Last time we checked in with Stormgate, the new RTS coming from a bunch of former Starcraft developers at Frost Giant Studios, we got to dig deep into the demonic Infernal Host faction, joining the determined Human Vanguard. Now, the third faction has been revealed, and they're a strong counterpoint both thematically and mechanically. The Celestial Armada consist of angelic artificial forms inhabited by the souls of a hyper-advanced alien race, and they play quite a bit differently from anything we've seen in an RTS like this so far.
The first time I loaded into a match as the Celestials, I wasn't even really sure what I was supposed to be doing. Instead of a main base building, they have a fully mobile Arcship, which can roam around the map freely or land to gain powerful defensive abilities. Their workers, called Prisms, can't harvest Luminite or build structures.
Instead, resource-collecting buildings are created by a unit called a Morph Core. And while Fabricators, which harvest Therium for more advanced units, are stuck there once you build them, Luminite Extractors can just take off and leave. You will need Prisms to harvest Therium, but Luminite Extractors work fine on their own.
Up to three Prisms can be assigned to them to speed up harvesting, though. All of the other Celestial buildings can be warped in anywhere that has a Cascade Field, which is generated by the Arcship itself and most Celestial ground structures. No builders needed.
This really allows the Celestia.
