Of course ringwraiths will always only be opinion and never factual when saying how useful they are, but its a general consensus sometimes. Here's my personal take on it all from opinion and experience. I will go in no particular order....then I will list my favorites from first to last.
Witch King: All around great Wraith. You can upgrade him to be a moster with 3 might 20 will and 3 fate. Even in a 1000 pt game thats pretty nice. He can take a Morgul Blade, and Break staffs(btw do you have all the sourcebooks?). I use him often. You can put him in any force and he does well. Mount him on a fell beast and your opponents will have a hard time keeping him at bay.
The Betrayer: Cool special poison rule. Remember if you use the rule for the archers you still use his magic. Ive made that mistake before by parking him in the rear and leaving him there. Magic is not too hot. Hes basically a decent wraith magic wise but you pay for the rules. 14 will, which is sufficient.
The Dark Marshall: Ive played against him twice, and used him once. His 6"banner is no joke! It destroyed me in a tournament when I took Isengard against a rabble of orcs, black guard, and Mordor Uruks. His magic is on par with a regular wraith. Better than the Betrayer. 12 will. Less than the betrayer, but better to hit stats. About balances it.
The Dwimmerlaik: I had no respect for this guy a while ago. His rule basically on a 4+ roll within 12" makes your heroes spend 2 might will or fate for each one used. I still dont think hes good for battles under 750 points. I personally would only use him in two cases. 1-A battle thats 1000+ points, or 2-Which gave me respect for him. An all hero fight.
I played GloryforGondor against the Dwimmerlaik. I believe I had 18 might, and ended up only using about 10-11 of it. Pretty much decimated my special points. In an all hero fight, if you take evil, bring the Dwimmerlaik. His magic is decent as well.
16 will which is great. But, no might......it becomes an issue with no support.
Khamul the Easterling: People seem to have a fan club for this guy. Ive used him, and he hasnt done much for me. His magic is one of the worst, and he only has 12 will.......you can spend it to increase your fight attacks, etc. People like him because hes a "combat wraith". I think its stupid. Yes, people Im sure can use him very well, especially on fell beast.....BUT....I personally believe wraith are not there for combat.....I want to use mine for magic and army supporting rules, and thats it.
The knight of Umbar: Its gonna sound weird considering I just said wraiths arent meant for combat....but if they are...its this guy. Hes got 3 might, and 14 will. He can use his enemies fight, attacks, or Strength. On a fell beast hes disgustingly scary. He is weak in terms of magic though, unfortunately. I think hes good for picking spots to use it though, and can transfix heroes, swoop in on a beast, and murder them.
The Shadow Lord: Hes kinda a tough wraith to pick, in terms of going to a tournament. I though, used him many, many times, in friendlies. I have a buddy who plays wood elves, with some mounted rohan. Often Legolas, and always Mirkwood Rangers. The Shadow Lords special rule protecting your troops from arrows in those fights, is unmeasurable......
The Tainted: Ill tell you right now, I find him almost worthless. His one special rule is good for large battles I guess, and his other rule will almost never be used. Hes got 1 might, only 12 will, and 1 fate. His magic is strong, but again.....12 will....
The Undying: Use him in tandem with other wraiths. Hes got a good 2 might, 20 will(which you can use as fate). Every successful magic spell cast within 6"of him regains him 1 will. Use him in large scale battles with other wraiths, or shamans, or even mouth of sauron, etc. Hes great in themed armies with other spell casters. I havent used him because I usually tend to use one wraith per army and never thought to use him with Shamans.
Now in order.....Im going to rate these based off of A-my likelihood to use them, B- how well they make the rest of your army perform/what type of army you can take them with other than Mordor(because they can all do that) and C- their profile, period.
1. Witch King-Useful in all scenarios
2. The Dark Marshall-Same with weaker magic and options
3. The Betrayer- Can make Harad and Umbar brutal offensively
4. The Knight of Umbar- Very tough offensive model. Mount on fell beast
5. The Shadow Lord- Very specialized(like I said, if you know you play against many bows)
6. Khamul the Easterling- Good at combat. May want to use in Easterling force
7. The Undying- He IS a good profile....I feel bad to put him so low.....but the fact is his special rule needs other spellcasters so you have to build around him in an army
8. The Dwimmerlaik- Again, hate to put him so low, but hes only really useful in specific cases. Especially in large armies or hero battles.
9. The Tainted- Sucks. Never seen one used
Keep in mind dude.....Generic Wraiths are not bad either!
Always mount them on at least a horse for spell range.....
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