Bethayne, Voice of Everblight & Belphagor

Template:Legbox2 This model is playable only in an Unlimited format.

With her creation Belphagor at her side, Bethayne stalks the battlefields of Immoren to bring death and destruction to the enemies of Everblight. Bethayne can meld with Belphagor, donning the mighty warbeast’s flesh like an enormous suit of scaled armor. The two become one, acting in concert as a single individual, mingling a warlock’s sorcerous power with the brutal onslaught of a warbeast’s fury.

Basic Info

Bethayne

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 - Arcane Symbiosis

While in Bethayne’s Template:Control range, friendly models gain boosted magic attack rolls and magic attack damage rolls. Arcane Symbiosis lasts for one round.

Abilities

• Template:Flesh Meld

Weapons

Blighted Talon (x2)
File:Sword icon.jpg		RNG				POW				P+S
		0.5				5				10
Template:Magical Damage Template:Continuous Corrosion

Spells

{{Category: Template:Blood ThornTemplate:DecelerationTemplate:DisintegrationTemplate:Hex BlastTemplate:Invocation of Blood }}[[Category: Template:Blood ThornTemplate:DecelerationTemplate:DisintegrationTemplate:Hex BlastTemplate:Invocation of Blood ]]

Belphagor

Abilities

• Template:Eyeless Sight
• Template:Soulless
• Template:Immunity: Corrosion
• Template:Immunity: Fire
• Template:Bond
• Template:Companion

Weapons

Acidic Breath
File:Gun icon.jpg		RNG			ROF			AOE			POW
		SP 6			1			Template:-			10
Template:Corrosion Damage Template:Continuous Corrosion
Claw (x2)
File:Sword icon.jpg		RNG				POW				P+S
		0.5				4				13
Template:Critical Continuous Corrosion Template:Open Fist Template:Blood Boon

Animus

{{Category: Template:Despoiler }}[[Category: Template:Despoiler ]]

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 Bethayne1

Bethayne1 in a nutshell

Bethayne (aka Beth, B&B) has perhaps the deepest toolbox available among the Legion warlocks. She can play combined arms army support, debuff, attrition, offensive spell-slinger, or anything in between. Or, just hop into her personal warbeast, so she can even become a personal force to be reckoned with and durable beyond normal Legion warlock standards. All that diversity comes at a price however. She is among the most fragile warlocks in the game, and can be killed trivially outside Belphagor, so keeping her safe is #1 priority.

She has an interesting dynamic with her pet beast Belphagor via Flesh Meld, that makes her truly unique. Early in the game you can hang back with Bethayne herself, arc spells and throw down Despoiler to control space with Belphagor, but late game or against aggressive armies that will put pressure on her, hiding in Belphagor makes her much more survivable at the cost of no Despoiler and one less arcing option. On the bright side you'll get Blood Boon which might be an ample compensation (don't forget, when not melded, Belphagor can only cast Despoiler via Blood Boon since he has no other spells on his card unless melded with Bethayne). Belphagor also has fire immunity, an awesome ability since continuous fire is a valid danger to Beth's meager ARM.

Feat thoughts

That's a pure offensive feat which supports only the magic-wielding friendly faction AND friendly minion models - both being a short list, sadly. Obvious candidates are the Hex Hunters, Ice Witches, the Blackfrost Shard, Yssylla and the Throne of Everblight due to its Necrophage rule. If there are no suitable models around, Bethayne herself can still sling forward a fully boosted Hex Blast to help upkeep removal, or a fully boosted Disintegration. An important limitation that it boosts only magic attack damage roll - non-attack related magic damage rolls like the secondary arcs of Spine Burst, Yssyla's Detonator blasts, or the damage from the Witch Doctor's Sacrificial Strike won't get the boost. Either way, Bethayne likely wants to feat earlier rather than later to deliver a hopefully devastating alpha blow (in typical Legion fashion).

Spell thoughts

Blood Thorn

Hands down the best support spell in the faction (and possibly in the entire game). Ranged or melee, there are literally no bad choices for this spell to go on (except unarmed models). It's a great spell for spell cycling.

• Zuriel loves this spell because 1) he has Dual Attack so he absolutely maximises the buff and 2) it adds to the POW of his weapons, so it gives him a +4 damage swing on his Combo-Strike!

Deceleration

The only army-wide, non-feat solution in the faction against gunlines that still needs some preparation. Most of the Legions' infantry have flimsy armor so that +2 ARM won't save them by itself - not even against blast damage. However stacking it with other buffs like the Blightbringer's aura, or Dragon's Blood from the Blight Archon may make them actually resistant to incoming fire. Watch out for Blessed guns though.

Disintegration

First part of her de-buff engine, this spell is great in general for focusing out single important targets since it can potentially affect your whole army at once. Generally best not used for its RFP effect unless there is an important recursion mechanic that absolutely must be shut down. Though the cost is high, it can be cast twice a turn fully boosted under the feat if necessary. Note that the debuff is applied before the damage roll, so the spell is effectively POW 15.

Invocation of Blood

Finally, Engine of Destruction in Legion! Her signature spell is crucial in her play. Either use it to get up the field after slinging some Disintegrates and hop in Belphagor for safety, or just become a personal murder machine with Butcher-esque defensive stats. Combine with your favorite defensive animus and Bethagor (Belthayne?) can be surprisingly tanky with a couple transfers. Invocation can only be cast once an activation, so you can't use it to get to Belphagor and then armor up when inside, so play your turn carefully.

Hex Blast

Debuff engine part 2. Especially deadly under your feat as it is near-guaranteed to hit all but the most elusive targets. Keep in mind that only the target directly struck will lose its upkeeps and animi.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• Outside Belphagor Bethayne can be killed trivially with boostable blast damage, electro leaps, or continuous fire. She possibly has the worst defensive stats among Hordes warlocks.
• She has a versatile toolbox but you must know when and what to use
• She has fewer warbeast points due to Belphagor. Also, while in Belphagor she isn't a warbeast but abilities that target branches for damage can preemptively cripple Belphagor when you next exit Flesh Meld.
• Belphagor has terrible RAT - even for a Spray attack.
• No means to fix accuracy and speed (fortunately rarely an issue with proper army list)
• Anti-spell techs (Psychic Vampire, Arcane Vortex, Lamentation, Kromac1´s Bestial spell, etc.) can make the utilization of her most potent support tools difficult.

Tricks & Tips

• Don't forget that when Melded, B&B can use throws for free. This can get you out of sticky situations.
• Bethayne is a Blighted Nyss, so she is subject to Tactician from the Children of the Dragon's theme and the Veteran Leader buff from the Archon. Belphegor however isn't, which also means Bethayne is no longer affected by these abilities once she melds into him.
• You don't have to actually fuse with Belphegor when you use Invocation. He doesn't even need to be near her at all. You can use it as a free advance much like you would Wind Rush or Sprint; use it to get closer to a target you want to debuff, or use it to get out of threat ranges for free after you over extended her.
• Her feat works on minions. In particular this benefits Eilish1 and Kwaak & Gub.

Blood Thorn

• This spell provides a POW bonus, meaning that your ranged weapons will get the benefit too. It is especially deadly with Combo Strike since you get + 4 (2*2) for this attack.
• Your power attacks will not get the bonus since the model uses its own STR stat for the damage roll, and currently there are no beasts in the Legion who could add the POW of their weapons to their Power Attack damage rolls.
• It is rare to have a continuous effect on a weapon without having the same damage type, but that's the case with Blood Thorn. Models with Immunity:Corrosion are immune only to the continuous effect, but still suffer the "regular" damage from your attacks. And if you can have your Blight Archon near them with its Meltdown aura, they may suffer this effect too.

BBFF - Bethayne's Best Friend Forever

Flesh Meld is an incredibly wordy rule and somewhat hard for beginners to remember - either when playing with or against Beth. Here are 5 common pitfalls to remember:

• Once melded in that turn, Belphagor cannot activate. When determining if you want to Flesh Meld on a given turn, make sure to activate Belphagor first, and have him do anything he needs to do, including getting into position where you want Bethayne to be at the end of her activation. He won't be able to activate the turn you Meld since he becomes Bethayne. Once melded, Belphagor also drops all the Fury he had previously, so take it into account with your FURY management.
• When melded they become a warrior AND a warlock model. That means that they cannot contest scenario elements, but are affected by abilities that specify Warrior models.
• Once melded, Belphagor loses its Despoiler animus, but you can then cast all of Bethayne's spells and animi with Blood Boon. Blood Boon won't be triggered upon your slams and throws.
• Once you hop in, you'll lose Belphagor's bond and arcing ability.
• Getting out of Belphagor happens in your Maintenance phase, same time you check for the expiry of continuous effects and make your Vengeance moves/attacks. Once you started leeching Fury or force to shake effects it is too late.

List Building Advice

Strategy

Bethayne generally likes two things: Potent Ranged models and models with Magic abilities. The latter you will be inclined to take anyway, as most Legion spellcasters offer excellent support to the rest of your army. You then want to use Bethayne's debuffing abilities to make enemy models vulnerable to Blood Thorn'd shooting and boosted magic attacks, while hopping in an out Belphegor to keep Beth save.

Theme thoughts

• Spell Martyrs are nice to fill point gaps and give Bethayne additional arcing options for Disintegrate, especially while Flesh Melded.
• Blight Archon - Helps with accuracy (unless Beth is in Belphagor), stacks Dragon's Blood with Deceleration, and Meltdown works well if you want to rely on the corrosion effect of your Blood Thorn enhanced guns. Even with the battlegroup tax it is hard to pass on an Archon - or two.
• Succubus - A free upkeep for a warlock with expensive spells? And a could-on-demand for Belphagor to improve its DEF against strong gunlines or block LOS to Bethyne? Yes, please. She may also hit surprisingly hard with her Hex Bolt if you have to commit her under Beth's feat.
• Hermit - Telemetry ensures that your ever-important Hex Blast / Disintegration connects, while the -2 ARM aura yields a respectable -6 ARM swing between Disintegration, and Blood Thorn.
• Virtue Champion - Just an all around good combat solo and under Decel and in their clouds they are DEF 15 ARM 20 against shooting.
• Virtue Host - With Champions around the gain the ability to centre clouds on themselves too, increasing the stock of your list against gunlines tenfold as they can block LOS to models behind them. They are also incredibly hard hitting pieces thanks to Peel back the Layers, which only gets better with debuffs (Kiss, Disintegration, ect.)

Template:Header Of all the lists out there this one suits the best for her combined arms approach.

• Blighted Nyss Archers - 22 Ranged attacks a turn virtually scream for Blood Thorn, Hex Blast and Disintegration support. Bethayne probably runs them the best.
• Blighted Nyss Hex Hunters - They really love her feat. Boosted POW 13's hurt like a truck and Shadow Bind from the CA can function as an important accuracy buff to the rest of your army.
• Yssylla - Potent magic on a stick and also turns Archers or Thrones into infantry blenders with RFP.
• Blackfrost Shard and Ice Witches - Even more magic to be boosted by the feat and they support your troops excellently. Kiss of Lyliss stacked with isintegration and blood thorn lets you crack even the hardest of targets.
• Throne of Everblight - A multitude of attacks to make use of her debuffs as well as excellent spell casting for the feat. And on top of that a beefy frame made even beefier by Deceleration. Nothing quite makes as much use of her kit as Thrones do. With the feat all the Necrophage attacks become murderously accurate as well (remember that the secondary damage from Spine Bursts are not boosted). It also serves as a decent LOS block to Bethayne, just be on the lookout for its rock-bottom DEF with abilities that might abuse it against you (e-leaps, Ashes to Ashes, Trick Shot and so on).
• Craelix - Since you are heavily incentivised to bring Archers with Beth, he will have plenty of sac pawn targets.
  • Weaken may help you out with the STR tests is you need to throw living targets - with invocation of Blood that's a hefty +4 STR bonus with an effective MAT 9 and 2D6 on the test, making you capable of reliably throwing even the beefiest light warbeast up to 6,5" away (remember, you can't target models on a larger base).
  • It's fairly corner case, but if you need to brick up for a turn against a living model, stacking Invocation of Blood, the Blight Bringer's aura, Dragon's Blood from the Archon and Spiny Growth from a Carnivean with the Weaken shot, you may reach technically ARM 28 (ARM26 vs. non-living). That supposed to be enough to survive a charge from a fully loaded heavy warbeast/jack.
• Typhon - He can already bring down any heavy all by himself, let alone with POW boosts to his sprays and bites. Deceleration with Rapid Healing also makes a credible defense against gunlines who lack access to tricks that remove healing.
• Zuriel - Your first choice for a combo strike model, plus his spray is also affected by Blood Thorn. Put him under an Archon and he will do massive work every turn while being able to Sprint back to safety.

Template:Header Whatever works in CotD mostly works in OoA as well, and Disintegration is a faction-independent ARM de-buff against heavier targets.

• Her feat is supposed to help Minion spellcasters too, which is an unfortunately short list:
  • Kwaak - That's 2 fully boosted Venom sprays or 2 targets reliably hit by Mud Foot under the feat.
  • Bokor and Shamblers - Feat boosts your Hand of Glory attack, plus with Disintegration your measly Shamblers' CMA suddenly becomes more threatening.
  • Boil Master & Spirit Cauldron - You get boosted offensive Puppet Masters and Spirit Lashes, which is not the best thing in the world, but it does help a Spawning Vessel collect corpses, as well.
  • Eilish1 - He's a useful tool box solo, but already has access to boostable spells with Mental Force. Then again the feat safes you d3 health boxes, which can come in clutch.

• Primal Archon - You ain't have to worry about accuracy if your targets are shadow-bound / knocked down). Disintegration also boosts its combat performance against beefier targets.
• Thagrosh0 is an amazing warlock for an Archangel thanks to his Guidance mutation giving it rerolls on missed attack rolls. Add in Blood Thorn and your AA becomes super dangerous. On feat turn, Thagrosh can fling a fully boosted Blight Burst, which is a great control element.
• Hex Hunters with Bayal deserve a mention here again, because they can tag a model affected by Thagrosh's Blight Burst with Shadow Bind, which can thus no longer be shaken.

• Grotesque Banshees - Lots of cheap POW14 templates that have all the bigger chance of triggering Brain Damage.
• Grotesque Assassin - You'll rarely waste Blood Thorn on a single model but if you need a Grievous Wound P+S 19 combo strike this guy got you covered.
• Grotesque Raiders - Being in the Assassin's aura + under Deceleration they may start to survive unboosted blast damage rolls from unboosted POW14 and less AoE guns.

Template:Header This entire theme is full with sturdy warriors who prefer protection from incoming fire and with proper damage boost they hit like a freight train. Anamag is still the queen of this theme, and compared to Beth she both has its cons and pros. The biggest difference is that the near-mandatory Blightbringer puts more burden on Beth's list due to the fewer WBP. Also, her feat gives next to nothing to the rest of her army. It's up to your personal preference whom you choose.

• Hellmouth - Impervious Flesh + Deceleration make them very good into enemy gunlines. May also help to solve mobility issues for the rest of your army.
• Warspears - There are few units in the faction who can capitalize better on Blood Thorn, boosting both their Assault shots and their melee attacks as well.
• Chosen of Everblight - With Blood Thorn that's a POW 16 attack from the mount - impact attacks included. That's on par with the secondary melee weapon of a heavy warjack. The P+S 17 cleaver on the charge is just the icing on the cake.

Battlegroup

Beth1 does not have any battlegroup specific synergies, meaning any of the beasts below can also be put on a Blight Archon or Thagrosh0 to great effect, they are still listed here to preserve the struktural integrity of this article.

• An Archangel is a really good gun platform to anchor your Bethayne list. Under Bloodthorn it packs a P+S 23 Bite and a POW 16 breath attack which sets things on fire and corrodes. Disintegration compounds this even further and Deceleration protects it from guns that can power through Flying High. Add in the Archangel's animus, and all of a sudden you're looking at three POW20 shots.
• Naga Nightlurker - If you go for the Archangel route you want this snake, so the AA can shoot down a Judicator under Hymn of Passage or other stuff under Wind Wall.
• A Nephilim Bloodseer is almost mandatory with her to further enhance her feat and her own spell casting, but usually loses out against a Naga. He can cast Draconic Aura to further enhance devastation that Archangel's shots can wreck upon enemy lines.
• Blightbringer - Due to the fewer WBP this gargantuan may be a larger burden on your points than with other warlocks, but its auras (especially Dragon's breath) have awesome synergies with the warrior models in the army, and cannot be dispelled. Beth in Belphagor also becomes a warrior model, boosting its protection even further.
• Nephilim Protector - Pop&drop tricks are the bane of Beth, relying solely on her DEF to evade shots and blows outside Belphagor. Safeguard mostly keeps you... erm... safe from those spells and feats, while Guard Dog may pump your DEF in close combat to the echelons of Caine2 and Sorscha1 where unboosted attacks have pretty slim chance hitting you.
• Carnivean - A reliable beatstick who enjoys POW buff on its 3 initials and its assault spray tremendously (but not on the Grab&Smash attack). Not to mention, Spiny Growth is always welcome on a melded Beth to boost her survival.
• Mekanoshredder - A ubiquitous support piece and a mainstay for the faction. Giving Beth a Bloodseer, Naga and McShredder fills her WBPs almost exactly and gives her a menu of support animi to choose from, which is great in a list where you outsource your workhorse beasts to Archons or Thags0.

Starting a 25 point Brawl list

In 2021.04 Jaden Iwassa, one of the LOS authors, put together this list for the Brawlmachine format. He even wrote about it's playstyle, which you can read here.

Theme - Children of the Dragon

Bethayne, Voice of Everblight & Belphagor: [+22 WBP]

• Carnivean: [17 pts]
• Mekanoshredder: [4 pts]

The Wastelander: [5 pts]

Virtue Champion: [Free] Template:Grey

Blighted Nyss Hex Hunters (Max unit): [15 pts]

• Command Attachment: [5 pts]

Total RRP: USD $174 (based on PP's online store prices 2021.04)

Other

Trivia

• Released in Forces of Hordes: Legion of Everblight (2010)
• Belphagore's kit comes with three magnets and two chest pieces: His default chest plate and millipede legs or one where Beth is merged into it with her claws protruding. You can magnetise them and swap them around to visualise her merging in an out of him, which is some nice attention to detail.

Other Legion models

Index Legion

Rules Clarifications

Template:RC Eyeless Sight Template:RC Soulless Template:RC Fire {{RC Bond Template:RC Channel Template:RC Companion