Due to the arrival of the new 8th edition of Warhammer, I believe it behooves us to begin thinking about what we can run regarding our characters. With the new rules for characters, we will be impacted due the natural nature of squishy, elven characters. Even worse, we are not the most destructive characters in close combat due to only 4 attacks at St4 with our Lords, and we will have to find ways to compensate for this. As such, I intend for us to begin gathering builds that are as effective as possible. Even better, is if we can gather groupings of these builds that would stay within the percentage caps and work together to cause havoc for the opponent.

This hopefully will begin to counteract the concern I’ve noticed on several forums as people realize that their beloved characters of destruction may "never" see the table again at the current 2,000-2,250 point games that are commonly used as reference points. (Including my rarely used, but beloved Dragonmage)

As a perspective for those suggesting builds and combos of characters, please keep in mind that at 2,250 the amount of points at a 25% cap is 562 points. Given that a fully kitted Supreme Sorceress is 360, and a Dragon-riding Dreadlord is 560 fully kitted, please understand the limitation this provides.

And finally, as a disclaimer for my own sake: I in no way am stating in this venue what rules are in the book, I saved that for a separate topic in Warhammer Discussion. As the rules are now out, I have removed mention of rumors and hope you have access to a Tome of Rules (at least until the new box brings the pocket version).

Initially, all builds will be shown under Hypothetical Heroes or Lords as appropriate. Inside the polling topics below, I am keeping an eye on popular opinion to move to "Confirmed" status. The first of which has been moved from Hypothetical to Confirmed due to general acclaim in the polling. If you enjoy a build, please vote for it so I can tally up later.

Poll for 8th edition: Various Character Builds - Masters

Poll: 8th edition: Various Character Builds - Sorceress

Poll for 8th edition: Various Character Builds - Dreadlords

Any builds suggested should please be explained, preferably in detail. I will gladly give you credit and use your description. Plus, I would prefer not having to come up with the tactics of a build I didn’t envision myself, since my variation will likely be far off the intention of the original creator.

For those who respond, I thank you for reading and for your suggestions. Although I don’t post frequently, I’ll be checking when I can to update the listings with any interesting builds you provide. Even situational ones will be added, as we do not know what exactly may come to fruition with 8th edition. Things that were once rarely a threat under 7th may become common occurrences, and vice versa.

Lastly, I have made a revision to the format for the builds. There is a more concrete form of seperation for each type of character. To go to the specific section, try using Control+F and type in Subset - followed by either Master, Sorceress, Dreadlord, or Supreme Sorceress. I hope this helps for navigation purposes.

Confirmed Hero Builds
Due to popular opinion, I'm moving builds to this section to give them priority status as fully functional options for an army to use.

Subset - Master

The Great Equalizer
Master - 133pts
Blood Armour, Sea Dragon Cloak, Black Dragon Egg, Halberd

Due to the new rules, we have a new possible bane of our existence, Steadfast! Any unit can become stubborn just by having more ranks than we do before they take their break test. This is a problem, since we don’t do well at attrition due to 5+ armour saves on just about all our troops. As such, we need to remove the ranks as soon as possible while removing attacks to keep ourselves alive. This model is a great bonus to any unit we are intending to use to munch our way through troops in one turn. (Warning: Lots of Science ahead!) This build is intended to be in a unit with the Banner of Murder for the Armour Piercing bonus, since it will stack on the halberd. Due to initiative 7, the master should put out: 2.67 hits due to hatred, resulting in an average of 2.23 wounds against a toughness 3 target. At a -3 save (strength 5 plus Armour Piercing), that should kill most infantry outright. Then, you get 2D6 hits from the Noxious Breath at strength 4, so an average of 7 hits. That means an average of 4.67 wounds. Barring Full Plate, that is another batch of dead infantry (about 3.88 dead). So our one model just put out 6.1 wounds on average, regardless of who charged. That’s over a rank dead before our initiative 5-6 troops get to swing! Assuming we’re in a unit of Warriors, we should have a clear advantage at this point. Now we get to drop 15 attacks (3 ranks, 5 wide with champ, 1 spot taken by character), that works out to 11.25 hits and 5.63 wounds on toughness 3 enemies. That is another 4.69-3.91 wounds on average (depending on parry bonus or not), so we’ve dropped 2 ranks worth of troops in one round of combat. That should let us be ahead on combat resolution and hopefully break the steadfast rule for the opponent to let us plow right on through.

Alternate Build by Lord Tsunami
Master - 167pts
Battle Standard Bearer, Shield, Sea Dragon Cloak, Beastmaster’s Scourge, Blood Armour, Black Dragon Egg, Luckstone



Subset - Sorceress

The Scholar
Sorceress - 180
Level 2, Tome of Furion, Seal of Ghrond

Reasonable build for added spell options. The 3rd spell gives more options for obtaining the “Greater Spells” to change the battle at a key point. The new rules mean that your arcane is either cast assist or scroll; we can’t have both anymore from what I read. As such, the extra dispel die means you should be more on par with your opponent at the start of the magic phase. Since you’ll always have 2D6 power dice, 3 spells is tactically better than getting 1-2 dice extra power dice if this is your only mage at low scale.

The Sacrificial Lamb aka The One Trick Pony by Venkh and druchii.net
Sorceress - 220
Level 2, Power Scroll, Dark Pegasus

This build I am moving directly to Confirmed on general principle. Sadly, this build has already been vetted by many other forums and gamers as one of the most absurd ways to stretch the new Lore of Death.
The infamous, personification of Risk-Reward Cheese herself. This Sorceress is the primary build for attempting a turn 1 Lore of Death Purple Sun to rip apart your opponent in a very abrupt manner. Combined with a Lv4 to guarantee that you get Purple Sun of Xereus, this mage flies to an opponent's flank on turn 1 and lets fly with as many dice as possible to guarantee that the one use Power Scroll results in a double for IF casting. The mage is quite likely to disappear afterwards due to either a)being sucked into the Realm of Chaos, b)killing herself with a misfire on Purple Sun, or c)getting shot in retaliation after she drops the bomb. Although this is less useful on Elves, Skaven, and anyone with an Initiative value greater than 3, use of Lore of Shadow on a back-up Level 2 will turn this into a rolling ball of death. To be brutally frank, use of this build in a friendly game may result in you gaining a concussion due to angry opponents/bystanders.

Hypothetical Hero Builds
Any builds I add from suggestions will have the user name credited by listing in blue. Explanations are generally originated from the name credited barring any info I decide to add along the way.

Subset - Master

Master of Chains
Master - 128pts
Heavy Armour, Enchanted Shield, Sea Dragon Cloak, Whip of Agony

A standard, solid character with a 2+ Armour Save against close combat attacks, and a 1+ against ranged attacks. Sadly, the new rule regarding magic weapons means that we cannot combine our “hand weapon” magic weapons with shields for the new parry bonus. With 3 Strength 5 Armour Piercing attacks, he has a good chance of ripping holes in the opponent, and then shrugging off retaliatory blows. (Warning: Science ahead!) Running the math, he deals 2.67 hits on average against units (3s to hit with hatred), and then should deal that in wounds since he should on average be wounding on 2s with a -3 to Armour Saves. Leadership 9 gives a nice general boost for our elves, and Initiative 7 means we should frequently get to strike first to deliver our damage early.

Alternate Build - 109 pts
Heavy Armour, Enchanted Shield, Sea Dragon Cloak, Beastmaster’s Scourge
An alternative is to drop the magic weapon and give him the mundane Beastmaster’s Scourge. That would reduce his point cost to 109 points, which is a downright bargain for an elf. The saves would be unchanged, but the strength would drop to 4 for a -2 to armour saves once Armour Piercing is added. However, you would also have the options of hanging the shield on your back, and using hand weapon and scourge to use 4 attacks. (Warning: Science ahead!) That would then give you 3.53 hits, likely wounding on 3s, resulting in 2.33 wounds with the -2 save from the Armour Piercing rule. Although this build results in less kills on average, it is just as effective a defensive option for 19 points less. You would even have the option to make him hold the Ring of Hotek or a similar talisman or enchanted item to support your army instead of himself.

Draich-Bearer
Master - 120pts
Armour of Darkness, Soulrender

A simple build designed to deal the most damage he can. 3 attacks at Strength 6 Armour piercing resulting in a -4 to Armour Save will make most characters flinch, and make knights charge elsewhere. His 1+ armour save means he can hold his own as it takes a correspondingly tough model to cut him down. In a unit with the Banner of Hag Graef, he will usually kill the 2-3 models before they even think about swinging. (Warning: Science ahead!) Running the math, he deals 2.67 hits on average against units (3s to hit with hatred), and then should deal 2.225 wounds since he should on average be wounding on 2s with a -4 to Armour Saves. For Knights with a 2+ save he should deal 1.85 wounds, and Chaos or Empire take 1.469 casualties on average. For these I would recommend challenging to minimize the incoming blows before you eat the foolish challenger alive.

Alternate Build - 109pts
Armour of Darkness, Great Weapon

Almost identical in build, the only loss is the Armour Piercing rule and magical attacks versus ethereal. (Warning: Science ahead!) Running the math, he deals 2.67 hits on average against units (3s to hit with hatred), and then should deal 2.225 wounds since he should on average be wounding on 2s with a -3 to Armour Saves. For Knights with a 2+ save he should deal 1.469 casualties, and Chaos or Empire take 1.113 casualties on average. For these I would again recommend challenging.

Crimson Darkness by DarkAngel16
Master - 130pts
Armour of Darkness, Crimson Death

As pointed out by DarkAngel16, this is a staple build that combines the 1+ armour save with 3 strength 6 attacks at our initiative 7. Against standard troops, this guy should have no problem hacking and slashing away. As long as you take into account anything with strength 5 or higher, dying to attacks should be fairly rare.

Focused Harassment
Master - 136pts
Heavy Armour, Shield, Sea Dragon Cloak, Lifetaker, Lance, Dark Steed

This build is a variation of the hunter builds favored by some. With Lifetaker you can take out most any mage who shows his face outside of a unit, and anything similar to a Skaven weapon team isn’t happy with this accuracy either. Furthermore, with a Lance and the Steed, you can be moving up a flank each turn shooting away until you can start a sequence of charges from one warmachine or 10-man archer unit through to the next. Speaking from experience, partnering with a Hydra works very well for this idea so you get the long range from the Master, medium range from the Hydra, and close combat from both for easy breaking or pinning of non-character units. Lastly, the 1+ save at range from the mundane equipment means that barring a bolt thrower or cannon you should make it to the opposing side without a scratch.

Alternate build - 116pts
Heavy Armour, Shield, Sea Dragon Cloak, Repeater Crossbow, Lance, Dark Steed

This cheaper variation drops the steadier punch of Lifetaker. The saving of 20 points results in less of a distance hunting capacity, but instead lets you focus on getting to the opponent’s side by turn 2 by moving 27"-36" without having to worry about shooting turn 1 since you cannot march and shoot. The armour save is unchanged, so you still ignore most arrows and Strength 4 magic missiles.

Bearer on the Wing by The Warchief and druchii.net
Master - 190-206pts
Heavy Armour, Shield, Cloak of Hag Graef, Ring of Hotek, Lance, Dark Pegasus, optional Repeater Handbows

A popular build during 7th, and thanks to The Warchief for reminding me I didn't have this one up for 8th yet.

BSB of Doom by The Internet and druchii.net
Master - 177-231pts
Heavy Armour, Shield, Sea Dragon Cloak, Sword of Might, Pendant of Khaeleth
-optional equipment: Dark Steed (177), Dark Pegasus (215), Pair of Repeater Handbows

A popular build during 7th and thanks to The Internet for reminding me I didn't have this one up for 8th yet. With a 2+, followed by PoK, it is perfect for holding up those critters too large to deal with normally. The BSB reroll should keep him immune to fear and terror due to a 2.7% chance of failing leadership with the reroll.


Winged PoK of Anti-Doom by PjEOs
Master - 187pts
Heavy Armour, Sea Dragon Cloak, Dragonhelm, Pendant of Khaeleth, Halberd, Dark Pegasus


Machine Hunter by Meteor
Master - 190
Heavy Armour, Shield, Sea Dragon Cloak, Whip of Agony, Dragonhelm, Potion of Foolhardiness, Seed of Renewal, Dark Pegasus


Alternate Build: Morning Whipper by Gastronauticon
Master - 190
Heavy Armour, Shield, Sea Dragon Cloak, Whip of Agony, Dawnstone, Dark Pegasus



Beast Slayer by LanceSaba
Master - 142pts
Soulrender, Pendant of Khaeleth, Dark Steed


Flyswatter by LanceSaba
Master - 140pts
Blood Armour, Sea Dragon Cloak, Beastmaster's Scourge, 2x Null Talisman, Potion of Foolhardiness



Unholy Knight by Camaris
Master - 180pts
Battle Standard, Armour of Destiny, Shield, Sea Dragon Cloak, Cold One, Halberd


"Chuck Norris Shaving" by Auere
Master – 215pts
Battle Standard, Heavy Armour, Shield, Sea Dragon Cloak, Pendant of Khaeleth, Soulrender, Dark Pegasus


Alternate Build: "Chuck Norris Cooking" by Auere
Master – 219pts
Battle Standard, Heavy Armour, Shield, Sea Dragon Cloak, Pendant of Khaeleth, Dragonhelm, Potion of Foolhardiness, Lance, Dark Pegasus

Alternate build designed to be largely immune to Flaming attacks and the small fry that inevitably crops up. With the one time use of four Killing Blow attacks, he can put quite a dent in anything that he aims at.

Fly Boy by Geist
Master – 215pts
Battle Standard, Heavy Armour, Shield, Cloak of Hag Graef, Dawnstone, Lance, Dark Pegasus


Hell on Wheels by Geist
Master – 219 + Banner
Battle Standard, Heavy Armour, Shield, Sea Dragon Cloak, Lance, Repeater Crossbow, Cold on Chariot, Banner of Eternal Flame


Author’s Observation: Plus if you get any flaming strike in, the Skaven Hellpit does not get back up later. If you kill it after he gets a wound in, it is going to stay dead for once.




Subset - Sorceress

The Priestess of Khaine
Sorceress - 185
Level 2, Sacrificial Dagger, Pearl of Infinite Bleakness

This build is the mage who gains upon the bloodshed of those around her. With access to an ever-replenishing amount of Power Dice after Power of Darkness and Sacrificing, she can easily blow through opponent’s defenses. The only limitation is the spells she rolls. For instance, if you get Chillwind and Doombolt the Dagger is largely wasted as you should already be getting the spells off. Take this build more for the Lores in the rulebook and have fun with the higher casting values. (see The Pearl is simply to keep your soon-to-be-corpse unit from running due to sacrifices or enemy attention when they realize what power you can field. If fielded the same time as the Ring of Hotek, the offense and defense can be hard to conquer for opponents if you keep this mage from spontaneously exploding with careful deployment and movement phases.

The Mage Bomb provided by sulla
Sorceress - 112
Level 1, Dark Steed

This build is depends highly upon the randomness of the dice. The main idea is to trigger the Ring of Hotek on yourself while parked nearby the most expensive enemy unit. With a fair amount of luck you can get the 2-4 result on the miscast table and get a st10 large template centered on your mage to eliminate a chunk of the enemy forces. Of course there are several hazards to consider.

1. Getting her shot or spelled at
2. Rolling the result that starts killing all your other mages
3. Not rolling doubles unless you use all 7 dice and skip the rest of your magic phase.
4. Removing the mage with the same result.

Otherwise, this is a decent option if your intention is to annoy your opponent in a semi-crazy tactical manner.

Super-bomber-woman provided by Red…
Sorceress - 200pts
Lvl1, Ring of Hotek, Earthing Rod, Dark Pegasus


Challenge Mistress by sulla
Sorceress- 185pts
Level 2, Tome of Furion, Pendant of Khaeleth


Alternate Build: The Medusa by Auere
Sorceress- 235pts
Level 2, Tome of Furion, Pendant of Khaeleth, Dark Pegasus

Similar concept, but designed to stay out of combat while maintaining the protections granted by the Pendant of Khaeleth.


Arrow Mage by Meteor
Sorceress- 180pts
Level 2, Tome of Furion, Lifetaker

Confirmed Lord Builds

Subset - Dreadlord

The Lone Guard at the Gate by druchii.net
Dreadlord - 280pts
- Heavy Armour, Shield, Sea Dragon Cloak, Dragonhelm, Crown of Command, Pendant of Khaeleth, Sword of Might, Cold One

I cannot take credit for this, as this and it's variations have been popping up all over druchii.net by various users. The Dragonhelm was recently added as a resistance to Lore of Metal due to the 2+ ward against flaming attacks.
This build is intended as the ultimate stopgap against an enemy unit. You walk up, ignore the incoming blows and stick around due to stubborn leadership 10. Add a bsb reroll, and you would need some really bad luck to run away. (Warning: Science ahead!) Assuming my math is correct you would have a 3/36 chance of failing your leadership, or 8.33%. With the BSB, that decreases to a 0.67% chance of failing both times and actually having to flee from combat. That means, on average, you would need over 100 rounds of combat to actually roll the flee result! With those odds, you should have plenty of time to arrange for a support unit to hit the flank, or just proceed to destroy everything else on the other side of the board while you tie up the deathstar or horde unit your opponent decided to bring.

Horselord Guardian by Red…
Dreadlord - 268pts
Heavy Armour, Shield, Sea Dragon Cloak, Crown of Command, Dragonpearl, Armour of Eternal Servitude, Berserker Sword, Dark Steed


Hypothetical Lord Builds

Subset - Dreadlord

Eternal General by EolElfslayer
Dreadlord - 264pts
Armour of Eternal Servitude, Shield, Sea Dragon Cloak, Pendant of Khaeleth, Sword of Might, Cold One Mount
*some tidying of remarks*


The Cleaver by Rabidnid
Dreadlord - 282pts
Heavy Armour, Enchanted Shield, Sea Dragon Cloak, Ogre Blade(+2 strength), Talisman of Preservation(4+ ward), Cold One Mount

This build comes with a 0+ armour save, a 4+ ward from the new talisman section, and a constant st6 due to the new sword of +2 strength from the BRB. He is highly durable, but comes with the option of actually killing most things he hits due to the increased strength. He can actually attack a moster and expect it to say "ouch".

Robust Challenger by Vaari
Dreadlord - 220pts
Armour of Darkness, Pond Stone, Heroslayer



MCHammer Lord by Gee
Dreadlord - 276pts
Ring of Darkness, Glittering Scale Armour, Duelling Blades, Sea Dragon Cloak, Cold One

This build comes with only a 3+ armour save, however he is virtually untouchable in combat. With WS10, and halving opposing model's weaponskill, he causes virtually all opponents (anything with a WS of 8 or less) to need 6's to hit him in combat. In addition, the RoD helps against massed bow- or gun-fire by halving Ballistic Skill.

The Silent Assassin by Falconrider
Dreadlord - 252pts
Deathpiercer, Armour of Darkness, Pendant of Khaleth and Other Tricksters Shard, Dark Steed


The Anti-Magic Dreadlord by Calisson
Dreadlord - 265-285 (depends on weaponry)
Heavy Armour, Shield, Sea Dragon Cloak, Cursed Iron Icon, 5xNull Talisman, Cold One Mount, "Weapon of Choice"

This build by Calisson is rather harsh on certain opponents. Due to the fluctuation on the effectiveness of the Ring of Hotek, this build picks up a lot of slack by granting the unit he is with 1) Immunity to Fear 2) 6+ Ward against War Machines 3) 2+ ward against any damaging spells. This makes him perfect to join a unit of Black Guard or Horde-style Spearelves for some much needed protection.
Plus he's well protected with his 1+ save and 2+ ward against such character sniping spells as Lore of Metal and Lore of Death. Plus you can edit his weapon to either save points with a hand weapon or buy him something such as the Sword of Might or Reliquary Sword to assist with damage.

Death from Above by Shifty
Dreadlord - 450pts
Deathpiercer, Other Trickster's Shard, Talisman of Preservation, Dragonhelm, Heavy Armour, Shield, Sea Dragon Cloak, Manticore


Brute-Lord by RafaPolit
Dreadlord - 279pts
Armour of Eternal Servitude, Dragonbane Gem, Giant Blade, Sea Dragon Cloak, Shield, Cold One

To paraphrase and expand (sorry for the oxymoron) the remainder or his post: Due to a natural leadership of 10, combined with a BSB stupidity shouldn't cause a problem. If you are still hesitant, feel free to switch to a Dark Steed and save 12pts. As it works you have 4 st7, I8 attacks with hatred, for defense you 1) cause fear 2) are ITP (debatable ruling on stupidity) 3) have a 1+ armour save 4) regenerate and 5) have a 2+ ward against flaming attacks.

Aerial Axe by The Internet
Dreadlord - 285pts
Armour of Darkness, Crimson Death, Talisman of Preservation, Dark Pegasus


Midnight Dreadlord by Isryion
Dreadlord - 240pts
Crimson Death, Armour of Darkness, Opal Amulet, Crystal of Midnight


Deadeye by Isryion
Dreadlord - 246pts
Blood Armour, Lifetaker, Guiding Eye, Seal of Ghrond, Halberd

This build is ranged support, in a unit of crossbows he can increase their destructiveness once by giving them a reroll to hit, while putting out 3 shots a turn himself. He also gives a dispel die due to the Seal to help with the magic phase. The reason for Blood Armour as his sole defense is that he should not be in close combat against any large unit or character. As such, taking an initially minimal armour save helps against lore of metal strikes, while giving him the option to get to a better armour when he swings at strength 5 against any fast unit that reaches through the arrow storm.

Lord of Regret by L1qw1d
Dreadlord - 240pts
Black Amulet, Relic Sword, Blood Armour

As an alternate, if you aren’t worried about the T7+ critters out there, taking the Sword of Might is a fine substitution since you’ll smash troops well with the str5 attacks with any bonuses from banners or if a Cauldron happens to be available.

Spell Eater by L1qw1d
Dreadlord - 273pts
Heavy Armour, Shield, Sea Dragon Cloak, Blade of Spell Theft, Potion of Strength, 3x Null Talismans, Dark Steed
Expanding on L1qw1d’s explanation, this build is intended to take out the offensive capabilities of a high level, multi-wound, mage. Putting him in a fast unit, such as Cold One Knights or Dark Riders lets him close rapidly while providing the Magic Resistance to the hard hitting unit. Toss the 5+ ward from the Cauldron and your unit now has a 2+ ward against spells! Although tossing him out seems like a good idea, the opponent will likely challenge with a unit champ and keep you from smacking the mage around. Taking a unit with you makes sure you can use your unit champ to field challenges while your Lord either kills or hampers the mage.

Master of Blades by Geist
Dreadlord - 305pts
Heavy Armour, Shield, Sea Dragon Cloak, Ogre Blade, Pendant of Khaeleth, Dragonhelm, The Other Trickster’s Shard, Dark Pegasus


Slaver King by Geist
Dreadlord - 302pts
Heavy Armour, Shield of Ghrond, Sea Dragon Cloak, Whip of Agony, Talisman of Preservation, Dark Pegasus

This build gets 5 strength 5 Armour Piercing attacks, allowing him to wreck units of knights or anything that works as a small cluster of high armour troops. The Shield drops the strength of incoming attacks (both ranged and melee) by 1. Taking into account his 2+ save followed by the 4+ ward he is quite durable to most troops. Just keep him away from dedicated character killers and he should serve well.

Cyclone
Dreadlord – 305pts
Heavy Armour, Shield, Sea Dragon Cloak, Bloodbath Sword, Pendant of Khaeleth, Potion of Recklessness, Dark Pegasus

This build’s purpose is to stack with available resources from the army list. He comes with Seven attacks base, not counting the Pegasus. Place him in a unit with the Banner of Murder, and your strength 4 attacks become vicious. Drink the potion on the charge and suddenly you have 8 Killing Blow attacks! Hello Tyrion, what a pleasant day it is. How nice of you to give me your head on a silver platter.

Where this build becomes absurd is when you take a sorceress with Lore of Shadow and get Occam’s Mindrazor off. 7 Strength 10 attacks with Hatred will wreck just about anything that has been created in the Warhammer world.

[Warning: Science Content Ahead]
Assuming you get the charge with your Pegasus, that means you would have 8 attacks hitting on 3s, with a reroll.
That means that you have 5.33 hits followed by another 1.78 after Hatred, so 7.11 hits.
That in turn wounds on 2s against anything but a Steamtank, so an average of 5.93 wounds.
[end Science Content]

In other words, assuming no ward save or regeneration it is entirely possible to slay a Dragon in one round of combat with a little bit of luck! That’s not even counting the two strength 5 attacks from the Pegasus.


Subset - Supreme Sorceress

Dark Mistress by Rabidnid
Supreme Sorceress - 315-350pts
Level 3-4, PoK, familiar and LT/BDE


Mistress of Agony by Meteor
Supreme Sorceress - 355-675pts
Level 4, PoK, Black Dragon Egg, Whip of Agony, optional Black Dragon

As stated by Meteor, this build is more for entertainment than any serious competitive nature. With a medium amount of CC destruction preceded by a potential series of spells this should be a funny way to rack up damage. Take Dark Magic for the ability to affect enemies in CC and watch your opponent's face as your mage survives against most characters while eating the unit during the magic phase.

Aerial Support by LanceSaba
Supreme Sorceress - 405pts
Level 4, Pendant of Khaeleth, Dispel Scroll, Potion of Health, Dark Pegasus

As a minor addition, taking Lore of Fire gives the option to Flaming Sword of Ruin buff to a unit as needed.

Combat Sorceress by Rogue-Gladiator
Supreme Sorceress - 360pts
Level 4, Dark Magic, Black Amulet, Black Dragon Egg


Stop Hitting Yourself by Meteor
Supreme Sorceress – 360pts
Level 4, Dark Magic, Black Amulet, The Other Trickster’s Shard, Tome of Furion

Not sure I'd take any of those characters over an extra rank of executioners/black guard.

How about these; 4 lvl1 sorceress on dark steeds with death magic + BG champ with RoH. Turn 1; start the casters outside the bubble and use your default spell spammed to kill off characters in range. Turn 2 charge on sorc into the enemy's best combat unit. Move the ringbearer's unit into range and throw all your dice at her spell. Hope for a miscast and there's a chance of getting a s10 template over your opponents... Not fantastic odds, but as good as you have of those masters doing anything meaningful in a combat. Even the black dragon egg guy is only going to do about 4 wounds vs t3medium armour infantry from the breath weapon.
You're probably better off with another cauldron.

Just one more disclaimer:
In addition to the change of effects for some specifications (for example, how exaclty will stats "merge" between rider and mount?),
we expect to see army FAQs, said to be released a few days before the 10th July.
DE FAQ may - or may not - change significantly certain items.

Another factor is that with the need to calculate 25% of the total army, I expect 2,250pts armies to become much less popular.

This said, thanks for the initiative.

Just to clear something up, if you have always strikes first and a great weapon which give you always strikes last they cancel each other out and you strike at normal initiative. You will still be striking before most things as an elf but not everything.

Aside from that little fact these are some pretty solid character builds that I would probably use

A couple of builds added:
Heroes:The Mage Bomb
Lords:The Lone Guard at the Gate

I'm not sure that the crossbow is realy neccessary if you're marching you can't use it, if youre moving you've only got a 50:50 chance of hitting. Might be better of saving the points and just staying mobile

The crossbow isn't necessary under general circumstances. However, there are things that it is better to shoot than charge: High Elves, Skirmishers, anything that counts as a Large Target... You get my drift.

That and it's useful when you're waiting for a combined charge to go ahead and shoot something. Plus, there are times where a mage will be outside your charge range and the pair of shots may be just enough to take it down.

Dark Mistress - Lvl 3/4 sorceress with, PoK, familiar and LT/BDE.

PoK will protect against most of the miscast chart, Familiar lets the model stay out of the way where her miscasts won't wipe out whole units, and the LT is for stand and shoot reactions versus magehunters and sniping when she is part of a unit. BDE is just cuteness if she gets into CC

Hello, long time player (since 1985!) but first time poster.
I am surprised i did not see the classic lord that dominated 7th edition, and is not one bit less effective now: dreadlord with shield, cold one,sdc, regenerating armour, pendant and sword of might.
So he gets an 1 plus armour save, 4 plus regen and the pendant, plus s5 all the time.
Still one of the more durable generals yo might have in the game, not an ace in combat, but with a decent LD and fear causing, albeith stupid.
Sword of might is good now that protracted rounds of hth could, potentially, be more frequent.
I'd call him "ethernal guard", what do you think?

Welcome to the forums

Its somewhat out of date due to not being able to combine Regen and Wards any more. Just swapping out the armour for the enchanted shield and taking the ogre blade from the new rule book (+2 strength) is a good alternative though. I would leave PoK for the sorceress and just take the new 4+ ward talisman in the army book as well.

CO, HA, SDC, enchanted shield, 4+ ward and +2 strength sword would be quite workable. Armour save of 0 and 4x S-6 attacks with a 4+ wards should be quite survivable.

what about a simple Armor of Darkness Crimson Death master? 130pts with a 1+ and almost always goes first with 3 s6 attacks.

Added several builds due to responses:
Heroes: The Hatchet Elf (very tentative on name, please help me replace it)
Lords: Eternal General, The Cleaver, Dark Mistress

how about crimson darkness?

???
Regen and ward saves not combined? Where is it from?
Had a look at the new rulebook, a couple times, and did'nt notice that.
To be honest, anyways, i was not looking for this specific bit, it might have escaped me.
Well, so, in order to have a semi durable general, we need to use the arour of living death and the pendant. Since he is mounted on a cold one, risking to get the "stupid roll" out of the armour aint that bad per se, and we get T4 and 4 wounds, plus the pendant. No s5 sword, a shame, probably need a lance at this point. Not that he ever was a big hitter anyways, so no big loss.
Ok, so: cold one, shield, lance, sdc, AoLD, PoK and a pretty evil attitude.

Forgot to coment on this one.
This more or less implies using a lord level caster, right?
Unless i play DoC or VC i neve do that.
Magic has, IMHO, always been a fun part of the game, but never worth betting on it turning the game for you, not even in 4th or 5th edition really.
Do you invest in high level casters, then?
I always bring a scroll caddy (or two) to the field, but i have never experimented with arch casters. Never been an Harry Potter fan
Is it worth? How do yo field them? I have always been under the impression that a lvl3 or 4 sorceress would, probably, be the only DE model to really benefit from a dark pegasus, if only because she could move with more freedom and get off offensive spells to better effect.

Robust Challenger - DLord - Armour of Darkness , Pond Stone , Heroslayer - 220

1+ Re-rollable armour save in light of the amount of AP i'm seeing. Herolsayer giving +1 A & S for every character in opposing unit. Will survive against mundane units fairly well and has the punch needed to tackle the character heavy units that shall appear.


EDIT: Looking over some of the other Lord builds that have cropped up, I see this guy as more of an overpowered hero . Still might have a place in 3000pts games for an infantry buff.

about : The Lone Guard at the Gate build

I will use Dragon helm(one extra armor save and 2+ ward against fire) and a shield instead of Enchant shield .Same save , same point (or less?) and 2+ ward against many thing(Breath attack , metal signature spell...)

The MCHammer Lord
DreadLord - Ring of Darkness, Glittering Scales. Cold One - 225

Anything with WS6 or less needs 6s to hit.

The Silent Assassin
Dreadlord - Deathpiercer, Armour of Darkness, Pendant of Khaleth and Other Tricksters Shard, Dark Steed.

1+ save, pendant ward, kililng blow and force opp to reroll ward saves.

Varient would be to use Crimson Death.

Update to listings:

@UndeadcatD: Lone Guard at the Gate build edited

@Gee: MCHammer Lord added

@Falconrider: The Silent Assassin added

Added new Lord build:
The Anti-Magic Dreadlord per Calisson

I like that build, it's nasty and is a very nice combination. Though it's still vulnerable to sniping spells and instant death spells which are all too common now, since PoK won't protect attacks without a str value.

This one is just for shits and giggles that came up as I was writing my list. I've always pondered on how amusing it'd be having a combat sorc as a nasty surprise to the unwary, with some buffers it'd be more sinister.

Supreme Sorceress - (name)
lv3/4 doesn't matter
Whip of Agony
Black Dragon Egg
PoK

With the new rules for breath weapon, BDE is quite useful now. 1st round of combat, you'll get 2x Str5 rerolls, commonly hitting on a 4+, T6 to shrug off hits, PoK to save the ones that get through, 2D6 breath attack for extra CR.