Alright, so now I have just been looking at the special items page.....The animus vitae is now pretty damn good. Upgrading everyone to the next pain token level is almost a must. I feel this combos extremely well with Doom (obviously). Being str4 seems balanced enough to make you consider when to use it. You have a single shot that will likely always hit (high BS characters), but may not always wound....so it's a hit and miss item.
The Archangel of Pain is great. It works effectively the same as psychic shriek. Except you get a bonus -2 to your leadership! Awesome. It being a bubble effect means It will be hilarious in a portalling unit. However, the big problem is that it won't impact anything with ATSKNF....which means it will be useless against half the armies you might play at an event. Worth considering though since if it does go off against something like Tau....then you are laughing.
The Armour of Misery is a MUST for combat units. That -2 to enemy leadership is so debilitating for some armies that it will be a great combo for allied shriek seers. Plus, unlike the archangel of pain, it DOES impact upon all units.
The Dijn blade is back in style....absolutely nothing has changed in what you get for it, BUT you now just roll a single D6 to see if you lose a wound (on a 1 you fail). Not bad! You are still debilitated by Eldar str3, but no matter, the weight of attacks will even out the odds. HOWEVER, watch out as you can kill your own Shadowfield from failing it....
The helm is well.....really only required if you are playing some crazy Eldar Shriek army. Giving all psykers within 12" the ability to perils on any double is cool and all, but it's not that debilitating for them. I would only take it in a social game against someone who I knew was going to bring a lot of Psykers.
The pistol......is cool. The ability to regain wounds isn't bad, and being 5 points makes it a reasonable choice. I think it can't really hurt to take it on your combat archon. You might regain a single wound (MIGHT....it's AP5) before heading into the fight. Overall I good choice I think.
Still looking through it....more to come.
- out.