8th ed. Magic Item Guide

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John Rainbow
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8th ed. Magic Item Guide

#1 Post by John Rainbow »

HIGH ELF MAGIC ITEM GUIDE
This guide goes through all the High Elf (armybook) magic items and gives a little reasoning behind why each item might be a good or bad choice for you and some of the usual choices that go along with each item. A guide to the BRB items is in the post immediately after this one.

Blade of Leaping Gold
Similarly to its last incarnation, this blade grants 3 additional attacks that have a ⅙ chance to ignore armour. Its still not very useful as the Elves who will be wielding this beasty are still a very non-bestial strength 4. This means you’re going to have trouble both wounding and stripping the armour of anything more capable than a spearelf and for the cost, there are much better choices out there (read Giant Blade, etc). There is the potential to combo this item with something like the Potion of Strength but I personally wouldn’t bother.

Star Lance
An absolute beauty of a weapon for the point cost. Negating armour saves is huge now we’re playing monstrous cav. hammer so often and this item is good on just about any mounted character. As I write this, the jury is still out on whether a Dragon Prince champ can equip the lance but either way, this is a solid choice. I imagine this item is seen in almost all cav. lists and and in a lot of other lists too. The Star Lance is a great choice for a supporting combat character i.e. BSB if the Prince is armed with something else (Giant Blade) as it just adds punch - any str. bonus is great for Elves as long as it maintains or ASF advantage. The lance also opens up the possibility of the older style ‘Imrik Dragonlord’ type build as this was originally his signature item (one for you fluff bunnies then!).

Reaver Bow
Another great choice if a little more situational or list dependant than the Star Lance. The Reaver Bow excels in a static, defensive or shooty type of list and is great in combination with the Potion of Strength for some potentially monster-killing, armour removing, high-str. shots. It can be used on champions but I’m not sure I see that as the best use of this item due to the lower str. characteristic compared to a lord/hero. Remembering also that moving and shooting incurs extra penalties, this item is a great choice for a BSB or similar in a gunline to add some heavy hitting to your early game bolt thrower shots.

Armour of Caledor
Oh how the mighty have fallen. In the 7th ed. book rarely would you come across an Elf list that did not include this item. Things changed in 8th. due to the points cost of this suit of armour, which bring it more in line with the Armour of Silvered Steel. This item is still good (flaming ward, 6++ included) but in a day and age when High Elf characters want some punch in addition to a decent armour save, there often aren’t the points to include this item. In a cav. list you probably won’t ever see the Armour of Caledor but it does have its uses protecting a character on foot i.e. Loremaster or BSB.

Shadow Armour
This has some decent rules for the points but the problem is, these rules are only ever shared with Shadow Warriors. Unless there is a serious game plan attached to this item, I can’t see it being used as more often than not, deploying a character with scouts tends to get them killed.
rdghuizing wrote:- regarding shadow armour: there are different opinion on whether the 5+ armour it offers can be combined with light armour/ heavy armour or not. If it can't be then it's not that great, since you will never get a good armour save on him. If it can be combined then it has some merit since it makes it relatively easy to get a 2+ save for a character on foot.
Shield of the Merwyrm
A cheap 4++ for combat only. Decent but not an auto-include as typically, you want a 4++ all the time so go for a talisman. It might fit on a character you’re designing that might see combat once in a while but doesn’t have the points for a better defence (Loremaster, maybe a BSB). Several months on, the forums are still alive with debate over whether a mounted character can use this item.

Golden Crown of Atrazar
One of the best in the new book, this effectively gives its owner an extra wound on a 2+. Remember that this item is better than the Charmed Shield as that hit has to wound too before you get the save (Charmed Shield is against the first hit). This is good in a great many places and can be combined with the Charmed Shield for shenanigans against cannons.

Moranion’s Wayshard
Ambushing spears/archers is cute but this is an expensive item for the points. I can see someone taking this if they face a Dwarven gunline every day but otherwise, it isn’t the best choice. Its too expensive and too random to be much use in take-all-comers lists.

Khaine’s Ring of Fury
Cheap and effective. It’s basically a different version of the fireball ring from the BRB. You (statistically) get more shots and a 6++ if you successfully cast it but pay for those advantages with a shorter 18” range. This is a great item for the obvious chaff removal but also for buffing you ward save. As such, it sees use in many lists for both reasons. Myself, I use it in a Dragon Prince bus as a cheap way to boost their ward save and you can do similar things with almost any other unit too - fancy getting those PG to a 3++ without a High mage? Then this is the toy for you.

Gem of Sunfire
This one has an obvious user and use in mind - a Dragon Mage who is either about to cast a bunch of spells or is in CC with flaming attacks (Flaming Sword buffs) and with a dragon about to use its breath weapon. If you take a Dragon Mage then consider this, if not then don’t. Simple.

Cloak of Beards
Against Dwarves this is pretty immense, against anyone else, it does have a use in making the bearer immune to fear. Remember though that only the wearer causes that fear, not his unit. Situational and more of a fluff choice.
rdghuizing wrote:- Cloak of beards: for what it does it is a great item and priced competatively. Fear for 10 points is a decent deal. The only problem is that fear doesn't do much. With reroll everywhere, fear tests don't achieve much, and protecting a ld 9 -10 character from fear/terror is a waste of points in almost all cases. So, I can never find the points for it.
Book of Hoeth
The good stuff! I quite honestly think this is better than the last Book of Hoeth by a long, long way. Super charge both your magic phases with this and away you go. If you have a Level 4/Loremaster as your main caster, you take this item. It is that good.

Link to casting statistics, strategies, etc

Banner of the World Dragon
The immensely good stuff! Who wouldn’t want this? In addition to making Daemons cry, the Banner of the World Dragon is unbelievably useful in protecting you from spells and magical attacks. As an added bonus it also protects you against your own miscasts - remember though that miscasting can still be very, very bad depending on the result so rolling those 6 and thinking you’ll be ok in a unit with this item still isn’t the best idea. I’ve seen this used all over the place, it allows Elf deathstars to be made of all shapes and sizes (even spears - yes I’ve seen it done) and is a good answer to the dreaded Daemon Prince if you can get him to bite and attack the unit in CC. Combine a unit with this item and a unit of Phoenix Guard with a 4++ and you have 2 durable units of Elves. Yes, you read correctly. Durable Elves. Although don’t make the mistake of thinking that you are invincible, some stuff like little crappy bow shots will still kill you alarmingly quickly.

7th ed. High Elf Item Guide
The previous 7th ed. magic item guide has been shifted to the end of this topic, link to the post below:
7th ed. Magic Item Guide
Last edited by John Rainbow on Thu Sep 12, 2013 4:13 pm, edited 14 times in total.
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Re: Magic Item Guide

#2 Post by John Rainbow »

COMMON MAGIC ITEMS
This is a brief guide to the more ‘mundane’ magic items available to the High Elf Commander. Remember that costs may differ from those presented in the BRB so check the HE armoury section before you purchase - you may get a discount or they might even hike the prices upwards!

MAGIC WEAPONS
Unlike the High Elf magic weapons, the common magic items will probably be more useful and more commonly seen (lol) in lists. I guess the clue is in the name. Most of the weapons are one-handed so you can benefit from using a shield to get additional armour. There are some very good choices in here (particularly the sword of might which we get at a discount).

There are also some really cheap options in here that allow you to pretty easily get magical CC attacks into an army. This is really important in an all-comers environment where getting held up by ethereals or something because you can’t wound them really sucks. I once saw a single Cairn Wraith charge a unit of 6 Man Eaters (in the flank) do a single wound and cause them to flee the table, along with the 450-odd points they represented. Don’t be that guy. Put some magical attacks in some of your important units.

Giant Blade: A Prince with this becomes a combat monster at Str.7. It is expensive though so the Prince will have to forgo some protection. This might make him a bit more vulnerable but hopefully with ASF you will smite your enemies before they even get the chance to hit back. Due to the cost of this item it has been seen most on mounted characters as they can most easily get a decent armour save at reasonable cost to negate the lack of protective magic items. On this blog, Seredain has been pioneering the use of this item on a cavalry prince and has some in-depth discussion about why it is better than other items (inc. the Ogre Blade) and such. I would recommend you all to read his blog even if you aren’t considering this item as it’s full of useful advice [LINK].

Sword of Bloodshed: Probably not going to see much use due to cost and the fact that we don’t usually want additional attacks, we want additional Str.! Same cost as the Blade of Leaping Gold from our book so take that instead to be more fluffy if for some reason you want this item. And you shouldn’t want it.

Obsidian Blade: Negating armour saves is nice but we still have a problem with wounding. The Blade of Sea Gold from the High Elf book has this ability at a 10pt discount but it’s still a poor choice.

Sword of Strife: Same problem as the Sword of Bloodshed. You might want extra attacks if you need to cut through hordes of Zombies or Gobbos or something similar on regular basis. For most of us though that’s not the case so the vendor of the common items can keep this one in his store for the time being.

Fencer’s Blades
: I most commonly see this item on Ogre Wizards along with the Glittering Scales. That combo makes them hard to kill in CC as you only hit on a ‘6’. You only hit WS10 on a 5+ unless you’re some sort of badass (or buffed by Light spells) and the additional -1 from the armour takes it to a ‘6’. I can see this item being useful in some circumstances - on a mounted mage - but you probably want to spend the points on something else.

Sword of Anti-Heroes: Useful if you intend to challenge a lot. As this is potentially not the case in most games it’s not the best choice for an all-comers game. If you want to go-toe-on-toe with a deathstar, this is the weapon of choice. Of course this is very dependent on the meta and the army you are fighting. You could give the weapon to a flying character, as he has the best opportunities to actually reach a unit with enough characters in it.

Spellthieving Sword: An interesting fluff choice but a poor game choice. Catching a wizard in CC is usually difficult and spending this many points on an item that is only worthwhile against a very limited number of enemies is not a clever idea.

Sword of Swift Slaying: You already have ASF. Don’t bother with this - unless something changes for 8th ed. High Elves that is.

Sword of Battle: There might be an arguement for this if you need some cheap-ish magical attacks but there are better and cheaper options out there you should check out first - looks at Sword of Might & Shrieking Blade.

Berserker Sword: See above. Probably not the greatest choice.

Sword of Might
: We get a discount on this and that makes it cool. Adding a Str. bonus is always useful for Elves and gaining magical attacks is something you should consider - you need them in an all-comers list. You also get to use a shield with this so it’s a great choice for mounted heroes or even a unit champ in some situations (Phoenix Guard most likely).

Gold Sigil Sword: Having ASF as standard means this sword is not particularly useful. In fact it’s probably not useful at all.

Sword of Striking: Again, due to ASF and getting the rerolls from it, you probably won’t want this.

Biting Blade: A cheap and somewhat useful option if you want some reasonably costed magical attacks in CC. Stripping an extra point of armour is useful for HE who don’t have the Str. to do it naturally.

Relic Sword: An interesting choice for HE due to our much mentioned issues with low. Str. Probably not better than the other weapon options here or a great weapon though. It again has the issue of not stripping armour and is only really useful against high toughness models - not seen that often on the field.

Shrieking Blade: Again a cheap option and somewhat useful. Kind of sucks though that with a BSB nearby, you won’t really be benefited by causing Ld checks in CC.

Tormentor Sword: If you’re planning on going toe-toe with characters in CC you probably want a better weapon than this. It’s not a great item for it’s intended use. It is a cheap method of getting magic attacks though.

Warrior Bane: Suffers from the same problem as the Tormentor Sword. If you use this in a challenge you are likely to get stomped in the face by whatever you just failed to kill (or even wound) with it. It is a cheap sword though.

MAGIC ARMOUR
You might use a couple of these items but generally, the Armour of Caledor is the go to choice for High Elves. This fact, coupled with the general lack of combat heroes in most High Elf lists means that this section of the common magic is probably the least useful for High Elves.

Armour of Destiny
: Better than the Armour of Protection from the High Elf book but generally left out in favour of some sort of Dragon Armour (AoC?) and Vambrace combo which also grants rerolls for not much extra. I can see this being useful in some situations though - maybe on a mounted character.

Trickster’s Helm: Too expensive for what it does. When you’re T3, getting people to reroll that 2+ to wound just doesn’t cut it. Please don’t take this.

Armour of Silvered Steel: The Armour of Caledor by a different name and not as good as you don’t get the benefits against flaming attacks. If you have multiple foot characters that need a decent AS you might end up wanting this but probably not.

Armour of Fortune: For 35pts this isn’t actually that bad of an option as you get the Talisman of Endurance included. You would probably prefer to take the Guardian Phoenix and Dragon Armour though as it’s a better combo. There might be some uses for this if you’ve already used the aforementioned items although I don’t think I’ve ever seen it in a list.

Helm of Discord: Could be funny if it works against like a Bloodthirster or something but the chances of that happening are so low these days that this item is overcosted and therefore a bad pick. If it was cheaper it might be worth it but even then, probably not.

Glittering Scales
: Might be useful in some situations but there are better options out there. Combo’s pretty well with the Fencer’s Blade to make you 6+ to hit, add in Pha’s protection for even more fun in CC. Would be awesome if our mages could take armour to make a battle-mage kind of like the Ogres do. Probably not worth it on a Mage-Prince in case anyone was wondering - you want more protection and actually can’t afford this combo and the Radiant Gem.

Shield of Ptolos: Doesn’t help you against cannons so don’t bother. Would be awesome if they’d done the ‘4+ to fire if you don’t use BS’ thing but they didn’t. Also over-priced.

Spellshield: Probably not worth it when you really want is to increase your armour save and most likely will have some sort of ward on your character anyway.

Gambler’s Armour: I don’t see anyone ever using this as it’s too far down the list of items you would use. There’s just other, better, cheaper option above this.

Dragonhelm: Useful for getting a 1+ on a cav. character. Grants a ward against flaming so use this with Heavy Armour (cheaper than Dragon Armour which you don’t need).

Enchanted Shield: For some reason this costs double for High Elves. It is still pretty decent though for getting to a 1+ AS. Probably best used on a cav. character. There might be better options in front of this one though.

Charmed Shield: Another great item if you get to use it correctly i.e. against a cannon, if you get hit with a bow and are forced to use this it’s upsetting. Remember that the bonus does not get passed to your mount if you are on something like a dragon so this might be best used on an eagle mounted hero or on cav. characters.

TALISMANS
I guess there’s a couple of useful trinkets in here but remember there are some decent ones in the High Elf book. The best of which is probably the Guardian Phoenix which is a cheaper version of the Talisman of Endurance. Remember also that items conferring magic resistance might be made somewhat redundant by the Loremasters cloak which is potentially much better.

Talisman of Preservation: This one is a necklace for mages as they don’t need the reroll on armour that the Vambraces confer. A solid choice for an Archmage of any Lore, except maybe Life if you get the regen. spell or Throne of Vines as it’s less useful. You aren’t reliant on magic for protection though which is nice. Watch out as this item can be stolen by those stinky Gnoblars using the Thiefstone! (not a very likely occurrence thankfully)

Obsidian Lodestone
: Magic resistance is nice but what you really want is protection from Dwellers, etc. This doesn’t give you that so it’s not seen that often. Maybe if you fight someone with a number of magic missiles or something frequently you might want this. Another potential option is just to take Caradryan. He’s a reasonable character and has in-built MR that is probably more useful generally. As mentioned above, remember the Loremaster's cloak.

Talisman of Endurance: The Guardian Phoenix is cheaper. Use it instead.

Obsidian Amulet: See above, too expensive and not usually worth it.

Dawnstone: Who doesn’t like rerolls to armour saves? A decent item that matches really well with a high armour save (Armour of Caledor or mounted heroes).

Opal Amulet: Not really worth it for a one-use ward. You could maybe go for this on a mage and hope you only need it once for a miscast or something.

Obsidian Trinket: Still too expensive for magic res.

Talisman of Protection: We get this at a discount but ask yourself, is a 6++ worth it? Maybe use this if you have a few points left over in a list. If you have High Magic mages (and Shield of Saphery) it’s probably not worth it.

Seed of Rebirth: You won’t ever take this as the Talisman of Protection is better and the same cost - it can’t be negated by flaming attacks.

Dragonbane Gem
: Somewhat useful on a mage or something that doesn’t have dragon armour. Not the worst way to spend a few leftover points.

Pigeon Plucker Pendant
: I seem to remember Seredain liked this one but I never got why. Might be useful against a Dragon or Sphinx or something, maybe. That is if you don’t have a better ward save available.

Luckstone: Can potentially be useful as everyone loves rerolls. You also get to pick when you use it. Another ok way to spend a few leftover points.

MAGIC STANDARDS

The common list comes through with a few more gems here that you see in almost every list out there, never mind just the High Elves. The best standards in the BRB tend to be the cheaper ones. They also work best on bigger units so you maximise your efficiency and get the most out of the ability they confer.

Rampager’s Standard: It’s undoing is it’s cost which means a BSB has to carry it. Therefore it is useless.

Wailing Banner: Could have been useful before the onset of the BSB and the fact that most of the really nasty units already cause fear (or even terror) and ignore it’s effects. Leave hanging on the Temple wall.

Ranger’s Standard: Too expensive for the ability it gives you.

Razor Standard
: Combo’s pretty well with Phoenix Guard to offset their low Str. and increase your chances of beating someone’s armour, it is a pricey banner though. I think most HE generals take it with the guard to give them a helping hand in CC and give them some CC ‘punch’. It’s not a great choice but it’s good enough to warrant inclusion into a large number of lists - as long as the Phoenix Guard don’t have the Banner of Sorcery!

War Banner
: Made worthy of inclusion purely as High Elves get it at a discount. It’s a fairly good banner for the ‘First Amongst Equals’ core unit (spears) to help them out in CC but on elites, there are probably better choices like the Banner of Sorcery.

Banner of Swiftness: A great, great choice. Extra mobility is always good and this is super cheap. If you have a mobile force with lots of mounted characters this is a good choice to help your footsloggers keep up with the quicker elements of a force. If you are running a whole army of footsloggers this is probably less useful although it does let your elites get into CC and out of harms way more quickly.

Lichebone Pennant: Not that great when High Elves have access to the Banner of Arcane Protection which is better but still a suboptimal choice.

Standard of Discipline: A solid choice if you have a mage as your general and need the Ld boost. Apply this standard to his bunker unit and everyone else benefits from an increase to your general’s Ld. This tactic is less applicable with High Elves that other races but is still worthy of consideration.

Banner of Eternal Flame: This should probably be in every list you run as it’s highly likely that you will run into regenerating monsters at some point. It’s also really cheap. A good choice on a core unit - archers or spears depending on preference/playstyle and commonly seen on a ‘monster-hunting’ unit of White Lions too.

Gleaming Pennant: There are worse ways to spend leftover points.

Scarecrow Banner
: Probably not worth it unless you play against lots (and I mean lots!) of flyers.

ARCANE ITEMS

Probably not as good a selection as you find in the High Elf book, the dispel scroll is one item that you should be taking however.

Book of Ashur
: An expensive item but it is good (+6 to dispel!). You will probably take other items before this one though.

Feedback Scroll: Can be a surprise for your opponent but it is expensive and somewhat useless. You need to use it on a spell at which lots of dice have been thrown to get the most benefit from this but that is likely a spell you don’t want to have cast at you. As this lets the spell go through it’s not a great choice as you would rather not have the spell affect you.

Scroll of Leeching
: Again you want to stop spells going off, not get some cheap trick from a scroll that lets the spell off.

Sivejir’s Hex Scroll: Funny but not worth it as it can be resisted and lets the spell go through. Hilarity ensues if you manage to turn an enemy into a toad and then sucker punch him in CC though.

Power Scroll: Pretty awful since it got re-FAQ'd to being useless again. Take a better item instead.

Wand of Jet
: Not worth the cost for a one-use item. The power scroll is arguably better but still a sub-optimal choice - there are other, better items out there.

Forbidden Rod
: Useful in uncomped environments when there are no limits on Power Dice. Works best with Life magic as you can heal the wound this causes when you cast your spells - as long as you don’t roll a 3, which of course will cause your opponent to crease over laughing as your mage keels over dead. Often seen on Slann or Ogres who can afford to take a few wounds and then heal them back with either Life magic or Maw magic.

Trickster’s Shard
: Better items exist out there so I wouldn’t bother.

Earthing Rod: Too expensive when things like the Infernal Puppet are out there, although this does help mitigate against them. There are better choices you should make before something like this.

Dispel Scroll: We get it cheap, you should have one in your list. Like, always have one! Again, some debate exists as to whether you should take this or the Annulian Crystal. Personally I think that the Scroll probably has a slight edge as you can completely shut down a single phase whereas the Crystal is not a powerful in a single turn. It is better value in the long term though (obviously).

Power Stone
: It’s good. it’s like the Forbidden Rod without the nasty side-effects. You could use this if you have no other options but in the long term, something like the Jewel of Dusk is probably better. In unlimited magic environments, this item can be used to effectively give you more than 12 dice in a phase, you can also choose when to use it so can draw out some dice before playing it. It's a bearer only effect though.

Sceptre of Stability: We already get +1 to all dispel attempts and you should be taking other items instead of this rubbish.

Channeling Staff
: Not sure why this is in here. Don’t bother. Channeling is random and this doesn’t really help that much, especially with the Banner of Sorcery, etc increasing your dice pool to close to maximum anyway.

Scroll of Shielding
: Cheap but inherently useless as a dispel scroll is better and this doesn’t protect against the big nasties.

ENCHANTED ITEMS
There are some wonderfully silly items in here! Nearly none of which will ever be used by you or anyone else playing High Elves!

Wizarding Hat
: One of the silliest items in the game. This item should never ever be used. Period.

Fozzrik’s Folding Fortress: A pretty lame choice that sometimes get’s taken as a Teclis bunker. Very expensive and not all that good.

Arabyan Carpet: If you are thinking about this, think about taking an eagle instead as you keep all your magic item allowance on top of having a mount. Often seen on minotaurs or other big nasties.

Crown of Command: Would be a good choice for a Prince if he didn’t have so much other stuff to hold onto first. You also shouldn’t be planning on losing CC as High Elves don’t do too well in the war of attrition (unlike Ogres). The idea of using this on a lone character (Prince with Ld10) is somewhat alluring until you try and fit some protection in for him and realise you probably can’t afford all the other toys you want. Leave this to our Dark Kin.

Healing Potion: Probably better than the High Elf version but still not worth it as you shouldn’t be planning on your heroes taking damage in the first place.

Featherfoe Torc: Flying foes are generally too few and far between to make this frankly overpriced item worth taking.

Ruby Ring of Rhuin: A decent choice to get some ranged magical damage in a list. It can also go on a unit champ which is nice. Consider this if you have a problem with ethereals or lack magical damage elsewhere in the army.

Terrifying Masf of EEE!: A funny option but not that good with all the Ld rerolls around. Also negated by fear/terror which is around a lot these days too with all the new monstrous stuff from GW. Not such a good option.

Potion of Strength: Sometimes seen on a suicide character or a Dragon Prince unit champion who is looking to deal out some pain. I can see reasons for taking this. The main problem with this and other potions is that you elect to use it at the start of the turn at which point you won’t know if you charged successfully or whatever. From Patricidas: We have eagles, we have good movement, we have the charge, if other armies can (almost) guarantee that the wielder of the potion of strengh can use it in his turn, HE can use it to. As already mentioned brings a lot of fun to dragon prince charges, when your champion suddenly has the damage output of a buffed noble. The mayor downside of this potion is imho not its "drink before use"-rule but the fact that it prohibts the use of the ToL and the other tricksters shard, which should always be used when killing characters. This means that you will always need a second character nearby to transfer the effects of the ToL or ToTS to the victim of the potion-buffed attack. As HE characters dont come cheap this quickly sums up to "death-star"-costs, which has its mayor drawbacks. However, a combination of two ASF-characters who force wardsave-rerolls is a very reliable methode to take down even hard opponents I have not tried it with my HEs yet too expensive for my taste, but my skaven assassins have a rather impressive kill-list to show.

Potion of Toughness: Probably not worth taking over other items. Suffers from the same problems as other ‘start of turn’ items.

The Other Trickster’s Shard: Pretty useful, just for the love of God don’t put it in a unit of Phoenix Guard. Worth it on a character or on a White Lion champ. Careful placement in combat is a must if using this item so you don’t smack your own characters down.

Ironcurse Icon: Not the greatest item ever but it has price on it’s side and if you have a few points left over at the end of list writing, this is probably worth a look.

Potion of Foolhardiness
: For the points, it can be worth it if you are looking to destroy stuff in a single turn.

Potion of Speed: We have ASF and therefore don’t need these kind of bonuses.
Last edited by John Rainbow on Mon Nov 26, 2012 10:55 pm, edited 7 times in total.
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Re: Magic Item Guide

#3 Post by John Rainbow »

It would also be great if one of the mods could link this into the main 'High Elf Tactica' Index and stuff. Thanks.

Comments, criticisms, etc all encouraged!
lordoftheshadows
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Re: Magic Item Guide

#4 Post by lordoftheshadows »

Thank you for this wonderful guide.
I have a few comments.
This is the link to the Mage Knight guide-http://www.ulthuan.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=32214
I'm sorry if this is outside of the scope of your guide but you could add a list of common abbreviation so that newcomers can better understand the posts.
Also you could type up some common builds such are the unkillable archmage and BSB builds for new players.
If you don't want to do these things then I can do them.
Words to live by:
Live for ever or die in the attempt.

The motto of my master (Zaros) may he rest in peace.
Proud member of the Mage Knight Guild.
[url]http://www.ulthuan.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=32214[/url]
The Prince of Death
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John Rainbow
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Re: Magic Item Guide

#5 Post by John Rainbow »

lordoftheshadows wrote:I'm sorry if this is outside of the scope of your guide but you could add a list of common abbreviation so that newcomers can better understand the posts.
Also you could type up some common builds such are the unkillable archmage and BSB builds for new players.
If you don't want to do these things then I can do them.
I'll try and sort this out. I can definitely do a glossary of abbreviations/terms and at the end of the guide I might put in a 'builds' section.
Hortennse
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Re: Magic Item Guide

#6 Post by Hortennse »

Great guide, it might be nice to also include that items like the Sword of Might and Dispell Scrolls are cheaper than normal for our army book. You rightfully weren't impressed with the high elf magic weapons (though I personally love Foe bane in a unit with Razor Standard), so it's worth noting the viable options we do have.

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Re: Magic Item Guide

#7 Post by SpellArcher »

Good stuff John!

I'll leave the linking etc. to Rod as that's his thing.
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Re: Magic Item Guide - Updated with common items

#8 Post by Eirik »

Good read.

I disagree with the 'always take dispel scroll' advice. Annulian can definitely compete for that slot and I think I've found it to be the more popular choice on this site. For people who take a 2nd mage, dispel scroll is a great choice (competing with silver wand).

It's a matter of opinion (and meta), but I think loremaster's cloak is better than you sell it to be. At the very least you should be forbidding people from taking the obsidian items because of this item. Even if you're facing a lot of magic missiles, why would you advise people to take the loadstone (MR3) for 45pts when they can get the loremasters cloak (effectively MR5) for 40 pts? Did you know that the cloak affects the entire unit? It can also be used to protect a wizard with the book of Hoeth if you don't want to go all-out with the BotWD.

I commonly run a wizard bunker of archers 2-ranks deep and very wide. All my wizards (and sometimes my archery BSB) go into the unit and benefit from the cloak. It makes all my character essentially immune to death magic. Other ward saves are almost pointless; you don't need protection from shooting/templates, they don't protect the unit from spells, and neither will save the unit in combat.

Also I don't think that other trickster's shard affects the bearer's own ward save. There is nothing that says that models are in base contact with themselves, and I rarely see people trying to argue as such.
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Re: Magic Item Guide - Updated with common items

#9 Post by John Rainbow »

eriktheguy wrote:Also I don't think that other trickster's shard affects the bearer's own ward save. There is nothing that says that models are in base contact with themselves, and I rarely see people trying to argue as such.
I agree but that doesn't change the fact that you need to get model placement correct i.e. having it on a unit champ with a combat Prince in B2B is a bad idea. If it was on a PG champ, the entire unit (other than the champ) would have to reroll ward saves too.

I've made some changes to the cloak and scroll based on your comments.
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Re: Magic Item Guide - Updated with common items

#10 Post by lordoftheshadows »

I have seen the loremaster's cloak in a unit of WL to protect them from magic missles although it does require a character to take it. I like to use it on a mage that is in the unit. You give them the jewel of duck, the loremaster's cloak and give the mage beasts and take wildform.
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Re: Magic Item Guide - Updated with common items

#11 Post by Hortennse »

Archmage- Life- Loremaster's cloak - Folariath's Robe - Jewel of the Dusk or Silver Wand = My very favorite build.
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Re: Magic Item Guide - Updated with common items

#12 Post by Paricidas »

sword of hoeth + metal mage = autowound magic missles with "ignore armor"?
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Re: Magic Item Guide - Updated with common items

#13 Post by JudgeSmails »

Paricidas wrote:sword of hoeth + metal mage = autowound magic missles with "ignore armor"?
Would the sword apply to magic missels? I would think that would only apply to CC attacks.
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Re: Magic Item Guide - Updated with common items

#14 Post by lordoftheshadows »

JudgeSmails wrote:
Paricidas wrote:sword of hoeth + metal mage = autowound magic missles with "ignore armor"?
Would the sword apply to magic missels? I would think that would only apply to CC attacks.
Per RAW all hits, no matter the source, would would automaticaly but I think in was intended for CC only.
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Re: Magic Item Guide - Updated with common items

#15 Post by pk-ng »

Paricidas wrote:sword of hoeth + metal mage = autowound magic missles with "ignore armor"?
It's a bit redundant as you use metal magic against high AS targets and they usually have a 2+ AS already?
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Re: Magic Item Guide - Updated with common items

#16 Post by Eirik »

pk-ng wrote:
Paricidas wrote:sword of hoeth + metal mage = autowound magic missles with "ignore armor"?
It's a bit redundant as you use metal magic against high AS targets and they usually have a 2+ AS already?
Now you can use it to one-shot treemen, mess up HPAs and hydras, and flip the bird at TKs constructs with high toughness and weak armor saves. One of metal's chief weaknesses is the uselessness of many of it's spells against unarmored targets.

Granted that any magic missile; fireball or fury of khaine for example, would be equally effective against unarmored opponents, but the point is to make up for a weakness of the metal lore, not to 'break' searing doom. Searing doom with this ability ignores the targets toughness, armor, and regen.
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Re: Magic Item Guide - Updated with common items

#17 Post by John Rainbow »

Paricidas wrote:sword of hoeth + metal mage = autowound magic missles with "ignore armor"?
An interesting interpretation of the rules. I'm not sure I'm bold enough to play it out this way although for the cost, it certainly should be the way it works!
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Re: Magic Item Guide - Updated with common items

#18 Post by Paricidas »

I think I was "greedy-fisted" once to often by my ogre-mates to NOT abuse this bad rule-wording.
Unfortunatly the sword of hoeth is so expensive that only a lvl4 can even try to wield it.
But a Magic Missle that simply deals d6 wounds on anything that does not have a wardsave sounds quite badass.

Flames of phoenix on an unarmored horde also sounds quite nice.
Flock of doom from lore of beasts generates 2d6 hits for 5+ complexity.
Not to mention almost any spell from the lore of fire.

Unfortunatly I dont have an english AB, because that kind of rule-loophole sounds too good to be true.
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Re: Magic Item Guide - Updated with common items

#19 Post by Eirik »

I thought it was too good to be true as well. I went over the rules and can't see why it wouldn't work though.
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Re: Magic Item Guide - Updated with common items

#20 Post by cptcosmic »

I dont think it the metal damage spells should work with this sword on targets with no armor but this is brilliant anyway. never thought of using sword of hoeth on a mage and I play HE for quite long now. thank you alot for this insight & new toy for my archmage! some lores are suddenly very interesting, cant wait to see my opponents face! =D

EDIT:
this opens new possibilities for our magic phase. you could take one artillery archmage (as replacement for our lack mass destruction war machines) with some great damage dealing spells and another mage with utility spells only.
Last edited by cptcosmic on Mon Nov 26, 2012 11:15 am, edited 4 times in total.
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Re: Magic Item Guide

#21 Post by Prince of Spires »

SpellArcher wrote:Good stuff John!

I'll leave the linking etc. to Rod as that's his thing.
Well, thank you. you're to kind... :s ;)

Anyway, great write up. I'll link it up.

As for the auto hits from the sword of Hoeth. I find using it as suggested would leave a bad taste in my mouth, especially with regards to the following FAQ:
Q: When does a weapon that gives a bonus to a characteristic give
that bonus?(p4)
A: Most weapons, including magic weapons, state when the
bonus is given. For example, a model with the Fencer’s Blades
will always have Weapon Skill 10 whilst a model with a great
weapon will only have +2 Strength when striking an enemy in
close combat. When a weapon does not say when the
characteristic bonus applies, then it only applies when striking,
or being struck, in close combat.

I know this only talks about characteristics, but to me it suggests that the hits being talked about actually are only close combat hits. Play it how you like, just be prepared to argue with the above FAQ.

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Re: Magic Item Guide - Updated with common items

#22 Post by SpellArcher »

Didn't want to tread on your toes Rod.

The Sword thing will upset people. Unless you play in in a very ETC-like environment.
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Re: Magic Item Guide

#23 Post by cptcosmic »

rdghuizing wrote:
SpellArcher wrote:Good stuff John!

I'll leave the linking etc. to Rod as that's his thing.
Well, thank you. you're to kind... :s ;)

Anyway, great write up. I'll link it up.

As for the auto hits from the sword of Hoeth. I find using it as suggested would leave a bad taste in my mouth, especially with regards to the following FAQ:
Q: When does a weapon that gives a bonus to a characteristic give
that bonus?(p4)
A: Most weapons, including magic weapons, state when the
bonus is given. For example, a model with the Fencer’s Blades
will always have Weapon Skill 10 whilst a model with a great
weapon will only have +2 Strength when striking an enemy in
close combat. When a weapon does not say when the
characteristic bonus applies
, then it only applies when striking,
or being struck, in close combat.

I know this only talks about characteristics, but to me it suggests that the hits being talked about actually are only close combat hits. Play it how you like, just be prepared to argue with the above FAQ.

Rod
the magic item entry refers to "all hits". in my opinion it clearly states when the bonus applies cause "all hits" is quite clear. anyway, as you mentioned by yourself, it is not a characteristic bonus. another good argument: it is the sword of HOETH :roll: and I dont think autowounding some damage spells is broken for 60 points. it will not work with the metal spells on targets with no armor (I think the lore attribute states it cant wound anything without armor, or am I mistaken?).

I might run lore of fire for a few games now and see how it works and how my opponents will react. an artillery archmage with the sword of hoeth, ruby ring and jewel of dusk should be able to deal some casualties :)
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Re: Magic Item Guide - Updated with common items

#24 Post by Paricidas »

"I dont think autowounding some damage spells is broken for 60 points."

A single flames of phoenix will simply kill a horde of ghouls, all of them.
One missle from the lore of fire will toast most warmachines, if you are lucky you can one-hit-kill a k´dhai destroyer, the most broken thing to ever set "foot" on a gaming table.
For 60 points thats simply broken beyond all repair. If I ever use this one I will only use it in a tourney and I will need an english rulebook because that item is a thing that gives the judges something to chew on (similar to the talisman of loekh, but only ten times more unfair).

On to constructiv critisism:
The list is imho incredible usefull not only for beginers but a compact review of magic items sometimes really is an eye opener as at least I for myself tend to play the same magic item combos again and again because they have profen usefull. From time to time it might be adviced to even think about things that more or less an axiom, a law of nature, carved in stone etc. and this list is both tool and reason to do so. So first of all: Thanks a lot, Mr. Rainbow.

However, the decision of something being usefull or useless greatly depends on the meta-game, in my meta I tend to see a huge amount of very well equiped melee characters who will perform well as character killer and R&F-destroyer (many attacks, high strengh). Mr. rainbows list was imho obviously written with a rather convetional understanding of what a character has to do (casting spells, giving LD bubbles, and mostly: not giving up points because of high defense). However, there are also other roles that a HE character may want to perform. If Seredhain rides to town with an ogre blade, he probably does not do it because he wants to be protected from str3 attacks, and a dragon rider also has to sacrifice some of his protection and a wound if he takes the talisman of loekh. Due to our ASF rules, we are masters of damage delivery and there are some item combinations that will simply eviscereate almost lots of those "I am so imba"-models of enemy armies. eys we are t3, yes the character wielding that kind of magic items is a T3 glass cannon that will probably not survive this. But you planed your game with the loss of the character in mind while your oppponent thought he would be invincible and you proofed him wrong. Time for plan B, and plan B is never as good as plan A. Here are some things I would consider at least "worth a try":

Potions of strengh:
a. We have eagles, we have good movement, we have the charge, if other armies can (almost) guarantee that the wielder of the potion of strengh can use it in his turn, HE can use it to. As already mentioned brings a lot of fun to dragon prince charges, when your champion suddenly has the damage output of a buffed noble. The mayor downside of this potion is imho not its "drink before use"-rule but the fact that it prohibts the use of the ToL and the other tricksters shard, which should always be used when killing characters. This means that you will always need a second character nearby to transfer the effects of the ToL or ToTS to the victim of the potion-buffed attack. As HE characters dont come cheap this quickly sums up to "death-star"-costs, which has its mayor drawbacks. However, a combination of two ASF-characters who force wardsave-rerolls is a very reliable methode to take down even hard opponents I have not tried it with my HEs yet too expensive for my taste, but my skaven assassins have a rather impressive kill-list to show.

Sword of +x-attacks: (sword of strife?)
Who needs more strengh 4 attacks? Nobody. But if you pair it with a potion of strengh, you get 7 strengh 7 asf attacks. Its "only" strengh 7 and does not povide strengh 9 like the "strengh-potion-only"-version and it needs a prince to be pulled of, and it suffers from the same weaknesses as the strengh potion. So generaly, its a weakcombo and will not help you very much against any respectable 1+ AS, 4+ wardsave opponent. However, this swords should not be regarded as useless, as they have a very disturbing use when paired with a book of Hoeth. With a BoH-mage and banner of sorcery, you can almost guarantee to get off a single spell, often with irresistible force and no chance to dispell it. While this kind of casting is a little bit risky, it can turn a prince into a unit-killing avatar of khaine if you grant him the lore of beast-buff (+3 attacks/+3 strengh), pushing him to 10 strengh 7 attacks, wich is already respectable. If you couple it with the sword that gives two additional attacks we are at 18 strengh 7 attacks, which is indeed impressive (so are the costs, you need a BoH mage, a prince and a noble to put that off---> death star).

The white sword:
Underrated because by its own describtion, it really stinks. However, this item will start to bloom if you pair it with a talisman of Loekh. As the talisman lets you reroll to-wound-rolls, this combination gives you a lot of opportunities to roll a 6 and forces rerolls on the opponents only difference between life and death, the wardsave. As long as you hit,and against most opponents you should score 3 or more hits, this gives you 6 opportunities to roll a killing blow and the opponent (if he has a wardsave) has a 25% chance to survive that. Thats an avarage chance of 75% to kill the target, not too shaby for its investment. Unfortunatly, as with all ToL- and ToTS-builds, the much needed potion of toughness will not be available for the wielder of the sword, but there are enough points left to buy him a 2+ armor-save, which will hopefully protect him from the vengeance of the dead opponents troops.

The sword of antiheroes:
If you want to go-toe-on-toe with a deathstar, thats the weapon of choice. Of course this is very dependend on the meta and the army you are fighing. I normaly give that weapon to a flying character, as he has the best opportunities to actually reach a unit with enough characters in it.

On the Sword of Hoeth: As anything else I have stolen this one from the internet :D, ironically it was one of our beloved bretheren on druchii.net who mentioned it when speaking about how broken the HE book is (yes, a dark elf talking about something being broken while he blocks out a 1000 point deathstar with a single character is weired...). Íf it can and should be used on a mage is simply decided by what kind of game you play. RAI-wise, its one of the worst things you can pull off, RAW-wise the decision is left to the judges...
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Re: Magic Item Guide - Updated with common items

#25 Post by cptcosmic »

Paricidas wrote:"I dont think autowounding some damage spells is broken for 60 points."

A single flames of phoenix will simply kill a horde of ghouls, all of them.
One missle from the lore of fire will toast most warmachines, if you are lucky you can one-hit-kill a k´dhai destroyer, the most broken thing to ever set "foot" on a gaming table.
For 60 points thats simply broken beyond all repair. If I ever use this one I will only use it in a tourney and I will need an english rulebook because that item is a thing that gives the judges something to chew on (similar to the talisman of loekh, but only ten times more unfair).
Paricidas wrote:
On the Sword of Hoeth: As anything else I have stolen this one from the internet :D, ironically it was one of our beloved bretheren on druchii.net who mentioned it when speaking about how broken the HE book is (yes, a dark elf talking about something being broken while he blocks out a 1000 point deathstar with a single character is weired...). Íf it can and should be used on a mage is simply decided by what kind of game you play. RAI-wise, its one of the worst things you can pull off, RAW-wise the decision is left to the judges...
I came to the conclusion that you cant use the swords effect for spells at all as the spell is the origin of the hits, not the wizard, otherwise you might aswell "argue" that "all hits" done by your whole army wound automatically cause the text says "all hits wound automatically" and nothing else. the only exception I might think of are magic missiles. they are, according to the BRB, unusual shooting attacks and as stated under magic missiles "they are hurled by the wizard".
Last edited by cptcosmic on Mon Nov 26, 2012 4:16 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Magic Item Guide - Updated with common items

#26 Post by John Rainbow »

Paricidas wrote:On to constructiv critisism:
The list is imho incredible usefull not only for beginers but a compact review of magic items sometimes really is an eye opener as at least I for myself tend to play the same magic item combos again and again because they have profen usefull. From time to time it might be adviced to even think about things that more or less an axiom, a law of nature, carved in stone etc. and this list is both tool and reason to do so. So first of all: Thanks a lot, Mr. Rainbow.
Thanks for all of this. The comments you made are actually incredibly useful both for the list and myself. I guess I didn't really consider combos of items as such here. It's given me a different mindset about it which is cool. I've included your comments in the guide.
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Re: Magic Item Guide - Updated with common items

#27 Post by SpellArcher »

Paracidas is spot on re the Potion of Strength. Brilliant item for a DP champ as he's fast, has 3 attacks and goes to S8. Not many things like it, especially monsters and knights.

It would be especially horrible if you had the OTS in there too. But Seredain's Loec+Giant Blade Lord and OTS+GW BSB are the boys for that I think.
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Re: Magic Item Guide - Updated with common items

#28 Post by Lados »

I came to the conclusion that you cant use the swords effect for spells at all as the spell is the origin of the hits, not the wizard, otherwise you might aswell "argue" that "all hits" done by your whole army wound automatically cause the text says "all hits wound automatically" and nothing else. the only exception I might think of are magic missiles. they are, according to the BRB, unusual shooting attacks and as stated under magic missiles "they are hurled by the wizard".
I'm with you on this one. Magical Missiles are, as per the Rule Book, the only spell type which needs to "hit" its target (as it does automatically), and thus the Sword could have an effect on those aswell.

But again, the text also says that the armour modification is done by the str of the bearer. Would that mean a str 4 fireball wouldn't hurt the target's armour at all?

Food for thought! -Lad
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Re: Magic Item Guide

#29 Post by AntaresCD »

John Rainbow wrote:Most of the weapons are one-handed so you can benefit from using a shield to get additional armour and a parry save if on foot.
Actually, it is quite clear in the Reference section of the BRB, at the start of the Magic Weapons section (second bullet), that this is not the case: "A magic weapon cannot be used alongside a shield to gain a parry save."

For completeness, this is also true of using a magic shield (BRB, Reference section, Magic Armour, second bullet): "A magic shield is treated as a normal shield, but cannot be used alongside a hand weapon to gain a parry save."

You only get a parry save if you use a mundane hand weapon and a mundane shield.
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Re: Magic Item Guide - Updated with common items

#30 Post by John Rainbow »

GUIDE TO 7th Ed. HIGH ELF MAGIC ITEMS
I got this idea for this from a friend and thought it could be useful, especially to some of the newcomers out there. First off, a small disclaimer - I will endeavour to take into account all the comments and things this will receive but at the end of the day, most of this is my opinion. Your mileage may vary and you might find some weird and wonderful builds that no one else has considered. If this is the case, post them up! Note, I am also trying to include any changes/suggestions made by others.

This guide goes through all the High Elf magic items and gives a little reasoning behind why each item might be a good or bad choice for you and some of the usual choices that go along with each item. Eventually, I will include a guide to the Common Magic Items as well (there is a space for this below).


MAGIC WEAPONS
First up are the magical weapons. Unfortunately (or fortunately) almost this entire selection is made redundant by the ability of High Elves to wield great weapons with ASF. As such magic weapons will probably be the last pick you make for a character unless chosen for some specific purpose. The +2 bonus to Str. and -3 AS granted by a GW is hard to beat with a magic weapon. Especially when a great weapon costs 10pts on average! Obviously the problem here is that you might want magical attacks which the standard GW doesn’t give you. Enter the Amulet of Light which has bargain basement cost. More on this later!

So onto the actual weapons...

Blade of Leaping Gold: Too expensive on a Str.4 character, it is way too much to spend for 3 extra attacks. From Patricidas: Who needs more strengh 4 attacks? Nobody. But if you pair it with a potion of strengh, you get 7 strengh 7 asf attacks. Its "only" strengh 7 and does not povide strengh 9 like the "strengh-potion-only"-version and it needs a prince to be pulled of, and it suffers from the same weaknesses as the strengh potion. So generaly, its a weakcombo and will not help you very much against any respectable 1+ AS, 4+ wardsave opponent. However, this swords should not be regarded as useless, as they have a very disturbing use when paired with a book of Hoeth. With a BoH-mage and banner of sorcery, you can almost guarantee to get off a single spell, often with irresistible force and no chance to dispell it. While this kind of casting is a little bit risky, it can turn a prince into a unit-killing avatar of khaine if you grant him the lore of beast-buff (+3 attacks/+3 strengh), pushing him to 10 strengh 7 attacks, wich is already respectable. If you couple it with the sword that gives two additional attacks we are at 18 strengh 7 attacks, which is indeed impressive (so are the costs, you need a BoH mage, a prince and a noble to put that off---> death star).

Bow of the Seafarer: Has it’s uses in a shooty/gunline list but is kind of expensive as it basically has to go on a Prince. Being able to stand and shoot with it pretty epic. Oddly, this is potentially better value than a bolt thrower as it will generally be shooting at BS6 with greater resilience as the bearer/unit will be harder to kill than an RBT and a Prince can perform multiple roles.

Sword of Hoeth: For a Str.4 Elf, auto-wounding is kind of nice but you’re only ever stripping a single point of armour. Not great.

Star Lance: Potentially useful but suffers from the same problem as all lances - you need to kill on the charge before you go back to being Str.4 (or less). Pretty obviously you also have to be mounted to make any use of it. This has been seen from time to time on mounted & Eagle nobles but isn’t all that common. It is nice in that you can use a shield with it though to get a 2+ AS pretty easily.

Reaver Bow: Finally one of the High Elf only weapons you might actually see on the field of battle. As with the only other magic bow this is generally a must have item in the HE gunline (bowline). It’s pretty decent and provides some ranged magical attacks - something of a rarity in the game these days outside of magic missiles and always useful for clearing ethereal chaff.

The White Sword: Four times the cost of a great weapon for a great weapon with killing blow. No thanks, stick to the standard GW. From Patricidas: Underrated because by its own describtion, it really stinks. However, this item will start to bloom if you pair it with a talisman of Loekh. As the talisman lets you reroll to-wound-rolls, this combination gives you a lot of opportunities to roll a 6 and forces rerolls on the opponents only difference between life and death, the wardsave. As long as you hit,and against most opponents you should score 3 or more hits, this gives you 6 opportunities to roll a killing blow and the opponent (if he has a wardsave) has a 25% chance to survive that. Thats an avarage chance of 75% to kill the target, not too shaby for its investment. Unfortunatly, as with all ToL- and ToTS-builds, the much needed potion of toughness will not be available for the wielder of the sword, but there are enough points left to buy him a 2+ armor-save, which will hopefully protect him from the vengeance of the dead opponents troops.

Blade of Sea Gold: This is kind of the yin to the Sword of Hoeth’s yang. This time you negate the armour but have to wound. I’m not sold on which of these is the better choice but when you consider the humble great weapon, it’s obviously neither. Especially when the privilege of negating armour costs four times as much as a base GW. I guess this could be useful if you play against heavy cav. lists a lot like Brets or something.

Foe Bane: Probably better value than the Sword of Hoeth due to it being significantly cheaper. Definitely worth a look if you play against Ogres or other monstrous infantry consistently. Probably not worth it against monstrous cav. as it doesn’t really dent the armour. So, generally best left in the armoury unless you have a specific foe in mind to be bane of.

In summary then, pretty much all the High Elf magic weapons suffer from being compared to a great weapon, which, with ASF, is pretty much the bees knees. High Elves tend to be squishy on the inside so the high cost of these items means they generally get left at home in favour of either protection or other funky magical items which represent better value.

MAGIC ARMOUR
More than likely you will spend some points in this area to protect your boys. High Elves are naturally squishy so need a hard outer layer for protection from all the nasties in the Old World. Before selecting magic armour, remember the bonuses that Dragon Armour confers (and confers to the mount too) and the extra AS granted by being mounted and having a shield, etc.

Armour of Protection: If you are contemplating this item, check out the armour of destiny in the BRB and contemplate that instead. You also might want to consider the Talisman of Preservation and Dragon Armour for the bonus ward against flaming/breath weapons.

Golden Shield
: An interesting choice but ultimately too expensive and generally useless - if you’re using a one handed weapon to go with this you probably don’t have the points to spend on a crappy shield.

Armour of Stars: One of the more hilarious options in the High Elf book - if you take a single unsaved wound you teleport in a random direction. At first glance you might think this is completely useless but it does have some tactical applications. You could charge a unit to hold them up for a turn or position yourself as a redirector. It also has some fun challenge related effects as you can hurt your opponent in a challenge then teleport away and they will typically lose as they did 1W and you did more or have static res. So an interesting item but not a very useful one as it also relies on your characters getting hurt. Not something you should be planning on! It could also mean you character takes a sniper would and then teleports straight in front of a unit of mournfang. Not exactly great news.

Armour of Heroes: With all the rerolls available for Ld checks these days (i.e. BSBs) this is never, ever going to be worth taking. Try standard heavy/dragon armour instead.

Temakador’s Gaunlets: I can see these being useful in some situations but they always come after other (better) items. Note that this probably a better choice than the Talisman of Endurance from the BRB although probably not better than the Guardian Phoenix from the HE book as the ward is not always available.

Shadow Armour: Potentially very good but in all likelihood very bad. The reason for this is that taking this item means you have probably taken Shadow Warriors and unfortunately, they suck. Being able to scout is cool but Shadow Warriors are not cool and being a lone, scouting hero is probably worse. Use eagles or something else to threaten flanks and leave this back in the armoury with the High Elf weapons.

Armour of Caledor:
Finally a choice I can 100% advocate people taking from the High Elf book. You’re getting a very good armour save and a very good ward against flaming/breath weapons. This item is seen in probably 95% of all High Elf lists and for good reason. Take on a BSB with either the Dawnstone or Guardian Phoenix for a solid, resilient hero or on a Dragon mounted Prince to get a decent AS. It’s best suited to foot characters or those that would otherwise struggle to get to a good armour save - cav. characters can probably make do with dragon armour as they can get a 2+ pretty easily that way. Also bear in mind that the Armour of Silvered Steel from the BRB isn’t as good and costs twice as much.

Helm of Fortune: Another great item. Bonuses to AS and grants rerolls. Nuff said. Often a good choice for mounted characters to get a reroll on armour and a 1up.

Dragonscale Shield: Not bad but there are better choices out there that push this down the list. Taking this means you also intend to choose something other than a GW.

Mask of the Merlord: The fact that this is only useable by models on foot means that you will probably never want to use it or see it used. Purely a fluffy choice.

TALISMANS
There are a couple of really good items in this section and some really odd ones too. If you are in need of some magic resistance, consider the Loremaster's cloak. It's a pretty decent item, especially if you want to prevent character assassination with death magic.

Vambraces of Defence: a decent item and standard fare for a combat prince looking to beef up his defence. Represents great value when compared to the Talisman of Preservation, etc as it grants the reroll and can't be stolen by those sneaky Gnoblars!

Golden Crown of Atrazar: Too expensive for an extra wound. There are better choices out there

Loremaster’s Cloak: A decent item but expensive. You more than likely want to put this on a mage but it has to come after other, more useful stuff (a scroll or similar) so you might need to play around with points and item allocation to get this into a list. It works best defending a large unit which would otherwise have little in the way of magical defence. Basically this means you want it in one of your elite units or in a mage bunker (probably not PG) that is protecting several characters. Remember that it doesn’t protect against the big spells (Dwellers, etc) that don’t allow ‘saves of any kind’. This item is often seen in ETC HE lists as they allow saves against these spells (I think). For the rest of us, it’s awesome magic missile and anti-death spell defence. It should also be noted that this item does not necessarily have to go on a mage - any other character can use it and confer the ability to an entire unit.

Talisman of Saphery: One half of the unkillable mage combo of items and as such, it works best with its partner in crime, Folariath’s Robe. Remember this only works on magic weapons in B2B contact so you’re still liable to get shot in the face by Wood Elves with magic bows or chewed up by demons with innate magical attacks. I have also seen this item on combat characters who want to negate the magical weapons of an opponent in a challenge. It works but I think there are better equipment choices for HE combat heroes.

Sacred Incense: Not very good when you’re really only worried about cannon fire. If it worked like Pha’s or something requiring a 4+ for non-ballistic skill shots you’d see it more. As it happens this is not the way it works and the incense is best left back in the temple braziers making nice smells in the church. You might get some mileage out of it if you frequently face hordes of goblin archers or something like that but it’s unlikely.

Guardian Phoenix: A cheaper version of the Talisman of Endurance which obviously gets the thumbs up from most players. A common choice for a BSB along with the Armour of Caledor.

Amulet of Fire: Probably not all that useful when you consider the benefits of Dragon Armour or look at the Dragonbane Gem in the BRB.

MAGIC BANNERS
There are some good choices in here (and one stellar choice). Don’t be afraid to put a few points in banners although think twice about giving the BSB a magic standard. It can be done but it means he will be less protected from harm as you can’t take any other magic items (i.e. a ward save).

Battle Banner: This actually has the potential to be amazing and swing a combat completely in your favour. However, it has to go on a BSB who will be fairly ripe for the killing. If you can get the BSB into the second rank for some protection I can see this working. It is also a hideous amount of points for a banner.

Banner of the World Dragon: aka. the Personal Standard of Teclis. This item is usually used in a bunker unit for Teclis to protect him from all the silly attempts by the enemy at killing him with magic. It can be used with other units but again, results in an exposed BSB who will likely be underprotected. Remember that this banner’s effects also prevent you from casting your own magic on the unit so no buffs for them!

Banner of Sorcery: Another item that sees use in 95% of High Elf lists. Yes it is that good. Unless you have a very good reason against taking it, this item will be in every High Elf list you ever create. The only exception is really the Star Dragon list as it doesn’t have a level 4 caster who needs extra dice. On the other hand, in a coven list, this item is an auto-include.

Standard of Balance: Actually pretty good but you have to pay some points for it. If you play against Dark Elves or people with hatred a lot, this might just be the banner for you.

Banner of Arcane Protection: Decent but usually not seen too often as there are other, better choices or the simple fact that you don’t have the points to spare. This banner is definitely an ok choice.

Lion Standard: Can be good but again, you probably want to spend these points elsewhere on something more efficient. With the rerolls you get from a BSB, you might not ever need this banner anyway.

Banner of Ellyrion: Consider this is you are running a large unit of Dragon Princes or something as it is great value for the points. Losing ⅙ of your expensive boys if you step in a wood is a massive downer.

ARCANE ITEMS
Onto the good stuff! The magical dominance of the High Elves is represented in this section and your mages will be taking a few of these gems out of the White Tower and onto the field - or at least they should be!

Book of Hoeth: This item breaks the mechanics of the game and has the potential to super power your magic phase. Use this with Shadow magic if you’re looking to lose a few friends. The Book can be a good item but uses all of your magic item allowance and as such can lead to your mage getting slapped in the face by even the humblest of Gobbos. In my opinion the Book isn’t actually all that efficient a choice as you leave your mage unprotected, it is expensive and it also means you haven’t taken some of the other awesome Arcane Items. If you are taking the Book, you should really ask yourself why you aren’t taking Teclis as he has the same ability, extra abilities and is extremely generously costed. You should then also pray for the small part of your soul that dies when you put him in your list.

Vortex Shard
: Very expensive but good. If you can block a critical magic phase of your opponent’s then this item has made its points back. In most lists though, this will lose out to a scroll or other item that is more cost effective or allows the mage to have a ward save.

Annulian Crystal: Bargain of the century! A lot of High Elf players use this item and those that don’t should do. Having the crystal and a dispel scroll makes it really hard for your opponents to get through the spells they really need. Whether this represents decent enough magical defence without a scroll is still up for debate. I'm not sure which I'd take first if I couldn't have both but that's never been a problem in my lists as I always have two mages anyway.

Sigil of Asuryan: A scroll that destroys enemy spells. It is slightly random but can be really good against certain lores i.e. Life magic if you can destroy either Dwellers or Throne of Vines. Some players swear by it but others don’t have the points for it.

Starwood Staff: +5 to cast for an Archmage is very good but there are probably better choices out there (Silver Wand or something!).

Seerstaff of Saphery
: Think very carefully about why you want this item. It confers an awesome ability but if you are going to take the sig. spell with it, you probably shouldn’t be using this item. Standard fare in the coven of light setup to get double Banishments.

Trickster’s Pendant: Kind of like the Infernal Puppet for Elves but not as good. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen this in a list but it certainly has potential. It’s just another item that falls by the wayside due to the dearth of riches in the Arcane Item slot.

Gem of Sunfire: If Dragon Mages were any good you might see this. As it happens, the DM is not very good so you don’t see this. Unfortunately the Gem of Sunfire has been relegated to being a ‘fluff choice only’ these days.

Ring of Corin: Vaul’s in a ring. Nice. Unfortunately it’s a good item that will probably get left in the locker room in favor of something else. Hurt by being one use only.

Staff of Solidity: Useful but not exceptional.

Jewel of the Dusk: Increases your magical power for cheap. Me likey. Traditional choice to super power the coven and works well in other lists too if you can fit it in somewhere.

Silver Wand: Want to be a mini-loremaster but not quite? This is the item for you. A solid choice for an archmage or his apprentice. Often seen along with the Robes & Talisman combo on the unkillable Archmage. It takes away some of the ‘random factor’ when rolling for spells.

ENCHANTED ITEMS
This section contains probably the most useable items from any of the High Elf magic item slots. It’s choc full of great items that can be put on heroes and unit champions alike. Some of these add some real flavour to a list and open up some really unique builds.

Null stone: One of the other ‘funnies’ in the High Elf list. There was a recent ETC list that used a Prince with this in the second rank of a unit. It is an expensive choice but if you can protect the Prince he will probably smack down most stuff in CC as they won’t have a ward save or anything (assuming the Prince has his trusty great weapon to hand). Used with care this item can be devastating but in the hands of most of us, it’s probably more of a liability.

Healing Potion: too expensive, the one in the BRB is cheaper and can be just as good. I still wouldn’t take that one either though. Planning on getting characters hurt is never a great idea. Plan on them winning and not needing a potion and see where that gets you instead! Edit: you can also use this on heroes other than yourself but I still would not use it.

Radiant Gem of Hoeth
: A great item in game and fluff terms. This item single handedly opens up a whole realm of new possibilities for Mage-Knights and other interesting builds. It’s also commonplace in the coven list to get an extra lvl.1 wizard who is also the BSB.

Folariath’s Robe
: Another interesting item that actually sees use! Also constitutes the main part of the unkillable mage combo. This item is obviously best used on a caster as it prevents you attacking in CC as a side effect but it’s uses are many and varied. A single model can hold up an entire unit or stop even the most monstrous of lords in a challenge (depending on their equipment). This item gets a gold star from most High Elf generals.

Ring of Fury: Need a magic missile to deal with ethereals? Take the Ring of Fury. It’s fairly expensive but has a lot of utility. The Ruby Ring from the BRB is also worth consideration here (see later guide).

Cloak of Beards: Fluffy but not all that useful unless you face Dwarfs a lot. Has some interesting modeling options though.

Pendant of Vengeance: Again if you fight Dwarfs this is pretty good but it’s not a great choice for an all-comers list.

Dragonhorn: An interesting item but oft-relegated to the armoury by the BSB. Might be useful if you don't have a BSB i.e. in small games.

The Skeinsliver: Is getting the first turn important to you? If you think it is then this might be the item for you. If running something like the Star Dragon list, this item can make the difference between taking two cannonballs to the face or one. It can also help you alpha strike your opponent if you get the first turn in other games. It is a fair few points for what is essentially a ‘random effect’ (dice roll) item though.

Amulet of Light: Awesome item. Cheap as chips for the cost and can negate the fact that HE great weapons are non-magical. A good choice on a unit champ to confer magical attacks to his unit or on a BSB or somesuch. It also grants magical attacks, not magical weapons so things like Folariath's Robe are ineffective against this item. Nice. Great in just about every situation and all-comers lists.

Gem of Courage: Grants cold blooded for a turn. Good if you have few points left over or if you have a unit that will be operating outside of BSB range. Also consider the Gleaming Pennant from the BRB which is cheaper but therefore not as good.

Talisman of Loec
: Seen most often on the Kamikaze Bladelord or on a challenging Prince. It’s well worth the points for the effects and can allow you to take down an otherwise daunting foe. Remember that the wound it causes on you only gets suffered at the end of the phase so it doesn’t count for combat res.
Last edited by John Rainbow on Wed Sep 11, 2013 5:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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