Tuesday 7 June 2016

Being an Elementalist

I thought it might be an idea to explore the options for character development for my Elementalist wizard.

Take that
Starting Out
I made the decision to be an Elementalist because I just loved the idea of throwing fire balls around the board. Casting spells in your school has no negative modifiers so they should be the main spells in use. You personality, as it were.

Elemental Bolt is favourite spell. It has a 12 cast, needs LOS and is resolved as a +8 shooting attack. That is a really potent weapon and I have already vaporised some of my opposition. A wonderful feeling.

My 'go to' spell is Wall. It has a 10 cast value and allows me to erect a 6" wall that is 3" high within 6" of myself. I cast this a lot in every game.

My third chosen spell is Elemental Shield. This absorbs 3 points of damage and can only be cast on me. It makes me more survivable.

My aligned schools are Summoner, Chiromancer and Enchanter. These suffer a +2 modifier when casting spells. The starting Wizard must have one spell from each school. I went for movement oriented spells.

Summoner - I chose Leap which allows 10" of movement. This can be great to get to a piece of Treasure early and then later in the game it is good to move soldiers carrying loot.

Chromancer - I went for Fleet Feet, target receives +2 movement for the rest of the game. Handy to cast early on something like a Thief who already has 7" movement. Turns him into a speedy dude. It is good that it lasts for the whole game.

Enchanter - I like Telekinesis. It allows you to pull treasure 6" towards you. This is great for getting at that final piece of treasure that is in the middle of an open space. No-one wants to run out there so you pull the treasure towards you. I have used it to great effect.

Neutral schools are Necromancer and Thaumaturge. These receive a +4 modifier so will not be used much in the beginning.

I went for Necromancer - Steal Health which allows the caster to take 3 health from the target and add it to your own.

And finally Thaumaturge - Blinding Light - Stuns the target so they can't cast LOS spells, fight or shoot. I figure there might be a last ditch need for this at some point.

Summary - I have made a wizard that has good offence abilities, that throws fire balls around the board and then has the ability to protect the war band by putting up high walls to block line of sight. I have also added mobility to the war band through my aligned spell choices.

Development
I have gone up 8 levels so far and have decided to improve the cast levels of my spells. This will help make them easier to cast and more successful casts in a game the more XP is earned. The improvement also help the Apprentice. You can only improve a stat by one point after a game and the lowest cast value allowed is 5.

My 'go to' spell is Wall so I have spent 3 points improving its cast to 7. I spent 3 points on Elemental Bolt so that it is now 9 instead of 12. It is my main offence spell after all.

Then I have spent 2 points on Leap. It is now cast on 6. Because it is in an aligned school it suffers a +2 modifier. But 8 is still decent and I find it a very helpful spell.

I have also bought a new spell. I went for Elemental Ball because it has an Area Of Effect that extends 1.5" from the target. Very intimidating and prevents bunching up.

Future Options
I am keen to get Elemental Hammer. This puts a +5 damage modifier on a weapon, when it next does damage. Ouch. I can see that being painful.

Other than that I need to look toward my Aligned schools. I like the idea of bringing more characters to the war band. I have already added an Inn and Kennel to the team so that I can take an extra soldier and a war hound. Enchanter has Animate Construct with an 8 cast value. This is cast out of the game and can add a Construct to the team. I also like Summon Demon from Summoner. This has a 12 cast value and adds a Demon to the team. I will need to get appropriate models. But there is time.

Ba boom, and another soldier is vaporised :-)

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