Heroic Heroes: Top 10 Heroes for Heroic Channelling

Good morning gamers,

In our last post, we looked at the heroes who can get the most out of Heroic Accuracy. In today's post, we'll be looking at the Top 5 heroes for using a far more ubiquitous heroic action: Heroic Channeling. Like Heroic Accuracy, I've talked about Heroic Channelling as one of the Top 5 ways to waste a Might point - and this is driven in no small part by how niche the increased effects of a channelled spell might be. Some spells (like Blinding Light) become a TON better when channelled, while others only have marginal benefits (like Immobilize or Chill Soul). Still others often provide D3 of something instead of 1 of something (like Strengthen Will or Banishment), but these spells can end up doing nothing more than the unchannelled version.

Before reading any further, I highly recommend you catch up on our recent series on magic, where I went through all of the magical powers in the game by topic to showcase how you can use each of the spells - and in each post, there's a discussion for when to channel and when to cast normally (spoiler alert: there are some spells that are just not worth channelling. Like ever).

What Does the Heroic Action Do?

Heroic Channelling is declared in the Move phase and allows the hero who calls it to use the "channelled" version of a spell that he/she has in his/her list of magical powers. In order for this heroic action to take effect, a caster needs to:

• Not be charged before they cast a magical power;
• Successfully cast the magical power they wish to channel; and
• If the spell targets an enemy model, the enemy model needs to either not try to resist the magical power OR needs to fail to resist the magical power.

If any of these situations aren't met, then the Might point is wasted and cannot be used. It should be clear that models that have this heroic action need to have magical powers in their profile AND need to have Might points. That said, there are a few models (Thranduil with the Circlet of Kings, Tom Bombadil, Goldberry, and Barrow-Wights) who have access to magical powers, but DON'T have Heroic Channelling in their profiles. For Thranduil, this is because (I presume) his magical powers are once-per-game and come from an item, while the other three lack Heroic Channelling because (again, presumption) they don't have any Might.

When Do You No-Kidding-Actually-Use-It?

As I mentioned in a post on Magic almost two years ago, there are some spells that you should always channel, some spells that are good to channel in certain situations, and some spells that you should never channel. These recommendations more-or-less held during my more recent series on magic, but could be summarized like this:

• Always channel a spell that has long-last impacts on the game when channeled (like Blinding Light, Terrifying Aura - though casting both is often too much of a drain, so that would need to be a soft "always");
• It is good to channel a spell that will force your opponent to spend Will to block it (Drain Courage, Wither, Banishment, Flameburst);
  
• Sometimes channel a spell when it gives you a tactical advantage (Immobilize et al, Sorcerous Blast, Fortify Spirit, Wrath of Bruinen); and
  
• Don't channel a spell if the benefits it gives you run the risk of not doing anything (Chill Soul, Renew/Blessing of the Valar, Your Staff is Broken).
  

Obviously there's a lot of context required for whether you should or shouldn't channel something - we got into all that in our most recent series on magic. For the purposes of this post, I've decided to look at situations where you might need to channel a spell (thereby avoiding the issue of context in this discussion). I should mention that on the whole, most spells don't need to be channelled, so while this is a great topic for discussion, most of the time, you won't need to worry about this too much.

How Can You Waste The Heroic Action?

The simplest way to waste this heroic action is to be charged before you can cast the magical power. While you'd think this wouldn't happen very often, the most common occurrence for these wastes of Might come from getting excited at the start of the Move phase with a spell you want to channel and then watching your opponent with priority maneuver his army away from you OR manages to charge the caster with an unexpected move. These things happen, even to the best players.

As we discussed in our post on ways to waste Might points, you can waste this heroic action if you channel a spell that changes a +1 bonus to some stat to a +D3 bonus to that stat (Blessing of the Valar restores 1 Fate point or D3 Fate points depending on whether it's channelled). If you were to channel this spell with Galadriel and cast it on Celeborn (let's say he has spent 3 Fate points), you might restore 2-3 Fate points on him. There is an off chance, however, that you'll only restore 1 Fate point (which is the exact same amount of Fate as you would have restored normally). This happens - and as a result, I don't generally recommend channeling these kinds of spells (one-out-of-three times, it'll waste your Might point).

One final way you can waste this heroic action is if your opponent moves before you and moves his troops AWAY from your caster so that he's out of casting range. This generally happens when you're trying to cast a short-range spell OR if the caster is infantry and the intended target (or all possible targets) are cavalry/flying models. While many casters have mounts available to them, some do not (like Kardush or Gildor). When faced with this kind of match-up, you probably don't want to channel unless there's a way to guarantee that you'll be able to tie down your intended target.

Criteria for Finalists

With all this in mind, here's the criteria we're using for our Top 5s today:

• The spells the caster has get much better when channelled;
  
• The caster's Might doesn't compete with other uses for Might; and
  
• Spells that are channelled should have a low casting value (making it more likely that they go off in the first place).

Top 5 Heroes - Forces of Evil

#5: Fury/Transfix Shamans (Barad-Dur, Mordor, Moria, Isengard, Wolves of Isengard LL, Assault on Helm's Deep LL, Army of Gothmog)

Whether you're an Orc Shaman, Moria Goblin Shaman, or Uruk-Hai Shaman, your Might point is going to be used for one of two things: channelling Fury or calling a Heroic Move. While there is some debate between us TMAT admins about the utility of a 6+ save, we all agree that a 6+ save when expensive models are on the line is useful and helpful. As was mentioned above, long-lasting benefits of a channelled spell are good - and few spells can have such long-lasting benefits as Fury. That said, a 6+ save isn't reliable, so even when you channel Fury, you should still expect to fail to save A LOT of Wounds (any wounds you do save should come as a happy surprise, not an expectation).

#4: Saruman (Isengard)

Saruman's spells don't often have to be channelled, but you can get some good use out of channelling Terrifying Aura on Saruman himself and channelling Flameburst on models that you want to take out of action for a while. In some rare cases, a channelled Immobilize/Command spell will also make fighting a big hero much easier for your grunts (your heroes don't normally need a reduction in Fight Value/Attacks to be effective). While upping the Strength of your Sorcerous Blast hits can make them more damaging, you'd need to be hitting a LOT of models for that to pay off. With the recent Designer Commentaries clarifying that you can't spend Might to boost the S3/S4 collateral hits, I guess there's a case for channelling it just so it's easier to wound those models. Still, you'd need a pretty compelling reason.

#3: Most Ringwraiths who aren't the Witch-King (Barad-Dur, Mordor, Angmar)

I've long said that the two best spells in a Ringwraith's arsenal are Drain Courage and Transfix - because of all their spells, these two spells have remained easy to cast and effective at pin-point weakening/neutralizing key models. Sure, neither spell does damage, but both make sure that an enemy model is unlikely to be able to charge Terrifying models (like Ringwraiths) and unable to make Strikes during the turn (if they're already engaged). 

Compel is slightly more difficult to cast/channel, but with 2 dice, you can reliably cast the spell with the same amount of resources you probably use to cast Transfix. With all of the pain that a Ringwraith can dole out with magic, channelling spells comes down to whether or not you think channelling Transfix/Compel is worth doing. Drain Courage and arguably Instill Fear are great spells to channel because they force your opponent to spend Might/Will to charge an enemy model (or hold their position).

#2: The Witch-King of Angmar (Barad-Dur, Angmar, Mordor)

The Witch-King takes a completely different slot than the rest of the Ringwraiths in the game for two reasons: first and foremost, his Might is in greater demand because he has access to Heroic Actions other than Heroic Channelling (Khamul does too, but let's face it, he's not channelling anything!). With access to Strike (and on rare occasions, Heroic Resolve), you need to really decide how those Might points are going to be spent. Despite this competition for resources, I think the Witch-King is a better candidate than other Ringwraiths for channeling spells because he's probably rocking the Crown of Morgul (granting him a reroll to one of his casting dice - which both lowers the chance that the casting attempt fails AND increases the chance of getting a high roll).

The second reason is simple: he has 3 Might. Generic Ringwraiths are likely to call at least 1 Heroic March in the game (March is really the only reason to take these guys over named wraiths - unless you're running he new Legendary Legion or need your wraiths "on the cheap") and so they'll be torn between calling a Heroic Move or a Heroic Channel with their other Might point. With the Witch-King, even if you call 2 Heroic Strikes/Combats during the game (depending on what you face), you probably have a Might point lying around to channel "just because" - though channelling things shouldn't be done flippantly. 

By the way, I'm making the assumption that despite the Witch-King and generic Ringwraiths having a variable amount of Might, you are always going to pay for all the Might every time you take them - I can't see any situation where you'd look at extra Might for 5 points/Might point and say, "No, I'm good with what I got." As great as the Witch-King is, his competition with Heroic Strike brings him in at #2 today behind . . .

#1: The Necromancer of Dol Guldur (The Dark Powers of Dol Guldur)

When I started writing this post and mapping out this series, I was putting the finishing touches on the Mastering Magic series that we just finished - and let me tell you, I had in the back of my mind that the Necromancer was going to not only make the list but be really, REALLY high. When comparing his need for Might to other characters, it wasn't even close - he only has Heroic Channelling, so there's no competition there with other heroic actions, besides maybe Heroic Moves. His limited Attacks and Will of Evil rule mean that you probably avoid getting him into fights unless he's absolutely necessary, so he won't need to use his Might to boost dueling rolls very often either. With pretty easy casting levels and a free die if he spends 1+ Will to cast a spell, he probably won't have to boost many casting rolls. So what is your Might for? Channelling!

While Ringwraiths have a pretty good array of spells that are great when channelled (Drain Courage and Instill Fear, circumstantially Transfix/Compel), the Necromancer has all the same spells AND two new ones: Curse and Shroud of Shadows. Curse is great when channelled against models that have 2+ Fate points, since you can take them both out with a single cast. It's also a much better way than Chill Soul of clearing out Fate on models that have 3 Fate (especially if those Fate points are rerollable). Shroud of Shadows halves an opponent's Fight Value when the target of Shroud of Shadows engages that model - which is great when paired with the Necromancer's F7 stat OR when cast on a friendly hero who is good at killing things (like the Keeper of the Dungeons, Azog, Bolg, or the Witch-King in his Dol Guldur Nazgul form).

For me, the addition of these two spells, augmenting an already-great array of spells that can be channelled, AND no real competition for his Might makes the Necromancer the clear winner. If I had to consider both Good and Evil models together, I think he'd still win!

Note: for those of you who were waiting to see the Dark Lord Sauron show up on this list, I excluded him because he always has something else to use his Might points for. You probably want to save at least 1 Might point to promote Ring saves and you're probably going to want to call at least 1 Heroic Combat or Heroic Strike during the game (depends on what you're up against and how afraid you are of "just losing the fight and seeing what happens"). You may also need to promote important Chill Soul casts in order to kill models that your opponent has on objectives. In a recent tournament, I coached my son while he used Sauron and we always blew through Sauron's Might to get what was needed for each game. Did we channel any spells at all? Absolutely none. Were we tempted to do so? Absolutely not.

Top 5 Heroes - Forces of Good

#5: Gandalf the White (Minas Tirith)

While I think Gandalf the White is the best caster in the game for the Forces of Good (certainly one of the top 5 casting heroes in the game as a whole), he's not going to be the best model for calling Heroic Channel. While everyone agrees that he has a vast array of spells that are great when channelled (Blinding Light, Terrifying Aura, Fortify Spirit, circumstantially Banishment/Immobilize/Command), with only 3 Might points, there's no way you can channel them all. Add to this that he's got Strike/Move competing for your very limited Might, it shouldn't be that surprising that you won't be channelling that much. That said, his spells are great when channelled and so I think he deserves a mention here.

#4: Galadriel, Lady of Light (The White Council)

All three of Galadriel's spells are great when channelled in certain circumstances: Banishment can one-shot-kill many Spirit heroes (and could cause Sauron's army to break normally on a high D3 roll), forcing the targets to drain their Will quickly to prevent themselves from dying. When facing a lot of enemy casters, Fortify Spirit is amazing when channelled (75% chance of getting a 5+ on your roll, 55% chance of getting a 6 and auto-resisting). Finally, Instill Fear (when you have a 6" Courage reduction penalty bubble) can be debilitating against armies that don't auto-pass Courage tests. Galadriel might be the only hero in the game who has no spells that are lackluster when channelled.

So why is she down here at #4 instead of #1? Might competition. As a F6/3A hero, she's going to be fighting. With Heroic Strike and the need to boost important dueling rolls, I don't see her having that much Might around to cast (to say nothing of boosting any casting attempts that are really important). I'm glad she's on the list, but she's not going to be a great channelling hero (though she is a top-tier caster for sure).

#3: Galadriel (Lothlorien)

Blinding Light is a given here - if your opponent has any amount of archery that can threaten you, you WANT to channel this spell. With Immobilize and Command as well, there are situations where channelling one of these spells might be valuable as well (normally if Galadriel's husband is running into someone, I think). Blessing of the Valar is really not necessary to channel - though if Galadriel or Elrond/Gandalf are out of Fate, a channelled Blessing of the Valar could be quite useful (or maybe it would be better to take the Mirror).

So why does this version of Galadriel beat out her alter-ego? She has Heroic Defense and Heroic Resolve which COULD compete for time with Heroic Channelling, but if you aren't facing opponents with a lot of magic OR if you're keeping Galadriel away from danger, she's more likely to be free to call a Heroic Channel. Especially if you have good mid-tier heroes (like Haldir, Rumil, or Galadhrim Captains on armored horses), calling a Heroic Channel with Immobilize is really good. If cast against someone who's going to fight Haldir or Celeborn, calling a Heroic Channel saves Celeborn or Haldir to have to call a Heroic Strike later in the round - and they may even be able to Feint against their opponent so that they can reroll 1s on their Wounding rolls. That's a really good use for Galadriel's Might, no?

#2: Gandalf the Grey (lots of lists, but specifically the Shire)

Gandalf the Grey has a similar spell profile to Gandalf the White, but because he has fewer auric powers (no Fortify Spirit) and his spells are a bit harder to cast, he's more likely to be free to have Might free to channel the few that really matter. Beyond this, running him with the Shire allows you to run him with cheap units that will allow you to skip certain buffs (like Terrifying Aura, perhaps - though a channelled Terrifying Aura is very, VERY good).

I also think that if you can get a thematic ally for Tom Bombadil, it's probably the Shire. By including Gandalf with Tom Bombadil, you can get Might back that you wouldn't have gotten otherwise. Some people frown on Tom Bombadil in competitive play - but even if you don't take him, Gandalf is pretty free to channel with all 3 of his Might points if he wants to.

#1: Radagast the Brown (The White Council and possibly Radagast's Alliance)

Almost all of Radagast's spells are great when channelled - Terrifying Aura is good for keeping Radagast from being charged reliably, Panic Steed is a great way to clear out clumps of cavalry, Immobilize can be great at neutralizing a big hero/monster, and Nature's Wrath is a way of doing lots of damage. Aura of Dismay doesn't need to be channelled and neither does Renew - but the other four will eat up your Might pretty quickly. Unlike all of the other casters in the game, you probably don't need your Might for anything else with Radagast - and his spells can be absolutely devastating against anyone!

Heroic Channelling

Heroic Channelling is one of those heroic actions that you don't need to use for many armies, but knowing what kinds of units can use it well is useful even to those who don't channel in a game. Channelling can be essential to some spells, but many have situational benefits instead of static ones.

In our next post, we're sticking with Move Phase heroic actions and looking at Heroic Resolve. Most armies struggle with resisting magic (especially on their warriors) - and Heroic Resolve provides a very niche way of dealing with enemy magic. Is it worth using though? And which heroes can actually call Heroic Resolve without really losing anything? Find out next time - until then, happy hobbying!