle weapons, a Heavy Gauss Cannon is akin to Imperial Lascannons in both size and strength. They are extremely potent against vehicles and heavy main battle tanks alike. Heavy Gauss Cannons are most commonly used by Necron Heavy Destroyers as their standard armament. However, Triarch Stalkers can be armed with twin-linked Heavy Gauss Cannons instead of their usual Heat Ray; allowing the Stalker to better serve in an anti-vehicular role.

Gauss Flux Arc

A Gauss Flux Arc is type of Gauss Weapon that consists of linked batteries of three Gauss Flayers. Gauss Flux Arcs are only found mounted as a defensive weapon system on Necron Monoliths, where they come in the form of four automated turret projectors positioned around the vehicles hull, where they constantly sweep the local area for enemies. Gauss Flux Arcs are often used by Monoliths to scour the immediate area around it clean of enemies, whether this is to clear a beachhead after it has teleported directly into enemy lines, or to destroy any would-be assaulters.

Gauss Exterminator

A Gauss Exterminator schematic

A Gauss Exterminator is a large Gauss Weapon mounted as the primary weapon on Necron Sentry Pylons. Similar in power to a Heavy Gauss Cannon, a Gauss Exterminator possess a higher rate of fire and is able to engage targets at extreme ranges. Gauss Exterminators are also capable of using their sophisticated targeting systems to accurately track and fire upon aircraft

Gauss Annihilator

A Gauss Pylon armed with a Gauss Annihilator

A Gauss Annihilator is one of the largest known forms of Gauss weapons, with the only Gauss weapon similar in size to it being the Gauss Obliterator. Gauss Annihilators are only ever found mounted on devastating Necron Gauss Pylons. Gauss Annihilators are supremely powerful weapons, capable of a relatively fast rate of fire that can penetrate even Titan armour with ease; let alone vaporise smaller tanks. Gauss Annihilators can also be fired as a flux arc similar to the Gauss Flux Arcs mounted on a Monolith. However, a Pylons version is stronger and can even destroy Space Marines with comparable ease in a larger radius; as Gauss beams lance out all around it.

Gauss Obliterator

A Doomsday Monolith armed with a Gauss Obliterator

A Gauss Obliterator is one of the largest known Gauss Weapons, with the only Gauss Weapon similar in size to it being the Gauss Annihilator. Gauss Obliterators are only found mounted on the Doomsday Monolith variant, where the weapon itself consists of a large focusing crystal leading to transparent conduits containing the unholy and unknown viridian energy the weapon fires. Doomsday Monoliths can focus their awesome destructive energies into devastating beams which can be fired from its Gauss Obliterator; the beams themselves are capable of outright destroying infantry and vehicles alike. However, a Doomsday Monolith is inevitably accompanied by several lesser constructions, whose eldritch power it can siphon towards its own cataclysmic ends. This additional energy is drained from the power matricies of other Monoliths, and is discharged from the Gauss Obliterator in the form of additional blasts. This increases the weapon's rate of fire and all but ensures the doom of the enemy.

Gravity Pulse

A Gravity Pulse is a potent gravitic weapon used exclusively by the Necron air defence constructs known as Obelisks. When activated, the Gravity Pulse allows an Obelisk to manipulate the natural gravitic fields of the planet it is located on to produce an expanding wall of earth-shakingly powerful force. If an enemy aircraft is hit by this sphere of gravitic force, it inevitably is smashed aside and severely damaged, often being turned into a plummeting wreck as the pilot loses control of his aircraft.

Harp of Dissonance

A Harp of Dissonance is a strange, alchemical weapon utilised only by Cryptek Geomancers. A Harp of Dissonance is an irregularly shaped metallic casket laced with numerous electrum strings of different materials, each perfectly calibrated to a precise level of tension. A correctly played booming note, when amplified and focused through the arcane technology housed within the harp, can burst the molecular bonds of nearly any material. Many an enemy has underestimated the power of an innocent-looking Harp of Dissonance, most often fatally -- for a single booming note from its electrum strings can transmute adamantium plate to a brittle glass. Unlike many other Cryptek weapons, a Harp of Dissonance has almost limitless range, and its effects are similar to the entropic bites of Canoptek Scarabs. Any armour affected by a Harp of Dissonance’s energies will also lose its environmental seal, exposing a vehicle's or suit of powered armour's occupants to whatever toxic hazards may exist in the ambient atmosphere.

Heat Ray

A Heat Ray mounted underneath a Triarch Stalker

A Heat Ray is a multi-purpose fusion weapon similar to Imperial Melta Weapons, and is most commonly mounted on Triarch Stalkers whose role is to provide close fire support. Heat Rays are potent weapons in that they are capable of firing in two different modes. If an enemy tank stalls the main Necron attack, a single focused blast from the Heat Ray is sufficient to end the threat. Similarly, if dug-in infantry are hampering an advance, a Triarch Stalker can break the deadlock by setting the Heat Ray to fire a dispersed beam and sending a wide cone of scorching plasma swirling into every crevasse to broil the enemy alive. Whereas a focused beam is akin to a Melta Weapon with a significant range, the dispersed beam is more similar to a Heavy Flamer in terms of the potential damage it can inflict.

Heat Cannon

An Ordo Xenos schematic of a Heat Cannon used during the Orphean War

A Heat Cannon is a Necron thermal energy weapon similar in function and effect to an Imperial Melta Weapon, and is the primary weapon of a Sentry Pylon. A Heat Cannon, like its smaller Heat Ray couterpart, is a weapon of extraordinary power and can reduce the most heavily armoured tanks to piles of molten slag and burn its way through the most heavily protected fortifications at great distances. With every beam it fires, it is capable of vaporising everything in an area with a small blast, and its rate of fire allows it to continually bombard an area with impunity.

Hyperphase Sword

A Necron Hyperphase Sword

A Hyperphase Sword is a melee weapon whose energy blade vibrates across dimensional states and can easily slice through armour and flesh to sever the vital organs within. A Hyperphase Sword can be considered an advanced type of Power Weapon. Hyperphase Swords are found exclusively as part of the armouries of Necron royals, such as Necron Overlords, Necron Lords, Necron Destroyer Lords, and their favoured Lychguards.

Lightning Arc

A Lightning Arc is a Necron starship weapon system that is mounted on all known classes of Necron warship. Commonly mounted in batteries, Lightning Arcs use stored solar energy and, when activated, release it as a forest of living energy tendrils which envelop targets and probe for weaknesses. Lightning Arcs act as the main weapon batteries for Necron ships, but are different from the equivalents used by the other starfaring species of the galaxy in that the arcs they fire are able to split up and guide themselves to their own targets, providing a mass-strike ability like no other known ship-based weapon. A Lightning Arc battery is usually able to cover all angles of approach except for the rear.

Obsidax

The Obsidax is a unique weapon currently in the hands of the Necron Overlord Kutlakh the World Killer. Since before the time of the Necrons' revolt against their C'tan masters, this specially-crafted midnight-black Hyperphase Blade has been carried by the greatest war leaders of the Maynarkh Dynasty, and has ended lives without number across the ages, and its edge is bathed in a dark, unknown radiation that has proved deadly to all living matter.

Particle Weapons

A Particle Shredder mounted underneath a Triarch Stalker; note that most Necron Particle Weapons can be characterised by the similar barrel and muzzle design

Particle Weapons are a family of exotic and technologically advanced directed energy weapons used exclusively by the ancient and extremely powerful xenos species known as the Necrons. Particle Weapons function by emitting a stream of miniscule anti-matter particles which detonate on contact with normal matter, and are incredibly reliable -- needing only enough energy to maintain the electromagnetic containment field that prevents the anti-matter from detonating when it comes into contact with the normal matter that comprises the weapon’s mechanisms.

Particle Caster

A Particle Caster is a pistol form of a Particle Weapon, and is able to inflict great amounts of damage upon enemies despite its small size. Particle Casters are most often paired with a close combat weapon. Triarch Praetorians commonly make use of Particle Casters paired with Voidblades as an alternative armament from their usual choice of the two-handed Rod of Covenant. Canoptek Wraiths can also be armed with Particle Casters.

Particle Beamer

A Particle Beamer is a heavy, rifle-sized Particle Weapon capable of causing powerful blasts at range to decimate enemy infantry. Tomb Blades can mount a Particle Beamer on their chassis instead of their usual twin-linked Tesla Carbines, whilst Canoptek Spyders who specialise in sentinel duties commonly mount twin-linked Particle Beamers on their backs. Tesseract Arks are also able to mount two Particle Beamers as secondary weapon systems.

Particle Shredder

A Particle Shredder is a large Particle Weapon that can be likened to a heavy Lascannon in size, and can output a far larger blast than the smaller Particle Beamer. A Triarch Stalker can mount a Particle Shredder as its primary armament instead of its usual Heat Ray, transforming its combat role into that of a deadly infantry hunter.

Particle Whip

A Particle Whip is a very large Particle Weapon, and is unusual in that it only comes in the form of a large, glowing power matrix crystal mounted atop a Monolith. This is a far more static design than the more mobile barrel structure that characterises other Necron Particle Weapons. Nevertheless, a Particle Whip is a dramatic weapon, for when it is about to fire, the Monolith will channel its alien energies through its crystal to unleash devastating arcs of anti-matter lightning. A single, ear-splitting discharge from the Particle Whip is enough to reduce tanks to smouldering wrecks and infantry to molecular vapour. The explosions caused by a Particle Whip will often affect large areas and can cause great damage to infantry and vehicles alike, no matter what form of armour provides their protection. Necron starships have also been armed with extremely large variants of the Particle Whip. These ship-sized Particle Whips are used during void combat to launch devastating strikes upon enemy vessels.

Rod of Covenant

A Necron Rod of Covenant

A Rod of Covenant is a symbol of office of the ancient ruling council of Necron nobility known as the Triarch and the primary weapon of Triarch Praetorians. A Rod of Covenant is a powerful weapon that resembles a staff with an ornate headpiece that is capable of firing blasts of potent viridian energy at extremely short ranges. The powers unleashed can even reduce a Necron to a smouldering pool of molten metal. When used against organic life forms, the blast is capable of bypassing even Terminator Armour, often causing the victim to simply explode into clouds of flaming ash. A Rod of Covenant also functions in a similar fashion to Imperial Power Weapons, making it both a ranged and close combat weapon of some power.

Rod of Night

A Rod of Night is a rare Necron artefact takes the form of a rod of black metal about one metre long, its surface inlaid with silver and gold hieroglyphs, and often topped with an emblem of the Necron dynasties. Much more than a status symbol, a Rod of Night is able to siphon energy from technological devices when striking them, pulling it through the air along invisible pathways and storing it to be expended at the desire of the Necron noble wielding the weapon. This energy can be used to either manifest ranged electrical blasts akin to those of Tesla Weapons, add additional power to other attacks of the wielder, or increase the self-repair capabilities of the Necron noble, nearby units or friendly vehicles. Rods of Night are weapons found exclusively as part of the armouries of Necron royals, such as Necron Overlords, Necron Lords and Necron Destroyer Lords.

Staff of the Destroyer

The Staff of the Destroyer is an ancient and ornamental staff weapon carried by the Phaeron Imotekh the Stormlord, though it was first wielded by Zehet, the founder of the Zehet Dynasty. It has since been wielded by all of Zehet's successors, and has seen battle in the hands of every one. The Staff of the Destroyer is not only a symbol of his august rank for Imotekh, but also an unbelievably powerful weapon. Upon the battlefield, it can unleash a searing beam of pan-dimensional energy that can make a mockery of even the most heavily armoured foes. However, there is a small consolation for Imotekh's enemies, as the staff takes a significant amount of time to recharge its power for another blast.

Staff of Light

A Necron Staff of Light

A Staff of Light is a device of arcane technology that serves as both a symbol of rank and authority, as well as a potent weapon for Necron royals. Shaped like a traditional Necrontyr staff with an ornate headpiece, its haft is actually a disguised power generator rod; and the crest a finely tuned focussing device which allows the wielder to unleash searing bolts of viridian energy at a rapid rate towards the enemy. These beams are so potent that they are even capable of penetrating Astartes Power Armour with ease. As well as being capable of projecting devastating blasts of energy at range, a Staff of Light also serves a similar function to a Power Weapon in close combat. A Staff of Light is usually only found in the armouries of Necron royalty, including those belonging to Necron Overlords, Necron Lords or Necron Destroyer Lords. However, Crypteks of an unspecialised nature in their techno-sorcerous arts also commonly wield a Staff of Light in battle.

Staff of Tomorrow

The Staff of Tomorrow is a unique weapon wielded only by the Cryptek Chronomancer known as Orikan the Diviner. This unique example of advanced Necron time manipulation technology exists a fraction of a second ahead of any given moment in the normal space-time continuum. This property allows Orikan to strike at his target an instant before the foe even moves to do so. The Staff of Tomorrow can also penetrate all known forms of infantry armour, in a similar way to a Power Weapon, further enhancing its devastating effect in melee.

Star Pulse Generator

A Star Pulse Generator is a Necron starship weapon system that is mounted on Cairn-class Tomb Ships and Scythe-class Harvest Ships. A Star Pulse Generator sends out a massive pulse of energy when activated. Whilst other Necron ships are shielded from this attack, enemy vessels within the field of force’s radius are usually severely damaged if not destroyed outright by the immense energies released.

Synaptic Disintegrator

A Synaptic Disintegrator

A Synaptic Disintegrator is an advanced sniper weapon utilised only by Deathmark assassins as their favoured weapon to deliver death from afar. These cruel long-barrelled rifles fire compressed leptonic beams of sub-atomic particles which destroy neural and synaptic tissue, and are capable of sustaining a rate of fire at long range -- even when the wielder is on the move -- that few other sniper weapons can match. Those killed by the first shot from a Synaptic Disintegrator are the fortunate ones, for a hit from the weapon that is less than fatal almost invariably leaves the victim an echo of his former self; his neural tissue utterly destroyed and his mind torn apart.

Tachyon Arrow

Schematic of a Tachyon Arrow: Left is open and activated; Right is closed and passive

A Tachyon Arrow is an intricate wrist-mounted directed energy weapon worn by Necron royalty like Necron Overlords, Necron Lords and Necron Destroyer Lords. When activated, it transmutes a sliver of inert metal into an unstoppable thunderbolt capable of piercing the heart of a mountain. Such a weapon has near infinite range, and is able to penetrate almost any form of armour, including that of Titans. The only disadvantage to this astounding item is that its strange ammo supply is exhausted with a single shot, and is far too complex to be reloaded in the midst of combat.

Tesla Weapons

A Necron Immortal armed with a Tesla Carbine; note that all Tesla Weapons are characterized by similar generator, barrel and muzzle designs

Tesla Weapons are a family of exotic and technologically advanced directed energy weapons used exclusively by the ancient and extremely powerful xenos species known as the Necrons. Particle Weapons function by unleashing bolts of living viridian lightning that crackles from foe to foe after hitting its target, charring flesh and melting armour. Tesla bolts feed off the energy released by the destruction, and the lightning discharge becomes more furious with every fresh arc, moving as if it had a mind of its own. In some cases, these energetic projectiles have even been observed to crack ceramite and plasteel. These weapons have been named by the Imperium after the ancient Terran scientist Nikola Tesla, who was the first human known to experiment with this type of weapon technology, although the Necrons had perfected it long before the human race even evolved on Terra.

Tesla Carbine

A Tesla Carbine is the smallest form of Tesla Weapon, and since it is the size of a rifle, it is easily portable. It is most commonly used by the Necron Immortals as an alternative to their standard Gauss Blaster, although Tomb Blades are also commonly fitted with twin-linked Tesla Carbines as their primary armament.

Tesla Cannon

A Tesla Cannon is a large Tesla Weapon only found mounted as a secondary weapon underneath Catacomb Command Barges and Annihilation Barges. Tesseract Arks are also able to mount two Tesla Cannons as secondary weapon systems. Tesla Cannons are powerful weapons that are most effective against infantry squads and light vehicles.

Tesla Destructor

A Tesla Destructor is the largest known type of Tesla Weapon, and such is the shocking rapidity of its fire that the lightning unleashed is capable of leaping from target to target so quickly that they are unable to ground themselves. A single direct hit from a Tesla Destructor might incapacitate an entire squad, leaving a trail of smouldering carnage across a broad swathe of the battlefield behind them. Due to a Tesla Destructor's large size, it is most commonly found mounted on vehicular platforms. An Annihilation Barge is renowned for the twin-linked Tesla Destructors which serve as its primary armament, whilst Night Scythes, Doom Scythes and Night Shrouds are armed with twin-linked Tesla Destructors built into their underslung turrets.

Tesla Sphere

A Tesla Sphere is a form of Tesla Weapon only found mounted on Necron Obelisks. Each Obelisk will be armed with four such weapons around its hull to provide it with defence against anything that enters the airspace around the war machine. A Tesla Sphere has an extremely high rate of fire, even more so than a Tesla Destructor, and is capable of tearing apart nearly anything that comes into range.

Tremorstave

A Tremorstave is a weapon used only by Cryptek Geomancers, and can be considered their signature weapon and symbol of office. Taking on the appearance of a simple stave with an ornate head, its shaft encloses numerous gyro-engines, gravitic-flux generators, and other sophisticated devices to form a weapon as deadly as it is unconventional. When a Cryptek drives the tip of his Tremorstave into the ground, a wave of seismic energy is released, travelling in a straight line directly towards his intended target; splitting the very ground open and sending shards of stone and sprays of dirt blasting out with deadly velocity. The fissure created by the Tremorstave is approximately one metre wide, and enemies standing nearby are hit by an invisible concussive energy wave. When the wave reaches its target point within a range of roughly fifty metres from the Cryptek, it explodes with fantastic force in a wide area, leaving behind a large crater. The forces unleashed by a Tremorstave can plunge enemies to their deaths, whilst knocking survivors sprawling from the sudden quake.

Transdimensional Beamer

A Canoptek Wraith armed with a Transdimensional Beamer

A Transdimensional Beamer is a weapon originally designed as a convenient method of banishing unwanted debris, machinery and failed experiments from Tomb Worlds and battlefields into a pocket dimension outside of the normal space-time continuum. However, a Transdimensional Beamer can be used just as easily to exile and banish foes to a long and horrifying death from starvation in the same extra-dimensional space. Transdimensional Beamers take on the form of small pistol weapons, and are most commonly used by Canoptek Wraiths to aid them in their maintenance of a Necron Tomb World. The Cryptek Orikan the Diviner makes use of a Transdimensional Beamer as his primary sidearm.

Voidblade

Shematic of a Necron Voidblade

A Voidblade is a form of melee weapon whose gleaming black edge flickers in and out of existence, causing molecular bonds to sever in any foe unfortunate enough to be struck and potentially causing a chain reaction of atomic disintegration. A Voidblade is capable of piercing any form of infantry armour when this occurs, and its strike has a similar effect to the entropic bite of a Canoptek Scarab upon infantry and vehicle armour. Voidblades are weapons found almost exclusively as part of the armouries of Necron royals like Necron Overlords, Necron Lords and Necron Destroyer Lords. However, Triarch Praetorians also often pair a Voidblade with a Particle Caster as an alternative armament to their usual two-handed Rod of Covenant, whilst Canoptek Acanthrites have Voidblades as tail-mounted close combat weapons.

Voltaic Staff

A Voltaic Staff is a weapon used only by Cryptek Ethermancers, and can be considered their signature weapon and symbol of office. Taking on the appearance of a simple stave with an ornate head, electromagnetic energy continuously crackles along the length of its shaft and arcs between the exposed storage crystals that make up the headpiece. An ideal weapon for the Cryptek who wishes to demonstrate the superiority of Necron technology to the lesser races of the galaxy, the impossibly high voltages emitted by the staff are capable of being fired at extremely rapid rates. The lightning-like energies unleashed by a Voltaic Staff are especially effective against vehicles, as the application of high voltage is enough to disrupt the function of even the most sophisticated forms of technology. Just as an Ethermancer commands a Voltaic Staff, so does the Voltaic Staff command the power of the storm itself.

Warscythe

A Necron Warscythe

A Warscythe is an energy-bladed battle stave commonly found in the armouries of Necron royals. The Warscythe has served as a traditional weapon of the Necron nobility and their elite bodyguards for many thousands of Terran years. Warscythes are made from the same living metal as that which makes up all Necron bodies and vehicles -- Necrodermis. Warscythes are also fitted with a Phase Blades whose edge is out of phase with the normal space-time continuum and thus can slip effortlessly through even the heaviest forms of armour. Because of the partially incorporeal nature of these blades, a Warscythe is capable of passing through defensive energy shields, such as those emitted by an Iron Halo, that would normally deflect almost any other form of attack. The blade's power field also grows in strength and magnitude to match whatever force is brought to bear upon it, making the Warscythe, for all intents and purposes, indestructible.

However, a Warscythe is incredibly heavy and cumbersome. In the hands of a lesser creature, it would be of little threat; but when wielded by the tireless mechanical musculature of a Necron, it is a most formidable weapon that greatly augments the strength of the user. When combined with a Necron's prodigious strength, there is very little such a blade cannot penetrate.

Warscythes are easily capable of slicing through infantry and heavy vehicle armour alike. It is common for a well-directed Warscythe to be able to cut the barrel from a Leman Russ Tank's Battle Cannon or carve a hole in the side of a bunker. Warscythes are most commonly found wielded by Necron Overlords and Necron Lords, along with their Lychguard protectors. Warscythes are also the favoured armament of Necron Destroyer Lords who relish the feeling of decapitating enemies as they glide by on their anti-gravitic skimmer chassis.

Equipment

Below is a list of all named Necron technologies known to the Imperium of Man:

• Chronometron - A Chronometron is an arcane device that manipulates time in a way that only the Necrons and their technological mastery over space-time can achieve. The bearer of a Chronometron can activate the device to allow him and his unit to exist slightly outside and act out of phase with the natural flow of the space-time continuum. This means that they are able to advance normally whilst their opponents move in apparent slow motion. A Chronometron also allows the bearer to make minor, but sometimes potent, alterations to his destiny; by allowing him to glimpse possible futures and modify his recent actions accordingly. Any Necron seen utilising a Chronometron appears blurred, its movements sudden and spasmodic like a primitive pict-reel or degraded hololith to the subjective observer. Due to the Chronometron's confounding nature, they are only ever found being used by Necron Cryptek Chronomancers, although Necron Lords have been known to wield these mysterious devices as well.
• Dimensional Destabilisation Matrix - Canoptek Wraiths carry a Dimensional Destabilisation Matrix that produces the same effect as a Phase Shifter, in that it allows the Necron construct to step in and out of phase with the normal space-time continuum. A Canoptek Wraith can, however, adjust the modulation of the matrix in order to keep sections of its form in different phase states. Whilst a completely phased-out existence can be sustained almost indefinitely, a half-phased state takes a great deal of energy to maintain. As a result, a Canoptek Wraith can exist in a dual phase state for only limited periods of time. The Dimensional Destabilisation Matrix was originally conceived to allow the Canoptek Wraith to reach into and repair solid machinery without all the trouble of removing outer components or armoured casings. It is, however, no less valuable when dealing with intruders -- if the timing is correct, a Canoptek Wraith can phase its claws and tendrils inside an opponent, swiftly resolidifying them to sever arteries, nerve clusters and other vital pathways without leaving an external mark to show for it. Furthermore, the foe must time his return blows with great care, lest his weapons pass through the Canoptek Wraith’s phased form.
• Dispersion Shield - A Dispersion Shield is a form of defensive shield utilised only by Lychguards, who pair it with a Hyperphase Sword for a different armament from their usual two-handed Warscythe. The phased energy force barriers projected by Dispersion Shields can be used to fend off close combat attacks with ease, including blows from weapons such as Power Fists and Power Weapons that would otherwise smite a lesser foe. Dispersion Shields are also capable of deflecting incoming enemy fire using the advanced force generators built into the device. If there are any nearby enemy units, Lychguards will often aim the shield so as to deflect this firepower into them instead, an action which can cause grievous casualties.
• Disruption Field - A Disruption Field is a form of arcane offensive technology known to surround the grasping, metal claws of some Necron Lords, making them pulse with unnatural energies that seem to warp the armour of vehicles as they strike. Even the most heavily armoured vehicle can be torn apart by a Necron wielding the potent powers of a Disruption Field.
• Eternity Gate - An Eternity Gate is the arcane technology that is capable of opening a dark portal and transporting Necron troops to the battlefield from elsewhere in the galaxy. An Eternity Gate is mounted on the front face of a Necron Monolith or built into the face of a Tomb Ziggurat that makes up part of a larger Necron Tomb Citadel. Its shimmering energy field is nothing less than a captive wormhole bound into the very heart of the Monolith. With a simple mental command, the Monolith’s crew or the Tomb World's command algorithms can transform the Eternity Gate into a portal of exile, and those that fail to resist its pull are sucked out of reality entirely, banished forever to an extra-dimensional prison from which there can be no escape. Alternatively, the Necrons can use the Eternity Gate as a form of dimensional corridor, pulling squads of Necron troops from elsewhere on the battlefield, orbiting starships or even far-distant Tomb Worlds and deploying them to the Monolith’s location. It can also significantly boost the regenerative processes of the Necron squads that move through its transportation matrix. The Eternity Gate is largely the reason that the Monolith is known as a harbinger of disaster to the foes of the Necrons, for where a Monolith teleports onto a planet’s surface, an invading Necron army is rarely far behind...
• Ether Crystal - An Ether Crystal is an arcane device utilised only by Cryptek Ethermancers. An Ether Crystal can control the fundamental forces of nature, by summoning storms from tranquillity and bolts of lightning from clear skies. In seconds, the targeted area can be assaulted by howling gale-force winds that have come to life from nowhere, as black storm clouds gather to block-out the sky, reducing the enemy’s ability to see and target clearly.
• Euclidean Mindphase - A Euclidean Mindphase is the effect of an obscure form of technology that is often activated by Necron forces defending their Tomb Worlds. As attackers advance, it causes reality to shift around them; perspective and geometry twist out of phase until it is impossible to tell the difference between up and down. Few warriors can fight under such mind-bending circumstances, and the drastic slowing of their advance allows the Necrons to unleash more fusillades of firepower to wipe the enemy out.
• Fabricator Claw Array - A Fabricator Claw Array is a technology primarily used by Canoptek Spyders to effect repairs and fabricate components on the fly for nearby Necron vehicles, usually by repairing engine drives and weapons that have been disabled during battle, although greater repair tasks can be performed if the Canoptek Spyder is given sufficient time. Canoptek Spyders also use their Fabricator Claw Array to repair just about anything else their Necron masters direct them too, including the repair of other Necrons on the battlefield when necessary. However, a Fabricator Claw Array also makes for a powerful close combat weapon when utilised by a Canoptek Spyder.
• Gauss Bisector Field - A Gauss Bisector Field is a defensive measure employed by Tomb Citadel complexes often known as a "City of the Dead" by the forces of the Imperium. Utilising power from a multitude of Power Crucibles, a City of the Dead is able to project a vast defensive barrier formed of flickering green gauss energy around its borders. Any trespasser or assaulting enemy foolish enough to step through the barrier is swiftly reduced to smoking chunks of flesh. The strength of a Gauss Bisector Field against passing enemies is proportional to the number of active Power Crucibles powering it, as it is able to rip apart armoured vehicles at full power.
• Gaze of Flame - A Gaze of Flame is a form of defensive technology utilised by Necron royals who choose to implant hidden weaponry within their own bodies. Many Necrons find this practice unsavoury, at best. Few, however, would question such a being to his face, particularly when that face may conceal all manner of terrifying weaponry. When in battle, the eyes of a Necron Lord or Cryptek Plasmancer who has granted himself the Gaze of Flame burn with an unnatural, ghostly emerald fire, and a flickering witch-fire blaze from within their metal death mask. This gaze chills the heart of those who look upon it, stealing away their strength and crushing their courage. The unnatural powers of this device are capable of slowing assaulters at the last instant, and can even affect Tyranids, daemons and other entities who would otherwise be immune to such powers.
• Ghostwalk Mantle - The Ghostwalk Mantle is a unique and specialised Veil of Darkness used only by Vargard Obryon. Originally commissioned to aid him in his role as the bodyguard of Nemesor Zahndrekh, it was designed by the foremost Cryptek Psychomancer of the Tomb World of Gidrim, the Dagon of the Shadowed Matrix. The Ghostwalk Mantle differs from a standard Veil of Darkness in that it allows Obyron to spirit himself away from the grasps of the enemy even when in combat, thus giving him the ability to redeploy himself and his unit with unparalleled ease, and stand at Zahndrekh's side immediately whenever he is needed to protect his charge.
• Gloom Prism - A Gloom Prism is a Necron artefact that can be carried by Canoptek Spyders, Canoptek Tomb Stalkers and Canoptek Tomb Sentinels. A Gloom Prism takes the form of a green crystal laced with arcane circuitry that can generate an anti-psychic null field. This in turn creates a zone approximately fifty metres in diameter that is shrouded from all Warp-spawned powers. The Gloom Prism produces this effect by severing the connection that daemons and psykers have to the Immaterium through an unknown arcane technology.
• Gravity Displacement Pack - A Gravity Displacement Pack is an advanced form of flight technology used only by Triarch Praetorians to defy gravity and move rapidly to any point on a battlefield from the air, serving as Necron jump infantry. Consisting of a large spinal attachment with multiple power rods that can be worn on the back of a Necron's necrodermis body, a Gravity Displacement Pack allows the bearer to manipulate localised gravitic forces to achieve powered flight. These advanced anti-gravitic devices serve a role similar to the Imperium's cruder Jump Packs. Gravity Displacement Packs are used by Triarch Praetorians to move about rapidly and hover above a battlefield, where they can survey the situation before striking to inflict maximum damage to enemy forces. As the ultimate wardens of Necrontyr tradition, Triarch Praetorians embody the belief that the right warrior in the right place at the right time can turn the tide of battle and deliver victory. Thus, their timely arrival on the battlefield has won many a battle for Necron forces, an achievement for which the Gravity Displacement Pack has proven invaluable.
• Lightning Field - A Lightning Field is a form of offensive Necron technology used by some Necron Lords and Cryptek Ethermancers to enhance their combat capabilities in battle. A Necron equipped with a Lightning Field is surrounded by bolts of crackling, incandescent, emerald lightning that arc from his body to nearby Necrons, energising and charging their living metal carapaces so that those who dare come near and strike them are electrocuted in return.
• Nebuloscope - A Nebuloscope is an arcane device that is only equipped by Necron Tomb Blade pilots, who can use it to track their prey through seven different dimensions, allowing for far more accurate shots to be fired from their Jetbike’s powerful weapons.
• Nightmare Shroud - A Nightmare Shroud is an offensive technology which appears as a small, black cask often found carried by Cryptek Psychomancers. When opened, the worst terrors of a thousand aeons are unleashed on the bearer’s foes. These terrors assail nearby enemies with phantasms of dread as potent as any mortal danger. However, a Necron Lord equipped with a Nightmare Shroud becomes the embodiment of terror; with the worst fears summoned from the pits of nightmare thrust into the minds of all those near him. Palpable waves of horror are emitted from his metal-skinned monstrosity, and all who look upon him will find their courage tested to their very limits.
• Null Field Matrix - A Null Field Matrix is a form of advanced Necron technology used to project a large anti-psychic field around itself, similar to that employed on a smaller scale by Gloom Prisms and the Nightshroud barriers created by Monolith phalanxes and Gauss Pylon networks. Most commonly used to shield Necron Tomb Worlds from psychic disturbance, they display the Necron’s mastery over technology and their ability to create a technological defence for nearly any threat that they encounter.
• Phase Shifter - A Phase Shifter is a form of phase technology that truly demonstrates that race’s technological superiority over all others in the galaxy. Using a form of unknown inter-dimensional science, a Phase Shifter renders its bearer's form hazy and indistinct, as though he was not completely corporeal. Shots and blows can then pass through the user's mechanical necrodermis body, meaning that even the most powerful weapons cannot harm him. This is because a Phase Shifter flickers the very fabric of its bearer into and out of a phased state as they move between dimensions. If improperly timed, even the most powerful blows and shots aimed at the bearer of a Phase Shifter instead pass through empty air. Phase Shifters are most commonly found in the possession of Necron Overlords and Necron Lords, who use the technology to make themselves essentially incorporeal.
• Phylactery - Often taking on the appearance of a small scarab-sized cylinder, a Phylactery is an inconspicuous charm that is actually a powerful self-repair device worn only by the highest-ranked members of Necron royalty. A Phylactery is filled with tiny, spider-like Nanoscarabs that will swarm over the Necron bearer’s body and wounds at a command, or if he is severely damaged or destroyed. The Nanoscarabs then proceed to reknit tears in his ravaged Necrodermis body; bolstering his own self-repair abilities so that he may continue to fight on. Phylacteries are only ever carried by Necron Lords and Necron Overlords.
• Portal - A Portal is a Necron starship weapon system that is mounted on Cairn-class Tomb Ships, Scythe-class Harvest Ships, and Jackal-class Raiders. Portals are vast stone gateways located within a Necron warship that act as extradimensional conduits for boarding enemy vessels. More precise than conventional Imperial Teleporters, they are most commonly used to flood enemy starships with a relentless host of Necron Warriors and swarms of Canoptek Scarabs.
• Quantum Shielding - Quantum Shielding is an arcane defensive technology that defies examination. Many Necron vehicles are protected by layers of Quantum Shielding, which consists of layers of additional defensive energy shielding that exists out of phase with the rest of the vehicle until the moment enemy projectiles impact the vehicle's surface. Quantum Shielding thus only truly exists in the normal space-time continuum at the moment of deflection -- at all other times there is no indication of its presence. Many a Necron vehicle's delicate appearance belies its robust manufacture, constructed as it is of the living metal known as Necrodermis and with the bulk of its protection provided by undetectable Quantum Shielding. The use of Quantum Shielding in the manufacture of Necron vehicles also allows the potent anti-gravitic Necron skimmer vehicles to remain light and manoeuvrable whilst still having a level of protection that is much greater than that given by the inferior armour of the less advanced starfaring races. Though a determined assault can still breach these potent energy fields, Quantum Shielding normally buys the vehicle enough time to safely withdraw from combat. The known Necron vehicles protected by Quantum Shielding include the Catacomb Command Barge, Annihilation Barge, Doomsday Ark, Ghost Ark, Tesseract Ark and the Triarch Stalker. If a vehicle's Quantum Shielding is penetrated, it dissipates, after which it cannot be activated again for some time.
• Resurrection Orb - A Resurrection Orb is a mysterious Necron artefact that takes the form of a glowing, viridian sphere composed of an unknown material. With a gesture from the bearer, the glowing sphere focuses its energy into the regeneration circuits of the living metal bodies of surrounding Necrons, hastening their repair and causing the scattered remains of the bearer’s destroyed warriors to crawl together before standing, ready to do battle one more. Because of their rare nature, Resurrection Orbs are only ever carried by Necron Lords and Necron Overlords who usually participate in battle by sitting in the midst of the main Necron battleline. This allows them to bolster Necron forces in a range of about fifty metres so that they become nigh indestructible because of their enhanced regeneration.
• Seismic Crucible - A Seismic Crucible is a device only wielded by skilled Cryptek Geomancers. With a Seismic Crucible, the bearer can command the very earth beneath his feet and, more importantly, the feet of his enemies, to induce localised tremors in rock, metal and even the air itself. The energies unleashed by a Seismic Crucible often stuns the enemy for crucial moments, allowing supporting Necron forces to finish them off.
• Sempiternal Weave - A Sempiternal Weave is an advanced form of technology used to augment the Necrodermis bodies of Necron royalty like Necron Overlords, Necron Lords and Necron Destroyer Lords. A Sempiternal Weave threads a Necron’s exoskeleton with filaments of phase-hardened amaranthite and adamantium, vastly increasing the body’s structural integrity to a level that rivals that of Astartes Terminator Armour.
• Sepulchre - A Sepulchre is a Necron starship weapon system that is mounted on Cairn-class Tomb Ships, and certain command Scythe-class Harvest Ships. A Sepulchre is only utilised by the largest Necron vessel in a given fleet. When a Sepulchre is used to attack an enemy ship that has foolishly come within its range, a wave of palpable psychic force is generated and sent outwards in all directions. The enemy’s crew are then paralysed by visions of horror, and if discipline is lost, then the crazed crew are likely to do damage to their own ship as they rampage uncontrollably through its confines.
• Shadow Ankh - A Shadow Ankh is a defensive device that takes the form of a heavy amulet emblazoned with the Ankh of the Triarch. Much more than a sign of status, Shadow Ankhs contain a small but powerful null-field generator, far more sophisticated than those fashioned by the Adeptus Mechanicus. This is able to nullify the effects of Warp-spawned powers and sever the connection that Daemons and psykers have to the Immaterium through unknown arcane technologies. Shadow Ankhs are artefacts found exclusively as part of the armouries of Necron royals, such as Necron Overlords, Necron Lords and Necron Destroyer Lords.
• Shadowloom - A Shadowloom is a defensive device which consists of a scarab-sized generator only ever found mounted on Tomb Blades. A Shadowloom can project an aura of darkness around the Tomb Blade, providing mobile cover within which the craft can disguise its approach and throw off the aim of its foes.
• Shield Vanes - Shield Vanes are a form of defensive technology that is only ever mounted on a Tomb Blade. Shield Vanes are fitted onto a Tomb Blade’s chassis, and project a weak energy shield that is combined with additional armour panels to increase the durability of the Tomb Blade by a small, yet still significant amount.
• Solar Pulse - A Solar Pulse is a device often incorporated into a Cryptek Plasmancer’s Eldritch Lance. When activated, it unleashes a significant portion of the Eldritch Lance’s energy. This energy emission is not a coherent beam as usual, but a blinding flash of light as bright as a solar flare that blinds the Cryptek’s enemies and illuminates the battlefield to temporarily dispel the darkness of the night. Necron Lords have also rarely had a Solar Pulse device built into their own preferred staff weapon.
• Supreme Shield Matrix - A Supreme Shield Matrix is an advanced defensive technology used by Tesseract Vaults when they are accompanied by eight surrounding Monoliths in a Baleful Necropolis formation. When activated, a Supreme Shield Matrix projects a powerful energy field around the Tesseract Vault that can deflect even the heaviest of enemy firepower. If the Tesseract Vault’s fellow Monoliths are close enough, they too can share in the protection of the Supreme Shield Matrix, whilst the Tesseract Vault is able to draw upon the Monoliths’ power and increase the defensive properties of the shield. Thus, the energy field only grows more powerful with every additional Monolith under its protection, making the formation a potent threat to any foe.
• Teleportation Matrix - A Teleportation Matrix is an advanced piece of technology that allows a Sentry Pylon to phase itself onto a position anywhere on the battlefield, either transporting itself from a Necron stasis-tomb underground, somewhere else on the planet, or even from another planet. Larger Gauss Pylons have also been known to be deployed onto battlefields utilising teleportation technologies, whilst Necron Monoliths may possess similar teleportation devices, as Imperial observers have documented numerous recorded instances of those mobile fortresses being deployed by teleporting directly onto a battlefield.
• Temporal Snares - A Temporal Snare is a device that warps the fabric of space-time itself, creating a bubble of altered space-time where time flows more slowly for anyone or anything trapped within it. They are only carried by the Cryptek known as Orikan the Diviner. Each Temporal Snare is a technologically-advanced temporal trap that can severely impede enemy movement once it is activated, whether those trapped within its field are vehicles or infantry. Thus, even when traversing the smoothest of terrains, once a snare is activated, enemy units can still find themselves moving at a snail's pace from the subjective perception of those observers outside the device's range of effect.
• Tesseract Labyrinth - A Tesseract Labyrinth is an arcane Necron artefact that takes the shape of a small and innocent-looking cube. However, a Tesseract Labyrinth is nothing less than the physical manifestation of a pocket-dimensional prison gateway, utilising the Necrons' mastery over hyper-geometry and phase technology to trap enemies within its fold; from which there is no escape. Necrons have used Tesseract Labyrinths to trap and imprison C’tan Shards in the past, and Necron royalty like Necron Overlords, Necron Lords and Necron Destroyer Lords sometimes carry a Tesseract Labyrinth into battle so as to imprison a particularly troublesome enemy, or, should the tidings of war be dire enough to warrant it, release an imprisoned C'tan Shard upon their foe. Such action is not undertaken lightly by Necron rulers, for the chance of the C'tan Shard escaping re-capture after the battle is, while remote, a possibility too dangerous to be allowed.
• Tesseract Singularity Chamber - A Tesseract Singularity Chamber is an arcane shielded Tesseract containment device around which a Tesseract Ark built. It holds within itself a sliver of a dying star suspended within a stasis field. A Tesseract Ark is able to siphon off this singularity’s terribly destructive energies using the power of Necron scientific mastery, and is able to project its power through its forward projector array as a battlefield weapon. A Tesseract Singularity Chamber provides the vehicle with a number of potent effects, such as projecting a containment field around the Ark that is capable of deflecting even the heaviest of incoming weapons fire, and causing a gravitational flux in the nearby area which forces assaulting enemies into extreme and sometimes fatal gravitic fields as they try to catch their elusive prey. However, it is when the singularity’s energies are fired through the nose-mounted projector array that it is most devastating. When harnessed, it can be fired in three different modes: a solar fire which generates long-range blasts of scouring plasma with a high rate of fire; a close-range particle hurricane that tears into everything directly in front of the vehicle; or a seismic lash that causes powerful quakes and earth tremors in a line extending a significant distance away from the vehicle, often with deadly effects for any vehicles in the quake’s path. This mode also causes surviving enemy infantry to be slowed as they attempt to move across the quaking surface of the ground. Perhaps the only drawback of such a powerful weapon is that if the containment chamber is breached, it detonates in a cataclysmic explosion with devastating effects on everything and everyone nearby.
• Timesplinter Cloak - A Timesplinter Cloak is a defensive technology utilised by only the most accomplished Cryptek Chronomancers. A Timesplinter Cloak is encased in shards of crystallised time, with each splinter proof against any blow not landed in the split-second formed in another moment. This forms an unassailable temporal shield against any attack that does not originate from the time stream corresponding to the precise moment of impact. A Timesplinter Cloak offers a level of protection similar to that of a Phase Shifter.
• Veil of Darkness - A Veil of Darkness is a device of Necron techno-sorcery that can summon dark energies which twist and billow about the bearer like a ghostly cloak blown by an ethereal breeze; almost akin to a billowing sheet of tangible shadow that envelops the bearer and his allies. When the darkness ebbs, the enshrouded bearer and those Necrons nearby will have disappeared, only to rematerialise mysteriously some distance away on the battlefield later. This allows the bearer of a Veil of Darkness to swiftly redeploy himself and his fellow Necrons into unexpected positions from which to better destroy the enemy, a tactical advantage that few others can afford. Veils of Darkness are only carried by Necron Lords and Cryptek Psychomancers.

Sources

• Apocalypse (4th Edition), pg. 164
• Apocalypse Reload (4th Edition), pg. 49
• Apocalypse (6th Edition), pp. 170, 172
• Battlefleet Gothic Armada, pg. 73
• Black Crusade: Tome of Fate (RPG), pp. 111, 113, 116-117, 119-122
• Codex: Necrons (3rd Edition), pp. 13-15, 17, 21, 54-55
• Codex: Necrons (5th Edition), pp. 16, 21, 27, 34-36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 46-48, 50, 55, 57, 59, 61, 81-85, 88-95
• Deathwatch: The Outer Reach (RPG), pp. 112-125, 130-133, 138-140
• Imperial Armour Apocalypse (2nd Edition), pg. 90
• Imperial Armour Apocalypse (2013), pg. 88
• Imperial Armour Twelve – The Fall of Orpheus, pp. 46-47, 109, 116, 119, 121, 123-124, 127
• Planetstrike (4th Edtion), pg. 45
• Warhammer 40,000: Munitorum - Warscythes