Editing Lucius (section)

==On the Tabletop==
Lucius gets a standard Chaos Lord statline, plus WS7 and I6. He clocks in at 165 points, and is equipped with a power sword, a doom siren, and a 3+/5++. He has two unique abilities: his [[Daemon_Weapon#Lash of Torment|Lash of Torment]] reduces the attacks of all enemies in base contact by one and gives all his close combat attacks Shred, and his Armour of Shrieking Souls means that each time he passes an armor or invuln save, the model or unit that caused the wound takes a S4 AP2 hit. He also has the Duellist's Pride rule, which makes his attacks characteristics equal to his opponent's weapon skill in a challenge.

In a codex full of one-trick ponies, Lucy is the ultimate one, being quite good at killing 3+ or worse characters but being otherwise almost totally useless. Unlike [[Kharn]], who you can point at basically anything, Lucius struggles with 2+ save characters. The bane of his existence, though is S8 weaponry, as he lacks Eternal Warrior and will likely get splatted by the first Thunder Hammer/Artificer armor captain he challenges. His low number of attacks (3) and his lack of a second close combat weapon mean that he struggles outside of challenges, too. He does bring a Doom Siren along, meaning double-Siren drive-by fun if you put him in a Rhino with Noise Marines.

=== 8th Edition ===
8th ed. Lucius got buffed hard, getting a price cut, 5 attacks instead of 3 base and a 2-damage power sword. The [[Daemon_Weapon#Lash of Torment|Lash of Torment]] is now an S4 AP-1 D2 Assault 2 weapon that can be fired both into and out of combat, essentially giving him 7 attacks base before additional rules like Death to the False Emperor kick in. Duelist's Pride has changed since challenges are gone. Now, if he directs all his attacks at a single enemy character he gets +2 attacks. Sadly that Doom Siren of his is now totally lame. Ah well. Like every damn character in 8th ed he also gives a 6" bubble of rerolling 1s on to-hit rolls to units with his subfaction keyword, '''EMPEROR'S CHILDREN.''' All this for a mere 11 points over a naked Chaos Lord, not bad.

*Alternate opinion: Lucius' swordsmanship is supposed to be "Perfect", but he hits on a 2+ just like every other melee character. Compare him to the Emperor's Champion for instance. Would you rather have +2 attacks or re-roll to hit any miss AND +3 strength vs characters? The Black Sword is just better than the "Blade of the Laer" <s>which slew the Primach Ferrus, because reasons</s> at the time it was possessed by a [[Keeper of Secrets]]. Then you have Lucius mediocre saves 3+/5++. They could have at least give him a 4+ in combat; he's Slaanesh's champion after all. The prominent rack of Combat Drugs on his back does nothing. Finally, his character aura is just bland. Look at the auras the Imperial special characters grant. Granting +1S to sonic weapons, FNP within 6" would have been more characterful. While he isn't terrible, the best thing you can say about Lucius is that he's cheaper, and that's really a shame. Maybe when/if he gets a plastic model they'll do something interesting with him.

===Horus Heresy===

In the Heresy tabletop, Lucius is a Challenge-focused Traitor-only Praetor with an additional point each in WS and Initiative, which he can increase even further. He also gets an additional attack if his Initiative is higher than his opponent's in a Challenge. Lucius has two weapons; his Master-crafted sword Nineteen is only S-User and has no AP, but it does have Rending (3+) and Murderous Strike (6+). In addition, its Duellist's Aegis (1) rule adds +1WS to Lucius when he is Engaged in a Challenge. His second weapon is The Blade of the Laer, gifted to him by Fulgrim after the Drop Site Massacre. It is a Master-crafted S-User AP2 Specialist Weapon with Fleshbane and Duellist's Edge (1). Don't want to to duel against Lucius? Too bad! He has Precision Strikes (3+) and will get you anyway. Lucius is also pretty good at supporting his own unit; he has Stubborn and Preferred Enemy (Independent Character), which also helps him in Challenges. He can purchase Sonic Shriekers for only 10 points and, thanks to his Warlord Trait, The Blade Alone, he and his unit get Fearless when he is in a Challenge, which is handy when taking into account his unit can't use his Ld due to his WT. Lucius also gets one free Reaction for him and his unit per turn in any phase which doesn't count towards your Reaction pool. Lucius is one of the three (four if we count Tsolmon Khan and his WS6 and I10 from his weapon's Hammerhand rule) Independent Characters after Sigismund that can strike at I7 and kill their opponent in a Challenge with Instant Death from their weapons; the other guys are Sevatar and Corswain. Note that Lucius might have a hard time standing against these guys on a second turn of assault, though.