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Well I am looking into starting Necrons and I like both of the models as well as both of the characters as far as in game stats go. My question is, which is better for most situations. I initially was leaning toward the nightbringer. With Gaze of Death you could easily take out hordes and always have the base 5 attacks with no saves at S10 for the tougher targets: nobs, tyranid warriors, etc. Also using Etheric Tempest it seems like you could protect a squad of Necrons from falling in close combat. Lastly, with the lightning arc attack he is not completely useless in the shooting phase. I wouldn't rely on it necessarily, but he could pop a LR with a reasonable chance and actually Pen it from 24" away. A rare thing in the Necron's weapon arsenal.

The Deceiver is has a slightly weaker stat-line other than initiative and more "finessey" abilities. I think grand illusion could be useful, but Dread and Decieve seem a little iffy. I think Misdirect has a lot of potential, especially with a monolith or gun-line around, but overall I just don't see how the deciever packs as much of a punch as the nightbringer.

This is just my initial thoughts, all I have done is read the codex a lot and I am trying to get a grip on why more people seem to be using the Deceiver as opposed to the Nightbringer? There is only a 60 pt. difference and it seems like the Nightbringer would easily do more damage if used properly.

The Nightbringer is a blunt instrument and the Deceiver is a scalpel. What makes the Nightbringer more popular is that the Necron army as a whole has more blunt instruments than scalpels to complement it.

Deciever, he's neato though pushing everyone around you back is pretty cool too.

I guess what I'm trying to get at is that other than in the deployment phase, when would it be better to have the deceiver?

Keep in mind I'm going to try and use the C'Tan to counter close combat...give opponents something to fear and maybe draw a little of the shooting attention to them instead of my warriors.

Deceiver by a mile. The Deceiver is excellent, to the extent I've had one very good Necron player tell me he's the only hope Necrons have in 5E. He's not called "Golden Boy" on the Necron forum just 'cause of his looks you know..

Nightbringer, on the other hand, is fairly bad.

Yeah, the only things the Nightbringer has going for him are SLIGHTLY better stats, a (not too bad) 1-shot weapon, and Gaze of Death (ONLY IF going against a huge hoarde)

Meanwhile, he costs 60 points more (even less necrons on the field), has only one other ability which only works on Strength 3 or less guys, and can't disrupt the battlefield "as much"



The Deciever, on the other hand, while being slightly weaker (1 less attack, ws, and strength, BUT a Higher Initiative, which is important vs say I4 guys who might be able to hurt him in cc) and less expensive, gets nice abilities which can always be used:
-Changing deployment up (can be extremely useful at times)
-Force Morale OR Pinning test in shooting phase
-Force a LD test, which if failed the unit only hits on 6's that assault phase
-Can leave CC (works especially well on enemies turn against good CC units, shoot them up next turn, then Charge the Deciever for the +1 attack)


All in all I think the Deciever wins out in cost-usefulness

Actually, the Deceiver was largely the reason why offensive necrons worked in 4th edition. You didn't have to worry about close combat with him around, as he had an answer for everything, really.
It also helped that every lascannon and plasmagun was pointed at the guy until he went down, and not at your destroyers.

Come 5th edition, he still remains the better of the two C'tan, but is no longer as effective as he used to be in his 4th edition role. True, the C'tan can run now, so most people would consider him to be better, but necrons lost the ability to hold a turn or two in close combat so the big D can't save them with counter assault anymore.

If you must take a C'tan in 5th edition, I suggest the Deceiver. He outperforms the Nightbringer against anything that's not a multi-wound T5 model, and multi-wound T5 models are rarely a threat to a C'tan.

Nightbringer...He scares me...(whimper)

I would like to know the strength of the deciever and does he ignore saves as well?

Emperors Faithful wrote:I would like to know the strength of the deciever and does he ignore saves as well?

The Deceiver is Strength 9, with no saves.

How is this even a question? The Deceiver wins 5th edition.

I appreciate all the responses. It looks like I'll be starting with the deceiver. I must say I am surprised in a way. I guess I underestimated some of the deceiver's abilities due to the fact that I haven't seen him played.

Thanks again for the replies...keep the coming if someone has something new to add.

Deceiver, hands down for me. Being able to take first turn, then re deploy... is invaluable. Running out of combat is also great, stranding the assaulting unit... forcing tests on fearless armies are you kidding!

Yeah Deceiver hands down. And he is cheaper = more crons on the table.

The nightbringer is you assault. No one can go 1v1 with him, so Lysander, Ghaz, and Abadon are done. Plus he kills units wholesale. Charge him in, the react then drop the template. Also, the deciever is a badass, but that S9 will hurt you alot.