Dark Eldar Escort
The Escorts from the Dark Eldar fleet is arguably one of THE fastest ships out of any faction from Warhammer 40k. They are the Sonic of naval vessels and because of this, they win the award for the biggest glass cannons in the galaxy. While they hit like Cruisers, anything from a stiff breeze to a flying micrometeorite is gonna crumple these ships like soggy bread.
Escort
Basic
Corsair
Corsair-class Escorts are a class of small vessel used by the Dark Eldar.
Exhibiting just as much variation as the Torture-class Cruisers, these escort craft have never been positively identified beyond their name. Even the name "Corsair" itself is vague, as it could reference its class, its pirate crew, or even a vessel's given name.
Like their cruiser-sized counterparts, Corsair-class Escorts can be armed with a wide variety of weapons. All have a prow weapons battery, but many also come equipped with Phantom Lances, torpedo tubes, or even Impaler Assault Modules. Corsairs often come equipped with Mimic engines as well.
They often accompany other Dark Eldar vessels as bullet sponges glorious defenders of capital ships.
- Length: 1.4-1.5km; approx
- Mass: 4.2 megatonnes; approx
- Crew: 10,000 crew; approx
- Acceleration: 9-9.2 gravities max sustainable acceleration; approx
Destroyers
Basic
Sigil
The Sigil-class Destroyer is your basic, conventional missile boat and one of the most common types of Dark Eldar Escorts. The Sigil-class Destroyer is your lovely run of the mill torpedo destroyer, similar to the Cobra, Hunter and other such two tube/one macro combos found in most faction's lightweight classes. The gun alone is not worth the cost of the ship when you compare the other available options, so the Sigil only comes into real use when you are making good work with those torpedoes and destroyer speed.
The real power of the Sigil comes in the form of the Splinter torpedoes fleet upgrade, which cuts out the engines of enemy ships for 5 seconds when hit. Now typically a dual torpedo tube is not going to make much of an impact unless fired at near point-blank range to get past defence turrets, the secondary effect of halting the enemy in place for a few seconds gives the Sigil the unique ability to work as a "fast tackler" capable of pinning down other larger vessels.
Without the Splinter Torpedoes upgrade, just go for the Talon Cyrix, which is a viable alternative even with the upgrade picked. Without the tackling ability, the extra speed of the Sigil does not make up for the instapop delicacy of its hull for the 5 point difference.
These Destroyers are armed with 2 Torpedo Tubes and 1 Light Scythe Missile Artillery Batteries.
- Length: 1.8-2.1km; approx
- Mass: 5.1 megatonnes; approx
- Crew: 14,200 crew; approx
- Acceleration: 9.1-9.3 gravities max sustainable acceleration; approx
Ordnance-Boat
Immortality Denied
One of the few ordnance-boats of the Dark Eldar. The Immortality Denied-class Destroyer is a unique specimen as its armament consists entirely out of missile batteries, allowing it to brawl with other ships rather than the usual hit and run tactics deployed by the rest of the Dark Eldar fleet.
The Immortality Denied is pretty a-typical for a destroyer class vessel, packing in Light Scythe Missile macro type weapons to compete for dps/crit dealing positions of the rest of the light craft. It truly sets the tone of the Drukhari fleet, being a tiny, yet deadly, glass cannon. Just don't let it get hit by anything.
Now keep in mind, you'll only pay 6 extra points for the Lost Hatred-class Frigate which has double the hull, an extra gun and a slightly slower engine to balance, so make sure the speed you get by picking the Immortality Denied over its larger cousin is something you are making the utmost use of, as the base cost of this ship is pretty expensive. Well planned hit and run attacks can keep the Immortality Denied Alive and well as it is quite capable of dodging fire.
These Destroyers are armed with 4 Light Scythe Missile Artillery Batteries.
- Length: 1.8-2.1km; approx
- Mass: 5.5 megatonnes; approx
- Crew: 13,000 crew; approx
- Acceleration: 9.1-9.3 gravities max sustainable acceleration; approx
Frigates
Basic
Talon Cyriix
The run-of-the-mill Dark Eldar Frigate. A step up to the Sigil-class Destroyer at a slightly more expensive cost. If you want to take torpedo escorts into the field, the Drukhari gives you an uncommon option of a tougher frigate version of the more common, smaller and weaker destroyer torpedo boats seen in most faction lineups. 5 extra points from the cost of the Sigil grants you both double the hull points and backup standard weapon dps at the cost of a notched reduction in speed, still making the Talon Cyriix faster than most non Aeldari ships in the game.
As mentioned with the Immortality Denied, the Splinter Torpedo fleet upgrade allows the Talon Cyriix to operate as a tackling ship, capable of working with other vessels to pin down enemy ships, leaving them unable to move as your other ships making attack runs. Since the Talon Cyriix is tougher than the Immortality Denied and the use of torpedoes almost always necessitates getting in very close range, your probably going to find this vessel the preferable option as it is more likely to survive the successful use of all 3 of its torpedo charges.
These Frigates are armed with 2 Torpedo Tubes and 2 Light Scythe Missile Artillery Batteries.
- Length: 2.1-2.5km; approx
- Mass: 7 megatonnes; approx
- Crew: 15,500 crew; approx
- Acceleration: 9.1-9.3 gravities max sustainable acceleration; approx
Ordnance-Boat
Lost Hatred
The OTHER ordnance-boat of the Dark Eldar Navy.
The Lost Hatred gives you the highest dps and crit chance of its class, rivalling that of Light Cruisers and Cruisers of other factions all at an affordable price. You are basically paying 6 extra points for an Immortality Denied with twice the hull, a bit slower and has an extra missile battery.
Like the Immortality Denied, the one real downside of the Lost Hatred Frigate comes by way of the fact that they do not deal any of their damage in bursts, having short reload times with rapid-fire rates. Normally this is not an issue for most factions, but since the Drukhari lack the wide arcs necessary for broadside capabilities and are incredibly delicate, you generally can't afford to spend much time facing a single target at once.
These Frigates are armed with 5 Light Scythe Missile Artillery Batteries.
- Length: 2.1-2.5km; approx
- Mass: 7.2 megatonnes; approx
- Crew: 14,000 crew; approx
- Acceleration: 9.1-9.3 gravities max sustainable acceleration; approx
Lance-Boat
Venom Blade
The only lance-boat in the Escort category. The Venom Blade-class Frigate is the only option in the Destroyer or Frigate class of ships that carry armour-piercing weaponry as one of its standard weapons, the only other options for dealing with heavy armour being the limited use, torpedo special weapons.
A few things about the Venom Blade, and the Phantom Lance it carries stands out as some nice benefits. First, compared to the other Aeldari beam weapons, the Phantom Lance is comparable in damage with a wider arc of fire. Second, it is unique amongst the lance weapons, getting the third benefit of receiving 100% bonus damage from the Drukhari Tracking Sense orders.
These Frigates are armed with 1 Phantom Lance Artillery and 2 Light Scythe Missile Artillery Batteries.
- Length: 2.4-2.8km; approx
- Mass: 7.6 megatonnes; approx
- Crew: 15,900 crew; approx
- Acceleration: 9.1-9.3 gravities max sustainable acceleration; approx
In Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2
Unlike the other 2 Aeldari factions, the Dark Eldar get a much wider selection of ships per weight class than their brethren, having 5 escorts to choose from and 4 in each other class they possess ships in, something not common of specialist factions. While they don't have the wide arsenal of some of the larger factions like the Imperials, they still have a nice mix of weaponry and load-out options to choose from to give you a fair amount of room in terms of customizing your fleets to your preferences.
Given that the Drukhari relies on their Shadowfield generators to stay hidden as much as possible, as their way of damage mitigation, the Frigates and Destroyers of the Drukhari fleets, along with the rest of their ships, are the most delicate craft in the game, however, sporting some of the highest damage numbers to balance it out. The real Glass Cannons of the game, some of the ships you'll find in this category rival Cruiser dps values of other factions. They also have top-notch speeds typical of Aeldari vessels, however just a notch slower than the Asuryani and Corsairs factions. As a benefit, their Shadowfields charge faster than Holofields do, and while they have poor troop bravery, the Drukhari have higher than normal numbers of defending troops.
| Vessels of the Dark Eldar | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spaceships | ||
| Battleships | Battleship | |
| Cruisers | Light Cruiser - Cruiser | |
| Escorts | Escort | |
| Combat Spacecraft | Slavebringer Assault Boat Impaler Assault Module | |
| Landships | ||
| Superheavy Tanks | Tantalus | |