Two Level 4 Priests, Are they really worth it?

Hey everyone!

So as I'm sure most of you have noticed, there have been a lot of lists with two level fours recently. But aren't two lvl 4 wizards plus the investment in a casket and/or titan seem a bit excessive for the magic phase? I am yet to try two lvl 4 wizards because I have more than enough choices in spells from a single lvl 4 in conjunction with the casket/titan.

But what are your thoughts on the matter?

well,.. im thinking of a 3 lvl 4 list possibility/option... so 2 lvl 4 arnt to much,.. with lots of priests u dont need to "waste" 6 dice on the casket,.. since you can lore all dispelldice with all of your spells from the priests and then you can cast the casket with 1-2 dice on the end of the phase.

Since I was once a firm believer in taking only a single L1 wizard, and still look at the magic phase as pretty much crap shoot, I can totally empathize with the thought that 2 level 4 guys and a 'booster' (titan/casket) can seem wasteful.

My experiences (and the advice of others that got me to change) are showing me that it's the booster that, while seeming like you are wasting more points on magic, is what makes the investments more practical and very much not wasteful at all.

In other words, like so much else in the TK army, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Having the power stone and wand of jet take this even further.

You wind up being able to cast your spells mostly on 3 dice, sometimes even 2 (and in rare cases, that last spell can be tried on a single die). This leads to getting much more out of the phase.

Take away the booster and the items, and you find yourself feeling like you need to put 4 dice into everything just to make sure it works.

I also prefer the Titan over the casket since he helps each and every spell I cast be at least 1 point easier, and on average 2 points. Since I've been using him, I've made mental notes of all the spells that went off because of that little bonus die. In addition, even if your regular dice are good enough to cast without the bonus, he is still making every single spell harder to dispel. That's pretty cool.

The other reason I like him is that he is a perfect back line defender. His two spells are perfect for taking out a small harassment unit that has make it around the flank, and he can easily fight off most of those types of troops in combat as well, or at least hold them up. He's perfectly embodies everything that the TK book is - synergy, constructs, magic. It's unbelievable to me that they have not released a model for him. By the time they get around to it, those players who have stuck with TK will have built their own. Then they can release the actual model, see its sales fail, and declare TK dead. Nice planning, GW.

I run 2 LvL4's, I wish i could run a LvL1 Nehek and LvL4 with death or light but Cruddace says no.

The main reason I use 2 LvL4's though is because Kings and Princes are worthless unless you're going Tomb Guard with hatred as well.

I dropped the Titan, first game i used it was my man of the match, after that didn't seem to do anything.

with the titan in play all the magic has a nice boost,.. with the casket you make shure you get extradice to make use of that boost the best and yo even get a great damagespell that can (sometimes) turn whole games in 1 phase...

the Tk with titan and casket alive can outmagic alsmot evrything. you can even force a dwarf out all his dd's and still get stuff done.

and, with the titan you also ans mentions already use less Pd so you dont have a big chance of blowing your hirophant up buy IS,... what is also a thing the real Tk-genaral should be thinkg of ,... so its a very tipicall and suiting playstile...

heavy maguc does have sense with TK's .. a lot sense

I always run two lvl 4 Priests with the second using Lore of Light and I also always use a Casket in my lists.

Having two lvl 4 Priests means that I usually get the spells I need and having the Casket means that I'm usually getting 2 extra dice during my magic phases which is a big help.

If GW released a Titan model I'd probably get one too just to push my dominance in the magic phase to an even higher level. I feel the same way as Sleboda about GW not having a model for this thing.

I certainly think they're worth it. I'm in the dual level 4 camp and the ability to 2 dice most spells is key to getting a few of them through and forcing the enemy to make some calls on what to stop.

Honestly, if I could take 3 I would! Lore of light buff spells are so amazing and totally help out where TK is weak. Lore of Death with Doom and Darkness + casket + terror mask is another excellent way to run it. Coupled with the level 4 hierophant I always have a solid magic phase.

The other advantages to running 2 lvl 4s that I can see are:

-If you hierophant dies you still get +4 to dispel. He's always a target.
-Two channels and a casket can be +5 Power Dice on the best turn ever.
-Access to the support lores (death/light) -sadly highest hero has to be lore of nehekhara. So your 2nd wizard had to be equal (or lower) level to the hierophant. You're going to want to take that higher level on light and death as the spells can be expensive. Little annoying that our army works this way where are Ogres can take a level 1 Maw Butcher, and then a lvl 4 Death/Heavens guy.

In all my games I do run lvl 4 nehek, lvl 4 light. Timewarp and Speed of light on my snakes has won me many games.

I like my magic since I take 2l4 + casket + titan (2500 pts and above).

I like my magic since I take 2l4 + casket + titan (2500 pts and above).

Well, one level 4 certainly isn't worth it. However, you need the one in order to take the second, light wizard, who is worth it. There are also fringe benefits to your heirophant being lord level, he's a bit harder to kill by accident.

Once you've decided to invest, it's worth investing the extra in either a heirotitan or casket, especially since both have ancillary uses (thunderstomping / light of death & points denial). As others have noted, this will give you enough buffs to throw some big spells around and make those troops look useful.

Certainly this is a viable meta strategy, especially if you make a canny choice of units to maximise the utility of the buff spells. My own preference remains lvl 2, lvl 2, casket / titan and a few more points in the kitty.

My problem with 2 lvl 2 is that my playstyle is so dependant on speed of light, smiting and timewarp that even with a level 4 if I don't rool at least 2 of these I have a much tougher game.

I've come to the conclusion that the level 4 Nehekara wizard is a waste of points. At the same time, I still need access to light/death.

What about 3 Level 2 wizards? A level 2 Nehekara and 2 level 2 Death wizards? The problem is that over the 4 death spells I try to cast, I'm losing +8 in casting (the difference between the level 2 and level 4 times 4 spells). But the Hierotitan and Casket somewhat makes up for it. That saves me 105 points. Disspelling would be more problematic since I'm at a level 2 although it isn't the worst.

Another possibility is a level 3 Nehekara and 2 level 2s. I save 35 points that way as well.

How about Arkhan and a level 4 light wizard? Arkhan can even generate extra dice for you....

I love taking two Lord level casters with me to battle; I'll take two level 4's if I can afford them.

I personally love the way the Lores we have access to mix with the army and one other. Our home lore is amazing at being the catalyst for this in my opinion. The more numerous the spells the more versatile our army can become.

There are other ways to emphasize our armies versatility I imagine but Magic is my favorite vehicle.

I'm going to keep with tradition and be the lone malcontent in this thread. I field Kings out of principle, but it's rare that I play a game below 2.5k so I can usually afford it. I have no aversion to running 6-8 levels of magic in a list, just not at the expense of a King.

There's something fundamentally wrong to me about a Tomb King army devoid of actual Tomb Kings. I tend to lean towards Bad Mojo's line of thinking, although I have not tried 3 L2s yet, I heavily favor 2 L2s (one Nehekhara and one Death) and a Titan and/or Casket (depending on points).

I'm in a similar boat, though I'm willing to shirk down to a Tomb Prince if I'm not looking to use specific items or if I'm low on points. Admittedly I also favour Tomb Guard (Really like their concept and general looks and that they are pretty strong isn't exactly bad either.) which might be a factor for that. Need to try the dual L4 list at one point (Got a list written even, just haven't tried it yet) but it's so hard to not bring the guards! xD

I have tried the 2x4 setup a couple of times, both with death and light, and although it was fun to have the extra spells, I could not justify the extra point investment. For the price of the extra lvl4 I could get another sphinx.

I usually only have a lvl4 with DS and casket at 2k or ETC, I recently started using the heirotitant, and/or a lvl1/2 with DS so that my lvl4 can get the Scepter of Stability (God I hate not reaching the dispel atemt by 1 or 2...). But even then I think that everything more than lvl4 + casket is a waste of points.

Interesting to hear everyones imput, I'm actually quite suprised at how many people favor two lvl 4's in their army.

Might just have to try it out, just that the only thing hesatating me is that I don't really need 11 spells!

I guess it gives you greater flexibility in the magic phase and the opponent knows how much potential you can gain by spamming X amount of spells. My pet peeve is rolling up light of battle. Pure frustration!

Try it out, you shouldn't be dissapointed with it at all. If you're not running the Tomb Guard deathstar then there probably isn't a lot of reasons to run a prince or a king.

Nonsense! You aren't forced to cast any of them, and there will always be those odd little situations where you think to yourself "Man, I wish I had X Spell..."

o.o I guess it may not be immediately useful or the best spell in the lore but Light of Battle will keep your army from crumbling as a result of your Hierophant's death.

Light of Battle
".. If fleeing, the target rallies immediately. Additionally, the target will pass all Leadership tests (regardless of modifiers) until the start of the cater's next Magic phase. ..."

Can be handy in a pinch.

I agree it's still useful however I'd prefer my Hierophant not to get snotted to begin with.

Also I think it would be better to attempt the other spells to help boost my units combat potential over keeping a few wounds here and there only to be smashed next turn. Of course if I've got a few constructs sitting on a single wound or two it certainly would be appealing.

Rolling up light of battle is hardly a big problem since you can always swap it for shem's burning gaze, which I prefer to have in the mix anyway.

2 level 4's with CoS and a heirotitan are mandatory in all of my lists now (unless I'm running Arkhan).
I can cast most of my spells on 2 dice and it's fantastic. It really makes your opponent sweat when they have to decide which of the many incantations they really need to dispel.
Just familiarize yourself with your spells before playing so as to maximize their effectiveness.