The Punished, the final faction planned for Monster Train 2, will launch as paid DLC on November 10. This group of chained and tormented angels revolves around self-inflicted damage, rewarding players who turn pain into attack power, defensive tools and enemy damage.
Their central mechanic is the Monolith, a purple crystal that sacrifices cards from the player’s hand. Each sacrifice grants Devotion, which increases the Monolith’s level. Every level provides Zeal, giving newly deployed units one additional point of attack and maximum health. Curses can also be sacrificed, allowing players to remove unwanted debuffs, while the sacrifice triggers the Offering effect of discarded cards.
The faction also introduces Chained, a keyword that causes enemy units to take half the damage suffered by the player’s units. This makes friendly damage an offensive tool rather than merely a liability, particularly when combined with clans that provide protection or additional ways to injure allied units.
The Punished’s starting champion, Archus, increases his damage as his health falls and can also reduce enemy damage. His different paths grant Flight and allow him to deploy Darkshards across the battlefield. Depending on the selected version, these artifacts can weaken enemies, increase the power of friendly units whenever they take damage or sacrifice themselves to deal substantial direct damage.
Zariel offers a more demanding playstyle. Unable to attack normally, she has three paths focused on absorbing damage, applying Chained or converting accumulated Pain into direct damage. Her Paintouch ability can eventually deal enormous amounts of damage, but she needs suitable units and spells to generate enough friendly damage before the strategy becomes effective.
The faction’s main weakness is that immediate damage can be difficult to assemble. Reaper of Suffering, its only sweeper, begins Suppressed and must wait for its cooldown to expire before attacking. Taking damage accelerates that process, and the unit recovers its health and gains Flight once it emerges.
Other units provide alternative solutions. Forsaken Berserker gains multistrike as the Monolith levels up, while Scarred Justicar gains attack whenever a friendly spell or ability damages him. With multistrike and equipment that causes him to hurt himself and attack immediately, the Justicar can become a powerful damage dealer after a short setup period.
Penitent Sentinel serves as one of the faction’s strongest defensive options. It cannot be healed, but gains maximum health whenever it takes revenge. With enough enemy attacks, its health can scale dramatically over the course of a run, making it a durable frontliner despite its unusual limitation.
The faction’s mechanics can also produce unconventional victories. One successful run combined Zariel with the Underlegion clan and relied on Chained effects, self-damaging spells and a heavily upgraded Scarred Justicar instead of a conventional tank or sweeper. The resulting damage to friendly units was redirected through Chained effects, sometimes destroying enemy backliners through the damage dealt to the player’s own units.
After extensive play, The Punished offers several viable units and combinations with other clans. Its self-damaging theme changes the value of existing cards and equipment, while the Monolith provides a straightforward way to scale units throughout a run. The faction can be powerful, but some of its strategies require time to develop and careful control of incoming damage.
Shiny Shoe CEO Mark Cooke said that The Punished is currently the last DLC planned for Monster Train 2, while adding that the studio hopes to work on more games in the Monster Train series in the future.
Sources: PC Gamer.