Last Stand - Chaos Sorcerer

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The Sorcerer is the Last Stand hero for Chaos

Overview

The Sorcerer is an unusual case in Last Stand heroes in that he has two completely different performance characteristic sets: His armor either focuses summarily on summoning minions that are cloned form your enemies, or on ignoring that this ability exists and instead giving all benefits that would otherwise be given to the Sorcerer's minions to himself. All Sorcerer builds spiral out from these two archetypes, and the sheer volume of options in each means that the Sorcerer has, perhaps more than any other class, more viable builds and variations than any other.

An oft-cited joke by fa/tg/uys and ca/tg/irls playing last stand is that the sorcerer can fulfill damned near any role with the right wargear. Need close-combat? The Sorcerer delivers with the Hellblade, Oracle Staff, Doomblast, Doombolt, and Warpfire. Want to tear enemies to pieces from afar? The Sorcerer has you covered with Let the Galaxy Burn, Curse of Tzeentch, and Doombolt. Want battlefield control? The Sorcerer can make it happen with Warp, the Orbs, and the ability to clone enemies. Want to make the single-most-durable hero in Last Stand? The Sorcerer can make it happen. Heaviest viable raw damage output? Sorcerer does that, too.

...But it's not all good news. The Sorcerer has sub-par armor, and his health boosts are few and far between. Only one minion armor gives a health boost, and getting one as a Narcissistic Sorcerer demands you sacrifice an incredibly powerful Commander Item slot (specifically for Icon of Pain). His mobility is incredibly poor, and its primary improvement comes from a wargear option in what is undeniably his single most contended-for-slot. By far the cruelest part of this class is that if you play a summoning Sorcerer, the computer dopplegangers on Wave 16 of Bloodied Coliseum will be gigantic, flaming assholes, as they can - and will - clone you and your teammates if you took the Icon of Greater Summoning. Killing the enemy Sorcerer in such a situation is mandatory, or an automatic failure on both Wave 16 and Wave 20 is assured.

More than any other class, the Chaos Sorcerer requires a level of skill and care far above and beyond the other classes, though if you stick with it and get good with it, it's undeniably amongst the strongest classes in the game.

Armor

Your choice in armor will define what your Sorcerer will do depending on whether they give you Minion Summoning or Narcissist. Plan everything else according to what discipline your armor is.

  • Power Armor - Default
    • Armor: 12
      • What's sad is that aside from the lack of special abilities, the default armor isn't so bad as far as defaults go.
  • Armor of Eternal War - Level 1
    • Armor: 58
    • Trait: Combat Master (Sorcerer gains +40% Melee and Ranged damage.)
    • Trait: Minion Combat Master (Minions gain +40% Melee and Ranged damage.)
    • Ability: Daemonic Doppelganger (15 Energy, allows the Sorcerer to summon the a doppelganger of the target as a minion, so long as it's not a heavy unit or a Champion)
      • Your first minion armor, this armor is extremely important for two specific kinds of Sorcerers; summoners will find the massive damage bonus to their minions a huge boon, whilst offensive casters will likewise find that this armor's huge buff to their damage output to their liking. Though its protective value is relatively poor (average by Chaos Sorcerer armors, though), the fact that it can let a Doombolt barrage tear open a rampaging Dreadnaught or buff a stolen Zoanthrope to the point where it can obliterate one of Bloodied Coliseum's Wave 12 Wraithlords in one well-aimed Warp Blast kind of speaks for itself. Consider it if you're going for raw damage, and you will not be disappointed.
  • Vestments of Power Undivided - Level 3
    • Armor: 62
    • +0.5 Energy Regeneration
    • Trait: Narcissistic (All minion bonuses apply to Sorcerer instead)
      • The first Narcissistic Armor is actually quite good, though its benefits are not abundantly clear at first glance. With considerably better protection than the Armor of Eternal War, it gets major props for being the only source of improved energy regeneration the Sorcerer gets. Given that Narcissistic Sorcerers tend to do more casting in the first place, this is a considerable upgrade. Incredibly handy all-game long for any Narcissistic Sorcerer, the Vestments of Power Undivided are incredibly powerful on the right builds, and worth considering for any Narcissistic build.
  • Robes of Unholy Fortitude - Level 9
    • Armor: 72
    • +50 Health
    • +25 Energy
    • +50 Minion Health
    • +25 Minion Energy
    • Ability: Daemonic Doppelganger (15 Energy, allows the Sorcerer to summon the a doppelganger of the target as a minion, so long as it's not a heavy unit or a Champion)
      • It may not have the massive damage of the Armor of Eternal War or the incredible survivability upgrade of the Robes of the Deathless, but it is easily the most survivable summoner armor, bar none. Providing meaty boosts to not only the Sorcerer's health and energy, but that of his minions, this armor is incredibly handy for not only extending the performance of the Sorcerer, but making his erstwhile allies have much more staying power for both health and energy. It's especially useful when using minions that tend to burn energy quickly, like cloned Apothecaries from Wave 4 of Bloodied Coliseum.
  • Armor of Might Undivided - Level 13
    • Armor: 88
    • Trait: Fearless (Immune to Suppression)
    • Trait: Unshakable (Immune to knockback)
    • Trait: Narcissistic (All minion bonuses apply to Sorcerer instead)
      • Providing Narcissistic trait, as well as Fearless and Unshakable, this is generally the armor of choice for Narcissistic Sorcerers, owing to its good defense and bevy of useful traits. Sadly, it also comes with a punishing drawback: By using it, your clone on Wave 16 is virtually guaranteed to be able to pull off a revive if you aren't careful due to the fact that you won't be able to stop them from doing so. This aside, an excellent choice.
  • Robes of the Deathless - Level 17
    • Armor: 4
    • Trait: Deathless (When Sorcerer dies, he can resurrect himself with full health and energy and temporary double damage. This ability can only be done once every 30 seconds.)
    • Trait: Minion Deathless (When Minion dies, he can resurrect himself with full health and energy and temporary double damage. This ability can only be done once every 30 seconds.)
    • Ability: Daemonic Doppelganger (15 Energy, allows the Sorcerer to summon the a doppelganger of the target as a minion, so long as it's not a heavy unit or a Champion)
      • Do not be fooled by this armor's seeming lack of abilities and poor defense; It functionally doubles your HP and gives you periodic massive firepower boosts. Even better, it also gives your summoned minions this same Deathless trait. If you want to break the game entirely, run this with a Sigil of Greater Summoning, Clone the toughest member of your group on Wave 16, and laugh as the clone runs around and is never able to fucking be killed. Paired with the right upgrades, it's insanely survivable, but you'll be terrifyingly vulnerable if your skill isn't up to snuff.

Weapons

  • Bolt Pistol - Default
    • One-handed ranged weapon
    • 4.3 DPS
      • If you use the Sword of Spite or Sword of Fate, you'll use this as your ranged weapon, curiously enough. There is no pistol-upgrade for the Sorcerer, which seems like a bizarre oversight.
  • Force Sword - Default
    • One-handed melee weapon
    • 8.5 DPS
      • Basic weapon. You know the drill by now.
  • Sword of Spite - Level 1
    • One-handed melee weapon
    • 13.1 DPS
    • Ability: Doomblast (10 Energy, knocks back enemies in an area around him)
      • This sword is very useful for any close-combat Sorcerer build, as Doomblast makes room-clearing easy - a great answer to those insufferable Banshees that just love to crowd your arse. It takes very little practice to get good with, and with upgrades, becomes incredibly potent. When upgraded via the runes of Sorcery, it will gain a larger explosion, and can dramatically increase the caster's armor for a time. Sadly it really begs to be paired with teleportation, which can't happen due to the Sorcerer's teleport coming from Staff of Tzeentch. Due to a glitch, this sword stacks extra fire damage relevant to the target's HP, making you pretty good at killing bosses and big things as long as you continue to strike the same target.
  • Staff of Warpfire - Level 1
    • Two-handed ranged weapon
    • 9.8 DPS
    • Ability: Warpfire (15 Energy, A line of explosions come in front of the Sorcerer.)
      • Warpfire is quite powerful, extremely energy-efficient, and arguably one of the best starting spells. It procs towards the targetted enemy, not towards the ground (like the Captain's Merciless Strike), and causes quite a bit of damage irrespective of armor protection. It's one of two spells the Sorcerer has that's good against vehicles (the other being Doombolt), and its combination of good power and decent range would make it one of the best spells overall save for two problems: It's incredibly susceptible to latency, and it desperately needs the Sorcery Sigils to be effective. When paired with the greater sigil (for knockback) and master sigil), it packs a surprising amount of wallop provided you can trap an enemy against a wall when you cast it.
  • Sword of Fate - Level 6
    • One-handed melee weapon
    • 12.5 DPS
    • Ability: Curse of Tzeentch (20 Energy, curses an enemy. The enemy will lose the ability to regenerate health, will take damage over time, and, if the target dies, it will explode.)
      • Deceptively powerful. Curse of Tzeentch isn't too powerful in and of itself, but excels at killing squads of mooks - cast it on an injured member of a squad or someone being fired at by teammates, and enjoy the lulz when the hapless squib explodes upon death with roughly the force of a Frag Grenade. The Curse is powerful enough to kill most mooks on its own, or cause serious damage to priority targets, which makes Curse quite versatile; even better, it will restore some health (with the Sigil of Master Sorcery) and energy (Sigil of Greater Sorcery). The energy restoration is relatively minor, but enough to make it worth using, since it will reliably earn back 25% or so of its casting cost.
  • Staff of Tzeentch - Level 12
    • Two-handed ranged weapon
    • 9.8 DPS
    • Ability: Warp (7 Energy, teleports Sorcerer to a new location)
      • Do not overlook this weapon - it may not provide the raw power of Warpfire, Let the Galaxy Burn, or Curse of Tzeentch, but Warp provides you with something potentially more vital than all of these: the golden egg of Last Stand, Mobility. Greater/Master Sorcery Sigils upgrade it with some offensive capability, leaving a pool of fire where you begin (Master) or end up (Greater) that can cause some damage to enemies (the entry/exit fire pools stack damage-wise, but not with themselves). Is particularly valuable for both minion-heavy Sorcerers and the rare guerrilla doombolter Sorcerer, a build for which will be covered below.
  • Staff of Daemonic Flame - Level 15
    • Two-handed ranged weapon
    • 9.8 DPS
    • Ability: Let the Galaxy Burn! (20 Energy, sends fireballs crashing into the target. The impact can still burn for a while after colliding)
      • Without a doubt, your most genuinely useful spell. This is your Plasma Cannon. Your Flamethrower merged with Rokkit Launcha. Your crowd pleaser. It lobs out huge balls of fire that explode and immediately drown the area in flames, knocking light foes down in the process. If you fire it into a blob of lighter infantry, everything in it is going to die. Upgrade it with the Armor of Eternal War and/or Icon of Pain and it'll start hurting tougher enemies. Note that whilst the knockback effects and initial blast damage from Let the Galaxy Burn stack, the bulk of the damage, coming from the residual fire-patch that results, does not. As such, when firing off a barrage with the Sigils of Greater/Mastery Sorcery, the primary benefits are improved knockdown power and added area-of-effect; you aren't hindering your damage thus, that much, by not taking them. As such, this piece of wargear offers much more open choices of accessory than it initially appears to.
  • Cataclysmic Hellblade - Achievement Unlock: Kill clone from Wave 16 in Bloodied Coliseum
    • One-handed melee weapon
    • 21.4 DPS
    • Traits: Hell Attacks (Any attacks with the Hellblade cost 5 energy), Bonus Damage (Attacks with the Hellblade cause extra damage)
      • One of the strongest melee weapons in the entire game. Set aside that it lacks an inherent spell: The Hellblade does massive per-hit damage and a large swing range means that every slash from this asshole of a flame-sword will absolutely hurt like hell and functionally trumps the need to even take along anti-vehicle spells or options. Even the Swarmlord will die like a bitch to a properly-kitted-out Sorcerer packing this weapon. The bonus damage from the Hellblade applies straight through armor protection. The drawback is that the Sorcerer still has shit maneuverability and a slow walk speed, and taking this weapon means not taking a spellcasting item, and thus no primary spell. Incredibly potent and with awesome fluff (Being a Bloodletter's sword that was ripped from him by a Lord of Change), but hard to use.
  • Oracle Stave - DLC
    • Two-handed melee weapon
    • 5.0 DPS
    • Traits: Fate Weaver (Attacks with the Stave have a 30% chance of making the next melee attack from the Sorcerer do massive damage and have a blast radius. The triggering of the Oracle Stave's Fate Weaver is indicated by a blue rune of Tzeentch around the Sorcerer.)
      • This is very similar to the Warp Spear that the Farseer gets in that it does massive amounts of bonus damage if the target hits in melee combat. Unlike the Warp Spear, however, the Sorcerer does not get the nifty-swell Pull ability that the farseer gets, offset mostly by how much more likely the Oracle Stave's is to proc than the Warp Spear - the Fate Weaver attack also has a blast radius AND benefits from damage boosting, though it sees precious little actual need for it. When Fate Weaver triggers, it will utterly obliterate virtually any standard single target in a single hit. Araghast? Goes down in one shot. the Warboss? One-shotted. It even stands a good chance of completely ripping apart even super-heavies like the Battlewagon on Anvil of Khorne, making it perhaps the single-best source of spike damage the Sorcerer has. Unfortunately, like the Hellblade, it has no built-in magical ability, no ranged support whatsoever, and doesn't help the Sorcerer's poor mobility one bit, though it can make for one deceptively potent Muscle Wizard in trained hands. Note though that having the doppleganger in Colosseum instakill you or an ally with this weapon fucking sucks. Making a clone of the clone Sorcerer means twice the instagibbing fun though.

Accessories

  • Mark of Tzeentch - Level 1
    • +25 Energy, +25 Minion Energy (Narcissists gain +50 Energy)
      • This is a solid starting piece for the Sorcerer, as energy is always a concern for him, so unlike this item for other classes, it's almost always a welcome piece of kit regardless of build. It still tends to flag later on, when other means of boosting your energy are available, but is still worth using. It gives a double energy boost for Narcissists, which is always a helpful bonus; the ability to drop another two Let the Galaxy Burns or Curses or three Doombolts sort of pays for itself in terms of practical application.
  • Tome of Hunger - Level 1
    • Ability: Consume (Destroys a minion to restore his health. A Narcissist instead just spends 25 to regain 75 health.)
      • This is not a choice to be taken lightly for minion Sorcerers, as this will kill your minions - be they lowly Hormagaunts or a super-special Force Commander or Wraithlord, but to put it simply: this wargear option can save your goddamned life and give a Sorcerer about to die a little bit of extra health to survive that much longer. It's slightly better for a Narcissist; one of them uses it, the Sorcerer regains 75 health for 25 Energy by using it; not a huge benefit, but one that can potentially save your ass. This ability has a special significance for suicide minion builds, as it gives the Sorcerer a convenient way to blow up his entire squad for fun and profit.
  • Scroll of Blood - Level 2
    • Ability: Orb of Blood (10 Energy; Any allies within the orb regain health when they attack, healing 50% of any damage they cause.)
      • Amazingly useful, in no small part due to its low cost and the fact that its cooldown time almost matches the duration time - meaning that with battery support, a Sorcerer can essentially keep this going almost indefinitely. Absolutely beautiful when paired with high-damage teammates like the Mekboy, Shas'O, Hive Tyrant, and Space Marine Captain. Its practical applications are quite numerous, as it greatly boosts your team's tanking capability while being largely useless for the Bloodied Coliseum's wave 16 clones because they are too dumb to stay in their own Orb of Blood. Can also be quite helpful for Muscle Wizards and minion support.
  • Tome of Doom - Level 4
    • Ability: Doombolt (15 Energy, fire a barrage psychic bolts at enemy. These bolts have quite a bit of scatter, and explode on impact.)
      • Incredibly powerful and versatile. Can act as a ranged disruptor or a close-combat killer, and one of only two spells the Sorcerer has that's reliably good against vehicle armor. Get in the habit of using the spell's 4 different effective ranges; at long range it has wide scatter but can potentially soften up multiple mook squads. At closer ranges, it can easily mow down lighter squads and cause heavy damage to troops closing in; at close range it will critically hurt tough opponents like Nobs and Tyranid Warriors and seriously harm vehicles, and when dropped at your feet it can clear out crowding troops like Banshees. Needs no sigils to be effective, and is so useful that entire strategies can be centered around the use of Tome of Doom; it's that good. When backed by Armor of Eternal War and Icon of Pain, it utterly curb-stomps even the raw power of Let the Galaxy Burn. Fear it in trained hands.
  • Sigil of Greater Sorcery - Level 7
    • Traits: Greater Sorcery (Warpfire causes knockback, Doomblast deals extra damage, LtGB gives an extra fireball, Curse recharges Sorcerer's Energy, Warp burns ground upon arrival)
      • This is a quick way to make any of your primary spells more useful. Worth noting, it also effects Gift of Retaliation. How good it is depends on the spells you're using; LtGB gains the added knockdown and burn of a second fireball, but not increased damage; Curse becomes more efficient due to leeching some energy; Doomblast (and the Gift of Retaliation) becomes stronger and gains a bigger area-of-effect; Warp becomes useful for damaging mooks and zoning, and Warpfire becomes capable of knocking down anything it doesn't flat-out destroy. All are incredibly handy, but ultimately optional - choose well.
  • Daemonic Gift of Retaliation - Level 8
    • Traits: Reactive Strike (If a minion is hit in melee, they can set off a defensive Doomblast. This Doomblast is affected by the sigils, and if the Sorcerer has Narcissistic, this will instead apply to him.)
      • Incredibly useful and surprisingly easy to overlook. This gives either you (if a Narcissistic Sorcerer) or all your minions (if otherwise) the ability to automatically cause a Doomblast, identical to the Sword of Spite's, costing no energy, when struck by a melee attack. Even better, it's boosted the same way by the Sigils as the actual Sword of Spite; the blast is larger and stronger with the Sigil of Greater Sorcerer, and provides a defensvie buff with the Sigil of Master Sorcery. This wargear thus has huge value for both improving the tankiness of minions and increasing the Sorcerer's survivability. This opens up several build options for both Narcissistic and Standard Sorcerers. It tends to work better on melee minions (Hormagaunts, Warriors, etc) than ranged minions, due to greater odds of being melee attacked. Putting it simply: if you have plenty of expendable goons (Or if you like having explosions in your Narcissistic Sorcerer's explosions so you can kill while you kill), this is a useful little trick.
  • Scroll of Vengeance - Level 11
    • Ability: Orb of Vengeance (10 Energy, if anyone attacks an ally within this orb, they get hit back with 150% of the damage dealt.)
      • As is the case for the Orb of Blood, Orb of Vengeance's cooldown and duration are almost identical, meaning it chains well. A spell that's really good for Muscle Wizard builds or for supporting a gunline alike. Also incredibly handy for saving teammates if they get swamped, since it's likely that even if your allied Tyrant or Shas'O goes down due to Banshee Swarms or some of those asshole scout squads, the orb will ensure that they take some of them with them. Note, however, that the tooltip lies; the damage returned is much closer to 50% than 100%.
  • Daemonic Gift of Spite - Level 14
    • Trait: Minion Death Throes (If a minion dies, a warp storm erupts where he died, knocking back any enemies. If the Sorcerer is Narcissistic, the trait applies to him instead.)
      • This gives your minions or you (if Narcissistic) a death explosion remarkably similar to a warp rift detonation (pulls targets across the center of explosion). Initially the damage is not that impressive, but it's easily combined it with the Armor of Eternal War, Icon of Pain, Daemonic Gift of Retaliation, and the Sigil of Greater Sorcery. Clone a Hormagaunt unit, and let the shenannigans begin. This is the obvious basis behind the suicide minion build. Very disruptive, and if you summon high member squads at the right place, results in epic carnage.
  • Scroll of Unholy Might - Level 16
    • Ability: Orb of Unholy Might (10 Energy, allies within the orb can now deal knockback with their basic attacks.)
      • Arguably the best orb in the entire game and a strong contender for the most unsung buff spell in the entire game as well. Every attack from within the bubble becomes a knockdown attack - melee or ranged. Throw this down on an allied Lord General, Shas'O, or Mekboy and watch as your ally becomes a completely unapproachable death machine capable of Soloing wave 16. Every single shot they throw out will knock foes down, and if they're using burst cannons, Deffguns, Shootas, or god help you, flamers, they'll be completely unable to be advanced upon by anything short of a vehicle for the duration.
  • Sigil of Master Sorcery - Level 18
    • Trait: Master Sorcery (Warpfire has double range, Doomblast gives caster temporary armor, Curse of Tzeentch heals Sorcerer, LtGB adds another fireball, Warp burns ground upon departure)
      • Second verse: Same as the first. The Sigil of Master Sorcery likewise improves your primary spells, and, again, Gift of Retaliation. Unlike Greater Sigil, Mastery's upgrades are a little more ambitious: LtGB gains the added knockdown and burn of another fireball (for as many as 3 when both sigils are used), but not increased damage; Curse now replenishes a little health; Doomblast (and the Gift of Retaliation) now provides a substantial boost to Armor for a short time, and Warpfire now has a much larger area of effect. Once again, it's incredibly powerful, but ultimately optional; choose whether or not to use it on a case-by-case basis.
  • Daemonic Gift of Sustenance - Level 19
    • Trait: Minion Combat Vigor (Minion gains 2 energy for each strike it makes. If Sorcerer is Narcissistic, this applies to him instead.)
    • Trait: Zealous (Whenever minion attacks, it gains back any damage it gives as Health. If Sorcerer is Narcissistic, this applies to him instead.)
      • Hoo boy. This one's a gamechanger. At one point, this was arguably the single most powerful piece of Wargear for the Sorcerer; everything a Narcissistic Sorcerer did leeched health and any kill made by a Narcissistic Sorcerer recovered energy; it was tantamount to godmode in trained hands. Sadly, it was nerfed heavily in a recent update, but even in the face of this, it remains one of the best wargear options. Using it gives massive survivability buffs to a Summoning Sorcerer, giving enormous survivability to the Sorcerer's Minions. Though no longer the godmode device for Narcissistic Sorcerers, it's still incredibly useful for them, especially for any Sorcerer who favors close-combat. It makes the Cataclysmic Hellblade significantly better, improves the Sword of Spite and Sword of Fate, and can get surprising mileage out of the Oracle Stave. Bear in mind its limitation: Whilst it provides some healing with normal attacks, only close-combat kills will restore energy.
  • Accursed Idol - Achievement Unlock: Spend 5,000 Energy as Sorcerer in abilities
    • Traits: Accursed Idol (Any damage the Sorcerer takes is given back to attacker)
      • If you want to be a heavy-assault Narcissist Sorcerer or want to bring something to fuck with those insufferable wave 9 Banshees on Coliseum, this should get serious consideration: whilst it takes up the same space as Orb of Vengeance, which can effects multiple allies instead of just you, the Accursed Idol works without any oversight or need for energy, making it much more useful for a Sorcerer who plans to stay on the move. Definitely worth considering for any Sorcerer planning to be in the thick of it.
  • Rubric-Touched Helm - DLC
    • Traits: Dark Fortification (When hit in melee, Sorcerer gains 150 armor for 10 seconds)
      • This one works particularly well for cutting the damage you'd take for a little bit and is especially handy for Muscle Wizards. It stacks with your current armor, as well as with the Armor boost from Doomblast/Gift of Retaliation under Sigil of Master Sorcery. Just bear in mind that whilst the Rubric Helm's armor boost is substantial - enough to cut the damage the Sorcerer takes substantially - it's also fairly short lived and then has to be activated again (you cannot reset the timer whilst one Dark Fortification is going). It has outstanding synergy with the Sword of Spite and Sigils, as it can make a Sorcerer close-to-unkillable with some skill behind it. It also looks fucking awesome, because it's based on Ahriman's helmet.

Commander Items

  • Icon of Summoning - Level 5
    • Traits: Greater Summoning (Sorcerers can now clone enemy Champions (Wraithlords, Force Commander, Wave 16 clones, Nobs). Narcissistic Sorcerers gain +125 Health instead)
      • Excellent for minion-focused Sorcerers, and good for Narcissistic Sorcerers who want serious health. It's not absolutely essential for a minion-based sorcerer, as there are still great minion choices to choose from (Tyranid Warriors, Raveners, and Wraithguards, for example), and taking it means that your doppleganger at wave 16 CAN CLONE YOUR TEAMMATES. Many players thus eschew it for Icon of Pain. This said, however, the possibility of cloning a Zoanthrope, Wraithlord, Leman Russ, enemy hero, or one of the doppelgangers is a reason why it should never be overlooked. And did we mention that a doppelganger clone keeps its ability to revive you and your allies?
  • Icon of Change - Level 10
    • Trait: Chaos Aura (Damage to random enemies)
      • Garbage. Bug-ridden so that it almost never hits, and dealing barely as much damage as a single Doombolt when it does, this wargear is unmitigated shit disguised as something useful. The biggest upside to this wargear is that it completely gimps the Wave 16 enemy Sorcerer.
  • Icon of Pain - Level 20
    • Trait: Aura of Power (Sorcerer and any nearby allies gain +30% Melee and Ranged damage.)
      • This is a major damage boost to your team, giving them, functionally, the benefits of Combat Expert whilst stacking with said trait. Whether minion-focused or Narcissistic, close-range or long, Icon of Pain's damage boost is fucking huge and worth using on almost every build. Just beware of what your enemies will do with their own on Wave 16...

Progression

The Sorcerer's progression is a weird affair. Starting out, he's almost laughably weak, though he's neither as gimped as the Lord General nor tactically-pigeonholed as the Space Marine Captain at first. His health will remain a fairly constant 100 on most builds for the bulk of his career, barring Narcissistic builds, and his defense will never be that great. In exchange, he gets some damned good starting wargear, and is a rarity in that he does fairly good at any range. Even with his dedicated ranged weapons (his staves), he does pretty good overall damage from afar, and boasts more-than-satisfactory close-range DPS in a punch to boot. As you get stronger, his strength compounds, and he quickly can become one of the most powerful direct or indirect heroes on the battlefield - but this takes time and patience. Above all else, remember that the Chaos Sorcerer, lacking the Staff of Tzeentch, is quite vulnerable and has rather bad mobility - get around this by exploiting your spells, minions, teammates, and if all else fails, the terrain to keep yourself from getting overwhelmed.

In general, there's six "main" Chaos Sorcerer builds, all of which focus on specific attributes of the Chaos Sorcerer's wagear options. Melee Sorcerers range from Doomblasting tanky Sorcerers who focus on the Sword of Spite and heavy armor, throwing themselves into the fray and scattering mooks about like leaves, to Hellblade-wielding serial assholes that focus on priority target destruction. Nukers focus on Let the Galaxy Burn, fighting from afar when possible and using their considerable punch to destroy enemy formations for their teammates. Ranged Support Sorcerers use the Sword of Fate or Warpfire; the former to cast on mooks to break up oncoming groups or cripple a single large target, the latter to obliterate small crowds, tear vehicles apart, and clear paths. Minion builds focus on minions, whether in a commander standpoint or as suicide units. Commander builds focus on boosting teammates, with orbs and with auras. Lastly, troubleshooter builds focus on mobility, getting around quickly, dealing with priority issues, and then fucking off before the enemy can muster a response. All of these six basic roles offer considerable overlap, and as time goes on, you have the ability to either generalize or specialize, as you see fit. This is the centerpiece of the Chaos Sorcerer.

Starting out, you have a few basic choices for gear. You naturally want Armor of Eternal War, Mark of Tzeentch, and Tome of Hunger, and either the Sword of Spite or Staff of Warpfire. Both have advantages - the Sword of Spite gives you good CQC DPS and the always-useful fuck-off button in Doomblast, whilst the staff of Warpfire gives less melee damage but a much stronger and longer-ranged zap attack from afar, and lets you demolish lines of enemies with a series of explosions in Warpfire. Warpfire itself has the drawback of being susceptible to Latency, but early on it's easily the best spell and can clear out entire clusters of enemies in short order. You'll have some damned good early minions due to the Armor of Eternal War, but you can't clone high-level units yet, so target quality regular enemies - the Tyranid Warriors in Coliseum are especially prized. Tome of Hunger will let you munch minions if you desperately need to stay alive, so don't forget about it in a pinch.

If you got the DLC, both options give a great survivability boost at the outset. The Rubric Helm can temporarily give you a barrier that cuts all damage by about 50% for the duration; The Oracle staff is a melee weapon that, whilst it does little damage, periodically causes a Fate Weaver attack that can essentially one-shot any early enemy, which makes it hilariously useful, so don't underestimate it. With the right wargear, this ability can seriously mess up the errant Carnifex that heads your way, so don't underestimate it.

When you get to Level 2, the Scroll of Blood gives you a tactical option that bolsters your allies; be sure to tell your teammates you have it, and cast it around allied Lord General firing lines and Tau Commanders - they'll be very grateful for the healing potential it offers, especially if you're setting up gun nests. You can alternately use this to bolster your survivability in close combat, if you're going with a melee build.

At level 3, you get your first Narcissist armor - be very careful - you don't really want to use this armor immediately, since you don't have really any of the reasons you'd normally go Narcissist in the first place just yet. Instead, hold onto it and keep it ready for another few levels or so, when that piece of kit will really come into its own. Level 4 then brings you Tome of Doom, which is an outrageously useful piece of wargear that gives you what is, unequivocally, the most utilitarian spell the Chaos Sorcerer gets in Doombolt - don't underestimate it. From this moment onwards, unless running a build that absolutely needs that slot, you will invariably be glad you have this spell somewhere on your person and ready to go, at least for now. Melee builds, ranged builds, everyone gets mileage out of Doombolt.

Level 5 comes next, and with it, a useful piece of wargear that comes with a price. Icon of Summoning lets you finally clone enemy commanders and bosses, and alternately will give you almost double your normal health for a Narcissist build. But pay heed - your clone on Wave 16 of Coliseum will be able to do so as well, and will cheerfully spawn clones of your and your teammates - and this can quickly lead to disaster... And that asshole will show his ugly stupid head on wave 20, too, just to be a cock. On Anvil of Khorne, this isn't an issue - use it all you want there (and indeed, it rocks there) - but bear in mind the drawbacks before committing to the use of this wargear outside of a Narcissist loadout otherwise!

Level 6 brings you the Sword of Fate, a major boon to ranged builds that offers superior tactical and control options, without sacrificing too much melee power. Cast the spell on a mook squad and watch it cease to exist as you make them fucking explode. Level 7 then brings you the delight of the Sigil of Greater Sorcery - this incredibly useful item overclocks many of your favored prizes up until this point, making Warpfire ragdoll enemies, Doomblast do much more damage and in a larger area, and Curse of Tzeentch leeching some energy from the victim whilst it's in effect. This useful upgrade will effect your spells yet to come and some gifts you'll get soon, so it's absolutely amazing.

Level 8 then brings you the Daemonic Gift of Retaliation, and at this point, you can finally Narcissist proper. Throw this gift on with the Sword of Fate, Vestments, and Sigil of Sorcery to become a painfully-hard-to-bring down support tank. Replace the Sword of Fate with the Sword of Spite, and you've got twice the Doomblasts for even more explosions. Warpfire Staff's another option, giving you a mix of close-range power and the ability to launch annoying foes like Banshees. This gift's also great for minion builds, and it benefits from the Sigil, so by all means, use it.

Level 9 then gives you a fantastic boon: An armor that boosts health and energy. The Robes of Unholy Fortitude are, simply put, a fucking godsend for your survivability at this point, and your minions will also have more health and more energy to play with as part of the bargain. It also has significantly higher defense than your original armor. Sadly, it lacks the Combat Mastery trait of the Armor of Eternal War, so many of your spells and attacks will become notably weaker should you wear this instead. The Sword of Fate really shines here - the spell's health drain is not effected by the loss of attack power, though the blast is a little weaker, but survivability often trumps raw damage output, so with that in mind, this armor's in good company.

At Level 10, you get what is unequivocally the Chaos Sorcerer's worst wargear item in the Icon of Change. Though the explosions generated by the Aura are quite powerful, and capable of seriously disrupting nearby foes, they happen purely at random and virtually never where or when you want them to be, which makes this summarily a very poor choice overall. Thankfully, 11 brings you Scroll of Vengeance - as is the case for all scrolls, coordinate with your allies, and you'll find this little bastard of a spell to be quite useful for dealing with pesky, high-damage units like Banshees and Warp Spiders.

Level 12 brings the single most important item in the Chaos Sorcerer's entire career - the Staff of Tzeentch. Mere words cannot describe just how much of a vital improvement this item is for the Chaos Sorcerer. Yes, it denies you the use of vital spells like Doomblast and Curse of Tzeentch, but it lets you teleport, which can and will boost your survivability by several leagues. Unless you have a specific build in mind, the Staff of Tzeentch will never disappoint, since you can escape bad situations, get into position to clear-cut an enemy position, or get right where's needed to drop a Doombolt barrage in an enemy's face. Never underestimate it.

The number 13 in eastern cultures carries connotations of danger. In case of the Chaos Sorcerer hitting Level 13, this is prophetic, because the Chaos Sorcerer's strongest overall Narcissist armor is unlocked here. It grants both unshakable, fearless, and the best armor rating of any Chaos Sorcerer armor, as well as the Narcissistic trait. This makes it the king of survivability for Narcissist builds - the improved statistics make it generally the go-to choice, but be forewarned - like the Icon of Summoning, this armor is potentially double-edged - your clone will also be fearless and unshakable with this armor, making it necessary to kill him outright to stop him from reviving his teammates or casting powerful spells!

Level 14 gives you the gift of Spite, which makes you minions explode when they die. At this point, you now have what's needed for a minion bomber build, or, alternately one final "Fuck You" to enemies when you die. Level 15 finally brings the beer and pretzels with the Staff of Daemonic Flame, letting you cast Let the Galaxy Burn and immolating entire squads of mooks like so much kindling. At this point, Nuker builds are now ready to be exploited; nothing of value survives a LtGB salvo when properly kitted out, and anything that does somehow eke its way past the flames is likely to be in sorry shape (or a vehicle/monstrous creature/commander unit - hope you prepared accordingly).

Level 16 then gives you the Scroll of Unholy Might - the lynchpin of gunline builds. Coordinate with a Mekboy, General, or Commander specializing in rapid-fire weapons, throw on an Orb of Unholy Might, and laugh as nothing short of a vehicle is getting within 30 feet of your firing lines. Support builds are now fleshed out, so you can begin setting up better to support allies. Level 17 comes next with Robes of the Deathless, the king of Minion armors and considered by many to be one of the single most powerful wargear options in the entire game, bar none. At this point, you're rapidly approaching the apogee of the Minion builds, but not quite yet.

Level 18 gives the Sigil of Master Sorcery - exactly the same as its level 7 counterpart, it bolsters spells much the same way. This turns Doomblasting tanks into godly destroyers of mooks, and adds even more ridiculous destructive potential to Nuker builds, fleshing out both nicely. This also gives Warpfire more bite and makes Curse of Tzeentch heal the user, adding a ton of utility to spells that had previously fallen by the wayside - ranged sorcerers now have even more options, and the ability to stay in the fight longer regardless of build is a major boon.

At one point, Level 19 was a hallmark of the Chaos Sorcerer - the Daemonic Gift of Sustenance was once mighty enough to completely warp the metagame around it. LtGB could completely recover your energy, which meant firing it off again and again. Sadly, patches utterly destroyed this for Narcissist builds, and it's now just a mediocre piece of kit for Narcissist Sorcerers unless running a Muscle Wizard or ranged Zapper build. It is, however, fucking amazing for Minion Sorcerers, and is the last piece of gear needed to make the strongest Minion Sorcerers viable.

Lastly, at level 20, you have the Icon of Pain, which bolsters you and all allies beautifully. Pair up with skilled Mekboys, Generals, and Tau Commanders, and you'll turn a firing line into a bloodbath waiting to happen. Even better, this effects both your minions and you as well, giving the final piece you need for nuke builds and support builds alike. By this point, all avenues are open, and the Chaos Sorcerer is an absolute delight to play - you will constantly unlock new tricks and new spells to try, and you'll find something that works for you.

Special note needs be made of the two achievement wargears. The Accursed Idol gives you the ability to damage opponents that hit you - invaluable for Doomblast Tanks and a godsend to other melee loadouts, though it's generally not taken that often due to overlap with the Rubric Helm and Orb of Vengeance. The Cataclysmic Hellblade is the single strongest weapon in the Chaos Sorcerer's entire arsenal damage-wise, but comes at a steep price, so it's a very finicky option unless you're planning to make a Muscle Wizard.

Tactics & Strategy

  • On the Muscle Wizard's First Build: Fuck the Spells, I have Fists
    • Being a Muscle Wizard is both possible and, curiously enough, remarkably effective - and even more surprisingly, it has a build viable at low levels; an easy-to-use Muscle Wizard build first becomes available at about level 5 - provided you have the DLC. Start with the Oracle Stave and Rubric Helm, throw on the Vestments, Icon of Greater Summoning, either Tome of Doom or Accursed Idol, and either Consume or Orb of Blood. This gives you a free-to-use periodically make-shit-explode button in the Stave, a massive armor spike courtesy of the Rubric Helm, the ability to heal yourself in a pinch, and a means of either easily splattering small crowds or an errand vehicle threat, or to quickly deal retaliatory damage. As this build advances, cycling out the Vestments for the Armor of Might Undivided is a good idea, and, as ever, tossing Blood Orb/Consume for Rite of Sustenance, though individual tastes should always play a part.
  • On the Muscle Wizard's Second Build: Doomblasting Tank
    • A favorite of several in Last Stand, this build involves taking the Sword of Spite, backing it with the Rubric Helm and both Sorcery Sigils. For Armor, you want either the Robe of Unholy Fortitude or one of the Narcissist Armors, and either Icon of Greater Summoning (for the Narcissistic Sorcerer) or Icon of Pain (for the opposite). Get in close, fire off Doomblast, enjoy massive armor improvement that makes you stay in the fight, rinse, repeat. Narcissistic variants of this build have better defense and health, but the Fortitude variant offers more energy, higher damage, and the ability to gain disposable asshole minions from low-level minions.
  • On the Muscle Wizard's Third Build: Hellblade Asshole
    • The Cataclysmic Hellblade is, without a doubt, one of the coolest wargear options in the game, offering matchless DPS and fantastic fluff, but it can be extremely hard to use for even the most Muscly of Wizards. Essentially, it trades spellcasting and efficiency for a melee weapon that casts a minor punch-enemy-in-balls spell with every swing. There's several ways to make this weapon work, but the most tried-and-proven is to pair it with either Narcissistic armor, and the Rite of Sustenance. This will allow the sorcerer to replenish about half of his spent mana from swinging the Hellblade with every swing and heals him significantly each time he swings at something. For further lulz, pair this with Orb of Vengeance and either Accursed Idol or Rubric Helm. Whilst this may ultimately be almost too straightforward, and doesn't do very well on Coliseum, it handles extremely well on Anvil and can make a mockery of the later vehicle waves.
  • On Achievements:
    • Magic Missiler (Which unlocks the Accursed Idol) is a simple one. Just spend 3,500 Energy, which a Sorcerer will do with no trouble.
    • There Can Be Only One (Which unlocks the Catclysmic Hellblade) is unlocked just by clearing Wave 16 of the Bloodied Coliseum (The Clone wave). Beat them and you win. Just beware what you build your Sorcerer with, (Icon of Summmoning especially) as it could make getting this much harder without you meaning for it to.
  • On Daemonic Doppleganger Tactics:
    • You can clone any normal enemy with Daemonic Doppleganger except for the following: Heroes of any sort, walkers (including Wraithlords and Bloodcrushers), vehicles, super-heavy units of any kind, and a few rare units that count as heroes, such as Zoanthropes and Lictors.
    • With Icon of Greater Summoning, you can clone any of the units on the above list except for Super-Heavies.
    • For Sorcerers that lack the Icon of Greater Summoning - either because they don't have it yet, or because they are using the other Icons - the best minions are ones that have either good abilities, good damage, or versatility. Particularly prized units for each faction are as follows: Ork Stikkbombas (good damage; free grenades), Ork Stormboyz (Jetpacking and good damage), Tyranid Warriors (either ranged or melee formats are win), Tyranid Raveners (huge ranged damage and burrowstrike), Eldar Wraithguards (massive damage and suppression), Eldar Warp Spiders (Great damage and hard to pin down), Imperial Guard Catachans (good damage at any range, plus grenades), Imperial Guard Ogryns (damage sponges), Chaos Marines (good durability and solid in close-combat), Chaos Cultists (Incredibly Fragile, but the grenade launcher ones absolutely dump out unnaturally high ranged DPS), Bloodletters (See Chaos Marines), Space Marine Scouts (ridiculously high damage to the point of being almost game-breaking; also grenades), and Assault Marines (High damage, good mobility).
    • Avoid cloning the following unless there is no better option: Eldar Grav Platform Teams (shitty AI makes them almost unusuable), Banshees (remarkably fragile and come in squad sizes too small for a player to properly exploit), Imperial Guard Heavy Weapons Teams (See Grav Platform Team), Imperial Stormtroopers (Squad size too small to be that useful), Tyranid Tyrant Guards (they exist to tank and nothing else; unlike the Hive Tyrant's guard, this one almost never uses Taunt), and Space Marine Devastator Squad (see also: Grav Platform Team and Heavy Weapons Team).
    • With the Icon, you want tougher, stronger minions, or ones with really handy abilities.
    • For Bloodied Coliseum, this means the Wave 4 Captain and Apothecaries, the Wave 8 Zoanthropes, Wave 12 Wraithlords, wave 16 Dopplegangers, Wave 17 Lictor Alpha and Carnifexes, Wave 18 Ork Warboss and Deff Dreads, Wave 19 Elite Terminator and Dreadnaughts, and Araghast on Wave 20.
    • For Anvil of Khorne, grab fucking any vehicle you want, but especially the Predators, Leman Russ, and Fire Prisms. Assault Cannon Dreadnaughts are fine too.
    • Wave 16 Heroes on Coliseum are especially highly-prized for Sorcerers with the Icon of Greater Summoning, especially if you can keep them alive. Not only will they provide extra firepower, but they are the only minion capable of reviving players. This alone justifies their use, but if you can clone say, a high-level Hive Tyrant or Shas'O, the game just got infinitely easier for you.
  • On Narcissist Sorcerer Tactics:
    • Losing your Doppleganger ability is fucking huge. Without the clones to screen for you or provide fire support, you lose out on both staying power and damage, and you aren't able to benefit from the advantages of the Armor of Eternal War (damage buff), Deathless (survivability boost), or Robes of Unholy Fortitude, either, so your default damage and initial survivability, before upgrades, will be lower. The key, thus, with the Narcissist Sorcerer is to make up for this in other areas.
    • The central advantage to going Narcissist comes from the durability boost via Icon of Greater Summoning and benefitting directly from Daemonic Gifts. A special note needs be made as well for wargear options that benefit the Sorcerer more, such as the Mark of Tzeentch and Consume.
    • Both Narcissistic Armors give decent buffs; the Armor of Might Undivided gives better armor and access to both Fearless and Unshakable, whilst the Vestments of Power Undivided give increased energy regeneration - something that is invariably valuable on a character as energy-hungry as the Sorcerer. Both are excellent; use them well.
    • For a Narcissistic Sorcerer, Daemonic Gifts go from being gimmicky fun to being undeniably powerful options, and completely change how you fight. If you don't have one on a Narcissistic Sorcerer, you'd almost invariably be better-served by going with the Robe of Unholy Fortitude, which will give you notably enhanced durability whilst not robbing you of your ability to call minions.
    • Gift of Retaliation means Doomblasts without the Sword of Spite, which means fundamentally you get two primary spells from one character. Better still, it benefits from the Sigils of Greater/Master Sorcery. Using this carefully allows you to become immensely powerful: this combination with any of the primary spellcasting weapons makes for a lethally-powerful Sorcerer who can be remarkably hard to pin down because the Gift will exterminate standard melee enemies and buff the Sorcerer all at once. The effects of the Gift and Sword of Spite do not stack, so make sure that if you're taking the Gift of Retaliation, you use something other than the Sword of Spite.
    • Gift of Sustenance allows you to heal by inflicting damage, and regain energy from close-combat kills, functionally giving a Narcissist Sorcerer a counterpart to the Mekboy's Big Choppa in that it lets him recover energy by bashing enemies with a stick. Alternately, it can take the edge off using the Cataclysmic Hellblade, or bolster a Sorcerer's use of the likes of the Oracle Stave. The survival rate boost it gives is sizable, and should be exploited at the first opportunity, even if it isn't as flagrantly overpowered as it used to be.
    • Gift of Spite isn't hugely powerful, but gives one last "fuck you" when you die. Again comparable to the Mekboy's suicide bombs, Gift of Spite is especially handy in scenarios like Wave 9 of Bloodied Coliseum, where players tend to get swarmed and subsuquently devoured by the Eldar Banshees. This gift can ensure that even if the Sorcerer goes down, the warp rift he generates gives those nasties an unpleasant surprise. It also means that there's a legitimate reason for you to use something like a Guerilla Doombolter build, which tends to die quickly under enemy fire, but ultimately this particular Gift tends to be more useful on minions.
    • Tome of Hunger goes from being a mediocre ability for a Summoner to being a godsend for a Narcissistic Sorcerer. For 25 Energy, you can restore 75 Health - no minion required. This gives a huge amount of survivability to the Sorcerer provided you have decent micromanagement and can help keep you alive that much longer. The cost is expensive, but certainly worth it if it means surviving to see a later wave.
    • Mark of Tzeentch also goes from being mediocre to being good for a Narcissistic Sorcerer. The doubled energy boost means enough energy to cast Consume twice, or hurl out 2 Doombolts and a Curse of Tzeentch. You can do a lot with 50 Energy, so make good use of it.

Build Options

Below lies a list of some popular and effective Chaos Sorcerer builds.

  • Suicide Minion Bomber
    • Equip a Sorcerer with the Weapon of your choosing, Armor of Eternal War, Tome of Hunger OR Greater Sorcery Sigil, Gift of Spite, Gift of Retaliation, and Icon of Pain.
      • Clone melee-focused enemies, such as Hormagaunts, Banshees, and Tyranid Warriors. Anything with a good squad-size is ideal, and a focus on close-combat is a must.
      • Get your minions to attack a target, then blow them up either by resummoning them or using Consume. The resulting warp-rifts will shred most conventional foes.
      • You can alternately clone a squad in the middle of a big cluster, and blow them up accordingly.
      • Use your primary spell to back up your minion-suicide-bombers.
      • Surprisingly survivable if the Tome of Hunger variant is used, due to Consume abuse.
      • Greater Sorcery Sigil enhances your primary spell and the Gift of Retaliation, but Tome of Hunger is genuinely better for this purpose.
  • Lord Of The Clones - Bringing the Beer & Pretzels Bullshit from the tabletop version of 40k, this build is the best Clone build ever. Watch your Clone try to die while it carries your team and acts as a huge fire magnet. Micro isn't essential, but it is appreciated. So you can teleport around, cook mooks and res teammates, or just camp in a building, smoke weed/drink beers and complain to the other players about how bad tabletop 40k is (and they will agree)
    • Wargear; and why:
      • Staff of Tzeentch - Mobility is essential, especially with a squishy Sorc like this. It will get you out of tight spots, and get you close to a unit you want to clone and then get the fuck out of dodge. It will also save you from the dreaded Wave 20 Sorc glitch on Anvil (when Wave 19 ends, your Sorc will start Wave 20 exactly where he was at the end of Wave 19, which usually means you start Wave 20 dead or severely disadvantaged.)
      • Robes of the Deathless - It gives you a 2nd life, but more importantly it gives your Clone a 2nd life. Just when you thought your Predator got killed by Stikkbommaz, its health shoots back up and Doomblasts them all to shit.
      • Daemonic Gift of Retaliation - Gives your Clone Doomblast. Essential for your Clone's survival and offense as it will clear out enemies when it gets swamped and adds another source of damage.
      • Daemonic Gift of Sustenance - Gives your Clone Zealous, another essential trait your Clone needs to stay alive. NOTE: The life leech only applies to ranged attacks. However, some melee units' attacks count as ranged, eg. Lictor, Bloodcrusher, Dreadnaughts.
      • Sigil of Greater Sorcery - Increases the size of your Clone's Doomblast. A bigger Doomblast is more useful than a more powerful Doomblast, which is also relevant to the size of your Clone. It also gives your Sorc some offense; your Warp now burns the ground on arrival, which can be stacked to cook unarmored mooks very quickly.
      • Icon of Summoning - Lets you clone the big bad toys you need to kick ass. Your team will love you when you bring a Predator or Bloodcrusher to punch face.
  • Utility Clones - Coliseum
    • Guardsmen - Best early shooty infantry, doing the most damage with the largest squad size. Fragile but you get what you pay for.
    • Apothecary - Don't overlook the Wave 4 Apothecaries that show up with the Force Commander. Their damage is mediocre, but they can heal you, your allies, and, more importantly, can revive you with their heal ability, making them the only clone capable of doing so before wave 16.
    • Zoanthrope - Slow as shit and tends to die in seconds if isolated, but can completely obliterate an entire attack wave in one go, which kind of speaks for itself.
    • Wraithlord - Slow and easily isolated, but tough and with great damage output. Excellent as a distraction and good for smacking other heavies, and not a whole lot else.
    • Ravener - Risky business. Burrowstrike and the clone buffs gives them survivability, and their massive damage output from afar is a huge boon, but they tend to wither extremely quickly - even with the various clone buffs - if targetted heavily. They're definitely worth using, but they face strict competition from other clones and have a bad tendency to burrow their way straight into trouble.
    • Carnifex - Painfully slow. Huge target. Absolutely gigantic HP and damage, however, and with buffs will last the rest of the game. Worth considering because the other clones of note at this point are either more fragile or more limited.
    • Killa Kan: Essentially the same as the Wraithlord. Hits hard up-close and afar, but has poor mobility and is easily worn down. Ideal as a distraction, but can be quite effective if allowed to stick around.
    • Dreadnought Ranged or melee, probably the best line-holding clone that isn't a hero or the like. Similar to the Kan and Wraithlord, but a bit better in general and with smarter AI.
    • First Company Terminator - This asshole is entirely subjective; his AI may derp out or he gets overwhelmed; alternately his neurons can fire on all cylinders and he brings power-fisted rape at close range and rocket barrages from afar. If you get the latter, he's amazing. If you get the former, he's shit.
  • Top Clones - Coliseum
    • Force Commander - He is amazing all the way up to Wave 16 and possibly further, depending on the quality of your teammates. He simply won't die. The only thing that can ruin his day is if he gets Suppressed by Eldar Warp Spiders and Grav Platforms, where he becomes a sitting duck. If he stays alive, he will serve you well. If he does not, there are other choices.
    • Warriors - Fast, good damage and a jumping attack. They have reasonable health, decent armor, Armor-Piercing melee, and are actually incredibly survivable. They work fantastic with Gift of Retaliation and are a strong candidate for one of the best early-game minions; seeing these things last all the way up to wave 16 is not unheard of for some builds.
    • Player Clones - Wave 16 is a bitch, especially if your team has good wargear. But these clones are the only clones you can clone that will res your team. Tau is always first choice because it is the only character designed specifically for Last Stand and the AI knows it, followed by Hive Tyrant, Captain and possibly even your own clone, as it may clone a good clone if you're lucky. Your choice depends on the quality of your teammates. A Rocket Run Clone won't spam Rockets as often as you need. Eldar Clone cannot use Conceal and the AI will not micro the way you need it to. Your own clone will probably die very quickly, but its ability to clone other units is quite hilarious. Nevertheless, a teammate equivalent with Deathless, Doomblast and Zealous is very impressive and will help greatly in the final waves.
    • Lictor - A favorite of Anvil, he shows up in Coliseum as well and is just as much as a screaming claw-packing death machine. If you have Sustenance, is virtually unkillable.
    • Warboss - Tends to kind of derp out firing his big shoota and not do a hell of a lot else, but he's really good at that. Arguably a better beat-stick than the Force Commander, he has better damage at both ranges and periodically chucks stikkbombz.
    • Araghast the Pillager - He's fucking Araghast. Of course you fucking clone his ass immediately. He uses Let the Galaxy Burn.
  • Utility Clones - Anvil
    • Cultists - Cultists are incredibly fragile, but they have ridiculously disproportionate damage due to their high squad size, and they benefit fully from your clone buffs. Early on, one of the best choices, though they tend to die horribly if so much as looked at by anything with AOE.
    • Wraithguard - Pins, does AOE, and is quite hard to kill with clone buffs. Slow as ass however and easily mobbed, which hinders how useful they could otherwise be.
    • Assault Marines - They're fairly tough and can get anywhere, which is a huge advantage. They're pretty mediocre otherwise, and tend to go down quickly against vehicles or monstrous creatures.
    • Catachan Devils - These guys get special mention. They do pretty good damage, and periodically chuck grenades. A good squad size and knockback makes them quite versatile and surprisingly hard to kill for a guard unit, and unlike Stormtroopers they get a decent number per squad.
    • Fire Prism - Kind of a meh tank, but it's still very much a tank and eminently capable of wrecking someone's shit. Its main problem is that it chooses targets badly and relies heavily on its main laser; this renders it rather poor when firing at smaller units and especially vulnerable to being mobbed.
    • Leman Russ and Looted Tank - Two vehicles, almost identical performance and role. Both of these do good damage, have both ordnance weapons and projectiles, and hose out a lot of damage in a hurry - indeed, the Leman and Looted can both out-damage a Predator of either flavor in the short-term. The problem is that both the Leman and Looted have way worse rear armor and die horribly if so much as looked at from behind, even with upgrades, and their damage output is much more variable and less reliable than the Predators. A good stopgap.
    • Chaos Dreadnought One might think these would be a bad choice, and admittedly, they tend to not be quite as good as regular Dreads vs vehicle targets, but their autocannons have AOE, which means they'll mulch lighter infantry and heal themselves rather quickly as part of the bargain. Not a bad choice in the absence of better.
  • Top Clones - Anvil
    • Lictor - One of the best clones you can get with this build, and early into the game. Lictors are fast, tough, high damage output and will only die when the whole map gangs up on them. Their attacks count as shooting, so Zealous will regen their health very quickly. You may be tempted to replace it with a Dread on Wave 8, but you shouldn't.
    • Bloodcrusher - The best melee tank clone bar none. Good speed, very tough with a very fast damage output. Attacks count as ranged, so Zealous will regen life very quickly. Your godly Bloodcrusher can solo the Swarmlord, Great Unclean One and even the Avatar. This doesn't mean it should. Give him support and he can carry all the way to the end of the game.
    • Predator Tank - Vanilla or Chaos, doesn't matter. This beast will find it very hard to die, as multiple guns will keep regenerating its health, and the main cannon will punch out mobs and bosses alike. When it gets swarmed, the huge Doomblasts will clear out mobs. If your team is lacking in firepower, this will be your best choice all the way to the end. Unlike the Leman Russ, the Predator sponsons have a 180 degree firing arc, and is much tougher than the Russ. Sit in a building and watch your tank carry the game.
  • Tips & Strategy - Your only job is to make clones and res dead teammates. The Clone will literally do all the killing for you. But you can still contribute:
    • You can use your Warp teleport fire to make traps that will cook enemies on arrival. Teleport onto an enemy spawn point at least 3 times. The more the better, but don't use up all your Energy or else you won't be able to teleport away. 5 teleports on a single spot will stack enough fire damage to kill Guardsmen, Culists, Gaunts and Stormtroopers in seconds. A good tactic against IG waves. This isn't very effective against Marines due to their toughness, or Eldar due to their high damage against your lack of armor.
    • Even if you die, your resurection isn't a priority, as your Clone will still be dominating shit.
    • Although you can't control your Clone, it will eventually run to your location after some time. It will also retreat to your location very quickly if you die, providing a teammate with backup as they res you. If you need to move your Clone somewhere, just camp there and wait.
    • You can also sort-of control some Clone movement. If a Dread or Tank Clone is charging off somewhere you don't want it to, teleport right in front of its path and it will stop and relocate a target. Note that this only works on some of the larger Clones.
    • Good clone candidates are usually ranged units, due to Zealous. All clones will eventually get into melee, whether on their own or when swamped, so Doomblast is never really wasted. The best clone is always one that takes advantage of all the buffs you have provided.
    • Deathless reactivates after 30 seconds. You can tell when it's back by the large purple orb surrounding you and/or your clone, instead of counting the seconds.
    • A good way to survive later waves is to camp on a spawn point and use the teleport fire trick. The waves that appear on your spot are pretty much dead, which will help mitigate the swarming effect of the enemy if you camp in the middle. You can always teleport away from a bad situation.
    • You can confuse enemies by constantly entering and exiting a building. When enemies chase you, enter. When they turn away, exit and either assist or continue to trick other incoming enemies. Some enemies won't fall for this trick, such as Ork Nobz, Space Marines, Hormagaunts and Ogryns. Enemies who are right next to the building when you enter will not fall for this trick.
    • You can also teleport several times in front of a building, and then enter it. Enemies will attack the building and get burned in the process. If they haven't died yet, your Clone will come to your rescue. Very effective against Banshees, who can't damage the building very well and will cook very quickly.
  • Knockback spam
    • Gear you need: Fairly much only the Orb of Unholy Might is required
    • Recommended teammates: Tau+Lord General
    • Strategy: On Bloodied Coliseum, have the Tau abuse the map quirk that allows him to never be hit by melee units (this is achieved by having him deploy his drone on some of the rocks on the lower corner of the map near the chain, and then jumping into the rocks giving him permanent heavy cover) It is best if he has twin linked Flamethrowers or burst cannons and the anti tank missiles. The lord General must have a flamer or grenade launcher with the bolter turret. Essentially everyone camps next to the Tau in his glitched spot (If you get the right staff, you can teleport in there just before he lands so you can both stay safe) Depending on armor and weapons you should have enough energy recharge to be able to recast Unholy might exactly as it wears off, causing all of your firepower to deal knockback, this makes the burst cannons ludicrous as they can actually keep units hovering in midair from the sheer amount of knockback they are taking, the lord general and his minions can also cause ridiculous knockback to anything that even TRIES to get close. The only things you need to worry about are your clones and vehicles.
  • KABOOM
    • Gear you need: Sword of Spite, Armor of Might Undivided, Sigil of Greater Sorcery, Sigil of Master Sorcery, Daemonic Gift of Sustenance, Icon of Summoning
    • Explanation: You are essentially the team's main source of mob-killing with your doomblast spam, and all your armor and items help make sure that you can at least survive whatever they throw at you. Seriously, don't stop running into a group and doomblasting unless thr group just proves to be too big. However, even then, you can use doomblast to give yourself room against them.
  • Curse Knight
    • Equip a Sorcerer with the Sword of Fate, Armor of Might Undivided, Greater and Master Sorcery Sigil, Gift of Retaliation, and either Icon of Pain or Icon of Summoning.
      • Curse of Tzeentch under both sigils heals the Sorcerer to a fantastic degree, Armor of Might gives good defense and fearless/unshakable, and Gift of Retaliation ensures you aren't crippled if you get mobbed.
      • Curse weaker foes or those being attacked by teammates for quick mob removal. Target large targets for protracted healing.
      • Curse of Tzeentch stacks. Abuse this to keep your health up in fights.
  • Disco Clone

Gear you need: Staff of Demonic Flame, Armor of Eternal War, Sigil of Greater Mastery, Demonic Gift of Retaliation, Demonic Gift of Sustenance, Icon of Summoning

Maps: Anvil of Khorne, Bloodied Colosseum

Explanation: This hybrid build makes you the main source of damage in your team. While you don't have mobility and are quite frail, your clone is strong enough to protect you against almost anything, especially if you can clone something big like a Fire Prism or the unholy Predator; hide behind it and let it destroy anything in sight, regaining health and energy for any damage dealt (hence the name of the build). Thanks to Doomblast he will protect you more efficently and he will also do more damage thanks to Combat Master. But that's not all: what kind of master let his minion take all the glory? With double balls Let The Galaxy Burn! and Combat Master you can easily annihilate entire waves, destroing anything short of vehicles and heroes (for wich there is your big, chunky clone). Remember, though, that, until you can clone something big to hide yourself behind, you must position yourself well, 'cause you are still a weak sorcerer without mobility. Still, one of the, if not THE, most damaging build in Last Stand!


  • Carry
    • Warp, Deathless, Doombolt, Greater Sorcery, Master Sorcery, Clone. Can go for more energy and healing orb instead of flames if teammates have aoe covered.
      • Shootas, Warriors, Wraithlord (bulky team), Raveners (lean team), Carnifex. Wraithlord and Carnifex will wipe enemy clones in a couple swings. Also a slow threat if the enemy sorcerer clones. Banshees, Raveners, Tanks
      • Burn ranged blobs. Wait for teammates and clone to aggro in later waves.
      • Vs melee set up and spike a doombolt. Teleport (in place) to prevent knockback.
      • Wait til any enemy clone uses their jump ability before chasing with doombolt. Don't be the aggro.
      • Final wave is safest to warp behind clone and not initiate. Pick off weakened clones with doombolt.
      • Enough damage to win with two newbs. Don't revive them til clone aggros. Vulnerable to knockback, Terminator cyclone strike, let the galaxy burn, tau missle (stay out of range). Keep finger on teleport key.
The heroes of Last Stand
Space Marine Captain - Chaos Sorcerer - Eldar Farseer - Hive Tyrant
Lord General - Ork Mekboy - Tau Commander - Necron Overlord
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