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Hey Folks

What are the best psykers in 8ed and why?

I have one specific question; which psyker would be the best standalone psyker to add as a bolt on (*) either as a (de)buffer or as a smite delivery platform. Obvious considerations are mobility, survivability etc.

*Can bolt on's be done now? Are you able to field a detachment from different armies? I can't remember the interactions to make a battleforged army. Advice would be appreciated!

It depends on what you are trying to bolt on to?

A battle forged army must share at least one faction keyword across all detachments. To clarify, that is quite broad for some armies where that shared keyword could be Imperium, Chaos, Aeldari.

So it is impossible to bolt on a psyker to Tau, Necrons etc

Ahh fair, this is what I was worried about :(

Razerous wrote:
Ahh fair, this is what I was worried about :(

Though I can relate as a Necrons player, my experience so far is that the Psychic phase is so much less of a factor now that this isn't such a big deal.

Can't speak for Tau or others, but Spyder with Gloom Prism for Necrons gives some psychic protection too.

AnthonyXYZ wrote:

Razerous wrote:
Ahh fair, this is what I was worried about :(

Though I can relate as a Necrons player, my experience so far is that the Psychic phase is so much less of a factor now that this isn't such a big deal.

Can't speak for Tau or others, but Spyder with Gloom Prism for Necrons gives some psychic protection too.

I envy you your experiences. Mine as a Necron player v Eldar is that their psychic phase is absolutely devastating if done right. Fortune and doom alone can wreck face and will almost always be more than 24'' away from that spyder on turn 1

In Narrative/Open plays, you can add stuff from other factions
But I suppose the standard is Matched play

Godeskian wrote:

AnthonyXYZ wrote:

Razerous wrote:
Ahh fair, this is what I was worried about :(

Though I can relate as a Necrons player, my experience so far is that the Psychic phase is so much less of a factor now that this isn't such a big deal.

Can't speak for Tau or others, but Spyder with Gloom Prism for Necrons gives some psychic protection too.

I envy you your experiences. Mine as a Necron player v Eldar is that their psychic phase is absolutely devastating if done right. Fortune and doom alone can wreck face and will almost always be more than 24'' away from that spyder on turn 1

The Spyder has, unless FAQed, unlimited Deny the Witch range.

nEcrol0rd wrote:


The Spyder has, unless FAQed, unlimited Deny the Witch range.

I don't have my index xenos in front of me at the moment, but you would like to think I would have noticed that. It actually says do in the unit entry?

Godeskian wrote:

nEcrol0rd wrote:


The Spyder has, unless FAQed, unlimited Deny the Witch range.

I don't have my index xenos in front of me at the moment, but you would like to think I would have noticed that. It actually says do in the unit entry?

Battle Primer

3. Deny the Witch Tests
A psyker can attempt to resist a psychic
power that has been manifested by an
enemy model within 24" by taking a
Deny the Witch test

Gloom Prism

A model equipped with a gloom prism can attempt to deny one psychic power in each enemy Psychic phase.

The spyder is not a psyker. The gloom prism doesn't say anything about range nor that the spyder can make a Deny the Witch as it were a psyker.

Of course thats up to discussion and needs FAQed, but to be honest, the spyder could really use that little gimmik.

Godeskian wrote:

AnthonyXYZ wrote:

Razerous wrote:
Ahh fair, this is what I was worried about :(

Though I can relate as a Necrons player, my experience so far is that the Psychic phase is so much less of a factor now that this isn't such a big deal.

Can't speak for Tau or others, but Spyder with Gloom Prism for Necrons gives some psychic protection too.

I envy you your experiences. Mine as a Necron player v Eldar is that their psychic phase is absolutely devastating if done right. Fortune and doom alone can wreck face and will almost always be more than 24'' away from that spyder on turn 1

This - in the hands of a smart player the psychic phase can be amazing.

even lowly smite - I keep hearing people say "its just d3 wounds...".

They are not being very clever - what if you had a weapon that did not require line of site, did guaranteed wounds, and bypassed any saves?
Oh, and you only had to roll a five on two dice, and if it "got hot" on both, you could spend a command point to reroll one of them.

The clever player uses smite to kill the guy out of LOS on the objective, or positions so it kills the bodyguard before you wound the hq, or it helps erode that critical unit in such a way the other player can't use HIS command point to re-roll his save.

.... I don't deny that it can be read that way, but it feels like blatant loophole abuse. Nothing in the gloom prism rules suggest an unlimited range and it entirely hangs on the idea that because the gloom prism isn't a 'psyker', it can ignore the rule, as opposed to the common sense notion that it can't arbitrarily ignore a restriction every other unit in the game has.

That's seems really thin, even for 40k.

But hey, if your local group is fine with it, go for it


Automatically Appended Next Post:

davethepak wrote:


This - in the hands of a smart player the psychic phase can be amazing.

even lowly smite - I keep hearing people say "its just d3 wounds...".

They are not being very clever - what if you had a weapon that did not require line of site, did guaranteed wounds, and bypassed any saves?
Oh, and you only had to roll a five on two dice, and if it "got hot" on both, you could spend a command point to reroll one of them.

The clever player uses smite to kill the guy out of LOS on the objective, or positions so it kills the bodyguard before you wound the hq, or it helps erode that critical unit in such a way the other player can't use HIS command point to re-roll his save.

Oh you're quite right, me and a friend both play at least one psychic army and we both agree smite is pure grade a Bull, but to counter one point, Smite specifically requires you to target the Closest visible unit. You can't use it to hit a guy our of LoS

Godeskian wrote:
.... I don't deny that it can be read that way, but it feels like blatant loophole abuse. Nothing in the gloom prism rules suggest an unlimited range and it entirely hangs on the idea that because the gloom prism isn't a 'psyker', it can ignore the rule, as opposed to the common sense notion that it can't arbitrarily ignore a restriction every other unit in the game has.

That's seems really thin, even for 40k.

But hey, if your local group is fine with it, go for it


Automatically Appended Next Post:

davethepak wrote:


This - in the hands of a smart player the psychic phase can be amazing.

even lowly smite - I keep hearing people say "its just d3 wounds...".

They are not being very clever - what if you had a weapon that did not require line of site, did guaranteed wounds, and bypassed any saves?
Oh, and you only had to roll a five on two dice, and if it "got hot" on both, you could spend a command point to reroll one of them.

The clever player uses smite to kill the guy out of LOS on the objective, or positions so it kills the bodyguard before you wound the hq, or it helps erode that critical unit in such a way the other player can't use HIS command point to re-roll his save.

Oh you're quite right, me and a friend both play at least one psychic army and we both agree smite is pure grade a Bull, but to counter one point, Smite specifically requires you to target the Closest visible unit. You can't use it to hit a guy our of LoS

Wow, excellent point!

Goes to show that need to re-read the book, then again, then again....etc.

thanks.

The weirdboy is possibly the best psyker.

Only 62 points. Can buff any close combat unit, can teleport any infantry unit, and can somewhat reliably smite for d6 mortal wounds.

davethepak wrote:


Wow, excellent point!

Goes to show that need to re-read the book, then again, then again....etc.

thanks.

Always a good idea, sorry though.

Still, a well planned and executed psychic phase can be devastating. I've watched an eldar Farseer nail six wounds on a C'tan once using smite.

I think the GSG Magnus is worthy of some mention. Besides having a nasty power list, built in delivery system, and the ability to cast 2 powers once per game with Familiars, he also is extremely efficient at denying powers due to his bubble effect (friendly GSC units within 6'' can attempt to deny 1 power during the enemy psychic phase). A pair of Magi hiding amongst the army can completely shut down an enemy psychic phase with some good rolling provided they have friendly units in range.

One or two psykers in an opposing army isn't brutal. They're good, especially Orks and Eldar, but it's not overwhelming. Once you start spamming psykers it's little different. Smite spam is brutal. Not that there's anything you can do about it save spam your own list. One of the reason I think Grey Knights are a sneaky good competitive list is that they're a pretty solid counter to smite spam, especially in it's demon variant, without having to alter their build.

Smite spam probably affects Necrons less than any other army though, mostly because of RP, so there's that.

For Imperium armies it's noteworthy that Sisters of Silence and Culexus Assassins no longer hinder your own Psykers, you could use the Sisters as nice counters to denying Psykers while you cast your own powers from your Sisters escort (that sounds gross). I already have 10 Vigilators and intend on buying a Primaris Psyker, they're not too shabby as they can cast two powers per turn and deny one. Only 40 points too.

For FW stuff the Malefic Lord deserves a very special mention. For 30 points you get a smite spam platform that can turn into a terrifying assault unit if it survives the eventual perils. I've never seen a player want to eradicate a 30 point unit so badly as when I field these guys.