The Obelisk is a Necron guardian war engine built for air defence. It hides beneath a Tomb World for millions of years, then rises to clear the skies before turning its gravitic weapons on ground targets.
What the Obelisk is
It’s an enormous Necron war machine, classed as a guardian engine and often compared to the Monolith in looks, though the two do very different jobs. Where the Monolith is a heavy assault transport and artillery piece, the Obelisk exists to keep enemy aircraft away from Necron cities.
Obelisks are seeded throughout Tomb World cities. When a world wakes up, so do they.
How it fights
An Obelisk can stay dormant underground for millions of years, kept alive on the barest trickle of power, which makes it almost impossible to detect. It wakes either automatically when it senses enemy aircraft or when its Necron masters call it up.
Once active, it rises from the earth and levels out high above the surface, using its Tesla Spheres to knock aircraft out of the sky. If a flyer gets too close, the Obelisk fires a grav-pulse, an expanding sphere of force that shorts out the target’s systems.
When the skies are clear, it descends and switches to a mobile artillery role, hitting ground forces with the same kind of gravitic pulse. Its living metal hull is lined with Canoptek Leeches, so it can repair itself mid-battle.
Why it matters
The Obelisk is a good example of how the Necrons fight: patient, layered, and built to outlast everyone else. A Tomb World isn’t just a tomb, it’s a fortress with its guns already in place, waiting for a signal.
For an attacker, that’s a nasty surprise. You can scout a dead world, land your forces, and still have an Obelisk climb out of the ground behind you.
- Guardian-class engine, comparable in design to the Monolith
- Primary role: air defence, secondary role: mobile artillery
- Weapons: Tesla Spheres and grav-pulses
- Self-repairing thanks to embedded Canoptek Leeches
Related lore
The Obelisk belongs to the wider family of Necron war engines and grav-vehicles, alongside the Monolith, the Annihilation Barge, the Doomsday Ark, and the Tesseract Vault. It’s also part of the air defence theme that includes Pylons and Sentry Pylons.
Don’t confuse it with the Obelisk Node, a device used by Geomancers. Same name, different thing entirely.
Key facts
- The Obelisk is a Necron guardian-class war engine built for air defence.
- It can lie dormant beneath a Tomb World for millions of years on minimal power.
- It rises to engage aircraft with Tesla Spheres, then uses grav-pulses against anything that gets close.
- Once the skies are clear, it descends and acts as mobile artillery against ground targets.
- Canoptek Leeches embedded in its living metal let it self-repair in battle.
FAQ
Is the Obelisk a vehicle or a building?
It’s a war engine, so it blurs the line. It sits dormant under a Tomb World like a structure, then rises and moves as a vehicle when it activates.
What weapons does the Obelisk use?
Tesla Spheres for shooting down aircraft, and grav-pulses that short out nearby flyers or hit ground forces once it lands.
How does the Obelisk repair itself?
Its living metal walls are lined with Canoptek Leeches, which let it patch itself up during a fight.
Is the Obelisk the same as the Obelisk Node?
No. The Obelisk is a Necron war engine. The Obelisk Node is a separate device used by Geomancers.