Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Dark Elves

"Skulls for Khaine! Blood for Khaine!"

– Game battle chant for the Dark Elves. Why does it sound familiar...

"Sa'anishar! (Shields and spears!)"

– Slightly more original game battle chant for the Dark Elves.

This is the tactica for the Total War: Warhammer version of the Dark Elves.

Why Play Dark Elves

• Because you'd like your elves to take their arrogance to the next level and just start murdering people for the crime of not being elves.
• Because you believe that everything looks roughly 1000 times better when covered in spikes.
• Because you enjoy the inherent power fantasy that comes from playing a big spiky asshole out to conquer and enslave.
• You like a versatile unit roster with some serious killing power.
• Because being the good guy is just so boring sometimes.

Pros

• Flexibility: One of the Druchii's biggest strengths that really can't be understated. While a lot of other factions are forced into a single tactic, the Druchii have more battlefield options than pretty much any other faction in the game, even the High Elves. While they are best at offense thanks to Murderous Prowess, their wide selection of unique units and powerful characters means they can also play defense, kite, use a heavy monster focus, combined arms, and all-around whatever tactic you can think of.
• AP for Days: If you're playing Dark Elves and having a hard time with armoured troops, you're playing them wrong. A large chunk of the roster has majority AP damage, so armor should be the least of your concerns.
• Solid Range: While you may not be the shootiest of factions, the Dark Elves are more than capable. They are fully capable of melting enemy units before they close to melee with the right build.
• Anti-large: The Druchii are renowned for their beast-hunting prowess, and it shows in the game. Most of your unit archetypes have at least one solid anti-large option, whether it be monsters, infantry, or chariots.
• Mobility: You're not as good at it as the Asrai, but Dark Elves have some of the best light cav and missile chariots in the game, if not the best. Combine that with infantry like Witch Elves and Sisters of Slaughter, and you are able to get around the battlefield pretty damn fast. Light Cav tactics are a favorite among Dark Elf players.
• Powerful Lords: When it comes to lord options, you are spoiled for choice. Most of their lords are at the very least decent and some like Malekith can carry an entire army to victory if given the time.
• Strong Heroes: While you aren't quite the Vampire Counts when it comes to character prowess, your heroes are still very, very good. Death Hags and Masters in particular provide great utility on the battlefield on top of powerful melee stats, and Sorceresses, like all elven casters, are a hero you really can't go wrong with.
• Strong Economy: Your economy is god-tier, and this is even before you bring in trade. Raking in high numbers of slaves all but guarantees that your cash flow reaches insane levels which you can further boost by abusing the Master hero who reduces slave decay to the point that they literally cannot decay anymore. Combine this with the extremely generous discounts on Black Arks and your pockets will never be empty again.
• Naval Supremacy: An often overlooked, but still important feature is that your Black Arks can dominate the oceans of the world and keeping your homeland secure from any threats. The only faction that rivals your naval power are (big surprise here) the Vampire Coast.

Cons

• Frail: Okay, so you don't have it as bad as the Wood Elves, since many of your units are bringing actual armor to the fight, but you're still a glass cannon rush faction. Running into a faction that can simply outlast your burst of melee damage once Murderous Prowess proccs, can and will give you a lot of trouble.
• Limited Range: Their ranged units aren't bad, in fact, Darkshards and Shades are extremely good, but they don't shoot very far. Even some gunpowder units will outrange you, and most factions will get one or two shots off before you get in position.
• Lack of Healing: You're the only Elven faction with no multi-target healing. The only thing you have is Soul Stealer, which only heals the caster. Combine this with your low health pools, and your units will die a lot faster than their tanky statline might lead you to believe.
• Expensive: Not as much as High Elves, but still pretty pricey. Expect to be outnumbered most of the time.
• Poor Public Order: Being the quarrelsome lot that they are, Dark Elves suffer from a multitude of public order penalties (especially once you have a lot of slaves) and don't have a lot of tools to counter them; managing it can quickly devolve into a frantic nightmare, particularly on high difficulties.
• No Encampments: If you are away from your territory, you can't recruit new guys while encamping. This can be offset somewhat with Black Arks, though that's not an option in regions far from the coast.
• Temperamental Economy: You make a ton of money when your slave count is high, but your income will nosedive if you go a couple turns without winning battles. This problem is exacerbated in Immortal Empires where slave decline is % based across your entire empire. True to lore, your economy will crumble the moment you run out of enemies.
• Powercreep: Dark Elves really haven't had the best transition from game 2 to 3. The rework to your slavery system made it way less interactive and a ton of different campaigns got bumped up in difficulty. Building Black Arks is still fun but they require a huge investment. They're certainly one of the factions on the radar for a potential update.
• DLC: Scourgerunners and Supreme Sorceresses are some of your best units. They also cost extra. As with most Non DLC factions, you will need to pay extra money to be consistent in multiplayer.

Universal Traits

• Murderous Prowess: A passive, army-wide ability that gives all units on the map considerable offensive bonuses after you hit a certain threshold of kills (usually around 30-50% of the enemy force). Hard to time right and difficult to control, but extremely effective regardless. Seeing your Corsairs, Shades, and whatnot go into overdrive for 90 seconds is a scary and satisfying spectacle to behold. For a few units, the effect lasts 120 seconds instead of 90. Good in WH2, but terrifying in WH3 where Murderous Prowess also regenerates 1% vigor per second. Watch your entire army get a second wind and go from exhausted to fresh when it triggers.
• Slaves: You get slaves by raiding, winning battles, and looting/sacking settlements. Slaves go to your cities to do the crapwork and are gradually worked to death turn by turn. The Druchii can make a hell of a lot of money by capturing slaves. However the more slaves you've got the harder it is to control them, which leads to unrest.
• Black Arks: A special kind of campaign unit that acts as one of the two true "navies" in the entire game, Black Arks can only exist on the water but they are essentially floating garrisoned cities that can also let your other armies recruit and exchange from them. A powerful incentive for any Druchii player to adopt the raiding lifestyle and an excellent tool for mobile defence across Naggaroth's extensive coastline.

Lords

Legendary Lords

• Malekith: Warhammer's rendition of Darth Vader with severe mummy issues arrived on the scene, and he doesn't mess around. This dude is among the best Legendary Lords in the game bar none. A monster of a Hybrid LL, he is everything the likes of Azhag the Slaughterer and Arkhan the Black wish they could be. He punches hard, gets a Dragon relatively early on and his spellcasting doesn't disappoint either. His economy buffs are ridiculously strong, boosting an already ridiculous economy. His buffs to Black Guard and Dragons are also very useful. You can hardly go wrong with Malekith.
• Morathi : Morathi is a very weird animal (There's gotta be a sex joke in here somewhere). Unlike many other Legendary Lords, her skill tree is the only one in the game where you actually get to make meaningful choices, as she can alternate between ridiculously powerful spellcasting and good backline harasser, both paths are viable. What sets her apart from other Caster Lords as her spellcasting is concerned is that, like Teclis, she doesn't specialize in single Lore and her pool of spells draws from the Lores of Dark, Death, and Shadows and favors all-out offensive spells from all of them. Arguably the second-best Caster Lord in the game, just behind Teclis. Unfortunately her campaign mechanics are badly broken, she has to spread corruption but doesn't get public order benefits from it, only downsides. This makes her campaign more difficult than you'd expect simply due to serous public order issues. They even nerfed the building in Quintex that made the public order manageable for no apparent reason. With Immortal Empire's she now spreads Slaanesh corruption and her public order issues have been fixed, she can also recruit both regular and Exalted Demonettes from her public order building. which is a nice step in the right direction. They forgot to make them affected by her red skill/techs as usual though. Honestly she is just begging for a dedicated rework to make her into a hybrid faction at this point, it would be awesome to see a true cult of Slaanesh faction. I don't know why they didn't give her the cultist of Slaanesh hero given that they are literally Dark Elf cultists. They did unfortunately significantly nerf her enchanting beauty and her weapons debuff abilities so she can’t tank melee stats into the ground just by existing anymore, despite other lords like demon princes having aura's of similar power in campaign. Bizarrely they also removed her -50% upkeep for hero's, I guess someone was convinced her faction was too good, despite none of it being super strong or unique (vampires get -50% hero upkeep and way more from bloodlines).
• Hellebron (DLC) : Hellebron exists in her own little niche. Barely armored like Witch Elves, but really, really bloody fast and a buffmachine for your already busted murdermachine frontline. She excels in prolonged combat, preferably against lightly armored chaff and will rack a high kill count very quickly but will cave against elite units and other single entity monsters or characters.

Get a unique campaign mechanic of her vitality slowly draining way and have to progressively sacrifice more slaves during the Death Night to keep the faction buffed instead of Debuffed, but also create a new stack of frenzied elves to attack Ulthwe.

• Lokhir Fellheart (FLC) : Lord of the Black Arks. He is a cheaper blender lord in comparison to Hellebron, being a well-armored Infantry blender while on foot like a Vlad von Carstein without magic. CA also gave him his own Dragon mount which only makes him better than a Dread Lord on dragon when he pops his attack buffs.

The Druchii pirate lord starts in the thunder dome that is Lustria but can have a lot of freedom by starting with a middle settlement that is a Black Ark.

• Malus Darkblade (DLC): An unremarkable lord until he lets the daemon take over, and then he is a melee powerhouse. Using Malus in combat is like burning a candle wick, his Tz'arkan form and abilities are powerful but drain his hit points so know when he should be in daemon or Malus mode. He does have Resistance and Healing in combat so he won't burn out as fast in a fight. Switching to daemon mode restores all his health and vigor and makes him unbreakable so it's best to wait until the last moment before switching.

In campaign his battle with his inner daemon is a game mechanic, with having a possession meter, giving you greater campaign bonuses while Malus is mostly in control, but as Tz'arkan slowly takes over, he gains greater battle prowess but at the cost of large penalties to your empire. You control the possession by drinking a potion that gets progressively more expensive until you finish his storyline to make it free. Tz'arkan will also offer an additional quest to increase the possession but with very good payoffs. For your start position, you get a Black Ark in the Southern Land, in addition, have your traditional Druchii hold, Hag Graef, that you can sell for a lot of money but have to listen to Malekith (which will be an AI) or make it harder by having to run and protect the damn place yourself while also declaring on the big cheese. -disappointingly he is actually more effective if you confederate him then if you play as him, confederated he gets the benefits of full possession with no downsides, making him insanely tanky. His faction benefits are actually more of a hassle than they are helpful.

• Rakarth the Beastlord (FLC) Your man you pick if you want to go for a full monster build. He comes with heavy armor and Anti Large to deal with enemy big monsters while also providing buffs to his own beasties. He will also have a Scourgerunner for skirmishing, a Manticore and a Dragon for a straight up brawl. He serves as your best counter to mounters, with his whip being able to strip Fear and Terror from monsters (leaving said monsters susceptible to fear and terror) and armor that gives him buffs as enemy monsters are around him. He's also being voiced by Ramsay Bolton.

Generic Lords

• Dread Lord (Melee & Ranged): Your two generic lord with one focused on melee and has a shield while the other is a hybrid that focuses on shooting. In multiplayer, their ability change to help them buff their respective areas, Sword & Shield having buffs to melee attacks and debuffing enemy damage, while Sword & Crossbow supports other crossbows unit while also being a sniper, and gives a burst bonus to Ld. Note that the lords have almost identical melee stats once you put them on a black dragon and the melee lord looses her shield when mounted on one while the ranged lord keeps his ranged weapon. at high levels i cant see much reason to use the melee version instead but she will be better in melee until they get the dragon.
• Supreme Sorceress (DLC): Makes a Sorceress as a lord for money-saving cost. Somewhat feeble in combat until she levels up enough to get a black dragon mount, after which she fights better than many dedicated melee lords. Student of the Dark Tower is an amazing skill, providing lower cooldowns, reserves, and miscast reduction all in one. These girls are pretty much your best generic lord in a faction with already pretty strong lords.
• High Beastmaster (DLC): Your monster hunter Lord. Though he looks like a chronic masturbator, he can fill a surprising amount of battlefield roles. Not as tanky in melee as a Dread Lord but deals a good amount of anti-large damage in addition to his burst of additional weapon strength. Also is supportive by giving a single unit a big buff as they charge into melee (don't yet specify anything except can't be used on characters, so go crazy on an Executioners charge). Can come on a Scourgerunner Chariot (roll through everyone while armed with a ballast) or ride a Manticore which has proven to be cost-effective flying monsters. Can give a big boost to Cold Ones and monsters in campaign as well as recruiting them faster. If running cavalry or monster stacks, likely your best option. The big MA/MD/ and charge boost they give Colds Ones really makes them perform better.

Heroes

• Death Hag : Single-entity Witch Elves dialed up to 11. Death Hags excel as extremely vicious infantry blenders with a lot of speed of behind them and, as an added bonus, a variety of buff abilities that make them even deadlier. They tend to get the shorter end of the stick against dedicated duelist characters and their only mount option consists of the Cauldron of Blood, which, to be frank, is a waste, since it sacrifices offensive power and speed for more durability, something that Death Hags with their high Melee Defense don't really need. - I’m not sure what the above was talking about, death hags kinda suck on foot like most foot heroes, the mount is good vs infantry and makes them actually pretty tough plus buffs nearby units. Always mount in campaign, foot may have more use in multiplayer I guess.
• Sorceress : Caster bitches in the flavours of Death, Dark, Shadows, Beasts, and Fire. Better than most other caster types, and Morathi has some great factionwide buffs for them.
• Khainite Assassin : Good on campaign map, terrible in an actual fight. To expand, Khainite Assassins get high assassination chance, and are really useful at deleting enemy characters from the game. This is exacerbated by some good hero action buffs from techs, and from a few lord skills. Their passive ability increases the amount of slave income in the province they are in, which sounds useful on paper, but isn't really needed since Dark Elves make all the money they could ever want after a while. Their 'scavenge' ability can help armies pick up more money in the early game as well. In battle, they're a dedicated character duelist meant to sneak around the back line with their vanguard and stalk, and kill enemy high-value stuff with a powerful short-ranged missile attack and pretty good melee stats. Honestly though, in melee they kind of underperform vs other duelists, and they're pretty squishy on top of it all. Their ranged attack is... fine, I guess? But it's super slow to reload and very short ranged. This is on top of the fact that they DON'T GET A MOUNT which really limits their mobility, and therefore their usefulness in battle. Seriously, these guys are tailor made to be flying around on manticores or something! Even a freaking horse would increase their usefulness incredibly. As it is, they'll probably get surrounded and killed off pretty quickly. Death Hags and Masters are really, really good heroes, and will fill every battlefield role that you could want, while Sorceresses and your regular missile units can provide crazy ranged utility. Keep these guys for killing off enemy heroes and scouting other provinces on the campaign map.
• Master (DLC) : Tyrants in Training who never graduate in game to Dreadlords. Masters are your tanky Dark Elf hero. You can’t really overuse these, they are amazing. Ap anti large heavily armored high stat combat monsters with great mount options, the guardian skill, easy recruitment from a tier 3 building, the ability to reduce slave decline to zero if stacked, access to martial names of power granting incredibly powerful bonuses, easy to recruit at level 9 and up in any 4 city province. A doom stack of these with the regeneration or hunger/frenzy skill name of power and access to the extra melee attack army wide or leadership reduction traits is probably the campaigns deadliest hero doomstack, rivaling or beating Isabella vampire stacks or lizardmen hero spam. Really, really good heroes. And easier to spam than any comparable hero. Recommend cold one for ground duty (extra armor and ap) or Pegasus for flying (fast and flying with good charge but no shield). Foot is ok too but generally mounts are more than worth it for mobility alone. Immortal Empires removed their role in the slave mechanic but they are still extremely stong melee hero's, probably use them in your armies exclusively now.

Units

Infantry

• Dreadspears: Your most basic spearmen unit in the DE roster. They're... alright? They lack an offensive punch and High Elf Spearman performs better at the job they are supposed to be doing, being to hold the line to stop enemy cavalry punching through to your precious archers. They work fine in the early game, as well as being cheap, but don't rely on them for too long. Their stats are even better with Immortal Empires now.
  • The Hellebronai (RoR): Dreadspears that are a bit better in general with poison attacks.
• Bleakswords: The offensive counterpart to Dreadspears. With the release of Immortal Empires they are now surprisingly very solid and killy basic infantry, there's a lot more reason to use them over spears now and they are going to be a very cost effective chaff unit in both multiplayer and campaign.
• Black Ark Corsairs : ...These guys. Oh, these guys. Frail as all hell, but worth it. Corsairs should make up the majority of melee troops of your midgame armies as soon as they become available. Their raw damage output as well as their armour (having a value of 90, putting them on the same level as Dwarf Warriors!) makes them a solid frontline and they will cut down all basic infantry used against them with ease and surprising speed. Their easy availability combined with a reasonable price makes sure they are always a good choice, especially against horde-centric factions. One glaring weakness is their lack of AP damage. - Whoever wrote the above likes Corsairs way too much, they’re good but non synergistic with usual Dark Elf campaign strategies of crossbow spam. And they aren’t worth using after the early game. You can honestly never use them and just go Dreadspears/Bleakswords and Darkshards and usually do better in the early campaign. I hear they are nice in multiplayer, but campaign wise meh.
• Witch Elves: Talk about glass cannons, Witch Elves are a really weird bunch. They have no armour, but (try to) compensates this with 20% physical resistance and a 5% ward save after you research technologies. In exchange, they excel in melee attack and apply debuffs to enemy forces attacked by them. The debuff in itself is very unique, as it not only debuffs enemy melee stats but also sends them on a rampage; causing them to stay way longer in a fight which they otherwise would be comfortable with. This is especially useful against all elven factions, since you can lure their expensive specialized elite tropps in matchups that they are not equipped to deal with (i.e. Swordmasters against a Hydra or a Dragon) and reliably keep them there. Well at least as long as your Witch Elves survive the encounter, which, given that their only defense is a meager 28 melee defense and a 5% ward save, might not be that long. no real reason to use them unless you just need/want the rampage ability. Sisters of Slaughter are much better.
  • Sisters of Singing Doom (RoR) : Schizo Witch Elves with slightly improved melee stats, a steep cost markup, and fear/terror. Generally not worth it, they still cause rampage on hit which is the last thing you want when you're trying to scare a unit away. Save some money and bring vanilla Witch Elves if you want to rampage enemies or a Manticore if you want to terror bomb them.
• Sisters of Slaughter (DLC): They wear even less clothes than Witch Elves do, yet are more resilient. Their extremely high melee defense and their 20% physical resistance make them surprisingly tough. As one of the few resilient Dark Elven melee units, their job is to hold the line and grind down other infantry where their poisoned attacks, melee defense, and bonus vs. infantry lets them reliably come out on top. In addition, they have a unique passive that boosts their melee defense and physical resist even more if they are losing their current encounter, which makes them surprisingly viable as a tarpit against enemies like Black Orks who would otherwise dumpster them. Competes with Black Guard as your best frontline infantry. Keep in mind that their high melee defense doesn't protect them from missiles or impact damage from enemies on the charge. Back them up with Dreadspears or Black Guard so they don't become the red paintjob on an enemy chariot.
• Executioners: The offensive counterpart to the Black Guards, your ol' reliable murderers of heavy armoured elite troops and anything in between. They won't last long, but kill everything in their path. Frail, especially against missiles, but as a Dark Elf player, you're used to that. I don’t recommend these, they’re fragile, slow and they have weirdly low melee stats compacted to your other elite units. You can replace these with Cold One Dread Knights even. Seriously with the change to primal instincts Dread Knights have massively higher stats especially with Beast Master lords skills. And otherwise fill the exact same role but do it better and faster. They got a slight buff and immune to psych so that's something. If you insist on using them, the Name of power Khaine mark gives them 15% ward save and reduced upkeep, which is actually very solid.
  • Blades of the Blood Queen (RoR) : Gets frenzy + an aura that gives physical resistance to nearby heroes + lords. Very skippable since their stats are low for an elite infantry unit and your lord will probably be on a mobile mount instead of hiding with the infantry.
• Black Guard: Extremely beefy, these are your dedicated elite line holders and monster slayers. Remember murderous prowess makes them into an absolute force of destruction. And they have very good stats, the only downside is knowing that they’ll never be as awesome as Phoenix guard. Even if they can be offensively much deadlier the survivability of Phoenix guard is insane. they received stat buffs and murderous mastery with Immortal Empires so are even better now.
• Daemonettes: Exclusive to Morathi's campaign. basically way better Witch Elves for the same cost, but not effected by red skills or techs because they always forget to do that.
• Exalted Daemonettes: Also exclusive to Morathi's campaign, actually a really good option, they are like way better Executioners with no armor, hold the line with Sisters of Slaughter and flanking with these will be potentially extremely strong. Throw in Morathi's debuffs and a Bloodwrack shrine and you should destroy any infantry in the game frightfully quickly. Really you can argue that the Dark Elves much more well-rounded roster actually uses Exalted Daemonettes better than the Slaanesh factions.

Missile Infantry

• Darkshards: Basic Dark Elf ranged unit and all and all pretty darn good for the entire game. Indirect fire with pretty good AP makes them very useful, especially when focusing on firing key targets into oblivion. For a little extra, you can get these guys with shields which makes them excellent in an arrow exchange, which is important given who one of your biggest foes is always go shields.
  • The Bolt-Fiends (ROR) : The cool thing about these guys is that they degrade and nullify shields.
• Black Ark Corsairs (Repeater Handbows): A mixed bag, making up for the relative lack of skirmish units in the Dark Elf roster. Surprisingly mobile and difficult to catch, their biggest strength is easily their flexibility. Nice vs Skaven early on.
• Shades: Don't let the low model count discourage you, Shades rank among the best missile troops in the game. The high rate of fire, high damage output, and even decent in melee, especially with greatswords. Actually not really that much better than Dark Shards if you just use them as archers, much more expensive for only slightly better ranged performance. However if combined with a shadowdart name of power lord can be as good or better than Sisters of Avelorn. 210 or more range, crazy ap, and better in melee than the sisters by a large margin due to AP and anti infantry. Even with all that taken into account you need a specific name of power, some later technologies, and the red skill tree to make them as good/slightly better than the sisters. And they cost 50% more upkeep with greatswords than sisters do. Which really just shows how op sisters are in campaign.

Cavalry

• Dark Riders: Your extremely quick light cavalry, comparable to most other units of their class. One key feature is that they are actually fast enough to chase down most other missile cavalry. If your micromanagement skills hold up, Dark Riders can terrorize the enemy backline very efficiently and do so at the highest speed any base game cavalry unit offers, but they get vaporized the instant their charge bonus wears off, so will need to keep the cycle charges going. One of those units you should probably not use in campaign but can be good in multiplayer.
• Dark Riders (Crossbows): Ranged harassment cavalry that uses repeater crossbows, they fire two shots of primarily AP damage. Is always useful to annoyingly poke an enemy to death but also those higher armor units that are normally resistant to those shenanigans (most other factions only get close-range hand axes or more squisher handguns).
  • The Raven Heralds (ROR): Rather distinct from their vanilla Dark Riders, these guys ride Dark Pegusii and can fly around the battlefield. Usually passed up for vanilla crossbow Dark Riders since the Raven Heralds have fewer models and vanilla Dark Riders already have the speed to stay out of trouble.
• Doomfire Warlocks (DLC): Really, really weird hybrid unit. In melee they have actually pretty good attack with magic and poison and charge, plus an AoE melee attack animation. They also have 40% physical resist to help keep them alive. One key advantage they have over comparable light to medium cavalry is their ability to fling around the Doombolt spell from the Lore of Dark and Soulblight from the Lord of Death as bound spells. A unit of these is pretty much always useful if nothing else, plus they look great. They lose access to their bound spells if they drop below 50% HP, so fire them off early so you don't lose them later.
  • Slaanesh's Harvesters (ROR) : Doomfire Warlocks with a slightly increased statline that replaces Doombolt with Soulstealer to drain the HP from single entities. While they're usable in campaign, they're completely unusable in multiplayer where they're more expensive than Grail Knights and Demigryphs.
• Cold One Knights: they were considered bad because of rampage but primal instincts was reworked later in Total War Warhammer 2 so that it only triggered at 20% health and then again for the third game its been changed and the rampage is gone completely, now primal instincts gives buffs to combat stats at low leadership. They are actually cost effective now. Took a long time to come into their own but it was worth the wait.
• Cold One Dread Knights: They were considered bad because of rampage but primal instincts was reworked later in Total War Warhammer 2 so that it only triggered at 20% health and then again for the third game its been changed and the rampage is gone completely, now primal instincts gives buffs to combat stats at low leadership. They are actually cost effective now. Took a long time to come into their own but it was worth the wait. The dread knights aren't going to be the go-to over the regular ones but they are a solid unit now.
  • Knights of the Ebon Claw (ROR):

Chariots

• Cold One Chariot : A chariot pulled by dinosaurs. They're pretty much meant to be your anti-infantry melee chariot, and they have ap and an ok charge bonus which is nice. They also have a small ranged attack, but don't go using them as a missile chariot, that's what Sourgerunners are for. These guys are overshadowed by Scourgerunners due to the sheer amount of utility and killing power the former brings to the table, but as a melee chariot they can be decent especially in Malekith's army.
• Scourgerunner Chariot : One of the best units in your roster, Scourgerunner Chariots are your jack of all trades chariot, that has a special boon in being on the very few ranged units in the game that get a bonus vs. large on their ranged attacks. Their key advantage is that they also move at Dark Rider speed, which makes them extremely difficult to catch or even hit, and in a pinch, they can even reliably dispatch basic missile troops and infantry, thanks to a bonus vs. infantry. Bring 3-4 of these guys and have them work as a team, and they can swing battles for you.
  • The Ravagers of Rakarth (ROR) : A Scourgerunner Chariot with poisoned attacks and a persistent AoE ability that slows down all enemies around it. Get one if you plan to use multiple Scourgerunner Chariots to delete isolated monsters/infantry.

Artillery

• Reaper Bolt Thrower: Essentially identical to the High Elf counterpart (in spite of the significantly more badass name), the Reaper is likewise probably not going to be winning any prizes for the best artillery piece. Alright, it does hit a bit harder and has a smidge less range, but this is not something people would notice much in most situations. Nevertheless, it remains a useful and versatile addition to a Dark Elf army. Just don't go in expecting a WMD. Like the repeater, they possess two firing modes and can be particularly useful for sniping enemy artillery. In short a decent, if not exactly exceptional, artillery unit.
• Bloodwrack Shrine (DLC): A Bloodwrack Medusa with a Go-Cart. Despite being described as a chariot don't use it as such, it's too slow to pass through a unit. Use it more like a Mortis Engine or Grail Relique, and you'll find it's a surprisingly versatile unit with support ability, decent melee stats, and even a ranged attack. Provides +7 MA and -7 MD to nearby allies/enemies respectively. Similar in purpose to the High Elf Frost Phoenix but offensive. Quite effective if you want your melee units buffed. Plus ok ranged damage from the Medusa herself.

Monsters

• Harpies: Harpies fulfill essentially the same role as war hound and fell bat units. They're intended to be fast-moving harassers best used to hunt down or disrupt enemy missile units and artillery crews. When used in their intended capacity they can get some work done, just don't expect them to do much against anything with actual staying power. Even some of the sturdier archer units can prove a bit too much for them. If you're up against an opponent with a heavy focus on ranged firepower they can be a valuable addition. However, sending them in unsupported against basically anything else is a good way to end up with a whole lot of dead bat-ladies. Rakarth makes then a lot better, giving them bonus Melee Attack as well as a smidge of AP damage.
  • The Crows of Khaine (ROR): Basically Harpies with Fear and the ability to regenerate when fighting. Surprisingly tanky because of it, just watch out for units that counter them.
• Feral Manticore: Surprisingly good backline harasser. Manticores make Harpies pretty much obsolete and make for great mid-tier carnage against everything that doesn't have a bonus against large. They are very susceptible to Rampage, so take care of them. Manticores are best taken in groups of 2-4 in order to kill targets fast enough that they don’t die themselves. Paired with a flying master they can make a fast deadly Air Force for cheap which can act as a single unit killing gank squad. Can usually staggerlock foot heroes. And usually outfight other aerial units short of dragons or heroes.
• War Hydra: One of your standout units, there are lots of nasty surprises with the Hydra, which acts as your standard frontline melee monster. One of its core features is its flexibility; it's effective against a lot of targets and can reliably hunt down infantry thanks to its speed and breath attack. It tends to get the short end of the stick against other monsters and anti large. In campaign you can get these 25% cheaper from a klar karond building. Super cheap and easy to spam regenerating monster.
  • The Chill of Sontar (ROR) : Same regenerating monstery goodness as a normal Hydra, though it replaces its flaming breath in exchange for one that slows down whatever it hits.
• Kharibdyss (DLC) : OMNOMNOMNOM. A Hydra on steroids, trades the regeneration factor and flaming breath for poisoned attacks, anti-large, and lots of AP goodness. Works best against armoured monsters, so if the enemy brings big scary beasts it can go toe to toe. If you want to blend infantry though, you’re better off with the Hydra.
• Bloodwrack Medusa (DLC): Combination monster and short rate direct fire artillery. Can delete chunks of elite infantry very quickly. These snake waifus have really great utility, but need to be micro'd well to reap the rewards. They aren't like most monsters in the game, so don't send them into melee and forget about them. Their speed, powerful ranged attack, mass and charge bonus means that you should be using them almost like a chariot. Have them blast infantry from range, charge into melee for a short time, and then escape to do it all over again. Got a pretty decent buff to their melee stats in Immortal Empires to make them a more well rounded pick.
  • The Siren of Red Ruin (ROR) : Same as a normal Medusa, but gains a AoE ability that causes moderate damage to all enemies around her.
• Black Dragon : Evil Dragonny Goodness. Roughly equivalent to a Moon Dragon in terms of killyness and retains the devastating breath attack, high mass, and good mobility that other dragons have. More difficult to use than High/Wood Elf dragons, Dark Elves don't have the lores of magic to heal it.

Rakarth Campaign Units

• Feral Cold Ones :
• Explosive Squig :
• Giant Wolves :
• Sabretusk Pack :
• Feral Bears :
• Feral Mammoth :
• Feral Stegadon :
• Feral Carnosaur :

Tactics

Multiplayer Strategies

Long, Long ago in the distant times of 2017 Dark Elves where one of the top factions in the game with their massive amount of AP, powerful Lords and flexible army. Unfortunately after years of being beaten with the Nerf Bat they have fallen from grace. Nowadays you generally need a brain and good micro to use them in multiplayer, as due to their fragility and short range mistakes are very punishing and everything needs to be positioned correctly. That being said if you can use them well they can output an insane amount of damage and keep up with the best factions in the game. Here is how to bring glory and slaves to The Witch King:

• Beastmen: Fighting a bunch of naked goats calls your AP specialty into question, but you have quite a few ways to make this matchup work if you're clever. Witch Elves will trade well into any infantry the beastie boys bring, and while they won't beat Bestigors, making them rampage into your lines where they can't sustain themselves can give you quite an advantage. Dark rider Crossbows, usually an auto-include in most Dark Elf builds, are much more risky here due to Ungor Raiders and the inherent speed of the Beastmen army. You'll have a harder time getting value out of them. On the other hand, Scourgerunners throw a big middle finger to any monsters the Beastmen are foolish enough to bring (the one notable exception being the Cygor, which can be quite difficult to deal with if you don't shut it down early), so bringing some of your own monsters can be good way to clear out the remaining support.
• Bretonnia: Their cavalry and airforce outclass yours, and that's where all their funds are going to be, so you'll be stuck playing the battle on their terms. Witch Elves to rampage those expensive cav options are going to be a good idea, and this is one of the few times where spending a bit extra for some Black Guard can be super valuable. Masters and Beastmasters can be great against cavalry as well, and are worth considering.
• Chaos Daemons:
• Chaos Dwarfs: Dark Dwarves vs. Dark Elves. To show the stunties who the superior edgy splinter faction is, you're going to have to deal with their ranged prowess. At the time of this writing, Chaos Dwarves have only been out for a little while, so the following is subject to change as new strategies come out, but at the moment this seems like a quite interesting matchup, though I'd say the Druchii have a slight edge. Both factions rely on momentum, have armor and AP, and great character choices. However, broadly speaking, they have the ranged advantage while you have the melee and mobility advantage. You'll win the chaff fight laughably, as Dreadspears, Bleakswords, Witch Elves, and Sisters of Slaughter will run rampant over their nasty skulkers and orc/goblin fodder, but with blunderbusses, the ironsworn bombs, and their great artillery, on top of lore of Hashut which is great at blob destroying, your infantry is gonna get shot to hell even with good micro. *If* you micro them well and avoid ranged fire as much as possible, Dark Rider Crossbows can do a lot here. They are always a great tool in your arsenal, but here they can provide a ton of utility with their mobility and ability to target big monsters as well as armored up infantry, and even cycle charge artillery crews in a pinch. Now, a good player will know this and be looking to swarm you with Bull Centaurs and Wolf Riders, so make sure you have units to screen. The oft-maligned Cold One Knights w/ lances (STILL in need of a buff imo) will trade very well with Bull Centaurs and K'daai, and they have some ranged protection as well making them a good niche pick. In terms of characters, Malus is probably going to be your lord of choice here as frankly he has been a monster since the advent of Warhammer 3, and can take any lord the Dawi'Zharr can offer in a melee fight. Lore of Shadows or Dark is also a useful tool for dealing armor piercing damage and grinding down ironsworn.
• Warriors of Chaos: What used to be a stomp in your favor is now a bit more balanced with the IE update. Dark Elves of course are specialists in dealing with slow-moving heavily armored factions, but the Warriors of Chaos now have a few tools you need to watch out for. Some fast flyers, like Doom Knights, might give you a hard time since they're difficult to shoot and pack quite a punch. Valkia and Azazel don't have much in the way of utility, but are small hitboxes flying around the screen and are great at dueling even your awesome spiky lords. They can also try going super wide using Hellstriders and low-armor infantry to keep you on your toes, while backing up with elite stuff. To counter this strategy, remember that you're one of the very few factions that can meet the Warriors on their own terms and win. Forget the skirmish and ranged stuff and just go full tin-can opener with Executioners and Witch Elves/Sisters. This matchup is tougher now, but make no mistake, it's still well in hand for a smart Druchii player.
• Dark Elves: This mirror-match can actually get pretty interesting. I wouldn't bother too much with Scourgerunners here. Both players probably aren't going to be relying on their big threats to win the day, and even if they do, your ap missiles can give even a Hydra a hard time. Victory is probably going to come down to smart ranged play and good use of elite infantry. Harpies are a good choice to tie down Darkshards, and use your Dark Rider Crossbows to take out and Black Guard or Executioners on the field. Dark Riders with lances or shields can also be a good choice to get into that terrifying crossbow line.
• Dwarfs: Sure, you could try your usual skirmish tactics, you have the heavy AP to pierce your opponent's stunties. Unfortunately, they have the firepower to shut down a lot of your ranged units before you can get close enough to return the favor, and rune of slowness can be disastrous, tarpitting key units at really inconvenient times. What is a much more interesting build that doesn't play into the Dawi's strengths is a heavy metal melee rush. You're one of the VERY few factions that can reliably cut through all that armor with ease, along with Warriors of Chaos and Slaanesh. Bring a couple Executioners, Bleakswords (Blades of the Blood Queen RoR can be a powerhouse if used right), and maybe a Master, and spread yourself out so they can't take advantage of their range advantage. Bring a couple skirmishers and Cold One Chariots to shut down their artillery, but don't focus too much on ranged power or monsters. As for lord choice, Lokhir on foot is a good option for dueling any single entities if you want to go cheap, Malus or Malekith if you want a more useful and expensive lord.
• Empire: In campaign, this is a highly interesting and very fun matchup since both armies have such flexible rosters. In multiplayer though... you got your work cut out for you. Even with some slight improvements to Cold One Knights, they just won't stand up to Empire heavy cav, and you'll have a hell of a time trying to lean on your infantry while they're being cycle-charged by Demigryphs. They can also keep up in the skirmish department, with Pistoliers and Outriders doing their job competently. Harpies can deal with them, but require some micro. Putting your money into a hero goon squad, and perhaps relying on magic to get some ranged damage in, either with Morathi or a sorceress hero, can be an unexpected tactic that might pay some dividends. You'll rip them apart in melee, but the approach is really what will determine the battle.
• Grand Cathay: To take some Chinese peasant slaves, you'll want to bring a rush-centric army. Similar to the Dwarfs, Cathay likes to box up and lean on it's artillery while jerking off to each other's harmony bonuses, making their box surprisingly tough to crack. Don't run around like a pansy too much skirmishing, cause that artillery is no joke. Instead, bring a more rush-focused army, and invest in a monster or two. Sisters of Slaughter can be a powerhouse against all infantry except Celestial Dragon Guard, and you'll want their speed, melee defense, and missile dodge chance. If you can micro them well, a few units of Harpies (maybe even the Crows of Khaine RoR for some extra tankiness) can get a lot done here, falling on Sky Lanterns/Junks, and tying down Cathay's more mobile artillery elements. You will have to watch out for Longma Riders in the sky with their 105(!) speed, and most Cathay players will bring at least one, but they're much more expensive than your 600 gold Harpies. Magic is probably the best way to grind those Longma down, they should be some primary targets to get off the field. You have fantastic monsters, but they're expensive, and you'll be hard pressed to bring more than one. Hydra is amazing here. Super survivable with it's regen and missile resist, and Cathay has absolutely nothing in the way of fire damage to exploit it (Except for that one Lore of Yin spell which imbues fire damage). Malekith on Seraphon is probably the way to go for your lord. With some support from Soulstealer and your missile units, he can fight Zhao Ming or Miao Ying on equal terms, and help out with any Terracotta Sentinels that might be brought.
• Greenskins: Flex rosters? Benefit from prolonged melee combat? Aggressive infantry and magic? Fast movers and skirmishers? Yup, these two armies share quite a few competencies. While the Greenskins are more resilient, they're also lower leadership, and much worse at taking out large threats. This is one of the matchups where an infantry grind won't automatically go in your favor. Executioners might trade well with even Black Orcs, but bringing elite infantry here is just asking for them to get blown up with Doom Divers and Rogue Idol shots, or bad Nasty Skulker trades. Their monsters usually have a ridiculous amount of hp, but you're one of the best factions in the game at shredding through it with your Crossbows and Scourgerunners. Just remember they have good skirmish power too, and you don't want to waste your ammo on a bunch of Spider Riders. In a pinch, a Kharybdiss can also help quite a bit at dueling lords and monsters, and the boyz lack a lot in the way of AP ranged or anti-large to shut them down. You might further consider bringing a monster or Lore of Fire to counter Trolls who with their missile and magic resist are hard to shut down.
• High Elves: The Asur cling to tradition! This is a pretty balanced matchup that will test both sides' knowledge and micro. You will destroy them in the infantry grind, especially because by the time Murderous Prowess pops, most of their units will be damaged enough to lose their Martial Prowess. Furthermore, Scourgerunners will kite any dragons or other monsters they bring into the End Times (but watch out for Bolt Throwers!). What you're really going to have to worry about is their heavy cav, since Dragon Princes will flatten your forces without good Scourgerunner play, and archers which outrange yours. Light cavalry is the best way to zone out the archers, and ap volleys and skirmishers are a good way to lessen the impact of their heavy cav. If you're confident in your anti-large capability and shutting down any Sisters of Avelorn, a Hydra can really do a lot for you with it's missile resist and regen. Play to your strengths, use Murderous Prowess well, and Malekith will be chilling with his feet up on the Phoenix Throne in no time!
• Khorne: Just shove a spiky arrow up Skarbrand's ass and call it a day. Fighting slow, heavily armored factions is well within the Druchii wheelhouse, and while Khorne isn't exactly plodding in pace, you're faster than them by a mile. What you're going to have to watch out for is War Hounds that are super fast and can tarpit your stuff. The Dark Elves can be quite a threat in melee if they choose, but Khorne can out-fight even your best troops, so don't challenge them on their own terms, just lean into your skirmish and missile potential and you can carry the day.
• Kislev: You'll need to win and win quickly, since Kislev's best shot at winning is simply outlasting you. You’re more than matchup in the infantry department at least stat-wise, Kossars and Streltsi won't be able to outfight your Bleakswords in a vacuum but By Our Blood makes them a surprisingly hard nut to crack, and trades that seem favorable might end up going the other way. You actually out-range most of their ranged troops as well, except when it comes to Ice Guard. If they're dumb enough to bring an Elemental Bear or other big threats, you have plenty of AP to challenge them. Ice magic can slow your skirmishers down, only for their own skirmishers to make up the difference. They are one of the few factions that can actually stand up to you in the kite game, so you want to lean into the rush element of your army, and make good use of Murderous Prowess.
• Lizardmen: This is one of the matchups in which you shine. All their armored dinosaurs are extremely vulnerable to your wide selection of AP troops, with a special shoutout to Dark Shards and Shades. Lizardmen lack missile infantry beyond their rather frail Skink Skirmishers, though their Chameleon Skinks will prove particularly annoying due to their missile resist and loose formations. Scourgerunner Chariots will run circles around the Lizardmen and, with proper positioning, can easily slip around their screening units to chunk the bigger Artillery Stegadons/Bastilodons that could potentially retaliate against your ranged forces. Try to kite them as much as you can, whittle down their frontline before sending in your Executioners and Blackguard to clean up.
• Norsca: Hmmm, look at that, another quasi-rush faction with big monsters, killy infantry, and a lot of anti-large? Unfortunately for the Norscans, the Elves are the superior race and they'll have a hard time proving otherwise. You're spoiled for choice when it comes to killing their big monsters, so most Norscan players who know what they're doing probably won't bring them. Rakarth is quite expensive, but on Bracchus or even a chariot, he can do a ton against their monstrous infantry and single entities, though he'll have a hard time out-dueling Wulfrik or Throgg. Flaming Sword of Rhuin is another great boon to dismantle Skin Wolves and Trolls. Your infantry is quite evenly-matched, but your advantage comes in with Murderous Prowess and Witch Elves that can rampage key threats when it procs.
• Nurgle: While this may seem initially easy, given your excellence against slower factions, don't get cocky. If you aren't smart with your matchups and blow your load with Murderous Prowess too soon, Nurgle will just outlast you. The only infantry you have that will be able to take out Plaguebearers quickly are Executioners, and you probably don't want to be bringing elite infantry against Nurgle anyway. Fire sorceress is absolutely essential here, since your units' low base weapon strength and Nurgle's lack of armor means that you won't be as damaging as you usually are against other factions. Scourgerunners will still do very well against Great Unclean Ones, Pox toads, or any other large threat, while the Hydra can be fantastic for clearing out infantry with it's flaming damage and breath attack. Also, with their limited range and slow movement, this can be quite a good matchup for a Bloodwrack Medusa or the Siren of Red Ruin. Malus or Morathi are probably your go-to lords here.
• Ogre Kingdoms: This is a matchup that your sadistic legions dream of, i.e. a one-sided slaughter in your favor. Rakarth on a chariot or on Bracchus really shines with his absurd anti-large capabilities, and him or a Beastmaster can really do work for you with a bit of micro. Malus is also great at punishing monstrous infantry. Your elite infantry gets a rare spotlight here, since halberd/spear spam lends itself extremely well to trading with the Ogres, especially when Murderous Prowess pops. Even Dreadspears will do some serious pushing above their pay grade, with Black Guard of Naggarond turning things up to 11. Scourgerunners are also a huge boon against low-model count large hitbox Ogres. They might try to bring some scrap launchers to put pressure on you, so a Reaper Bolt Thrower or some Dark Riders can deal with that. Honestly, your Dreadspears and Darkshards will have a field day killing anything they can get their hands on, you can pretty much take a nap until the Ogres get an update.
• Skaven: Those filthy rats! This is definitely a matchup in your favor, but don't get complacent! The Skaven are one of the few factions to have as many AP ranged options as you do (in an equally wide roster), but where you rely on elite infantry and SEM's to make up the difference, the Skaven rely on drowning you in numbers and using their summons and magic to force the battle in their favor. You're fast enough and killy enough to buzzsaw your way through whatever the Skaven throw at you, but a savvy Skaven player will know this, and will try to take advantage of your squishiness instead. Rat Ogres and Brood Horrors can be quite a threat if you're not careful, and their summons can tie down your archers during valuable moments. For an unorthodox build, try bringing Morathi on Sulephet, 2 Manticores, and some Witch Elves, maybe even Sisters of the Singing Doom, to terror-bomb important units. Your hero core is fast enough to get to their ranged threats, and Morathi's combination of magic is everything the Skaven hate.
• Slaanesh: Under Malekith, the Dark Elves have been fighting Slaanesh cults for centuries, and here you finally get a chance to show it. Both factions have AP out the ass, and both will find it difficult to apply that AP effectively, but your ranged and infantry options are far more flexible when it comes to taking on lower-armor threats. Also, your anti-large will be able to easily take down their chariots. Your flying lords and heroes should have no problems, and this is also a great matchup to bring the Raven Heralds RoR, since they can mostly just sit there and rack up points on anything valuable as long as you keep it away from Furies. The one thing they really have going for them is speed. Make sure your ranged stuff is well protected and screened by your infantry, and you should have no trouble. Unfortunately, your strategy is somewhat reliant on gaps in their roster, so as Slaanesh gets more DLC and updates, your advantage in this matchup is likely to fray.
• Tomb Kings: Tomb Kings have a large flexible roster, but they don't excel greatly at any one strategy. Instead of your usual missile cavalry, consider relying a bit more on your missile infantry like Darkshards or even Shades to poke holes into their constructs. The Tomb Kings skirmishers are a living (undead?) joke most of the time, but they can be annoying here since you need to be selective about where you're sending those ap volleys. A Reaper Bolt Thrower or 2 can be quite good to zone out any Bone Giants or Great Bow Ushabti, two staples of the TK roster. Remember though, when it comes to artillery, you're definitely outclassed. I'd recommend against bringing a monster, since yours are pretty slow and vulnerable to getting shot up by Sepulchral Stalkers. If you want one though, Kharybdiss is probably the best choice as it's the only monster that can give the mobile anti-large contingents of Necropolis Knights, or even the Necrosphinx a run for it's money. Lore of Fire of course is a must here, which leaves your lord choices a bit limited. Supreme Sorceress on a Manticore or Malus can be good picks, but it really depends on how you want to build.
• Tzeentch: You're fast enough to keep up with Tzeentch, and you'll need that speed to get into melee. First up, this is not the matchup to bring anything but your most basic infantry. Magical attacks will make your Witch Elves very sad, and Black Guard + Executioners don't have shields and will get shot up like it's a Detroit street corner. Your AP missiles would be great here, if your opponent has no brain and brings heavy infantry (which they probably won't do), but Tzeentch's barrier makes things a little difficult. You don't have tons of ammo, and every shot going into their Protoss shields instead of their health bar is value you'll sorely miss. However, your fast units may be able to put the team on their back, and tie down stuff for your Darkshards to shoot. A bunch of Dark Riders with Shields are fast threats, great for charging Horrors, and are as fast as Marauder Horsemen. This is a matchup where a unit of Cold One Knights (maybe the Ebon Claw RoR) might be useful just for the mobile killing power (though they don't really stand a chance against Chaos Knights, so micro them well). Bring Harpies to stuff up things like Burning Chariots, and act as meat shields in the air so you can grind Doom Knights down with magic or AP volleys. Scourgerunners are a fantastic pick against Soul Grinders and Chaos Knights as long as you keep them moving. If you can sustain your fire and keep the pressure on Tzeentch will melt, but their mobility and barrier can make it a challenging proposition.
• Vampire Coast: There's no other way to say it, you'll just have to rush super hard. The Coast monsters will get shot up by your skirmish power, but if you can't get into melee without getting shot half to hell, it won't matter. They'll try to drown you in Zombies and summons, so make sure you have a Fire Sorceress for that wave-clearing potential. Corsairs (melee or handbow variant) can be pretty useful here as well, with their speed and high armor. Death Hags on foot can be a standout hero choice here as well, as she is fast, fantastic at grinding through infantry, and (if she can get into melee) can deal with any Coast hero except maybe a Mournghoul Haunter (which you should be filling up with your ap arrows anyway).
• Vampire Counts: You can definitely make full kite work here, and it probably is the most meta tactic, but it can be risky. The Counts are very fast and deadly with their cavalry and lord options, plus kiting all day isn't the most fun matchup ever. For a slightly less powerful, but much more fun matchup, consider a monster mash to make things work. The Hydra can be extremely survivable here with it's regeneration and fire damage, while the Kharybdiss is great for dueling any Varghulfs or lords on Zombie Dragons. Hellebron on a cauldron can be great for mulching infantry and dueling the Vampire counts' slower threats. You'll win the infantry grind with 0 effort, and you have plenty of dueling options, but their cavalry and fast movers are the true threat of the night lords. If you can screen your Darkshards well enough, getting them tarpitted with Dreadspears and shooting them might work, but it's tough with their Fell Bats and Dire Wolves moving as fast as they do. If you're confident in your micro, rampaging them with Witch Elves is also an option, but tricky to pull off. Scourgerunners are also great here. Lore of Shadows caster + Malus Darkblade can be a potent combination as well, nuking any Blood Knights or ethereal units caught out of position with Pit of Shades while Malus is a melee monster who has a chance to take on even Vlad in combat with just a tiny bit of support.
• Wood Elves: What do you get when you cross two glass cannon factions? A lot of broken glass I guess. Unfortunately their shooters and cav are just way better than yours, and they're fast enough to keep away from all but your speediest threats. If the opponent has any braincells, they won't be bringing any tree spirits, seeing as they'll be turned into paper by your AP. No, you'll be dealing with full Vietnam, and the only way to stand a chance is with your fast movers. Witch Elves, Sisters of Slaughter, Corsairs, these should be the core of your infantry, with some Dreadspears to protect them with their shields. Morathi on Sulephet is a great small target if you avoid the fire arcs of their ranged threats, and your light cavalry will have to put in some serious work. Doomfire Warlocks would be quite good if the Wood Elves didn't have so much magic damage, but as it is it'll be up to your Dark Riders/Chariots to win their key engagements.

Domination

General Tier Rank: B-

They can actually be quite strong in domination, but they need a skillful player to take the game. They have a lot of upsides: Scourgerunners are highly mobile and can get good trades, good AP and monsters is always valuable, they have plenty of cheap, cost effective infantry, and of course their lord choices are almost all excellent. However, unlike other faster factions (e.g. Vampire Counts) the Druchii tend to run out of steam in this game mode without a real way to sustain themselves. What does this mean? You need to be on top of your micro and be getting good matchups. Murderous Prowess is also notably less effective in domination due to the slower nature of the mode. They're still very squishy, and tend to get run over by other factions heavy cav and monsters if you aren't on top of your game. With some practice though, they can be a very fun pick, and quite powerful against several factions. You'll even see them (not infrequently I might add) in high-level tournament play, where they are a favorite of smart and tactical players. One additional note is that Lore of Dark Magic is awesome in this game mode, with special mention going to Soul Stealer, a great way to punish blobs on points.

Campaign Strategies

Focus on economy in a few good provinces with 4 cities (Hag Graef, Naggarond, Ghrond, Quintex, Har Ganeth, etc) put income, slave pens, and then black roads or special resources on every city/town. Then put all slaves here. Add 3 or 4 Masters to reduce slave decline to zero and you have the strongest, easiest, and fastest to grow economy in the game bar none. Can field near unlimited armies of doom stacks. There you go, you win.

Actually, the most prosperous slave province for the Dark Elves is Yvresse owing to the unique Tower of the Warden building which generates 50 gold per 100 slaves. With a maximum slaveholding capacity of 15500 slaves, combined with the multiplicative effect of slaves on base province income and the ability to stack slave income multipliers through heroes that are essentially unlimited, it surpasses any Druchii province in gold-generating potential. Proving, once again, that Naggarond sucks. This wealth is also why it is viable for certain Dark Elf factions to abandon their starting capitals and conquer Ulthuan instead.- while that may be more profitable technically, it’s irrelevant. Any proper slave strategy give’s effectively unlimited money even in just the dark elf lands. Conquer Ulthuan first or not, either way you won’t need for money with even a little strategy.

Unfortunately they heavily nerfed the Slave system in Immortal Empires, the jury is out still on how good their economy is after the massive nerf, you now have to spend slaves as a global resource on your economic buildings and commandment. Will update as we find out how bad the nerf is but its already clear its going to be dramatically weaker than before. After playing 80 turns I can confirm the economy is still strong as long as you rapidly expand and keep fighting but slaves decline possibly too fast from buildings, and slave pens aren't that useful, all they do is increase capacity and give a tiny 5 slave per turn income, whereas a leveled economy building consumes 40 per turn, so only constant fighting and sacking will be able to keep your slave population up. The public order penalties for slaves are basically gone now. Assassins can now generate 10 slaves per turn by staying in your provinces instead of boosting slave income, but that is a waste of them. In general all the buildings or skills which give slaves per turn are completely useless, they are way too weak to keep up with the cost of buildings, you either have to constantly sack other countries or be continuously conquering territory. Don't Bother with Slave Markets or any building that give slaves per turn, the rate of gain can never keep up with the consumption and increasing slave capacity is useless. Having a large stockpile of slaves is actually more or less pointless, you only need 150 slaves to trigger the bonus income at the end of your turn and you don't get any meaningful bonuses for having lots of slaves. you can have a slave consumption of 1000-2000 per turn and all you need to do is get above 150 remaining after the decline before the end of each turn and there is no downside. So slave markets and any special buildings that increase capacity or give a few slaves per turn should just be skipped, this is bad design by CA but it at least frees up your building slots. overall the Dark Elf income is still extremely strong it just not as strong as before. Unfortunately once your empire gets large enough it will become almost impossible to trigger the bonus income because you can easily end up with -4000-5000 slaves per turn which will be impossible to keep up each turn. Fundamentally as your empire grows amounts of slaves decline per turn increase quickly but your ability to capture slaves remains largely fixed, unless you can simultaneous sack 4-5 provinces a turn (every single turn) it will be impossible to keep up slaves late game, and the slave buildings do nothing to help this. Unfortunately I feel like they failed to playtest the new mechanic adequately as it becomes almost completely useless late game.

As of 3.1 the slave system is... better, but still not really there yet. They removed the slave cap and rebalanced slave gain/bleed. They also added a new 'rush construction' feature where you can spend slaves to instantly complete buildings, which is a strong feature (though it kind of undermines the 'strategic' element of this 'strategy' game.). Slave bleed and gaining slaves from battles has also been rebalanced, and are a bit more palatable, though not perfect. But this system is hampered by bugs/poor design decision. First off, they removed ALL global bonuses for slaves besides the income bonus (and public order penalty) which has itself been nerfed. While you're not exactly poor now, it's definitely more difficult to build up money, and the construction time and other infrastructure bonuses are missed.

This anon's opinion is that the biggest problem with the current slave system is that... it's boring. Clicking on every settlement you own to enact your diktats is mind-numbing, especially when you have a larger empire. Managing it is still pretty tedious, even with the rebalances, and, to add insult to injury, the Chaos Dwarfs get the Dark Elf slave system from Warhammer 2 (you know, the one everyone liked) not only copy-and-pasted over, but greatly expanded on with a ton of in-depth complimentary mechanics that are fun to use.

Dark Elves have a fun, strong army with powerful characters, but this overhaul to their mechanics have left them in a quagmire on the campaign map. Don't mistake them as weak, their faction is actually fairly strong, but they are much more boring to play than in Warhammer 2. Either the current slave system needs a MASSIVE upgrade/overhaul, adding tons of different things to spend your slaves on, and a global window to make management less terrible, or they need to rip the entire thing out and come up with a completely new mechanic/ set of mechanics for the Dark Elves. As much as it pains me to admit, neither of these things are particularly likely without a big push from the playerbase, so if you're a Druchii fan, make sure to complain to your local CA representative!

Campaign Specific

The section below is mostly only applicable for Warhammer 2 Mortal Empires. Several things have been changed in Warhammer 3, for example Malekith appears to be a much more difficult campaign with Valkia's new start that's right on top of him, Morathi isn't very viable in melee anymore, and Malus', Lokhir's, and Rakarth's campaigns all have new starts.

Malekith

• Beware Hellebron: Malekith's campaign is generally pretty easy (and very fun!), but it can really depend on what Hellebron does at the start. Usually you can get pretty powerful early, build up diplomatic relations and just confederate her, but it's not unknown for her to just straight up declare war on you, which can really send your campaign down shit swamp. Furthermore, she can actually out-recruit you, making it next to impossible to confederate her. One strategy is to just rush to Har Ganeth immediately after securing Naggarond, while another is trying to out-recruit her in turn. Just ignoring her CAN be fine, but Har Ganeth is a good early game province, and you don't want to risk a civil war with her.

• Don't spend too long in Naggaroth: Look, I get it, Naggarond's a great place with fine tourist attractions, but conquering Ulthuan as Malekith can and should be done fairly early in the game, because it takes a loooonnnggg time to take over all those provinces settlement-by-settlement. You definitely want to get Ulthuan conquered before the chaos invasion rolls in, as they basically spawn right on top of Naggarond, and constantly fighting them until someone knocks off Archaon on the other side of the map can be a huge pain.

• Tyrant is the way to go: Malekith has OPTIONS and almost all of them are good, but if it's your first campaign, Tyrant can really bring your slave economy to the next level. More money -> more stacks -> Druchii supremacy, baby!

Morathi

• The start. Oh god, the start: Yeahhh, there's no getting around it. Morathi's start is a bitch and a half (kind of like Morathi herself!). She's surrounded by enemies who hate her guts, and one mistake here can spell doom for your campaign. Here's the thing though: she actually has all the tools she needs to deal with it (She's an incredibly strong Legendary Lord, and tier 1 Dark Elf units like Bleakswords and Darkshards are awesome even into the late game), it can just be tough learning the first few times around. You need to be EXTREMELY aggressive in consolidating your starting province, as the Ss'ildra Tor can just out-recruit you if you leave them alone long enough. Once you do that and deal with Alith Anar though, everything gets easier so have faith!

This is valid for Mortal Empires, your start in Immortal Empires is actually pretty chill. You may even have the chance to ally with Mazdamundi pretty early on if you fight the minor Skavens on the west and gift the frog some cities. Alith Anar also fucked off up north so you can consolidate your starting provinces and build up easily before starting to rape Ulthuan.

• You can use her in melee! A mistake I see a lot of players make is using Morathi as you'd use a typical caster lord, i.e. keeping them at a distance and shying away from any fight. If you do this though, you aren't getting her full value. Her unique weapon combined with one of her unique skills (Enchanting Beauty) can lower enemy melee attack by 18 and defence by 9 JUST FOR BEING NEAR HER. She can basically use her darksword as a strap-on to peg enemy melee stats. Be careful how you use her, because of course she isnt going to outduel dedicated melee combatant characters, but these passive abilities combined with Lore of Shadows make her great for absolutely dumpstering enemies that your units are having a tough time dealing with.

Hellebron

• Unpaid interns: Hellebron requires a constant influx of slaves to keep active, which means that you are going to have to be ultra aggressive throughout your campaign, more so than other Druchii factions who can just sit back and let their slaves do all their work for them.

• Malekith: It's harder (though not impossible!) to confederate Naggarond than vice-versa, and pissing off Malekith can really become a problem, since he usually skyrockets to strength rank 1 after turn 20 or 30. One strategy is just to leave for Ulthuan right away, but this can be very challenging. Rushing Naggarond is also an option, but you can also ally with them, which is what I'd recommend for less experienced players.

• Blood Fleets suckkkk: Remember how the Greenskins WAAGGHH worked before their update? Theoretically it was a way to encourage aggressiveness and movement on the campaign map. How it actually worked was that they'd spawn AI controlled armies that would allahu-akbar themselves upon the nearest settlement. Wellll, Hellebron's voyages basically have the same idea and it's honestly worse because you can't choose where they spawn. Just don't rely on them to do any heavy lifting.

Lokhir

• Pillaging the East: In Immortal Empires, Lokhir now starts on the Cathayan edge of the map, just south of Villitch, seperated by an impassable (to you of all people) river, and the Great Bastion (and Eshin) to the West. The entire Eastern half of Cathay is full of rivers and deltas so you can raid deeper into Cathay.
  • Black Arks are "free:" Lokhir doesn't need to sacrifice to Mathlann to start a Black Ark in IE, so combine that with their absolute loyalty, cheap upkeep, and the many rivers of Cathay, you'll be taking a few of these.
• The Blender King: Ah, Lustria. Let's see, the lizards hate you because they don't want a Dark Elf caravan on their land. Teclis hates you because he doesn't like your stupid face, the Dwarfs still bear a grudge, and Harkon hates you for... stealing all his treasure, I guess? Packing up and leaving for Ulthuan on turn 1 can actually be a pretty viable strategy here. Lustria-bowl honestly sucks for you, but if you're intent on doing it, allying with the rats can secure your western border, and allow you to focus on Teclis at the start, which takes one of the major pressures off your campaign.
• The Black Ark King: Black Arks are awesome and should be your main method of recruiting units to your armies, especially in the early game. BUILD THE GROWTH BUILDING FIRST! You'll get to those higher tiers so much faster, and can laugh over the corpses of your enemies when your tier 5 Dread Knights are running over Red Crested Skinks.

• What to do with Karond Kar?: Lokhir's campaign is pretty weird, because his unique item requires taking over the city of Karond Kar which is wayyyy in the middle of assfuck nowhere compared to where you start. You don't really want to manage a split empire in Warhammer 2, so taking Karond Kar by force isn't really advisable. Luckily, he now has a quest line that allows him to confederate Karond Kar remotely. I'd recommend confederating with them, and then just selling all the buildings and abandoning the province. Keeping it generally means dealing with High Elf deathstacks every two turns, along with Wood Elves and Taurox if he's still alive which will really make you want to deepthroat a cactus.

Malus Darkblade

Malus is a fan-favorite character, and in game 2 CA honestly did him pretty dirty, which is kind of upsetting. His campaign is very difficult especially at the start, and he slightly boosts Cold One Knights, a notoriously cost-inefficient unit. He is a monster on the battlefield, but it's pretty much always better to play as another Dark Elf faction and confederate him, since he gets all his battlefield strengths and none of the weaknesses. A lot of his problems got fixed in game 3 however, and while Dark Elves aren't in the best state in campaign right now, he is one of the few who's experience notably improved.

• SNIKCH MUST DIE!: Snikch must die unless you like having 30 million filthy rats coming over the border to take your land and deflower your sorceresses (oh, who are we kidding? There’s no such thing as a virgin sorceress, they literally worship the goddess of massive orgies). Sometimes you can even make a non-aggression pact with Imrik to focus on Snikch which I definitely recommend. After killing him, you can slow down a little, and pick off your enemies one-by-one, but it's an absolute miserable campaign experience if you allow Snikch to get his shit together.

• Black Arks are essential: You start with a Black Ark and you NEED it to get past Malus' cancerous early game. You probably aren't going to have the money to spend on potions at the start, which means your troops will replenish at the speed of a glacier. A Black Ark can help a lot with this problem, and can provide a good base to recruit from.

• Keep your alliance with Malekith going: Keeping your alliance with Malekith alive allows you to cheese the 'Tz'arkans whispers' mechanic a little bit, since the unique quests might be to declare war on a faction you don't care about halfway across the map. The rewards from these missions can be quite powerful, so complete as many as you can.

Rakarth

• Ulthuan: Rakarth's starting place in Albion offers him a variety of options in theory. However, you're kind of forced into attacking Ulthuan which sucks. Once they discover you (which happens very early in the game), they will start sending stack after stack after you, and trying to expand eastward or southward just becomes unviable. Sure, Morathi can sometimes get super aggressive and start conquering Ulthuan early taking some of the pressure off you, but it's a gamble that sometimes doesn't pay off.

• Rakarth only for beastpen armies: Beast pens areeee... interesting? The thing is, the only boosts to monstrous units from the beast pens come from Rakarth's army skills. For your generic lords, it's better to stick to your tried and true Druchii units, unless you're in an emergency and need units fast.

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