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I have been wondering why everybody at the local game store, and a good amount of people online vote Zerkova as one of the worst warcasters in the game? Picked her up to try something new and have had a ton of fun using her, and she has been doing very well for me during games.

I don't play khador but from what I understand it is because she is all over the place and has no real focus as a character rules wise. Also she can't take an arc node with khador which really hurts her.

I think it's because she's a "hard" caster to learn to play.

Banishing Ward is amazing against debuff armies like Cryx and Menoth. Watcher is amazing on Khador Heavies.

However her feat is a little weak and neither it nor her spells really synergize with each other. No arc node means that her offensive spells aren't as versatile as they could be. Sadly both her feat and Watcher only effect the first ranged attack/first attack against an enemy model that moves within range, so that it's fairly easy to get around if your opponent plans for them specifically.

She's not a bad character. She's just out of place in her faction and doesn't have the competitive potential of other warcasters.

She's a spell slinging caster in a faction with no access to Arc Nodes.

She has a rather poor statline.

I'm not really ripped up by her spell list either. It doesn't really synergize especially well with Khador in general.

You can certainly use her to good advantage, its just going to be much tougher to do than with other casters. A general rule of any sort of conflict is to play to your strengths, Zerkova doesn't really play to Khador's strengths(durability, high armor, good infantry, etc...)

If she could just get an Arc Node things would be a lot different.

She has some good abilities but again, lacking an arc node hurts. I feel she lacks significant support abilities for her troops, and I also feel she lacks potent offensive spells. Razor wind is cute for killing infantry but you are going to be hard pressed to get a warcaster with it. Her Focus sphere is silly, why not just give her a FOCUS stat of 8? You know you are going to use it every turn and FOCUS of 8 would make her somewhat more competitive (higher chance to hit with spells, better camping ability). If they gave her FOCUS 8 and replaced twister or razor wind (or both) with a real offensive threat such as Grind, rift, or eruption, and a solid buff spell like Superiority, shatter storm, or one of the many other support spells that all of our other warcasters have access to, then I think she would be used more often.

Look at her art, then look at her model. Do that a few times, and you'll see where my personal hate comes from. From that stupid ice cream cone, to the terrible pose (BUT GUYS! I HAVE ICE CREAM!), even if she had amazing rules and stats (which she doesn't), I'd still have trouble taking her.

 derek wrote:
Look at her art, then look at her model. Do that a few times, and you'll see where my personal hate comes from. From that stupid ice cream cone, to the terrible pose (BUT GUYS! I HAVE ICE CREAM!), even if she had amazing rules and stats (which she doesn't), I'd still have trouble taking her.

I know what you mean, though I must admit the model has grown on me over time.


But to answer the OP:
Pretty much what everyone else has said about her. She's basically got a bunch of nifty spells, but effectively requires very autonomous support troops since asides from Banishing Ward, she doesn't really provide much infantry support and focuses heavily on Offensive Spells. This wouldn't necessarily be so bad except for the aforementioned lack of Arc-Nodes which would make her really nice, especially with support from Sylyss Wyshnalyr (sp?).

Sum up: by just looking at her abilities independent of everything else, I think she's actually a pretty strong caster ('effective' 8 Focus) + lots of magic boosts. However, in the scope of Khador, she lacks certain elements that would let her really shine (read: we really wish we had arc-nodes).

Having said that: Her NQ Tier list is pretty decent since it opens up the option for Vanguard Light Warjacks for her Battlegroup, which is surprisingly welcome for her playstyle.

Hah, I will agree with the model is seriously lacking in the looks deprtment. And, maybe me doing well with her is just because nobody around here has really played against her.

And, while playing a Menoth player, the Orgoth Seal is what killed The Harbiner haha.

That, and very rarely do I use anything other than Razor wind and Watcher during games. Haven't even had to use banishig Ward yet. I can see what people are saying about her spell lists. never even really thought about it until just now.

I don't want a caster who offers the enemy an ice cream cone.

 22cthulu wrote:

Banishing Ward is amazing against debuff armies like Cryx and Menoth. Watcher is amazing on Khador Heavies. Conquest.

Fixed that for ya!

Stand directly behind Conquest in BTB with it. Anything that charges it (unless it has reach and it on the edge of its charge range) will get smacked with a P+S22 attack before it gets to do anything.

 derek wrote:
Look at her art, then look at her model. Do that a few times, and you'll see where my personal hate comes from. From that stupid ice cream cone, to the terrible pose (BUT GUYS! I HAVE ICE CREAM!), even if she had amazing rules and stats (which she doesn't), I'd still have trouble taking her.

Give her the head of Rasputina from Malifaux and a bit of a repose.

Voila!

Nice conversion, Grimtuff!

I have a love hate relationship with Zerkova. I love her background and what she tries to be with her rules, but playing her always feels a bit lacking. She has offensive spells but no arc nodes and a couple of decent but not great buffs. I've started taking a Decimator with her all the time because she often has very little to do with her focus. Her feat is fun, but not powerful enough to worry your opponent. And I keep going back to her, thinking I'm going to learn something that will make her click, but I never do.

Side note, I used her in the Convergence release event which had a crazy arc node as terrain usable by both factions. Zerk was a ton of fun in those games.

Okay, that conversion looks good, now you have to give a tutorial on how you do it (other than the head swap that is).

 derek wrote:
Okay, that conversion looks good, now you have to give a tutorial on how you do it (other than the head swap that is).

This is going from memory as I did it about a year ago...

First you need to carefully chop off her left arm with the ice cream cone on it to put it into a more desirable position, otherwise it will be pointing vertically after you change the position of the legs. You may need to resculpt the shoulder pad as it may get a little mutilated in the removal. I've seen some people replace the ice cream cone with the staff from the Greylord Escort. You can do this if you prefer but I didn't.

Bend Zerk's legs to make her look like she's walking over some terrain. I'll note she does have to have some rocks or other undulations on the base as she will now not sit flat after bending her pose from the "lunging forward to interview you with ice cream" look.

Glue on the right arm, the wrist will need twisting now into a less awkward pose now you've changed the pose of the whole figure. You'll need to resculpt a little bit of the fur hems around her cloak (esp. around the left arm) and around her neck after you've swapped the head. A little note on the head, this is the Rasputina I'm on about. You'll note her hat and the one on My Zerkova are different, this was a bit of personal preference as I still wanted Zerkova's tall hat, so I cut off all but the brim with the goggles on of Rasputina's hat and combined it with Zerkova's hat.

Ta Dah! Hope the gives a litte more insight

I like it! I will have to get a second Zerkova to convert (and in case I screw up I can try again on the second!) and get right on it! Especially since PP let's you order bits still!

 ImperialFists2ndCompany wrote:
Hah, I will agree with the model is seriously lacking in the looks deprtment. And, maybe me doing well with her is just because nobody around here has really played against her.

And, while playing a Menoth player, the Orgoth Seal is what killed The Harbiner haha.

That, and very rarely do I use anything other than Razor wind and Watcher during games. Haven't even had to use banishig Ward yet. I can see what people are saying about her spell lists. never even really thought about it until just now.

Finding niches and strengths in weaker models is a useful skill to learn, and will serve you well. Don't underestimate the surprise factor either--people who think that facing faction X means they'll face model Y will often be less ready to deal with the more obscure stuff.

And really, if you're playing a model and having fun with it, that's the most important thing.

I mean, she will never replace Sorscha as my first love haha, I played Sorscha in the first edition and play her now again that I restarted Warmachine again earlier this year, but I really think she brings a bit of fresh air to the gaming store.
Everybody that I have beaten (including the Harbinger!), and even myself when I lost have all had a good time.

But,

Thinking back on the games I have played though, people are right about her spell list... it really doesn't have much in the way of real offensive spells, I came came one point of damage shy from one shot killing the Old Witch with razorwind though haha. But besides just pure abnormal luck, I have had a real problem trying to use any of her spells to actually be able to kill a Caster/Warlock and all she has really done to kill an enemy focus wise, is to just feed Beast-09 and send him in angry.

Influence has been a very situational spell, and I have only ever used it once, and it really didn't do much. Just got a grunt to kill a grunt. For the most part everybody I play does a very good job of spacing their models out and keeping their caster very safe that it only gets use when I have focus to blow and no real need to keep it.

Watcher has been very good for me, both Beast and my Devastator have been able to capitalize on it. It hasn't been game winning. But I don't really expect it to be.

I wouldn't mind losing Twister though haha. It hasn't done anything my Greylords can't do better.

Force blast has been tons of fun to use with the Wardog and Devastator after it bulldozes and makes a Rain of Death attack.

I haven't even used Icy Grip haha, haven't had the need.

I do like her feat, it is pretty fun. Yes, there are ways around the feat, but it has been very good during games.

She isn't the best, but I really don't think she is the worst. And will keep playing her because I like her fluff, and it is neat seeing her on the table with so many Greylord models.

I have only seen one player at my ULGS try her out with like 6 Khador players, and she does not seem to work well with a lot of his stuff. He has practically dropped her for Vlad.

I just despise her fluff more then anything and hope the Butcher gets an order handed down to take her out.

 Goldshield wrote:



I just despise her fluff more then anything and hope the Butcher gets an order handed down to take her out.

What exactly is wrong with her background? It fits with the entire MO of the Greylords Covenant.

Fluff is the only thing that's not wrong with her