8th Ed. The Channeling staff - do you use it and where ?

[Grifthin]

Here's a question - does anybody ever use the channeling staff ? I was thinking of fielding a level 1 skink priest + Staff in my list just for the 5+ to get a extra dice. Would a slann + Level 2 Priest on engine + level 1 for channeling be worth it you think ? Does anyone here have any experience using it ?

 

[oldblood62]

I have used it for my skink priest twice with good results! I use it with the plaque of topek (or whatever the extra spell item is called)and I run the priest with a slann. throue 2 games I have ended up with 4 extra dice just from him!!! For as cheap as it is that's a great value!!! It really helps in those magic phases where u roll 7 with a 4and 3 have n 5 die to his 3 with a free one from the slann for every spell it ends up getting u an extra spell cast attempt which can be big!!!

 

[Arli]

That 5+ would be great. Also, if you happen to get the Arcane ruin in the terrain (you would be able to channel 4 dice at 5+). That would be sweet.

 

[vapor]

It only adds ~17% to your chance to channel for the wizard you give it to and it eats up an arcane item slot. Not worth it IMO. If you really want the extra dice spend the 20 extra points for the Forbidden Rod, since it lets you pick exactly when you get those needed dice.

 

[JohnMavrick]

Sure it might only add 17% to your attempt at channeling but we're talking about increasing your chances of getting that extra dice from a 1 in 6 chance to a 1 in 3 chance! That's pretty big IMO.

Also I'm not sure I'd ever want to take the forbidden rod. With the negative effect it can hurt a poor skink priest...just doesn't seem worth it to me.

Something else you might consider is a power stone. Though it's a one time use item it still grants you =2 power dice for a spell (phase) so in the off chance you roll horribly it'll really come in handy. Plus your opponent won't be thinking about it when you only have a single dice left to cast and he/she throws all the dispel against a single spell.

 

[Bibamus]

I have used it for my skink priest twice with good results! I use it with the plaque of topek (or whatever the extra spell item is called)and I run the priest with a slann

isn't the staff an arcane item? in that case you can't have both it and the plaque of tepok and the same character

 

[oldblood62]

I meant the ruby ring for the extra spell .... Sry ..but I still stand by the item for being so cheap I get a guaranteed offensive spell which is what I want for my skink priest to go with my lore of life slann and all those buff spells and regrowth! I used the combo yesterday and hit 2 of my channels on 5s in 4 turns before the enemy surrendered due to have having only about 250 points left on the board!

 

[strewart]

I've personally never rolled a 6 so far to channel extra dice, and not sure I could justify an item that would increase it to 5+ instead.

@John, interestingly 1/6 is ~17% thus when you say increasing from 1/6 to 1/3 is good, you are really increasing from 1/6 to 2/6 which is ~17%. 17% sounds not that good, 1/6 - 1/3 sounds good, but they are the same thing.

 

[Liquidwulfe]

Its 15 points for an average of one extra die a game.

 

[Bibamus]

you're probably better off with the cube of darkness really. its a 50% chance to end the magic phase wich usually is better than an extra die per game wich may occur when the enemy rolls horribly for his casting and the phsae ends anfter the 1st spell (it did happen to me)

 

[JohnMavrick]

Yeah 17% better and 1/3 is the same...but it sure does sound better when you say it goes from 1/6 to 1/3! LoL.

Something else to consider, and it's a long shot so by no means depend on this, but the terrain peice 'elven waystone' increases your mage's ability to channel by 1. Thus if you have the staff of channeling and you place your mage near the waystone your now rolling a 4. This is quite a dramatic from a six.

But as I said, the chances of getting an elven waystone are VERY slim.