Waldo's Weekly - Ghosts of the Past

[Hobby Wyrd]

Hey Wyrdos!

As the new year begins, we find Waldo already looking fondly back on the previous one. He’s been sullenly wearing his festive 2023 glasses all week, and it looks like our imp might need a little more time to let ’24 sink in.

Speaking of looking back to the past, this week’s preview is sure to be familiar to those of you who’ve flipped through Under Quarantine. The Ghost Eater first appeared in this Through the Breach expansion, but has since made his way into Malifaux proper!

These necromancers specialize in using spiritual energy to balance (or tip, as the case may be) the scales of life and death. With multiple ways to ensure allies get the most out of their resources, Ghost Eaters switch between lethality and tankiness with ease.

The Ghost Eater is an interesting new role; a lot of its card is built around summoning Ghost Lights. While there are some models in the game that perform a similar function, those models tend to be Masters like Anya Lycarayen, Rail Magnate. The Glimpse the Veil Trigger and In the Spirit World allows a Ghost Eater to easily summon two Ghost Lights a Turn.

While summoning Ghost Lights is great, it’s not all this model can do. It is surprisingly sturdy with Hard to Wound, Attuned, The Final Veil, and Consume Essence to keep it going. It is a perfect pick versus summoner crews, as stoning for the Exorcism Trigger takes care of hard to deal with summons. Spirit Barrage and Instill Youth round out the package by giving it ways to deal damage and stay out of harm’s way.

In Ancestor and Retainer

In Ancestor and Retainer the Ghost Eater is focused on Healing and Debuffing enemies. Instill Youth is a solid heal, but is especially effective if the target has a Reliquary Upgrade. Spirit Barrage’s Dismember trigger is a good way to generate Corpse Markers in Ten Thunders for Toshiro to summon off of. If you don’t need a Corpse Marker, Spiritual Weakness’s Injured +2 can be deadly.

In Revenant

In Revenant the Ghost Eater is excellent at getting more bodies on the board. Summoning in Ghost Lights gives more cheap models for Reva Cortinas, Luminary to kill with Enkindle the Cult which takes pressure off of the Corpse Candles. The Dismember Trigger also gives Reva more corpses on the board to arc out of or to remove for effects.

Accompanying the Ghost Easter are the Ghost Lights: remnants of exorcized souls that become burning wisps that desire nothing more than to consume. But the reality is often inverse. Ghostlights are used as fuel, their fires put towards new magics before being snuffed out forever. In the meantime, all should tread lightly around these searing spirits.

Ghost Lights are utility summons like Drudges. As they’re Mindless and Insignificant, they’re not going to be changing the board state the turn they’re summoned, but that’s not their main role! In either keyword, the main strength of the Ghost Light is the Consume Soul Ability that allows them to be used as Soulstones and their ability to put out Burning.

In Ancestor and Retainer

In Ancestor and Retainer, there are two main draws for Ghost Lights beyond using them as living Soulstones. The first is the Ancestor’s Light Bonus Action which will allow the Yan Lo player to pass around Reliquaries, which can draw cards with Spirit Guide. The other use is that they’re Retainer minions, which gives Yan Lo, The Spirit Walker another vector to jump to with Release the Soul.

In Revenant

In Revenant Ghost Lights are Burning batteries. Path of Ashes may have a low Stat, but the negative flip to resist if the target is in a Pyre Marker means a lot of models will be getting Burning. And if you need more pyres, just kill a Ghost Light via Consume Essence or Enkindle the Cult. Ghost Lights will also be dying left and right so they’ll help top off models with The Final Veil.

That’s all for this week, Wyrdos. What Schemes might you use your very own Ghost Eater for? Or maybe he should try and resurrect the Ghost Lights of resolutions past… Tell us in the comments below! 

[Deathinabox]

Consume Essence won't give you a pyre marker as the Ghost Eater doesn't have Funeral Pyre.

[trikk]

I don't know what changed but the new models look WAY better than the previous ones. The artists and whoevere coordinated them did a great job. NOW GIVE ME DOCTOR OCTOPUS

[Ozzac]

Maybe I misread, but how does glimpse the veil let you summon a ghost light? 

It's blinding light that does it