Tackling Banelords?

[Xietor]

They are one of my favorite thugs as well.

Like all scs though, they can be brought low by paralyze, soul slay, smite, etc.

[johnarryn]

Generally things that dont check MR rolls are good, as many people kit out their SC's with MR-boosting equipment. I've found simple spells like incinerate and even lighning bolt can work well.

[Xietor]

I have found it hard to resist paralyze, even with really high mr. If you get 3-4 mages spamming it, you likely are toast.

[squeezing]

just lost a Angel of Fury to Drain Life spam , does that work on undead?

[MaxWilson]

Drain Life always hits, is impossible to resist, and comes on a D4 item. You won't gain any fatigue back from the Bane Lord, but item-casting is cheap anyway. The tactical AI is pretty good about casting Drain Life only on tough enemy units, so you should pick him out of a horde of chaff pretty quickly. Depending upon what "fully decked-out" means, the specific anti-undead counters (Inner Sun, Just Man's Cross, Solar Rays) may be more cost-effective, but Drain Life items are useful to have lying around anyway and AFAIK there's no way to counter them except killing the casters.

-Max

[Wish]

the drain life item is an artifact, however, which diseases whomever holds it.

[MaxWilson]

No, you're thinking of Sun Slayer (which is D5 incidentally). At Construction-6, D4 mages can construct the Standard of the Damned, which casts Drain Life. Give it to a non-spellcasting commander and set him to "Cast Spells" and that's all he'll cast. The Standard of the Damned is a pretty sorry melee weapon (you lose -2 att, -3 def), but it does cause Fear +0 and besides, you're using it as an oversized magic wand and not a melee weapon. Downside is that you can't hold a shield so you're vulnerable to missile fire.

-Max

[Methel]

Two spells stand out against a undead SC.

Dust to dust. Level 1 thau 1D spell, negates armor and no resist.

And the improved version, level 6 thau 3D Wither Bones.

Enjoy