View source for Absylonia, Daughter of Everblight

[[Legion of Everblight]] [[Category:Legion of Everblight]] [[:Category:Dragon's Host|Dragon's Host]][[Category:Dragon's Host]][[:Category:Warlock|Warlock]][[Category:Warlock]] [[Category:Leader]]


=Model stats and abilities=


''Absylonia has been no stranger to transformation and now, thanks to the gifts of Everblight, her body has settled into a stable form. On huge wings she flies over the battlefield, conveying her killing rage to the spawn that follow her. Though her own body no longer shifts, her blood is still attuned to the morphic energies of Everblight, and the ravenous spawn she commands now gain the same mutability she herself once possessed.''

=Basic Info=
{{Infobox-Model
| name  = [[Absylonia|Absylonia2]]
| image = Absylonia2.jpg
| base  = Medium
| spd   = 7
| str   = 8
| mat   = 7
| rat   irrelevant 
| def   = 15
| arm   = 16
| cmd   = 8
| fury  = 6
| hp    = 18
| wbp   = +28
}}

{{Warlock}}

===Feat - Metamorphose===
Models in Absylonia's battlegroup currently in her {{CTRL}} range gain +2 STR and [[Flight]] and their melee weapons become RNG 2. Metamorphose lasts for one round. [[Category: Flight Feat]]
{{Tipbox|This includes Absylonia herself as well.}}

===Abilities=== 
* {{Flight}}
* {{Alpha Hunter}}
* {{Reposition 5}}

===Weapons === 
{|class="wikitable"
{{Melee|Claw (×2)|0.5|6|14|
* {{Magical Damage}} }}
{{Melee|Stinger|1|4|12|
* {{Magical Damage}}
* {{Energy Siphon|fury}} }}
|}

===Spells===
{{Spellbox|
{{Bracer}}
{{Hex Bolt}}
{{Psycho Surgery}}
{{Return Fire}}
}}

===Theme Forces ===
* {{Children of the Dragon}}. She gains [[Tactician]] <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[Blighted]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> in this theme.
* {{Oracles of Annihilation}}. In this theme she can start the game with friendly upkeeps in play. Also, enemy models that end their activation within 2" of her suffer [[continuous corrosion]].
* {{Primal Terrors}}
* {{Ravens of War}}


=Thoughts on Absylonia2= 
===Absylonia2 in a nutshell=== 
Abby2 lives and breathes the battlegroup. It is pretty common to see her commanding nothing but beasts and a few support solos. She fits the Legion Glass Cannon mold well. With Abby2, you either basically win on the alpha, or don't and die miserably. She is a very active caster, willing and required to mix it up in the mid to front lines in order to succeed.

Abby2 boasts some of the best threat ranges in the game with the right beast loadout, and loves a diverse army selection. Beside [[Vayl2]] she is arguably one of the few 'locks in faction that allows the [[Archangel]] to get a respectable amount of work done in melee - whereas the other warlocks tend to use the ranged abilities of this Gargantuan. She's simple and deadly, but generally fun to play.

===Ability thoughts===
* '''Alpha Hunter''' - This is why you're playing Abby2. Every beast in Legion's repertoire benefits from this ability. In general, the best target for this is cheap, easy to kill infantry. Charge in, pop a few hits off, and reposition to safety. Alternatively, Hex Bolt can be used to pick off a stray warrior at a safer range.
** Beware [[Tough]]. It's less effective than it used to be, but still can drain additional resources, meaning less fury for transfers which are important for Abby2 as she plays further forward than most Legion warlocks. [[Grievous Wounds]] are your best friend here.
* '''Energy Siphon''' - Located on her tail, Energy Siphon is good for killing a beast that got to you first, or managed to survive the feat and counterattacked. Not only does it deny the opponent leeched fury the following turn, but it also gives Abby more fury to kill said beast and trigger Alpha Hunter.
** Obviously, be careful relying on this to kill something hardy. Best used against a light beast, or an heavy with just a few boxes left.
** As jacks tend to use all their focus on any given turn, don't expect to steal their focus. Pick off a low hanging infantry instead.
** If your feat turn went horribly wrong and you need an out, Energy Siphon can make an average assassination run very strong. Each hit saps an additional transfer or power field reinforcement.
* '''Reposition''' is her only way to stay safe after leading your force, but it can only get her so far back. Consider some other tech, such as cheap screens or a pocket Seraph to get some more distance between her and the front lines. Use her wings to her advantage.

===Feat thoughts===
Abby2's feat is straightforward, but very powerful. Combined with Alpha Hunter she can deliver the quintessential Legion alpha strike in spades. A good feat turn with Abby2 can sometimes do so much damage that afterwards you're simply playing cleanup with the rest of the opponent's army. Some models certainly benefit from her feat more than others, but in general there is no wrong answer for her feat, unless you answered "I like infantry!" With her, feat as soon as you can jam as many angry land sharks and dragons down your opponent's throat as draconically possible.

===Spell thoughts===
* '''Bracer''' - A great spell for the likes of [[Proteus]] or a [[Carnivean]] with Spiny Growth up. Makes either of these beasts much more survivable, especially coupled with Psycho Surgery.
* '''Hex Bolt''' - This is a game changer for Abby, not because of the additional effects of the spell, but because it is a ranged attack. Alpha Hunter can trigger off of any source of damage, so this allows her to trigger the ability from much safer distances, and abuse Reposition to be even safer. It's a little riskier in that a single spell cast is a little less reliable than her three initial melee attacks, but if the enemy is threatening you too much, Hex Bolt is a great option to stay safe but still get that sweet Alpha Hunter buff.
* '''Psycho Surgery''' - A surprisingly effective spell. When Abby2 was first released there was question as to it's efficacy, but the general consensus is that Psycho Surgery does a very good job of patching her army up on the advance, especially against armies with a decent number of guns.
* '''Return Fire''' - Corner case, but occasionally useful spell. it just prevents people from shooting at your Ravagores or Teraphs, if you brought them. Worth noting the model that retaliates can actually choose to use a melee attack, useful while engaged or vs a model with gunfighter. The thing to remember about this spell is that it’s only a deterrent if your gun is longer range than the enemies. It’s also Abby2s only support to models outside of her Battlegroup.

===Drawbacks & Downsides===
* You must play forward to trigger Alpha Hunter, yet screening her on her medium base is somewhat challenging. 
* Average FURY plus her tendency to a huge battlegroup means a high risk of frenzying, or much tamer turn by turn fury use - especially if the enemy goes after your fury management tools.
* Average control range means Legion's faster beasts can easily outstrip her range while Alpha Hunter is active.
* Abilities like Sacrificial Pawn, Self Sacrifice, Martyrdom, and other ways to prevent models from dying (or being [[removed from play]] instead of destroyed) will prevent Alpha Hunter from triggering, making certain matchups dangerous for Abby2.
* Poor attrition and low volume of attacks with a large battlegroup centric army.
* Enemies tend to know her pretty well - they know what she wants to do every turn, and can deny Alpha Hunter procs if they want to by offering hard to kill targets, or making it incredibly dangerous to go for it.
* Feats and abilities that deny charging, Flight, Pathfinder and/or spell-casting (if you go after Hex Bolt to trigger Alpha Hunter) can put you into severe disadvantage.

===Tips & Tricks===
* Spells cast through Spell Martyrs are still cast by Abby2. Fire a Hex Bolt through a Martyr to trigger Alpha Hunter.
* Beginners guide: leaving the CTRL area of your warlock with your beasts will stop forcing - and a whole lot of special rule is tied to it. A Shepherd can ease the situation, but that makes her even more important target for the enemy. You also cannot leech or reave Fury from your beasts outside your CTRL area - and not even the Shepherd can help you with that.

=List Building Advice=
===Strategy===
Pretty much the same as described in the Nutshell section - position aggressively and look to trigger Alpha Hunter on the same turn you feat, then send her beasts in for a massive alpha strike. Smash face, and spend the rest of the game mopping up.

===Theme Thoughts===
Abby2 likes to run a large battlegroup, which is best realised in primal terrors, Ravens of War or Oracles of Annihilation

{{Primal Terrors}}

The main draw of PT are the two free hellmouths you can get, which keep you in scenario, plus [[Golab]] is a stellar beast and loves every single of Abbys buffs. With Grievous Wounds from Proteus and Entropic Force from Golab you can also very effectively shut down tough based lists.
The main drawback is the lack of Nyss Sheperds and Sorcerrers and Hellions. Outsourcing to [[Blight Archon]]s will be the main way manage fury, and it should be an effective on at that, but it also means missing out on Abby's Battle Group specific buffs. Forsaken will therefor your main way to remove excess fury and ever their capacity is limited. [[Mechanoshredder]]s will grant free charges with their animus, so you should still get plenty of work out of your Battlegroup.


{{Header|[[Children of the Dragon]]}}

Although Abby2 provides a much-appreciated buff to the Nephilim's hitting power, you're taking this theme for access to the Nephilim characters, [[Typhon]], [[Zuriel]] and [[Azrael]]. All three love the buffs Abby2 provides, and they can offer flexibility to her army due to their special abilities and animi, or just straight up murder the world in case of Typhon. Outside of your battlegroup, there's little you'll want to take outside of support, although the [[Blackfrost Shard]] and [[Ice Witches]] provide buffs and debuffs to help your army out. The Spawning Vessel can add to your battlegroup, but given how it's fared in MK 3, you'll probably want to skip over it.

{{Header|[[Oracles of Annihilation]]}}

The magic theme. Take whatever warbeasts you think you'll need to deal with the opposition, whether it's Blight Wasps for enemy infantry, Angelius for opposing warnouns, or Scytheans/Carniveans to deal with larger numbers of high-ARM targets. Be sure to take support like Forsaken and Shepherds, but be careful not to go overboard - it's easy to get bloated on too many models that don't do enough "work". Like in Children of the Dragon, you can take the Blackfrost Shard and Ice Witches, both of which provide buffs/debuffs and act as a scoring unit for scenarios. 

{{Header|Other themes}}

As mentioned above, Abby doesn't normally use the other two themes, but for what it's worth:

* [[Ravens of War]] gives you access to [[Strider Deathstalker]]s which can be useful against an army with a decent-sized infantry screen. For a relatively small points investment, they can clear landing zones to the juicier heavy targets behind the chaff. This theme is also notable for its Mark Target benefit, meaning Abby's shredders fill another role in providing hit buffs for your ranged warbeasts and support.
* Both [[Ravens of War]] & [[Primal Terrors]] give access to the [[Hellmouth]] which is a fantastic unit in itself, and also it can help Abby by dragging in targets making it easier to apply Alpha Hunter. You can also take the best character beast in legion, [[Golab]] in both themes.

{{Header|Support models & Minions - Various themes}}

* [[Forsaken]]. Two of them. Always.
* [[Blighted Nyss Shepherd|Shepherds]] are probably worth taking at their max field allowance, too.
* [[Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew]] give Abby2 a bit more protection against shooting. They're also a unit that lets you score, something you might be short on.

===Battlegroup===
[[File:Proteus.jpg|thumb|[[Proteus]] is Absylonia's pet warbeast that she can take in any theme.]]

As stated above, Abby2 is fond of large, diverse battlegroups. The more hard hitting heavies the merrier, but there are a few other specific selections worth considering for her.

* Lessers 
** [[Blight Wasps]] are oft-maligned for their poor defensive stats; typically they simply die on the advance to wandering blast templates. While this is quite true even with Abby, she can make them completely bonkers with her toolbox. On feat turn with Alpha Hunter active, they have some of the longest threat ranges in the game and are incredibly accurate and deceptively strong. In her army, a pair of Wasp packs can get more work done than their points value and stats would suggest.
** [[Shredder]] swarms are potentially viable in the new edition with Abby2. At impressive speed and threat under feat, a single shredder is effectively a flying, slightly above average (relatively speaking) POW weaponmaster with up to three attacks at elite MAT when they trigger Flank. 
*** Combined with the Blight Wasp animus and the feat, you can give your shredders 2" reach and Killing Spree, meaning they can eat their way through infantry.

* Lights
** The [[Naga Nightlurker]] provides [[Wraithbane]], an important animus if you expect to deal with opponents relying on buff spells to keep their armies alive.
** [[Raek|Raeks]] become agile monsters when combined with Alpha Hunter and Abby2's feat, able to slip behind enemy lines to kill support or Headbutt enemy warnouns, setting them up for the kill.
** The [[Nephilim Protector]] can be a valuable defensive tool for Abby2 due to her aggressive gameplan. He takes her DEF to impressive levels in melee and can ward off stray bullets. In a pinch, her feat turn makes him just scary enough to ward off nearby threats on his own too.

* Heavies
** [[Proteus]] is Abby's personal warbeast and can go in any theme with her. He gains Grievous Wounds from their Bond, which is useful for ensuring models she kills definitely die, and also is a great target for Bracer. Combined with his Unyielding, his ARM can get up to Khadorian levels. On top of all that, it's hard to deny his impressive threat range even without a SPD bonus, and on feat his relatively low P+S gets high enough to kill the average enemy heavy. Dragging enemies out of position is just icing on the cake.
** The [[Carnivean]] allows you to get Abby2 to ARM 18 via Spiny Growth, allowing her some leeway against low-POW attacks. It also packs a hell of a punch, and loves buffs to its SPD and hitting power/accuracy. It's not a bad target for Bracer due to having Spiny Growth, with both in tandem allowing it to go to ARM 22.
** Many would agree that a [[Seraph]] is almost required with Abby2, probably even more now than before. His gun can lower the DEF of a model Abby wants to kill for Alpha Hunter, and Slipstream all but guarantees she will make it there. On the flip side, the Seraph can pull her further back after her Reposition.
*** The Seraph can even be valuable on the feat turn against living models if you can score the critical poison.
*** Abby herself can utilize Slipstream to get a chosen heavy to a stupidly high threat range.

=Other=
===Trivia===
Released in [[Hordes: Exigence]] (2014)

===Video Battle Reports ===
* [https://youtu.be/KkPMbU-2xfg 2019.07 Tiny Men], vs [[Barnabas2]]
* [https://youtu.be/NOCBlhjcTDU 2019.04 Feat Fetish], vs [[Kaya2]]
* [https://youtu.be/7LtsuwKkNJY 2019.04 Connor&apos;s Retribution Analysis], vs [[Amon1]]
* {{VBR}}

===Other Legion models===
{{Index Legion}}

===Rules Clarifications===
{{RC Magical Damage}}
{{RC Energy Siphon}}

{{RC Warlock}}
{{RC Flight}}
{{RC Alpha Hunter}}
{{RC Reposition}}

{{RC Bracer}}
{{RC Hex Bolt}}
{{RC Psycho Surgery}}
{{RC Return Fire}}