Total War Warhammer/Tactics/High Elves

This is the general tactics page on how to play High Elves in Total War: WARHAMMER. This assumes you understand the basics of the games and if not, here is the general tactics page.

Why Play High Elves

• Because you want an excuse to act like a snobby prick.
• You like armies that don't really have a field where they are particularly weak in, and are just solid all around.
• Because you probably played them on the tabletop and this is the closest thing to 9th edition we will have til Warhammer: The Old World comes out.
• You have a high tolerance for silly headgear.
• MOTHER FUCKING DRAGONS!!!!!!

Pros

• Versatility: An all around very well balanced roster. If the Empire is a Jack of all Trades, you are a Queen of all Trades.
• Range: Their range units can dish out a hell lot of damage. Their cheapest archers can out range and kill a lot of elite skirmishers in a shootout.
• Martial Prowess: Their passive ability, Martial Prowess, gives you 12 melee defense and 2 melee attack as long as you are above 50% HP. This make you by far the most durable of the Elven factions, unlike your edgy or hippy cousins, most of your units can actually take a hit or two. To some people, this ability was poorly adapted from the tabletop rule, for the tabletop stated the ability allow the HE to strike first no matter how injured they are, making it more of an offensive ability than a defensive one. Either way, this ability could use some rework.
• Magic: You currently have access to the most lores of magic in the game, having all the generic ones and a unique one for your own.
• Cavalry: Dragon Princes are some of the most cost effective heavy cav in the game. They won't beat Grail Knights, Blood Knights or Demigryphs, but damn they are sturdy (due to their physical resist and fire resist) and having high charge bonus. Even Silver Helms aren't bad for the price, and Ellyrian Reavers are some of the best light cav in the game.
• Fire: A hell of a lot of fire damage, from dragons, RORs, mages and mages who RIDE DRAGONS, you will laugh at anything weak to fire.
• Air Superiority: With Dragons, Phoenixes, and Eagles it is not hard to gain control of the skies if you decide you want to invest into it.
• Infantry Specialization: A lot of their units are specialized to go after certain targets, and some of them are the best at it. Rangers are great chaff cleaners, Swordmaster win against any non ROR infantry unit one on one and Phoenix Guard are expert monster killers.

Cons

• Cost: High Elf units are expensive. Their units cost more than just about any other unit in the game at their respective tiers. You will likely go in heavily outnumbered.
• Reliance on Healing: Due to how their passive works, a lot of their fighting ability relies on keeping Martial Prowess up. If it goes away, their units got from being very good for their price to being very NOT good for their price. For most factions healing is recommended, but for these guys it's almost required.
• Over Specialization: The downside to a lot of their specialization in the Infantry department is they get trounced by anything they aren't supposed to be fighting against. Sure, Swordmasters will cut through Bestigors but if Minotaurs get on them they are screwed. Phoenix Guard can kill the Minotaurs just fine, but Bestigors trade up against them. make sure your units are fighting the right targets.
• DLC: Unfortunately, a lot of their best units are locked behind DLC. The Queen and the Crone are needed for Alarielle and Sisters of Averlorn and The Warden and The Paunch are needed for Silverin Guard, Rangers and War Lions. If you want to win consistently, you may have to spend extra dough.
• Low Health Pools. An issue with Elves in general. They are categorized with expensive costs, high stats, and low health. This doesn't really make you a glass cannon army because a lot of your units are pretty resilient, but you probably aren't going to out grind the likes of the Dwarfs, Warriors of Chaos or Lizardmen.

Universal Traits

• Martial Prowess: You're standard High Elf passive ability. When you are above 50% HP, you gain 12 melee defense and 2 melee attack, making you a lot tankier and able to hit just a bit more often. This means that High Elves can hold a line for a surprisingly long time, as even their offensive infantry can hold for a while. Sadly, this comes with a reliance on healing, as if a unit's HP gets too low, they get a sizable stat debuff. Make sure your high tier units have some form of sustain, either through magic or passive abilities.

• Martial Mastery: An upgraded version for elite units. Supplies 8 melee attack instead of 2, meaning they can pump out way more damage. Comes with the same weakness though, so make sure you are getting that healing as units with this trait are usually expensive.

Lords

Your Elf bois (and gals) who shall be leading your forces into battle. You have quite a few to pick from so let's get into it.

Legendary Lords

• Tyrion: Ulthuan's best military mind is exactly what you think he'd be, a fast duelist character who specializes in eliminating Lords, Heroes and other single entity targets. High armor, high speed and high armor piercing makes sure he can lay the whooping on whatever you need him to and stay out of harms way. Feint and Repose increases his already considerable dueling might and Sunfang allows him to almost insta-clear any chaff around to get to his desired targets. And if he does get low, don't worry! Heart of Averlorn has a chance to bring him form near dead to almost 3/4ths HP. His main drawback is the fact that he can only use a horse as a mount, meaning getting to the targets he wants can be hard. Still, a pretty decent, relatively cheap duelist lord.

• Teclis: The wimpy nerd who can destroy and entire city if he sneezes too hard. Your main magical lord, who can do a little bit of everything you want a mage to do. He's got damage, lock down, buffs, debuffs and is an all around great utility mage. His Potion of Charoi gives him 4 healing potions with damage resist so he's not completely screwed if he's caught out of position. Still a character that is squishy and shouldn't be in the melee fight. Or at least he was, until CA decided to give him an Arcane Phoenix for some reason. After being given a monstrous mount, his main weakness went away and he became one of if not THE best mage lord in the game, his only real weakness being his ungodly high price tag.

• Alarielle (DLC): Your other caster lord. Where as Teclis is a utility mage who can go a bit of everything, Alarielle focuses more on defensive buffs and healing. With an eagle mount she can stay out of harm's way and she give AOE immune to Psych and magic damage, making Vampire players cry. She also has a variety of defensive items that can really.... Oh, who are we kidding? If you're picking Alarielle as your lord you're picking her for The Star of Avelorn. Considering how important healing is for the High Elves, a magic item that can give OVER 2000 HP IN HEALING is invaluable for elite focused armies. "What's that Mr. Star Dragon? You're almost dead!? Well, here's a healing bomb, go beat up the bad people." This ability can turn a battle from a sure fire loss into a win if used at the right moment. She's been considered one of the Asur's best choices since she came out. And totally on her own merit and skill, not because she has one of the most broken magic items in the game.

• Alith Anar (FLC): Alith Anar checks in for Nagarythe. This man is a bolt thrower with legs, and can chunk down targets from a considerable distance. However, unlike a lot of archer lords and heroes, he lacks a form of net, which is part of the reason those lords are so viable. Turns out a lot of people are going to be running in Alith Anar's lobby. (He's voiced by Dylan Sprouse if you're wondering about the Zack and Cody jokes.) As such, you almost have to lock yourself into the Lore of Light for Net of Amyntok to get the most out of his. Also, his lack of mount options makes it hard for him to get away when he is eventually discovered. He works best in full on kite builds with shadow warriors and archers since he gives a lot of buffs to range, including missile resistances and reload skill, though overall is still considered a niche pick.

• Eltharion the Grim (DLC): On paper, Elf Batman has a lot going for him. As a Hybrid Lord with the Lore of High Magic, decent melee stats, and an automatic barrage of missiles every few second you'd think he'd be a good bunker buster. Hell the guy also has a sword that gives him 44% physical resistance and his helm can make units unbreakable and straight up stop them from dying. You'd think he'd be an amazing tanky lord with a lot of utility. Unfortunately, he has the exact same problem the had on the table top, that being his price tag. Even when you strip the less useful stuff down he can cost close to 3,000 points, which sadly doesn't justify many of his cool abilities. He DOES have a cool combo with Phoenixes, as due to his helm stopping units from dying he can guarantee a fiery rebirth, but that's about his only gimmick.

• Imrik (FLC): The Lord of Caledor is what you'd expect him to be; a pompous, punchable prick on a giant fuck off dragon. His Dragonhorn grants melee attack and speed map wide when used, meaning unlike other High Elf lords you want to play offense when you pick this lad. Lord of Dragons give a massive debuff to attack and defense and he can instill fire weakness on his lance. Generally Imrik is fairly straightforward, point him at something, drop his buffs and debufffs, and watch as he beats the shit out of it. Granted you are paying for his ungodly statline at over 3,000 points and he is surprising fragile with no self healing, meaning lore of life is pretty much a requirement if you want the most out of him.

• Alastar the White Lion: The not-quite-legendary unique lord of the High Elves.

Generic Lords

• Prince: Your generic melee lord, coming with most of the what you'd expect out of a melee dedicated generic lord. Has some weapons and abilities that give him some good self buffs, and some abilities like Stand Your Ground that most generic lords have. His issue is the lack of any real buffing abilities to help his army, no magic no nothing, which makes it easy to overlook him. Granted, anything that has a Star Dragon for a mount will be useful in some way, though it asks why you aren't just getting a normal Star Dragon for cheaper. If you put him on the Star Dragon, give him his weapon buffs and treat him like budget Imrik he kinda works, but honestly you're better off with the Dragon Lord.

• Princess: Don't let those bitches at Disney taint your mind, this princess doesn't take shit from nobody. She sacrifices some melee prowess in exchange for a bow, which makes her way more useful than her Prince counterpart when on monstrous mounts as you get a Star Dragon that shoots arrows at people. She also has some really good buffing abilities, focusing on helping archers, which is good for 90% of High Elf builds. She also comes with an armour piercing magic missile ability for helping dish some damage at long range. Oh, did we mention she's cheaper than the Prince? She serves a similar role to Alith Anar only she actually gets mounts so she can stay out of harm's way when she needs to. The lack of magic holds her back from being top tier, but overall a very solid pick.

• Archmage (DLC): For you Saphery fans, Archmages fulfill all your magical needs in the Lord slot. These ladies come with the usual mage stuff, Arcane Conduit and one of the Lores of Magic, though she can pick between any of the generic ones and Lore of High Magic, giving her the highest variety of any generic mage lord in the game. Her mounts are also cool, choosing between a horse or chariot for ground support or an eagle or Moon Dragon for aerial dominance. Her magic items include an increase to power recharge rate and armor that when activated gives her stalk and unspottable. Yup, you can give a goddamn dragon stalk and unspottable, it's as hilarious as it sounds. Granted a Moon Dragon isn't as nice as a Star Dragon, but it's good none the less. All in all, she's about what you'd expect from a High Elf mage lord, and probably the best generic choice.

Heroes

Sadly, no Legendary Heroes for the Asur, guess Korhil and Caradryan didn't get an invite. Still, they have pretty good options.

• Noble: The minor nobility of Ulthuan and your melee heroes. Halberd wielding Anti Large fighters who generally act as bodyguards when you bring a squishier lord like Teclis. When on a horse, 2 of them plus your lord can serve as a good goon squad to help take out specific targets. They also act as decent mage killers and are overall pretty cheap by hero standard. Chariots are also handy for Dwarfs. Overall, not a bad pick if you need something to protect your mage lord on a horse, though the lack of Guardian means they aren't the best heroes in the game at that job.

• Mage: I mean... it's what you think it is. She's your generic caster hero and is about what you would expect. She has every generic lore plus High Magic, Arcane Conduit, and will get her ass clapped in melee. The chariot mount option does come in handy if you're fighting Dwarfs or any faction that struggles with Chariots in general. If you aren't picking a magic lord, you pretty much have to grab one. Note to Dragon Mage fans that Fire Mages get access to a Sun Dragon mount, because CA figured making making a whole different mage hero just to give it a Dragon would be redundant. As useful as you'd expect a mage on a dragon and Fire is a great lore, though she becomes expensive and a massive bullseye for missiles.

• Loremaster: Sadly, these pointy eared Jedi got demoted from Lords to Heroes in the jump from Tabletop to Game, though they can whoop ass none the less. One of very few Hybrid Heroes, they have good casting along with good Melee stats. The variety of spells allow them to heal, do direct damage and buff troops, giving him some good variety. The combo of Spirit Leech plus Armor Piercing Anti Infantry damage can make them decent duelists when fighting foot lords. What screws them over is their lack of mounts and cost to recruit, so be wary of that when using them.

• Handmaiden (DLC): The bodyguards of Alarielle, and your sniping heroes. With flaming, magical armor piercing shots, they can lay a bit of damage on a target given they have the time to shoot. Of course, she's squishy and of the three melee heroes she is probably the worst fighting up close. She has anti large, thought a Noble can do that plus armor piercing. She also has some passive abilities and items that can buff archers, so in a fully dedicated range list she can do a bit of help. Overall though, you may as well go with a Noble, he'll do everything she does better and is only slightly more expensive.

Units

Lords and heroes are cool and all, but a faction can't win without their units. Let's see what the Pointy Ears got.

Infantry

• Spearmen:
  • Scions of Mathlann (RoR, DLC):
• Dryads (DLC, Avelorn Only):
• Rangers (DLC):
• Silverin Guard (DLC):
• White Lions of Chrace:
  • The Puremane Company (RoR, DLC):
• Swordmasters of Hoeth:
• Phoenix Guard:
  • The Keepers of The Flame (RoR, DLC):

Missile Infantry

• Archers:
  • Talons of Tor Caleda (RoR, DLC):
• Lothern Sea Guard:
  • The Storm Riders (RoR, DLC):
• Shadow Warriors (DLC):
  • The Grey (RoR, DLC):
• Shadow-Walkers (FLC, Nagarythe Only):
• Sisters of Avelorn (DLC):
  • Everqueen's Court Guard (RoR, DLC):

Cavalry

• Ellyrian Reavers:
• Ellyrian Reaver Archers:
  • Heralds of The Wind (RoR, DLC):
• Silver Helms:
• Dragon Princes:
  • The FireBorn (RoR, DLC):

Chariots

• Tiranoc Chariot:
• Ilthimar Chariot:
• White Lion Chariot (DLC):

Artillery

• Eagle Claw Bolt Thrower:

Monsters

• Great Eagle:
• War Lions of Chrace (DLC):
  • Rahagra's Pride (RoR, DLC):
• Tree Kin (DLC, Avelorn Only):
• Treeman (DLC, Avelorn Only):
• Flamespyre Phoenix:
• Frostheart Phoenix:
• Arcane Phoenix (DLC):
  • Omen of Asuryan (DLC, RoR):
• Dragons:
  • Sun Dragon:
  • Moon Dragon:
  • Star Dragon: