How to use the Magister

[Edible Eyebrows]

Moved from Skaven to Chaos recently, whilst im really enjoying them and am doing reasonably well, the one unit i just cannot use properly is the magister.

whilst my skaven leader was a beast, MVP in nearly every match, my Magister just feels like a liability.

So I have two of the guys, one i'm building pure mage, and whilst the buffs/debuffs are nice they feel pretty damn weak compared to what any other leader unit can do and thats when he isnt exploding in some chaotic curse.

the other guy I'm using as an archer and again- he is 'okay', slightly more useful than my cultist archers, but again: nothing compared to the gunslinging badass my skaven leaders could be.

Am I missing a trick with these guys, or are Chaos meant to have fairly squishy leaders?

[Castor]

Like most casters, he's not good at low level. Later he has some excellent support uses.

[Greybush]

You're probably forgetting how crap the Skaven units were initially too. :)

But yeah, the Magister can be a bit tough to figure out.
As Ranged he can be fairly good, but it's a bit of a waste of his potential as a support unit.
His real strength isn't in doing dmg himself, but making others do a lot more dmg and stopping enemy units from doing dmg.
Weapons of Destruction is a very nice buff to any melee!
Chains of Chaos is a great crowd control spell. Throw it on an Ogre and he's a lot less threatening (only 2 regular attacks even at Rank 10).
Curse of Chaos can also work great for reducing enemy dmg, or opening them up for easy Stuns or failed Leadership tests.
Then there's Vision of Torment, ofc. The potential to Stun everyone within 5m is very good! And even you get the alternative they'll all get -5/15% Melee res, Range res, Dodge, and Parry.

Add in some Leadership skills (like the always popular Order) and he can really make your warband inflict some pain!

[Penny Royal]

I've mastered Chains of Chaos and Acid Breath with one of mine. All the enemy can do is stand there and melt while my henchmen beat them to a pulp.

That is, until the Magister explodes with a 9999 curse, of course! xD

[Reaver79]

I tried the Acid breath.. just dont really seem to be worth it.. i get so much more dmg out of a weapons of destruction and CoC is just such a great lockdown spell..

[-Turbu-]

I use my magister as a multipurpose caster/archer. Stack up that crit chance, climb high and pepper enemies with arrows while debuffing when necessary. Chains of Chaos + Crippling shot = one very weakened enemy. Magister in my eyes are just too papery for frontline melee.

[Prince Kaine]

Pure support build on an offensive style warband:

Unit profile: Magister

Attributes:
===========
Strength: 6
Toughness: 12
Agility: 6
Leadership: 15
Intelligence: 15
Alertness: 7
Weapon Skill: 12
Ballistic Skill: 11
Accuracy: 4

Skills:
=======
Blood Sacrifice Basic, Order Basic, Adrenaline Rush Mastery, Channeling Mastery, Improved Casting Mastery, War Cry Mastery, Insult Mastery

Spells:
=======
Weapons of Destruction Mastery, Boon of Chaos Mastery, Chains of Chaos Mastery

Books:
==========
Tome of Abilities

And of course the staff.

If you don't have the tome you can allways take basic insult and give a globaldier insult mastery while waiting for it.

Normally a turn goes like that:
Warcry
Boon
Boon
WoD
Adrenalin rush
Insult
Order
Order


He is totally vulnerable, his defense is good positioning to prevent any enemy from reaching him.

[Bubs]

Originally posted by Reaver79:

I tried the Acid breath.. just dont really seem to be worth it.. i get so much more dmg out of a weapons of destruction and CoC is just such a great lockdown spell..

Bypass armor, and multiple targets.

[Vile]

Battle tounge mastered, gets you three orders.Great against sinful speach

[Paranoia]

My Magister currently loves the s**t out of Curse of Chaos, and would to Boon of Chaos wasn't the duration a bit insufficient together with randomization.

As a general rule, my Magister tends to be heavy on support Spells. With some combat capability in the mix. With him I tend to not take many Leader abilities, as I find casting and positioning too vital.

Should Boon of Chaos be increased into 2 turn duration, I would certainly try a Magic Knight:
WoD+Attack+Boon+Attack+Boon+Addrenaline Rush+Attack+Chains of Chaos or some combination in an optimal situation, two Boons carrying over to the next turn.
Obviously not optimized at all. Boon isn't 2 turns in duration currently, so there is little point as is.

[Prince Kaine]

Originally posted by Paranoia:

Boon isn't 2 turns in duration currently

And I hope it will not be changed. 4 points on 3 stats is allready very good, wherever it lands, even if mental is a bit underwhelming. The change I'd welcome though is the ability to pass racial max. After all if nuffle decides to give +12 in phy, who are we to judge.