Naga Nightlurker

As the hosts of Everblight’s legion advance, they are preceded on the ground by the fearsome naga. These draconic horrors first spew caustic venom upon their victims before closing to tear the wounded apart with fanged maws. Though seemingly simple in form, the naga are in truth complex spawn representing Everblight’s genius in the manipulation of blighted flesh.

Basic Info

Abilities

• Template:Warbeast
• Template:Eyeless Sight
• Template:Pathfinder
• Template:Soulless
• Template:Prowl
• Template:Serpentine

Weapons

• Night's Venom - 10" range, POW 12 ranged attack
  • Template:Magical Damage
  • Template:Critical Shadow Bind
• Bite - 1" reach, P+S10 melee attack
  • Critical Shadow Bind

Animus

{{Category: Template:Wraithbane }}[[Category: Template:Wraithbane ]]

Theme Forces

• Template:Children of the Dragon
• Template:Oracles of Annihilation
• Template:Primal Terrors
• Template:Ravens of War

Thoughts on Naga Nightlurker

Naga Nightlurker in a Nutshell

It's a superb support warbeast with a competent gun. The Naga is a nice mobile gun in his own right, with built in defensive tech via Prowl, but he's invariably brought for his animus, so plan to leverage him as such.

Most importantly is the Naga's animus. One of Legion's very few animi not restricted to RNG SELF and thankfully one of the better animi in Hordes, Wraithbane is an amazing tool against enemies that rely on DEF or ARM buffs to stay relevant. On it's own it can help a Warlock or model that struggles with ARM stacking, and can be combined with your own STR or MAT buffs to drastically turn the tide of battle when an enemy expected to be safe from all harm.

He won't be putting out much damage with his spit but it does offer a way to apply Shadow Bind at range. This could drastically improve the success of a laat-ditch assassination attempt or just ensure the elimination of a normally flighty enemy threat. It is a critical effect though, so be wary of planning your strategy around it and instead save it as a last ditch effort (or when it happens when you don't need it, treat it as a pleasant bonus).

Combos & Synergies

Any Warlock lacking a STR or MAT buff of their own will love the Naga, and it will love any Warlock that can indirectly buff its shooting. It's generally not worth buffing him directly, but army- or battlegroup-wide buff spells will make him a happy, slithery snake.

• Lylyth2 lets him shoot twice and gives gunfighter on the feat turn. Additionally, if he's shooting at a pincushion target, he'll appreciate the slight increase to hit, damage, and critical chance. For Lylyth, she'll enjoy Wraitbane as Pincushion alone isn't always enough to break armored targets, so if the enemy is rocking upkeeps she'll love the Naga's animus.
• Lylyth3 lacks any sort of damage buffs, so the Wraithbane can go a long way in her lists. The Naga can contribute on the feat turn as an extra gun to assassinate a stationary warlock or warcaster, or just as an extra Death Chill source himself.
• The Twins might appreciate Wraithbane, but they don't offer the Naga much themselves, and he doesn't offer much more than that. Reach for other things first, or look to stack multiple damage buffs first, then consider the Naga with the Twins if your points can spare.
• Thagrosh1 can automatically trigger Prowl for the Naga, regardless of the board's terrain by keeping Fog of War active. Additionally, Thagrosh only brings a targeted STR buff, which means he may find use for Wraithbane when taking on multiple armored threats. The presence of a decent gun helps keep some models honest as well, helping to force engagements with an otherwise melee-centric warlock. Last but not least, he can cast Wraithbane for free thanks to Attuned Spirit.
• Thagrosh0 has Fog of War to trigger prowl and its Draconic Mastery allows him to cast Wraithbane for free, replicating in these aspect his bigger self. What's worth mentioning is his another mutation - Ethrubnal's Guidance which allows models in its battle group re-roll missed attack rolls, so it can be super helpful if you're trying to pin down a high DEF target or fishing for a crit.
• Vayl, Consul of Everblight is much the same as others listed. She brings no damage buffs on her own, and is also in the unique position of being able to easily arc the Naga's animus wherever she pleases with her Oraculi. On top of that, her feat allows a free cast of Wraithbane, which can help with Fury management on the feat turn tremendously.
• Archangel one of the best gun platforms in the factions. With Wraithbane it can shoot with impunitiy against Incorporeal models, through Arcane Shield or Hymn of Passage.
• Beast Mistress - The cheapest way to outsource the Naga from your warlock's battlegroup. Energizer can act as a threat extender (even just so the Naga can aim), or serve as the "run" part in hit&run attacks.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• Relies heavily on Prowl to keep itself alive.
• Its gun is okay but also has a short range, which forces it to play risky if you intend to utilize it.
• Not enough FURY to fully boost his gun and use Wraithbane, which can cause some headaches.
• Wraithbane is a high cost animus, which can tax lower FURY warlocks.
• If you need only the Magic Damage ability from the animus, the Mist Speaker is a cheaper solution.

Tricks & Tips

• Your ranged attack's Shadow Bind works the best on Battle Engines and Archons - especially on those which rely on their melee capabilities to stay relevant. Usually BE defense is pretty low, which means a boosted attack roll will cause a critical hit on any double or triple results (outside a triple 1, of course) - which is roughly 44% chance. And against Archons you will boost to hit anyways to be sure you get those DEF 14 targets.
  • Your melee attack also has this special effect, but you better have a very good reason to commit the Naga into melee with its sub-par MAT and fragile frame.

Other

Trivia

Released in Hordes: Domination (2011)