A while back I asked what mage I should run for a small local event. It ended up being overwhelmingly Siren and I did pretty well with it. Here's what I ended up with:
Equipment1 x Leather Boots1 x Leather Chausses1 x Leather Gloves1 x Leviathan Scale Armor1 x Ring of the Ocean's Depths1 x Ring of the Tides1 x Shoalsdeep Trident1 x Voice of the SeaConjuration1 x Coral Barrier1 x Mana Flower4 x Shallow Sea2 x Tanglevine1 x WhirlpoolCreature2 x Colossal Crab1 x Merren Harpooner1 x Naiya1 x Shoalsdeep Crocodile1 x Water ElementalEnchantment2 x Agony1 x Akiro's Favor2 x Ballad of Courage1 x Bear Strength1 x Brace Yourself1 x Divine Protection2 x Healing Madrigal1 x Hydrothermal Vent1 x Magebane1 x Nullify1 x Rhino Hide2 x Rust1 x Song of LoveIncantation1 x Crumble1 x Cure2 x Dispel3 x Dissolve2 x Force Push1 x Minor Heal1 x Purify1 x Remove Curse2 x TeleportAttack2 x Acid Ball1 x Hurl Boulder2 x Surging Wave2 x Swell1 x Tsunami
Total cost: 120 ptsThe basic idea is Sirens die fast due to the short life. Someone people say "Is it really that big a deal?" to which I reply "Yes. Yes it's a big deal." The idea then is find artificial ways to stretch that 30 life out some. This includes reducing the number of dice coming at you. Thus the Divine Protection and Agonies in the book. It means board control thus the Shoalsdeep Crocodile, Colossal Crabs, Water Elemental,, Tangle Vines, Force Pushes, Teleports, Coral Barrier, and Whirlpool. The armor and healing methods are self explanatory but the Siren more than any other mage is NOT trying to get hit in the face for large burst damage all at once. A Force Master hit me for 10 damage on a supped up hit with some hot dice and I thought "Well crap there's 1/3 of my life!" If she'd have been able to follow up I'd have been dead fast. And that's the thing to ALWAYS remember with a Siren: Things can go very bad for you very quickly. Don't ever ever for any reason get complacent or think it's in the bag.
You can armor but they can pierce just as fast now. You can heal, but they can lay it down faster than you can remove it odds are. So do not get hit that hard to begin with. Your creatures can also lay the heavy beat down pretty quick and you can just remove armor so play to that strength. I had a Paladin get surprised when a Colossal Crap swung 5 on it's quick attack against him thanks to Siren's Call. Also remember Acid Balls are guaranteed damage against enemies without armor.
In all I went 3-1 at the event. Fought 2 Force Masters, a Paladin, and a Necromancer. Lost to the Necromancer as she was just hitting on all cylinders and making no mistakes today. I have to say though I'm happy with my Siren and would confidentially run it against anyone you'd care to name.
