Magister Helynna - A guide by SeBM

Overview : Magister Helynna is an excellent battlegroup caster that offers strong anti-gunline tech. While she doesn’t provide infantry with direct support, her ability to deliver self-sufficient modules like the Dawnguard Sentinels or the Houseguard Halberdiers make those unit a prime choice with Helynna, allowing her to run a variety of lists, from battlegroup heavy to more infantry centric lists.

Stats and abilities: Helynna’s statline is every average for a Retribution caster. With MAT 6 and RAT 5, it seems hard for her to contribute directly to the fight, but she has a way to work around that when necessary with Hand of Destruction. She is FOCUS 7, which is great since her spell list is very good and she can make her myrmidons shine, so she’ll want to allocate some focus every turn.

Repair D3+3: This special action is very good when you need it. With SPD 6, the fact that you will often use Rhythm of War to bring your myrmidons close to Helynna and the fact that Helynna will rarely use her Melee weapon or gun, you can often make very good use of her repair ability.

Redirection Blast: This is a RNG 12 POW 11 magical gun that also features a control effect with Force Grip. Force Grip allows you to push a model up to 3 inches instead of dealing damage. With RAT 5, I highly suggest not counting too much on this ability, unless you can aim, boost, use Hand of Destruction on your target or knock it down. It tends to expose Helynna a lot and she is often the weakest part of your army.

Redirection: It is a RNG 2 P+S 11 melee weapon which also features Force Grip. Read the section on Redirection blast and replace aim with back strike.

Spell list: Helynna’s spell list is excellent, it features 3 spells that will be used almost every game and 2 highly situational spells.

Decceleration: This is a Cost 3 defensive spell. Because it gives +2 ARM against magical and ranged attack damage rolls, it allows Helynna to protect her army on the way in. Decceleration is a big part of Helynna’s early game plan. Cast it if your opponent has any kind of ranged firepower. Once melee combat starts and Helynna and her army are safe from guns, you can stop casting it.

Force Strike: This is a Cost 2 offensive spell. With RNG 8, you’ll want an Arc Node to use it. It is only POW 12, but it does feature a critical knockdown effect, which can help with late game assassination attempts if need be, especially with Sylys’s Arcane Secret and if the target is affected by Hand of Destruction. Otherwise, the Focus required to cast this spell can often be used in a more efficient way.

Hand of Destruction: This is a Cost 2 offensive upkeep. It allows models in Helynna’s battlegroup to roll one additional die on attack and damage rolls against the target and remove the lowest one. This really helps skewing dice in your favor. Since it is an upkeep, you can also hotswap it during your turn.

Obliteration: This is a Cost 4 offensive spell with RNG 10. It is AoE 5 and POW 15, but its high focus cost makes it hard to justify, unless Helynna has no more myrmidons running around. It can be used to clear infantry that decide to clump up, but I have yet to cast this spell in around 20 games with Helynna.

Rhythm of War: This is a Cost 2 defensive upkeep. It is also Helynna’s signature spell, which allows warjacks in her battlegroup to move 3 inches at the end of the turn. It makes it very easy to position your army out of reach after using your guns to soften the enemy. It also allows you to protect Helynna turn after turn, with a wall of myrmidons that I like to call Fort Helynna. This spell should be cast every turn, unless you badly need the 1 focus for a last ditch assassination.

Feat: Arcantrik Aptitude

Remove all damage points from the force fields of friendly Faction warjacks in Helynna’s control range. While in Helynna’s control range, friendly Faction models gain +3 ARM and do not suffer the effects of crippled systems. Arcantrik Aptitude lasts for one round.

This is a very potent feat. The most obvious part is the +3 ARM part. It makes our myrmidons pretty hard to kill, our colossals ARM 22 and it cranks up Sentinels and Halberdiers armor really high for single wound infantry, especially during the Sentinel mini-feat turn. With Deceleration and Discordia’s Kinetic Field bubble, you can make some part of your army almost invulnerable to shooting. The fact that it regenerates our myrmidons’ force fields is a really cool bonus, but one that should not be played around too much. If you feat too late, you might lose a myrmidon instead of having one that his heavily crippled but still usable or repairable. Don’t be too greedy with the feat! Last but not least, myrmidons don’t suffer the effects of crippled systems. No more broken weapons or Arc Nodes! Griffons are ARM 21 to the last box under the feat.

Helynna and Theme Forces: Right now, I personnaly don't feel like Forges of War is the strongest build for Helynna, because you lose Sentinels or Halberdiers. That being said, it is a viable build, especially if you are looking to run 3 colossals with some support. That being said, Pacific Rim lists sadly ignore Rhythm of War, one of Helynna's strongest spell.

Synergies:

Warcaster attachment: Sylys comes out ahead here. The free upkeep and Arcane Secrets are both very good abilities for Helynna.
He'll be in every Helynna list at 75 points, unless you want to run Pacific Rim.

Myrmidons: Helynna can make good use of most myrmidons, heavies or lights. Some choices are more obvious of course. A natural favorite of Helynna is the Manticore. Covering Fire is really good, it’s shooting is decent, especially if you can use Hand of Destruction and its melee power is also good. It makes great use of Rhythm of War. The Chimera is another of Helynna’s must have in most cases. It is a cheap Arc Node that is hard to jam thanks to Apparition. Discordia is also a natural pick when played out of theme. It brings your anti-gunline tech to an almost absurd level. Once again, it’s a model that can make great use of Rhythm of War. The Shyeel myrmidons are often favored with Helynna due to the fact that her feat can regenerate their force fields, but the Banshee can also be a strong pick, because of its natural high P+S, its excellent gun and its Wail ability. Both Colossals can also be played with Helynna, especially if you consider the Forges of War theme list. While the triple colossals list, also known as Pacific Rim, has been advocated here and there on the internet, I feel that it ignores one of the best part of Helynna’s kit. Imperatus and Hypnos are also both good options with Helynna. I have seen some lists using the Hydra, but while I feel like it is a very strong warjack, I am not sure Helynna is the best caster to run them.

Units: I feel like there are 2 units that should be strongly considered with Helynna: Dawnguard Sentinels and Houseguard Halberdiers. Both those units pack a punch and can greatly benefit from Helynna’s protection on their way in melee. They are also self-sufficient modules that have very few weaknesses. Otherwise, Helynna does very little for infantry and wants to run more myrmidons. Double Sentinels with Helynna is also a very popular build.

Solos: 3 Arcanist are gold with Helynna. Some lists will only feature 2, mostly because points are tight if you want to have Lanyssa or the Lys Healer in. Lanyssa brings some much needed threat extension if you play with a heavy battlegroup. The Lys Healer is Helynna’s best friend. Helynna is weak with her 15/15 statline and only 16 boxes. If she becomes knock down, she’s gone for sure. The Lys Healer allows you to hide Helynna behind a wall of warjacks that can’t be knocked down or made stationary.

Battle Engine: It is probably a viable option since it helps our shooting game. That being said, I feel like there are better options for the time being.

Sample lists: There are many ways to build an army for Helynna. In this section, I’ll show some popular builds and my own.

My take on Helynna:

Helynna +30
Sylys 4
Discordia 18
Manticore 14
Manticore 14
Phoenix 18
Max Sentinels + CA + 2x Soulless 24
Arcanist Mechanik 2
Arcanist Mechanik 2
Arcanist Mechanik 2
Lys Healer 3
Lanyssa Ryssyl 4

So this is my take on Michael Ireland’s popular 3 Manticores + Discordia + Chimera list. Not owning a 3rd Manticore, I decided to trade the Chimera and the missing heavy for a Phoenix, freeing some points to keep the 3rd Arcanist in the list with the Lanyssa point change. The double Soulless is there to feed one to proc Vengeance while keeping one far in the back hidden. This list handles a lot of lists out there, it packs both a good ranged game and strong melee.


Michael Ireland’s classic 3 Manticore list:

Helynna +30
Sylys Wyshnalyrr 4
Chimera 8
Manticore 14
Manticore 14
Manticore 14
Discordia 18
Dawnguard Sentinels (max) 18
Dawnguard Sentinels UA 4
Arcanist 2
Arcanist 2
Lanyssa Ryssyll 4
Lys Healer 3

Very similar to the list Michael won Adepticon with in 2016, it’s one of the most popular way to build Helynna. Very strong build, very few weaknesses.

Double Sentinels build

Helynna +30
Sylys Wyshnalyrr 4
Manticore 14
Manticore 14
Manticore 14
Chimera 8
Dawnguard Sentinels (max) 18
Dawnguard Sentinels CA 4
Soulless Escort 1
Dawnguard Sentinels (max) 18
Soulless Escort 1
Arcanist 2
Arcanist 2
Arcanist 2
Lys Healer 3

Pacific Rim build (Forges of War theme force)

Helynna +30
Helios 34
Helios 34
Hyperion 36
Arcanist Mechanik 0
Arcanist Mechanik 0
Arcanist Mechanik 0
House Shyeel Artificier 0

Forges of War build

Helynna +30
Sylys Wyshnalyrr 0
Phoenix 18
Hydra 15
Hydra 15
Manticore 14
Manticore 14
Gorgon 9
Griffon 8
Griffon 8
House Shyeel Artificer 0
House Shyeel Artificer 0
Arcanist Mechanik 0
Arcanist Mechanik 2
Arcanist Mechanik 2

Helynna and the Journeyman League: Our battlebox is a great one as far as model usage is concerned. Every model in the box will see regular play. With that in mind, I will share the progression I propose for new players that start Retribution in a Journeyman League. While there are many ways to build for the JML, the progression I have listed below is aimed at giving new players a selection of models that will see play in numerous lists. There are many options, but I feel like the one I propose will allow new players to acquire models and units that I consider to be staples in the Retribution catalog. Each model that is introduced for the first time will be underline to make it easy to identify new purchases. When possible, I strongly advice new players to magnetize heavy myrmidons kit.

Week 1: Helynna, Chimera, Griffon, Manticore
Week 2: Helynna, Chimera, Griffon, Griffon, Manticore
Week 3: Helynna, Chimera, Griffon, Griffon, Manticore, min Sentinels + CA, Arcanist Mechanik
Week 4: Helynna, Chimera, Discordia, Griffon, Griffon, Manticore, Max Sentinels + CA, Arcanist Mechanik
Week 5: Helynna, Chimera, Discordia, Griffon, Griffon, Manticore, Manticore, Max Sentinels + CA, Arcanist Mechanik
Week 6: Helynna, Sylys Wyshnalyrr, Chimera, Discordia, Griffon, Griffon, Manticore, Manticore, Max Sentinels + CA, Arcanist Mechanik, Arcanist Mechanik, Arcanist Mechanik, Lys Healer