Bete+Noir

//"Cloaked in a shroud of Darkness, Bête toys with her prey. She ignores the prayers of her victims, begging for a quick death, before subjugating them to brutal torture and mutilation and makes them beg her to be released from their agony - which she always obliges when she is bored with her new-found toy..."//
 * Bête Noire, Resurrectionist Minion** toc

=__Overview__= Bête is different in that she is not deployed at the start of the game and instead "manifests" with the death of a living/undead model (meaning she can potentially appear from anywhere). Once she arrives she begins her slaughter with a number of options on how to dispatch foes - from cutting their **Jugular Vein** for auto kills, increasing the damage she deals with **Rot** and/or a **Groin Strike**, or restraining the actions of her victims by **Severing Spines** or **Mutilating** them.

With her low Wounds, killing her is not much of a problem when you do land a hit on her (which isn't easy with her high DF, and made harder at range from her **Tenebrous Aura**). However with her **"Slow to Die + One With the Night"** Combo; keeping her dead is something short of nightmarish.

=__Mobility__= Bête doesn't start on the board as per her rules of **Drawn to Death**. Instead, when a living or undead model is killed or sacrificed, she appears beside the body. This is useful as it means she is already in the heat of a battle where she can start to put her knives to use.

Once on the field she is quite swift with a Charge Threat range of 9" (8" to charge, +1" for her knife range). This is further enhanced as **Feed on Death** grants Bête **Fast** (+1 AP) when a living model, friend or foe, dies within 3" of her. This occurs even if Bête is the killer (i.e.: Kill a target with 1-AP, gain fast and regain the 1-AP you just spent - once per turn).

Should she be killed, **Slow to Die** with **One With the Night** can reset Bête into her 'buried' state - allowing her to reappear in a later turn again with **Drawn to Death**. In essence it can potentially allow her to teleport around the field once per-turn.

=__Offense__= Bête employs a savage pair of knives (giving her a +1 Card flip when determining if she hits her foes). Though she does prefer to carve her victims up close, where she can savor their screams of agony, she is perfectly capable of causing mayhem at range as well.

**MELEE**
Once up-close-and-personal with her targets, Bête usually activates **"Depraved Tactics"** (costing her only a 4+ Card of any suit) which gives her choice of how to 'play' with her victims. This affect is in addition to whatever damage she does to them:
 * When facing living victims, Bête usually cuts their Spinal Cord (**Sever Spine**) which will **Paralyze** them for a turn (nasty) which is always unwanted.
 * When facing constructs, undead and other non-living victims (who lack, or don't need a functional Spine) Bête opts to **Mutiliate** them - giving them **Slow** (reducing their AP by -1).
 * Should Bête want to put her victims out of their misery (that she has made them endure) she can always become merciful - by hacking into their groin and carving her way up (**Groin Strike** vastly increases Bête's chance of dealing Severe Damage).

(**Cb Trigger) - Slit Jugular** If Bête does successfully damage a victim with one of her knives (flipping/cheating a crow in the process), she can choose to be efficient and just use **Slit Jugular**. Unless the victim's controller discards 2 Soulstones (if the victim can Use Soulstones) or discards 2 Control Cards from their hand, the victim drops dead and Bete draws a card to boot! It may not be as fun as carving up her enemies, but sometimes you can't mess around with things and need to get a job done. Activating later in a turn will increase the odds you will be successful with **Slit Jugular**.

(**Cb Trigger) - Rot** If the controller of Bête's victims have at least 2 Cards in hand, she can instead employ **Rot** which will again increase Bête's chances of causing Severe Damage to her opponent. Used with **Groin Strike** it can almost assure Bête will do full damage with her knives.

If Bête does start her activation within Melee range of a victim (quite common given she usually 'manifests' in combat, or will gain **Fast** to help walk her into a fight) she can use **Flurry** to make three knife strikes instead of two - all with the potential to use any of the above effects. Should she start in Melee with a living model being killed within 3" (including being killed by Bête's **Flurry**), its possible she can deliver x4 Melee attacks (!) in her one activation, and not much can survive that much butchering.
 * (2) Flurry**

RANGED
As mentioned before, Bête can use her knives at range. This can deal some damage, as much as she would deal in Melee, though they are not as accurate as they are in Melee. They are however a useful option to consider should Bête not have the AP to charge after slaughering her foes (one ranged attack is still better that nothing).

Bête also has a ranged spell that deserves mention. **Marked for Death** may cost an 8+ Card to use, and deals no damage (beyond making the target insignificant) but its effects last until the end of the game, at which point all models who have been //"Marked"// must pass a Willpower Duel or drop dead. This happens even if Bête is not on the board or has even been killed (once you are marked, your time is short; "[croak]...7 days.... [click]"). Useful for a number of scenarios as these deaths do count as Kills for the purpose of the encounter. Can help control the outcome of a game and force an opponent to rethink their strategies.

=__Resilience__= Though fragile with 4 Wounds, Bête has one of the highest Df in the game (a Df of 7). Her **Tenebrous Aura** add to her defenses, reducing all ranged attacks trying to hit her by -2 Cards (flip 3 cards and pick the lowest result when determining if you hit her). This makes her near untouchable at range, which will encourage foes to take her on in Melee (which, if you noticed the above section on Bête's offense power, is not something many will be eager to attempt).

Even then, dealing with Bête is difficult. Getting her to leave is easy, but making her stay away can be near impossible. With **"Slow to Die"**, should Bête be killed she is allowed to take 1 action. Provided you hold a 10+ card (suit irrelevant) she will often become **One With the Night** which fully heals and buries Bête, allowing her to return via **Drawn to Death** starting the following turn.

=__Tips and Tricks__=

Hiring
Bête really only works with a crew that is heavy with Undead and Living minions (no Constructs or Spirits) as she can only manifest through them. Having her work with a crew of expendable forces (such as a crew heavy in Canine Remains) will assure her presence will be made often.

Placing
> > >
 * **Drawn to Death** occurs when any living or undead model dies - including your own forces. Often its better to have her appear when your forces fall, as this will mean Bête can immediately activate after the opponent ends. Ideally she will activate in Melee range where she can immediately Slit Jugular the fool that summoned her.
 * If you Place Bête via the death of an opponent's model, be mindful you acted and your opponent will now be able to activate in turn (and may kill Bête before she can do anything). However, if your opponent has nothing left to do, call her out. She'll very much appreciate it.
 * Bête is not summoned as so does not suffer from **Slow** when placed. Although the model that is killed will not trigger her **Feed on Death** as she was not within 3 inches when it died..
 * In the later game, some opponent will avoid killing your forces to avoid facing Bête again. Consider killing one of your cheap, expendable undead/living minions to re-summon her. Losing a 4-soulstone model to gain a 9-soulstone model can be a very good trade.

Combat
> >
 * Try to have Bête act after a living model is killed 3" from her. That way, when she activates, she will have **Fast**.
 * //**Keep a 10+ card in your Control Hand at all times!**// You don't want to lose Bete Noire because she fails her **One With The Night** spell.
 * Bête needs Crows but don't bother cheating them to use **Rot**. Save your Crows instead for **Slit Jugular**.

> >
 * If fighting a target with 5+ wounds, and can only make one attack (1-AP left), use **Slit Jugular**. Your opponent will have to either discard 2 cards or let the victim die (neither option is desirable). Should they have 0-1 Cards in hand, **Slit Jugular** will auto-kill its target every-time the strike hits. Don't forget that even if your opponent discards cards or soulstones the target will still suffer the effects of **Sever Spine** or **Mutilate**.
 * If fighting an enemy with 5+ wounds, and will be attacking them more than once (2-4), hold off on using Slit Jugular. Two Moderate-Severe hits will kill most anything with 6-8 Wounds, and unlike **Slit Jugular** these deaths cannot be countered.
 * Whenever you are about to attack in Melee, be sure to use **Depraved Tactics**, and consider which option to use:
 * **Groin Strike** improves the chances of dealing Severe/ Moderate damage. Use to kill models with 1-4 Wounds left. If the target has 5+ Wounds, and you'll only be making one attack on them, best to avoid this option.
 * **Sever Spine** should ONLY be used when facing Living foes. Use on targets with 5+ wounds. This can be used in combination with **Slit** **Jugular** and it is nasty. Even if your opponent discards to keep the target from dying, it will still be paralyzed and at Bete's mercy.
 * **Mutilate** should be used on any target with 5+ Wounds that is not Living. It won't freeze them, but reducing their AP by -1 is also quite useful.

> >
 * **Marked for Death** should be employed primarily to make enemies **Insignificant** (to counter their Strategies). Don't rely on it killing the models at the end of the game.
 * If Bête is killed in the last few rounds of an Encounter, consider using her **Slow to Die** action to be **Marked for Death** instead of **One With the Night**. Should Bête be buried at the end of the game, she counts as being dead anyway, so take shot with this spell and see if she can take someone out with her!
 * DO NOT SACRIFICE BÊTE! Her **Slow to Die** + **One With the Night** combo only works if she is killed and not Sacrificed.

=__Master-Specific Tips__=

__**McMourning**__ The hounds of the surgeon are great. They move fast, getting themselves into combat quick, and die just as quickly giving Bête a great means to "enter" the field. McMourning and his assistant Sebastian can even re-summon the dead dogs, allowing them to maintain the numbers of their crew while Bête carves up her opponents.

__**Seamus**__
 * ​**Bête's **Slit** **Jugular** is identical to Seamus'. Between the two of them, given enough Crows, they can take out nearly any non-master model in the game. Activated late in a turn after an opponent's hand is depleted helps ensure the success of the trigger. Bête can pop out from Rotten Belles used as bait via luring in a dangerous target, dying, then allowing Bête to finish them off. Low casting value Lures (around 13-17) can be used to drain an opponent's hand of higher value cards, making Bête's attacks that much more powerful.

__**Perdita**__ Beware the Ortegas. Being able to activate as a group in one activation they can summon and banish Bête in one turn (e.g.: Ortega A kills an enemy model, Bête appears from the corpse of the model, Ortega B kills Bête and sends her back to limbo). Specifically the "San-Fran" brothers are good at this as Santiago will shoot the victim, and Francisco will run up and slash Bête back to oblivion (as its easier to remove her in Melee than at Range). Beyond Francisco however, the Ortega's all rely on their guns which Bête is quite resilient to dodging.

__**Leveticus**__ Bete is made for Leveticus: you can control when she appears as you are going to be doing a lot of killing and sacrificing. While she will only drop one Corpse Counter on death, she really shouldn't be doing that as her abilities will just keep her coming back again and again. She is a fantastic target for //Blessings of Desolation// as it will give her an automatic Trigger for all of the following: //Rot, Slit Jugular,// and //Desolate Warping//. With this up she can decimate an unwary opponent. This is especially good for activating late in the turn when the Control Hands are running low. Her only downside is that she is quite expensive, but with careful use she can bring a lot to the table.

=__Minion-Specific Tips__= __**Molly** **Squiddpidge**__

Using the **Terrible Secrets** spell makes a model much more susceptible to **Slit Jugular**, making lower value Crows more useful than they might be otherwise.

=__Playing Against Bête Noire__= Bête is hard to deal with (she costs 9-ss for a reason). As much as you may want to stay out of her knife range, with her Aura and high Df, she is very difficult to take down at range and you may be forced to deal with her in close-quarters.

Killing Bête isn't too hard once you get past her high DF. Her 4-wounds make her very fragile. However, should she die you will often find she will return the following round (due to **"Slow to Die"** and **"One with the Night"**). That will still delay her, as she won't be able to return until a living or undead model dies, and keeping her off the board can be just as good as if she were in the grave for good.

If facing Bête, avoid bringing living and undead models through which she can be summoned. If you can employ a force strong in constructs, she will only be able to appear when you kill your opponents forces.

Death is not always the answer. Killing enemy models may give Bête a means to re-enter the field. Focus on your Strategies and Schemes to win your games and let her stay in Limbo.

If you avoid killing your opponents forces, they may get frustrated enough to kill one of their own to bring Bête onto the field. If they do, activate before she does and remove her. Your opponent will get more flustered (they just killed their own forces and gained nothing for doing so).

The best bet to permanently beat Bête is pay attention to the cards your opponent is holding. Should your opponent have no control hand (is holding 0 cards) GO AFTER BÊTE!! There is still a chance she may flip an 10+ card from the deck, but should its controller have no cards to cheat with there is equally a high enough chance she will fade from the game. Denying Bête her **Slow to Die** by Paralyzing her provides a sure-fire way of finishing her off.

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