Editing Illuminor Szeras (section)

==On the Tabletop==
Szeras's main selling point is his special rule Mechanical Augmentation. At the start of the game chose one unit of Immortals or Warriors to get +1 strength, toughness, or BS for the whole game. the failings of this ability are that you can only use it on Immortals or Warriors and that you have to roll for which bonus you get. It's nothing to scoff at, mind, as a 15-20 group of warriors with 5 S/T/BS is a scary thing.

Szeras has the same stats as an Immortal but with an extra wound and four attacks, which he may or may not get to use because of his very Necron-ish initiative 2. (Although he does have a Sv3+ RP4+ W2 statline to keep him alive) That would be completely awful if it weren't for that fact that Szeras carries a S8 AP2 Lance weapon, which combined with the fact that he costs slightly more than a baseline overlord makes him an alright choice. He also does give the +1 RP to both his own unit and any unit in 6" of him, which in a Decurion means that all those units still have a 4+ RP against ID.
Terra

At 110 points he is a decent army buff and tank/TEQ killer. He probably shouldn't be your Warlord, but he works.

===8th Edition===
Probably the best HQ for Necrons. His Mechanical Augmentation can be used any number of times (once per turn), though not on the same unit twice. The bonus from it is now random on a roll of a D3. Also he gives +1 to Reanimation Protocols of friendly Necrons within 3". Basically he cuts your losses in half, since now Necrons come back on 4+. Couple that with a Resurrection Orb and watch your opponent cry as he cannot inflict any real casualties to your units.

===Psychic Awakening===

[[File:Illuminor Szeras.jpg|thumb|The Old Finecast Szeras. "Alas, poor Yorri'Kel"]]

As of Psychic Awakening 9: Pariah, our many leggy skelly has gotten a new model, and HOOOOOOO boy does it look cool. He is now a lot larger and more ornate looking. He has basically replaced the much-loved pariah.

This big model has also given Szeras a serious power boost as his Eldritch Lance is now Assault 1d3 while also being AP-3 in melee. His legs also add 2 extra AP-2 attacks in melee and make him M8. And he'll want that because killing units in melee lets him make another augmentation out of turn. And to top it all off, he can make enemy psykers trigger perils on any doubles.

===9th Edition===

Now that the full 9th ed Necron Codex is out, we can see that the huge super-technomancer is... not worth it? The fuck?

At 160 points WITHOUT [[Cryptothralls|MURDERBUCKETS]], he's easily the most expensive out of all the Crypteks in the Codex. He does come with quite a bit for those points, however. His lance shoots at Assault D3 36", S8 AP-4 and [[Plasma#Doomsday_Blaster|does D6 damage (WHY GW)]], and does 4 attacks of S6 AP-4 2 damage in melee, but his special rules are where it's at. He's still has his psychic denial that makes perils trigger on all doubles, his Mechanical Augmentation can now hit ALL CORE UNITS, not just your troops choices, and can gains an additional use of the ability at the end of of the fight phase if he takes out 1 or more models.

Oh, and as a technomancer, he has Rites of Reanimation, which lets him reanimate 1 model from a Core unit (D3 if targeting Warriors), except he can use it twice without spending the CP.

Sounds awesome, right? Well, the problem isn't what this guy has, but what he lacks that other Crypteks can bring. Namely, the Chronomancer, that can just give out 5+ invulns. Speaking of invulns, Szeraz doesn't get one! [[FAIL|His model is huge now and you'd think he's give himself one, but tough shit.]] Compared to a regular Technomancer, he doesn't get the option to fly and repair models with the Cloak or buff Canoptek shooting with the Control Node. And remember, he costs as many points as a Catacomb Command Barge.

If you actually feel like paying the points required to field the scientific spiderbot, he seems to want blast out anti-tank shots at the start of the game, then be on the front lines, fucking shit up in melee and collecting enemy <s>bodies</s> samples, that way, his 12" psychic "denial" can do its work and so he can reuse Mechanical Augmentation after killing some models. That latter part is a bit difficult due to the aforementioned lack of any invulnerable save. The Cryptothralls you should also be bringing with any Cryptek can help prevent him from being blown off the board somewhat, but at 200 points, you could (and probably should) be running two regular Crypteks instead.