Editing Total War: WARHAMMER (section)

====[[Dark Elves (Warhammer Fantasy)|Dark Elves]]====
[[File:Dark_Elves_Wallpaper.jpg|center|800px|thumb|The [[Ulthuan|Doughnut]] shall be [[Rape|'''glazed''']].]]
Like their High Elf adversaries the Dark Elves field a versatile and well rounded roster of troops. The key difference between them and their foes is that the Druchii focus on offense over defence like the Asur do. As such they are generally less resilient on the whole than the High Elves, with some units like the Witch Elves falling squarely under the definition of glass cannon. However this is balanced out by a number of heavily armoured or otherwise resilient units such as the Corsairs, Black guard, War Hydras, and Cold One Dread Knights, who are described by CA as being [[Awesome|dinosaur riding cataphracts]]. They can also field Black Dragons, both as a mount option and a standalone unit. In addition the Dark Elves have a battlefield mechanic which gives them an army wide offensive buff once a certain number of units (from either army on the field) have been killed. Their campaign objectives revolve around Malekith seeking to absorb the energy of the vortex and use it to finally conquer hated Ulthuan. Their campaign also features a twist near the end, involving the surprise appearance of a tabletop character.

In battle the Dark Elves favour, as stated above, offensive strategies and benefit from closing the distance with the enemy early, especially against factions with a heavy focus on ranged firepower. Dark Elf ranged units, from the humble Darkshards up to the Shades, have a lower than average range, so expect to be out ranged by many other factions. However, for what they lack in range they make up for in damage, not to mention the sheer volume of fire they can output. In fact, thanks to all Dark Elf ranged units doing armour piercing damage, even the basic Darkshard unit can be relied upon to make heavy infantry cry salty tears. As for infantry the basic Dreadspear and Bleaksword units are nothing special, but they do their job well enough. A step higher are the corsairs, who are reasonably tough, reliable and cost effective in multiplayer.

In terms of campaign mechanics they possess a slavery system, allowing them to take slaves in battle and from enemy settlements. These slaves can subsequently be sent back to their own settlements and used to bolster their economy, or as fuel for their various rites. Managing slaves is something of a balancing act however, as having too many can cause public order problems and potentially lead to rebellions. Another Mechanic is the ability to recruit black arks, giant floating fortresses which essentially function as mobile settlements, allowing recruitment of new troops on the move. The black arks can also support nearby armies with a variety of in-battle bombardment abilities. Lastly Dark Elf lords can be given "names of power" as they level up; these are essentially titles which grant various bonuses depending on the one chosen. For example one might grant bonuses in battle another to management on the campaign map.

Their base game legendary lords (predictably) are [[Malekith|Malekith]] and [[Morathi|Morathi]]. Later joined by Crone Hellebron (Queen & the Crone DLC), Lokhir Fellheart (FLC), Malus Darkblade (Shadow & the Blade DLC) and Rakarth (FLC)

:: [[Malekith]] leads the primary subfaction '''Naggarond''' starting in the province of, you guessed it, Naggarond in both the Vortex and Mortal Empires campaigns. The unique faction effects are a bonus to loyalty for newly recruited Lords, relations bonus with the Cult of Pleasure, Malekith sharing a percentage of the XP he gains to other Lords, and an increased chance of loyalty loss when they are a higher rank than Malekith. His sole Lord effect is an upkeep reduction for Black Guard, Dreadspears, Bleakswords, and Darkshards in his army. Much like Tyrion's example he has a mutually exclusive skill tree line, but other than that he is meant to be the vanilla Dark Elf experience. His quest items include Destroyer, the Supreme Spellshield, and the Circlet of Iron; while he can also gain the Armour of Midnight from a hidden quest. Also has access to his unique mount Seraphon. Designed to be a hybrid Lord, who can more than hold his own in melee combat while also being a great spellcaster of the Lore of Dark magic too.

:: [[Morathi]] leads the '''Cult of Pleasure''' faction starting in the Ancient City of Quintex in both Vortex and Mortal Empires campaigns; and differs a decent amount from her eternal emo phase of a son. Her faction effects are a boost to diplomatic relations with other Dark Elves, a reduction in relations with the Exiles of Nehek subfaction, a reduction in hero action cost, construction cost for Sorcery buildings, a huge reduction in upkeep for heroes, and finally (being the closet Chaos worshiper that she is) all characters in Morathi's faction spreads Chaos corruption. Her sole Lord effect is a chance to boost loyalty to Lords in the same local region as her. Her sole quest item is Heartrender & the Darksword, while she can also gain the Wand of Kharaidon from a hidden quest. Her role is mainly being the (very squishy) spellcaster for the race, using a mix of Dark, Death, and Shadow Magic. But she also has the role of being the only Dark Elf lord capable of anti-large damage, and she has a passive debuff hex around her that gives her some more sturdiness. [[Derp|Oddly enough despite being the first Sorceress she didn't gain access to Arnizipal's Black Horror when it was added alongside the Queen & the Crone DLC]].

:: Crone Hellebron leads the subfaction of '''Har Ganeth''' starting in the city of executioners itself in both the Vortex and Mortal Empires campaigns. The faction effects are an increase to hero capacity for Death Hags, and a boost to casualties captured post-battle. Her sole Lord effect is an upkeep reduction for Witch Elves, Sisters of Slaughter, and Har Ganeth Executioners. Much like her rival Alarielle, the Crone comes with a decent amount of unique mechanics that make her stand apart from the literal edge lord and his mother. First off is the Death Night mechanic, where every now and then you have to sacrifice a bunch of slaves to keep Hellebron all young and happy. Doing so gives a number of boosts to public order and Hellebron's in-battle stats, while also spawning an AI army of (unbreakable!) Dark Elves which will head over to give Ulthuan a rough time. If you do not commence a Death Night often enough, then Hellebron becomes more withered (sadly with no visual representation), and suffers from decreased combat stats and public order maluses. Capturing Allarielle and Morathi's capitals will raise the floor on this, lessening the negative effects should you go awhile without a Death Night. Alongside this she has access to the unique rite "Sacrifice to Drakira" (replacing "Sacrifice to Hekarti"), and she also has the unique bound ability "Gaze of Khaine" which causes units within her vicinity to rampage. Her sole quest item is the Deathsword & the Cursed Blade, but she can also gain the Amulet of Dark Fire from a hidden quest. Her role is to be an infantry blender, albeit one that can be damaged easily if you're not careful, with the potential of simply deleting units once she gets her unique weapon.

:: [[Lokhir Fellheart]] leads '''The Blessed Dressed''' starting in the province of Chupayotl in both the Vortex and Mortal Empires campaign. The faction effects are a boost to income from Slave Pens and Slave Markets, and having Savannah and Jungle as suitable climates. His sole Lord effect is an upkeep reduction for all Black Ark Corsair units in his army. Alongside this his faction does not need a rite to recruit Black Arks, instead you gain more by capturing major ports on the map, and he starts with one (with a giant version of his squid helm hanging off of it) right off the bat. Alongside this they have access to the unique rite "Sacrifice to Aneth Raema" replacing "Sacrifice to Mathlann", which is funny for a Lord that constantly talks about making sacrifices to Mathlann. His sole quest item is the Helm of the Kraken, but he can gain his Red Blades from a hidden quest. He also has a unique mount Maelstrom, which he didn't have as an option on TT. His role is to be a duelist character and to '''never die'''. Seriously, Lokhir is neck to neck with Vlad in terms of being the tankiest character in the series so far. With his Helm of the Kraken giving him regen and melee defense boosts, and his bound ability "Dreaded Duelist" giving a crazy buff to his offensive and defensive stats which can be used every minute. Not only that but he has a passive leadership debuff, which is on top of the terror he gets from his helm. Due to this he is almost universally considered one of the only Lords you're better off using on foot, since his mount just makes him a bigger target. The Krakenlord can kill almost any other Legendary Lord in the game in a one on one duel, with the exception of the likes of Kholek and Durthu. As of the addition of Rakrth, he has gained a new quest to race the Beastmaster to 2500 slaves to confederate his home of Karond Kar.

:: [[Malus Darkblade]] leads '''Hag Graef''' and controls it at the start of his campaign in both Vortex and Mortal Empires campaign, with his old "friend" Tz’arkan coming along for fun and games. But there is a bit of a twist in that he does not physically start there. Instead he is out on expedition with a Black Arc at the Tower of the Sun in the Vortex Campaign. In Mortal Empires he is instead having a bit of a road trip down in the Dragon Isles. At the beginning of his campaign you are given a dilemma, choosing between keeping Hag Graef under your control, or coughing it up for a hefty amount of gold. Making a nice balance between giving him his lore accurate territory, while also giving Dark Elves somewhere to start that isn't Naggorth. While Malus himself isn't involved with the fight for the Vortex, getting enough scrolls will lead to Malekith giving you the formula for the elixir to keep Tz'arkan down, letting you take them for free instead of having to pay money. For Lord effects he gets the expected buffs for Cold One units, granting recruitment and upkeep reductions to Cold One units in his army. As for faction effects he has Tz’arkan’s Whispers, which is a new type of mission where you play errand boy for the Daemon and are rewarded with various items and followers for the effort. He also starts off with a military alliance with metal daddy Malekith right off the bat, and a pretty good boost in income from iron minds, gold mines, and marble quarries in all regions. In addition to this Malus gets not one, but two unique new Rites, "Gift to the Witch King" and "Rite of the Warmaster", doing away with the whole "Sacrifice to X Cytharai God." The former gives a hero of your choice with a rank dependent on how many regions you own, while the latter gives you an army filled with the various Dark Elf beasties (basically a D-Elf flavored Rite of Primeval Glory). In battle he has the ability to transform, letting Tz’arkan possess him to completely change his statline and make him a literal monster in combat. But this comes at the price of the other edgy Elves on the map distrusting you the more you give into the Daemon. His sole quest item is the Warpsword of Khaine, which grants him regeneration while he's in combat, and he has his trusty raptor Spite as his unique and only mount.

:: [[Rakarth the Beastlord]] leads '''The Thousand Maws''', a suitably edgy name that puts Naggaroth's best pet owner in Albion in both the Vortex and Mortal Empires. He of course has the expected upkeep reduction for all of the bad beasties in the Dark Elf roster but can also recruit some unique ones of his own. His Monster Pens will allow him to have a special recruitment tab to instantly recruit certain kinds of monsters based on the enemy that he is fighting, from Mammoths to Carnosaurs and several other smaller killing machines. You also get special missions to attack certain places for specific monsters, such as raiding the zoo in Altdorf. His unique rite, the Convocation of Hunters, also lets you send out Beastmasters for the chance of gaining monsters depending on where you send them off to. If it wasn't obvious, Rakarth is designed to allow you to grab a ton of big scary monsters and drown your enemies in them. Similar to Imrik he also has a mechanic to confederate his home base of Karond Kar once you have enough slaves. Unlike Imrik, you have to worry about Lokhir Fellheart trying to beat you to it, so make sure you get there before Squidward has a chance to steal it from you.

Their rites are as follows, and, as stated above, require slaves to activate instead of gold like the other races.
::'''Sacrifice to Atharti''': On turn start, Lords have a chance to gain loyalty. Public order increases by 8 in all provinces. Costs 100 slaves, and requires you to issue the ''Demand Highborn Hostages" commandment over a province.
::'''Sacrifice to Hekarti''': Experience gain +50% and experience per turn +200 for Sorceresses. Winds of Magic Power reserve +30 for all forces. Hero action success chance +40% for Sorceresses. Costs 250 slaves, and requires you to perform an action with a Sorceress.
::'''Sacrifice to Khaine''': Post battle capture rate +25%. Casualty replenishment +20%. Income from slaves +15%, and slave decline rate +50%. Income from post-battle loot +50%. Gives an army ability called "Dark Conduit" to all forces. Costs 375 slaves, and requires you to enslave captives after a battle 3 times. 
::'''Sacrifice to Mathlann''': Makes a Black Ark available for recruitment at any port settlement. Costs 500 slaves, and requires a Slave Pen to be constructed.
::'''Sacrifice to Drakira''': Exclusive Rite to Har Ganeth, boosts rank bonuses for Witch Elves and Death Hags, while giving bonuses for fighting H-Elves, and giving a diplomatic malus with them.
::'''Sacrifice to Anath Raema''': Exclusive Rite to The Blessed Dread, gives Black Ark Corsairs Fear and Stalk traits, while also giving them bonus AP missile damage. Also gives the Kharybdiss some bonus armor.
::'''Gift to the Witch King''': Hag Graef exclusive rite. Summons a hero of the players' choice next to their faction leader, with the hero's rank determined by how many regions the player owns.
::'''Rite of the Warmaster''': Hag Graef exclusive rite. Summons an army of Hydras, Black Dragons, Cold One Knights, Medusa, Kharybdiss, Manticores, and Scourgerunner Chariots at the faction capital.

Their roster can be found [https://www.totalwar.com/blog/dark-elf-army-roster/ here], and their trailer [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zB6FaGBz0Lo here].

[[Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Dark Elves| More specific tactics here]]


<gallery mode="nolines">
File:Naggarond.png|Naggarond
File:Cult_of_Pleasure.png|Cult of Pleasure
File:Har_Ganeth.png|Har Ganeth
File:The_Blessed_Dread.png|The Blessed Dread
File:Hag_Graef.png|Hag Graef
File:The Thousand Maws.png|The Thousand Maws
</gallery>