How do you play Eldar?

[Blood]

Hello, I've recently started playing DoW2 & the Elite mod and i'm really enjoying it so far.
My favorite race is the Eldar because of the theme and some other stuff.

So I've been playing around 10-15 multiplayer matches, together with a friend of mine who got me into DoW2 (we're both noobs though)

Now I've lost almost all my Eldar games, Most games were 2v2's 3v3's. So I tried reading a few guides but those weren't elite mod guides and I watched a ton of Indrid (and other commentators) VOD's (like 30-35ish) and learned a few basics
I really want to become a better Eldar player so I was wondering how I could become better at them?

Few things I noticed:
-I tend to retreat pretty quickly, most times too late to prevent model loss.
-I struggle a lot against SM, Choas, GK, especially the heavy infantry in T1 (I can't just let them get my req and power but if I try to stop them I still lose a ton of models
-T1 in general, a lot happens, a lot dies and mostly my troops & hero just get shredded. gens get bashed, everything just crumbles down as soon as they shoot me
-Unsure about what units/upgrades/wargear to get (and when!), I know what each one does in general but I'm having trouble reading my enemy (build order)
-every player has at least +100 games.
-I tend to lose out on pretty much everything.
-trouble micro-ing my units correctly, especially during battle
-Tend to lose one of my squads if I split one of them of to backcap, or aid my allies.

(sorry for the big list, or any other mistakes, first post on these forums)

Hopefully you guys can share some insight (FARsight! >.<) on the glorious race that is Eldar.

[Ven]

now im not an expert on eldar, im currently in the process of learning them as a race myself. but to me, it sounds like you're just being outplayed and a lack of experience. i'll also say that eldar isnt a very good beginner-friendly race.

however, EVERYONE who starts out on elite mod has almost exactly the same problem as this; it is very difficult to get in to ELITE due to everyone being more competitive and generally better than the retail game.

i would reccomend making a lobby called "beginners only" or something, and hopefully most people who will join will infact be beginners and you can learn the game with people more around your skill level than the average pug game.

as for your comment about not sure about what to get and when, im going to say that 99% of your purchases are reaction based unless you're taking the initiative.

Banshees are a really good melee squad that can and will wreck chaos/sm/gk. however shees, just like most of the units in the eldar rosters are very much skill based, thus my comment on eldar not being the most beginner friendly race. i mean you can still learn the game from playing any race, including eldar, but you might have a rough time with eldar sometimes.

Rangers are your setup team counter, thats all they are right now though because they recently got what would arguably be a nerf, so they're kinda meh.

Shuriken weapon teams are a really popular choice for eldar, not only are they a supression team (so they counter ranged blobs) but if some assault marines or raptors jump the shurtiken to counter it, you can counter-initiate with banshees and shread them up. its a really powerful combo.

Dire Avengers are your bread and butter T1 unit, while squishy they have considerable dps, and their aspect gives them plasma grenades which are arguably the most powerful grendade in the game, however grendes are very much skill based knowing where to put them etc, and energy shields which is basically buildable cover. units behind the shield are invulnerable to damage until the shield is taken down. this is also why shurikens are really good for eldar.

when you get in to T2, it becomes quite compicated and not something i can really put together in one post.

it might turn out that eldar doesnt fit your playstyle, i would recommend giving the other races/commanders a few games each to see if the playstlyes fit you a bit more.

i would also reccomend joining these two groups on steam, come and introduce yourself to the community and see if you cant get some games going!

ELITE Official steam group: http://steamcommunity.com/groups/DoW2EliteMod

ELITE Beginners group: http://steamcommunity.com/groups/DoW2_Elite_Beginners


also, Welcome to ELITE!

tl;dr make games called "beginners only", try out other races/commanders. join the steam groups.

[Nurland]

Wanna point out that plasma grenades are exactly the same as scout nades. AK ST nades are also the same but with longer range.

[Cyris]

I'll second that Eldar are a tricky starting race. They mix the most fragile units with one of highest density of activatable skills and the most reliance on hit-and-run tactics. Each of these things alone is hard, so all three while learning the game is gonna be rough. I personally recommend Chaos with the CL or Orks with WB, get a dozen or so matches under your belt, then go back to Eldar.

I'd also strongly recommend playing a few matches against the cpu on the hardest settings. The cpu is braindead, but will spam discounted units at you constantly and back-cap you all the time. It's a surprisingly good practice for learning your different unit wargears/upgrades. Once you can win, try different builds, or see how many squads you can wipe, or when the earliest you can get a gen bash going is.

[dark heretic]

you have to judge first engagments as eldar very carefully, DA's are very fragile without upgrades (100 hp per model), v sm go 1 da and shees, then either get 1 or 2 rangers depending on if your opponent goes 2x scouts.v chaos shees are more risky, i often go triple DA's into rangers be thats just me thats if he goes double tics, if he doesnt go 2x DA into shees. these MU's are very dependant on the heroes, which hero were you playing vs chaos and sm and which hero were you facing?
EDIT: in most cases get your t1.5 squad then roll the upgrades, if you want to go double shuri or double rangers then spend power on them dirst then upgrade your DA's and shees. this is a rough guideline and you have to adjust depending on the MU and how heavy your oppenents t1 is

[dark heretic]

@ven im guessing you havent seen much KP combo's. Rangers might of got a dmg nerf but they still have their utility, i have forced chaos off countless times in t1 down to KP into destructor on tics in this patch and thats just one combo you can pull off Double rangers is still viable IMO and is certainly a powerful build vs sm gk and chaos

[Sub_Zero]

Eldar are all about forcing your opponent to play by your rules. Deploy shields and put guardians behind it, deploy suppression teams far enough to provide covering fire, place in between banshees and start forcing your opponent to attack the entrenched positions with shots of your rangers (thanks to the change it sucks now against light infantry, so you have to be especially patient here). The only thing that have a chance against this army is a jump unit, at all costs force it off and triumph. This race requires patience, tactical thinking and good control of your units. It is not the beginner's pick.

[Ven]

(thanks to the change it sucks now against light infantry, so you have to be especially patient here)

errr, what do you mean exactly? snipers are now much better vs Light infantry due to the higher fire rate.

@ven im guessing you havent seen much KP combo's. Rangers might of got a dmg nerf but they still have their utility, i have forced chaos off countless times in t1 down to KP into destructor on tics in this patch and thats just one combo you can pull off Double rangers is still viable IMO and is certainly a powerful build vs sm gk and chaos

i never said they were bad

just kinda meh.

[Vapor]

depends on the type of light infantry though, if it's scouts, shoota boyz, etc. then rangers are worse since they don't kill one in a single shot anymore. Of course the higher RoF means they're better against the really squishy infantry like guardsmen. On the whole it was definitely a nerf but I don't really have a problem with it.

[Sub_Zero]

Eldar Ranger between shots
Cooldown - 3.5
Reload Frequency - 1-1
Reload Duration - 3-3
wind up - 0.2
wind down - 0.8
Damage - 160
7.5s between shots

Eldar Ranger between shots
Cooldown - 2.0
Reload Frequency - 1-1
Reload Duration - 3-3
wind up - 0
wind down - 0
Damage - 80
5s between shots

Speaks for itself. Now 10 seconds and only 160 damage, earlier 7.5 seconds and 160 damage and one model kill. A gigantic nerf to their performance against light infantry.

[Torpid]

Rangers no longer kill termagants w/ sacs out of synapse in one shot. They are awful vs light infantry now. Sure they get higher ROF so in theory is the termagants just stand there thye lose models as quick but in reality they don't, tey close the distance so you lose lots of time setting up and tearing down that you didn't before so their dps is overall far lower vs anything other than heretics and default gants (80hp, so they lose a model per shot, which btw makes their dps higher now vs them lot due to the ROF increase).

[crazyman64335]

this is how you play eldar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woZQCfwDRjk

[Random citizen]

Since I started playing the warlock, I thought I'd use this thread to ask some of my own questions regarding his wargear. To put it simple: when do you get which piece of equipment?^^
I know that the Immolator is quite useful against blobs of light infantry like nids or guardsmen. It can also oneshot turrets. Channeling Runes can be useful to support my Banshees and Warp Throw can set up combos with nades (at least I saw some good players use it that way on YouTube). But when and why do I get the other stuff? Just at some point where enough resources are available? Also, is there a difference between 1v1s and 3v3s?

[lolzarz]

Oh, so you just started playing Elite?

The answer is: you don't. Eldar are, like on the tabletop, naturally difficult to use effectively. It has a high skill roof at which you beat the shit out of everyone else, but the skill floor is also very high, below which you will most certainly lose against equally skilled opponents. Try Space Marines first to get a feel of how to micro, etc. then switch to another race when you're confident.

[FiSH]

To put it simple: when do you get which piece of equipment?^^

By the sound of the situations you've listed, you seem to understand what gear is effective in what situation. So when is what gear economical?

I'd suggest getting at least one T1.5 unit out before getting a wargear unless you have a very specific build/macro/teampush strategy/etc. in mind. There is definitely a difference in 1v1s and 3v3s. Jedi build is more effective in 1v1s due to the lack of focus fire when compared to 3v3s, whereas the spellcaster builds are usually is often not worth your investment in 1v1s unless you can pull off amazing combos.

There are many ways to play this game though, so you should just try out build orders and find one that fits you the best.

[Dark Riku]

Eldar hard to use on the TT? DO you even play tabletop? °_O
Tau and Eldar are the best codices out there. Eldar is super ez to play.

[lolzarz]

Eldar hard to use on the TT? DO you even play tabletop? °_O
Tau and Eldar are the best codices out there. Eldar is super ez to play.

I have heard that Eldar on the tabletop rely very heavily on synergy and get stomped severely when units don't support each other. My point about Eldar in Elite mod still stands.

[Dark Riku]

"You've heard" I rest my case