Despoiler

A walking testament to the power of mortitheugy, Despoiler is as much a beast as it is an arcane implement through which the Void howls. The product of unorthodox experimentation, the beast is driven mad by the shrieking of damned souls. Consequently it fights in a near-frenzy, smashing victims to a pulp, though their deaths serve only to further fuel the din in its mind. Template:TOCbox

Basic Info

Abilities

• Template:Eyeless Sight
• Template:Dark Shroud
• Template:Black Arts
• Template:Bond

Weapons

Claw (x2)
File:Sword icon.jpg		RNG				POW				P+S
		1				3				13
Template:Open Fist Effectively P+S 15 due to Dark Shroud
Tail
File:Sword icon.jpg		RNG				POW				P+S
		2				5				15
Template:Critical Brutal Damage Effectively P+S 17 due to Dark Shroud

Animus

{{Category: Template:Arcane Suppression }}[[Category: Template:Arcane Suppression ]]

Theme Forces

• When taken by Mordikaar
  • Template:Disciples of Agony
  • Template:Masters of War
  • Template:The Exalted
  • Template:Winds of Death

• When taken by anyone else
  • Template:The Exalted

Thoughts on Despoiler

Despoiler in a nutshell

Don't let that stat line fool you! Despoiler moves faster than a Titan and once Dark Shroud is included hits harder than a Titan Gladiator while enabling others to finish off anything he doesn't. Plus there's the little matter of the free upkeep, and dropping void spirits everywhere for Mordikaar.

His bond is fantastic so it's easy to get hung up on this, but even without it he offers a great deal of support and is a great alternative to a 2nd titan.

Combos & Synergies

File:Void Seer Mordikaar.png

Void Seer Mordikaar

• The Despoiler loves the anti-shooting tech that the Skorne have on models like the Basilisk Krea, and the Desert Hydra.
• Paingiver Beast Handlers - fury management and to make it an effective melee warbeast when it needs to engage by buffing its strength.
• Void Seer Mordikaar - throwing out void spirits that can activate this turn with Mordikaar is just not nice. For the enemy. He's good enough to be almost an auto-include with Mordikaar.
• The Exalted. It's the only theme he's allowed in - but he works well there. The theme's soul-starved meaning Aptimus Marketh struggles to get the souls for upkeeps so a single free upkeep can be better. Dark Shroud can help the list break armour. And Despoiler comes out of your warbeast points not your general points.

Exalted Combos

Any caster can take Despoiler in this theme, which offers a few new combos:

• Any Skorne caster with upkeeps they need to worry about (i.e. most of them other than Naaresh1)
• Archdomina Makeda is another source of anti-shooting tech.
• Lord Tyrant Zaadesh, reach and critical brutal damage work great with his feat and having an upkeep funded by black arts helps immeasurably.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• Def 11, Arm 18, 28 hp is pretty flimsy by the standards of a heavy - and there isn't much he can hide behind. If the enemy is capable of shooting a heavy off the board then Despoiler will be a priority target. (Of course they need to make him a priority target given Dark Shroud).
• He's a character Rhinodon, but doesn't have thresher. Too bad.

Tricks & Tips

• Position Despoiler with Dark Shroud in mind - that ARM debuff is impressively useful for handling heavies.

Other

Trivia

• Released in Hordes: Gargantuans (2013)
• So, whats up with those lanterns? While the skorne are not at all opposed to torturing their warbeasts, this one is more horribly conditioned. The beast is described as being surgically blinded to dampen any impressions it might gain from the world around it. The lanterns attached by Mordikaar amplify the skorne's hell-like void around the beast. With a reduced sensory capacity, remaining senses are filtered through unspeakable horror, and the tormented screams of the damned drive the animal completely mad. The result is part tormented warbeast, part lumbering portal to hell. Skorne are industrious that way.