Clover362 here to review the shaman of the Eldar Craftworld. I am of course talking about the Spiritseer. This is the cat that guides the Wraith Constructs back into the mortal realm and directs them against the enemy of the Eldar.
To match his fluff, Games Workshop has made the Spiritseer all about buffing all forms of Wraith Constructs. He is not quite as good an individual warrior as a Autarch, and not he is not quite as powerful a Psyker as a Farseer, so you won’t see him as often in your games of 40k. That said if you or your opponent have a thing for Wraithguard, Wraithblades, Wraithknights, Wraithlords, or Hemlock Wraithfighters, the Spiritseer should be in the running to be the HQ choice.
Stats
The Spiritseer’s stats reflect his sole purpose as a caretaker for the Wraith Constructs. He’s a Psyker but hasn’t developed his powers to the extent of a Farseer, and his place is in battle with his charges, but he is not a dedicated warrior like an Autarch. The Spiritseer stat line is WS/BS 5, S/T 3, I 5, 2 W, 1 A, Ld 9, and no save, mastery level 2 Psyker and independent character. He can generate his powers from Sanctic, Telepathy, and the Eldar Runes of Battle. Not terrible or great stats but he is nice and cheap clocking in at a base of 70 points.
Wargear
- Rune Armor: This gives the Spirit Seer a useful 4+ invulnerable save.
- Shuriken Pistol: Standard pistol with the Bladestorm rule
- Witch Staff: This is a handy weapon that is S user and AP – but has the Soul Blaze, Fleshbane and Armourbane special rules. While not great at close combat, at least your Spiritseer will force an armor save or two. And don’t forget Soul Blaze!
- The Spiritseer has far less options for Wargear than the other Eldar HQs. The Spiritseer may only select items from the Remnants of Glory list, as a result this guy will almost always be played stock.
Special Rules
- Ancient Doom: Hatred Slaanesh but -1 on fear checks cause by Slaanesh, though a Spirtseer will often be placed in a fearless unit.
- Fleet: Fleet is a great rule, but the Spiritseer will often be in a unit that does not have fleet and this will be lost.
- Battle Focus: This is a great rule but since the Spiritseer will often run in a unit without Battle Focus you won’t use it as often.
- Spirit Mask: All Wraith construct units within 12″ of the Spiritseer re-roll to hit rolls of 1.
Tactics
The Spiritseer is all about buffing your wraith construct units. So if you run him you want to make sure to take full advantage of his rules. At a minimum he should be run in a unit of Wraithguard or Wraithblades. With his re-roll aura, he makes Wraithguard with wraith cannons an extremely deadly choice. Throw him and his unit into a wave serpent, charge forward and obliterate your chosen target. He goes great with the Runes of Battle powers which buff your allies or debuff your enemies. All of the powers are hot, and can really provide a solid boost. He lacks the awesome Ghosthelm, but is still a potent and cheap Psyker.
The other viable, fun way to play a Spiritseer is to double down on Wraith constructs and run him as part of a Wraith Host. If you run him has part of a Wraith Host all of the wraith constructs in the formation (3 units of WraithBlades or Wraithguard in any combination, a Wraithlord, and a Wraithknight) gain the Battle Focus special rule and re-roll all to hit rolls while within 18″ of the Spiritseer. The Wraith Host can also be taken as an auxiliary formation to an Eldar War Host which would make all of your Wraith constructs run an automatic 6″. If taken this way your Wraithguard with wraith cannons would be firing twin-linked D-weapons with an effective range of 24″. That is absolutely brutal and would make an Iyanden themed list really deadly. The problem with this idea of course is that it is really expensive and you would not have a lot of points left over to plug some holes in your list. Thus, it’s probably not the most competitive choice but you could definitely win plenty of games (if maybe not friends) at your FLG.
Overall the Spiritseer is not quite good enough to be a default Eldar HQ choice but he definitely has a place in the right lists. For more reviews and tactics articles make sure to check out Frontline Gaming’s Tactics Corner.
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I could swear you already posted this article.
Anyway, Spiritseer’s definitely best as a buff to wraith units and warp charge battery.
I actually find Spiritseers used most often in my army not to buff Wraith units, but as a budget Farseer. Although you lose a lot for 30pts (Ghosthelm, bike option, Runes of the Farseer, one ML) sometimes there’s just nowhere better to trim those last few shavings off of a list. Additionally, the ability to guarantee Shrouded for the unit via the primaris of Runes of Battle is surprisingly good- they make an excellent backfield HQ to hide in a blob of Guardians or Vaul’s Wrath Battery.
The Shroud ability is a very valid point I had not factored when looking at a Spiritseer.
the spirit seer’s buff in the wraith host is for all enemies within 18inches of the seer, any wraith host unit can reroll to hit.
it means you don’t need to have the wraith lord or the wraith knight, anywhere near the seer to gain the benefits.
I’ll run this guy sometimes with a unit of Striking Scorpions to give them a 2+ cover save and sometimes a 2+ armor save, or even in a unit of Dire Avengers. People sometimes complain that Warlocks can’t be taken in Aspect Warrior units but they can – just use this guy.
I’m a big fan. I love taking him and rolling on Sanctic trying to get +1 invuln and gate of infinity for my wraithblades when I run them. Its really a nice combo especially with an Autarch tucked in there.
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