Anyone had a chance to use Ezekiel yet? thoughts?

[MarshalHelva]

At first glance I kinda wrote him off as being expensive and went directly to the standard cheapo Librarian. But on a closer inspection He looks a lot more interesting than I gave him credit for at first. Being a lvl 3 in artificer armor hes actually not a whole lot more expensive than a TDA Librarian and when compared to a C:SM Epistolary he stands head and shoulders above while being cheaper. I was considering trying him out in a tournament this weekend and was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on him.

[IncompleteHavoc]

Personally I am a huge fan of Ezekiel. Especially now.

 

I am alittle sad the book of salv lost the fearless, but in exchange the WS isn't terrible. At lvl 3 he is a huge help in supporting his units, blessings, maledictions, not to mention the much improved mind worm. All paired with his new cheaper cost. I am having trouble finding a down side.

 

But, like I said he is a personal favorite of mine so I may be completely off base but I feel like for his cost to benefit ratio he is a solid HQ choice for us and I will most likely run him in a multitude of lists.

[Nightmare84]

He is pretty solid. Ws bonus works wonders. Termies hitting on 3s against standard marines yes please!

Only reason why he won't ge a permanent spot is due to unlocking troops from other characters which is too good to pass on.

I didn't get to use mind worm though, most things were dead before I got in range.

[AmCjkh]

I think he's a solid choice compared to regular librarians but I think what makes him not an automatic choice is the strength of the new armory. The auspex, power field, lion's roar, etc are pretty useful pieces of gear for librarians. If I wanted something in specific from the armory (say a power field for my land raider) I'd take the librarian but if I don't then I think Ezekial is a pretty great choice as he's very competitively priced.

[Haranin]

Infravision is the biggest problem in my book - most missions use nightfight, and having a turn to beat on the enemy at range and not get hurt is golden.

 

Slapping a 5 point piece of wargear on a librarian, and hanging out with the devastators for a turn or two is great.

 

Against necrons and their stupid light switch, its priceless.

 

Ezekiel's ablities are quite good. If it wasn't for infravision, I would take him frequently as his points is comparable to a lvl 2 in termie armor. (WS5 termies are great)

[Darkangeldentist]

I am really impressed with the new Ezekiel, his statline is on par with a company master (thanks for the book for the extra WS), artificer armour makes him remarkably reslient against a lot of weapons out there and Mind worm is now a decent power with some very attractive (if still difficult to pull off) uses.

 

What really sells him is the cost for what you pay his is a huge bargain and I am just flabberghast at how tempting and easy he is to slip into lists.

 

The reasons not to take are simple enough, regular DA librarians are ridiculously cheap and since they come with no innate invulnerable save there is nothing stopping you picking whichever suits your needs for the rest of the army. In this respect Ezekiel isn't quite a useful but mastery level 3 makes up for this as you have more flexibility for casting psychic powers. This fact alone makes it tempting for me to finally use something other than divination as being able to cast a 2 warp charge power and something else provides a lot of potent combinations. The other weakness is the lack of an invulnerable save.

 

He isn't the greatest thing since sliced bread but he is very useful and in my opinion a bargain points wise for what he brings.

[Brother Immolator]

Mind worm is not difficult to use now at all my brother. It is an assault power now that ignores even terminator armor. Though low str every unsaved wound forced on an enemy character is going to mess him up, and when Ez gets close to them...I really dont want to be charged by a unit having him inside.

I wonder if the book also increases his own WS. Nowhere in his profile sais that it is included so I would assume his actual WS to be 6.

 

Plus the master crafted force sword makes spending charges on it a bit worth it.

[Darkangeldentist]

Ah, as you say, Mind worm is now much easier to use, assault and the chance of multiple low AP hits is very nice indeed. However as a focused witchfire power if he wants to single out an enemy character from a unit then he has to pass the psychic test on a 5 or less. Any other pass results in the target being randomised. This does make the ideal scenario of him walking up to the enemy and reducing the leader to a gibbering wreck before combat is joined rather unlikely. However there can be no denying the power is good now.

 

Like many DA tricks I can see Ravenwing grenade launchers becoming a tactic to improve their effectiveness. Rad grenades to reduce their toughness makes the power (and his force weapon) that bit more reliable and more nasty.

 

My understanding from his entry would be that the book effectively makes him WS 6. (He wouldn't start with a WS lower than regular librarians now would?)

[Lion El Jason]

Remember you can now get Techmarines to carry wargear like the night vision thing or power field.

 

I also like Ezekiel for Deny the witch! With Adamantine Will available Ezekiels mastery level 3 can give you 3+ DTW which means most opponents will just never try to use powers on that unit.

[lothlorienmoon]

Ah, as you say, Mind worm is now much easier to use, assault and the chance of multiple low AP hits is very nice indeed. However as a focused witchfire power if he wants to single out an enemy character from a unit then he has to pass the psychic test on a 5 or less. Any other pass results in the target being randomised. This does make the ideal scenario of him walking up to the enemy and reducing the leader to a gibbering wreck before combat is joined rather unlikely. However there can be no denying the power is good now

 

Mindworm is a nice power, though I have heard complaints about setting it up to break down a tough IC. What some people fail to get is that even when you don't nail the target you want, it is going to likely drop something, being an AP 2 bolter round (or 3). I've used it twice, didn't get the target I wanted, but still made the then charged unit of baddies less effective. He holds his own in close combat, though I will say that I hadn't noticed that he would benefit his OWN WS. Something to check on there. If so, that makes him even better.

[Garath]

I think he is a solid, cheap spec. Character. He was awesome in the 3rd ed codex, not a solid in the 4th one- and is back now.

 

The book is a good boost, so are his powers and weapons.

 

Lack of night vision is a misfortune- but a good point is you can get a good cheapish Techmarine to offset that.

 

Ezekiel's role needs to be clearly defined if you choose to take him. An equally costed Libby in termie armor is sometimes a better choice.

 

I'd say take Ezekiel if:

- you want to field 3rd company

- have a transport to ride in

- have a squad for him to buff ( like terminators ),and a sarge to take unwanted challenges

 

Take Librarian in terminator armor if:

- you want to change between squads (night visor)

- you want to deepstrike with terminators

- you fancy picking wargear options

[HJL]

I found Ezekiel to be pretty effective, I combine rad grenades, mind worm and psychic shriek to pop a couple of trygons in the last game i played, reduce the T down a bit, hit it with mind worm and reduce its Ld down to around 6 or 3, then psychic shriek put 10 odd wounds on it that cant be saved :D

[Brother Immolator]

Thats a good combo right there. It can be effective against MC I reckon too. Also why the preference in 3rd company Garath? Fluff?

[facmanpob]

Thats a good combo right there. It can be effective against MC I reckon too. Also why the preference in 3rd company Garath? Fluff?

I read that to mean Greenwing, rather than 3rd company specifically.