Dawn of Eldar

Nickname given to Dawn of War after dozens upon dozens of Eldar-favoring piles of bullshit began to accrue. No race - not the Necrons with the Resurrection Orb or Lightning Field cheese, not the Tau with "I can shoot you from offscreen" range, not the Chaos invisible army of doom bullshit - managed to equal or even come within striking distance of the sheer unadulterated pile of BULLSHIT that Eldar were in Dawn of War post-Winter Assault.

To break down how bad the cheese was, this list has been compiled explaining how broken just about every single Eldar unit was. Enjoy.

A word in advance. You're going to see that this list will openly put to death the usual arguments regarding the drawbacks of the Eldar - namely that they are fragile (they aren't), specialized (they're not), and easily countered (they aren't). In short, this list is to be considered the ultimate proof of how blatantly, insanely overpowered and ridiculous the Eldar were in Dawn of War.

General

• After the infamous fire-on-the-move accuracy "fix" implemented in Dark Crusade, which simultaneously guaranteed that no walker would ever grab a ranged weapon and lose out on its melee punch and ensured that rapid-fire weapons were infinitely better to slow-firing weaponry, the Eldar Fleet of Foot ability went from very good if you had decent micro to being flagrantly broken. The ability originally was designed to buff move speed, but cut accuracy when in use, but since units couldn't hit jack shit when moving now anyway, it gave a general fiat for Eldar players to dominate through abuse of this ability.
• Teleporting Buildings. Wouldn't be so bad without....
• HUNT THE LAST WEBWAY GATE. Easily the most frustrating, stupid, and infuriating of Eldar tactics. On huge maps, it was entirely possible for Eldar players to build one last Webway Gate in a far off location, cloak it (due to shroud), hide a Bonesinger in it, and lose your entire base but still be in the game due to the Webway Gate counting as a production structure. Because you got back resources for deleting buildings, it was possible for a Bonesinger to keep teleporting off, dropping down a new gate, and then destroying them, over and over again, in order to piss players off, turning matches that should have ended within 15 minutes into 4+ hour fuckfests. Easily the single most complained-about aspect of the Eldar metagame, this was complained about since Winter Assault but was not fixed until fucking Soulstorm, several years later, due to the blatant favoritism Relic's QA team showed towards the Eldar.
• Healing Waystation, which made it so that the Eldar always had access to easy healing whilst other factions had to fuck around with either defunct or barely-functional heal rates and no ways to boost them.

Bonesinger

• Yes, the fucking Eldar builder was fucking overpowered.
• Repaired units and vehicles more-efficiently than any other builder. Period. On average, it used 33% less resources to repair than other builders.
• Could teleport, which brought us the fun of "Hunt the Webway Gate" and made Eldar forces virtually impossible to keep locked down.
• Could melee, which was used relentless until Dark Crusade's patch against Imperial Guard due to the latter's inability to inflict morale damage (due to a bug) in close-combat. If you were to simply send a Guardsman Squad against a single Bonesinger, it would take a bit, but the Bonesinger would break the Guardsman squad's morale and, if left over a few minutes, would eventually kill it.
• The fact that they could melee paired with teleportation meant that they were CONSTANTLY used to annoy players, teleporting to tie up ranged squads such as Tau Fire Warriors or Ork Flash Gitz, buying time and generally fucking around and guaranteeing their presence in a fight would be minimal.
• Wraithtomb let them disable a building for 30 seconds. This was pretty nasty agains everyone, but against Necrons this was an immediate death sentence, since all Necron units build from one building - the Monolith, and Necron Units built quite slowly compared to everyone else, meaning that Necron vs. Eldar was basically unwinnable if Eldar players decided to abuse this - since the first thing a player would usually do is get a Guardian Squad and Bonesinger to your base about 50 seconds in and fuck your shit up.

Guardian Squad

• Kind of weak for Eldar units, but were incredibly strong late-game and could hold their own against just about anything with upgrades, out-damaging and out-HPing most infantry units barring Chaos Marines and Spess Mehreens.
• Access to Embolden and Entangle, which let them lock down squads for 5 seconds and restore morale to themselves.
• Access to Plasma Grenades.
• Access to Fleet of Foot.
• Basically, the best capture and early-combat infantry in the game for cost.

Ranger Squad

• Broken for patch after patch after patch after patch. Complained about from the moment they got OMGTWTF-buffed when Winter Assault hit, and even before that.
• Went from simply broken to DOUBLE BROKEN after Dark Crusade changed Infiltration mechanics to it being passive while attacking. They were outmatched by the spehss mahreen 4-man sniper scounts+skull probe combo (marine rifles did more damage than the long rifles, effectively a 1-shot-1-kill deal against anything low-tier and probe provided ranged detection, not to mention that marines didn't have lights all over their body that sorta revealed them to players.) but again, marines don't get these by default.
• Rifle salvos basically instantly broke squad morale when they hit, and did very good damage to light infantry.
• Most capture/early combat infantry is light, including Dark Eldar Warriors, Guardsmen, Space Marine Scouts, Tau Stealthsuits, Necron Scarabs, etc.
• Did we mention they infiltrate and come in squads of 8?
• And Fleet of Foot, guaranteeing they could get away after being detected?
• Basically the ultimate harass unit, for killing cappers, builders, etc.
• Keeping one squad near a fight could ensure it could break squad after squad after squad after squad, rendering them useless in combat.
• It got toned down patch after patch but never quite stopped being broken; back during WA's launch they would routinely demolish Slugga and Shoota Boy squads and formations of Fire Warriors in early Dark Crusade.

Howling Banshee Squad

• After the Fire-on-the-move fix turned every race but Eldar into something slightly less-effective than grease on fire, these and Dark Reapers became the mainstay of Eldar strike groups.
• Huge damage when upgraded and more HP than most factions' dedicated close-combat specialists - even ones specifically designed to kick ass and take names like Khorne Berserkers, Assault Marines, and Wyches. They out-damage fucking Assault Terminators when upgraded. And that's before their ridiculously powerful Exarch is factored in.
• This whilst Banshees were substantially lower on the tech tree and cost a fraction as much.
• You can infinitely spam the fuck out of them to form your mainstay army, putting to shame Khornate 'zerkers.
• Had Fleet of Foot, too, so there was no getting away from these goddamned things for shooty armies.
• Their scream ability basically instant-broke squads, too, so seeing these things rape Assault Terminators, even with the latter's stun effects, was not unheard of. In fact the only chance you had against them were sending fearless assault units with heavy ranged support.

Dark Reaper Squad

• Possibly one of three units complained about more than the Avatar of Khaine. Substantially overpowered for patch after patch.
• No setup time for fire with range and punch roughly equating a Heavy Bolter. Players complained endlessly about this; they made the Tau's Pulse Rifle spamfaggotry look like someone trying to Cultist rush with laspistols.
• Significantly out-HPed most heavy infantry, including upgraded Space Marines, Chaos Marines, and Battle Sister squads.
• Fleet of Foot, too.
• In open defiance of all logic, was not good against heavy infantry whilst Warp Spiders were.
• Did we mention that their leader has more HP than a fully-upgraded Assault Terminator when fully-upgraded?

Fire Dragon Squad

• Easily the fourth-most broken infantry squad the Eldar have. Period.
• Are impervious to knockdown and knockback effects made by heavy meele units and explosions, making it impossible to stop them from attacking a vehicle or building when engaging at short range is supposed to impart some level of risk, unless you send out a meele force, since they have pitiful CQC skills, you could whittle them down.....if it weren't for FUCKING fleet of foot.
• Also has fleet of foot. So walkers can't just go and punch them in the face. Even if they could, they couldn't knock the Fire Dragons back.
• Has nearly as much HP as a Terminator when upgraded. It shares the same armor type.
• Infantry_Heavy_High, the armor the Fire Dragon has, is the most resistant armor-type outside of Daemon_High and Commander, making their high HP that much nastier.
• Has morale, so in theory could be breakable, but its morale is well over 800 per unit and regenerates insanely fast, making them virtually impossible to break without the likes of Berskerkers' Mark of Khorne or Dark Eldar Horrorfex Bombs.

Warp Spider Squad

• Most durable mobile infantry in the game with over 800HP a squad member when upgraded. Only Crisis Suits have more HP than this whilst remaining mobile, and Crisis Suits don't come in squads and don't teleport instantly.
• Rapes every last kind of infantry out there with a full 8-man squad.
• Can be modified to carry Haywire grenades that fucks over vehicles and building like Assault Marine melta bombs, so they can pretty much solo everything thrown at them short of.....nothing.
• Unlike other jump-jet infantry like the CSM Raptors, SM Assault marines, DE Scourges...etc. which takes time to bug out of a hotzone (so they CAN be killed while jumping), Warp Spiders teleport instantly, hence could emulate what the Deciever does on tabletop.
• The only Eldar Infantry without Fleet of Foot. But fuck that, they have insta-port.
• Harcap of three when every other faction's elites are Hardcapped one (Ogryns, Kasrkin, Terminators, Assault Terminators, Possessed, Obliterators, etc), so not only do they possess more of their elites than everyone else, they can field one more squad on top of this.

Harlequin

• Virtually impossible to click on with Dance of Death active.
• Until Soulstorm's patch, Harlequin's Kiss would instagib Commanders attached to squads if the effect hit them.
• Dance of Death instagibs Crisis Suits, Broadsides, Heavy Weapon Teams, and basically any high-HP infantry unit that is either limited in number-per-squad or independent.
• Extremely inexpensive for a unit with painfully high Commander damage.
• Despite claims to the contrary, is not very fragile as it has over 900 HP and Commander-class armor.
• Completely rape-tastic against any faction with low HP/unit (Imperial Guard, Dark Eldar, Tau). One Kiss can completely obliterate a completely kitted-out Guardsman squad that doesn't have both HP upgrades (Dance of Death followed by Kiss).
• Hard Cap three, meaning Eldar get 6 of their elites whilst everyone else has about three (Orks, Space Marines) or two (everyone else).

Farseer

• Actually not that broken as far as Eldar in Dawn of War goes, but still busted solid.
• Has an ability which will devastate early Commanders with mediocre HP (Tau Commander, Command Squad, Big Mek, Archon).
• This may not seem so bad, but every single other ability which did similar (Strip Soul from the Psyker for example) got the shit nerfed out of it when Mind War got buffed.
• Mind War also slows the subject's movement speed to a crawl.
• Psychic Storm devastates low-HP infantry (again, Imperial Guard, Dark Eldar, etc).
• She has fleet of foot.
• She buffs a squad's defense against ranged weapons when she gets fortune.
• Seer's Council basically doubles her ability recharge rate.
• Eldritch Storm does good damage to absolutely everything, and has gigantic knockback. Think of it like a miniature Basilisk Earthshaker but costs nothing.
• Her damage and HP are lower than the Space Marine Commander and Chaos Lord, but fuck that, like they're gonna get any closer to her with atleast half a bar of HP.

Seer Council

• Second most-broken unit in the Eldar army.
• 600 HP Infantry with Commander Armor, squad size 9, and takes 50% damage from all attacks with Conceal. Stacks with Fortune, which means that most ranged attacks deal about 1/3 to 1/5 of what they should to them.
• Can cast Embolden and Entangle to slow enemies, basically guaranteeing that you can then proceed to drop the Farseer's attacks right on target.
• Highest meele damage for any dedicated meele unit (yes Spehss elves can outdo Khornate 'zerkers, DE Wyches, Assault Termies, Ork Nobs and all other units that are stronger in fluff terms in CQC) that isn't a primary commander, especially when upgraded to carry wych blades. They can pretty much solo an unsupported Imperial Baneblade when fully modified.
• Boosts Farseer ability regen rate considerably.
• Fleet of Foot.

Avatar of Khaine

• Undeniably THE most broken unit in the entire Eldar army in Dawn of War. Also the most complained-about.
• 15000 HP of Daemon armor, and highest melee damage of any unit of his class - but this isn't why people use him.
• Gives +10 to Vehicle Pop Cap and +5 to Infantry Pop Cap. (less of the former because he also takes some up).
• Doubles build-rates of all units at Webway Assembly and Aspect Portal.
• Makes all nearby units immune to morale damage, pretty much making him a luzly support/offensive assault unit.
• Did we mention he does all of this and is an amazing combat unit?
• Most Eldar players proceed to park him in their base and not use him in combat at all - rather keeping him back to avoid deep striking forces from basebashing and taking advantage of all of his passives.
• His abilities allow the Eldar to field more units than every other faction in the game. Yes, even the Orks.
• His only drawback is that he only regenerates HP while in combat, but fuck that, he's either always totally in or out of combat in most tactics.

Falcon Grav Tank

• The best-armed transport in the game and effective against absolutely everything short of epic tanks.
• Heaviest armored-transport too, boasting better health than any transport (even an upgraded Wartrukk) when ugpraded.
• It is also the second-fastest transport, being nearly as balls-out fast as a Dark Eldar Raider.
• 2 jumps before it goes out, so it can pretty much give a big "fuck you" to enemy defenses and infiltrate the fucker right in your opponent's base and deploy it's cargo.
• Costs more pop but fuck that, it's the best transport in the game that can double as an anti-tank unit.
• Upgrading its gun honestly is a waste because the Starcannon it can get is in all ways a downgrade. So it's brightlance pretty much owns everything.
• Its strongest anti-infantry weapon is designed to not fire on the move and has no setup time, ergo bypassing problems with the fire-on-the-move fix.

Vyper

• Inexpensive as hell and quite durable for a vehicle that is quite literally effective against everything.
• Can stunlock and shred infantry with its missiles, which have an area-of-effect, and rip them apart further with it's twin-linked shuriken catapults.
• Extremely fast (matches a Raider).
• Has two jumps, like the Falcon.
• Extremely durable for what is supposed to be a hit-and-run unit, with more HP than a Sentinel when upgraded.

Fire Prisim

• It's an artillery unit that fulfills the same role of IG Basilisks and SM Whirlwinds. Except for the fact that it's programmed with around the durability and damage of an IG Leman Russ with AoE damage and can jumpjet two-fucking-times.
• Extremely durable when given Holo-field, to the point where it can stand up to an SM predator with twin-linked lascannons.
• Did I mention that it can jump 2 times like a Falcon and fuck over anything retreating from it? Effectively being the best buttbuddy for a loaded Falcon/Prim attack force?

Wraithlord

• It's a walker optimized for assaults.
• Can be upgraded with a brightlance after creation, shunning the SM Dreadnought aside who could only have Lascannons after upgrading the HQ and machine pit.
• It's fuckcheap and pretty much performs with the same performance of the SM Dread and CSM Defiler. The only difference is that it has lighter armor but who cares when you can spam it like Howling Banshees?
• A fucking nightmare when you see 6+ of these marching towards you with an Avatar and Warp Spiders in tow.

Nightwing

• The Eldar's fighter planer in Soulstorm
• Would be crap with it being only anti-infantry/light armor if it wasn't for the fact that if it wasn't fucking fast and had the upgrade that it could regenerate it's health overtime at a rate that would put the SM Chaplain to shame.