Which Stormcast Eternals Spells are worth it?

[Black Blade]

I've been experimenting with spells from the lore of the Storm, the lore of Invigoration and the endless spells specific to the Stormcast. I've come away with some impressions and I'd like to leave this thread as a guide to new players as well as a springboard for some conversation from current SE players.

 

Lore of the Storm- very much a hit or miss lore, this lore is all about dealing mortal wounds and not always in a satisfying fashion.

Lightning Blast- A fine little spell that's quite reliable on your lesser caster heroes who don't have the "prime electrids" ability. Its cheap and it has UNLIMITED range!

Starfall- this is a bad spell, it's cheap to cast but basically works like a shotgun arcane bolt (which sounds cooler than it is). The range is very limiting at 12", the 6" bubble is nice but you still need to roll 4+ per unit to hit them and its only 1 wound per unit.

Thundershock- A personal favorite of mine, though it's not guaranteed to have an effect even if you successfully cast it. dealing mortal wounds is just icing on the cake, you really take this for the -1 debuff which is always huge, its like have another relictor thunderstorm prayer that can hit multiple units.

Azyrite Halo- Another reliable pick for me, combos very well with our shield bearing units for which we are spoiled. Put on a unit of sequitors channeling into their shields for maximum value. Throwing back mortals on an unmodified 6 is really solid in most combats you will find yourself in.

Chain Lightening- basically a better Starfall with 2 higher casting value. You get twice the range, better targeting bubble in my opinion and you're doing better damage right away if it goes off. I think the damage could be better for its cost but its not a terrible pick.

Stormcaller- a bad spell, it has a high cost and is too conditional. every enemy unit gets rolled for which is nice but you need a 6+ to hit them for d3 MW. Think about how many times you've rolled 12 or more die and come up with ZERO 6's. Its too random and unreliable. If it was on a 5+ would be the only way I would consider taking it.

 

Lore of Invigoration-  your combat multipliers and a sold lore for a few reasons not least of which is that your evocators can pick a spell from here. 

Terrifying Aspect- it's ok, but you've got so many better options.

Celestial Blades- better option #1. flexible and cheap with good range, you will never regret taking it. Plus 1 to wound is always great, will make your liberators actually kill stuff.

Speed of Lightning- an excellent pick on Evocators, their one weakness is to rending attacks and the best way to avoid that is to getting into combat at the right time with the right enemies. This spell makes that happen, my evocators win me games alone with this spell, get into combat when they can be chosen first and make sure it happens that turn.

 

Endless Spells- two spells that are just fine and one that's quite an investment but potentially very potent if used intelligently.

Celestian Vortex- it's ok except against chaos where it's amazing. has an added benefit of reducing missile weapon accuracy so it can be used as a screen if you plan right.

Dias Arcanum- a strange one who's effect doesn't match it's own lore. needs to be used by a 5 wound wizard, gives them plus 1 to save, 12"  flying move and an additional unbinding pretty useful even if you don't need the extra unbind.

Everblaze Comet-a pretty cool spell with a cool model. can be cast without line of sight and outside unbinding range. has an immediate mortal wound output that punishes close knit armies. acts as area denial because it continues to pump out mortal wounds over time and disrupts enemy casting attempt making the cast on a -1. the only negative thing you can say about this endless spell is that it's not a steal for points. you pay for it but if you are clever with it you can really mess with your enemy.

[Namelessone81]

26 minutes ago, Black Blade said:

I've been experimenting with spells from the lore of the Storm, the lore of Invigoration and the endless spells specific to the Stormcast. I've come away with some impressions and I'd like to leave this thread as a guide to new players as well as a springboard for some conversation from current SE players.

 

Lore of the Storm- very much a hit or miss lore, this lore is all about dealing mortal wounds and not always in a satisfying fashion.

Lightning Blast- A fine little spell that's quite reliable on your lesser caster heroes who don't have the "prime electrids" ability. Its cheap and it has UNLIMITED range!

Starfall- this is a bad spell, it's cheap to cast but basically works like a shotgun arcane bolt (which sounds cooler than it is). The range is very limiting at 12", the 6" bubble is nice but you still need to roll 4+ per unit to hit them and its only 1 wound per unit.

Thundershock- A personal favorite of mine, though it's not guaranteed to have an effect even if you successfully cast it. dealing mortal wounds is just icing on the cake, you really take this for the -1 debuff which is always huge, its like have another relictor thunderstorm prayer that can hit multiple units.

Azyrite Halo- Another reliable pick for me, combos very well with our shield bearing units for which we are spoiled. Put on a unit of sequitors channeling into their shields for maximum value. Throwing back mortals on an unmodified 6 is really solid in most combats you will find yourself in.

Chain Lightening- basically a better Starfall with 2 higher casting value. You get twice the range, better targeting bubble in my opinion and you're doing better damage right away if it goes off. I think the damage could be better for its cost but its not a terrible pick.

Stormcaller- a bad spell, it has a high cost and is too conditional. every enemy unit gets rolled for which is nice but you need a 6+ to hit them for d3 MW. Think about how many times you've rolled 12 or more die and come up with ZERO 6's. Its too random and unreliable. If it was on a 5+ would be the only way I would consider taking it.

 

Lore of Invigoration-  your combat multipliers and a sold lore for a few reasons not least of which is that your evocators can pick a spell from here. 

Terrifying Aspect- it's ok, but you've got so many better options.

Celestial Blades- better option #1. flexible and cheap with good range, you will never regret taking it. Plus 1 to wound is always great, will make your liberators actually kill stuff.

Speed of Lightning- an excellent pick on Evocators, their one weakness is to rending attacks and the best way to avoid that is to getting into combat at the right time with the right enemies. This spell makes that happen, my evocators win me games alone with this spell, get into combat when they can be chosen first and make sure it happens that turn.

 

Endless Spells- two spells that are just fine and one that's quite an investment but potentially very potent if used intelligently.

Celestian Vortex- it's ok except against chaos where it's amazing. has an added benefit of reducing missile weapon accuracy so it can be used as a screen if you plan right.

Dias Arcanum- a strange one who's effect doesn't match it's own lore. needs to be used by a 5 wound wizard, gives them plus 1 to save, 12"  flying move and an additional unbinding pretty useful even if you don't need the extra unbind.

Everblaze Comet-a pretty cool spell with a cool model. can be cast without line of sight and outside unbinding range. has an immediate mortal wound output that punishes close knit armies. acts as area denial because it continues to pump out mortal wounds over time and disrupts enemy casting attempt making the cast on a -1. the only negative thing you can say about this endless spell is that it's not a steal for points. you pay for it but if you are clever with it you can really mess with your enemy.

Hey thanx for this post  I am trying to make a magic oriented sce army list and I was wondering if you know what are the best artifacts for magic wielding heroes  

lets make grand convocation work  

[The World Tree]

I really like Stormcaller. It is hard to cast but it gives you an option at range and can be really good at threatening characters. Combined with a Star Drake and/or Comet it can be really threatening to enemy heroes.

[DanielFM]

30 minutes ago, The World Tree said:

I really like Stormcaller. It is hard to cast but it gives you an option at range and can be really good at threatening characters. Combined with a Star Drake and/or Comet it can be really threatening to enemy heroes.

Stormcaller+Stardrake, see if any enemy hero gets wounded and finish him with Longstrikes. I like that tactic.

[PJetski]

My $0.02 on the stormcast spells

Great
Everblaze Comet - Even at 100 points this is a phenomenal inclusion and should be considered in every Stormcast list.
Azyrite Halo - I like to call this spell "the spikey speedbump". A surprisingly good support spell. You can use it on a large blob of Sequitors or Liberators with Castellant Lantern, or just a small squad of 5 dudes in a chokepoint, or even on a Stardrake to make it reflect even more damage. Great against armies that have tons of attacks, like Skeletons, Idoneth Thralls, and Witch Elves. Remember that you roll all saves BEFORE you allocate wounds, so even if your unit is wiped out you can still do some mortal wounds back.
Celestial Blades - Simple, but very good. Easy to cast. Stick it on blob of Evocators, a big unit of Dracolines or Dracoths, or even just a unit of 10+ Sequitors. Stacks well with Empower, especially easy to use if you have multiple units of Evocators.

Good
Chain Lightning - Cast it after Arcane Bolt to deal 2d3 to one target, and there's even a chance it will splash and deal some extra damage. Cast value 7 is the only thing stopping this from being in the Great tier. 
Lightning Blast - When you really want to kill a screening unit, sometimes that extra D3 after Prime Electrids is what you need to get it done.
Celestial Vortex - With a 21" threat range and a huge base, this guy really disrupts enemy movement. People generally don't waste their spells trying to remove it because it's not a huge threat. It can sometimes deal significant damage, especially when you stack it with Quicksilver Swords for extra fun against a CHAOS meta. It also provides some protection against an enemy double turn.

Okay
Stormcaller - Cast value 7, chance of complete failure. Only really useful on the first turn of the game when nothing is in range of your other spells and you already cast Comet, but you could instead be casting support spells like Azyrite Halo, Celestial Blades, and Empower.
Dais Arcanum - Stacks with cover and Staunch Defender, works really well with Mystic Shield. An extra unbind on an Incantor is really good because it gives you additional flexibility on when to use your dispel scroll. Not a bad effect, just underwhelming for 40p. Why can't the Lord-Arcanum ride this???

Bad
Starfall - Medium range, low damage, chance of failure. I'll pass.
Thundershock - Short range, low damage, and only a 50% chance to activate. -1 Hit is quite good but the situation where this is useful is not reliable enough. No thanks.
Terrifying Aspect - Good in a Bravery bomb list, I guess?
Speed of Lightning - Vexillor provides the same benefit (although at 120pt) and you can use a command ability to reroll charges. Can't use it on deep strike units. Gavriel lists don't use a hero phase reroll spell. Dracolines can already reroll charges natively. Which list can use this?

[Black Blade]

15 hours ago, Namelessone81 said:

Hey thanx for this post  I am trying to make a magic oriented sce army list and I was wondering if you know what are the best artifacts for magic wielding heroes  

lets make grand convocation work  

The best artifacts are the ones that keep them alive. I usually take either mirror shield, dopplegangers cloak or ignax scales depending on who i'm facing. Everything staves and scrolls can do we have better tools elsewhere. You could take the Staff of force on an Incantor if you reeaaallly wanted.

14 hours ago, The World Tree said:

I really like Stormcaller. It is hard to cast but it gives you an option at range and can be really good at threatening characters. Combined with a Star Drake and/or Comet it can be really threatening to enemy heroes.

If you like it I'm happy for you but its lack of consistency is just way too high.

7 hours ago, PJetski said:

My $0.02 on the stormcast spells

Great
Everblaze Comet - Even at 100 points this is a phenomenal inclusion and should be considered in every Stormcast list.
Azyrite Halo - I like to call this spell "the spikey speedbump". A surprisingly good support spell. You can use it on a large blob of Sequitors or Liberators with Castellant Lantern, or just a small squad of 5 dudes in a chokepoint, or even on a Stardrake to make it reflect even more damage. Great against armies that have tons of attacks, like Skeletons, Idoneth Thralls, and Witch Elves. Remember that you roll all saves BEFORE you allocate wounds, so even if your unit is wiped out you can still do some mortal wounds back.
Celestial Blades - Simple, but very good. Easy to cast. Stick it on blob of Evocators, a big unit of Dracolines or Dracoths, or even just a unit of 10+ Sequitors. Stacks well with Empower, especially easy to use if you have multiple units of Evocators.

Good
Chain Lightning - Cast it after Arcane Bolt to deal 2d3 to one target, and there's even a chance it will splash and deal some extra damage. Cast value 7 is the only thing stopping this from being in the Great tier. 
Lightning Blast - When you really want to kill a screening unit, sometimes that extra D3 after Prime Electrids is what you need to get it done.
Celestial Vortex - With a 21" threat range and a huge base, this guy really disrupts enemy movement. People generally don't waste their spells trying to remove it because it's not a huge threat. It can sometimes deal significant damage, especially when you stack it with Quicksilver Swords for extra fun against a CHAOS meta. It also provides some protection against an enemy double turn.

Okay
Stormcaller - Cast value 7, chance of complete failure. Only really useful on the first turn of the game when nothing is in range of your other spells and you already cast Comet, but you could instead be casting support spells like Azyrite Halo, Celestial Blades, and Empower.
Dais Arcanum - Stacks with cover and Staunch Defender, works really well with Mystic Shield. An extra unbind on an Incantor is really good because it gives you additional flexibility on when to use your dispel scroll. Not a bad effect, just underwhelming for 40p. Why can't the Lord-Arcanum ride this???

Bad
Starfall - Medium range, low damage, chance of failure. I'll pass.
Thundershock - Short range, low damage, and only a 50% chance to activate. -1 Hit is quite good but the situation where this is useful is not reliable enough. No thanks.
Terrifying Aspect - Good in a Bravery bomb list, I guess?
Speed of Lightning - Vexillor provides the same benefit (although at 120pt) and you can use a command ability to reroll charges. Can't use it on deep strike units. Gavriel lists don't use a hero phase reroll spell. Dracolines can already reroll charges natively. Which list can use this?

I'm on the same page with a lot of this, 40pts is just a bit too high but it's still not a bad pick except the Arcanum on foot can't take it. I have to say though you're dead wrong about Thundershock and Speed of Lightning. How many times have you been in a melee with 3+ enemy units? It's not about the damage it's about the -1 to hit which if it hits any blobs you're doing great.

Speed of Lightening is the extra spell you always take on your first unit of foot Evocators and if youre taking fulminators it's super helpful. Not to mention not all of us run Garviel. I refuse to play Hammers if I take a stormhost at all. I paint my guys as Celestial Vindicators and that's the way I play em or I don't take a host at all so a lot of us don't use Garviel as a crutch. 

[PJetski]

If Im bringing Fulminators then I'll spend a command point to reroll a charge, or bring a Vexillor. I would always rather cast Celestial Blades than Speed of Lightning.

[Wraith01]

Great post! A lot to think about when choosing spells.

[Black Blade]

@Wraith01 hey thanks man, I'm glad people are getting value from it. As long as you aren't playing in a hypercompetitive environment you've got some interesting spells that will change up the way you approach the game depending on what you take, have fun.

[AverageBoss]

Deleted.

[Apologetic Canadian]

Two things:

One, thank you for this thread. I'm new to Age of Sigmar (although I have nearly two decades in Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000) and I'm still trying to get the swing of how everything works, so having a breakdown helps me a lot.

Two, who can take the spells, exactly? I have the book in front of me, but while the Spell Lores say Wizard or Priest under the applicable tables, the actual entries for each unit never mention that they may take one spell from <x> -- it confuses me a bit, as with previous experience it's normally stated that "Among the spells here, this model may have up to <x> spells from the <y> lore."

Again, thanks for the good work!

[kenshin620]

6 minutes ago, Apologetic Canadian said:

Two things:

One, thank you for this thread. I'm new to Age of Sigmar (although I have nearly two decades in Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000) and I'm still trying to get the swing of how everything works, so having a breakdown helps me a lot.

Two, who can take the spells, exactly? I have the book in front of me, but while the Spell Lores say Wizard or Priest under the applicable tables, the actual entries for each unit never mention that they may take one spell from <x> -- it confuses me a bit, as with previous experience it's normally stated that "Among the spells here, this model may have up to <x> spells from the <y> lore."

Again, thanks for the good work!

Wizards take one extra spell.

Priests take one extra prayer.

ASSUMING you're in a SCE allegiance army of course! As an ally or in GA Order, you don't get anything extra.

[Roark]

Azurite Halo is definitely my favourite, coz it works with both melee and shooting attacks and its effect has infinite range...

[mmimzie]

I guess and expanding on the topic, what are the best stormcast wizards and why??

 

I'm personally looking to ally in a knight Incantor or lord arcanum yo drop comets for me in my deepkin. 

[The World Tree]

1 hour ago, mmimzie said:

I guess and expanding on the topic, what are the best stormcast wizards and why??

  

 I'm personally looking to ally in a knight Incantor or lord arcanum yo drop comets for me in my deepkin. 

As an ally, the Incantor is clearly the best. That free auto-dispel is vital. The Arcanums' best attribute is making Sequitors battleline, which is irrelevant as an ally. That is not to say they are bad, but they aren't noticeably better than the Incantor.

[kenshin620]

1 hour ago, mmimzie said:

I guess and expanding on the topic, what are the best stormcast wizards and why??

 

I'm personally looking to ally in a knight Incantor or lord arcanum yo drop comets for me in my deepkin. 

From what everyone seems to say in the SCE topic (I'm no authority on the matter, I'm just recounting what other people say).

Incantor is great cheap wizard, especially with auto dispel. Usually the Go To ally wizard.

Lord Arcanum is best when taken on a mount, the foot one is a little on the "ok but could be better" side. I think the foot one is if you really want to take battleline sequitors through the cheapest way possible.

Lord Exorcist is not exactly the greatest at what he does.

[Black Blade]

12 hours ago, mmimzie said:

I guess and expanding on the topic, what are the best stormcast wizards and why??

 

I'm personally looking to ally in a knight Incantor or lord arcanum yo drop comets for me in my deepkin. 

It's the Incantor all the way. It's got great stats a useful built in spell and an auto dispell. If you arent trying to take Sequitors as battleline take the Incantor. Otherwise either the Lord Arcanum on Gryph Charger or Dracoline depending on your build. The on foot version and the Tauralon version are over costed in my opinion.

[Namelessone81]

1 minute ago, Black Blade said:

It's the Incantor all the way. It's got great stats a useful built in spell and an auto dispell. If you arent trying to take Sequitors as battleline take the Incantor. Otherwise either the Lord Arcanum on Gryph Charger or Dracoline depending on your build. The on foot version and the Tauralon version are over costed in my opinion.

I agree with all about the Knight - Incantor but I would like to add that the Lord Arcanum on foot is a great choice if you are playing or you are against an endless spells army because of his command ability , I don’t think we saw the possibilities of endless spells based armies yet .

[Black Blade]

2 minutes ago, Namelessone81 said:

I agree with all about the Knight - Incantor but I would like to add that the Lord Arcanum on foot is a great choice if you are playing or you are against an endless spells army because of his command ability , I don’t think we saw the possibilities of endless spells based armies yet .

You're correct, I haven't fought many endless spells let alone an army built around them but as it stands you have to be going second in a round because there is usually just one endless spell if you're lucky and it has to be close to your slow moving hero.

[Galamund]

I'd like to join the chorus singing the praises of Azyrite Halo. It's easy to cast and SO efficient on a giant block of Sequitors channeling shields. Plus, as already noted, it works against range and is not limited in range.

Also, it's a niche spell since you have to take the Lord Arcanum on foot to get it, but the Thunderclap spell is great. -1 to hit on a target within 18" reduces the punch of so many scary melee threats - Kurnoth Hunters, Bestigors, Deepkin Eels... the list goes on.

[Namelessone81]

7 minutes ago, Galamund said:

I'd like to join the chorus singing the praises of Azyrite Halo. It's easy to cast and SO efficient on a giant block of Sequitors channeling shields. Plus, as already noted, it works against and range and is not limited in range.

Also, it's a niche spell since you have to take the Lord Arcanum on foot to get it, but the Thunderclap spell is great. -1 to hit on a target within 18" reduces the punch of so many scary melee threats - Kurnoth Hunters, Bestigors, Deepkin Eels... the list goes on.

I agree ! And I think that we are just starting to understand the new possibilities of the new units .

[Galamund]

While I preferred to take the mounted Lord-Arcanums, due to how I built my list dropping from a LAoGC to a LA on foot allowed me to have a CP in the bank at the start of the game... and I have to say, it's waaaay better, even though I sacrifice the speed, the Healing Light spell and the extra wound. LA on foot is still tough as nails with 6W and a 3+, and debuffing a dangerous enemy melee unit is situationally massive.

[Skasian]

Is Thundershock's "In addition," clause implying that the -1 hit only occurs if the 4+ is rolled or is it independent of the mortal wound part of the effect?

[Black Blade]

On 9/29/2018 at 2:02 PM, Galamund said:

While I preferred to take the mounted Lord-Arcanums, due to how I built my list dropping from a LAoGC to a LA on foot allowed me to have a CP in the bank at the start of the game... and I have to say, it's waaaay better, even though I sacrifice the speed, the Healing Light spell and the extra wound. LA on foot is still tough as nails with 6W and a 3+, and debuffing a dangerous enemy melee unit is situationally massive.

I pretty much have to take the LAoGC for his healing spell, I run at least two heavy Cav units and it makes a big difference in my specific setups. However you may have just convinced me to give the Arcanum on foot a try, he doesn't have the auto dispel scroll and he can't ride the disc which doesn't make any sense  but I may try.

8 minutes ago, Skasian said:

Is Thundershock's "In addition," clause implying that the -1 hit only occurs if the 4+ is rolled or is it independent of the mortal wound part of the effect?

It was FAQ'd to be clear I think but they only take the neg 1 if you roll a 4+ first. So roughly half the units, that usually means two of the 3 that are in range for me.

[Galamund]

On 9/30/2018 at 7:47 PM, Black Blade said:

I pretty much have to take the LAoGC for his healing spell, I run at least two heavy Cav units and it makes a big difference in my specific setups. However you may have just convinced me to give the Arcanum on foot a try, he doesn't have the auto dispel scroll and he can't ride the disc which doesn't make any sense  but I may try.

 

If your build rewards taking Healing Light then that absolutely makes sense. It's an amazing spell and getting d6 W back on one of our big cavalry units is enormous. I hate to lose out on it. But, it's an issue of synergy with the rest of the list: I want that extra CP to fuel a Gav/Evocator alphastrike. Subjective, I'd say.  As for the Voidstorm scroll and the disc, the former I don't need since I don't have any single units I need to prevent getting Hand of Dust-ed and the latter I don't think is ever worth the points. Are there any other enemy spells that you find particularly fearsome and feel you absolutely need the Voidstorm scroll for?