Dawn of War II - Squad Build - Davian Thule

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Squad Build - Davian Thule, Dreadnought

Overview
A big problem with Thule is how he is added to your roster: His skill points are spent already, and distributed evenly over the four skills. He has fewer skill traits and they are deeper in his skill tree, so considerable specialization is required to get even one trait.
Another issue with Thule is in getting an assault cannon. He doesn't start with one (just the default flamer) and all the unique assault cannons are gotten from either Bosses or Missions. Both of which draw from a very wide pool of gear, so in theory you may never get  any of the unique assault cannons.
Overall, because of his slow movement and turning, Thule is best used on Defense missions where you don't have to move him much. He is anti-infantry as he really has no anti-armour / anti-vehicle capabilities except melee, which is too dangerous on Primarch Difficulty. If he is chased by a Carnifex, he is as good as dead on Primarch Difficulty unless you have fast anti-armour on supporting squads.

Any build should aim to get Ancient Defender as soon as possible. Follow up with Holy Vigor so that whether you have an Assault Cannon or not, you can use all your skills more frequently.
If you do have an Assault Cannon, I recommend concentrating on Ranged because even the default skill is powerful and in any case he moves so slowly that you really don't want to have to close to melee. Also, on Primarch difficulty, melee is very dangerous for all squads.

Thule moves more slowly than any squad member and while you can use the Retreat order, turning will still cost a lot of time and be a liaibility.
Thule cannot revive incapacitated squad leaders and cannot capture strategic points or Teleport Relay Beacons.
Thule can't seem to do anything to garrisoned units with his Assault Cannon (with or without Hail of Fury) except destroy the building.

Skills

Starting Skill

• Mighty Strike - Slam the Dreadnought's mighty fist into the ground, damaging, knocking back, and temporarily stunning enemies.
• Assault Cannon Barrage - Cover an area with a devastating hail of shells.
• There is a brief setup time during which Thule stops firing.
• Range is typically longer than most targets' visual range, so if you have a spotter you can often safely kill enemies without them closing on your position. Each barrage generally pushes back survivors, so you'll have to inch forward slowly.
• The actual area of effect is a wide strip at the end of the cone area, and that extends past the dotted radius.
• Anything closer is not affected and you cannot initially target the barrage in that zone. The no-effect zone is approximately the distance of a flamer or grenade throw.
• Because a hit pushes enemies back and knocks them down, enemies that are farther off might be pushed out of range by the first barrage sweep.
• It can shoot through obstacles (and not harm them) if such obstacles are in the cone area. However, if you do not have line of sight to the middle location (where you targeted the barrage), Thule will first move to get line of sight and minimum stand-off distance.
• You can therefore sneakily hit enemies behind a wall in this way if you can target a space nearby.
• Great against the dangerous Banshees and Seer Councils if you can hit them before they jump, but on Primarch Difficulty you will still want to make sure he has support against being swarmed. He can't be knocked down but he can be chopped up. If you get the drop on the enemy with an Assault Cannon, you can spray the area for heavy damage, knock them down, and suppress them all in one go.

Stamina

• Hardened Armor - A Techmarine reinforces the Dreadnought's plating, making it more resilient to anti-vehicle / anti-armor weaponry.
• Ancient Defender - Temporarily deactivate, initiating self-repair while providing a heavy cover bonus to nearby allies.
• The only other ways to heal Thule in the field are at a secured strategic asset and with the Rites of Repair accessory that someone else must use on him.
• You can activate this anywhere, even when enemies are close by. Normally, characters heal only when far enough away from the enemy.
• He will continue to heal until you give him another order or he is fully healed. So, if his healing rate is strong, you could let him turtle and soak enemy fire.

Range

• Battle Lust - Thule regains Energy for every enemy he kills.
• Hail of Fury - The assault cannon's already brutal barrage is further improved by loading hellfire rounds into the chambers, dealing explosive damage to all enemies who are caught in the deadly firing arc.
• Extremely powerful against massed enemies as all enemies are guaranteed to be hit if they are in the effect zone, and each hit causes an explosion, which, for densely packed enemies, results in overlapping explosions.

Melee

• The Emperor's Might - Thule's Mighty Strike ability is charged with the hate of all of Mankind's enemies as nearby foes are stunned for a short duration.
• Furious Charge - Dreadnought becomes able to make a ferocious charge to a targeted location, smashing and damaging enemies and objects caught in its path.

Will

• Holy Vigor - With increased vigor, Thule's abilities can be used more often.
• Venerable - Davian Thule becomes a Venerable Dreadnought, a true legend of the Chapter. He inspires victory in the hearts and minds of his brothers when killing opponents. Inspired allies gain increased movement speed and damage.