Banshee (person)

Physical Description: Thin, beautiful female elves that have been struck down in life, they return for the Scourge with flowing purple hair and voluminous purple robes with piping in the team colours. Raising their tender arms to attack, they literally scream a green shockwave at their enemies.

Requirements: Built at: Temple of the Damned, requires: Halls of the Dead, allows: none

Spells and Abilities: Banshees start out at Novice rank with the autocast spell, Curse, which for one minute causes 1/4 of an affected unit's attacks to miss and have no effect at all. Banshees also gain the adept and master spells of Anti-magic shell and Possession respectively. The Anti-magic shell (Often written AMS) has a number of VERY useful effects: it a) dispels all spell effects on a unit, b) prevents further spells being cast on said unit and c) deals damage to summoned units. Beware: As of Patch 1.02, effect c) is currently not working, making Undead the only race without a native summoned unit dispel The Anti Magic Shell, as of Patch 1.03, now acts properly - yet slightly different to the othe dispels. It DOES dispel other effects, and DOES prevent re-casting - however, it DOES NOT damage summoned units, but now, because AMS is TOTALLY AND UTTERLY unable to be dispelled besides timing out, when cast on summoned units, means they can't be dispelled either - perfect protection for skeletons, Animate Dead units, etc.

Gameplay: The Banshee is often overlooked by Undead commanders for the instant army-creating Necromancer. However, they are a valuable if somewhat fragile addition to a mixed army. Their initial Curse is powerful in itself - throw in 2 banshees to a force and they will let even the most basic troop survive for a lot longer. However, things get really interesting once the further levels are obtained. AMS is the ultimate dispel, and the ultimate protection in the right circumstances. Normally, it is cast on ENEMY troops to dispel any effect (positive, like the infamous Bloodlust, or negative de-buffs like Faerie fire) and prevent further re-casting of buffs (beneficial spells). However, it can also be cast on your own troops to prevent spells like Blizzard, Starfall and Faerie fire being cast on valuable units. Then you get the uber spell. Possession. This spell itself is like heroin - once used properly, you never want to give it up. This spell makes the Banshee head uneeringly towards the unit, sacrificing the Banshee and taking FULL control of the unit. Unlike Animate Dead, the unit is neither summoned nor timed, and can be used as if the controlling player (gleefully) created it. Popular targets are tanks like Knights and Taurens, but also spellcasters, even creeps are popular. A sneaky version is to even grab a peon of the opposing player and build his own tech tree! My advice, throw a few Banhees in with your next non-hero force and micromanage them to good effect - it REALLY pisses opponents off.

<<< Skeleton -- Banshee -- Meat wagon >>>

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