Monday, March 15, 2021

Necron Frequently Asked Questions - Which Cryptek(s) Should I Take?

 

We are spoiled for choice when it comes to supporting HQs - the real trick is "which ones should I take, and when?"  The follow-on is "Are there cryptek-specific Arkana worth it?"

The Chronomancer is, without a doubt, the easiest to get mileage out of - but don't sleep on the others.  Except maybe the Plasmancer.

MVP - The Chronomancer

Unsurprisingly, this is a common sight.  The utility is straightforward - you give a <DYNASTY> unit a 5+ invulnerable save, and a re-rollable charge.  Your prime candidates are Scarab swarms and Warrior units.  You make a tarpit unit or a core troops unit even tougher.  

The Chronomancer-specific Arkana is the Countertemporal nanomine, which lets you halve the advance and charge rolls of a unit within 18."  Depending on the unit, you might actually keep them out of a charge.

ADDENDUM - Orikan the Diviner - so if you pay another 30pts over the regular Chronomancer, you get Orikan.  He's got a couple things over a regular Chronomancer.  The most useful thing Orikan does is let you put that 5++ and re-rollable charge on any unit, not just a Dynasty unit - so if you're bringing Praetorians, Orikan's worth a thought.  Otherwise, Orikan might go into his Empowered profile later in the game and be a slightly uglier beat stuck, but that's about it.

The Technomancer - Friend to Infantry and/or Canopteks

Ah, the Technomancer - AKA the old-school cryptek model.  Your baseline ability is with this guy is bringing back 1d3 warriors a turn, or one CORE infantry unit.  It's not as wide-open an ability as, say, an Apothecary, but it's in the baseline cost of the unit and you don't have to pay CP to do it, which is solid.  You can easily get 13-36pts of infantry back a turn.  In reality, getting Warriors or Lychguard back is where this gets good.

From there, you gotta decide whether you stay cheap, or you tech into the Canoptek Control Node or the Cloak.  The Cloak gives you speed, and lets you repair stuff.  The node gives your Canoptek units +1 to hit.  Combine this with the failsafe overcharge node, and THEN it gets real - wraiths and scarabs get ugly when you start hitting on 3s and get +1 to attack.

The Canoptek buff build is pretty reasonable if you tech into a couple Canoptek units.

ADDENDUM - Illuminor Szeras - this guy is technically a technomancer.  Think of him as a naked Technomancer with better shooting, and the ability to use his reanimation powers twice.  If you're going to use him, you're also bringing a couple units for him to buff with his random augmentation.  It's neat, but don't gamble on it.  I'd consider a couple Warrior blobs, and Lychguard, and maybe go from there.

Plasmancer - The Gradual Grinder

Do you like mortal wounds?  That's what this thing does.  It's about all this thing does.  It hands them out reasonably reliably.  

I like this thing for its simplicity, but that makes it a little bit tougher to use.  You'll get the most mileage out of it by sticking it behind a large unit, and just letting it roll mortal wound dice.

The problem with it is, of course, opportunity cost - you're giving up slots that could make your army more durable.  Your major Arkana is more range on mortal wounds.  It's not bad, but it keeps the Plasmancer as a one-trick pony.

The Plasmancer isn't bad - it fills a slot in our army that otherwise, only C'tan and a couple stratagems fill - but you could do better with that slot.  And if you are going to bring one of these, you want to bring it in a larger army so you can hide behind stuff and take your time.

Psychomancer - The Toolbox

The psychomancer gets a bad rap for two reasons.  First off, the kit is not the easiest to build.  Second, it's a wonderful toolbox - but versatility means you pay for stuff you don't use.  You need to get within 12" of an enemy unit during your turn, and then during your morale phase, you can pick from fur fun things - no actions, no ObSec, half advance/charge, or no Overwatch/Set To Defend, and the unit Fights Last.

So, the problem with this is range and timing.  Turning off ObSec can be huge, especially since we specialize in beefy blobs of Obsec bodies.  

Turning off actions is hilariously situational at that range - it will be scenario specific, more than anything.  People build around Scanners, but if someone's familiar with the Psychomancer, they may or may not skip out on the scenario-specific objectives.

Cutting advance and charge rolls can help, but if you're within 12" of them, well, the Psychomancer and the screening unit are still in charging and shooting range.  It's a potential disruption tool, though.  

Making them Fight Last without Overwatch is another nasty thing - that last ability takes setup, but you're playing close.  It's situational, but someone's worried about the charge.

Arkana-wise, it's worth picking up the Atavindicator as well - it's essentially a Smite, though you roll 3d6 and compare to a non-Vehicle target (...note, there's not a character restriction here) and if you beat leadership, it's 1d3 mortal wounds.  

Addendum - The Cryptothralls

These guys are in here because of Crypteks, but you need to keep in mind they do more than turn off snipers.  They are cheap units that can perform actions and hold objectives.  Never underestimate how useful that is.  You can absolutely justify taking 1-2 units of Cryptothralls and never keeping them near the crypteks themselves.

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