How important are Psykers for BA/in general?

[BadKarma4Me]

Hey new/returning player here.

Pondering about the formation of my army and find myself drawn to and filling up on units and heroes completely neglecting Psykers.

So guys how important are Psykers in the game these days? At what point level are the critical? Any specific armies they do extra well against/need them to survive against?

What are our options? Mephiston, Librarian, Librarian Dreadnought... anything I am forgetting?

What are some of the fun combos you can pull off with them... particularly with DC or Sang Guard as they are the core units I want to focus my gameplay around.

Thanks for any help

[Crimson Devil]

Depends on your opponent really. If you face off against Eldar, Daemons, or Librarius Conclave then I wouldn't bother with them. They'll have too many dice to shut you down.

 

Sangunary Priests seem to be the most popular HQ choice these days.

 

That said I love Librarians and use them all the time. Even thou the local Thousand Sons player negates my powers all the time.

 

I think the best idea I've seen is to add a Librarius Conclave as allies for Invisible Death Company.

[Jimm]

I love psykers, it's bang or bust but when they work oh boy.

Options iv used that have worked but not always saying they will.

 

Bio meph, term lib ss/staff or vedge, ss/th term. Get them to combat and enjoy. Takes some luck with rolling for powers

 

Lib or lib dread using the quickening on Cassor = fun times. Assuming he gets to combat(fw pods can help with this a little)

 

Lib, sang priest Dante with Sg. The quickening on Dante and a chance for a 5++ for the Sg along with fnp and +1 ws

 

There are others but you get the idea.

 

Now the problem. We dabble in this phase and can be easily shut down by other armies so it's not always a reliable tactic. Teaming up with grey knights can help this and boost dice. Also allows the quickening on dk which is funny. Da conclave is something else I've seen used to boost dice and offer some nasty offensive powers

[Karhedron]

Ally a Culexus assassin and pop him in a spare FA drop pod.

And then laugh at those Seer councils, Librarian conclaves or Screamerstars.

[Captain Caine 24th]

My usual strategy involves a strong assault element (multiple death company, sanguinary guard or command squad, priest and dante) and a sort of quick reaction force of bikes or tanks. I use a lvl 2 librarian in a jump pack to be wherever he is needed to support the big assault. If I get desperate or opportunistic I break him out of a unit to capture an objective. Generally I use divination for the re-roll to hit, the occasional 4+ invuln is really what hope for. 

 

I think a librarian on a bike might be good. I agree the librarius conclave is probably good, but I haven't really figured out how it would fit into a larger strategy/theory of the army. I've also yet to use Mephiston this edition...

[Jimm]

Generally I use divination for the re-roll to hit, the occasional 4+ invuln is really what hope for.

 

This is my go to Dante death machine. If I want to put out a good list a lib rolling div with a priest, Dante and 10 Sg is gold...literally

 

Same as with Astorath + death company + lib. Getting forwarding and misfortune is just amazing.

[Quixus]

 

Generally I use divination for the re-roll to hit, the occasional 4+ invuln is really what hope for.

This is my go to Dante death machine. If I want to put out a good list a lib rolling div with a priest, Dante and 10 Sg is gold...literally

That is a lot of points for one unit. 705 minimum and that does not include helpful upgrades (ML 2, banner, Angel's Wings, power fists etc)

[Mightykin]

All I can say I love the psykers element to the game. But they can be hit or miss.

[CaptainHelion]

Blood Angels use and need psykers as much as any other Marines do. Not hugely, but we can get a lot of use out of them. We lie in a middle place where our psykers are better than other non dedicated psykers armies, like Imperial Guard or (obviously) non psykers armies such as Necron or Adepta Sororitas, but our psykers are easily shut down by dedicated psykers, like Grey Knights or Eldar.

Basically, we don't have the power or flexibility in psykers to use them as a lynchpin in tactics, but they provide us with the opportunity for some really neat ideas and tactics.

Like droppod BioMeph and Sternguard, aiming for Endurance. 4+ FNP on the unit, EW for Meph, and Relentless. Suddenly that's 18+ attacks at s5 (and i5 in a bsf), plus Mephiston, who can charge after double tapping with special ammo, and can take some serious hurt in return. I've had these lads win in a fight against a charging squad of wolfguard terminators.

The Furioso librarian provides an incredible MC hunter, with s10 and Force, a combo most Marines would pay their Betchers gland for. Sanguinary allows them to support the army generally, and Quickening helps them hunt down MCS even better.

A terminator librarian running Sanguinary makes excellent support for an assault terminator squad. Wings offsets their poor mobility, and quickening is brilliant on veteran sergeants. A stormshield gives him a nice invulnerable, and Force, like with the Furioso, pairs really well for MC hunting. Where assault terminators excel.

[BadKarma4Me]

Thanks for the information. It sounds like if I really like Meph or the idea of psykers it wouldnt hurt to run them but overall I wont lose a ton by leaving them out for now. I will build my army without them and focus on learning other aspects of the game and tactics and as I go incorporate some in later if I am really hurting for the help. 

 

I like the idea of running a Librarian with some Assault Terminators but I decided not to put them in my list originally but may have to consider that option some more. 

[LutherMax]

Mephiston is pretty awesome though - even if he weren't a Psyker!

[Jorre]

I love psykers.... saying that I have bery rarely found them to be useful in 7th. Bang for your buck priests are more usefull and reliable.

 

I just dont find them reliable enough for my taste. Other armies all seem to do psykery things better.

 

Meph being the exception, but he still only harnesses warp charges on a 4+

 

Nothing more frustrating than throwing 4+ warp charges at a level 2 power and it failing or a lucky counter roll canceling it!!

[Karhedron]

I love psykers.... saying that I have bery rarely found them to be useful in 7th. Bang for your buck priests are more usefull and reliable.

This is exactly it! Priests provide boosted WS and FNP. Chaplains provide the DC with rerolls in CC.

 

Astorath gives DC rerolls to wound as well as to hit. Dante provides H&R. Banner provides a +1A bubble.

 

All of these are "static effects". They cannot be denied, you cannot fail to harness enough charges to cast them, you cannot perils and you will never have to worry about randomly generating useless powers at the start of the game.

 

Not all of these effects are as powerful as some psychic powers can be but they are reliable. You are guaranteed to get what you pay for and the boosts will remain in effect until the model providing the boost is killed. Most of our characters who provide these buffs are tougher in combat than Librarians (Priests are not but they are cheaper ;)).

 

Unless you want something specific from a Psyker, I feel that our other HQ choices have more to offer.

[Bartali]

[snip]

The Furioso librarian provides an incredible MC hunter, with s10 and Force, a combo most Marines would pay their Betchers gland for. Sanguinary allows them to support the army generally, and Quickening helps them hunt down MCS even better.

A terminator librarian running Sanguinary makes excellent support for an assault terminator squad. Wings offsets their poor mobility, and quickening is brilliant on veteran sergeants. A stormshield gives him a nice invulnerable, and Force, like with the Furioso, pairs really well for MC hunting. Where assault terminators excel.

 

The problem here is a common one to the BA codex - it's done better outside. Dreadknights are better at punching S10 Force than Lib Dreads, are more manoeuvrable and have guns.

Similarly, a GK Librarian is better buff for a squad of Assault Terminators than a BA one - Sanctuary for a 2++, and Gate of Infinity is better than wings

[Quixus]

Both GK options are also more expensive than the BA units.

[RedemptionNL]

Compared to a Dreadknight, a Librarian Dreadnought is also immune to anything S6 or lower in close combat (krak grenades!) and can easily strike at a high Initiative with a decent amount of attacks due to the Quickening. As the higher toughness multi-wound models are often quite the beatstick, striking before them can make a large difference.

 

And it can buff other units, something not to underestimate.