I'm not a fan of items that do nothing unless I suffer a negative effect and then they have the chance of lessening that negative effect. Earthing rod is one of those. It uses an arcane slot, its one use only, and basically it savrs you from being sucked in the warp. I'd rather be casting on 2 dice and not miscasting and be using black periapt, book of arkhan and cursed book instead.
Most useful Arcane Magic Item
- Thread starter Korpacz
- Start date
-
The masquerade of murder returns! A new game of Vampires Amongst Us has begun. Unmask the killers, trust no one, and try to survive the night. Find out more and sign up now!
If you don't mind losing taking something other than Earthing Rod is totally fine. However, I dislike losing so I take Earthing Rod. 
najo said:
Really?
I can understand a ward save on general principals, but how is it better against miscasts?
I ask because none of the ones that do a wound really bother our lord (unless he's on 1 wound for some reason)- he can just heal back up with the vampire lore.
On the other hand, Power Drain and Dimensional Cascade are considerable threats - and neither allow for a ward save. So, it seems like an Earthing Rod would be a better investment - as it gives you a decent chance of avoiding the really dangerous miscast results.
Earthing Rod has only 1 problem: It is not blender-friendly on a V Lord.
Only the bearer of the rod can re-roll a miscast, and those points remove the 1+ AS or the OTS in a Lord.
Besides, one must be fully aware that Blender lords are there for close combat, and magic support... not heavy casting (well.. they CAN since they can be Lv 4 but... most of our lore is 2-diceable)
Indeed, if the Ogre Blade and the Talisman of Preservation cut it for you, then yeah, take the rod and be happy.
If not, use it on the model who IS going to cast a lot of stuff, like a Master necro / Lv 2 Shadows or Death Vampire / Necro (I mean, the model who is always goint to throw 3+ dice in every single magic phase, like with Spirit Leech / The Withering / Enfeebling Foe / Mindrazor, etc)
Only the bearer of the rod can re-roll a miscast, and those points remove the 1+ AS or the OTS in a Lord.
Besides, one must be fully aware that Blender lords are there for close combat, and magic support... not heavy casting (well.. they CAN since they can be Lv 4 but... most of our lore is 2-diceable)
Indeed, if the Ogre Blade and the Talisman of Preservation cut it for you, then yeah, take the rod and be happy.
If not, use it on the model who IS going to cast a lot of stuff, like a Master necro / Lv 2 Shadows or Death Vampire / Necro (I mean, the model who is always goint to throw 3+ dice in every single magic phase, like with Spirit Leech / The Withering / Enfeebling Foe / Mindrazor, etc)
I know, however, the Dispel Scroll can be carried by a baby necro, the Cursed Book, the same. Also, the Scroll of Shielding and the Book of Arkhan can be held by lesser characters.
The Forbidden Rod MUST be carried by an expendable necro, yet the Earthing Rod is something that the user himself must carry, it's effect can't be borrowed from another (like the Black Periapt), and no other vampire can get Red Fury + Quickblood with Ogre Blade and 4++
That's what I mean by "not blnder-friendly"
The Forbidden Rod MUST be carried by an expendable necro, yet the Earthing Rod is something that the user himself must carry, it's effect can't be borrowed from another (like the Black Periapt), and no other vampire can get Red Fury + Quickblood with Ogre Blade and 4++
That's what I mean by "not blnder-friendly"
Najo im with you. At 2500...
I like a LV4 Master Necro w/ Periapt and LV1 Vamp Lord with HA/Sh Nightmare with Sword of Strife and Red Fury AND potion of Foolheartedness. Combined they fit in the Lord slot at 623.
I will also take 1 more Vamp and 1 more necro. I love the magic phase!!
I like a LV4 Master Necro w/ Periapt and LV1 Vamp Lord with HA/Sh Nightmare with Sword of Strife and Red Fury AND potion of Foolheartedness. Combined they fit in the Lord slot at 623.
I will also take 1 more Vamp and 1 more necro. I love the magic phase!!
The one blender friendly item is book of arkhan. If you can't keep a baby necro or vamp nearby. You want that van hels where the action is.
I agree with Jimmy on playing offensively with those items supporting a blender. I bring the fight to my opponent and hit hard with my vamps, by turn 2-3 something important of theirs is dead. Black periapt and two dicing vampire lore with a smidge of death is usually the reason.
I agree with Jimmy on playing offensively with those items supporting a blender. I bring the fight to my opponent and hit hard with my vamps, by turn 2-3 something important of theirs is dead. Black periapt and two dicing vampire lore with a smidge of death is usually the reason.
I have been experimenting with a dual necro engine list with a casting vamp lord with 2 baby vamps using lore of beasts.
In this scenario i find the earthing rod quite valuable as a counter measure against the necro engine tome.
Other than this scenario I never seen any reason to bring it along. Maybe it would be more useful if our lord did not HAVE to take the lore of vampires. It would come in handy when you 6 dice a purple sun for instance.
In this scenario i find the earthing rod quite valuable as a counter measure against the necro engine tome.
Other than this scenario I never seen any reason to bring it along. Maybe it would be more useful if our lord did not HAVE to take the lore of vampires. It would come in handy when you 6 dice a purple sun for instance.
@ Najo: I suppose it's more obvious to me because I've had SO MANY Lords getting sucked into the void The reason why I never leave home without Earthing rod on my level 4 is because there is 6%(80% risk if you're me... I'm not kidding) risk of getting sucked into the void if you miscast. This is NOT counting the rist of power drain which also cribbles your magic phase permanently. Oh yeah did I meantion that 2-4 on the miscast table makes a Large Template Strength 10 attack centered on the caster? You reduce the risk to 1.6% (if I remember correctly) if you take the earthing rod... a worthy investment. I've lost a tournament because I didn't bring Earthing Rod. I will never let that happen again.
Regarding Earthing Rod on a Blender... why on earth would you do that? The VL should be level 1 and your level 4 Deathromancer should have the Earthing Rod. :tongue:
The reason why I never leave home without Earthing rod on my level 4 is because there is 6%(80% risk if you're me... I'm not kidding) risk of getting sucked into the void if you miscast. This is NOT counting the rist of power drain which also cribbles your magic phase permanently. Oh yeah did I meantion that 2-4 on the miscast table makes a Large Template Strength 10 attack centered on the caster? You reduce the risk to 1.6% (if I remember correctly) if you take the earthing rod... a worthy investment. I've lost a tournament because I didn't bring Earthing Rod. I will never let that happen again.Regarding Earthing Rod on a Blender... why on earth would you do that? The VL should be level 1 and your level 4 Deathromancer should have the Earthing Rod. :tongue:
Funny story for you. Ironically I'm the opposite of you as I have never had a caster sucked into the warp with my vampires except one game. But in that one game, my buddy and me were playing 2800 and I was running a SGK, Master Necro, Baby Vamp and necro. He was playing Ogres, with a hell heart. I also had a mortis engine.... With a tome...
Needless to say, he came at me aggressively, popped the hell heart and then I double roll for not 1, not 2, not 3 but all 4 casters! And wouldn't you know it, each and everyone gets the 4 result. Only mt SGK survived as all the others got sucked into the warp....
lol, yeah.. Will never do that again
Needless to say, he came at me aggressively, popped the hell heart and then I double roll for not 1, not 2, not 3 but all 4 casters! And wouldn't you know it, each and everyone gets the 4 result. Only mt SGK survived as all the others got sucked into the warp....
lol, yeah.. Will never do that again
Yet another reason not to use BT.