2020 Eldar Guide

art by rub_a_duckie
2020 Eldar Guide for players in Dark Crusade & Soulstorm.
There are multiple Eldar Guides that exist on the internet, you should read mine because I give it to you straightforward and these strategies are pretty easy to grasp and easy to implement. Your success rate will soar.
In this guide we will go over all stages of the game: early, middle, and late, and we will discuss what options to pursue to win the game.

Introduction

2020 Eldar Guide

This Guide was designed for players to get strategic direction as Eldar. Many players have been struggling to understand this race throughout the years this game has existed, and understandably so. Invisible buildings and rampant teleportation makes for a fast-paced and micro heavy race that can be mind-boggling without the right direction. This guide will assume you know how to micromanage and kite enemies - I cannot play the game for you - but it will tell you what options to pursue and what to do in certain situations, to make your gameplay much easier.

1. Early Game
Intro Build Order: 2x Guardian
1. Queue Guardian
When spawned, take closest control point, then take a moderately far control point or interrupt the enemy's control point acquisition. Don't lose your guardians, but don't be too afraid to fight. You can reinforce up to 2 times in this phase without costing too many resources.
2. Aspect Portal
3. Bonesinger (Queue behind Guardian) [Situational: If you are being rushed, switch #3. and #4.]
4. Guardian (Queue up after 1st Q'd Guardian unit spawns, or immediately if youre against ork, necron, imperial guard, or tau)
5. Bonesinger (Queue up after the 2nd Guardians have spawned)
6. Webway Gate (Make with 2nd Bonesinger, ideally at a chokepoint)
7. Power Generator (with 1st Bonesinger after Aspect Portal is made)
8. Far Seer ASAP
9. Research Wraithtomb and Plasma Grenade (Unless you are doing fast Avatar or fast Wraithlords) and finish producing bone singers

When your Far Seer is created, use it to scout the map, find your enemy's squads, and take them out with abilities. Don't lose your Far Seer in this phase. If your enemy is aggressive against you, use the Far Seer defensively, luring your enemy to webway gates to take adavantage of its' bonuses & turrets that you create under them. Always have 1-2 turrets by your webway gates if possible.
*DO NOT get turrets or upgrades if you are attempting fast avatar or fast wraithlord builds. See below.

Early Game Options:

1. Rangers - Infiltration
Rangers are good versus Necron, Tau, Eldar, and any other race with a tough
time getting consistent detection in the early game. Personally I think they are a waste of time and resources otherwise. Good scouting potential if you do not want to risk your far seer or guardian squads.

2. Reapers - Standard
Good vs infantry, heavy infantry, vehicles and buildings in the early game.
Capable as an anti-rush unit, even 1 squad can fend off almost anything that isn't flayed ones in this phase of the game.
Have 2-3 squads at minimum at all times. These bad boys are the backbone of your Eldar force, and straight up shred all infantry.

3. Banshees - Counterplay
If you face melee heavy enemies like orks, chaos, and necrons, use banshees
to counter their melee. These gals, paired with a Harlequin, can devastate pretty much everything they come across, especially units with weak melee. They are also good against melee units like Flayed Ones, because they can outmass and out dps them. Speed and size > strength in that instance.

11. After 2-3 squads of your choice and the Harlequin is created, make up to 4 generators and make a soul shrine as
soon as you have 200 power.
*This means saving up at least 200 requisition points to be able to drop a soul shrine
by the time you have 200 power.
12. Make a play to push them, tech up for a fight in the later game, or defend
your base against their early game push. Make sure you are also still gathering points
around the map to dominate with economy.

*DO NOT GET HARLEQUIN UNLESS NECESSARY IF YOU ARE DOING FAST WRAITHLORD/AVATAR.
Harlequin can be efficient as an anti-squad killer in the early game, useful versus rushes and when rushing. If your goal is to win in the late game, then do not waste power on Harlequin unless you absolutely need to.

Middle -> Late Game (Standard Strategy & 3 Cheese Strategy)

2. Middle Game->Late Game
As soon as your soul shrine is made, make a support portal asap. Also make 2 more
generators to ensure you have at least 5 power generators by middle game.
When pushing the enemy with your army, use the bonesinger's wraithtomb ability to
disable enemy structures and build webways to heal your troops and create turrets in
chokepoints. Look for parts of the map that have environmental barriers that create
"hallways" (chokepoints) to funnel enemy units into.
Middle Game into Late Game Options
1. Standard
2. 3 Cheese (Falcon/Reaper/Dragon)
3. Fast Wraithlords
4. Fast Avatar

->Standard Middle Game Strategy
-The standard middle game should involve getting 5 of your bulk infantry units (from the
early game) and spamming vehicles/mechs the entire time. Standard typically wants
falcon grav tanks with wraithlords, skipping avatar of khaine or reserving it for the later
part of the game.
-Falcon Grav Tanks are cheap, sturdy, and deal good damage. Put them in front of your
infantry to block damage for them.
Wraithlords counter almost all mechs and vehicles, as well as some heroes and almost
all base set-ups. 3-4 will be a nightmare for your enemy and Wraithlords spawn
relatively quickly so massing them shouldn't be hard if you have enough power.

->3 Cheese Strategy (Falcon/Reaper/Dragon)
-Many enemies will anticipate Wraithlords and try to counter them from the start. This means they will build anti-vehicle/mech units to ensure they can crush wraithlords. Because of that, you can go for infantry cheese with webway/support turret pushes.
-4x Fire Dragons will defeat all non-command buildings within 30 seconds on
normal speed. They will also shred vehicles like swiss cheese. Position them behind your grav tanks, but in front of your reapers so they can reach the enemy frontline (which is usually mechs/vehicles).
-5x Reapers will defeat almost all heavy and regular infantry in a short time frame.
-2+ Falcon Grav Tanks can be used literally as a wall between your infantry and the enemy,
which enables your infantry to shred things safely.
-Since this cheese recommends pushing with turrets and webways, it may not be
feasible to go for Avatar of Khaine, although it could be possible.
-Harlequins & Banshees are not necessary with this build, but can be used efficiently when facing melee-heavy units or powerful units that can blast through falcon grav tanks and reach your reaper/dragon backline. 1 Banshee squad at all times never hurts.

Middle -> Late Game 2 (Fast Wraithlords Strategy & Fast Avatar Strategy)

->Fast Wraithlords Strategy
-Do not upgrade anything that costs power except healing for Webway gates.
-You want 5 power generators by minute 4 and you want to have your support portal ready by 4:30.
-Ignore falcon grav tanks and stick with only 2-3 reaper squads if you can. Banshees help
against melee enemies that shred reapers, but don't build fire dragons, and don't lose your Far Seer.
-Make 2x support portals and just keep pumping out Wraithlords after your early game.
-Mass them up (3+ Wraithlords) with 2-3 squads of fully reinforced reapers and you can
stop anything.
-Try not to turret rush with this build, almost all power should be reserved for making
wraithlords. I also skip getting wraithtomb/plasma grenades if my early game is safe
enough.

->Fast Avatar (6 minutes on normal speed)
-This is the riskiest mid-to-late game strategy and should be reserved for team matches
where avatar is needed.
-Reserve all power for "Annihilate the Enemy" (700 power will be needed by 5 minutes)
by controlling the map with exploring guardians and defeating pushes with 3x repear
squads and your far seer. DON'T LOSE YOUR FAR SEER AFTER YOU MAKE THEM.
-Literally ALL power must be reserved for getting to the avatar.
-With Avatar of Khaine you can push hard and win with anything you desire; switch to
wraithlords and mass them, or go for 3 infantry cheese and dominate just about
everything.

Closing Thoughts

->These strategies are designed for players who understand how to micro already, so
this is not necessarily a new player's guide; it's more of a blueprint for winning a game.

->Eldar thrives on its ability to control areas of the map efficiently. Their playstyle has a
weaker early game, however, because of the power of guardians versus other enemies like
sluggas and necron warriors. If you are having issues in the early game, you need turrets,
and you need to stop trying to rush Avatar of Khaine. Most of the time players will be
thinking about the 3rd stage of the game, the late game, and that causes deficits in the
early and middle game that you can exploit.

->Remember your counters. Banshees and Harlequin counter most melee. Reapers counter
infantry. Dragons counter vehicles and buildings.

->Falcon Grav Tanks are your best friend (unless you're doing fast Wraithlords).

->When you are designing your base and getting upgrades, try to set up "walls" through
smart building placement that slow down enemy units from diving deep into your plasma
generators. You can also use the Eldar's webway gates to cloak buildings, saving them
from enemies that have a hard time detecting infiltration like necron (Kill their Wraiths
ASAP!).

->It isn't always necessary to upgrade your guardians unless you plan on using them for the
late game, but honestly their only good quality is their low cost to produce. If you can use
reapers instead, you should.

If you like this guide, found it useful, have disagreements, or have any other comments/thoughts, please share them below. Thanks for reading and I hope you have a great time in Dawn of War!

[chasekristopher]

IG is just better tbh in tactical advantages and tech, if you wish to outnumber your enemys go IG

[Casual_Rod]

You know what else is easy to grasp?

[Kosher King of Israel]

Fuck Eldar.

[moorescott31]

i notice you didn't mention the warp spiders, i thought them pretty useful for multiplayer harassment