What changed for Adeptus Custodes in 11th edition

11th edition asked the Adeptus Custodes to relearn a little army-building rather than a whole collection. It's a small, tight roster, and the moves here are modest: the core Custodian Guard crept up while several of the faction's characters dropped around 10 points, and three brand-new characters joined the ranks. If you played the Golden Legion in 10th, almost everything you own does exactly what it did — the changes are mostly at the margins.

Summary

• 12 units repriced, 3 new, 6 unchanged
• Biggest drop: Aleya (-10)
• Biggest rise: Custodian Guard (+10)
• Detachment Points: 2 / 3 / 4 at Incursion / Strike Force / Onslaught

Detachments

The big new mechanic is Detachment Points. Detachments are no longer free: your chosen one now costs points out of your army total, scaling with game size — 2 at Incursion, 3 at Strike Force, 4 at Onslaught. That's a fresh budgeting decision on top of your unit picks and the single biggest habit to relearn coming from 10th. For the Custodes the shelf grew: three new detachments join the returning 10th-edition options — Might of the Moritoi, Silent Hunters, and Tharanatoi Hammerblow — with none removed. The only new overhead is the DP cost itself.

New in 11th: Might of the Moritoi, Silent Hunters, Tharanatoi Hammerblow. None removed.

Points changes

The repricing is light-touch: nine units moved, four up and five down, with three new characters on top. The one increase that matters at scale is the Custodian Guard, up 10 points a squad — the unit you build most of your army around. The rest of the rises are small chip-ins on Battle Sisters-adjacent support squads. Working the other way, most of the faction's characters got cheaper: the Blade Champion, Shield-Captain and Trajann Valoris all came down, softening the cost of a leader-heavy list. Note that some units are priced per squad size, so check the tier you actually field.

Biggest increases

Are Custodian Guard still worth it?

Up 10 points a squad, and since these are the backbone of nearly every Custodes list, that bump is felt across the whole army. It's not a punishing tax on a single unit so much as a small tariff on the way most people build. They remain the gold standard of durable infantry and the reason people play the faction — the extra 10 changes your total, not your plan.

Are Prosecutors still worth it?

A 5-point rise that barely registers at the army level. Prosecutors have always earned their keep as cheap, disposable objective-holders rather than damage dealers, and that role is unchanged. Buy them because you want bodies on points that free your Guard to push forward; the price nudge is noise.

Are Vigilators still worth it?

Also up 5 points, and the same logic applies. Vigilators fill a specialist Sisters-of-Silence slot rather than a mainline one, so whether they belong in your list depends on the build, not the cost. If they had a job in your 10th-edition army, five points won't take it away from them.

Frequently asked questions

Did the Adeptus Custodes get better in 11th edition?

It's close to a wash, leaning slightly positive at the character level. The Custodian Guard tax pushes the other way, but most of the faction's leaders got cheaper and three new characters widened your options. Whether that adds up to more wins depends on the wider meta, but the Custodes came through the transition roughly where they started — stable, with a bit more flexibility up top.

What got cheaper for Adeptus Custodes in 11th edition?

The character line-up did most of the falling. The Blade Champion and Shield-Captain each came down 10 points, the Shield-Captain on Dawneagle Jetbike dropped 10 as well, Trajann Valoris fell 5, and the Vertus Praetors shed 5 a unit. If your lists lean on named and generic leaders, they're a touch easier to fit than they were at the end of 10th.

How do Detachment Points work for Adeptus Custodes in 11th edition?

Detachment Points are a new 11th-edition layer: your chosen detachment now costs points out of your army total, scaling with game size — 2 at Incursion, 3 at Strike Force, and 4 at Onslaught. Every Custodes detachment pays the same rate, so it's a flat overhead you budget for before you start picking units.

What are the new Adeptus Custodes characters in 11th edition?

Three characters join with no 10th-edition equivalent: the Guardian of the Throne at 130 points, the Kataphraktoi Exemplar at 150, and the Null Maiden at 65. They're the freshest reason to revisit list-building — new leader options to slot alongside the returning cast, at a range of price points.

Is now a good time to start an Adeptus Custodes army?

It's a fine moment. The range is stable, the model count is famously low, and most of the characters you'll want got cheaper — only the core Guard ticked up. That low model count makes the Custodes one of the quickest armies to paint and field, so if the golden warriors have caught your eye, see the Starting an Adeptus Custodes Army guide for a buying order.