Bethayne, Pride of Everblight

Template:Legbox This model is playable only in an Unlimited format.

Bethayne's flesh was the clay of Everblight's great work. She has been pulled apart and reconstructed more times than she can recall. Her suffering gave way to the creation of a new race born utterly subjugated to the will of the dragon as well as the creation of Archons of his own design. Bethayne is no longer recognizable as Nyss or as dragonspawn or any other race serving Everblight. She is truly unique, a piece of art that can never be re-created. Her flesh, her entire essence even, has been permanently fused with her warbeast Belphagor. To the soldiers of the Iron Kingdoms, she is a nightmarish monstrosity that wields blighted magic and breathes pure corruption. To Everblight, she is the living testament to his skill in the art of fleshcraft.

Basic Info

This model is a Warlock.

Warlock Rules A warlock is an Independent Model. a Leader model. a Battlegroup Controller controls warbeasts. Warlocks use Fury Manipulation Uses ARC to determine how many fury points it gains each turn. Begins the game with a number of fury points equal to its ARC. Cannot exceed its ARC stat in fury points as a result of leeching. Can spend fury points only during its activation (unless a special rule states otherwise) for the following: Buy additional attacks Boost attack rolls Boost damage rolls Shake some effects Can leach fury points from warbeasts in its battlegroup in its control range. Spirit Bond allows the warlock to gain a fury for each of its dead battlegroup warbeasts. Reaving allows the warlock to pull fury points from a warbeast in its battlegroup when it dies.

Feat - Flesh Web

1. Bethayne gains 2 flesh web tokens. Then distribute 2 additional flesh web tokens for each non-lesser warbeast in her battlegroup among one or more living friendly Faction models currently in her Template:Control range.
2. While a model has one or more flesh web tokens it cannot become knocked down or made stationary.
3. A model can transfer to another friendly living model in Bethayne’s Template:Control range as if it had the Transferring Damage warlock special rule without spending fury by spending a flesh web token.

Flesh Web lasts for one round, when Flesh Web expires remove all flesh web tokens from friendly Faction models.

Abilities

• Template:Eyeless Sight
• Template:Immunity: Corrosion
• Template:Immunity: Fire
• Template:Living Nightmare
• Template:Spell Driver

Weapons

Breath of Entropy
File:Gun icon.jpg		RNG			ROF			AOE			POW
		12			1			5			10
Template:Continuous Corrosion Template:Corrosion Damage Template:Magical Damage Template:Withering Death
Blighted Claw (x2)
File:Sword icon.jpg		RNG				POW				P+S
		1				4				14
Template:Continuous Corrosion Template:Magical Damage Template:Open Fist

Spells

{{Category: Template:Absorb FleshTemplate:Breath of CorruptionTemplate:DissolveTemplate:Psycho SurgeryTemplate:Transmutation }}[[Category: Template:Absorb FleshTemplate:Breath of CorruptionTemplate:DissolveTemplate:Psycho SurgeryTemplate:Transmutation ]]

Theme Forces

• Template:Children of the Dragon. She gains Tactician [Blighted] in this theme.
• Template:Oracles of Annihilation. In this theme Bethayne can start the game with friendly upkeeps in play. Also, enemy models that end their activation within 2" of her suffer continuous corrosion.
• Template:Primal Terrors
• Template:Ravens of War

Thoughts on Bethayne2

Bethayne2 in a nutshell

Bethayne2 is an excellent spellcaster/attrition warlock who is just as versatile as her predecessor. Bethayne 2 is the first "warbeast warlock", similar to how Karchev the Terrible is a "warjack warcaster". She takes damage like a warbeast, can slam and make power attacks, and suffers crippled aspects OTHER than the Spirit aspect. Unlike Karchev, who is a smash-your-face style caster, Bethayne is far more of a ranged threat and brings several potent spells and a potent feat to the table.

Between her own Breath of Entropy and the Dissolve Spell, applying -2 ARM to enemies can be fairly simple to accomplish. Dissolve cast on basically any model can be devastating for your opponent. With Spell Driver Bethayne can hang back and cast Breath of Corruption through her warbeasts while shooting her own Breath of Entropy out, allowing her to play a safe distance back from the enemy.

While Bethayne can fight in melee, it is not her focus. The comparison to Karchev is only really a thematic one. She does not buff her warbeasts like Karchev buffs his warjacks, nor does fight in melee as well as him. Her relationship with her beasts is far more exploitative than supporting, which we see recognized through Spell Driver, Absorb Flesh, and even the feat.

Feat thoughts

Bethayne's feat is a powerhouse denial and attrition one - though toned down quite a bit compared to the pre-2021. October errata. In its most basic form it is an efficient counter to pop&drop tricks like Quake, or feats like Kreoss1's or Sorscha1's, and keep your most valuable models safe. If you want to tank damage with it, you must know your enemy well though. Instead of the "my opponent must chew through my entire army to remove a key piece" approach now you must carefully measure what the enemy can get to you and how many free transfers you may need to tank those wounds. Needless to say, this goes hand-in-hand with other denial tools like Dodge or Thagrosh0's Blight Burst patch that may force your opponent to try to remove a feat target only with its initial attacks. You may also farm tokens with cheap lights like the Raek or the Afflictor. The most important takeaways:

• You cannot allocate away Beth's tokens, she will always start at least with 2.
• If you use up all the tokens, you lose the KD/Stationary immunity as well
• You only need tokens to transfer damage from the target, not to transfer damage to the target - read, you can pass it off anywhere within Beth's control range, even to non-faction models like your Minion choices. You still cannot place tokens onto non-living models though.
• The transferring model doesn't need to be in Beth's control either, only the model you are willing to transfer to.
• You are not exempt from the normal transferring restrictions, e.g. your beasts full with Fury are still unable to take transferred damage (but they themselves can still transfer damage to other models), and you must transfer the full damage.
• You can transfer to friendly models not just friendly factions - including Minion ones.
  • Be careful when transferring to the Hermit: Ancient Shroud does not decrease the transferred damage to 1 since the damage roll already happened. I.e. you must transfer the whole amount. Killing your Hermit with the transferred damage also won't trigger Dark Prophecy.

Spell thoughts

All her spells point Bethayne towards being an attrition warlock.

• Absorb Flesh is a signatures spell that gives a net gain of d3 Fury at the cost of a model costing at least 3 points. This, especially without a spammable spell, would normally be considered a poor rate of return, but you're bringing those three point models to tank damage for your heavies on feat turn and if they've absorbed ten points of damage that would go to a heavy they've already done their jobs. Also you can spell-driver through your lesser to target that lesser so range isn't such a thing. Not remotely caster-defining but it gives her a nice late-game kick.
  • A corner case application but if your beast blocks your charge lane, you can remove said beast from the way without generating corpse token to the enemy.
• Breath of Corruption is a nice anti-infantry zap that works well with spell-driver and the ability to throw 9 focus around in a turn to keep infantry charge lanes blocked. Just watch out for cloud-removers. Also it's only Bethayne's spammable spell. Don't forget that models not directly hit by the template also take a POW12 damage, not a POW6 blast damage.
• Dissolve is one of Bethayne's two armour-swinging spells. Ideally it goes onto either a model or a unit with a lot of attacks that is going to spread them far and wide. At range for preference - so a unit of archers is ideal, but really, there's no bad target for this spell. Since it confers the same ability it does not stack with Bethayne's own gun.
• Psycho-Surgery is a nice attrition spell, allowing you to heal up your battered beasts after a feat turn to be fully functional again.
• Transmutation - Can be put on non-faction friendly models, which is very relevant in Oracles where you can field all the minions you would every want. Any melee centric unit will love the extra STR and almost everything loves +2 DEF and Pathfinder. Alternatively you can use it offensively to debuff DEF and STR and make your own troops more accurate, and more resilient against melee and thrown weapons, which might be more relevant in Primal Terrors where all the Legion beef is concentrated - but in general it's easier to cast and more impactful on your own models unless you're in dire need of DEF fixing. Also, taking away Pathfinder from melee-oriented huge based models like Gargantuans or Battle Engines can be a potent trick - and they are usually easy targets that you can always see.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• No movement tricks
• The only answer she provides to high DEF only works on one model/unit and needs to land to be effective.
• High attack volume can overload your feated targets if you distribute the tokens without care, plus you cannot distribute feat token onto the Blight Archon.

Tricks & Tips

• Spell Driver does not make her warbeasts channelers, they merely become the point of origin of the spell cast. That means they are not subject to limitations associated with challenging, meaning they can still be used as "arc nodes" while engaged, or while in a Cacophony bubble.
• You cannot reave fury from warbeasts you killed yourself with attack, or with Absorb Flesh, but you can do it with warbeasts you killed with Spell Driver damage.
  • The two facts above occasionally enable you some very economic Breath of Corruption casting, since if you run up your lesser with full Fury beside the enemy, you may kill it with the combined damage of BoC and Spell Driver, reave the Fury, and fuel your next BoC from another lesser (preferably also in B2B with the enemy and barely standing due to the damage from the previous BoC). If you have enough Harriers you can dive bomb and enemy caster to death, but if you only have 1 or 2 it will not be a reliable strategy.
  • This works best post feat where you used your lessers to transfer damage onto with your feat, ensuring they die and you get your fury back.

List Building Advice

Strategy

Bethayne is a hardcore attrition warlock who likes tough multi-wound models and shunts the damage they take onto much cheaper light/lesser warbeasts. Since the quasi-transfers require Flesh-web tokens, you cannot rely solely on building your battlegroups out of a single heavy and a bunch of lessers, so for "token-farming" consider some cheap lights like the Raek, the Afflictor or the Nephilim Soldier. Her basic playstyle is attrition, but the sheer durability of her beasts can be used to bully enemies out of zones, or to bring her army far enough forward that the enemy needs to risk an assassination the turn after her feat turn.

Theme thoughts

Bethayne is mostly a warbeast warlock, but one who wants to share the fury management around.

• Blight Archons cannot be targets of her feat' tokens and transfers since they're non-living, but their warbeasts can be. This lets you get more frontline brawlers into your list without straining Beth's fury. Also the feat lets you be more aggressive with your Archon - if the Archon gets attacked it uses fury to transfer to one of its beasts, and that beast keeps itself alive by using the feat. The main drawback of the Archon's inclusion is that you get tokens after Beth's battlegroup - so everything you put under the Blarchon will not contribute toward the token pool.

Primal Terrors is a questionable choice for her. On one hand you have plenty of tough multi wound models who extremely well her feat, like the Chosen of Everblight. On the other hand the usual army composition revolves around a Blightbringer and Golab, giving out very few tokens to be played around. If you take them though, there are excellent Transmutation and Dissolve targets here, too.

• Golab Probably the best beast in faction and with Transmutation in becomes really, really scary. Giving Bethayne Sprint also has its uses as she can definitely pull a punch in melee then sprint away and pop the feat to keep herself safe.
• Blighted Ogrun Warspears - Transmutation s an excellent spell on the them as it ups their defensive profile while also upping the damage on both their melee and thrown weapons. Dissolve can be good on them, too.
• Gorag is very important for her as he fixes hitting, which is something she does not do, so you will have to run at least a min unit of Warmongers.
• Chosen of Everblight - Transmutation will do wonders keeping them alive and they hit like trucks in return. Or put Dragon's Blood from an Archon on them.
• Hellmouth - Impervious Flesh combines really well with Bethayne's feat as they won't even take much damage to transfer.
• Thagrosh0 - He is an excelletn choice for her, because he runs an Archangel better than she does thanks to Ethrunbial's Guidance. This also leaves her Warbeast points open to take a bunch of lights and Golab for feat tokens and arc-nodes.

Ravens of War is an obvious choice with her because you can get two Harrier lesser warbeasts from a single requisition point (better for her than anyone else), and the Mark Target is an extra use for the normally weak lessers. Run one into position, shoot it, then she eats it after it's done its job.

• Strider Scouts - A 19" threat range to deliver Withering Death from an eight model stealth unit with hunter is nice. Or they can plink out infantry.
• Raptors are a good flanking unit for a Bethayne army, and if they need to commit to melee, are reasonable Dissolve targets in their own right.
• Blighted Rotwings are good, cheap chaff, with flight and they debuff DEF on models around them.
• Grotesque Assassin - They are great scalpels to remove solos from flags and contest. Also a very important source of Grievous Wounds.
• Hellmouths and Golab are also here.

This theme has two things really going for it in terms of bonuses. If you're going for a toughness-skew then Unyielding ARM 18 lights are a good place to start.

• Blighted Nyss Archers - 22 shots per unit under Dissolve is a thing of beauty. As is feating on the Ammo porter and being able to keep it alive no matter what.
• Blighted Nyss Swordsmen are already DEF 14 before Transmuting them and are already weapon masters. Transmuting takes what they do and makes them a whole lot better at it.
• Virtue Champion - Just a good work piece solo that also gives her the ability to drop Bligh Clouds, upping her DEF of 16 against shooting and dissuading single wound infantry from tearing into her in melee.
• Virtue Host - They are great anti infantry pieces but with damage buffs they actually start to threaten heavies.
• Spawning Vessel - for just 4 points you get a lesser factory, which saves her a lot of army points.
• Blighted Nyss Shepherd 1 point fury management model. Or fodder for the spawning vessel.
• Throne of Everblight - The Throne is a living model, thus eligible to your feat. It's the most resilient non-gargantuan in the faction with its 36 boxes and ARM20, and may also heal itself after a beating with Snacking. Also a good Transmutation target due to its 4 initials.

The combination of Thags0 and the spawning vessel, as well as unlimited minions make this a good theme for her. Tota that any of the Minions listed here are also available in the other themes, but you can only take one solo and one unit there.

• Thagrosh0 (see above), is also in this theme, which makes it immediately attractive to her.
• Spawning Vessels, Shepherds, Ice Witches, Virtues, and the Blackfrost Shard are in this theme too.
• Boil Master & Spirit Cauldron - it generates it own corpse tokens every turn and also collects them from fallen infantry and pass them on to a Spawning Vessel or Death Archon. Additionally it also has a potent zap spell and Puppet master. Overall a very good package!
• Death Archon - You probably don't need to windmill slam these into every list, but one is a very potent Transmutation targets thanks to its two Blood Reaper attacks. Mortal Fear makes your whole list more resilient and the Chain attack synergises very well with Thagorsh's Blight Burst spell stripping the ability to shake Stationary from enemy beasts and jacks.
• Primal Archon - Much that can be said about the Death Archon can also be said for this one, main difference being that it more reactive thanks to Counter Charge, but hands out Knock Down and Shadow Bind like no tomorrow, so it still synergizes with Thargosh, while also not precluding you from taking a Blight Archon.
• Farrow Valkyries - A model like an Archangel attracts a lot of undue attention from guns, so these ladies are here to help with Shield Guard and Vengeance. They also hit pretty hard in melee, so make for a decent Transmutation target.
• Croak Hunters - If you want auto-boosted Archangel shots, these guys can Oil the enemy up. Also a decent Transmutation target.
• Hermit of Hengehold - More spell accuracy and Mad Visions layered with the feat is infuriating to deal with.

Battlegroup

There's a lot that works well with Bethayne;

• Harrier - 3 points for 13hp into the web of flesh. Use them as cheap Spelldriver nodes, transfer some damage, then absorb them to heal yourself.
• Mekanoshredder - Free charges and extra threat range vs Warmachine foes. Unfortunately you cannot feat on it.
• Nephilim Bloodseer - 8 points, Arm 20 in melee in Children of the Dragon, Telemetry works really well with Spell Driver.
• Nephilim Protector - 9 points for ARM 20 in melee in CotD, Shield Guard, Guard Dog, and a MAT value that doesn't suck.
• Nephilim Bolt Thrower - Far Strike for her gun and an extra feat token.
• Angelius - A DEF 16 heavy melee warbeast is obnoxious to get rid of.
• Neraph - So's this one even without armour piercing
• Seraph - You only ever take one as support. But it gives you longer threat ranges.
• Carnivean - Bethayne likes Spiny Growth and models that can reach ARM 20. And spiny growth on herself. It also does well with Dissolve and a well angled assault shot, spraying an effective POW 16 somewhere useful.
• Blightbringer - If you want to play a skew-y list with blighted Ogrun, the Blight Bringer is your man, er... abomination! It's gun also spreads withering death well enough at 14" range with a 5" AOE.
• Archangel - She runs the Archangel about as good as her previous incarnation. It's a great taget for with Dissolve and Transmuation and her feat keeps it alive for an extra turn.

Other

Trivia

Released 2020.09