D.R.A.I.C.H. Selection of Lores according to your army

[Calisson]

Many gamers ask what lore is the best.
Well, it depends a lot on your army.


1. Casters.
6 lvl of magic is said to be optimized.
You may consider more if you had alternative sources of powerdice (PD):
- Power of Darkness (PoD) from Dark magic
- Death magic
- Sac dagger
- powerstone.

For casters, there are some reliable choices:
- A low level Dark sorceress may get "the" spell you wish with Tome of Furion (ToF).
- Low level casters may reliably chose signature spell.
- Warlocks are Lvl2 with a set choice of spells.
- Cauldron of Blood (COB) is like a Lvl1, with a single spell.
- Ruby Ring of Ruin is also like a lvl1.
- A supreme sorceress (Lv4 most likely) gets a wide spell selection with some randomness, and casts several times per phase.

Having two or three potential users of magic seems appropriate, in order to have something to do with your PD in case your Lvl4 gets warped, and in order to present a variety of spell sources.


2. Dark Lore with ToF for Lvl2.
ToF allows you to select one spell with certainty. It can be combined with any signature spell, still with certainty.

Doombolt provides the high S that we lack in core troops. Its 18" range is mediocre, though.
- Word of Pain (WoP) can be crucial in middle game, -D3 WS and BS, possibly S and I too, at 24". Can be cast from a babysitting unit.
- Bladewind is perfect against hordes, targeting "all" models in a unit at 24". Can be cast from a babysitting unit.
Note: When you learn the detail of the army you're facing, just pick up what is best, WoP or Bladewind.

- Shroud of despair, the Ld bomb, is good when facing steadfast troops, but only at 12". Shroud is best cast from inside a unit joined by COB or, better, shrine.
Synergizes well with Doombolt, too.

- Black Horror, the vortex, is great when facing low S troops, but the spell caster must best be mobile and alone. 15+ requires all PD you can grab.
Overall, best on mobile sorceress with Power of Darkness.
- Chillwind is a MM, useful only at distance. The only meaningful use would be for an evasive list. In that case, a Lvl2 on steed could use it with Doombolt and use either magic missile (MM) according to need.
Note: As these two combo require the same mobile caster, you may select the relevant combo after having discovered your opponent's army.

- Soul stealer, S2 no AS at 18", increasing caster's own wounds, is a great complement to Power of Darkness rather than Doombolt.
Getting more wounds allows a sorc not to care about losing wound with PoD, and not to be afraid to go into melee, where +1S will be useful for her unit.
This can be used by a melee sorceress, for example on a CO inside a COK unit.

As you see, Dark Lore spells are optimized for different uses.
Dark is good against everybody. It's incredibly universal and with Tome you can pick the spell you need the most against particular matchup.
Dark Lore can better be used for a specialized ToF Lvl2, adapted to your playstyle, than for a generic Lvl4.


3. Dark Lore double signature for Lvl2.
Take as many Lvl2 as you dare. Place them inside melee units.
Cast PoD, give +1S to your troops and get more PD in the process. Cast Doombolt with extra PD from whoever is not in melee.
If you lose a sorc due to PoD's wound or due to melee, who cares? They are many more where they come from.


4. Other lores sig for Lvl1
Discussed in more detail here. Figure out what we get for a mere 80 pts! (add a scroll, always useful, for 105 pts).
On more consideration is the compeition for PD. If the Lvl1 complements a Lvl4, try to get a low casting sig. If she somplements warlocks, go for highercasting level.
- Lvl1 Shadow: Miasma, at 48", lowers by D3 either WS or BS or I or M or all 4. That's excellent, at any time of the battle!
- Lvl1 Beasts: Wyssan's wildform, at 12", augments +1S and +1T. That is extremely useful for our troops, especially WE and BG. Must consider for any infantry-based army, be it MSU or a couple of large units. However, hard to cast with 10+.
- Lvl1 Life: with Earth Blood, the healer makes her unit regen (5+); and each time she casts that spell successively, she gives back 1 wound to a character, a monster or a chariot. What's not to love, especially if you have a large unit and several monsters?
- Lvl1 Heavens: iceshard blizzard at 24" or 48", hexes -1 "to hit", CC and shooting. Always good.
- Lvl1 Death: range 12" or 24", targets a model, Ld contest, loser suffers autowounds, no AS. The problem is that our caster is Ld8 only. Still good against monsters, chariots, warmachines and goblin casters. Another problem is the range. Pay 10 pts for a steed, and you'll vanguard in range for turn 1.
- Lvl1 Fire: Fireball uses as many PD as available with 3 options for the spell. Great use of variable number of PD. But only S4, allows AS, so not a great complement to our army.
- Metal sig is hard to cast and brings not that much to us.
- Light sig is a rather weak MM.


5. Warlocks.
Fast cav Lvl2, 5 wounds, 4++, guaranteed spells which cast soulblight (Death #3) and doombolt (Dark sig2).
Soulblight hexes -1S and -1T, which complements perfectly well our core troops.
Doombolt is 2D6 S5, also a great complement to our core.
Warlocks are really good for us.


6. COB
A single spell, granting Frenzy at 12".
It would be nice in an MSU army, but the COB itself is not a small unit.
It is near-mandatory to boost Executioners, just at the appropriate time: during the magic phase, you know already which unit is in melee.
The only drawback for frenzy will be the mandatory overrun, and charging next round... just before losing frenzy. Pick up your target well.
Obviously, the opponent will try to dispel. Better 6-dice that spell.
Also, useful only once in melee.


7. Ruby Ring of Ruin.
Just for a 24", D6 S4 MM. I don't see much use for that one, it is mroe a nice-to-have.


8. Supreme sorceress Lvl4.
She casts at +4, i.e. 1 die bonus compared to a Lvl1.
For spell selection, she gets:
- 83,3% odds to get both of the spells you really want, i.e. 1 game out of 6, you won't have both of them.
- 90,7% to get "the" spell you want, i.e. 1 game out of 11, you won't get "that" spell.
- 98,1% to get either one of "the two" spells you want, i.e. near certainty to get either "this spell" or "that spell".
If you really, really need "that" spell on your Lvl4, you can increase the odds by taking a sorceress in same Lore, who will take some spell choices for herself, leaving the desired one to the boss.
That would increase odds to get "the" spell to 96,9% with a Lvl1 and 99,4% with a Lvl2.


9. Selecting lore for Lvl4.
The lvl 4 must bring what complements best your army.
Sure, you're confident to get "the" spell, but the rest of the Lore must be useful.

Let's recall, generally speaking, what are the general uses for each Lore.
Some are better used in combat. Take them if you play a list rushing to combat.
Some are mixed. Take them with a balanced list.
Some are better used out of combat. Take them if you play an avoidance list.

In addition, the range is paramount. Sometimes, you need to be close to enemies. Sometimes, you just need ot follow your own lines.

Combat Lores:
- Shadows: The ranges are great. The sorceress can help from far behind, for example inside a small RXB unit.
Shadow is good against high strength and toughness armies.
- Life: Ranges are small, especially for the attribute. This Lore is at its best with expensive troops.
The best use would be inside a unit joined by the COB or shrine. That unit is a shooting magnet, its constituants are expensive.
Regen (with shrine units) is great, and regrowth is just amazing. A sorceress could even risk to stay in a unit of WE, as the attribute would heal her from the WE's aggressivity.
- Beasts: As Life, small buffing ranges. This Lore is best with melee characters, a DH would love it.
The sorceress can remain within the main unit, as her buffs protects herself too.
Again, inside a unit joined by a COB or shrine, that seems perfect, little risk taken, good reward.

Balanced Lores:
- Metal: Buffs from far apart, destroys at close distance. The sorceress is better closer to the enemy than to her friends!
A pegasus or steed should help. Alternatively, in a unit with COB or shrine, the sorceress is moved back to 2nd or 3rd rank and can't be touched in melee.
Metal is good against heavily armoured armies.
- Heavens: It kills at distance but buffes rather close. The sorceress must follow closely the battleline, but needs not to be inside a melee unit.
The sorceress may well remain inside a small RXB unit, behind the battle line.
- Light: Destroys very far (48"), buffs all nearby units at 12".
That's perfect for a sorceress in the midst of masses of infantry, or in a babysitting unit following just behind the lines.
- Dark: a bit of everything, ranges ain't that great. Most likely, 2 spells will be great, 2 will be of little use.
Only for highly adaptable sorceresses, for example on a dragon.
Dark is especially good against low leadership horde armies.

Out of combat lores:
- Fire: destructive at 48". The wizard has the same role as a warmachine.
Your caster needs not to be very mobile but should avoid the heat of the melee.
Best is a Lvl4 inside a "dagger fuel" unit of warriors.
Fire is good against skirmisher armies.
- Death: With a short range of 24" or less, this is best used by a mobile wizard, harassing the ennemy (especially warmachines).
A Pegasus mount seems well adapted, but a steed is good as well thanks to vanguard.
Alternatively, inside a unit joined by a COB or shrine, the sorceress is safely close to the heat of the melee.
Death is good against low I or high character build armies.


10. Special mention about Morathi.
She needs not to select Lores before the battle, but just before you roll for spells.
As a result, she can adapt to the foe.
# Death is good against low I or high character build armies. Its signature spell is incredibly well adapted to a Ld10 pegasus sorceress.
# Shadow is good against high strength and toughness armies. It works at great ranges, so having the sorceress wondering about on her pegasus is not a liability.
# Dark is good against everybody and incredibly universal. It is especially nice for a combat sorceress on a mobile monster.
And due to Morathi forcing individual model Ld test, Morathi + Shoud of Dispair = Shatter the Will of the Weak
# And you can even combine,
- Death sig to snipe out enemy characters,
- Shadow's sig to hex at 48" WS, BS, I, M or all 4.
- Dark double sig to get +1S and more PD, and a powerful Doombolt at 18".


11. Summary.

With an army made around a couple of large units (up to deatstar) backed with COB and/or shrine,
a Lvl4 may safely go inside that large combat unit, close to the enemy, as she will be kept to 2nd rank thanks to the chariot.
Take:
- Life (especially with very large unit or Deathstar, or if you have monsters along),
- Beast (epecially with DH),
- Metal (excellent against heavy armoured foes),
- Death (excellent against character heavy opponents)
- or Light for your Lvl4.
If you don't take Death, consider a dagger, especially with Life.
An additional Lvl1 will be outstanding, with Beasts or Life, in same unit.
A ToF Dark Lvl2 with either Shroud of despair/Doombolt (with shrine) or Soul Stealer/PoD (with COB) is a great asset, too.
The COB will use PD in the middle game.
Warlocks are always useful, especially with their hex, but they need some spare PD, that you'll certainly lack.

For an army build around a horde, the sorceress cannot hide in 2nd rank of the horde, and better remain safely in a babysitting unit, mabe playing with a dagger to spend time.
A Shadows or Heavens Lvl4 is certainly useful. She will need a babysitting unit, either RXB or RHB corsairs.
Life is probably not the best bet, better count on the horde's sheer numbers.
Complement that with a Lvl1 using Shadows or Heavens, or even Beasts.
Warlocks bring a very useful hex, all the more that the hex is duplicated.

For an MSU army, or classic hammers and anvil (or just hammers),
A Shadows or Heavens Lvl4 is certainly useful. She will need a babysitting unit, either RXB or RHB corsairs.
Complement that with a Lvl1 using Shadows or Heavens, or even Beasts.
In addition, the double-sig-dark Lvl2 can do great, or the ToF Lvl2 with WoP or Bladewind.
You could even take 3 Dark double-sigs (inside any of the fighting units) and no other caster.
Warlocks bring a very useful hex, all the more that the hex is duplicated.

For a COK army, the Soul stealer/PoD sorc on CO will be great. A life Lvl1 will complement greatly from inside the unit.
Add a Lvl1 supporting at distance with Shadows or Heavens.
Warlocks provide an excellent complement.

A dragon sorceress, or a manticore sorceress, might make good use of Dark Lore. Metal, Death and Life to consider, too.

For an evasive army, select a Fire or Death Lvl4 (Morathi is outstanding in that role, using Death signature, along with either 3 Death or 3 Dark spells).
A Black Horror/PoD ToF Lvl2 on steed would cause havoc, too. Alternatively, you could select Doombolt/Chillwind for pure MM.
A Lvl1 using Fire or Death is useful, too.
Ruby ring on a hero, why not.
Warlocks, of course, for their MM.

[Gwii2510]

Great writeup Calisson.

In the summery it would be nice if there were some kinda off "HORDE" army which could be a upcomming trend.

[strategem]

Thanks for the write up. ( once again your knowledge has been bookmarked for permanent reference )
It has opened my eyes to some of the lores I would not have conceded before

[Calisson]

Thanks for kind words, but be aware that I'm basing my posts on deep analysis and reading of many D.net reports by good players, but I hardly play myself and did not play yet with this edition.
This thread needs confirmation by good players with some actual practice.

Added a paragraph on hordes, where the sorceress cannot be hidden in second rank of main unit unlike when a chariot is there. Hence the similarity with MSU armies where the sorceress is not supposed to be in the fighting unit.

[strategem]

to put in my 2 bits since my fav 3 lores are death, shadow and dark I find Morathi as the perfect sorceress for me in tourneys.
I can choose:
shadow when facing - Woc, DoC and other high T high I armies
death when facing - OK, dwarves, Lizzies and other low I armies
dark when facing - skaven, O&G, and other horde armies
or just mix it up for armies that have a bit of everything

[Canadianguy]

So she can switch up every game? I was unsure of the wording.
If that is true her with 2 units of warlocks or 2 level 2s in shadow, death or dark would be so solid. Death with pod and the dagger on the board can bring a dice heavy phase most times.
As well do warlocks get the lore attributes? I would assume they do by the wording.
Morathi and 2 level 2s each in a warlock unit could be a lot of fun! She is so efficient and with multiple death spells flying and pod you could do well with dice management. I just can't work the dagger in a list like that.

[Trax]

Nice writeup.

Did you actually play with the Sorc on CO in COK so far? I even scoured the nets to get myself the respective model (made of metal...) so I could try this one out, but I'm still skeptical about a stupid sorceress...

[Calisson]

No, only theoryhammer, analysis and the like - and sharing with D.net.
No opportunity to play myself, that's why I'm eager to get practical results from other sources.

[Paricidas]

just my 2 Cent:

life Forces you into Cookie cutter death star builds, and while I dont think there is anything wrong with deathstars, thats not everyones Cup of tea....

Metal sig is absolutly hilarious for a lvl1. If that one goes off, its often a gamebreaker, so it is fired with as many dice as possible therefor it does not mater that much if you get +1 or +4 to the result.

[Lysanthyr]

The only problem with Metal is the S of any damage spell is equal to the AS bonus of who you are hitting i.e. you cast Searing Doom into a unit of HE Spearmen, it is only S2, there for you need 5's to wound a T3 Elf. Also, since they are all considered Flaming Attacks, it is easy to get a 2++ against it. Final Transmutation, on the other hand, works well against Elves, even the dreaded PG fall to it nicely.
I still think that Beasts has become the bi thing for our army. +1S/+1T as a sig? I'll take two please.

[Gerner]

But that is why having a lvl 1 with metal is so good. It is a very strong counter to armour save 1-2+ units.

[Paricidas]

The only problem with Metal is the S of any damage spell is equal to the AS bonus of who you are hitting i.e. you cast Searing Doom into a unit of HE Spearmen, it is only S2, there for you need 5's to wound a T3 Elf.

If you are frequently asking yourself if your lvl1 scroll caddy should spend 6 dice on a bunch of str2 hits, then the Problem is not metal but mental...

[Lysanthyr]

I don't spend any time thinking about that, actually. I don't take Metal. I take lores that actually work against more then two armies, like Shadow, Death, or Fire. Now Fire has a sig spell that is really useful against most armies. If I am going to risk blowing up my Scroll Caddy, then I will six dice Fireball, shooting for the 18+ to get 3d6 S4. Where are the Mental issues with that line of thought?

[Dalamar]

Really? Fire? It's a terrible lore. Only good against hordes... and everything is pretty damn good against hordes anyway.

[Paricidas]

I don't spend any time thinking about that, actually. I don't take Metal. I take lores that actually work against more then two armies, like Shadow, Death, or Fire. Now Fire has a sig spell that is really useful against most armies. If I am going to risk blowing up my Scroll Caddy, then I will six dice Fireball, shooting for the 18+ to get 3d6 S4. Where are the Mental issues with that line of thought?

That "you" was in no way a "you, lysanthyr", sorry

Dismissing the lvl1 metal mage because he cant blow away 20 spearelfs with a single sig-spell however, is not fair to the poor guy. (well, in DEs case Girl). Metal is a weak lore, no question, because it is sooo dependend on the opponenets army. But a single lvl1 metal mage is like an insurance. You will not Need him most of the time, but if the occassion arises, you will be very happy to have brought him with you.

[Gerner]

There are more than to armies that have those crazy.armour saves. Want me to make a list?

[Lysanthyr]

With the 8th Ed rule that you pick your Lore when you buy the Sorc, and always trying for an All-Comers list, I find that takeing Metal on any caster isn't a good idea. As to the armies that have sick AS's, the only ones that I generally face in my area are WoC. The only other ones that I can think of off the top of my head would be Dwarves and Empire, maybe Bretts as well, only Black Orcs can get a decent save in O&G's, HE asn Skaven are in the same boat we are, WE have less armour, same with Deamons & Beastmen. LM might fall into the Heavy Armour catagory, but that is only due to them have inate Scaley Skin.

And I was referring to ARMY WIDE ARMOUR SAVES, not just characters.

And as far as my comment about Fire, I was trying to show that Searin Death wasn't that strong compared to other MM sig spells. Also, I not sure about you, but anyone who does a 3d6 S4 usaually catches my attention. You are looking at the number of dice being rolled. Even against T6, you are going to get a couple of wounds.

[Paricidas]

And as far as my comment about Fire, I was trying to show that Searin Death wasn't that strong compared to other MM sig spells.

well, then I would give light a try, but fire???


1. The main Problem is that the comparison between different sig MMs is rather void. They have completly different roles, at least as far as fire and metal. Saying fire is better than metal is like saying pump guns are better than sniper rifles.
A 3rd Tier FIREBALL does 0,85 wounds on a unit of demogryphons and a 2nd Tier searing bolt 5,83, thats nearly 7 (!) times the damage.
A 3rd Tier fireball does 7 wounds on a unit of high elf archers and a 2nd Tier searing bolt does 0 (Zero, nada, null).

2.If you want to inflict boatloads of low strengh hits from range, then welcome to the world of elfs, elfs have BF 4, RBTs, extremly nasty Special ranged weaponry and Access to flaming weapons via Banners. So almost anything that a fire MM can do can also be done by the None Magic parts of your army.

3. If you want to inflict serious ranged damage on high armor Units, than you can go with RBTs or with a metal, beast, light mage. So you have less targets but you also have less elements in the elfish army that can deal with them from range.

4. ruby ring of fire.

[Lysanthyr]

Your points are noted and taken under advisement, however, as someone who doesn't face heavily armoured armies as a general match up, I only have to worry about them when I travel for a tourney, in which case, my Lore(s) have already been choosen when I made my list and I have to go for something that will work against most, if not all, the armies I might encounter. Taken even a Lvl 1, which I have never done as my Scroll Caddies are still Lvl 2's, out of a Lore that will effect maybe 3 armies that I might not even come across, is just wasted points in an army where every point need a validation. I was not argueing that Searing Doom is a bad spell. I was argueing about the usefulness of said spell in a tourney enviroment.

[Dalamar]

Metal is great on level 1.
You don't always have to use the signature spell.

Aside from Golden Hounds, all other spells work universally well on everyone and even if you roll golden hounds you can still snipe at characters who will likely have heavy armor. Glittering Scales and Enchanted Blades are lovely to have regardless of matchup, Final Transmutation is an amazing spell.
If you take a lore only for the signature, you're limiting yourself unnecessarily.

What if you take fire and face WoC? They'll just chuckle at your S4 hits.
Fire is a good lore, but it's also a terrible lore in an all comers setting.

[strategem]

So this thread goes through all 9 lores that we have access to, to complement our army builds but what are peoples thoughts on the 9 lores going against other armies?
I find:
metal is good against for heavily armoured armies
shadow is good against for high strength and toughness armies
dark is good against for low leadership horde armies
death is good against for low I or high character build armies
fire is good against for skirmisher armies

[Dalamar]

Dark is good against everybody. It's incredibly universal and with Tome you can pick the spell you need the most against particular matchup.

[Calisson]

Included your comments, strategem & Dalamar.
Added a paragraph about Morathi as well.

[Paricidas]

A quick and rather pessimistic overview on the new lores:

I Beasts:
a.Wysssans: awesome if you go to battle with low toughness, low strengh troops (= dark elfs). There is almost no elfen unit that would not be boosted significantly with +1t/+1str. Unfortunatly this has an ungodly high complexity (10) for a sig spell and this makes it a very hard to cast spell for a lvl1/2 (or it trains your PD-pool, because even with a lvl4 you need 3 dice if you dont want to gamble…)

b.Crowsomething: 2d6 hits str 2, nothing to write home about. Buff the caster with a CoB and the rerolls to wound can perhaps take out a warmachine…

c.Panns pelt: with asf you have very few reasons to cast this if you can instead cast savage beast of horros (which is better if you fight character model vs. Character model). Use it as defensive buff for a char that needs it, if you were unlucky when you rolled for spells.

d.Amberspear: RBT with autohit (or cannon).Use it like a RBT (or a cannon), loveley against anything that does not have obscenely high wardsaves, just having this spell in the arsenal will somewhat tame the crazy movement phases of enemy monsters.

e. Anraheirs curse: depends on your houserules: If open terrain is terrain, than go for it, if open terrain is nothing, dont use it.

f. Horros wild beast: the small version can be used to slay characters in melee, the large version slayes units (if you have enough character models). If you have a model with killing blow in a challenge (or someone with a twohanded sword), than this one will draw dispell dice like mad.

g. Kadons transformation: A cassical „OMG-overpowered!!!“ spell that turns to gabage at a closer look:
1. You need to be in melee for this to be good.
2. If your lvl4 is cought in a melee fight, you are already about to lose the game (not the best strategy to go to battle) or he is part of a deathstar that would benefit more from other lores.
3. If the lvl4 is part of a deathstar, then be prepared for a 2 hours quarrel with your opponent about the place that the monster/caster will have after(re)transformation…

Sidenote: It should be added that an ASF chimaera can do quite some damage and that you are gambeling with your casters life if you use this spell (imho such tricks are better left to vampires or high elfs)



II Life:

Oh how good it is to have a lifemage, if you run a round with t3 models that are worth 15 points…
Well, no….
Long story short: A lifemage with enough PD can make his own unit almost immune to most kinds of damage. This is of course not really the kind of effect that wins games…

1. Earthblood: The casters unit gains a 5+ ward, this really stinks, as the casters unit normaly does not need wards because its so far away from the action. Only good if combined with throne of vines and a mage carrier that can fight (= death star).

2. Awekening of the wood: I guess I saw this cast once or twice in three years of HE gaming, well…

3. Flesh to stone: key spell. This is one of the bread and butter spells of life. This will make any unit a very hard nut to crack (your opponent has the choice between dispelling earthblood, dwellers and this one). However, If you dont play deathstars, then your nice little t5/7 models can watch how the whole punishment of the enemy is simply unloaded onto their squishy t3 comrades next to them.

4. Throne of vines: the crux of he life lore. If you dont cast it, the life spells are not strong enough, and if you cast it, you dont have enough PD to follow up with something serious. Bring the sacrifical D and a lot of fuel for it. In early stages of the game, where you cannot cast dwellers because of range and you dont need t5 (because the enemy has no real ranged threats), throne of vines is used to drain the PD-pool of the opponent because if he does not dispell it in his own pahse, he will be in for some trouble.

5. Something shield: Its remains in play and if you add a CoB, you can reroll the to-wound-roll, quite useless.

6. Regrowth: Without throne of vines, its much to weak. However, if you pair it with a deathstar, it brings back the champion and beams him into the first rank. This can be quite usefull if he pushes back the caster into the second rank.

7. Dwellers: should be known well eough because every general has at least once lost his lvl4 to it. Use a deathstar or a peasus to get in range for it, or just simply six dice it. If your meta contains lots of deathstars with many characters, use this (and a sword of antiheros)to motivate your gaming partners to come up with something new…

Lore atribute: nice to heal shrines, CoBs and characters. Unfortunatly it would work best on dragons or other big monsters. In most cases, those monsters will be more than 12 inches away from the caster…

Sidenotes: Throne of vines will effect miscasts that where created during the casting of throne of vines. With boatloads of killing blows and tons of poisoned attacks, DE are probaly the army that cares the least about flesh to stone. For a lot of fun, make a unit t7 so it gets almost immune to plague, then watch the seer-bell ring the result: all models with t7 or above suffer d3 wounds .
Life sumary: Life stands and falls with the combination of your army and the combination of spells you rolled for it. Flesh to stone, throne of vines and dwellers are almost mandatory for this to work well. Unfortunatly the chances to roll all this spells on a lvl4 are not good enough to base a whole strategy around it. As all spells of life only target a single unit and have significant influence on the game, life can work in games where both armies have big bad superunits (deathstars)

III + IV Heavens and dark: never played with it, only against heavens. Casandora is nice if you want to storm a gunline, other than that I dont remember anything worth mentioning about heavens.

V: Light: A very very good lore if you are able to duplicate light spells. (so you can get double banishemnt laser lists of doom) As DE cannot get this and already have ASF (so they do not profit from bironas), shems burning gaze is probably the only thing worth mentioning here, as most lvl1 scroll caddies normaly dont shoot str6 bolts out of their rear.

[Dalamar]

I have to disagree with you on most here (but not all as I completely agree with your take on Life )

Life magic is the ultimate deathstar magic. You bunker your own unit, give them the shield of thorns, flesh to stone and keep regrowing the casualties. Then drop Dwellers on the enemy death star. Every spell except for Dwellers depends on the throne to be good.

For beasts, It's a support lore mostly if you go character heavy. I don't think we really can go character heavy. Level 4 with the lore can be good. With Black Amulet and Transformation she can be scary (as she's ok in combat even without transformation). It can make mages fighty but the risk is IMO too high, unlike for, say, beastmen. For the curse, open terrain is terrain, it's not a piece of terrain though.

Heavens? It's a really good lore, Some of its abilities (harmonic convergence) we already have, some (iceshard blizzard) work really well with Dark Magic Ld bomb. Comet is great against gunlines, Chain Lightning slaughters MSU lists (I should know, I faced it my last game) and the other spells are fine.

Light is also great, and not for banishment or burning gaze (which is fine) but for spells like Timewarp (yeah, we already have ASF, but +1A and double M is a great ability) or light of battle (our monsters have terrible Ld). But, especially net of amyntok. Most mages have S3, most of their bunkers also have S3. Put a net on them and they will not be casting!

Eventually I'm going to sit down and rewrite my treatise on magic lores I did for our last book now that we have access to all lores and much improved dark magic.