Grey Seer (Ruin)

Grey Seer (Ruin) is a Skaven melee infantry unit in Total War: Warhammer II. The air erupts with contagion and ruin, choking the enemy's lungs and savaging their bodies. Grey Seers are, naturally, Wizards.

This Grey Seer is seldom recruited, having little use in the game for circumstantial reasons. He is mostly considered obsolete.

Description
The Grey Seers are also known as the Chosen of the Great Horned One, prophets of the Lord of the Great Below, and the voice of the Horned Rat. They are powerful Sorcerers, capable of channelling eldritch energies in destructive ways, levelling enemy armies with lightning, or summoning ravening swarms of rats. Some Grey Seers ride atop the nightmarish Screaming Bell to unleash untold ruination. More important than their ability to dominate a battle, however, is their role as emissaries for the Council of Thirteen, a position which often grants them the top-rank. Having the backing of a Grey Seer means a clan is in ascendancy, and will gain supremacy in dealings with others. They may barter with the upper hand and a Skaven with an advantage will press it mercilessly. It is always best to exploit such an advantage while it lasts, for it will only be a matter of time before the Seers call with their own demands. In Skaven society it is well known that absolutely nothing comes without a steep reciprocal price.

Abilities

 * Missile Resistance: 15%
 * Resilience
 * Hide (forest)
 * Encourage
 * Scurry Away!
 * Warp Lightning spell
 * Howling Warpgale spell

Can learn in campaign:
 * Skaven Spells of Ruin
 * Evasion
 * Arcane Conduit
 * Rally! / Stand or Die!

The main specialty of the Grey Seer's access to the Skaven lores is the powerful The Dreaded Thirteenth Spell, which it can cast instead of the Flensing Ruin ordinary Ruination lore spell.

Mounts
The Screaming Bell. It makes naturally the Grey Seer impossible to hide in forests, but grants him 25% Magic Resistance and more Missile Resistance, the Siege Attacker attribute, the ability to Cause Fear, as well as the following three abilities:
 * Unholy Clamor Augment
 * Scorch Breath
 * Wall of Unholy Sound Augment

Strategy
There is almost no reason to ever recruit Grey Seers of Ruin in the game. The Warlock Master is an overall far superior lord, have better stats in all fields, as well as Magical Attacks, Armour-Piercing and Bonus vs. Infantry. He has access to the full Skaven Ruination lore, with the Grey Seer's advantage solely being in the mentioned The Dreaded Thirteenth spell. Aside from the difference in lore, his Plague counterpart is completely identical. If for whatever reason players are really interested in The Dreaded Thirteenth, but also favor the Ruination Spells, a Warlock Engineer hero, who has access to the entire lore of spells can be attached to an army led by a Plague Grey Seer. The engineer, being able to found Under-Cities, is an overall fairly useful hero for most Skaven playthroughs and being available at a Tier 2 building relatively easy to recruit. The only disadvantage of the Ruination Hero counterpart in comparison is that he unlike the Lords starts only with the Warp Lightning Spell automatically known (whereas the Lords also have the Howling Warpgale learnt at 1st level).