M2E+Witchling+Stalker

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 * Witchling Stalker, Guild Minion[[image:witchling.jpg align="right"]]**

=__Overview__= Witchling Stalkers are part of Sonnia Criid's crew, but are often found with other Masters, as well. Cheap but versatile Minions, they hand out **Burning** with all their damage and explode upon death. Slow, but deadly, they are very useful to all Masters due to their ability to remove Conditions.

=__Mobility__= Witchling Stalkers are slow with Wk 4 and Cg 6. They do have the defensive trigger //Drawn to Pain// which allows them to move towards anyone who damages them, which is useful against ranged crews. Using them with the Judge to lure out your opponent's models or having them jump into a Death Marshal's Pine Box can help them overcome their movement shortcomings. Special mention goes to the Witchling Handler who speeds them up considerably.

All in all, Stalkers are not very good objective runners. They can lay down some markers, but they struggle to do it far across the center line.

=__Offense__= Witchling Stalkers can do both melee and ranged combat. Their **Shattered Rune Blade** attack is very respectable; it has a better damage spread with a useful trigger on a Crow forcing your opponent to discard a card if able. Their Ml is high for such cheap Minions, although their Engagement range is a bit short. The **Runed Pistol**, on the other hand, has an underwhelming Sh value but surprisingly good range. With a trigger, it can hand out (another) **Burning +1**. A good fallback attack but don't bet on hitting anything with even mediocre Df.

When killed, Witchling Stalkers explode, dealing a small amount of damage to nearby models. Although nice, this damage is indiscriminate and will hurt anyone caught in the blast.

All attacks of the Witchling Stalker come with **Burning** due to their **Searing Mark** ability. This goes for the **Pistol** as well as the **Blade**, but also for their explosion. Note that **Burning** is cumulative if you hit the //Cataclysm// trigger (or stand in the **Burn Them All** Aura of the Handler). This considered, the Witchling Stalker does a surprising amount of damage with an effective Weak Dg of (at least) 3 on his **Blade**, even if you don't need the **Burning** for Sonnia's casting.

=__Resilience__= With an average Defense and number of wounds, Witchling Stalkers win no prizes in resilience. If you are relying on them for their condition-removing ability, keep them safe or they can quickly become a priority for your opponent. **Explosive Demise** can work as a deterrent to melee models, though.

=__Tips and Tricks__= Witchling Stalkers are useful to any Guild Master for their **Dispel Magic** ability. This enables them to end one Condition on a targeted model, friend or foe. You'll need a low Tomes for it to work which makes it less reliable in Construct-heavy crews.

It almost goes without saying that you should be careful not to keep a wounded Witchling Stalker within 2" of your other models because of **Explosive Demise,** but sometimes a nice piece of cover doesn't allow that much room, and melee has a way of getting crowded quickly; In any case, if you're pretty sure that your Witchling Stalker is going to go down from an enemy's attack, cheating in a low mask for the **Drawn to Pain** defensive trigger to push your Witchling can keep your other models out of trouble.

=__Master-Specific Tips__= Witchling Stalkers have obvious synergy with Sonnia Criid due to their ability to hand out **Burning** with their attacks. Sonnia can also summon new Witchling Stalkers with her Reincarnation upgrade.

They work great with Lady Justice as they are Minions with a high base Ml. They thus profit from her **Inspiring Swordplay**.

Lucius can speed them up and give them additional attacks which is great with their high Ml. Stalkers, on the other hand, can help with models **Paralyzed** by his **Commanding Presence**.

McCabe can support them by speeding them up or reactivating them or handing out Ml buff with Promises.

Special mention goes to McMourning because he can bring Nurses into Guild crews. See below about interactions. He can also make them even better in melee with **Precise**.

=__Minion-Specific Tips__= Witchling Stalkers benefit from being close to Witchling Handlers, who buff their otherwise low Wk and Cg scores to a more respectable level. Further, the Handler can up their **Burning** damage and even summon new Stalkers via a trigger on her Greatsword.

Nurses can hand out powerful buffs which usually go along with detrimental Conditions. The Tome and Crow triggers of their **Take Your Meds** action both become insanely good buffs when a Witchling Stalker is nearby. The Nurse can even activate the Stalker via **Accomplice** before your opponent can react to the buff.

=__Playing Against Witching Stalkers__= Stalkers are not difficult to kill and depending on who their Master is, their threat level can vary. With Sonnia, they are dangerous due to their ability to hand out **Burning**. Be aware that killing them in melee will still set you on fire and thus paint a big target on you.

When included with other Masters it is usually for their ability to remove Conditions. If your crew relies on Conditions to work best your target priority may shift towards the Stalker to remove their bonuses from your opponent.

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