Last Stand - Farseer

The Farseer is the Last Stand Hero of the Eldar.

Overview

The Eldar Farseer is, at once, a paradox - she is surprisingly durable and survivable, but she's ostensibly a support spellcaster first and foremost. The Farseer, like all Eldar, is deceptive, a heroine that is at once extremely powerful and surprisingly ubiquitous. The Farseer is a hero who, unlike other spellcasters (such as the Chaos Sorcerer) focuses primarily upon disrupting enemies, assisting allies, and debuffing enemies. The Farseer is quite capable of being used as an offensive caster as well, getting access to her strongest offensive spells surprisingly early in her career, ergo making her surprisingly friendly towards newcomers to last stand, though raw offense is not the Farseer's strongest suit by any stretch. The Farseer easily makes herself useful in a wide array of different playstyles, from a dedicated defensive supporter and medic to battlefield control. Surprisingly high defense and viable offense give her quite a bit of tactical viability with damned near any loadout as well, a rarity for any character in Last Stand. Indeed, no character in Last Stand can really multi-task on one loadout quite so well as the Farseer - she's never at a loss for strategic options and this is true for much of her career, making her in many ways the exact opposite, progression-wise, of the Space Marine Captain and Imperial Guard Lord General.

However, what the Farseer has in tactical viability and useful secondary options she loses in raw power. Her nuke spell, Eldritch Storm, is neither as powerful nor predictable as the other characters' biggest, and her lone damaging offensive spell is likewise nowhere near as effective as those of other casters. Even when fully kitted out, her melee and ranged firepower is weaker than that of other heroes, and she furthermore loses out in one of the most crippling aspects of Last Stand: Mobility. Other than packing on the Runes of Swiftness or Pistol of the Warseer, the only mobility booster she has is the Runes of the Warp, which is predominantly useful as an escape teleport or to save allies. This makes her extremely vulnerable to being mobbed, as, unlike the Hive Tyrant, who is similarly vulnerable, she lacks a dedicated crowd control maneuver (such as Toxic Cysts).

Another major problem she has is that per progression is ridiculously lopsided, with the overpowering majority of her useful wargear unlocked before she's halfway through her leveling. An additional problem is that, with almost every build, her clone on Bloodied Coliseum turns the fight into a complete cluster-fuck where your team has to deal with an unshakable fearless teleporting asshole who strategically makes teammates invulnerable. Probably the biggest issue with her is when players realize that she's infinitely better at control and support than offense; this is not an easy playstyle to adapt to and many Farseer players choose to focus entirely on offense with her, which whilst viable, is done better by the Mekboy and Chaos Sorcerer.

Make no mistake, however: The Farseer is a powerful force, especially if kitted out well. She excels at manipulating battlefield conditions, turning enemies on one another, and making enemies easier to kill. It's important to note that what are (arguably) her strongest abilities are all extremely indirect - though its effect is far simpler, Veil of Tears can potentially accomplish more for a team than Eldritch Storm, and Confuse or Entangle are often vastly more useful than simply using Eldritch Bolt. Correctly loaded out, the Farseer is capable of bringing quite a bit to the table, and from surprising angles, making her a rather unique choice. When played well, she is easily the strongest character in Last Stand, but this takes a level of care and patience that not many are willing to exhibit.

Armor

• Farseer Armor - Default
  • Armor Rating: 16
    • Default Armor. It fails at everything and should never be used.

• Armor of Vaul - Level 1
  • Armor Rating: 184
  • Trait: Fearless (Immune to Suppression)
    • This initial armor boasts absolutely gigantic defense for a caster, as well as the fearless trait - an incredibly powerful combination, to say the least. Right out the gate, the Farseer boasts very high survivability specifically because of this, and this armor remains useful for quite some time due to its heavy armor and Fearless trait.

• Rune Armor - Level 6
  • Armor Rating: 68
  • +50 Energy
    • This armor is more in-line with the Chaos Sorcerer's armors: Modest defense, but an ability specifically-designed to support a caster. In this case, one might immediately see the Rune Armor's vastly lower defense and immediately ignore it, but that does the armor a huge disservice; the Rune Armor gives a massive amount of secondary energy, and since the Farseer relies so heavily on her skills to do much of anything, this boon is absolutely gigantic and thusly not to be underestimated. It tends to lose its sparkle as the game goes on, however.

• Ghosthelm - Level 13
  • Armor Rating: 44
  • +1 Energy Regeneration
    • Like the Rune Armor, this lower-defense armor is easy to overlook - especially with access to another suit of armor on this list. On the other hand, +1 Energy Regeneration, for a character like the Farseer, is fucking huge. It dramatically improves her peformance and ability to stay in the fight by simple virtue of letting her cast far more often, and that's a particularly handy advantage to have, especially when one considers that it can be stacked with her other abilities for a veritable font of energy regeneration that lets her throw out spells in a barrage.

• Armor of Eldanesh - Level 18
  • Armor Rating: 132
  • Ability: Psychic Shield (Raise a psychic shield which halves incoming damage and causes it to reduce Energy instead of Health.)
    • Yet another overlooked armor, but this one has a few defenders owning to its heavy defense and access to Psychic Shield. Though often an avoided ability, the Armor of Eldanesh giving the Farseer a means to resist damage means that it makes a good survival option, especially if the Farseer gets overwhelmed. The drawback of course is that the Farseer is an immensely energy-reliant hero; burning off energy from her pool can leave you short of it in a bad situation.

• Mantle of Malan'tai - Achievement Unlock: Revive 75 Allies as the Eldar Farseer
  • Armor Rating: 165
  • Trait: +0.5 Energy Regeneration
    • This unlockable armor frequently is seen as the better version of the Ghosthelm armor, due to the fact that it has much heavier armor; On the other hand, however, the energy regen boost is only half as strong. Whilst at a glance, this means the Mantle of Malan'tai is much stronger, the energy regeneration rate boost available from the Ghosthelm is infinitely better for many builds. It is still a very effective armor, however, and one of the most commonly used. Curiously, it also has a hidden property not displayed on the item card, adding 10% to special attack chance for any melee weapon equipped, including the Laughing Stave for which it is otherwise always zero.

• Armor of Idranel - DLC
  • Armor Rating: 165
  • +100 Health
  • Trait: Unshakable (Immune to Knockdown), Foresight (All melee damage reduced by 50%)
    • An almost bizarrely powerful armor that is undeniably the most-commonly-used, by simple virtue of its massive health boost and strong armor rating. Just as strong as the Mantle of Malan'tai defensively, the huge health buff it gives is what pushes it over; 100 extra health plus that level of armor means an incredible level of survivability, but when it has Unshakable as well, that's just outstanding. The Foresight buff is just icing on the cake- halving all melee damage makes the Farseer an extremely effective melee tank, and when paired with the Debilitating Witchblade only the most dangerous melee fighters will be able to hurt her in close combat. It bears mentioning that while this armor gives the Farseer incredibly strong upfront durability, she has no options to boost health regeneration, so she can be worn down over a wave if she doesn't pace how she spends her health. Not even this armor allows her to stay in a blob for an entire wave like, say, a Space Marine with 7.0 regen. Perhaps more than any other Farseer armor, this one is the hardest to justify not using, since its advantages are truly massive. However, it carries absolutely no benefits towards her casting and has no active ability, as such it can be passed over for the specific benefits of other armors if desired. Or just because players don't want to pony up for it.

Weapons

• Witchblade - Default
  • One-handed Melee Weapon
  • 7.0 DPS
    • Stereotypical default weapon that stereotypically sucks.

• Shuriken Pistol - Default
  • One-handed Ranged Weapon
  • 2.6 DPS
    • Bizarrely, the default pistol is just as effective as the other pistols in terms of damage output. Draw your own conclusions.

• Pistol of the Warseer - Level 1
  • One-handed Ranged Weapon
  • 2.6 DPS
  • Traits: Combat Expert (+30% Melee and Ranged Damage), Swift (+25% Movement Speed)
    • The Pistol of the Warseer's damage output is barely higher than the Shuriken Pistol (and even then that's due to Combat Expert), but the fact that it grants 2 of the most useful traits in the game make this one hell of an early game wargear. Do note, however, that it takes up an extremely contended-for slot; if you take the Pistol of the Warseer, the only damaging ability you get to take advantage of the Combat Expert trait is Eldritch Storm (which can actually be remarkably powerful with both the pistol and runes of war). On the other hand, Swift is amazingly useful, and stacks with the other speed boosts the Farseer can get, which massively increases survivability.

• Pistol of the Doomseer - Level 1
  • One-handed Ranged Weapon
  • 2.6 DPS
  • Ability: Eldritch Bolt (15 Energy, Fires a roiling blast of psychic energy at the target)
    • Pistol of the Doomseer gives you your first legitimately good offensive spell, and indeed one of only three that the Farseer can use. It's actually remarkably cost-effective and fairly useful, though it needs Runes of War to get the most out of. If you're planning to go direct combat, Pistol of the Doomseer is a must.

• Witchblade of the Crone - Level 1
  • One-handed Melee Weapon
  • 20.0 DPS
    • The Witchblade of the Crone has high DPS and.... That's literally it. Whilst it's brutally effective against softer targets, it lacks armor piercing and isn't anywhere near as good against tougher foes unless heavily bolstered by Combat Expert/Mastery. If you're planning to engage in close-combat, consider taking this along; otherwise, shelve it for the other melee weapons.

• Singing Spear - Level 4
  • Two-handed Melee Weapon
  • 19.0 DPS
  • Traits: Unshakable (Immune to knockback)
    • The singing spear looks abhorrently bad on paper: 2 hands for a weapon barely as good as the Witchblade of the Crone and with a trait easily-accessible from a piece of wargear that renders it largely irrelevant. So, worst weapon for the Farseer, right? Wrong. Singing Spear does damage in bigger chunks than the Witchblade of the Crone, has better reach, and a higher special attack rating, all in all resulting in better damage overall unless the Witchblade's paired with the Pistol of the Warseer. The Singing Spear is thus much better than it initially appears, and is especially good when stacked with the Armor of Vaul.

• Witchblade of Isha - Level 9
  • One-handed Melee Weapon
  • 10.2 DPS
  • +0.3 Energy Regeneration, +25 Energy
    • It may be weaker than the Witchblade of the Crone, but this wasn't taken for its damage (which is still acceptable). Instead, you take it for the increased energy regen and capacity, all of which are great things for any caster. The ability to fire off another Confuse or Eldritch Bolt is always beneficial, and this weapon pays for itself in short order specifically because of this.

• Pistol of the Skyseer - Level 14
  • One-handed Ranged Weapon
  • 2.6 DPS
  • Ability: Levitation Field (15 Energy, lifts enemies in the air and then tosses around for knockback damage)
    • This Pistol has a hilariously useful ability that enables the Farseer to quickly deal with enemies that cluster up, throwing them all over the place thereafter. The damage tends to vary wildly, from doing barely any whatsoever to doing quite a bit if enemies collide with one another during the throw. The primary benefit isn't the damage, however; it's disabling enemies and launching them away from you. This even works on doppelgangers, but it will fail against any that happen to have the Unshakable Trait.

• Warp Spear - Level 19
  • Two-handed Melee Weapon
  • 12.2 DPS
  • Ability: Warp Pull (5 Energy, pulls enemies toward the Farseer)
  • Trait: Pitiless (Farseer has a 10% chance to cause 200 bonus damage on striking)
    • A utility weapon through and through, whose mediocre DPS hides its real potential. On its own, its damage is pretty bad considering it eschews the use of a pistol, but it has a 1-in-10 chance of triggering a massive damage strike that is capable of one-shotting most targets, making it comparable to (but weaker than) the Chaos Sorcerer's Staff of Fate. The Warp Spear compensates, however, by coming with Warp Pull, which is an amazing control ability. You can drag enemies into close combat, pull them away from vulnerable allies, or pull them into the firing arc of teammates. The numerous applications of the Warp Spear make it surprisingly useful, so don't underestimate it!

• Laughing Stave - Achievement Unlock: Earn a Score Multiplier of 275 as the Farseer
  • Two-handed Ranged Weapon
  • 11.1 DPS
  • Traits: Knockback (Enemies hit by this weapon will be knocked back), Laughing Runes (-25% Energy Cost), Unshakable (Immune to Knockback)
    • There are three reasons to take the laughing stave, and any of them, on their own, are good reasons, but when together, they turn this weapon into an oft-unappreciated powerhouse. First, it's the only exclusively ranged weapon the Farseer gets, and it's a damned good one, offering a more-than-4-fold damage increase over the Shuriken Pistols. Second, it has knockback, which means it's actually very good for keeping the Farseer out of trouble - both in close-combat, and from afar. But it's the last advantage it has that's the most glaring: a 25% reduction in energy costs means that literally everything you cast is orders of magnitude easier to use - even the likes of Eldritch Storm will only cost 37 energy under this upgrade, allowing your average energy-focused Farseer to cast it twice with a full energy bar. It bolsters all your other abilities, too, making it a solid choice that should used for a great many builds. Like all Staves, it's also a melee weapon; this one packs a reasonable punch (roughly the same as the Witchblade of the Crone, but without special attacks and a slower swing speed but meatier damage output), but its major advantage is its ranged punch, knockdown, and cost reductions. It does, however, also give you Unshakable, which is brings this weapon from "great" to "fucking amazing."

• Debilitating Witchblade - DLC
  • One-handed Melee Weapon
  • 7.1 DPS
  • Traits: Sap (Reduces the target's melee damage by 50% for 5 seconds; note that Sap only applies to the individual model hit by the Farseer's attack), Energy Leech (Restores 10 Energy when this weapon kills an enemy)
    • The Debilitating Witchblade is a mixed blessing. Sap can allow the Farseer to stand toe-to-toe against foes with powerful melee attacks, and Energy Leech occasionally supplements the Farseer's energy regeneration. Unfortunately, Sap only affects the specific model the Farseer attacks (rather than affecting a whole squad a-la the Captain's Lightning Claws), and Energy Leech requires that the enemy be killed by the Debilitating Witchblade itself rather than any of the Farseer's abilities. That's right: this means that if you're using Runes of Wrath and the second strike kills an enemy, it won't trigger Energy Leech. The Debilitating Witchblade can be useful in a purely supporting role, but rarely can it be considered a good general-purpose weapon.

Accessories

• Runes of Warding - Level 1
  • Ability: Ward (25 Energy, grants ally temporary invulnerability)
    • This is a lifesaver for the Farseer, as this can be the difference between saving your ally or dying and failing a run. Just beware when fighting your Wave 16 doppelganger as the enemy will use this with impunity against you. Especially if they're going for that Tau Efficiency achievement.

• Runes of Harlequin - Level 1
  • Ability: Confuse (15 Energy, confuses the target, forcing it to attack anything nearby for a while.)
    • This is more situational than it looks, as if you use it at the wrong time, this will sic the squad right back at you, which may or may not be what you intended. On the other hand, the doppelganger can't use it and it can interrupt their resurrection attempts, making it particularly powerful on the Bloodied Colosseum map. And, unlike Veil of Tears, with Confuse you can choose your target, making it extremely good against big bosses (do you remember Araghast??) or when you want to target a specific unit instead of going all random.
    • Confuse is generally best used on fast-moving melee units (which can lock ranged units in melee) or on units with a whole lot of dakka
    • Confuse is the only way to prevent Unshakeable dopplegangers from resurrecting each other

• Runes of Fleetness - Level 2
  • Ability: Fleet of Foot (5 Energy, grants the Farseer a speed boost at the cost of her damage output)
    • If you really want to work support as a Farseer, then this will be your go-to tool for making those quick saves. Take care though, as this is not a triggered ability, but a temporary one.

• Runes of War - Level 3
  • Traits: Combat Master (+40% Melee and Ranged Damage)
    • If you play a combat Farseer, then this will be an auto-include, as it will make you much more of a threat than everyone would expect.

• Runes of Deception - Level 7
  • Ability: Conceal (20 Energy, grants invisibility to allies within the field)
    • This is a bit more situational than other abilities, as this won't make much difference when you're being chased by swarms or Banshees, but it can let you make a Cyrus-style stealth save. Become almost broken in conjunction with runes of the warp.

• Runes of Fortune - Level 8
  • Ability: Fortune (10 Energy, reduces all incoming damage by 50%)
    • Fortune complements almost any team composition by providing significant damage mitigation. With the proper application of Fortune, a properly built melee Captain or Hive Tyrant will be able to weather entire waves, and ranged characters like the Lord General or Tau Commander will find their longevity under fire significantly extended, allowing them to spend more time doing what they do best. Fortune stacks multiplicatively with other damage reduction methods and even with itself (a character with two instances of Fortune cast on them will take 75% reduced damage). Fortune's low energy cost and long duration allow it to compare favorably with Ward (which is costlier, has a longer cooldown, and does not last as long). Fortune also complements health regeneration: high levels of damage mitigation mean that a little health regen goes a long way.

• Runes of Wrath - Level 10
  • Trait: Second Strike (Delayed psychic strikes follow each time the Farseer attacks in melee)
    • Stack with the Runes of War to make your Farseer a bunch more deadly as and assault character. This rune benefits weaker melee weapons like the Witchblade of Isha or the Debilitating Witchblade that don't do a lot of damage on their own: the second strike ignores armor and adds a considerable amount of raw damage per hit.

• Runes of the Warp - Level 11
  • Ability: Group Teleport (15 Energy, teleport all nearby allies to a targeted location)
    • Where a Sorcerer would teleport to get into combat, you have a teleport to get away from the ruckus. This can definitely help make shenanigans happen, especially against slower enemies or shooty prey. It can also be useful in getting near a fallen ally and rescuing them. Or you could more simply teleport the fallen body away from danger and then safely revive him, since this ability can teleport fallen team mates.
      • A word of caution on Bloodied Coliseum: The enemy Farseer goes absolutely apeshit with this ability and WILL abuse it at the worst possible moments. Players on wave 16 and 20 may find themselves receiving a surprise gang-bang when the Farseer dumps Araghast and half a dozen Bloodletters your head while trying to kite enemies or revive team mates.

• Runes of Vigour - Level 12
  • +0.3 Energy Regeneration
    • This is not a useful thing, as it takes up a slot better used for neater powers.

• Runes of Evasion - Level 16
  • Traits: Evasive (All attacks made at the Farseer have a 30% chance of missing)
    • Whatever your role, you can never go wrong with some extra evasion to go along with it. Unless you're at Bloodied Coliseum, where your doppelganger will be just as annoying to kill.

• Runes of the Spider - Level 17
  • Ability: Entangle (15 Energy, ensnares an enemy, making them unable to move, but able to attack)
    • This is a lifesaver when dealing with Banshees or other agile targets, as they will hound your ass at every opportunity. This can give your team the time it needs to wipe them out.

Commander Items

• Spirit Stone of Eldritch Might - Level 5
  • Ability: Eldritch Storm (50 Energy, Unleash a large psychic storm, disrupting and damaging enemies in a large radius. While channeling this powerful spell, the caster will be immune to damage but not regenerate energy)
    • Curiously, whilst most classes get their big ol' nuke spell at the end of their careers, the Farseer and Mekboy get theirs early. The Farseer's is one of the weaker nukes; it immobilizes her during it, has a strange hitbox, and its damage buildup can be finicky. On the other hand, it's still a nuke spell and absolutely awesome at killing mooks in a substantial radius... Or at softening up harder enemies for further assaults. Bear in mind its high energy costs and weaknesses, and it's absolutely devastating. By rapidly right clicking as you cast the storm you should be able to move and attack regain energy and keep the invulnerability while the storm kills stuff. So with some decent energy regain or reduction you could nearly get the cost back by the time it's off cooldown and spam it. Or hitting stop right after cast is more effective.

• Spirit Stone of Illusion - Level 15
  • Ability: Veil of Tears (50 Energy, Confuses half the enemies on screen and makes them attack the nearest target regardless of alliance)
    • This mass confuse spell is no less finicky than the damage on Eldritch Storm, and it's just as expensive, to boot, but it's potentially even more game-changing. The pandemonium it can cause can completely turn the tide of a fight, provided the thing the enemies target isn't you - just bear in mind that the enemies WILL if you're the closest thing in range. Used properly, it can quickly deal with swarms of foes.

• Spirit Stone of Vigour - Level 20
  • Traits: Invigorating Leadership (+0.3 Energy Regeneration for all nearby allies)
    • Bizarrely, this is one of the weakest commander items, giving a tiny energy regeneration boost. It's of barely any use to the Farseer on her own, precludes the use of both Eldritch Storm and Veil of Tears, and boasting the same energy regen boost as another piece of wargear that's often best not taken. Unlike that one though, there are some benefits to the Stone of Vigour that make it worth using. For one, it removes the ability of the Wave 16/20 doppelganger to use your abilities against you. For another, it gives the energy boost to nearby teammates as well, which means this can actually be fairly useful to back up the likes of the Lord General or Chaos Sorcerer.

Tactics and Strategy

• On Achievements:
  • Grab Me the Paddles (Which unlocks the Mantle of Malan'Tai) is accomplished by reviving allies. If you use the Pistol of the Warseer and/or Runes of Swiftness or Runes of the Warp, this is a rather easy task as you'll be able to extricate yourself from the situation if it gets too hectic.
  • Advanced Multiplication (Which unlocks the Laughing Stave) requires both control over the Power Nodes and the ability to manage your allies. Since you need a multiplier of 275, you'll need to kill enemies quickly, protect your allies, and control the nodes just long enough to get that high.

Builds

BUILD 1 - DECEIVER-RUNNER

Min Level: 20

Gear you need: Pistol of the Warseer, Witchblade of Isha, Armor of Idranel, Runes of the Harlequin, Runes of Evasion, Runes of Fleetness, Spirit Stone of Vigor

Maps: Anvil of Khorne, Bloodied Colosseum

Explanation: The most Eldar build ever, the idea of this build is to keep yourself out of the fight while you make the enemy do all the dirty work (sounds familiar to you? Yeah, you get the idea), keep casting Confuse on your enemies so they kill each other and Fleet of Foot whenever you see they are closing on to you (you are unshakable by the way, and the witchblade of Isha gives you a lot of energy), prioritize larger targets whenever you can as they can one-hit other units, watch how wraithlords, carnifexes, Juggernauts, dreads and dreffs decimate their own armies. Oh, and remember wave 16 at Bloodied Colosseum? If you see a clone trying to resurrect another clone cast confuse, this will disrupt him, and don't worry about your clone SHE CAN'T CAST CONFUSE.

BUILD 2 - RESURRECTER-RUNNER

Min Level: 20

Gear you need: Pistol of the Warseer, Witchblade of Isha, Armor of Idranel, Runes of the Harlequin, Runes of Warding, Runes of Fleetness, Spirit Stone of Vigor

Maps: Anvil of Khorne

Explanation: A variant of the DECEIVER-RUNNER, the RESURRECTER is built to keep your allies alive, you just stay out of the fight as much as possible as you need yourself alive, then, every time you see an allied die run to him with Fleet of Foot, cast yourself Ward and resurrect him, tell your allies to fight, no matter if they are going to die again, as long as you stay alive you can resurrect them, while a bit tedious this strategy is great whenever you end in a team of newcomers or low hp nukers, as in the long run they will decimate the wave. Leads to annoyed obsolesce when with self reviving Necron Overlord tanks.

BUILD 3 - ...AND LET THE MON-KEIGH TAKE CARE OF LARGE GROUPS

Min Level: 20

Gear you need: Pistol of the Warseer, Witchblade of Isha, Armor of Idranel, Runes of the Harlequin, Runes of Fortune, Runes of Wrath, Spirit Stone of Vigor

Explanation: At first glance, this build seems little different than the others, but it provides a number of advantages. Fortune reduces all damage taken by the target by 50%; when you cast Fortune on yourself, your damage reduction approaches 90% (88.5%, to be exact). Fortune is also much cheaper and easier to spam than Ward, and you can maintain it on multiple targets at once, allowing you to keep your team in the fight rather than simply resurrecting them when they fall. Runes of Wrath gives you excellent single-target damage (against large groups of weak models, try attacking one model, moving away, and letting the second strike do its work before moving in again), and the combination of the Witchblade of Isha and the Spirit Stone of Vigor means that you generally have enough energy to cast Confuse when necessary and Fortune at all times. This build has two weaknesses: it cannot deal with large groups of mobs on its own; and it has no real way to recover lost health without support.

BUILD 4 - SHADOWSEER

Min Level: 15

Gear you need: Laughing Stave, Mantle of Malan'tai, Runes of the Harlequin, Runes of Deception, Runes of the Warp, Spirit Stone of Illusion.

Maps: Anvil of Khorne, Bloodied Colosseum

Explanation: This build really shines on Bloodied Colosseum, since the enemies will need more time to reach you after you teleport away, giving you and your allies a lot of times to get some breath, and especially against your clone, that can't use Veil of Tears nor Confuse against you or your allies, but can also be devastating on Anvil of Khorne with the right teammates. The build itself is all about supporting your allies and heavily debuffing your enemies: if using it correctly, you should never die AND you should be the one reviving your fallen comrades every time without problems, turning your enemies against each other and keeping yourself and your allies safe through invisibility and teleportation. the Laughing Stave also let you knock back enemies coming at you, while letting you spam a lot more spells than you could without it, while the mantle of Malan'tai keep you reasonably safe while significantly boosting your energy regen. You prefer this to the Ghosthelm for a simple reason: you can already buy enough time with the Teleport/Invisibility combo to regen more than enough energy, and in the later waves the Ghosthelm means almost certain death from a single mistake. You can't die, ever, because you are the one keeping your team alive! On the offense, you should obviously use Veil of Tears against bigger waves and confusion against powerful, single opponents. This, combined with teleport, effectively let your team pick his fight, instead of trying to confront an entire wave on their own, and can result extremely powerful with strong ranged heroes, like the tau commander or the Lord General (especially with rocket run!). This build will not gives you lot of kills, but it will let you influence the battle more than any other hero could ever hope to, effectively turning you into the key-man to achieve the win, especially in bloodied colosseum.

• Fun fact: never forget that your teleportation can also teleport fallen comrades, making it extremely powerful as an escaping tool: teleport near the fallen ally, immediately teleport away, then cast invisibility and revive your mate. This will not only gives yourself some time to regenerate the energy consumed, but also him the time to regenerate health and be ready when the fight will resume.

BUILD 5 - AUTARCH

Min Level: 20 (19 with Stone of Eldritch Might)

Gear you need: Warp Spear, Armor of Idranel, Runes of War, Runes of Evasion, Runes of Fortune, Spirit Stone of Vigor

Maps: Anvil of Khorne, Bloodied Colosseum

Explanation: This build is pretty straight-forward, making you what essentially you shouldn't be: a melee monster! Ok, not really a monster, but significantly better than you could normally hope for. Warp Spear has some good damage (not optimal), good special attack rating, an area of effect special attack and the 1 in a 10 chance to really put the hurt on your enemies. But you don't take it for this, not only, at least: you take it for warp pull. This ability let you control your enemies with ease, making you able to better choose your fights while keeping yourself safe. Runes of Evasion, coupled with the Armour of Idranel, makes you almost invulnerable in close combat, and fortune boosts your survivability further, making you, paradoxically, one of the better tanks in the game, especially in melee! Spirit Stone of Vigor and Runes of War are almost necessary to conclude the build: the first will give you the ability to spam fortune (you should never have it down) and warp pull, significantly increasing your ability to stay in the fight, while the second makes your weak melee attacks a lot more powerful.

• You could also substitute the Stone of Vigor with the Stone of Eldritch Might, but while this would gives you some really powerful AoE damage, it would also significantly decrease your capability to stay alive between Eldritch Storm.

BUILD 6 - Make Love not War-Hammer

Min Level: 20

Gear you need: Laughing Stave, Armor of Idranel, Runes of Fortune, Runes of the Warp, Runes of Vigor, Spirit Stone of Illusion

Maps: Anvil of Khorne, Bloodied Colosseum

Explanation: This is a 100 percent support build where you complete focus is on your teammates and keeping them protected so they can do the most damage possible and as such it is recommended against using this with low level teammates because, typically their damage just isn't quite high enough to get the job done. Since you are rocking Idranels' robes you can actually take a bit of a beating without having to worry about being squished which allows you to spend even more time focusing on your bros. In fact if you are teammates with a couple squishies you can do a fair amount of tanking for them. So the basis of this build is you spam fortune on EVERYTHING. Because of it's long duration and short cool down Fortune can be applied on up to 4 things at a time or double stacked for additional protection and you just continue the cycle as it wears off your allies. That a Tau shield drone hanging out over there? FORTUNE. Captain brought his Dreadnaught? FORTUNE. Oh no that Lord General is getting swarmed by melee! DOUBLE FORTUNE. With the cost reduction from the Laughing Stave and Runes of Vigor you should always have enough to cast it at least a couple times even after using the Spirit Stone of Illusion. Of course everyone knows Runes of the warp are great for defense and reviving downed teammates but since you are rocking some decent armor you can actually use it offensively as well. How does that work you ask? Its great for moving the less mobile damage dealers to where they need to be, your enemies faces. It does take a bit of teamwork but its especially good with those slow ass Hive Tyrants rocking poison cysts. With the Laughing Stave you are much more free when using Spirit stone of Illusion and it is super great at taking pressure off your team if you are getting overwhelmed and for taking one of your clones out of the situation on rounds 16 and 20 of BC but remember your main focus is Fortune. A note on doing damage. You're not. Really. Aside from intercepting an occasional melee unit for a ranged buddy any stuff you kill is incidental and that's ok because you don't get anything for getting a high kill count except for a big e-peen and a Tau complex. With that said the first thing you should do at the beginning of the match is switch to a melee stance. That's right your silly Laughing Stave IS BETTER IN MELEE! Just check for yourself. 26 damage per melee hit vs 20 for the ranged so you swing faster, have a 100 percent hit ration and a small chance to do a special attack in melee that you don't get in from ranged attacks. So aside from using the ranged knock back ability to prevent a clone from reviving you're going to want to be up close and personal and just be happy you can do some ranged damage if that one last guy is half way across the map.

BUILD 7 - Offense

Min Level: 10

Gear you need: Laughing Stave, Mantle of Malan'tai, Runes of Warding, Runes of the War, Runes of Wrath, Spirit Stone of Eldritch Might

Maps: Anvil of Khorne, Bloodied Colosseum

Explanation:

Aoe and high single target damage. Wait til ranged blob sits still and then storm. Can one shot zoanthrope if time right. Ward and melee when necessary. Can tank or support. Usually take a second of damage in between shields so better to support late if can get behind teammate and not aggro. Ward great for tanking clones and land raider. Run up and melee ranged clones or predators 16/20 is legit strategy. Easy if teammates can deal followup damage.

BUILD 8 - The Warder

Min Level: 20

Gear you need: Witchblade of Isha, Armor of Idranel, Runes of Warding, Runes of Evasion, Runes of Vigor, Spirit Stone of Vigor

Maps: Anvil of Khorne, Bloodied Colosseum

Explanation: This build exists for the sole purpose of proving the Necron Overlord doesn't have a monopoly on ludicrous survivability. It does two things extremely well: Tankiness and energy, which complement each other. Ward enables you to tank entire waves for as long as your energy lasts, giving you about half a dozen casts at full capacity. Its cooldown is as long as its duration, leaving a brief window of vulnerability no matter how fast your reaction time is. Attack animations delay your casts, extending the window, but high health and mitigation make this gap less potentially devastating. You regen most of Ward's cost over its duration, meaning that even after you use the last of your energy, your regen and survivability make it easier to hold on until the next cast.

There are a number of caveats with this build. For one, your speed is agonizingly slow unless you take Pistol of the Warseer. You can take Pistol of the Doomseer instead for ranged AoE, but it loses effectiveness quickly. Levitation Field (Pistol of the Skyseer) remains useful all game, especially later when you're more likely to be mobbed by half a wave, but its high cost can leave you starved of energy when you need it most. (Pro tip: You can Ward yourself while levitating.) Keep an eye on allies and shield them if they need it more than you, but be careful not to leave yourself exposed during the cooldown. (Another tip: You can Ward an ally easily by clicking their portrait.) It's not vital to keep teammates from dying, considering how easy it is for you to get them back up. In fact, your biggest strength is being able to stroll over to a dead ally and resurrect them with an entire wave shooting at you, as long as you Ward yourself again so it lasts for the duration of the rez.

The heroes of Last Stand
Space Marine Captain - Chaos Sorcerer - Eldar Farseer - Hive Tyrant Lord General - Ork Mekboy - Tau Commander - Necron Overlord