M2E+Lilith

__ Return to Neverborn __ toc
 * Lilith, Neverborn Master**

=__Overview__= Lilith is a fast master who can hit hard with her sword, but is more of a control master than a beater despite her stylistic similarity to Lady Justice. Lilith typically leads a crew of Nephilim, which can potentially change from Terror Tots to Young Nephilim, and Young Nephilim to Mature Nephilim. This is called the 'grow list.'

Lilith is fast and powerful, but fragile. She has powerful offensive capabilities, but works best at a remove from the front line. She brings her prey to her, incapacitates them, and uses them to feed her young. Learning how she manipulates the board and controls the enemy crew members is key to getting the best out of her on the tabletop.

=__Mobility__=

Lilith has a six for both her **Wk** and **Cg**, which makes her a little on the fast side for walking, but a little on the slow side for charging. She can ignore almost all terrain, and LoS when charging, thanks to her **Master of Malifaux** ability. Despite her ability to get across the board quickly, Lilith tends to work better when hanging back and sniping from the other side of a forest or building.

Her mobility can be enhanced by the **Tangle Shadows** attack, which allows you to target any model within twelve inches; friendly or enemy. If you manage a seven of masks or higher, and hit the enemy model, and have a friendly model within six inches of Lilith (including Lilith herself) you can put the friendly model in contact with the target, and then put target in contact with Lilith. Since Lilith gets positive twists on her flips when she doesn't charge, this will usually be the better way to 'charge' enemy models, and has the advantage of an additional six inches of range.

Using **Tangle Shadows** with Lilith as the friendly model within 6" will let her move up to 36" in a single activation for fulfilling schemes like Entourage.

=__Utility__=

The primary utility ability of Lilith is **Rush of Magic**, which lets you draw an additional card in the draw phase, and then discard a card. This compounds with the Primordial Magic, which will then let you draw two cards, and then discard two cards.

As mentioned earlier, Lilith's **Master of Malifaux** lets her ignore all LoS for her attacks, and ignore all severe or hazardous terrain. Impassable and Enclosed terrain like buildings or tall rock formations can stop Lilith from moving through them, but she can still draw LoS through them.

Additional tricks for the rest of your crew become available with **Tangle Shadows**, letting you place your own models to get them near the enemy or swap a fast model that's moved ahead for a slow model that's stuck in the back of your crew.

From the **Beckon Malifaux** upgrade Lilith gains the ability to create two 50mm forest markers within sixteen inches if you flip any card of seven or more. It blocks line of sight, slows down movement, gives terrain for other models that want it, like Silurids or Waldgeists, and lets you create terrain to drag enemy models into with **Transfixing Gaze** from the **Wicked Mistress** upgrade to inflict damage and the Slow condition.

From the **Summon the Blood** upgrade Lilith can get the **Black Blood Pustule** Tactical Action, which is best only in crews that have lots of models with **Black Blood**. In a way it's an attack, but really it's a damage boost to friendly models. It inflicts a point of damage on the friendly model, and then does two damage to all enemy models within an inch. It works out as a good way of taking out Hard to Kill enemy models or getting those last few points on particularly tough models.

=__Offense__=

Lilith's **Greatsword** is typed as a close combat attack with a two inch range, is **Ml 7**, and has a decent damage spread. When Lilith doesn't Charge, she gains a positive flip on damage, which means that she'll often want to snatch enemy models with **Tangle Shadows** or draw them in with **Transfixing Gaze** from the **Wicked Mistress** upgrade rather than charge. For an extra mask you get the **Bloody Fate** trigger, which lets you draw and discard a card, and you don't have to discard a card if you kill the target.

If you are playing Lilith, remember that she fights on her terms in places that she chooses, not on the terms of her targets. Bringing the opponent to you so she can make the most of **Greatsword** is a big part of that.

Although it is a Tactical Action, the **Sudden Darkness** (0) is a boost to Ml attack damage when Lilith does charge, but it's generally not even close to half as good as a positive twist when she doesn't charge. **Sudden Darkness** doesn't let you cheat damage against **Hard to Wound** models, while the positive twist from not charging does.


 * Wicked Vines** has a decent Casting value, superb range and is not typed at all; it can ignore randomization of engaged models, and ignores cover. It only requires a flip of six or more to work, and inflicts a condition called **Rooted** on the target. **Rooted** stops the model from Walking or Charging, and if they are pushed the condition is removed, and the model takes three damage. Models that can place aren't affected at all, but that's a rare situation. A common combo is to put Wicked Vines on an enemy model, put a forest between it and Lilith, and then push it towards Lilith with **Transfixing Gaze**. For two of Lilith's actions you do 4+1/2/3 damage to the victim and inflict Slow on it. If you add the **Living Blade** upgrade to Lilith, you'll also get a free (1) attack on the victim if it's pushed close to Lilith.

Lilith has two upgrades that each give her additional attack actions: **Living Blade** and **Wicked Mistress**.


 * Living Blade** grants a sort of pounce-like effect that only works when you push enemy models to within an inch of Lilith. While you'll typically use that on **Alarune the Living Blade** you can also do oddball tricks like push an enemy model in with **Transfixing Gaze** from the **Wicked Mistress** upgrade, then nail the enemy model down with **Wicked Vines**, and finally pop Lilith away with **Tangle Shadows.**

The **Alarune the Living Blade** attack from the **Living Blade** upgrade is a replacement for the **Greatsword**, and provides an increase on the range from 2" to 3", and gives a positive twist on the attack AND damage flips if Lilith doesn't charge.


 * Wicked Mistress** provides the **Transfixing Gaze** attack, which requires a four of masks or higher to work, is very accurate, and has an untyped twelve inch range against **Wp**. If successful the target is pushed its **Cg** towards Lilith. If you push the enemy model in contact with severe or impassible terrain it gets the **Slow** condition, and takes a small amount of damage. If this last upgrade is taken, a simple build is **Beckon Malifaux** to create forests to drag models into, and **Living Blade** to attack the pushed model with **Alarune the Living Blade.**


 * Tangle Shadows** is on Lilith's card as an attack, but is more of a trick for mobility and utility, and is discussed above.

=__Resilience__=

Lilith has a good **Df 7**, and her **Df** has a trigger that effectively makes her **Df** 9 against **Ml** Attacks if one misses her. She has no specific defenses against shooting or casting Attacks, and is weak against attacks that are resisted with **Wp**. Casting or Shooting attacks that she has to defend with her **Wp** are her bane – her defenses under these circumstances are poor, so be aware of which models on your opponent's team have such attacks. She also has a low number of wounds for a master, and has no particular ability to reduce damage when she is hit.

Lilith's best defense comes from staying hidden, creating blocking terrain, and keeping the fight on her terms. Her primary defensive trick is **Master of Malifaux**, which allows her to ignore LoS when charging or declaring casting actions. She can stand on the other side of any terrain and snipe enemy models. Beware enemy models that can also ignore LoS or terrain! Guild Austringers with some extra support from a master like Lucius can do some serious damage to Lilith, or even take her out all by themselves.

If something does get close to Lilith, her Nephilim nature means that hitting her comes with a cost – when she takes damage all other models within one inch that don't share the **Black Blood** ability will take a point of damage. This serves as both an attack and defense, as it can serve as a deterrent, but it won't save Lilith or prevent harm from coming to her. It's certainly worth remembering though, especially if a nearby enemy has only a single wound remaining. Just be careful of models like the Neverborn's own Stitched Together, who have a different but similar effect with their Rotten Contents ability; potentially creating a feedback loop with both models damaging each other until they're both dead.

=__Upgrades__= Lilith has a set of good upgrades, with no real lemons that are easy to pass over. Picking these will be dependent on the Strategy and Scheme pool, opposing faction and your own playstyle.

Beckon Malifaux (Lilith Only)
Grants Lilith a second (0) Action, **Illusionary Forest**, and the ability to use two different (0) Actions in a turn. This Upgrade allows her to create terrain that blocks line of sight and lasts for the rest of the game (or until she uses this Action again), even if Lilith dies. Having terrain where she wants it can be used in many ways – screening her troops from attack, giving her terrain to Charge through to increase her damage, slowing enemy troops, creating synergy with her other Upgrades, preventing enemy Charges and blocking shooting lanes, and many others. The range on this ability is 16" so the forest markers can go just about anywhere you need them, though it does require a flip of seven or higher to work.

Living Blade (Lilith Only)
Lilith's most-expensive upgrade. The most obvious part of it is the enhancement of her **Greatsword** – it increases to a 3" range and gains a positive flip on the Attack as well as damage if she hasn't Charged. Lilith also gains a free Attack if any model ends a push within 1" of her. That free attack will happen much more often when when this Upgrade is combined with the Wicked Mistress Upgrade. You will also want to consider taking Lilitu in your crew if you have this upgrade.

Wicked Mistress (Lilith Only)
This gives Lilith the **Transfixing Gaze** action, a high Ca value attack that makes the target push its **Cg** towards Lilith. However, It won't work on a model that doesn't have a charge value. The model that is dragged in will take damage and gain Slow if it ends the push in contact with severe or impassable terrain. While making models run head first into brick walls or off buildings can be amusing, this Attack Action should be looked at in combination with the **Illusionary Forest** from the **Beckon Malifaux** upgrade.

Summon the Blood (Lilith Only)
This upgrade keys off the **Black Blood** ability of Lilith and her Nephilim, so taking this upgrade demands that her crew have as many models as possible with this ability. Either that, or a Black Blood Shaman to give this ability to other models in your crew. Lilith can use her own **Black Blood**, and that of her "pets," as bombs to deal damage in a small radius around the model with Black Blood in exchange for doing damage to that model. If Lilith uses all three of her actions on this, then you'll do three damage to the friendly **Black Blood** model, and six damage to every enemy model within an inch of it. The obvious and easy trick here is to run a Terror Tot next to a tightly packed group of enemy models, keep it alive through your opponent's next activation, and then use this ability three times on the tot.

Rapid Growth (Nephilim, Rare 1)
This is one of several different components that can be used to create a 'grow list', which uses this upgrade, Black Blood Shamans, and Nekima to create Terror Tots, grow Terror tots into Young Nephilim, and mature Young Nephilim into Mature Nephilim. While this Upgrade doesn't have to be taken on Lilith, it's worth taking in a grow crew. Going after a grow list is a bit like attempting a third Scheme, one that gets you no direct VPs. Having a Terror Tot kill something requires some setup, and it comes with some trade-offs. Young Nephilim are better beaters, but Tots are faster and harder to catch. So be sure to think through whether the situation at hand requires a runner or a beater. If you want to have the most of your Soulstones while making your beaters better, hiring in Young Nephilim and have them grow into Mature ones might be a more efficient way to go. Ideally, you use it as a way of 'healing' a badly damaged Terror Tot by replacing it with a Young Nephilim.

It's very thematic, and the effects are certainly worth the attempt, but don't get too caught up in growing – you still have Schemes and a Strategy to complete! A canny opponent will destroy their own models or find some other way to deprive you of victims rather than let you mature a 4ss Terror Tot into an 11ss Mature Nephilim!

Obsidian Talons (Nephilim, Rare 1)
Being able to cheat a damage flip is a good thing. It's why most players go out of their way to keep their opponent on negative flips whenever possible. On a mask, with this Upgrade, however, Nephilim can cheat fate even on negative flips. It's very powerful, and especially against crews that have a lot of models with the **Hard to Wound** ability like Ressurectionists, though you still can't cheat against models with **Impossible to Wound**. A lot of Lilith's own powers need those masks, so you may find this upgrade competing for them if you take it. It often drains your hand quite a bit to both get the mask in as well as cheating in a higher damage than is flipped.

Wings of Darkness
This generic Upgrade makes Lilith even better at two things she is already great at: mobility and drawing cards. First, it grants Lilith //Flight//. This makes her even faster than before, and combos very well with her not requiring LoS to Charge. It is also great for hunting down sniper models who are often placed at vantage points. The second Ability allows Lilith to draw and discard an extra card while using a Soulstone during the draw phase. Together with the double **Rush of Magic** (Lilith and Primordial Magic) you will draw up to a whooping 11 cards (discarding down to six as usual though) by spending a Soulstone in the draw phase. That is close to a fourth of your deck!

=__Tactics and Tips__= As has been stated several times already, Lilith is not a front line fighter or beater. Her model's appearance can trick you into thinking that she's a brutal and tough melee expert like Lady Justice, but nothing could be further from the truth. The fact that her Greatsword and Alarune the Living Blade only get bonuses when she doesn't charge is a strong hint, and the damage bonus for charging from **Sudden Darkness** should be considered a trap except in endgame situations where you need to get Lilith across the board and kill a specific enemy model to fulfill a strategy or scheme.

=__Leading a Crew__= While Lilith can do some damage, and with some of her upgrades has a great deal of affinity with other Nephilim models, she's a support caster that can do a lot of different things, but she's fundamentally about setting up enemy models to be killed by your other models. She's much more subtle and tricky than one gets from the first impression of her.

Strategies and Schemes
Lilith is not particularly tough, but can use **Tangle Shadows** to zip across the board, or send her own models flinging along the board as well. She and the other Nephilim models tend to be 'glass cannons', fast with powerful melee attacks, but relatively fragile for their cost in soulstones. A Mature Nephilim or Barbaros might have **Armor +1** and nine or ten wounds, and Barbaros does have a good **Df** and **Wp**, but for that cost in soulstones many Henchmen and Enforcers are far tougher. Any scheme that demands you kill enemy models or do damage is going to be good, but any strategy or scheme that demands you keep enemy models alive, and 'tough it out' with your own models while you accumulate victory points is going to be harder going.

Building a Crew
While Lilith has very clear synergy with Nephilim, there are many interesting models she works well with. She's not obliged to work with Nephilim and Black Blood models unless you take the **Summon the Blood, Obsidian Talons,** or **Rapid Growth** upgrades. You could just as easily give her the **Fears Given Form, Wicked Mistress,** and **Beckon Malifaux** upgrades; and build a crew around dragging enemy models in and inflicting Slow or Paralyze on them.

Models with Black Blood and/or are Nephilim
These are the models with the most obvious and easy combos with Lilith, and if you take any kind of 'grow' list or the **Summon the Blood** upgrade you'll want your crew to consist of these models most.

Cherub - Lilith's Totem Unlike many Nephilim the Cherub does not have Black Blood. It can slow and push models, create an area of severe and hazardous terrain to combo with **Transfixing Gaze**, and reduces the cost interact actions for nearby friendly models.

Barbaros He's in the Lilith box set, so he has all the synergy you might expect. He's got a lot of pushes and has a decent threat range. He's a good model to hold the Rapid Growth Upgrade, and his Challenge ability will help keep Lilith alive.

Terror Tot Cheap and fast, a Terror Tot can grow, grab objectives, serve as a **Black Blood** bomb, or **Pounce** on a model pushed near it – take multiples, you won't regret it. Lilith's boxed set comes with three, and you might even want to buy more.

Young Nephilim They hit hard, and move fast, but can't take a punch. The Young is the awkward middle child of the Nephilim family. Not often seen on the table, you might see one or two in a grow list with the goal of turning them into Mature Nephilim.

Mature Nephilim Tthe Mature Nephilim is a bit of a 'glass cannon' compared to other models of similar cost, but is fast, and is the ultimate goal for Nephilim 'grow' lists. You may want to get other models in your crew that can enhance it's poor **Df** score and heal back wounds.

Black Blood Shaman Absolutely essential to the grow strategy with Lilith, and also a handy way to give Black Blood to models, so Lilith or the Shaman can then use Black Blood Pustule on them. It can also give a relatively easy heal for any model with Black Blood.

Nekima Nekima is a Nephilim and has much synergy with them. As a high damage dealer, but without great resilience. Nekima has **The True Mother** upgrade, and is a real killing machine, which makes her a go to choice for Nephilim Grow lists.

Angel Eyes She's part of the Malifaux starter set, and is rather strangely a Black Blood Nephilim sniper, who can shoot into combat without randomizing. She doesn't have much overt synergy with Lilith, but can be a good model anyway.

Scion of Black Blood Another model from the Malifaux starter set, he's a generic model with a generic ranged and close combat attack. He provides condition removal, but the cost of discarding two cards is rather high.

Bloodwretch The last models that come in the starter set, the Bloodwretch is a Nephilim, but doesn't have Black Blood. It is immune to damage from pulses, so won't be damaged by your other black blood models. It's a bit of a killing machine, and a bit of a scheme runner.

Lelu and Lelitu Sold as a pair, each does a different thing, and most players field Lilitu a lot, and tend to leave Lelu to the side. They do enhance each other, and both are Nephilim with Black Blood, but as a pair will displace so many points that you might not be able to use them in a grow list.

Mr. Graves One of the two mastermind mimics behind the Honeypot Casino, he's a bouncer with push effects and a fence post. Used in conjunction with Barbaros he can keep Lilith safe from attack, but if you take both models you'll probably have to set aside a grow list.

Tuco A member of Perdita's family turned to the dark side, he's one of a very small number of models in Neverborn with blast attack damage. He's got all the tricks you want to see with Lilith; a push attack, black blood, good damage, inflicts **Wp** penalties that reduces resistance to terror checks, and more.

Corrupted Hound Not a Nephilim, but it does have Black Blood. The Corrupted Hound is cheap, weak, fast, and can interact in numbers.

Killjoy An outcast model with **Black Blood** who pops out when a friendly model dies or is sacrificed fits perfectly into many of Lilith's plans, especially when she takes the Summon the Blood Upgrade. He's not cheap, but he certainly hits hard, and if you've got hounds or tots you've got good victims for summoning in Killjoy.

Other Models
Primordial Magic - Generic Totem Also has **Rush of Magic**, which stacks with Lilith's. This alone can justify taking this model. This model can count as a Scheme Marker once per game, too, which can be clutch in certain Schemes or Strategies.

Waldgeist Superb models for Lilith as they can also create terrain (although their Markers don't block LoS). They bring **Armor** to the crew, and a a four inch engagement range all the time with Lilith. Their damage output isn't amazing, but their triggers are very useful, one of them imitates Lilith's **Wicked Vines** spell.

Silurid The Silurid is one of the better scheme runners in the game, and likes running with any master that can create forests it can hide in with it's **Perfect Camoflage** and **Silent** abilities. It's tougher and meaner than the Terror Tots.

Stitched Together He shows up in a lot of crews, and for good reason. He's slow, but that can be amended with Lilith's **Tangled Shadows** and if you give him Black Blood with a Black Blood Shaman, you can cause a lot of damage around him with a combination of Black Blood damage and Rotten Contents.

=__Playing Against Lilith__=

If you can get LoS on her, Lilith is very fragile to attacks that are resisted with **Wp**, and are **Ca** or **Sh** attacks. A crew led by Lucius with a pair of Austringers in it can eliminate Lilith in no time at all if your opponent is fool enough to leave Lilith within twelve inches of them.

If Lilith is doing a grow list it will be obvious. Kill, heal, or retreat your own models that are close to death before allowing her to grow a Tot into a Youth, or worse yet a Youth into a Mature. This is almost a best possible situation for you, as your opponent might expend so much effort trying to kill your models and grow, they might neglect their strategies and schemes.

Lilith tends to be reliant on her built-in suits; many of her Casting Actions require their built-in mask. Any model that provides **Counterspell** can be problematic for her. That Ability removes any inherent suits associated to her ** Ca ** Actions. This forces Lilith to cheat her mask cards or burn her precious Soulstones. Although it is not an ideal hard-counter, the Freikorps Librarian is a mercenary that can remove built-in suits from **Ml**, **Sh** and **Ca** Actions: while this won't shut down **Greatsword**, it will make it much harder for Lilith to use its trigger. Sonnia Criid's ** Counterspell Aura ** also provides protection.

Anna Lovelace hard-counters Lilith's **Tangle Shadows**. If Lilith cannot first place her friendly model next to yours, then she cannot place your model somewhere else.

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