Unit of the Week: Exalted Sorcerer

[Xenith]

++Thousand Sons Unit of the Week++

++Exalted Sorcerer++

New codex, new discussions about units! As we already have in other faction sections, this is the Thousand Sons Unit of the Week series, where each week we select and dissect a datasheet found in the book, and discuss how we use the unit in-game, favoured loadouts and combos, essentially how to use these units best. What have you found that works, and what doesnt? Please try to stick to the idea of making the unit in question work, as opposed to pointing out other units that might do a better job - we'll get to those in time!

This week, we will be discussing the Exalted Sorcer - probably the most flexible and customisable unit in the codex, and such a key one at that. I think it's worthwhile to cover this unit early on, then we can revisit as the edition develops.

What are you thoughts, and how best would you use the unit?

• To compliment a list, or to build a list around?
  
• Will you be running multiples?
  
• What <GREAT CULT>, loadouts, spell relic and Stratagem support do you prefer and how much does it depend on the above choices?
  
• Are you buffing this unit, and if so, how?
  
• Are you building as a damage dealer or buff-provider?
  
• Uses in Matched, Narrative and Open Play
  
• How have they fared for you in-game?
  

Over to you.

++Thousand Sons Unit of the Week Index Link++

[Xenith]

I've only played one game with the TS and used this guy:

 

Exalted Sorcerer [9 PL, +3 Cabal Points, 165pts]: 11. Tzeentch's Firestorm, 23. Baleful Devolution, Athenaean Scrolls, Dilettante, Disc of Tzeentch, Immaterial Echo, The Stave Abominus, Warlord, Warpflame pistol.

 

The pistol never came into it. I used the Athenaean Scrolls on Firestorm to fish for the 9+ casting which leads to mortals on a 5+ then a free, undeniable cast from Immaterial Echo. My guy was being pretty cagey, so the stave never saw action either before he got hit by a full payload manticore missile, but I think boosting him to 10A is a pretty smart move - even with the poor AP on the staff, you'll get a few more wounds through to trigger the d3 damage. Between firestorm and devolution, he put out a decent amount of mortals, though even the boosted firestorm is basically as good as a standard doombolt.

I'm also considering how to max out the A stat, like dilettante+exalted mutation+abominus, or just Paradigm+Abominus. 

[Torbenos]

Do people generally consider the disc to be a must take for the increased mobility?

[WarriorFish]

I'm still playing with lists, there are so many builds for Exalted. This is great of course but does mean that it's harder to cover I feel the disc is good but not a must take, it's not the cheapest thing. Mobility is good but on a support character with psychic powers all the more so, maybe it comes down to how many Exalted are in your list? If it's one then the disc is probably a good addition otherwise the cost may mount up.

 

I have been working on an Exalted Warlord who reduces damage by 1 with the 2+ save, and maybe a second Relic too - all to make him if not a great beatstick at least one that's hard to get rid of. In lieu of anything more robust I think it'll work, but my options are limited currently.

 

I suspect that trying to keep costs lower and make the most out of supporting roles is the way go to, but with the ability to customise them it's hard to say no I'm looking forward to seeing what people have tried and come up with

[Xenith]

Do people generally consider the disc to be a must take for the increased mobility?

 

Tricky. I'd say if you're going with offensive powers, positioning is often key as many spells target the nearest unit, unit within LOS etc, so you need the move and fly keyword to get into place. I think you can maybe skip it if you're going with a backline/buffing exalted, they might be happy hanging at the back near a Forgefiend etc, 

[Cleon]

From what I can see the value of the disc comes in if you are intending to use the other tricks to throw units downfield, he still needs a solid amount of bodies to look out sir behind, so while he may have manoeuvrability, it's wasted if he's having to gently float up behind footslogging Rubrics.

[Trokair]

For my crusade games my main Exalted has been: Undying Form, Conniving Plate, Khopesh, Doombolt, Presage, and Cult of Prophecy.

 

He is built for survival and utility, and in the small crusade games (25 to 50 power level) has done fairly well, spending the early turns providing buff/consistence with the cult power and presage (and turning spare cabal points into command points), and in later turns he would doombolt, Cabal point for more MW and smite whatever  was needed. With the Khopesh he is surprisingly ok at charging random marine units on objectives and such, just don’t get him near a smash captain. He has lasted 2 turns of combat against a Teeth of Terra frenzy Chaplain (thanks to the conniving plate and some good invulnerable roles) but also died to 6MW in one go from a GK sergeant from a supper smite.

 

 

I am planning of trying out a more aggressive build to wreak havoc on an enemy flank, something along the line of Aetherstride, Athenaean Scrolls, Khopesh, Plasma pistol, Disk, Doombolt or Firestorm, Dark Blessing.

 

If I ended up leaning towards Doombolt then might swap the scrolls for the relic disk.

[Mushkilla]

++Moved from Rubrics Topic++

 

Warning long winded ramble starts here

 

I normally run of warpflamers with Temporal Surge. The nice thing with having it on the unit is it's only 6" range. But it's also quite unreliable to cast. I've also started to use doombolt a lot and spending CP on Unholy Sussurus to swap out for it, to reduce the CP cost I'm considering running some squads with doombolt (combo's really well with Sorcerous Facade). This has lead me me rethink how I use Temporal Surge.

 

I really like my support Exalted Sorcerer.

 

Exated Sorcerer, disk, Rehati

Warlord Trait: Forbidden Lore

Relic: Prism of Echoes

Powers: Glamour of Tzeentch, Weaver of Fates, Pyric Flux

 

Does all the buffs at long range, great! The downside is, Rehati forces me to take forbidden lore and now I'm another CP down. Maybe trying to get Prism of Echoes to affect three spells is a trap. See Weaver of Fates should probably be cast by Ahriman to make it more reliable anyway.

 

The other issue I've been having is with the Athenaean Scroll... I've been using it on Firestorm and it's just been underwhelming. 

 

So this has lead me to reconsider a lot of things... bear with me.

 

Exated Sorcerer, disk, dilettante  

Relic: Prism of Echoes, Athenaean Scroll

Powers: Warptime, Glamour of Tzeentch or Weaver of Fates

 

What this gives me is 12" warptime... which can be made into 18" warp time with Imbued Manifestation (4 CAP) that's cast on a 3d6+1 drop a dice.

 

That's a very reliable warptime, it also makes it much easier to have the caster out of deny range... It's such a clutch spell making it this much more reliable might be a big win (Sorcerous Facade is already taking up my Pact From Beyond). 

 

Anyway sorry for the rambling thoughts this codex is very intricate. 

Edited September 8, 2021 by Xenith

[GreenPlasma]

I think it’s a pretty solid build. Another trick is to run Arrogance of Aeons to combo +6” range with no denial.

 

Edit: Here’s an idea that occurred to me, it’s possible to reroll at least two psychic tests using the Infernal Master. The combo here is Diabolic Savant alongside Great Sorcerer. You can build on this further. Immaterial Echo for a 3rd cast, Mantle for Malignant Pact synergy, Chronos for another power in the Relic slot. We are nowhere near exhausting new creative ideas for this book!

Edited September 7, 2021 by GreenPlasma

[GreaterChickenofTzeentch]

I think it’s a pretty solid build. Another trick is to run Arrogance of Aeons to combo +6” range with no denial.

 

Edit: Here’s an idea that occurred to me, it’s possible to reroll at least two psychic tests using the Infernal Master. The combo here is Diabolic Savant alongside Great Sorcerer. You can build on this further. Immaterial Echo for a 3rd cast, Mantle for Malignant Pact synergy, Chronos for another power in the Relic slot. We are nowhere near exhausting new creative ideas for this book!

And depending on how many Cabal points you want to spend, one of those casts could be a power he doesn't even know.

[GreenPlasma]

I wanted to contribute to this thread, just took me some time to organize my thoughts. I think it’s important to simplify things because otherwise, it’s easy to get lost in the level of customization. I did this by imagining Exalted Sorcerers fulfill a few fundamental archetypes.

 

- Blessing-focused backfield caster

- High mobility flex caster

- Offensive support

- Specialization into CC

 

The intended purpose becomes our point of reference, regardless of experimenting with different constructions. And if we subsequently categorize Relics, WLTs, strats and the rest along those lines, it’s much easier to make sense of how they interact. 

 

For example: we probably wouldn’t ever consider Sorcerous Might (1CP) by itself. But if we can force 7x saves with reroll support to maximize damage, that’s 3-4 failed saves at 3-4 damage a pop. How complicated is this?

 

- 1x Legion Command (Paradigm of Change)

- 1x Cult (Prophecy)

- 2x Psychic Power (Swelled, Divine the Future)

- 1x Relic support (Oraculae Brazier)

- 2x Stratagem (Sorcerous Might, CP reroll)

- 1x IM (Glimpse of Eternity reroll)

 

Saying this codex is intricate is putting it mildly.  That’s 7 interactions at minimum and only 3 of them are truly specific to the fight phase, the rest are just utility rerolls. That said, it’s pretty cool we can manipulate a 100pt HQ to potentially solo a Kill Rig. And that’s just one example among much, much more. We can do the exact opposite and tank Smash Captain and Succubi builds by building defensively. The final limiting factor is opportunity cost — there’s only so many Cults, Relics and CP to go around!

[Brother Captain Vakarian]

The amount of customization available for an Exalted Sorceror in this book is amazing and I’ve had a ton of fun just theory-crafting my Exalted for the ongoing crusade narrative my buddy and I are playing. There are obviously some very strong builds keyed to the best cults.

 

I took a shot at the “high mobility flex caster” that GreenPlasma described above because I wanted to do something off-meta and “fun” for the crusade (we are playing for story and not for competitiveness, this probably is far from the “best” build but it should be fun).

 

Exalted Sorceror Az’mek Aktera, Magister of the Eyes of the Abyss Thrallband:

Exalted Sorceror on Disk of Tzeentch

Cult of Knowledge

Warlord Trait: Ardent Scholar

Relic: Thrydderghyre

Equipment: Force stave, Prosperine Khopesh, plasma pistol

Powers: Doombolt, Temporal Surge, Empyric Trespass, Smite

 

I plan on trying to hunt arcane points for the 20-point relic stave. It may not be the best setup but it keys well into the flex build and gives me some long-term purpose to selecting Thrydderghyre. Probably will upgrade him to a Dilettante as we go (probably to take the Athenean Scrolls) but might make him a Rehati instead. The idea that I can build a crusade force pretty much entirely focused on my Cult of Knowledge Exalted Sorceror obsessively treasure-hunting instead of actually supporting the rest of the Chaos forces in our little campaign seems like great fun, and with the flex build he should be useful every game, no matter who I’m playing.

 

I haven’t even spent too much time considering Cabal actions and stratagems yet… lots still to consider for him!

[Prot]

The Daemon Prince is still my favorite just because he can push back a bit more reliably than most of our options....

 

But the Exalted's are just so flexible. 

 

I'm still playing with one Batallion as my preference, but the times I have swapped out the DP for the Exalted on Disk have been great. A little side thing note here is the ability to add that additional baseline sorc (Thrall) to the detachment without using the HQ slot which is really nice.

 

I still love Dillitante as I usually have him carrying Egleighen's Orrery flanked by Helbrutes. He gets around and makes this really good with Scarab Occult as well.

 

Just a really fun unit that actually makes you consider a few different angles to your list. Although not great in close combat, they are great at buffing, and if in against something there is a decent strat just for Exhalted's to get extra damage on the stave.

 

Tons of things to do with the unit. So many ideas, so few HQ slots!

[Xenith]

 

I wanted to contribute to this thread, just took me some time to organize my thoughts. I think it’s important to simplify things because otherwise, it’s easy to get lost in the level of customization. I did this by imagining Exalted Sorcerers fulfill a few fundamental archetypes.

 

- Blessing-focused backfield caster

- High mobility flex caster

- Offensive support

- Specialization into CC

 

 

Great ideas - I think I've been over-generalising mine so far. I think it might be best to take 2 exalteds and specialise, then whatever slotless sorcs you need for backup. 

[Mordas]

I normally run 2 Exalted in my games, but not been running with Discs in 9th yet. Keeping them close to Rubrics for protection one on the front offensive with Rehati and normally loaded up with Doombolt, Tzeentchs firestorm etc.. the other sorcerer sits on the back lines buffing anything he can.

 

This has been working out well for me so far. But looking forward to playing with a few more combo's. But my experience with Exalted in combat hasn't been great so far, has anyone built a good reliable beat stick version or should i keep going with the Demon prince :)