Playing with or against Eldar

A basic guide to the most micro-intensive and rage inducing fleet in the Gothic sector.

Introduction: Knife-ears in Space

The Eldar move differently, shoot differently, take damage differently and altogether seem to go as far out of their way as possible to make things difficult for their enemies and players just starting to pick them up. I've been playing mainly Eldar since beta, so I know what strategies work for me and what enemy ships fill me with dread.

This guide is designed to give some helpful hints to aspiring star-princes as to how to go about starting your fleet, as well as tips to defeat an eldar fleet. I don't claim to be the best player, so if you're already fielding a battleship with favours and upgrades in every slot this guide might not be for you.

It's also worth noting that a few months ago the Void Stalker and Eclipse were disgustingly overpowered. Though the ships have been rebalanced some players still retain a hint of delicious salt.

Pansy 101 - Holofields

If you plan on winning with or against Eldar, you need to know how they differ from the rest of the ships in the gothic sector.

Eldar ships mount holofields instead of the regular void shielding. Instead of acting as temporary rechargable health the field grants a chance to deny enemy hits, based on the weapon type and the percentage charge of the holofield (So a 50% holofield has half the blocking ability of a 100% holofield). Holofields:

• Increase at 7.5% per second if the ship is moving at an appreciable speed.
  
• Decrease at 10% per second if the ship is stationary (or moving very slowly).
  
• Deny 50% of the macro-cannon hits your ship would otherwise take (at 100% holofields).
  
• Deny 80% of lance hits your ship would otherwise take (at 100% holofields), this includes pulsars.
  
• Don't block abilities/bombs, nova cannons, ramming, torpedos, lightning strikes or fighters.

There is also an ability that temporarily raises them to 100% charged (even if not moving), and an upgrade that prevents them dropping below 20% charge. You'll rarely see either of them in play, because they're absolute trollop. Losing sails or generators will also put a penalty on your holofields of:

• 50% for generator destroyed.
  
• 10% per sail destroyed.

As Eldar:

As you can see, the key to holofields is to keep moving. The number one concern for an Eldar player is to ensure all his ships are either moving at full speed, or out of range of the enemy. You also need to understand that even with full shields you are not invulnerable, take note of enemy ships mounting large amounts of macro-cannons, and try to avoid getting within 3km. Finally, unlike void-shields an eldar ship being shot at will be taking damage (even if only slowly), avoid this by running silent or dipping into gas clouds. Lastly, DO NOT, EVER, LET YOURSELF GET RAMMED.

Against Eldar:

• If you've brought lances, slap yourself. Any Eldar player with even one eye on the game can usually keep his holofields up, so 80% of your lance damage will disappear into the void.
  
• Macro-Cannons, Starcannons and Gunz have a far better chance to get through, take ships that focus on these (preferably with decent range).
  
• Torpedos and bombs put serious punishment if you can use them right, they will be covered in the advanced section.
  
• Massed bombers will chase down an eldar ship, beat it to a pulp, and stomp all over its remains. The exception is that eldar ships moving away from your bombers will be able to boost far enough away to get a second defence shot at them. Save your bombers for when an eldar ship is closing in for an attack run, then blast them all at once on a single high priority target.
  
• For Imperials and Orks, Nova CKannons ignore shields and put a serious dent in Eldar health, especially if you save them as a surprise when the enemy gets close.

Fig. 2: Eldar players hearing the whine of a nova cannon.

The Strobe-Lights of Doom - Pulsars

Pulsars are the large guns mounted on some Eldar ships that can simultaneously take chunks out of an enemy ship and induce horrific flashbacks of destroyed fleets for the unlucky admiral on the receiving end. Pulsars are an activated ability that once clicked (or more appropriately, auto-cast within a certain range) fire a 6km (mostly) beam from each pulsar directly ahead of the ship that:

• Act like lances, dropping enemy armour to 25% (as in 1/4 chance to ignore a hit) and always counting as a hit.
  
• Fires off 3 times, dealing 15 damage each time. A single pulsar (ignoring armour and assuming you line up a hit each time) will deal out 45 damage, and most of the time you will be dealing with more than one pulsar. Each shot also has a disgusting 8% chance to cause critical damage.
  
• Must recharge for about 20 seconds after firing.
  
• Are best used by setting engagement range to 3km, and turning off "focussing target" on the top left of your ship information panel. When you want to use them simply target the enemy and the AI will fire the pulsars once it has a clear shot.

Of note is the eldar battleship, which mounts heavy pulsars identical to the standard, except with an ungodly 9km range. Pulsars can be upgraded to be more effective against shields,

Pulsars are the main damage dealers of an eldar fleet, standard eldar tactics involve taking multiple ships mounting pulsars, dropping enemy shields with bombs or starcannons, then coming in for an all out attack run on the defenceless ship. Alternately some players prefer to use overwhelming pulsars to batter down shields as well instead of bombs and cannons. In either case, the end-goal is to focus a single vessel until it collapses under weight of fire.


Fig. 3: before the attack run this used to be a Retribution battleship.

For Eldar:
Set up your attack runs to avoid wasting pulsars on shields. Keep your pulsar ships nearby while you destroy the enemy shields, then move in en-masse and fire pulsars, moving each ship out and boosting away once they've fired. Try to start the attack run as soon as possible, as the more warning the enemy has of the impending attack the better they can try to stop it. Finally, don't be afraid to pull out and try again in 30 seconds if something goes wrong, it might save you a few ships.

Against Eldar:
Pulsars are brutal, and a properly executed attack run will take chunks out of your ship. Despite this they are avoidable, predictable and also one of your best chances to take out the Eldar fleet. Most of the time the pulsars will all be aimed at a single target, allowing you to take steps to protect that ship or use it as bait. Low health ships, ships on their own, or high value targets are all likely to be the target of a pulsar run. Starcannon fire, bomb attempts, and the position of the enemy blips on the radar can all clue you in on which ship is under threat.

The following things can wreck a pulsar run or reduce its effectiveness:

• Surrounding the target with guardian ships: This makes it more dangerous to attack, and also limits them to the gaps between your ships as attack routes. Don't leave your ships so close that they can all get hit by a single bomb, but keep them nearby enough to respond immediately to threat.
  
• Going silent: If you do this from far enough away that the eldar player can't simply move within sensor range the player will either choose a new target, delay the attack, or try it anyway (opening them up for a planned counter strike). Going silent with an entire fleet is a good way to make any eldar player think twice.
  
• Supercharged Void Shield: 10 Seconds of invulnerability turns a vicious attack run into a hilariously ineffective gnat fart. Given the tendency to drop your shields before an attack (and the fact that you'll lose your shields quickly to a pulsar) this tends to be less useful than you'd think.
  
• Void Shield Transfer: If paired with Supercharge this can save a ship, but it's difficult to pull off with limited time.
  
• Micro Warp Jump: They can't hit you if you're not there. For extra points, put your fleet or an obstruction between you and the enemy.
  
• Block LOS: Moving a bigger, more healthy and dangerous ship between the pulsars and the target is especially effective with Taunt, MWJ, or Super-shields.
  
• Taunt: Pulling the biggest pulsar ship away from the fight (and making it vulnerable) removes a significant portion of the damage and soaks it into your shields.
  
• Area Denial: Place bombs or torpedos into the area between you and the attack run. Don't aim to hit the eldar, as they'll just boost through, place the bomb too far ahead to try to rush past. Bigger bombs (like stasis) work better, but this is also an excellent use of any spare disruption bombs you may have lying around, as they're (almost) indistinguishable from the more dangerous plasma bomb. Properly placed these will force the enemy to adjust the route (potentially into one of your ships)
  
• Ignore your ship and focus on damaging the Eldar: The pulsar run is also one of the most vulnerable periods for an eldar fleet. A large number of their ships will be near the enemy, potentially too close to each other to maneuvre effectively, and within 6km range. Focusing on cutting off escape routes and dealing damage to their ships at the cost of your own can win games, especially against smaller more vulnerable Eldar escorts.

Minor Differences Between Eldar and the Lesser Races

Boost: Eldar have a single move action, which briefly boosts their speed massively on a twenty second cooldown, without identifying them. It's great for exploiting a gap between enemy ships, rushing straight through a bomb, avoiding enemy fire (if your ship has moved before the shots get there you don't take damage), dodging augur probes or enemy sensor range and making a speedy escape. Using your boost is an important skill you'll pick up quickly, and it will save your ships multiple times every single battle.

That being said, there are some things that the boost is simply terrible for. The distance traveled is barely the diameter of a stasis bomb, making it of limited use for escaping prolonged chases if the enemy uses all ahead full. Using it while turning will send your ship in a semi-predictable semicircular curve that is excelent for confusing the enemy, but can end with you uncontrollably side-slapping a minefield, enemies, or even your own ships. Finally, unlike All Ahead Full there are no half-measures. once it's used it's gone for twenty seconds and an enemy canl use that as an opportunity to drop bombs or torpedoes.

Boardings: Eldar base troop value is hilariously pitiful, each boarding action has a 50% chance of causing damage to an Eldar vessel.

Starcannons: The Eldar macro-cannon analogue deals vastly higher DPS than other races, the drawback is that this is spread out over a fast fire rate, rather than the other races' massive burst damage in one salvo. To properly take advantage of the starcannons requires your ships to be in range for a period of time, risking being stalled or killed. You can improve this by increasing the range, or simply ordering the ship to move past the enemy (preferably past the rear) so that the ship continues on safely after the attack run.

Torpedoes: Eldar torpedoes don't spread as much as other races. Aim is more important with Eldar.

Bombers: Eldar bombers (and fighters) have a base 30% chance to avoid damage, which raises to a truly terrifying 60% if you fully upgrade the squadron sergeant. This is most useful on the void stalker, but you should consider it on all your carriers, especially if you plan on using them to deal damage.

How to lose friends and alienate people - Advanced Eldar

Here I'll talk about how to approach leveling as an Eldar admiral, the tactics I use to improve my offense, and how to deal with the biggest threats on the board.

Leveling:
When you first start out you'll have 4 variants of escorts, and the overwhelming choice of 2 variants of light cruiser. If that's too much for you don't worry, that's twice as many variants as there are of every other ship class. Two escorts in particular stand out:

• The Hellebore is 55 points of pure death, mounting torpedoes and a pulsar. In groups they can take chunks out of heavy ships with quick bursts of fire. My go-to escort, I upgraded them with Void Blending (more on why later), Dragon Sails, and finally Fire Dragon Aspect. This makes a fast ship that can stay hidden for long periods of time, only coming in when it's needed.
  
• The Aconite is my go-to ship for shooting down other eldar, upgraded with extra range, extra sensor range, and extra health. The sheer number of shots means it deals reliable damage to holofields, and the extra sensors prevent the enemy slipping away too easily.

The other two escorts do half of what the Hellebore does, with half the health, for about 2/3 the cost. Under no circumstances should you take them against Imperials, because an nova cannon will wipe them in one shot.

As for the light cruisers, the Aurora is the only pulsar boat you'll have for a while (besides escorts), and the Solaris can carry the Eldar's wondrous fighters/bombers. I like to upgrade my Auroras with Alaitoc favour, to allow them to comfortably sit still until a pulsar run (instant crits are alright too), and they still occasionally see use in high point games. The Solaris can be useful for mopping up escorts with bombers and starcannon fire, but it doesn't see much high level play. I gave mine Ulthwe favour to run crowd control against escort spam.

From here on every ship should get Void Blending and Dragon Sails as their first two upgrades.

The cruiser mounts 8 starcannons and your choice of torpedoes or hangar bays (of which I prefer the latter). It's not a particularly impressive damage dealer (except against other eldar) but it is useful for carrying disruption bombs. I prefer to send mine near to the enemy to deploy bombs and send out bombers. Once the target ship's shields are down the pulsars come in to finish it off.

From here on your ships are too valuable to lose to taunt and should get Webway-Slip.

The Battlecruiser marks the beginning of your ascension to glorious master race. It mounts 3 Pulsars, more starcannons, and your choice of torpedoes or hangars. The only thing better than that would be four pulsars... I give it bombs, torpedoes (to add to a pulsar run), and a Saim-Hann favour and watch enemy ships melt under fire. The second one is really up to you, but by that point you can start saving for the following...

The Battleship mounts four pulsars with extra range. This would be disgusting on it's own, but an additional 4 hangars pushes this ship into what I would consider hands down the best ship in the game. Of note is that the pulsar cannons can annihilate most escorts in one salvo, while the bombers are able to knock out another, making it surprisingly effective at crowd control too. For favours you can choose whatever you want, but Saim-Hann complements its extra range.


Fig. 4: Behold the face of true terror!

Playing Eldar:
The hardest phase for eldar is the mid-phase, before you get a battlecruiser. The lack of efficient pulsars can make it difficult, and Imperial nova-cannons will make you cry. As point values rise escort spam becomes viable, and taunt can become more prevalent, but if you're cunning you can avoid all three of these.

• Nova Cannons are hilariously ineffective if the enemy can't see you. If you've put Void blending on your important ships (ie. all of them that aren't Alaitoc) you can spend most of your time invisible, robbing your opponent of the opportunity to shoot you down from afar.
  
• Escort spam is a problem because your ships aren't actually that much faster than an escort on full burn. This isn't a problem unless there's a large group, but if they start chasing you'll be unable to retaliate because your weapons will be facing in the same direction you're going, away from the murderous swarm of death. Mounting a dragon sail can allow you the speed to escape, but if your engines are down sometimes it's best to accept your ship's fate and try to lure the swarm to where your other ships can pick off stragglers. If escorts still give you trouble, invest in an Ulthwe favour or two to drop their health.
  
• Taunt can stall your ship and doom you to an untimely death. Your battlecruiser and battleship
  have space for a webway slip, which can buy you an escape, and your cruisers can be set to broadside, keeping them moving if taunted. You'll have to plan your cruiser's attack runs by moving them past the enemy, setting the one you want targetted to priority 1.
  
• There's a subtle difference between dangerous plasma and utterly ineffective disruption bombs. If you learn to tell the difference you'll know when to boost out, and when to just continue ahead while laughing at the foolish Mon'Keigh.

The plasma bomb is on the left. It flashes red while the disruption flashes blue.

In the late game only nova cannons stay effective, but you may have difficulty if a group of high level ships bunch together to prevent you picking them off one at a time. In this situation I like to try to cause a panic with stasis bombs to split the fleet, or line up a disruption bomb to hit multiple ships. If that doesn't work, patience is the key. Cloak your ships and set up an attack, and never go into a gas cloud or silent running enemy ships without clearing the area with either wandering spirit stones or a stasis bomb.

Advanced Pansy Extermination

Every time I've been trounced by an enemy it's been quick, there's a single moment or situation which turns an even match into a rout where I'm just hoping to get a few ships out undamaged. By picking on Eldar weakness you can engineer these situations yourself.

What we know about the Eldar so far:

• They die easily to specific things.
  
• They have to risk all out attacks at close range against a single target.
  
• You'll probably know in advance who the target is.

It's a good idea to build one ship (often a cruiser or battlecruiser) to specifically wreck Eldar. Your fleet should be carefully chosen to play to one particular plan. With regards to escorts, sending them scouting or alone is suicide and grants you no advantage, the exception being as a murderball if you're escort spamming and not worried about being picked off. Escorts are a difficult choice, because they are more vulnerable to burst damage, but they also can be used to fill space and reduce movement options.

A good first step in the early game is recon, that means augur probes of the moving or stationary kind. The stationary ones are particularly good because they can't be dodged, and they can be attached to ships without shields. Attaching to an Eldar ship means you'll always know where it is, even if it tries to hide, and it may even reveal some of its mates if they get too close. For the Imperium, the Inquisition favour is decent, and the new Widowmaker escort can reveal eldar before they get a chance to even begin their attack run.

If your fleet contains nova cannons, carriers and other things that give eldar a hard time at a distance you'll be putting pressure on to attack. This leads into the part that makes or breaks the game, the attack runs. Try to make it difficult for him by hiding in gas clouds, or running silent at opportune moments. Once the attack starts try to resist the urge to use lightning strikes if you can get in a position to use boarding action (I set it on autocast). Pick an important Eldar vessel or group of escorts with pulsars and unload everything you have into them, an Eldar fleet without pulsars will often be forced to warp out. Focus on destroying this target and allow the rest to escape, many Eldar fleets rely heavily on each part, losing a specific cornerstone ship can lose them the game. Massed boardings/upgraded lightning strikes into one vessel can do the trick, or spreading them out over escorts to try to cause fire damage. End by dropping stasis and bombs in front of likely escape routes.

If you're particularly vicious you might consider using a chain of taunts to keep an Eldar in position for a long time. In this case, always check if they have micro-warp first so you don't waste your time (you can do this by clicking on the enemy ship).

Imperials:

• The dominator and overlord are perfect, mounting a nova cannon and multiple macro-batteries. Use one of these as a specialist anti-Eldar ship with recon support in case they rely on cloaking.
  
• Sword Frigates are fast and put pressure on Eldar, so long as they don't get separated and picked off.
  
• Sticking together as a group is more effective for you than other factions, try to be practiced with using move orders to get into position quickly. Having a Widowmaker protected in the centre of your defensive formation can give advanced warning and make attack runs hard while you punish from afar.

Chaos:

• Siren of Slaanesh prevents the use of boost or micro-jump, allowing you to catch up to the ship. As an added bonus it stops pulsars. Try to use it when a high value enemy is coming toward you, just before he uses the pulsars. He'll have to turn, which can buy you a precious second to get in close. For extra points, combine this with taunt to completely control his movements and almost guarantee a wipe-out.
  
• Extra Silent-Running time upgrade: Using a hidden ship to block a pulsar run's attack or escape route is good. It also gives you enough time to make a believeable single blip separated from your main group to lure in an attack run. Space your hidden ships far enough to not be revealed by an augur aimed at your bait.

Orks:

• Blood Axes: This favour is widely regarded as awful, and almost never taken. As a result, it makes for a great surprise trump card. Make your first nova kannon shot count, and don't give it away by disappearing from the map. Start your silent running in a gas cloud if you can.
  
• Evil Sunz: Slam an Eldar into your ships, slam an Eldar into his own ships, Stop an Eldar escaping your range. In the claustrophobic conditions of a pulsar run it may be possible to use this to great effect, and it can even pull a pulsar ship out of position to use its pulsars!
  
• Orks can mount 4 hangars from a cruiser and above, most Eldar ships can only run one squad of fighter defence. If an Eldar ship is on its lonesome, take advantage and release a swarm of fighters. Try to drop an augur on it to prevent it running silent.
  
• Savages and Mega Kannonz are too short ranged for Eldar, consider using Onslaughts and Gunz instead.
  
• While the Brute sounds amazing, in my experience it is not maneuvrable enough to hit an Eldar ship.

Eldar:

• Aconites mount enough starcannons to chew through anything, and if your cruisers have hangars then the bombers are highly effective. The voidstalker is useful for similar reasons, but you may find it is too easily chased down.

Space Marines:

• Forthcoming...

Tau:

• Forthcoming...

Updates:

Created 25/4/16 BFG version 7487c

1/5/16 BFG version 7544: Edited Pulsars and plasma/disruption bombs.

1/12/16 BFG version 1.8.10317: Edited and updated significant portions of the guide.

The opinions expressed are my own, but somebody's going to have a whinge anyway.

[General Jack Ripper]

Eldar ships are made of tissue paper.

[Solaire]

I'm just using the carrier ships and kiting them at about 12K while letting my bombers do the work. Slow and hella tedious, but so far it's working.

[TGCMactar]

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1251006346
lol

[Panzerfanlol]

holy shit nirk i had that exact same profile picture a little while ago but, besides that,
Eldar are my fave to fight because they die so quickly idk why people whine so much, just get in close and pop.
No problem with them.

[DANGER NOODLE]

I've probably stared 8 new Eldar Corsair admirals and haven't leveled a single one to level 2. :P I can't land pulsar shots and I can't attack without getting lightning striked into oblivion. Especially on maps that half your detection range. How do I even level up high enough to get ship and crew upgrades let alone something behind a light cruiser?

[Olden_bread]

@Ginja_Ninja
At least the taunt is no more, so the part about webway-slip is outdated

[Ginja Ninja]

Although admittedly I never got around to doing the Tau or SM sections.

[Ginja Ninja]

Why? To my knowledge the game hasn't changed since my last update.

[Olden_bread]

upd pls

[XombieRocker]

Just started trying to play Eldar in skirmish mode. I have played three battles against Tau and Imperial Navy, and have gotten slaughtered each time. I will try to implement some of your advice before giving up on the space fairies.