D.R.A.I.C.H. "Colour Blending" - Druchii Magic Lor

How to beat those cowardly High Elves?

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Dangerous Beans
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D.R.A.I.C.H. "Colour Blending" - Druchii Magic Lor

Post by Dangerous Beans »

I thought I'd begin this thread as an extension of the excellent comments and thoughts made throughout Dalamar's thread titled "Treatise on Magic Lores" (which can be found HERE.)

So, we have found the best overall magic lore on its own in terms of overall difficulty to cast, flexiability and array of spells, range of these spells and the impact they have upon the game.

But many of you I am sure, are in the same boots as me right now, pondering the question: what lores complement each other effectively to create powerful spell-combos?

I should (much like Dalamar) probably add a small disclaimer myself at this point because I (like others who frequent the forums) have still had little gaming experience in 8th, and so I would like to call on the concept of an overall collaberated project, and then post later on with a conclusive summary of what we've managed to discuss.

So firstly, I think a quick run down of the spell in each of the lores and their attributes: so we can essentially see the 'tools' we have available. I should also note that I am not going to reveal casting values as this might incur the wrath of any GW legal team (ie. go and buy the little magic card pack - theyre invaluable! :D)

I'll start with Fire and edit this post throughout the day (its taking me a while to write this first part!)

LORE OF FIRE

Attribute: Kindleflame - any further direct damage/magic missile spells from the lore of fire cast against a unit that has already been hit by a lore of fire direct damage/magic missile during this turn will gain +D3 to the wizards casting roll.

Sig Spell:
Fireball
Basically this little baby starts off as the standard 24" range D6 Str 4 hits magic missile but can be powered by twice more with added range and an extra D6 hits for each level.
Strengths & weaknesses: A serious threat to small and medium sized units or helps to burn off ranks from larger units - helping the prevent Steadfastness (however piercing bolts is a better spell if the enemy unit has ranked up with many ranks). Like every spell in the lore of fire this is only strength 4, so will suffer against heavily armoured or higher toughness opponents.

Cascading Firecloak
Remains in Play (RiP) augment that inflicts 2d6 Str4 hits on opponents in base contact with the WIZARDS unit at the end of EVERY magic phase.
Strengths & Weaknesses: obviously a close combat orientated spell which sadly may only be cast upon the casting wizard's unit itself: often close combat is NOT somewhere a wizard will want to be, however if you're armed with a solid talisman: pendent of khaleth being optimal or if you're expecting your opponent to force close combat against your wizard's entourage then this could be useful. Alternatively if your wizard has joined a cold one knight unit (as some players do) or is war machine hunting through being mounted upon a dark pegasus, or (a real rarity these days) a Supreme Sorceress flying around mounted on a Black Dragon then this spell would prove more useful for you. These are extremely situtational occurences though and rely wholly on army setup.

Flaming Sword of Rhuin
Augment with 24" range. Gives unit magical flaming attacks and +1 to wound. May be boosted to an almighty table stretching 48".
Strengths & weaknesses: a truly excellent spell to be used in our forces. Often dark elves have many attacks and with our hatred and high WS - hitting is not something we have a hard time doing: wound and penetrating armour however can be an issue. Certainly Flaming Sword helps the wounding part... Of great use on many of our units - although Corsairs (particularly with the Sea Serpent Standard), Black Guard (especially with the Banner of Murder) and Crossbowmen seem to benefit the most from this (Witch Elves too but poisoned weapons means there are better targets in our armies). Even Harpies can make use of this little one! As for downsides, there aren't really any unless you're up against armies with dragonbane gem, dragonhelm or dragon princes...

The Burning Head
Direct damage, affects any models hit in a range 18" straight line (like a cannonball), each model takes a str 4 hit and units must test for panic if any casualties are suffered. Maybe be boosted to 36" range.
Strengths & weaknesses: The hits are nice from this spell, particularly if you can hop onto a flank of any straight lined battleline (dark pegasus's help with this!) and gain approximately 5 hits on each unit (assuming theyre in 5 wide ranks) or more if you bounce it through the middle of 2 ranks... :twisted: However more devastating than the damage dealt (nice for the kindleflame ability ;)) is perhaps the panic checks incurred: a useful tool against Skaven or Orc and Goblin units with low leadership.

Piercing Bolts of Burning
magic missile of 24" (or 48") range. Inflicts D3 Str 4 hits per rank of 5 models.
Strengths & weaknesses: now initially I wrote off this spell thinking it rather pants when compared to fireball or burning head. However as my regular high elf opponent pointed out to me, on a unit of 20 (4 ranks deep, 5 wide) you net an average of 8 hits - which is comparable to a mid-powered Fireball for the same casting (mid ranged fireball has 12" extra range than this though). So effectively this spell becomes very nice against very deeply ranked units of 4+ ranks deep. I have since heard tales of empire blocks that were deployed 8 ranks deep to keep stalwart, only to be deprieved of 12 men from a nasty Piercing Bolts.
Ok so praise over, what about the downsides - well sadly this spell becomes worse throughout the game due to units taking casualties and thus the ranks diminishing meaning less hits. Also, its strength 4...

Fulminating Flamecage
Hex, range 24" (or 48"). D6 Str 4 hits. If the unit moves for any reason then every model in the unit takes a Str4 hit. Lasts until casters next magic phase.
Strengths and weaknessesmy favourite fire spell: adds a degree of tactical reasoning for its casting. Sure D6 str 4 isnt great at all for an 11+ to cast but the restricted movement and psychological pressure it puts onto an opponent (eg. cast on a unit of 50 Marauders that would normally be in charge range of one of your own 'prime' units...). Can be used on fleeing or rallying units too - as the unit counts as moving (may want to check that one with a BRB reference though!). Great against horde armies and may even dent Chaos Warriors or saurus a little...

Flame Storm
Direct damage, range 30" also doesn't need LOS. Place small template (or large template) and scatters D6" (or 2D6 for large). Models hit take a str4 hit. Easy casting rating for the lores top end spell.
Strengths & weaknesses: Againt lovely against hordes or elite elven troops with a poor armour save (black guard, executioners, swordmasters, greatswords, skink-kroxigor units etc), sadly though the scatter is rather off-putting with only a one third chance of a direct hit. I've never really has any luck with any template spells like this or pit of shades. Requires bunched up units to ensure something WILL get hit.

LORE OF METAL

Attribute: Metalshifting - means any spells that need a wound use the targets armour save. Eg. vs Heavy armour and shield equipped units a 4+ roll to wound is required. No armour saves allowed, flaming attacks.

Signature spell:
Searing Doom
D6 or 2D6 hits both at 24". High casting rate for both. magic missile.
Strengths & weaknesses (S&W): great VS high armour, expensive elite units, monsters with a good armour save (dragon I'm looking at you), Steam tanks, cavalry and characters. Poor against cheap poor armour save troops. Often pitifully awful against Daemons and Ogres.

Plague of Rust

Hex range 24" or 48". Permanently reduces the targets armour save by one. Can be used repeatedly to drop them down.
S&Ws: helpful for our S3 troops with multiple attacks (witches, corsairs, warriors) or for bringing down tougher targets such as heavy cavalry: especially useful against those with a 1+ save eg. chaos knights. Also great against large heavily armoured infantry such as saurus or chaos warriors. sadly this depreciates the use of Searing Doom or Golden Hounds against such targets to priority of choice is very important. Can be used right up to late game thanks to its hex properties (cast into combats), good range and relatively easy casting values.

Enchanted Blades of Aiban

Augment, range 24" or 48". Gives +1 to hit, armour piercing magical attacks until next magic phase.
S&Ws: perhaps not as good overall for use as Flaming Sword, but a nifty little spell nonetheless. Excellent at helping out our WS4 troops when they encounter troops of same or higher WS - allows us to maximise our hatred rule through the +1 to hit. The +1 to hit is also a good aid to our crossbowmen, however the armour piercing is negligible being as urathiens (repeater crossbows) already have this rule. Could be helpful for cold one knight units - giving the cold ones a good chance to hit and dent enemy armour or over prolonged combats. Again though, the units that will gain maximum benefit from this are our WS4 Str 3 troops: a good choice on SSS Corsairs or those with handbows (the spell will still be on them if the enemy decide to charge and thus suffer a 2nd round of armour piercing accurate fire.

Glittering Robe
augment, range 12". Upgrade affects all fiendly units in 12". Adds +2 to the armour save (up to 1+).
S&Ws: If Blades is not of that much use to us, Robe certainly is. Helps negate our poor armour saves on infantry - the 12" bubble is a very welcome addition. Not of so much use on Knights (they only gain +1 armour save) but good on chariots, hydras and all our infantry: makes many into chaos warriors (without the good toughness though sadly Sad). Even gives our wizards a save: not too shabby if you're already on a cold one ;)

Ghenna's Golden Hounds
12"/24". D6 hits 'snipe spell' (can target characters in units). Sadly a Look Out Sir roll can be taken against each hit; making this a poorman's death equivalent
S&Ws: Also requires an armour save so often useless against wizards, can be handy against hydras or big beasts but sadly not very good at sniping characters.

Transmutation of Lead
hex, 24"/48". -1 WS, BS and armour save to target until next friendly magic phase.
S&Ws: Quite nice to make our Crossbows like blackpowder weapons against the target, or to aid in a combat: putting this onto Warriors of Chaos makes them hit on 4+ and lose an armour save. Still, an expensive casting value and only -1 to WS or BS is not the greatest use when Shadow's Miasma or Dark's Word of Pain will cause more headaches. Saying that though this can complement Miasma well.

Final Transmutation
direct damage, range 18"/36". On a 5+ a model in the targetted enemy unit is turned to gold. Multi-wound models on a 6+. Also, any enemy unit within 12" takes a stupidity test.
S&Ws: a great overall spell thats especially effective against mass blocks of enemies and expensive troops. A ward is allowed and characters stand a solid chance of surviving. The stupidity can cause havok in lower LD armies and often this is the reason for casting this spell.

LORE OF SHADOW

Attribute: Smoke and Mirrors - after a shadow magic spell is successfully cast and resolved, the wizard may choose to swap places with a friendly character model of the same troop type within 18".

Signature Spell:
Melkoth's Mystifying Miasma
S & Ws: Almost undoubtedly the most flexiable spell in existence: either singularly reduing WS, BS, I or M or all of them on the 'maximum' setting. With a fantastic range of 48" on all settings and being Hex (so cast into combats) - this spell can be used on nearly every turn of the game.
S & Ws: This spell complements druchii brilliantly IMHO - through either slowing the movement of forces a little faster or on pace with ours, dropping WS to either mean we hit them on 3s or to increase the chance of them to hit us on 5s, 'I' similarly - we can slow those with quicker initiative than us (those paltry few) or that this spell complement 3 moderately powerful spell featured in this lore and that of DEATH (Purple Sun).

Steed of Shadows
One character model within 12" (the wizard or other) may make a move using the Fly special rule as it were in the Remaining Moves sub-phase.
S & Ws: Very situational and now of very limited use as this cannot be used to initiate a charge. Can be useful for flying a single model (notice there is no longer a limitation on 'unit strength' to be catapulted behind the enemy lines: this includes characters mounted on large monstrous creatures: having a dragon mounted dreadlord leering at numerous rear charge options in the following turn can be a VERY intimidating thing for an opponent...

Enfeebling Foe
RiP Hex, Decreases one enemy units Strength value by D3, range 18" - can be boosted to 36" range.
S & Ws: One of my favourite spells: not because its overly good (though some neat spell combos can be had with this baby - eg. Caress of Laniph) but because its a remains in play spell (something that is surprisingly rare in our available lores). This spell helps our troops to stay alive in combat or can seriously reduce high strength opponents right down to a managable level: facing greatswords? No problem, the average roll on enfeeble will make them Str3 in combat... Downsides? Well RiP - great as it is when your opponent forget that its RiP... (and you do too :?) it does mean that a wiley opponent will simply stop it in his turn. Though doing so does mean he's using powerdice to achieve this ;)

The Withering
Similar to Enfeeble - 18" range, Hex lasts til casters next magic phase: -D3 T to enemy unit: may be bumped to 36".
S & Ws: Ok, we as druchii often have a LOT of attacks in our units but often lack the strength to really hurt opponents - hoping our mass volumes of hits will win us through: Withering helps this immensely. Obvious combos with Crossbowmen and Reapers to cull swathes of enemy: also great for combat units fighting higher toughness enemies that lack armour eg. Giants. Of course this spell also means that combos with other spells work a treat: particularly the lore of fire for its average Str 4 hits: these become a whole lot better if focused on a withered foe...

Penumbral Pendulum
Direct damage, 18" cannonball style template (see Burning Head). Affected units must pass an I test or take d3 str10 hits. may be extended to 36".
S & Ws: fairly limited use unless combined with Melkoth's - can hurt those big gribblys such as stegadons but the D3 wounds means several turns of focusing are required to fully destroy such targets. Sadly inefficient against steam tanks thanks to their new found T10. Still a flank shot on Saurus cold One Knights or Monstrous Infantry with low initiative can be useful - sadly the limiting facter here being the initiative test: even warmachine crews will leap out the way and save their precious device of doom.

Pit of Shades
24" Direct damage, small template - does NOT have to placed on an enemy model. Template scatters D6" in a random direction. Any model touched takes an I test or dies: no saves (including ward of course). May be boosted to larger template but scatters 2d6".
S & Ws: One that I'm a little funny about: its only ever paid off ONCE for me. I've tried it against stegs, slann, steam tanks etc etc. But only ever has it hit the intended target once: on a unit of 9 minotaurs - killing 6 off (they were already Melkoths'd). Its a strange one as it often relies on that 1 in 3 chance of a 'hit' on the scatter: the D6" means that about 2 thirds of the time it will miss. Its also a difficult spell due to the Initiative test part: often you'll need a melkoth's to pull this off correctly. I have even been told that, because Stanks are now 'chariots', they can use the engineers I value to avoid this vortex... Overall a high risk, high payoff spell that NEEDs melkoths for it to work as an 'all comers' combo.

Okkam's Mindrazor
Unit within 18". Augment. Unit uses LD instread of Str in combat: including for armour saves etc. May be boosted to 36".
S & Ws: With our army - this is the mother of all nasty spells. Our many attacks and hatred secure a substantial amount of wound rolling dice - each dice almost certainly guarranteeing a dead man due to our High Leadership values. The greatest combos being with Corsair units including the SSS banner or witch elves, though black guard, warriors or even a sneaky Shade/Harpy unit make equally viable targets or indeed Dark Riders (one Str 8 and one str 5 attack per model). Cold One knights gain a lot but their mounts lose out due to having LD3... Often a game winner if you can get into contact with the opponents 'prized' unit as our high Initiative means we'll be going before most opponents out there. Even stanks can be hurt with a combo of withering...


LORE OF DEATH

Attribute: for each wound caused by a death magic spell roll a dice: on a 5+ you gain one extra power dice.

Signature Spell:
Spirit Leech
Single model within 12" is targeted. Direct damage. Targeted model and caster roll a D6 and add their LD: for each point that the caster beats the opponent, one wound with no armour save is caused. maybe boosted to 24".
S & Ws: a very nice character snipe - particularly as our high sorceress has the same LD value as most enemy 'leader lords'. The no armour saves bonus is a neat extra twist: though sadly warmachines and steam tanks get to use their crew/engineers LD values. It should be noted that Doom and Darkness does not combo with this spell as its unmodified LD values - in this sense, inspiring prescence does not affect the models either for this spell.

Aspect of the Dreadknight
24" augment, unit causes fear. May cause terror for boosted value.
S & Ws: A seriously underpowered spell that has very limited or specific use. Only really combo'd with Doom and Darkness: the terror aspect could be a nice touch in this combo but very situational. Almost always best to swap for sig. spell.

Caress of Laniph
12" or boosted 24" direct damage, roll 2d6 and deduct enemy's strength. This is the number of hits. For each hit on a 4+ the model takes a wound with no armour saves. Must target single models but they may be within a unit.
S & Ws: good sniping spell overall - especially against wizards though ward saves do work of course. Helps against enemy tough and well armoured characters such as chaos lords or even vampires. Can hurt a steamtank if combo's with enfeebling foe.

Soulblight
24" Hex, -1 str and T til casters next magic phase. May be boosted to affect ALL (?!) enemy units within 24"...
S & Ws: Wow what a power up! A very nice overall spell that helps most in combat though does neatly work with many Dark magic spells. Swings many combats in our favour: lowers enemy T means our units hurt them more, minus strength means we survive more... A good overall spell that works with many many other spells out there. Up there with melkoths for most all round useful spell going.

Fate of Bjuna
same as caress but use T instead of Str to work out hit no. wounds are caused on a 2+ with no armour save AND the unit becomes stupid.
S & Ws: evem more powerful spell for those pesky characters you want guarranteed to be killed in one goe: works a treat on elves and combos well with Withering. The stupidity effect combos well with doom and darkness...

Purple Sun
Vortex. template is placed in contact with the wizard and moves in a straight away for Artillery dice multiplied by 3. Any model touched: friend or foe takes an I test or dies.
S & Ws: the big daddy of in your face badness. This horrible little spell can cause untold destruction in opponents forces - there are some combos with this that I shall not mention here but needless to say can cause the game to be won very early on and will not gain you many friends for doing so. The fact that the template remains and moves around is a humerous addition. Works exceedingly well with melkoth's but thats about it really.

LORE OF DARK MAGIC

NB. I won't write up the spells here as I'm sure we all have our army books and know these ones inside out.

'Signature'/Default Spell:
Chillwind
S & Ws: amonst the best default armybook spells out there - because of its hex like effect - any wound on an enemy unit means they cannot shoot in the following turn. Our main solution to gunlines or large missile units. You don't often cast this for its damage effect, though withering, transmutation of lead or plague of rust helps it to effectively becomes a higher strength hit or hurt armoured units a little more. combined with melkoth's on different targets these 2 spells can wreak havok in shooting based armies.

Doombolt
S & Ws: your above standard basic magic missile: the strength 5 helps to hurt cavalry or monsters a little more and much like the suggestions for chillwind, numerous spells allow it to deal more damage.

Word of Pain
S & Ws: Still an excellent Hex - thanks to the absolute definition of WS1: ie. no D3 is rolled unlike Melkoth's. This means are units will be almost guarranteed that enemy will hit on 5s and that ours will hit on 3s. Nice against shooters too to save your bacon as your units scarper across the battlefield.

Bladewind
S & Ws: as ever before - an incredible warmachine killer and scout destroyer. Perhaps not so good any more now that outnumbering has dissappeared from combat res - bladewind sometimes helped to thin down enemy ranks to stop them outnumbering - obviously useful for dropping rank bonus but not really a spell to be cast on close combat units unless combined with melkoth's/word of pain (more hits), or soulblight/withering (more wounds).

Soul Stealer
S & Ws: the anti-horde spell that bumps your wizard up! Serious firepower agianst medium/low toughness units and/or high armour save ones. Great on a wizard with the pendent and/or 3 wounds as it makes her VERY survivable. Combines well with T lowering spells.

Black Horror
S & Ws: The old classic. Really hope they make this a vortex like it used to be in 5th... :twisted: This baby is still one of the best template spells out there due to the lack of random placement and it being relatively easy to cast too. Works great with soulblight or enfeeble to destroy mass numbers of enemys: particularly great at dealing with non-tzeentch chaos warriors, saurus or high elf elit infantry (not phoenix gaurd though) if combined in this way or Marauders, Orcs, Gobbos, Skaven, Human (greatswords ;)) or other medium/low strength models. Against gnobblers its just plain funny! :lol: The panic check is good with doom and darkness.

So, now onto the relevant part:

MAGIC-SYNERGIES

DEATH SPELLS:

- Spiritleech = none (no modifiers to LD).
- Aspect of Dreadknight = Doom and Darkness, Enfeeble.
- Caress of Laniph = Enfeeble, Soulblight.
- Soulblight = Enfeeble, Withering, All fire spells (7), All dark spells (6), Transmutation of Lead, Plague of Rust, Enchanted Blades, Melkoths, Glittering Robe, Fate of Bjuna.
- Doom and Darkness = Aspect of Dreadknight, Black Horror, Final Transmutiation, Fate of Bjuna, any panic causing spells (higher powered fireballs causing a panic check for casualties etc), also indirectly aids any combat hex/augments as opponents SHOULD have lost the combat - particularly good agianst stubborn enemy troops.
- Fate of Bjuna = Witheirng, Soulblight.
- Purple Sun = Melkoth's Miasma.

SHADOW SPELLS:

- Melkoths = Enfeeble, Withering, Pit of Shades, Pendulum, Mindrazor, Bladewind, Enchanted Blades, Glittering Robe, Transmutation of Lead, Flaming Sword.
- Steed of Shadows = Melkoths, Glittering Robe, Word of Pain (all improve survivability from missile fire by flying out of a unit as you're likely to become a single target).
- Enfeeble = Withering, Melkoths, Caress, Word of Pain, Black Horror, Glittering Robe.
- Withering = All of Fire (7), Chillwind, Doombolt, Bladewind, Soul Stealer, Word of Pain, Enchanted Bladess, Transmutation of Lead, Melkoths, Soulblight, Fate of Bjuna.
- Pendulum = Withering, Melkoth's.
- Pit of Shades = Melkoth's.
- Okkams = Enchanted Blades, Firecloak, Melkoths, Word of Pain, Glittering Robe, Enfeeble, Soulblight (hopefully not for any of these last 3 though!).

METAL SPELLS:

- Searing Doom = good vs Glittering Robe or units in buildings... (no combos though!)
- Plague of Rust = Soulblight, Enfeeble, Withering, Word of Pain, Bladewind, Chillwind, doombolt, Melkoths, All of fire (6), Blades of Aiban.
- Enchanted Blades = Soulblight, Enfeeble, Withering, Word of Pain, Melkoths, Flaming Sword, Plague of Rust, Transmutation of Lead.
- Glittering Robe = Enfeeble, Melkoths, Word of pain, cascading firecloak, Soulblight
- Golden Hounds = see searing doom.
- Transmutation of Lead = Enfeeble, Melkoths, Blades, Flaming Sword, Withering (hit enemy easily + easy to wound them...), Chillwind, Doombolt, Bladewind.
- Final Transmutation = none.

FIRE SPELLS:

- Fireball = Withering, Plague of Rust, Transmutation of Lead, Flaming Sword (on missile unit), Burning Head, Flamecage (not in combat), Flamestorm (mostly due to the FIRE attribute), Soulblight, Doom and Darkness (Panic tests)
- Firecloak = Soulblight, Withering.
- Flaming sword = Blades of Aiban, Melkoths, Word of Pain, Soulblight, Transmutation of Lead, Plague of Rust.
- Piercing Bolts = Plague of Rust, Transmutation of Lead, Soulblight, witheirng, Doom and Darkness (for panic).
- Burning Head = almost all fire (for attribute), Doom and Darkness, Soulblight, Withering, Plague of Rust, Transmutation of Lead.
- Flame cage = Withering, fire spells (attribute), Doom and Darkness (if panic check), plague of rust, transmutation of lead, Soulblioght.
- Flame Storm = Withering, fire spells (attribute), Doom and Darkness (if panic check), plague of rust, transmutation of lead, Soulblight.

DARK SPELLS:

- Chillwind = Withering, Doom and Darkness (if panic check), plague of rust, transmutation of lead, Melkoths (for multiple shooting prevention).
- Doombolt = Withering, fire spells (attribute), Doom and Darkness (if panic check), plague of rust, transmutation of lead, Soulblight.
- Word of Pain = Glittering Robe, Blades of Aiban, Flaming Sword, Melkoths (for Initiative), Mindrazor, Bladewind.
- Bladewind = Withering, Word of Pain, Doom and Darkness (if panic check), plague of rust, transmutation of lead, Melkoth's.
- Soulstealer = Withering, Doom and Darkness (if panic check), Soulblight.
- Black Horror = Enfeeble, Soulblight.


SOON TO COME:

- Synergy rankings: what lores have the optimum number of spells that work well together?
Last edited by Dangerous Beans on Fri Jan 20, 2012 6:57 pm, edited 6 times in total.
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Malekii
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Post by Malekii »

Withering(shadow) can really help with most of the fire spells as it weakens their toughness which can help with the low strength of fire spells.

Plus I also like Doom&Darkness (death) with the death spells that grant fear and terror. Plus double bonus against stupid units ( stupidity test at ld 5 or even lower yay!).
Never trust a monster wearing a top hat

Hi, i'm Malekii but you can call me My Lord.
The virgin forest
Black Guard
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Post by The virgin forest »

In my games, there rarely is more than one successfully cast spell per magic phase, so combining spells is hardly an issue, its more the decision of what spell to go for.

Should be said that my most regular opponent is the empire army with their gazillion dispel dies :p

That said, I find Shadow to have the greatest synergy with the army with its abundant hexes, and also the most entertaining Lore. Secondly there is Dark Magic with its low casting values and high damage potential - but I do find it a lot more fun with Shadows more discreet feel.

- in 7th however, my favorite lore was Lore of Fire. Nothing quite like a Daemon Prince or Vampire Lord wielding a Flaming Sword of Rhuin :D
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Dangerous Beans
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Location: Sat drinking 'soul stealer' cocktails in the city of Vilebrier with Morathi...

Post by Dangerous Beans »

Yeah withering is the most obvious combo with fire, there are some more though... ;)

LORE OF METAL

Attribute: Metalshifting - means any spells that need a wound use the targets armour save. Eg. vs Heavy armour and shield equipped units a 4+ roll to wound is required. No armour saves allowed, flaming attacks.

Signature spell:
Searing Doom
D6 or 2D6 hits both at 24". High casting rate for both. magic missile.
Strengths & weaknesses (S&W): great VS high armour, expensive elite units, monsters with a good armour save (dragon I'm looking at you), Steam tanks, cavalry and characters. Poor against cheap poor armour save troops. Often pitifully awful against Daemons and Ogres.

Plague of Rust
Hex range 24" or 48". Permanently reduces the targets armour save by one. Can be used repeatedly to drop them down.
S&Ws: helpful for our S3 troops with multiple attacks (witches, corsairs, warriors) or for bringing down tougher targets such as heavy cavalry: especially useful against those with a 1+ save eg. chaos knights. Also great against large heavily armoured infantry such as saurus or chaos warriors. sadly this depreciates the use of Searing Doom or Golden Hounds against such targets to priority of choice is very important. Can be used right up to late game thanks to its hex properties (cast into combats), good range and relatively easy casting values.

Enchanted Blades of Aiban
Augment, range 24" or 48". Gives +1 to hit, armour piercing magical attacks until next magic phase.
S&Ws: perhaps not as good overall for use as Flaming Sword, but a nifty little spell nonetheless. Excellent at helping out our WS4 troops when they encounter troops of same or higher WS - allows us to maximise our hatred rule through the +1 to hit. The +1 to hit is also a good aid to our crossbowmen, however the armour piercing is negligible being as urathiens (repeater crossbows) already have this rule. Could be helpful for cold one knight units - giving the cold ones a good chance to hit and dent enemy armour or over prolonged combats. Again though, the units that will gain maximum benefit from this are our WS4 Str 3 troops: a good choice on SSS Corsairs or those with handbows (the spell will still be on them if the enemy decide to charge and thus suffer a 2nd round of armour piercing accurate fire.

Glittering Robes
augment, range 12". Upgrade affects all fiendly units in 12". Adds +2 to the armour save (up to 1+).
S&Ws: If Blades is not of that much use to us, Robe certainly is. Helps negate our poor armour saves on infantry - the 12" bubble is a very welcome addition. Not of so much use on Knights (they only gain +1 armour save) but good on chariots, hydras and all our infantry: makes many into chaos warriors (without the good toughness though sadly :(). Even gives our wizards a save: not too shabby if you're already on a cold one ;)

Ghenna's Golden Hounds
12"/24". D6 hits 'snipe spell' (can target characters in units). Sadly a Look Out Sir roll can be taken against each hit; making this a poorman's death equivalent
S&Ws:Also requires an armour save so often useless against wizards, can be handy against hydras or big beasts but sadly not very good at sniping characters.

Transmutation of Lead
hex, 24"/48". -1 WS, BS and armour save to target until next friendly magic phase.
S&Ws: Quite nice to make our Crossbows like blackpowder weapons against the target, or to aid in a combat: putting this onto Warriors of Chaos makes them hit on 4+ and lose an armour save. Still, an expensive casting value and only -1 to WS or BS is not the greatest use when Shadow's Miasma or Dark's Word of Pain will cause more headaches. Saying that though this can complement Miasma well.

Final Transmutation
direct damage, range 18"/36". On a 5+ a model in the targetted enemy unit is turned to gold. Multi-wound models on a 6+. Also, any enemy unit within 12" takes a stupidity test.
S&Ws: a great overall spell thats especially effective against mass blocks of enemies and expensive troops. A ward is allowed and characters stand a solid chance of surviving. The stupidity can cause havok in lower LD armies and often this is the reason for casting this spell.
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Post by Darktan »

Just a small note, you don't get ward saves against Final Transmutation.
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Post by Malekii »

I would really like someday to become a billionaire by using final transmution on a steam tank.
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Post by Dalamar »

My army already became millionaires by casting Final Trasmutation on a horde of ogres (18 ogre bulls with bsb and slaughtermaster). I now have in my collection about 4 gold ogres and a gold slaughtermaster :D
7th edition army book:
Games Played: 213
Games Won: 114 (54%)
Games Drawn: 33 (15%)
Games Lost: 66 (31%)

8th Edition army book W/D/L:
Druchii: 36/4/16
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Post by L1qw1d »

How you not get WS?
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Post by Dalamar »

Because the spell specified that no saves of any kind are allowed.
7th edition army book:
Games Played: 213
Games Won: 114 (54%)
Games Drawn: 33 (15%)
Games Lost: 66 (31%)

8th Edition army book W/D/L:
Druchii: 36/4/16
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Post by L1qw1d »

...I have read over that EVERY time -.-
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Post by Dangerous Beans »

Sorry for the absence - been at a conference during the week. I hope to finish this baby off today...

So back onto topic.

LORE OF SHADOW

Attribute: Smoke and Mirrors - after a shadow magic spell is successfully cast and resolved, the wizard may choose to swap places with a friendly character model of the same troop type within 18".

Signature Spell:
Melkoth's Mystifying Miasma
S & Ws: Almost undoubtedly the most flexiable spell in existence: either singularly reduing WS, BS, I or M or all of them on the 'maximum' setting. With a fantastic range of 48" on all settings and being Hex (so cast into combats) - this spell can be used on nearly every turn of the game.
S & Ws: This spell complements druchii brilliantly IMHO - through either slowing the movement of forces a little faster or on pace with ours, dropping WS to either mean we hit them on 3s or to increase the chance of them to hit us on 5s, 'I' similarly - we can slow those with quicker initiative than us (those paltry few) or that this spell complement 3 moderately powerful spell featured in this lore and that of DEATH (Purple Sun).

Steed of Shadows
One character model within 12" (the wizard or other) may make a move using the Fly special rule as it were in the Remaining Moves sub-phase.
S & Ws: Very situational and now of very limited use as this cannot be used to initiate a charge. Can be useful for flying a single model (notice there is no longer a limitation on 'unit strength' to be catapulted behind the enemy lines: this includes characters mounted on large monstrous creatures: having a dragon mounted dreadlord leering at numerous rear charge options in the following turn can be a VERY intimidating thing for an opponent...

Enfeebling Foe
RiP Hex, Decreases one enemy units Strength value by D3, range 18" - can be boosted to 36" range.
S & Ws: One of my favourite spells: not because its overly good (though some neat spell combos can be had with this baby - eg. Caress of Laniph) but because its a remains in play spell (something that is surprisingly rare in our available lores). This spell helps our troops to stay alive in combat or can seriously reduce high strength opponents right down to a managable level: facing greatswords? No problem, the average roll on enfeeble will make them Str3 in combat... Downsides? Well RiP - great as it is when your opponent forget that its RiP... (and you do too :?) it does mean that a wiley opponent will simply stop it in his turn. Though doing so does mean he's using powerdice to achieve this ;)

The Withering
Similar to Enfeeble - 18" range, Hex lasts til casters next magic phase: -D3 T to enemy unit: may be bumped to 36".
S & Ws: Ok, we as druchii often have a LOT of attacks in our units but often lack the strength to really hurt opponents - hoping our mass volumes of hits will win us through: Withering helps this immensely. Obvious combos with Crossbowmen and Reapers to cull swathes of enemy: also great for combat units fighting higher toughness enemies that lack armour eg. Giants. Of course this spell also means that combos with other spells work a treat: particularly the lore of fire for its average Str 4 hits: these become a whole lot better if focused on a withered foe...

Penumbral Pendulum
Direct damage, 18" cannonball style template (see Burning Head). Affected units must pass an I test or take d3 str10 hits. may be extended to 36".
S & Ws: fairly limited use unless combined with Melkoth's - can hurt those big gribblys such as stegadons but the D3 wounds means several turns of focusing are required to fully destroy such targets. Sadly inefficient against steam tanks thanks to their new found T10. Still a flank shot on Saurus cold One Knights or Monstrous Infantry with low initiative can be useful - sadly the limiting facter here being the initiative test: even warmachine crews will leap out the way and save their precious device of doom.

Pit of Shades
24" Direct damage, small template - does NOT have to placed on an enemy model. Template scatters D6" in a random direction. Any model touched takes an I test or dies: no saves (including ward of course). May be boosted to larger template but scatters 2d6".
S & Ws: One that I'm a little funny about: its only ever paid off ONCE for me. I've tried it against stegs, slann, steam tanks etc etc. But only ever has it hit the intended target once: on a unit of 9 minotaurs - killing 6 off (they were already Melkoths'd). Its a strange one as it often relies on that 1 in 3 chance of a 'hit' on the scatter: the D6" means that about 2 thirds of the time it will miss. Its also a difficult spell due to the Initiative test part: often you'll need a melkoth's to pull this off correctly. I have even been told that, because Stanks are now 'chariots', they can use the engineers I value to avoid this vortex... Overall a high risk, high payoff spell that NEEDs melkoths for it to work as an 'all comers' combo.

Okkam's Mindrazor
Unit within 18". Augment. Unit uses LD instread of Str in combat: including for armour saves etc. May be boosted to 36".
S & Ws: With our army - this is the mother of all nasty spells. Our many attacks and hatred secure a substantial amount of wound rolling dice - each dice almost certainly guarranteeing a dead man due to our High Leadership values. The greatest combos being with Corsair units including the SSS banner or witch elves, though black guard, warriors or even a sneaky Shade/Harpy unit make equally viable targets or indeed Dark Riders (one Str 8 and one str 5 attack per model). Cold One knights gain a lot but their mounts lose out due to having LD3... Often a game winner if you can get into contact with the opponents 'prized' unit as our high Initiative means we'll be going before most opponents out there. Even stanks can be hurt with a combo of withering...


LORE OF DEATH


Attribute: for each wound caused by a death magic spell roll a dice: on a 5+ you gain one extra power dice.

Signature Spell:
Spirit Leech
Single model within 12" is targeted. Direct damage. Targeted model and caster roll a D6 and add their LD: for each point that the caster beats the opponent, one wound with no armour save is caused. maybe boosted to 24".
S & Ws: a very nice character snipe - particularly as our high sorceress has the same LD value as most enemy 'leader lords'. The no armour saves bonus is a neat extra twist: though sadly warmachines and steam tanks get to use their crew/engineers LD values. It should be noted that Doom and Darkness does not combo with this spell as its unmodified LD values - in this sense, inspiring prescence does not affect the models either for this spell.

Aspect of the Dreadknight
24" augment, unit causes fear. May cause terror for boosted value.
S & Ws: A seriously underpowered spell that has very limited or specific use. Only really combo'd with Doom and Darkness: the terror aspect could be a nice touch in this combo but very situational. Almost always best to swap for sig. spell.

Caress of Laniph
12" or boosted 24" direct damage, roll 2d6 and deduct enemy's strength. This is the number of hits. For each hit on a 4+ the model takes a wound with no armour saves. Must target single models but they may be within a unit.
S & Ws: good sniping spell overall - especially against wizards though ward saves do work of course. Helps against enemy tough and well armoured characters such as chaos lords or even vampires. Can hurt a steamtank if combo's with enfeebling foe.

Soulblight
24" Hex, -1 str and T til casters next magic phase. May be boosted to affect ALL (?!) enemy units within 24"...
S & Ws: Wow what a power up! A very nice overall spell that helps most in combat though does neatly work with many Dark magic spells. Swings many combats in our favour: lowers enemy T means our units hurt them more, minus strength means we survive more... A good overall spell that works with many many other spells out there. Up there with melkoths for most all round useful spell going.

Fate of Bjuna
same as caress but use T instead of Str to work out hit no. wounds are caused on a 2+ with no armour save AND the unit becomes stupid.
S & Ws: evem more powerful spell for those pesky characters you want guarranteed to be killed in one goe: works a treat on elves and combos well with Withering. The stupidity effect combos well with doom and darkness...

Purple Sun
Vortex. template is placed in contact with the wizard and moves in a straight away for Artillery dice multiplied by 3. Any model touched: friend or foe takes an I test or dies.
S & Ws: the big daddy of in your face badness. This horrible little spell can cause untold destruction in opponents forces - there are some combos with this that I shall not mention here but needless to say can cause the game to be won very early on and will not gain you many friends for doing so. The fact that the template remains and moves around is a humerous addition. Works exceedingly well with melkoth's but thats about it really.

LORE OF DARK MAGIC

NB. I won't write up the spells here as I'm sure we all have our army books and know these ones inside out.

'Signature'/Default Spell:
Chillwind
S & Ws: amonst the best default armybook spells out there - because of its hex like effect - any wound on an enemy unit means they cannot shoot in the following turn. Our main solution to gunlines or large missile units. You don't often cast this for its damage effect, though withering, transmutation of lead or plague of rust helps it to effectively becomes a higher strength hit or hurt armoured units a little more. combined with melkoth's on different targets these 2 spells can wreak havok in shooting based armies.

Doombolt
S & Ws: your above standard basic magic missile: the strength 5 helps to hurt cavalry or monsters a little more and much like the suggestions for chillwind, numerous spells allow it to deal more damage.

Word of Pain
S & Ws: Still an excellent Hex - thanks to the absolute definition of WS1: ie. no D3 is rolled unlike Melkoth's. This means are units will be almost guarranteed that enemy will hit on 5s and that ours will hit on 3s. Nice against shooters too to save your bacon as your units scarper across the battlefield.

Bladewind
S & Ws: as ever before - an incredible warmachine killer and scout destroyer. Perhaps not so good any more now that outnumbering has dissappeared from combat res - bladewind sometimes helped to thin down enemy ranks to stop them outnumbering - obviously useful for dropping rank bonus but not really a spell to be cast on close combat units unless combined with melkoth's/word of pain (more hits), or soulblight/withering (more wounds).

Soul Stealer
S & Ws: the anti-horde spell that bumps your wizard up! Serious firepower agianst medium/low toughness units and/or high armour save ones. Great on a wizard with the pendent and/or 3 wounds as it makes her VERY survivable. Combines well with T lowering spells.

Black Horror
S & Ws: The old classic. Really hope they make this a vortex like it used to be in 5th... :twisted: This baby is still one of the best template spells out there due to the lack of random placement - very easy to cast too. Works great with soulblight or enfeeble to destroy mass numbers of enemys: particularly great at dealing with non-tzeentch chaos warriors, saurus or high elf elit infantry (not phoenix gaurd though) if combined in this way or Marauders, Orcs, Gobbos, Skaven, Human (greatswords ;)) or other medium/low strength models. Against gnobblers its just plain funny! :lol: The panic check is good with doom and darkness.

So, now onto the relevant part:

MAGIC SYNERGIES

DEATH SPELLS:

- Spiritleech = none (no modifiers to LD).
- Aspect of Dreadknight = Doom and Darkness, Enfeeble.
- Caress of Laniph = Enfeeble, Soulblight.
- Soulblight = Enfeeble, Withering, All fire spells (7), All dark spells (6), Transmutation of Lead, Plague of Rust, Enchanted Blades, Melkoths, Glittering Robe, Fate of Bjuna.
- Doom and Darkness = Aspect of Dreadknight, Black Horror, Final Transmutiation, Fate of Bjuna, any panic causing spells (higher powered fireballs causing a panic check for casualties etc), also indirectly aids any combat hex/augments as opponents SHOULD have lost the combat - particularly good agianst stubborn enemy troops.
- Fate of Bjuna = Witheirng, Soulblight.
- Purple Sun = Melkoth's Miasma.

SHADOW SPELLS:

- Melkoths = Enfeeble, Withering, Pit of Shades, Pendulum, Mindrazor, Bladewind, Enchanted Blades, Glittering Robe, Transmutation of Lead, Flaming Sword.
- Steed of Shadows = Melkoths, Glittering Robe, Word of Pain (all improve survivability from missile fire by flying out of a unit as you're likely to become a single target).
- Enfeeble = Withering, Melkoths, Caress, Word of Pain, Black Horror, Glittering Robe.
- Withering = All of Fire (7), Chillwind, Doombolt, Bladewind, Soul Stealer, Word of Pain, Enchanted Bladess, Transmutation of Lead, Melkoths, Soulblight, Fate of Bjuna.
- Pendulum = Withering, Melkoth's.
- Pit of Shades = Melkoth's.
- Okkams = Enchanted Blades, Firecloak, Melkoths, Word of Pain, Glittering Robe, Enfeeble, Soulblight (hopefully not for any of these last 3 though!).

METAL SPELLS:

- Searing Doom = good vs Glittering Robe or units in buildings... (no combos though!)
- Plague of Rust = Soulblight, Enfeeble, Withering, Word of Pain, Bladewind, Chillwind, doombolt, Melkoths, All of fire (6), Blades of Aiban.
- Enchanted Blades = Soulblight, Enfeeble, Withering, Word of Pain, Melkoths, Flaming Sword, Plague of Rust, Transmutation of Lead.
- Glittering Robe = Enfeeble, Melkoths, Word of pain, cascading firecloak, Soulblight
- Golden Hounds = see searing doom.
- Transmutation of Lead = Enfeeble, Melkoths, Blades, Flaming Sword, Withering (hit enemy easily + easy to wound them...), Chillwind, Doombolt, Bladewind.
- Final Transmutation = none.

FIRE SPELLS:

- Fireball = Withering, Plague of Rust, Transmutation of Lead, Flaming Sword (on missile unit), Burning Head, Flamecage (not in combat), Flamestorm (mostly due to the FIRE attribute), Soulblight, Doom and Darkness (Panic tests)
- Firecloak = Soulblight, Withering.
- Flaming sword = Blades of Aiban, Melkoths, Word of Pain, Soulblight, Transmutation of Lead, Plague of Rust.
- Piercing Bolts = Plague of Rust, Transmutation of Lead, Soulblight, witheirng, Doom and Darkness (for panic).
- Burning Head = almost all fire (for attribute), Doom and Darkness, Soulblight, Withering, Plague of Rust, Transmutation of Lead.
- Flame cage = Withering, fire spells (attribute), Doom and Darkness (if panic check), plague of rust, transmutation of lead, Soulblioght.
- Flame Storm = Withering, fire spells (attribute), Doom and Darkness (if panic check), plague of rust, transmutation of lead, Soulblight.

DARK SPELLS:

- Chillwind = Withering, Doom and Darkness (if panic check), plague of rust, transmutation of lead, Melkoths (for multiple shooting prevention).
- Doombolt = Withering, fire spells (attribute), Doom and Darkness (if panic check), plague of rust, transmutation of lead, Soulblight.
- Word of Pain = Glittering Robe, Blades of Aiban, Flaming Sword, Melkoths (for Initiative), Mindrazor, Bladewind.
- Bladewind = Withering, Word of Pain, Doom and Darkness (if panic check), plague of rust, transmutation of lead, Melkoth's.
- Soulstealer = Withering, Doom and Darkness (if panic check), Soulblight.
- Black Horror = Enfeeble, Soulblight.

PHEW!!!

Please let me know if I've missed some out, or your disagree with certain combos - I'll be happy to explain myself and shall edit this post appropriately as needed. I will now be taking a rest, leave you to have a think and post comments, and then after a period of time (once we've settled on a 'combo' list) I can work out which lores have the most combos with one another and thus pick out a list of 'synergies' for if you have 2, 3 or 4 wizards.

Hope you like this and that is proves in some way useful or helpful - sorry its been so long coming!

- Beanz
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Post by L1qw1d »

Wow- I like the depth of this last one!! WTG DB!!
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Post by Malus99 »

excellent stuff, thanks for this great article DB!
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Post by § »

Excellent! Very good article! Now if a moderator (or you?) could put your 3 post in the top, then it will be so much easier to read :P
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Post by Sulphunet »

Now this will ensure the top spot in my coming School tournament. Thank you Dangerous Beans!
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Post by Dangerous Beans »

No worries guys! Glad ya liked it (I kinda forgot I wrote this as I got occupied with the Throne of Skulls hehe!!)

I'll try and edit them all into one now - going to pop this as a DRAICH as people seem to find it tactically useful - glad to have been of service! :D
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