Tips and Tricks for using a Keeper of Secrets!

Let's talk about Slaaneshs most fearsome Daemon today, the Keeper of Secrets!

One of the most fearsome and elegant monsters in 40k, she'll cut you limb from limb and gain extreme pleasure from doing so....

Stats:

She comes with a staggering 16" movement, so even being a monster that has to move around obstacles, she has so much movement that she can clear alot of things and still get to a target.

T7 and 20 wounds with a 4+ save from range but unfortunately just a 5+ in combat...

She is always -1 to hit which is very nice and adds some survivability. She is strength 6, which is abit low but then her Whitstealer sword bumps that to 8.

Throwing 6 attacks at strength 8, ap-3 with 3 damage and any model she wounds with her sword is -1 to wound in melee for the rest of the game, which is cool but you generally want whatever she hits to die.

She also gets 4 malefic attacks with her crab claws at strength 6, ap-4 and 3 damage which is fantastic, especially into anything with power armour considering armour of Contempt can't modify that ap due to it being a malefic attack!

Impossible Elegance is also a great strat for 1cp you'll definitely be using making hit rolls of 1-3 in melee automatically fail against her.

Exalted Traits: 

Diaphanous Panoply:

On the surface this is the most powerful trait being -1 to wound at range.

This is great giving her more of a chance to get across the board in the shooty match ups.

Epicurean of Agonies:

This trait gives her an extra attack on an unmodified hit roll of a 6. Pretty decent but you're not taking it over the other two.

Insatiable Onslaught:

My personal favourite, +2 to advance and charge rolls. Drop her out of reserves, and even combine this with the lighting speed warpstrom ability for an additional +1 to charge, and she doesn't care how far she drops away, she is generally getting what she wants.

Wargear:

So the Keeper comes with a number of extra wargear options that are all free, you can only choose one of them though.

The Shining Aegis:

This shield that turns her save in combat from a 5+ to a 4+. This is the right choice 100% of the time. That extra point of save makes the world of difference for a model that wants to be in a fight.

Ritual Knife:

At the end of the fight phase, pick one enemy model within 3" of her that lost any wounds as a result of any attacks from the keeper in that phase. Roll a dice, on a 2+ that model takes d3 mortal wounds. It's OK, nice against monsters and vehicles the she knocked down to a couple wounds, not worth it over the aegis though.

Sinistrous Hand:

At the end of the fight phase, if any enemy models (exluding vehicles) were destroyed that phase by an attack made by the keeper, she regains d3 lost wounds.

This is actually decent combined with a Relic we will talk about later on and the dark invigoration warpstorm ability for a possible 3d3 wounds back between the fight and morale phase!

The Living Whip:

6 whippy shots at 12" range, str 6 ap-2 and 2 damage. It's OK, again not worth it over the aegis.

Warlord Traits:

Here is just a few of the better Traits on a keepers if she is your warlord.

Fatal Caress:

Wound rolls of a 5+ for this warlord ignore Invulnerable saving throws.

This is a pretty decent trait, would be much more enticing on a 4+ rather than 5+ though.

Murderdance:

When this warlord makes a charge roll, add d3 to it's attack characteristic this phase.

This is solid, giving her a potential of 9 attacks with her sword while making up for lost attacks due to damage taken.

Quicksilver Duellist: 

This warlord re-rolls it's hit rolls. It also re-rolls it's wound rolls against characters. I really like this trait, making her attacks more reliable and making her a real threat to characters. Could be a good combo with Epicurean of Agonies, re-rolling your hits to fish for 6's for those extra attacks.

Aura of Bewitchment:

While an enemy unit is within 6" of this warlord, that unit cannot perform actions. If a unit currently performing an action comes into range of this aura, it automatically fails that action.

This has some real potential to hurt your opponents scoring.

Psychic Powers:

The soulstain discipline is pretty amazing, though alot of it is for supporting your Slaaneshi core stuff, you can put out some decent mortals aswell. 

Cacophonic Choir is a great power, rolling 3d6 against the leadership of the closest enemy unit and causing a number of mortal wounds for every point you beat it up to a maximum of 6.

Phantasmagoria has some great synergy with cacophonic choir and Manifestation distances. Pick an enemy unit, roll 6 dice, on every 5+ you cause a mortal wound. For every mortal wound that unit takes, you subtract 1 to it's leadership. Can also be good in the match ups where you take the Nourished by Terro secondary aswell.

You can also give her some buffing powers for Daemonettes or Fiends with Hysterical Frenzy, which gives models in a unit an extra attack and an extra attack on unmodified hit rolls of a 6 which is amazing. You can also get a 5+ feel no pain on a core unit from Delightful Agonies.

Relics:

I'll just mention some of the better ones for the keeper rather than go into all of them.

Soulstealer:

It replaces the whitestealer sword with the same profile, but swaps out any special rules for the ability to heal a wound for every model you kill with it up to a maximum of 6, aswell as hit rolls automatically wounding Aeldari units. This is probably the best Relic for her, making her last that little longer while also making her even deadlier vs Aeldari factions.

Mark if Excess:

Add 1 to the Bearers attack characteristic, and each time the Bearer kills a character, monster or vehicle, add 1 to their attack characteristic.

Not bad, a good way to up her damage giving her a starting 7 attacks.

Slothful Claws:

This adds +1 damage to her snapping claws, making them 4 damage. Any time a model loses a wound from this weapon, they cannot benefit from any aura abilities from other enemy units for the rest of the Phase.

4 damage claws is pretty tasty, the extra debuff is a bonus.

Shalaxi Helbane:

Shalaxi is the named Keeper of Secrets, clocking in at 20pts more than a Keeper, she has the same stats. She gains -1 to wound in combat, she also heroically intervenes if a character is within 6" being able to move up to 6" if she can end that move in engagement range of a character.

She can take a living whip or shining aegis, which you're going to take the aegis for the 4+ combat save.

She also swaps out the whitstealer sword for Soulpiercer, strength 12, ap-4 and 3 damage. She also becomes d3+3 vs characters which makes her super great against big characters like hive tyrants, knights and other greater daemons.

I think the Keeper is a solid unit overall and get's overshadowed by the Lord of Change and Bloodthirster. She can a real harassment unit and a great unit to have in a list.