Eldar Laser Weapons
If Shuriken weapons (and Reaper Launchers) are Bolt weapons of the Eldar, then the Eldar Laser Weapons are the Eldar equivalent of Las weapons (duh). Using concentrated light to deal damage to their target, the Eldar laser weapons are more advanced than their Imperial counterparts, with different strengths and drawbacks except for their multilaser equivalent, which is just plain better. They are most often used on the Eldar's grav vehicles, on heavy weapon platforms, and by the Swooping Hawk and Shining Spear Aspect Warriors.
The Dark Eldar employ more insidious versions of these weapons called Darklight weapons: their energy derived from light captured in black holes and are able to scar the retinas of anyone who sees the energy beams without wearing protective gear.
While functionally identical (in heavy weapons) to Imperial weapons, the manufacturing processes involved in making Eldar laser weapons (such as psychically grown and attuned crystals) make them damn near impossible for the Adeptus Mechanicus to perfectly replicate, let alone produce in quantity. Of course, this does not excuse their complete unwillingness to adapt even the slightest improvement from xeno equipment with a far better track record of reliability and effectiveness even though the Mechanicus both views science as neutral and production as worship. Though recently the Adeptus Custodes have been seen using pulsar lasers that may be Eldar derived.
Craftworld Eldar Weapons[edit]
Mandiblaster[edit]
Mandiblasters are an Eldar weapon system in the form of pods built into either side of the helmets of Striking Scorpions. Known also as the Scorpion's Sting or the Sting of the Scorpion, Mandiblasters are neurally activated weapons which fire a hail of deadly metallic shards. These shards, while capable of cutting and lacerating flesh, are not particularly powerful alone; they act as a conductor to a follow-up intense laser burst.
The laser flashes the slivers of metal into plasma, which can cause significant injury or death. Because of the neural activation of the device the accuracy is often very high and it makes an effective pre-combat rank thinner. However its range is ridiculously short (As in, "Make an Inferno Pistol look like a Long-Las in comparison" short), a meter or two at most, making it a weapon geared for close quarters combat. Eldar Autarchs who have mastered the Striking Scorpion war path still often utilize Mandiblasters when fighting in thick close quarter combat.
Lasblaster[edit]
The primary weapon of the Swooping Hawks Aspect Warriors, the Lasblaster is a low-power handheld energy weapon capable of dealing significant damage over a considerable distance. Though it might lack the punch of the shuriken catapult, the Lasblaster makes up for this with its superior range and rate of fire.
Much better than the flashlight of the Imperium by virtue of less heat build up allowing a greater rate of fire. Though it can't match the Hellguns armour piercing ability, it is much better in every other aspect.
Cloudsweeper[edit]
The Cloudsweeper is the more tactical sister of the Lasblaster that fires in three-round-bursts, unlike the traditional single shot Lasblaster. This makes it something akin to a Eldar Battle Rifle or DMR (Designated Marksman Rifle). It sacrifices a modicum of accuracy for rate of fire.
Those Swooping Hawks who use Cloudsweepers like to strike from high above their targets, placing themselves in minimal danger of actually being shot at. From time to time they may find their wings "clipped," so to speak, and they're forced into close combat.
Hawk's Talon[edit]
The Lasblaster's big brother, the Hawk's Talon is a much more powerful weapon, capable of shooting blasts of far greater power and with more stopping power per shot. Essentially, its an Eldar Hellgun. The Hawk's Talon is only used by Swooping Hawk Exarchs.
Like most Exarch weapons, the Hawk's Talon resemble a bigger, more elongated and erect version of the common Lasblaster, this has spawned numerous phallic and compensation jokes with some in /tg/ commenting that the only way an Eldar could compensate their lack of manliness is through the creation of a bigger and longer weapon with more girth. Another joke is that the length of a weapon denotes the size of the particular Eldar's ego.
Sunrifle[edit]
A Lasblaster with a higher rate of fire, basically an Eldar Multilaser*BLAM* the Sunrifle is capable of slaying entire squads of enemies in a single laser rave. They are similar to Lasblasters, but have a far higher rate of fire.
Eldar lasers use psychically grown crystals to refine their already intense bursts to their optimum potency. Many Eldar consider the laser weapon the most elegant of all with the Sunrifle being at the top of the totem pole; exulting in the fact that their technological mastery extends even to light itself. These include the Swooping Hawks Aspect Warriors, who have transformed the practice of pinpoint laser fire into an art in itself -- their Exarchs lead them in this deadly technique, utilising sustained fusillades of deadly light.
Unfortunately there are no official models for the Sunrifle, although several conversions and proxies were made. Chances are, the average Sunrifle may look not much different than a Hawk's Talon.
Ranger Long Rifle[edit]
Used by the Rangers, the Long Rifle is an advanced sniper rifle outfitted with top-notch stabilising systems and powerful sights with an integrated target scanning system, allowing the user to pinpoint the weak spots on any enemy.
While equivalent in function to the Imperial Long-Las, the long rifle is custom-grown to take advantage of the superior abilities of the Eldar, and its psychically-grown firing crystals maintain a tighter beam over longer distances.
The Ranger Long Rifle uses a Gyrostatic Arm to keep the weapon stable, dispensing with the clumsy bipods that must be used by the lesser races with their Sniper Rifles. The Gyrostatic Arm also all but eliminates recoil. This idea may sound reasonable, after all the real life US military is investing into similiar to that, but than you realize that it's a laser gun, and that lasers are predominantly made of light, and that photons have no mass and thus, should not even have that much kick if any at all. (as the Imperial lasgun can attest, an infinitely more primitive laser rifle than an 8 year old conscript can use without difficulty) So basically, the Gyrostatic Arm is pretty damn pointless in retrospect. Maybe the Eldar are just pansies, as the Orks have suggested numerous times.
Laser Lance[edit]
The traditional weapon of the Shining Spears and Dragon Knights, the Laser Lance is a long polearm capable of shooting intense bursts of energy more than capable of killing a man where he stands, and might even damage an enemy tank. Resembling and functioning more like a medieval lance. They are short-ranged and rather unwieldy, making them good for only a few shots when charging the enemy.
Of course having a short range does not make sense for a weapon that has a really long rifle barrel. Just like its brother, the Star Lance, the Laser Lance's short range makes it somewhat underwhelming given the weapon's size. Although it can be explained by GW trying to balance the weapon without going full Pulsar.
In this way the Shining Spears are meant to operate similar to high technology, anti-gravitic heavy cavalry units.
Star Lance[edit]
The Star Lance is an upgraded Laser Lance, with a far higher damage output and is capable of cutting through even the toughest of tanks. They are unsurprisingly used by Shining Spear Exarchs.
Like most Exarch weapons, the Star Lance is longer and more elongated than the normal Laser Lance. Although in the Star Lance's case, it is even more extreme and blatant due to the Laser Lance already long ass length. Unfortunately like its smaller brother, the Laser Lance, it still has a pitifully short range. You would think that the longer the barrel, the longer the weapon range. Of course it could be GW trying to not make these weapons completely overpowered.
These weapons are named after the lance wielded by Asuryan himself when he rode into battle atop his flying steed.
Prism Rifle[edit]
Wielded by Shadow Spectres, this is a smaller, man-portable (or elf-portable) version of the Fire Prism's crystal-based Prism Cannon, each rifle is connected to a single targeting matrix, known as the Ghostlight; the targeting matrix could destroy armored vehicles from far across the battlefield beyond the enemies peripheral vision.
The Prism Rifle is an antiquated weapon, an artifact lost to most of the remaining Eldar race. It has similar functionality in that it can fire either a dispersed blast of energy or a focused beam for more hardened targets.
The Prism Rifle made its debut in Dawn of War 3 where it acts just like the actual fluff and are known to be quite the bane for more armored platoons that are not in Terminator armor.
Prism Blaster[edit]
An advanced variant of the Prism Rifle used by Shadow Spectre Exarchs. The Prism Blaster is similar to a Prism Rifle but with a longer barrel that further focuses and refines the weapon's beam to provide even greater range with a more powerful beam. Basically speaking, it is an upgrade of the Prism Rifle in every way. Of course this is no surprise given that it is an Exarch weapon and thus, it is bound to be better than its predecessor in almost every way.
Other than that, the Prism Blaster has no unique firing mechanisms other than the aforementioned increased penetrative and precision power.
In 8th Edition, the Prism Blaster is one unnecessary expensive weapon that will spike your cost from 37 to 42 in exchange for losing 6" of range, a point of AP, and the Heavy Flamer mode, but, on average, double the damage from the single shot mode. While this has the potential to match the damage of the rest of your squad combined (if you roll well), it's not worth the lost AP, range and Diffuse mode. Stick with the Prism Rifle.
Scatter Laser[edit]
Multilasers, as used by the Eldar. They have a high strength and rate of fire, but have a somewhat lacking effectiveness against armor.
Originally created for Eldar Wraithlords, War Walkers, Falcons, Wave Serpents, Eldar Jetbikes and Vypers. The Scatter Laser also acts as a support weapon for Guardian squads, where it is mounted on a Grav Platform.
The weapon is comprised of six separate laser chambers which can be fired simultaneously or in bursts, at either the same or different targets, and uses crystalline power cells to store energy, making it far more efficient in energy conservation than the Imperial counterpart.
The Eldar name for this weapon is Sierbahn.
In 8th Edition, the Scatter Laser is one of the best weapons to use against low armor targets that rely on their high toughness to not take damage in the first place. A valid choice for objective camping Guardian Defenders, Vehicles with a CTM, Saim-Hann Vypers and Wraithknights and Titan variants. However, it is not recommended for War Walkers and non-Saim-Hann Vypers, where the Shuriken Cannon does support their mobility, or in situations where you are facing high armor saves.
Firestorm Scatter Laser[edit]
The Firestorm Scatter Lasers is a variant of the normal Scatter Laser and it is a complex triple-barrelled array of Scatter Lasers in a single-seater turret that fills the sky with streaking laser bolts above an Eldar grav-tank formation. Resembling more like a drunk Eldar ducktaping three Scatter Lasers on top of a Falcon's turret.
The Firestorm's primary weapon is highly accurate and capable of sustained bursts, the Firestorm is also a potent anti-infantry weapon, particularly effective when used against hordes such as Ork warbands and Tyranid swarms.
In 8th Edition, the Firestorm Scatter Laser is basically the Scatter Laser of flyers. The Firestorm's main gun fires 12 Scatter Laser shots up to 60" away, gaining a to-hit bonus against any units with the FLY keyword, and suffering a to-hit penalty against anything without it.
Bright Lance[edit]
The Eldar equivalent of the Lascannon. Known primarily as the Eldar's main Fuck Off laser. It operates the same way, firing a concentrated laser-blast for destroying enemy vehicles, however the weapon is far more efficient thanks in part to the use of psychically grown crystals. Its is also more accurate than a lascannon, making armor below a certain thickness redundant.
The Bright Lance might not be as powerful or as long-ranged as its Imperial counterpart, but it more than makes up for this with its superior armour-piercing capability. Often found on grav-tanks and gun platforms.
Haywire Cannon[edit]
The Haywire Cannon is a Harlequin weapon, mounted on the Voidweaver and Skyweaver skimmers. It fires a crackling blasts of electromagnetic energy capable of scrambling even the most robust electrical systems. Just a single hit from a haywire cannon can leave enemy vehicles powerless, defenseless before the Harlequins’ assault.
It's bigger brother is the Prismatic Cannon whilst the Dark Eldar has the Haywire Blaster. More can be read below.
In 9th Edition. These are one of your longer ranged weapons at 24", it's an Assault D6 S4 AP-1 D1 weapon designed for your vehicles and Jetbikes. Instead of the 2+ Glancing Hits of 7th, Haywire now means it causes one Mortal Wound to a vehicle on a 4+ and D3 on a 6+. Now a dedicated anti-armor weapon, and can dish out some serious hurt even on T9 heavies. Save a command re-roll for turns when you need to maximize your damage output. Its a good weapon, sadly its still unpredictable. Against T7 or less, expect 2-3 wounds inflicted, T8 or more maybe one of two. Best when used in volume and concentrated blasts, so unleash multiple cannons all at once. If you roll hot and snag multiple sixes you can outdo a lascannon, but this is not an army that compensates for randomness well... Still, if you play aggressively as you should, your opponent will likely be dealing with other threats. IF you manage to preserve your cannon wielding units, they should steadily pour on wounds eventually crippling enemy armor. A fusion pistol is simply more reliable, a haywire cannon offers range and a higher upside if you pray ever-so-dearly to the dice gods.
Pulse Laser[edit]
The primary weapon of the Falcon that fires a stream of potent laser beams, it is a more dakka Bright Lance, but is unable to penetrate enemy armor as effectively.
Thus, the Pulse Laser is able to be used against a variety of targets but like the bright lance, remains weak against hordes of infantry. With its higher rate of fire and powerful punch, the Pulse Laser can be a threat to MEQs, TEQs and vehicles all the same.
In 9th Edition, the Pulse Laser is a Heavy 2 S8 AP-3 gun that does a solid 3 damage per shot, making it reasonably effective against any MEQ, TEQ, vehicles and monsters thrown your way. It is found on the Falcon, Crimson Hunter, Vampire Raider and Hunter, with slightly altered versions being found on the Hornet and the Phoenix. The Phoenix Pulse Laser has one more strength than the normal Pulse Laser, so it's more likely to wound T8 Super-Heavy vehicles like Knights and Baneblade variants than standard bright lances and pulse lasers while the hornet's drops one point of strength, AP and damage, along with 12" of range. It also costs 10 points to mount. All of these sound like a bit of a bummer compared to the normal pulse laser but given the Hornet is a smaller, faster and cheaper tank compared to a Falcon, it has a pretty damn solid role as a marine hunter while still posing a bit of a threat to lighter vehicles too.
Prism Cannon[edit]
The Prism Cannon is an iconic Eldar laser weapon of great destructive potential. The main armament on the Fire Prism grav-tank, the Prism Cannon is not only a powerful cannon but has many unique properties that give it great versatility.
Lasers utilising large crystals to fire massive blasts of energy. Very long ranged, highly accurate and capable of several shooting modes: a diffused blast that can vaporize anything up to marine armor, a focused blast to melt Terminators inside out, or a beam with a high chance of blasting through any vehicle it hits (a railgun shot with -1 S and lance, basically). Lost the ability to combine shots, sadly.
While efforts by the Imperium to capture and study working examples of the Prism Cannon have been mostly unsuccessful, a basic understanding of its inner workings has been achieved. A two-stage firing process sees a medium-magnitude laser from the primary charge chamber fed through an acceleration chamber into a massive crystal prism, which traps and intensifies the shot within a fraction of a second. This energy is then focused through a secondary prismatic lens, with which adjustment motors can produce a highly-focused energy beam capable of blasting through the thickest of armour or a dispersed beam for slaying entire squads of enemy infantry. Thanks to sophisticated targeting arrays within the Fire Prism, this weapon can also channel its energy into a second Prism Cannon, producing an energy blast powerful enough to obliterate even the toughest targets.
Prismatic Cannon[edit]
The Prismatic Cannon is a Harlequins laser weapon mounted on the Voidweavers. The Prismatic Cannon consists of several laser arrays, arranged around an artfully faceted shard of psychocrystal, which is capable of projecting glowing beam of energy at the enemy. The position of laser arrays can be adjusted to focus or disperse the destructive power of the weapon depending on the type of target.
In 8th Edition, the Prismatic Cannon gets to use one of three profiles- Heavy D6 at Strength 4 AP-2 D1, for zapping light infantry, Heavy D3 at Strength 6 AP-3 DD3 for scorching the likes of Terminators, or Strength 8 AP-4 DD6 for vehicle hunting, all at 24" range. It use to initially suffer from the same Heavy-ness as the Haywire Cannon, but with the Harlequin Codex, it's Assault D6/D3/1 like the Haywire Cannon. It isn't terrible at what it does, which is threaten a wide range of units; if you're taking a Voidweaver you should probably opt for this seeing as if you want fast Haywire jet bikes make for a better platform.
Pulsar[edit]
The ultimate weapon in Eldar laser technology, the Pulsar is designed to destroy superheavy vehicles and Titans. Though similar to a Bright Lance, Pulsars are four to five times in size and immensely more powerful with greater range and a high rate of fire. Pulsars are a direct threat to Imperial Titans and far superior to anything the Adeptus Mechanicus has sanctioned for use on their own war machines. Against smaller targets a Pulsar is overkill, simply slicing a Leman Russ Battle Tank in two with a single shot.
They are either used individually on the Eldar Titans, or as a pair on the Scorpion super-heavy tank. The primary weapons of Eldar warships are typically enormous Pulsar guns meant for ship-to-ship combat.
in 8th Edition, the Pulsar on the Revenant Titan is a Heavy 2D6 S12 AP-4 cannon that does D6 damage on a normal wounding roll, and 2D6 on a wound roll of 6+. All in all a pretty good weapon, but is relatively and surprisingly underwhelming weapon for a Titanic unit given that it's a Heavy weapon as opposed to a Macro. The Phantom Titan however, gets an upgrade in the form of the Dire Pulsars. These are the longest ranged weapons available on the Phantom Titan, as well as its default weapon, the Dire Pulsar is the first of the Phantom's two Macro weapons. Firing 2D6 shots at S14 at AP-5 120" downrange, whatever it's hitting is not getting an armor save. Additionally, like the smaller Pulsar, a 6+ wound roll causes it to do 2D6 damage as opposed to just a D6.
Dark Eldar Weapons[edit]
Drukhari Blast Pistol[edit]
Not to be confused with the similarly named Blast Pistol. Or the other blast pistol
A DARK MATTER LASER PISTOL! Try saying that out aloud.
A pocket-sized weapon whose size belies its enormous firepower: a single shot can destroy even the most well-armoured tank (consider it a Dark Eldar Desert Eagle). Available on everything, sometimes worth it (this writer shot failbaddon to death with ones only from hecatrixs).
As with most Dark Eldar technology, they use a rather exotic, extremely dangerous energy dubbed Darklight in their anti-vehicle weaponry. How they harvest this energy is beyond current understanding, as it is believed that the only sources of Darklight that are available in the Materium are from black holes, warp storms, and similarly hazardous celestial phenomena. If take the source of "dark light" literally, then they may be shooting condensed hawking radiation or anti-photons.
Blaster[edit]
A Blaster is a smaller, lightweight version of a Dark Lance, which includes a semi-liquid stabilizer like that found in the Dark Eldar Splinter Cannon. This allows for Warrior squads to launch volleys of this devastating energy while running, although the more compact build of the gun significantly shortens the maximum range of the device.
Being the size of a rifle and only slightly heavier, the Blaster can project its deadly beams over a considerable distance and deal serious damage to enemy vehicles more reliable than any Imperial weapon.
Just like its smaller brother, the Blast Pistol, the Blaster utilizes Darklight which can be summed up as Darkmatter channeled into a laser form.
Heat Lance[edit]
Heat Lances are Dark Eldar weapons used by Reavers and Scourges. It is a great technological breakthrough for Commorrites which can be noted further below.
By the power of Lance and Melta technology combined here is Captain Planet a meltagun with better range, less strength, and effin' LANCE. About any tank will blow up the second this looks at it in the face (or at least get glanced to death). Thus, it is one of the few weapons found in both the Melta and Las category pages. As a bonus they're cheaper than Dark Lances and are available to your jump troops: take four in a squad of Scourges to make heavies cry.
In a sense, a Heat Lance, instead of dispersing the obscene heat that most melta weapons should in order to cover as much as area as possible, the Heat Lance on the other hand, would actually focus the discharged superheated gas into a focus point like a laser; intensifying its armour penetration to puncture even the toughest of armour. As with every melta weapon, the Heat Lance has a short range but is extremely devastating.
Dark Lance[edit]
A large and heavy weapon, the Dark Lance is the Dark Eldar's primary anti-tank weapon for a reason: it can fire over a considerable distance and can cripple a tank with but a single burst of dark light.
Similar in construction to the Bright Lance of their Eldar cousin's forces, a Dark Lance is redesigned to allow for the use of Darklight ammunition. It's commonly found mounted on Raiders and Ravagers, although Kabalite Warriors are seen carrying them across the battlefield as well. The device uses magnetic containment and stabilization fields to prevent the Darklight from damaging the weapon or its user.
The Darklight is accelerated very rapidly down the barrel by these same containment fields. Upon making contact with its target, it reacts very violently, tearing through armor regardless of thickness or composition, and in the event of the Dark Lances use on infantry, it's incredibly rare that any sign of the unfortunate target is left whatsoever.
Haywire Blaster[edit]
More akin to a EMP Gun or the Dark Eldar's take on the Lightning Gun. Haywire Blasters are Dark Eldar weapons mainly used by Scourges. These are long-barrelled weapons so lightweight that can be fired even when moving. As ammunition it uses crippling electromagnetic energy drawn from the highest aeries of Commorragh which is later released in a horrifying burst. A well-aimed haywire blast can destroy an enemy tank's control system in a single shot. Even the mighty Land Raider can be destroyed by these weapons.
Though not very impressive against infantry, the Haywire Blaster really shines against enemy armor: a single shot cripples the electronics in the vehicle and with luck will destroy it in a single shot. Fires the raw power of one of the Dark Eldar's stolen suns.
Storm Vortex Projector[edit]
No, despite the name, it does not create a giant tornado as awesome as that sounds.
Available only on Reapers, these are the the big brothers of Haywire blasters, and fire either a beam or an explosion of light. The Storm Vortex Projector have a much enlarged blast radius and could burrow deep within the fragile electronics of more primitive vehicles from lesser races. These electromagnetic wave cannons fire either a confined beam of force, or a blast which detonates on impact in a storm of energy.
Are capable of taking out up to four hull points in a single shot or insta-gibbing big nids or other MCs.
Void Lance[edit]
The Void Lance is a heavy Dark Eldar weapon usually equipped to Voidraven Bombers.
This weapon fires pulses of highly destructive eldritch energy harvested from shattered forgotten regions of the Webway. It is unknown what type of energy it is other than the fact that it sort of acts like a laser. May or may not be related to the Void Mine which is another weapon carried by the Voidraven.
Tabletop wise, these are Lascannons with AP-4 but less range. Given you get two stock on a Voidraven and a Voidraven being a flyer means that it is fast, the range doesn't matter as you could just blast away. Voidraven exclusive.
Dark Scythe[edit]
A weapon with so little fluff that not even Lexicanum has mentioned it in their database.
Dark Scythes are one of the two primary weapons of the Voidraven. They replace the Void Lance as an alternative anti-tank weapon. Judging by its name, it is possibly an overly enlarged Blaster that fires dark matter lasers on a larger scale.
This speculation seems to fit on tabletop, as it is a D3 index blaster shots (that is to say D3 damage). Pretty useful for sniping characters or taking out heavy infantry, but overshadowed by the buff blasters got.
Tl;dr, not to be confused with the D-Scythe.