[B0rsuk]

I've just executed a vicious combo:

Artificer
create a staff -4 Spell Save, 2 charges of Black Sleep

Remember Black Sleep ? The spell no one likes because it's 15 MP, depends on enemy resistance, and renders enemies so helpless the designers decided there will be no xp for killing them ? (or something, or was it fame ?). One word:

Ghouls.

Every normal unit killed mostly by ghouls rises as undead under your control. They never heal, but require no upkeep. The good thing is they keep citizens in shape (2 units: unrest -1). Oh, and because it's Zaldron the sage who does the spellcasting, I don't have to spend a single mana point !

The combo is a little hard to pull off (you need to save lots of mana for the item). But my hero is now a walking undead factory. It's like low-level Zombie Mastery, but trickier and more flexible. And it's creepy as hell: units zombified in unnatural black sleep. I can reliably zombify 4+ units per battle, but you need empty slots so it can be walking a thin line. There are ways to get the most out of it: I'll be using Darkness and favoring units with first strike (cavalry), bowmen, so as to not take any damage. Of course, if you can spend 750 (or close) mana on an item, there are probably ways to use it better. But they are not as creepy.

Black Sleep is an amazing spell - when it works. It's almost like killing an unit outright. Any attacks against the sleeping unit automatically hit for maximum damage, no shields. And the funny thing is, the spell makes bowmen scary. Heh, I may wraithform a squad of bowmen and ghouls (+pathfinders from nomads) and perforate people with regular bowmen just for fun.

I already valued ghouls for rushes. While ghouls are expensive, there are ways to use them without Black Sleep. Weakness is very good, because it's so cheap, only 5 MP. But it won't work against unusual races with resistance > 4. (It's fine against High Men, Nomads, Orcs, Lizardmen; these are the cities I want to conquer with Wolf Riders when I play Gnolls). Cities zombified early with ghouls can have ridiculous taxes.

Long story short, if you need a mean combo ask b0rsuk.