Ways to use the Pariah effectively

December 30, 2007 by Blackhat · Filed Under Newbie Guides

I think I might be the only person on these boards who likes the Pariahs. So many people bash them and instantly suggest that the person who includes them in their list swap them for Immortals immediately. Well, I figured I should write up ways to use the Pariah effectively for all the new members, and the old ones too. I’m not saying this is the end all-be all rules for using the Pariah, but these tactics should showcase their strengths and weaknesses.

First, let’s look at their cost. At twice the cost of a Warrior, with no benefit of WBB, most people say that they are too costly to be used. But what do you get for the cost of 2 Warriors?

S/T 1 better than your standard Warrior.
The standard Necron Save.
I that is 1 better than Warriors/Scarabs/Destroyers/Immortals/Heavy Destroyers/Spyders. They aren’t the greased lightning that Wraiths are, but they are fast by Necron standards.
Warscythe with a GaussBlaster. Same at range as an Immortal with the benefit of ignoring saves in HtH and being able to slice through tanks as if it were wax paper (S+2D6)
Soulless. Any unit in range now has a reduced Ld of 7. Hive Tyrants, Demon Princes, Archons. No one is immune to this, save those who have Ld lower than this.
Psychic Abomination. Psykers are deathly afraid of Pariahs, and by proxy so is any unit that Psyker is attached to.
Fearless. They will never run away.

If you ask me, their cost is a steal for what it gives you.

To field Pariahs, you are going to spend between 144 and 360 points. That is a lot of points to commit to a unit that will not add to your Phase Out. 1500 is the absolute minimum game you should field them in, and I’d suggest 1850-2000 to be safe. Other things to consider is which other units the Pariahs are going to be most effective with. The two units who benefit most from Pariahs are Flayed Ones and the Deceiver. To a lesser extent, they also have a synergistic effect on any unit in HtH, as well as the Lord if he is equipped with the Gaze of Flame. Pariahs are not front line fighters. They should be behind other units, so that Target Priority checks will reduce shots coming into them. Marching up behind HtH units is where they do best. I’ll explain more below.

Now let’s look at some of these synergistic effects.

The Deciever-By far, my favorite C’Tan. Both of his offensive abilities, Dread and Deceive, are based on Ld saves from the opposing player. If Pariahs are in range, the target the C’Tan is targeting now has a 58.3% chance of making that save as opposed to whatever their % chance would have been before. Dread is especially useful, since if it works and you are assaulting with your Pariahs, those enemies are now only hitting you on 6s, where as the Pariahs are hitting normally with their Warscythes.

Flayed Ones-These are the HtH specialists of the Necron army. one of their abilities in particular is greatly increased by the presence of Pariahs, Terrifying Visage. Terrifying Visage forces the opponent to roll an Ld-1 test every round of CC. Failure means that they are hitting the Flayed Ones on 6s. With Pariahs in range, that means that 50% of the time the enemy will fail this check

Gaze of Flame-Aside from negating the charge bonus, the Gaze also lowers Ld by one. This ability can stack, so two Lords each with Gaze of Flame would stack that negative. Combine this with a unit of Scarabs or Flayed Ones with the Pariahs behind, and an assaulting unit is suddenly at a Ld of 5.

Assaults-Normal assaults also reap benefits from having Pariahs nearby. Necrons aren’t the best at HtH, but with above average S/T, low saves, and WBB, they can last quite a while. The Soulless ability is a huge boon to combat, since now outnumbering and getting an enemy unit below half are more detrimental with their Ld being reduced.

As far as Pariahs not being Necrons (not teleporting, no WBB, not counting towards Phase Out) this has drawbacks and advantages. The biggest drawback is you have a lower Phase Out number just by including Pariahs. Again, this is why they should only be used in 1500 points and up, preferably 1850 and up. They also don’t benefit from the Veil or the Monolith’s Power Matrix. This makes them a bit slow, but no slower than any other standard unit in the game. 6″ and 6″, move and assault. Getting no WBB means when they are dead, they stay dead (again, just like every other unit in the game)

Not counting towards Phase Out is, in my opinion, an advantage. On the one hand, since they don’t count as Necrons, many inexperienced players will ignore Pariahs and gun for Necrons to reach Phase Out. This is equivalent to ignoring Immortals to hunt Warriors. On the other hand, Pariahs are tough and have a low save, so any shot that is directed towards them is a shot that is not reducing your Phase Out number. It’s win-win as far as I’m concerned.

That’s about it. The Pariah is a very specialized figure. If you want shooting power, go with Immortals. If you want dominant HtH skills, go with Wraiths/Scarabs/Flayed Ones. If, however, you want a unit that can support your army at range, as well as increase the effectiveness of your HtH units, then give the Pariahs a try.

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