The Myriad Cults open up some interesting ways to focus Cult Creeds, and I’ve been playing around with Synaptic Resonance to boost my psykers. Is it worth it, and if it is, how much difference does it make?
I started playing Cults back in 8th edition, not long after KillTeam came out and my wife preferred the look of the AdMech models. There was a short-lived dalliance with the Cult of the Four-Armed Emperor (it was fun as long as the charge rolls went off, which they generally didn’t), before I settled on Twisted Helix, and have stuck with them ever since. Until now.
Recently, I’ve started to play around with the Myriad Cults. I’m aware that these seem to be the key to things like tournament success, but that’s not really my goal here. Instead, my plan is to lean into some of the things that I already like to do with my army, and see if we can do them better. To that end, my current preference is for the following:
o toxin agents – unmodified 6s to hit automatically wound the target in melee
o industrial affinity – choose to ignore modifiers to hit rolls, WS and BS
o synaptic resonance – reroll 1s and 2s on psychic tests
Because the idea of packing in lots of mining weapons, bucket-loads of attacks and super-charged psykers really appeals to me. And of those three, the one that’s been bouncing around my head for a while is Synaptic Resonance.
Straight off the page it feels like a very useful ability: free rerolls are always good; the chances of getting a fail/perils combination drops to 1-in-1296; and on any roll of 5 or lower, we can always reroll at least one of the dice, making it much harder to fail anything. On the other hand, it only affects two models in the Codex, and we can only take one of each unless we sacrifice CPs for a second detachment (which may be worthwhile, but is still a cost).
Let’s get into the maths.
SYNAPTIC RESONANCE
A standard psychic test is fairly straight-forward. Overall, we’re most likely to roll a 7 (1/6 chance), pretty unlikely to roll a 2 or a 12 (1/36 chance), and incrementally likely to roll everything in-between. This is because, on each die, all six outcomes are equally likely, at 1-in-6 or 16.7%.
Synaptic Resonance changes these odds. Because we’re rerolling 1s and 2s, we increase the overall chances of scoring 3 or more, and decrease the chances of ending up with a 1 or 2. We end up with an 8/36 or 22.2% chance of scoring each of 3, 4, 5 and 6, and a 2/36 or 5.6% chance of a 1 or 2.
All of which gives us this:
[Here, the upper row indicates the chance of score any specific value. The lower row shows the chance of scoring any given value or higher, which is more useful in-game.]
As we’d expect, Synaptic Resonance is a flat improvement at every point. What’s interesting is how much better it is. With a standard role, the single most likely outcome is a 7; we’d also expect to roll 7 or better on a little more than half our rolls (and would expect a 7 to be denied 40% of the time). With Resonance, the most likely outcome is a 9; we’d expect to roll 9 or better virtually half the time too, and would expect a 9 to be denied just 8% of the time).
That feels significant. It certainly doesn’t make us deny-proof, but it shifts the balance of power considerably. In most of my current games, I have four casts available (Patriarch and Magus), against maybe one or two denies at best. My opponent already knows that a couple of my powers are getting through. But here, he’s also having to factor in the increased likelihood that I roll high on the ones he really wants to block. Should he save his denies, but risk having to roll 10+; or just deny as soon as I roll low, to get some use out of it regardless of what’s being cast?
The chances of getting the minimum manifestation values also increases significantly: a Smite (WC5) jumps from 83% to 96% (or failing 1-in-6 to failing 1-in-20); Mass Hypnosis (WC7) goes from 58% to 81%, so even our most difficult powers will manifest most of the time. Super-smites see a less dramatic absolute improvement, going from 8% to 15%, but that’s still enough to all but double our chances of rolling for those extra mortal wounds.
LEANING IN
If we’re going to devote part of our creed to boosting psychic prowess, then it may make sense to really lean in and further enhance things with relics. That said, the Crouchling isn’t very helpful here, as it primarily offers a free reroll, which Synaptic Resonance is already offering us (in a slightly different form). And whilst the Crouchling allows us to reroll anything, (a double-three when looking for a 7, for example; or fishing for a super-smite in extremis), it also means rerolling both dice at once, which isn’t always helpful.
On the other hand, the Unwilling Orb makes our casting even more effective (blessings aside). Here’s how it affects the numbers:
It’s another significant boost, particularly for super-smites, which now go off 30% of the time. We also have a all-but-50% chance to manifest on 10+, making it even more difficult for our opponent to deny us. And even our trickiest powers (like Mass Hypnosis) have a 91% chance to manifest, with the easiest ones (like Smite) going off an incredibly reliable 99% of the time.
The Orb is limited. We can only use it on one psyker, so can’t roll this level of mastery out across the board. And it doesn’t affect blessings, like the ever-useful Might from Beyond. On the plus side, it also ramps up our own denial game – we’re no more likely to make the denies, but we can always try to block at least two powers, no matter where they’re cast from, which can sometimes put a significant spanner into our opponents' plans.
MORTAL WOUNDS
A standard Smite causes an average of 2 mortal wounds; a super-Smite averages 3.5 mortals. Of course, that raw average decreases due to failed casts and (potentially) successful denies (and tends towards the lower figure, as we’re more likely to cast a regular Smite). Once we factor all of that in, it looks like this:
Where there’s no opposing psyker to try and deny things (so a successful cast always results in damage), Synaptic Resonance is around 21% better; with the Orb, that rises to 37%. If our opponent attempts to deny, Synaptic Resonance alone gives a 37% improvement, but that increases dramatically to 72% with the Orb.
So when it comes to Smite - for all the positive numbers, increased chances to manifest (and super-smite), and reduced likelihood of being denied - in the end, Synaptic Resonance is worth less than a single mortal wound per cast. Even in our best-case scenario, with the Orb in play and no chance to deny, we’re gaining slightly more than half a mortal wound. That’s not great.
THOUGHTS
So, is it worth it? I think it might be. The psychic phase isn’t all about Smite, and being able to (pretty) reliably manifest any of our powers is a very helpful tool. Remember, with the Orb we’re manifesting non-blessing warp charge 7 powers at 91%, rising to 99% for warp charge 5. Even without it, we’re at 81% for WC7, and 96% for WC5. Generally, we’re manifesting the powers we want, and with four powers across the Patriarch and Magus, our opponent is going to have to make tricky decisions about when to attempt to deny.
There’s also pessimism to take into account. It may be different for you, but I tend to factor in the worst-case scenario when I come under attack. As an example from a recent game – the chance of a Necron heavy destroyer killing my isolated Patriarch with a single shot is slim, but definitely possible, especially if I miss both invulnerable saves; I’d rather use a 2CP stratagem to hide him than take the risk of losing him. Similarly, the chance of super-smiting my opponent’s key character and rolling enough mortal wounds to kill him off is usually slim, but plausible enough that he’ll need to consider it. So I might be able to push through a Might from Beyond or Mass Hypnosis without facing a deny, because it’s being saved to protect against potential mortal wounds. (And I’m not fussed about trying less important powers first, because all my rerolls are built in, not CP dependent.)
In my last game (with Synaptic Resonance in play), I cast three super-smites – two from my Patriarch with the Orb, and one from my Magus. They potentially won me the game – one, coupled with a successful Psionic Blast, killed off a librarian dreadnought; a second wiped out a damaged Death Company dread; and the third took out a couple of marines, making the subsequent combat a foregone conclusion. It felt lucky, but I don’t think it was. With the Orb, I’m casting super-smites almost a third of the time, so in a five-turn game there’s a 47% chance of manifesting two (or more) or them. And there’s a 56% of getting at least one super-smite just from Synaptic Resonance alone. Three super-smites is a fair outcome – I might hope to do better, and I’ll sometimes do worse (especially if my psykers die early), but the threat is there.
Am I going to stick with Synaptic Resonance? For the time being, absolutely. I've really appreciated the level of confidence that Synaptic Resonance gives to my psychic phase - I expect my powers to go off; and whilst Deny the Witch might still get in the way, my opponent is under a lot more pressure to use it well. I’m even considering running a second detachment (in the rare games when we get up to 2000 points) to fit in even more psychic goodness – imagine having eight casts available each turn, knowing that even the fourth Smite is going off 67% of the time (or 81% if I save it for the Orb). That is a tempting thought.
And on that note, I’ll leave you. Thanks, as ever, for ploughing through my ramblings, and I hope that your psykers, however you tool them up, lead your uprisings to glorious (and smite-filled) victory.