Favorite Builds for Uncommon Characters

I can begin with a few that I have run to moderate succes:

Loremaster of Hoeth, Book of Hoeth, Shield of the Merwyrm, Sword of Might, Golden Crown of Atrazar:
I've found the Book to be mandatory on this guy. It makes his trickle casting insane - two dice spells throughout the phase, and even 1-die fireballs (with an 8/9 success rate, statistically.) However, this doesn't leave him much room for survivability. In comes the Shield - the cheapest way to get a foot character to a 4++. And brings his armor to a 4+, which can make a difference against piddly infantry such as goblins or rats. The Sword of Might helps him deal some actual damage, as he cannot use his GW with the Shield, but he gets rerolls, which I like. I also find that hitting at S5 is a solid sweet spot, especially because he is often in a unit rocking the Razor Standard. I initially had doubts about the Crown, what with the anti-synergy of ward save stacking, but having coverage against a miscast wound (which will occur before combat) or a single wound in combat has been very helpful.
This character is being run as the leader of my current force, and I LOVE his playstyle in friendly games.

Noble on Griffon (Swiftsense,) Dragon Armor, Lance, Charmed Shield, Potion of Strength, Reaver Bow:
For a guy who exists to bring the Griffon into battle, I have found that a simple Lance is enough once you actually enter combat, and the Reaver Bow allows him to be both useful and annoying on turns where he is maneuvering around. The Charmed Shield helps protect against shooting or a single attack in combat, as well as bringing him to a 3+. Dragon Armor is nice for that free 6++, especially because it is so cheap on Nobles. I like the Potion for one round of important combat (S9 Lance hits to slay a monster) or to shoot like a Bolt Thrower (3 S8 shots from the bow can threaten weak war machines or lone models.) I only take my Griffon with Swiftsense, as the rerolls to hit are often more important to me than higher S of Swooping Strike (the noble already hits at S6 on the charge, and the Griffon is really only useful for it's Thunderstomp without rerolls.)

Prince on a Star Dragon, Light Armor, Charmed Shield, Star Lance, Other Trickster's Shard, Talisman of Preservation:
This guy took me quite far in Adepticon 2023. He is 625 points of pure badassery, and was the absolute MVP of that event for me. Note that the Adepticon comp allowed the dragon to use the rider's ward save, hence the 4++. I would probably adjust for something like the Golden Crown, and invest more points in armor, etc. otherwise. This guy was swinging with 10 WS7 S7 attacks on the charge, 4 of which were ASF WS7 I8 no armor saves, and opponents had to reroll ward saves. This dude one shot Drazoath the Ashen on his Taurus with a cheeky corner-to-corner charge, and I would absolutely bring him again in any game large enough to hold his raw power.

Anointed of Asuryan, Crown of Command, Enchanted Shield, Potion of Strength, Sword of Strife:
Oh baby. This guy was a staple when I was running a big death star of Sword Masters, 8x4, with a Level 4 High Archmage in there for that sweet, sweet, ward save stacking. The Crown may seem redundant for Swordmasters vs the equivalent White Lions, but I find the 35 points on an already decently equipped character (4++ baked in) was worth it for the FAR superior damage output of Swordmasters. Making that unit Stubborn felt very dirty, but we were trying out some seriously try-hard lists in my group at that time. The shield brings him to a 3+/4++, and he makes 5 attacks with ASF and high WS/I at S4, with one turn striking at S7. I find that he did not need to deal that much damage against rank and file dudes considering the damage output of Swordmasters, but could pop the potion to destroy high Toughness targets or insta-win challenges. He was able to destroy the Cauldron of Blood in one go, and dealt with a Chaos BSB in a challenge quite handily. I only ran him a few times, as, again, this tactic felt fairly dirty.