Which lore for a support mage

Azimyth · Post by **Azimyth** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 2:41 pm

I'm wanting to use the following configuration of Sorceress's:

L4 SS with SacDag and Black dragon egg(for that one turn WTF was that), using shadow magic
L2 Scholar sorceress
I'm tending towards either dark or fire magic but am not sure which one to use.
This is for a 2800 all comers list that will probably have to deal with Kairos at some point.

Dirty Mac · Post by **Dirty Mac** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 3:25 pm

Personally the Dragon egg might be a waste on the SS, because you will be taking victims with the dagger, less models in the unit means less losses needed to take panic tests. the egg might never get used because a you have been shot to bits and died/panicked. or people never get close enough to you to use it.

That being said, i would choose Fire as your support mage. and i would give her the tome of furion. The Fire signature spell is great, you can always have it and it has a range of 24", 36", 48" depending on powerful you want it. and try to get the sword of Rhuin as well , to give yourself flaming attacks.
Dark can be a bit short ranged but i run 2 lvl 2's and the dark mage sits in my xbow unit, so i am usually only 24" away anyway.

Tmarichards · Post by **Tmarichards** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 3:45 pm

At 2800pts I think you could get away with just the Fire level 1 scroll caddy.

Also, depending on how far you want to list-gear vs Kairos, you may find the Tome of Furion useful on the Shadow mag just to make sure you get Pit...

Post by **Dyvim tvar** » Tue Oct 04, 2011 5:20 pm

I personally use Death on my level 2 caster. It works well for her since she is mounted on a Dark Pegasus, and has the mobility to make the most out of that Lore. I love it when I have Purple Sun (pretty good shot at it with 3 spells) and fly her into a spot to cast it right down a battle line of undead.

All that aside, if she were on foot, i would probably go for Dark magic. It is a strong lore overall, and it has really low casting values, which makes it great for a supporting Level 2 since she can get by on very few dice. It also has multiple spells that can effectively shut down enemy shooting, which is really nice when facing Daemons (Flamers are the bane of my existence).

Red... · Post by **Red...** » Tue Oct 04, 2011 6:49 pm

Metal is a good choice: gives you a way of dealing with any super heavy cavalry or infantry that your enemy may bring, and has a few nice buffing spells to boot.

Rabidnid · Post by **Rabidnid** » Tue Oct 04, 2011 11:10 pm

Red... wrote:Metal is a good choice: gives you a way of dealing with any super heavy cavalry or infantry that your enemy may bring, and has a few nice buffing spells to boot.

I like metal for sniping those irritating things like, steam tanks, treekin and treemen. On a level 2 there is a good chance the other spell will also be useful.

I use dark and metal, but If I was running shadow then dark combines with it well.

Markusswe · Post by **Markusswe** » Fri Oct 07, 2011 5:17 pm

I prefer dark because of cheap spells (chill wind w 1dice, WS1 and bladewind with 2 etc). If you go for fire then you won't normally have enough dice to cast with your lvl4 shadow.

Tethlis · Post by **Tethlis** » Fri Oct 07, 2011 5:34 pm

I also like Dark, but I can see the value of metal as well.

The value of Dark is that it's got ultra-cheap casting values, but a good combination of utility and direct damage. The utility creates redundancy with Shadows, which is a good thing if you're really trying to force spells through. As an example, an opponent might be able to stop Miasma, but probably can't stop Miasma AND Word of Pain, making it more likely you'll get what you want. You can also focus on the augment/hexes of Shadow, and switch over to Dark's horde-nuking abilities if you find yourself in a situation where you really need to clear out enemy numbers.

Metal's a good backup too, for the ability to nuke big nasties and heavy cavalry as well.

The ultimate choice probably depends a bit on your local scene, and whether you think Searing Doom or big nukes are more applicable versus who you regularly fight.

Ichiyo1821 · Post by **Ichiyo1821** » Fri Oct 07, 2011 6:29 pm

Generally speaking

Shadow
Dark
Metal
Fire
Death

in that order I you mean actual "support spells".

This all changes to local meta.

Azimyth · Post by **Azimyth** » Sat Oct 08, 2011 9:28 am

A couple of games using dark on the L2 revealed a couple of interesting little synergies I had not noticed before.
1) Cast the Enfeebling on a unit, then cast Black Horror. Unit drops dead (well, almost

)
2) Cast Withering on a unit, then cast Soul Stealer. Unit again drops dead.
@Ichiyo: Actually what I meant was: If I'm using a L4 with shadow, what is a good secondary lore for a L2 Scholar?

Dirty Mac · Post by **Dirty Mac** » Sat Oct 08, 2011 10:05 am

Dark magic is good, lots of damage, but needs to be close which is why you put her in a unit of Xbow men, with the guiding eye and the tome of furion for another spell.

Ichiyo1821 · Post by **Ichiyo1821** » Sat Oct 08, 2011 2:23 pm

Azimyth wrote:A couple of games using dark on the L2 revealed a couple of interesting little synergies I had not noticed before.
1) Cast the Enfeebling on a unit, then cast Black Horror. Unit drops dead (well, almost )
2) Cast Withering on a unit, then cast Soul Stealer. Unit again drops dead.
@Ichiyo: Actually what I meant was: If I'm using a L4 with shadow, what is a good secondary lore for a L2 Scholar?

In that case, Dark and Shadow (for 2xMiasma Shenanigans) and Death. Metal and Fire are too situational but can be worth a try if you give that mage Tome of furion and level upgrade. 3 spells aint bad

Tmarichards · Post by **Tmarichards** » Mon Oct 10, 2011 3:52 pm

The top DE army at the ETC had a dual Supreme Sorceress build, one Shadow and one Dark with the Stabby Dagger. Brutually effective, even more so when you can get it the right match-ups in a team event.