Editing Warhammer 40,000/8th Edition Tactics/Eldar Harlequins (section)

==Armory==

===Ranged Weapons===

*'''Fusion Pistol''' Just like the Craftworld Eldar version, but you get to take it on Troops. It has a tiny 6" range, but S8 AP-4 and D6 damage (rolling two dice for damage and picking the highest at 3" range) makes it a powerful tool for melting vehicles. Remember that your units are fast and can leapfrog enemy units, which allows you to occasionally catch out a poorly placed Character. Being able to fire it in assault makes it a more worthwhile pickup for Troupe Masters.
*'''Hallucinogen Grenade Launcher''' Not a grenade, but an 18" range Assault 1 weapon exclusive to the Shadowseer. On hit, you roll a 2D6, and if it's equal to or higher than the target's leadership they take D3 Mortal Wounds. Not a bad little toy, and could be seen as a slightly weaker extra Smite. Again, remember your speed and leapfrogging abilities- this can be used to snipe at badly bubble-wrapped Characters.
** Stacks very nicely with LD debuffs, for obvious reasons
*'''Haywire Cannon''' 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. 
**'''Note''': The new FAQ confirms that Mortal Wounds are treated as individual "hits" so you can't roll off against Mortal Wounds inflicted by these, giving them a very powerful niche against things like Quantum Shielding and Serpent Shields.
**'''23/07/2017 FAQ Update:''' FAQ confirms that a roll of 4+ is a guaranteed Mortal Wound regardless of if that 4 failed to wound. These are now very reliable at stripping wounds from vehicles that have invulnerable saves.
**'''Codex:''' Now Assault d6 instead of Heavy d3, an insane boost, and should make bikes with these and zephyrglaives the go-to anti-Vehicle pick.
*'''Neuro Disruptor''' 12" range at S4 AP-3 D3 Damage (1 Damage against Vehicles)at only 5 points as of CA 2019 allows it to fill an odd niche  for killing multi-wound infantry units. Given fusions are only 2 points more and can do the same,though at half the range, maybe these are actually worth considering now.
*'''Prismatic Cannon''' Exclusive to the Voidweaver, and 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. <s>Suffers from the same Heavy-ness as the Haywire Cannon,</s> Not anymore! As of the 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.
*'''Prismatic Grenade''' Your actual grenade. It's a D6 Grenade with S4 and AP-1. Nothing much to say, just remember to throw it when your Troupes shoot for a bit of extra damage.
*'''Shrieker Cannon''' The Death Jester's special toy. Can be fired as a 24" Assault 3 S6 gun (with the AP-3 on a 6 to wound) or with a special Shrieker profile. The Shrieker profile only gets 1 shot with the same profile, but if it kills an Infantry model you cause an additional D3 Mortal Wounds; and if it kills any model, the target unit gets a -2 Ld penalty until the end of the turn. This is fairly useful against single-wound model units, but almost completely useless against characters or multi-wound models, so make sure to use the Shuriken profile against them.
*'''[[Shuriken]] Cannon''' Just like the gun your Craftworld buddies get. 24" range, S6 Assault 3 with the ubiquitous AP-3 on a 6 to wound makes it a versatile and useful weapon that can be fired while maintaining mobility. The new wound chart means it'll wound on at least a 5+ against basically anything. Your Vehicles and Jetbikes get one or more of these standard.
*'''Shuriken Pistol''' Identical to the Craftworld Eldar version, most of your units get this base. Pistol 12" S4 AP0 is eh, but AP-3 on a 6 to wound makes it moderately useful, and it adds a little extra killing power up close. Remember that it can be fired in melee now.  You generally want Fusion pistols if you can afford them, however you always want one Troupe per unit carrying a Shuriken Pistol so you can still spam Grenades.
*'''Star Bolas''' One of two equipment options for Skyweavers. A D3 Grenade with S6 Ap-3, which is reasonably strong, but just like in 7th it's rarely worth choosing them over the Zephyrglaive. You already have better ways to do that kind of damage.
** If you have a large jet bike unit taking 1 of these isn't a bad idea, since its a grenade and only one person can fire it. S6 AP-2 D2 isn't something to laugh at and can seriously harm whatever unit you will charge afterwards.

===Melee Weapons===

*'''Harlequin's Blade''' It's a free CC weapon with no bonuses. Still does work against T3 if you're in a Troupe master's Aura. That said only take it if you don't have the points for any of the below:
*'''Harlequin's Embrace''' The cheapest non-basic melee option, costing 6 points. No longer causes Hammer of Wrath hits, instead, it's a +1S AP-3 close combat weapon. A weapon which is strong in the right circumstances but not always useful, this should be your backup choice for Troupes.
*'''Harlequin's Caress''' The middle child of the three primary Harlequin weapons, which costs 7 points and grants +2S and AP-2. While there are certain unit types against which it is the better choice (this is explored more below), it's true usefulness is the ability to be good to decent against almost everything while being equal to or better than the Embrace in almost all situations (t6/7 and t3 being the main times when it's not, but both weapons kill GEQ equally well and even with extra 'naked' bodies a squad with 8 of these can take out a leman russ in one turn about half of the time). This should be your default choice. 
*'''Harlequin's Kiss''' Only gives +1S and AP-1 but also packs d3 damage. As the codex equalized the price of Caress and Kiss, now you've got much more incentive to use the Kiss. Unfortunately d3 is generally worse than flat 2 damage and s4 can't damage a lot of vehicles so you're basically buying a shittier version of a Wych's shardnet.
*'''Miststave''' The special melee weapon for the Shadowseer, it hits hard with +2S, -1 AP and D1d3. While -1AP is poor, the Shadowseer's 3 attacks let it do a surprising amount of damage up close for a Psyker, and D3 damage gives it a chance to splat other HQs.
*'''Power Sword''' Only available to Troupe Masters and exactly like the regular Power Sword. Completely useless to Harlequins, who have the flat-out superior Embrace for two points more. Skip unless you're planning on taking the Power Sword relic.
*'''Zephyrglaive''' The melee option for Skyweavers, a +1S AP-2 weapon with 2 Damage. Combined with the extremely high speed of Skyweavers, it's a useful weapon for backfield assaults against 2W models, letting them quickly wipe out skulking units of Hellblasters and the like.

====Caress, Embrace or Kiss====

The Embrace works best against T3, T6, T7, and T10, while being somewhat equal to the Caress against T4. The high AP makes it better against high armour saves, but not invulnerable saves. Due to the Embrace working well against the most common infantry toughness (T3, and T4/2+, plus T4/3+ most of the time after taking cost into account), it is the default choice against most armies.

The Caress works better against T5, T8, and T9. It is better than the Embrace against T4 units with high invulnerable saves and/or only 4+ armour; it's also better against T4/3+, but does cost a point more, which has to be taken into account. It, therefore, tends to occupy a dual roll, being very good against elite armies such as Custodes, and spam armies such as Orks and Guard; however, the high AP of the Embrace might be preferable against some armies with a higher armour save.

The Kiss hits at the same strength as the Embrace, but at 2 ''worse'' AP and more damage (double against anything with 3 or more wounds), all for a point more, meaning it works well against multi-wound models with invulnerable saves, which pretty much relegates it to fighting characters. However, a below-average damage roll makes it worse than the Caress or the Embrace, against anything. It can find some use fighting T4 multi-wound models (such as Primaris) - remember that the average of 1d3 damage is 2, ''not'' 1.67; however, the lack of significant AP might hurt you in the long run. Put Kisses on models who will be character killing and leave it at that, though it now is actually a situational alternative to the Embrace and Caress.  If you can get yourself into range, Fusion Pistols are usually better damage dealers for the price, even given that they get 1/4 or worse the rate of fire as your close combat weapons, but that's a big if. 

Know what you're likely to be facing and build your Harlequins accordingly. Of course, this advice is worth sod all in a blind match-up, so take whichever weapon counters what you are most afraid of, and if you fight an army who the weapon is not designed for it is not a huge loss, as both weapons perform very closely to each other.  You can freely mix and match within a single unit - no target exists for which this is better than a loadout designed for that target, so this is inferior to specializing your units and sending them against the targets they're good against, but on the other hand, a mixed unit of Embraces and Caresses will do reasonably well against whatever your opponent throws at you.

* ALTERNATIVELY: I performed some math hammer, pitting Troupes against space marines, terminators, death guard, dg termies, ork boyz, wyches, and kabalite warriors. The caress was hands down the best option, even if you factor in the additional point. Point for point, the blade was best against wyches, and the embrace was best against kabalites, but other than that the caress is most effective AND most cost effective. The kiss was never the best weapon in any scenario, even against multi-wound terminators. The embrace came second overall.

* ADDITIONAL ALTERNATIVELY: The long section written above is pretty much just incorrect. I have no idea where they got their information. For a start the average of 1d3 against two wound models '''is''' 1.67, because it's impossible to do three damage to a two wound model, unless damage carries over (which it doesn't in almost all cases). Therefore your damage possibilities are 1, 2, or 2, resulting in an average of 1.67. Secondly most of the information in the long section about which weapon is most potent against certain targets is also wrong. 
(Just wanted to add that while this 1.67 number is correct for a single wound, the value drops when considering multiple wounds, which are likely when attacking with 4 troupes with kisses. The second wound does an average of 1.44 damage. This is the one third chances that the first wound didn't kill plus the two-thirds that it did kill times 1.67.)

Here are the average values per individual player:

*'''Versus Guardsmen''': both caresses and embraces do 1.78 wounds. The kiss is third with 1.48 wounds.
*'''Versus Bloodletters''': caresses, embraces, and kisses all draw with 1.19 wounds. 
*'''Versus Marines''': caresses do the most with 1.19 wounds. Embraces are second with 1.11.
*'''Versus Plaguebearers''': caresses and kisses both do 0.79 wounds. Embraces are third with 0.59.
*'''Versus Terminators''': caresses and embraces both do 0.89 wounds. Kisses are third with 0.74.
*'''Versus Bikers''': caresses win out with 0.89 wounds whilst embraces and kisses draw with 0.74.
*'''Versus Shield Captains''': embraces and kisses draw with 0.59. Caresses trail with 0.44.
*'''Versus Rhinos''': the kiss leads with 0.89, whilst the embrace is second with 0.74.
*'''Versus Knights''': the caress leads with 0.59, whilst the kiss follows with 0.44.

Caresses seem the most consistent. It's not always the best, but it is in most situations. 

When you factor in Choreographer of War the table changes significantly because the caress benefits less from rerolling wounds due to its higher strength value. This pushes the embrace and kiss up a little bit in comparison. 

Here are the average values per individual player if they're rerolling failed wounds:

*'''Versus Guardsmen''': both caresses and embraces do 2.37 wounds. The kiss is third with 1.98 wounds.
*'''Versus Bloodletters''': caresses, embraces, and kisses all draw with 1.58 wounds. 
*'''Versus Marines''': embraces lead with 1.67 wounds, caresses follow with 1.58.
*'''Versus Plaguebearers''': kisses lead with 1.19 wounds, the caress follows with 1.05.
*'''Versus Terminators''': the embrace leads with 1.33. The caress is second with 1.19
*'''Versus Bikers''': caresses win out with 1.33 wounds whilst embraces and kisses draw with 1.23.
*'''Versus Shield Captains''': embraces and kisses draw with 0.99. Caresses trail with 0.74.
*'''Versus Rhinos''': the kiss leads with 1.48, whilst the embrace is second with 1.23.
*'''Versus Knights''': the caress leads with 0.99, whilst the kiss follows with 0.81.

As you can see in some cases the kisses and embraces overtake the caress here. However the caress remains the second best option in almost all cases. It's much harder to make a decision about 'best' here because all of the weapons are good against different things.

*ULTIMATE ALTERNATIVELY
Ignore these ''fucking nerds'', math is ''boring''. Take whatever you think is coolest and have faith that you'll be rolling enough dice that things will work out regardless. Cegorach is the laughing god, not patron saint of calculators.

===Relics===
====Universal====
*'''The Mask of Secrets''': The bearer of this gains +1 to their Leadership, and any enemy units in 6" of it have -1 Leadership. It's a small bonus to your Characters getting into melee, murdering a few scaredy-cats multi-model units to make an extra model flee, whilst not getting as hurt by certain Psychic spells, or helping to proc the Hallucinogen Launcher.  Best when combined with '''Silent Shroud''''s form, a Shadowseer wielding '''Shards of Light''', and a Death Jester or several shooting in single-shot mode, for, ideally, -5 leadership.
*'''The Storied Sword''' Replaces a Power Sword, and so can only be taken by a Troupe Master.  A nice little weapon with S+1 AP-3 D1d3.  Can be seen as a D1d3 Embrace or an AP-3 Kiss for 2-3 points less.  It also lets you re-roll failed hit rolls for Attacks made with it, which is actually re-rolling 1s due to what can take it, which is a little meh on a Great Harlequin who’s re-rolling hits of 1 from their Aura anyway, but nice if you’d rather not burn the 2CP.
*'''Suit of Hidden Knives''': Any time an enemy unit rolls a 1 to hit the bearer with a melee attack, roll a D6.  On a 2+, the attacker suffers a mortal wound.
**Trolltastic with a Shadowseer's ability to self-Veil of Tears and cast Fog of Dreams on the enemy for -2 to hit, making rolls of 1, 2 and 3 count as a 1.  Coupled with 2CP for '''Lightning-Fast Reactions''' and you have an inverse death-bomb of a Psyker that turns more than half of his opponent's attacks into Mortal Wounds.  Remember that you can't opt-out of Fighting if you're within 1", and you can't forfeit your attacks even if they can't hit, so prepare for a salty opponent if you ever manage to pull this off on a big unit!
**Especially relevant following the recent SM update, hilariously making all flavours of power armour even more susceptible to this relic; Shock Assault now gives +1A to a SM unit that charged or was charged that phase. Leap headfirst into that 15-man Crusader blob and laugh like a maniac as they all fall on their chainswords - you will definitely die, but so will they. An excellent relic for wringing that last bit of usefulness out of a wounded and/or isolated Shadowseer (using the combo described above).
**With the leaked PA pivotal roles, this becomes increasingly powerful on a Solitare that can take a permanent -1 to hit from attacks. This can stack with the above -2 from psychic powers and -1 from Lightening Fast Reactions, meaning all rolls to hit of '''1, 2, 3, 4, and 5''' cause mortal wounds to the attacker on a 2+. And remember, this is still -4 to hit, so anyone without WS 2+ cannot hit you on 6+ Without stratagems/relics/psychic powers to improve their accuracy. Against something like Tau, there are almost no units in their army that can hurt you in melee, and even that is probably going to kill itself against you first.
*'''Crescendo''': Replaces a Shuriken Pistol. 1d6 shots and D2, but no other improvements over the regular version.  Meh.
*'''Starmist Raiment''': 3++ vs ranged weapons and enemies cannot fire Overwatch against the bearer if they advanced this turn. Helpful, especially with a Great Harlequin who can charge in without worry before the Troupes bundle in; also very useful on a Solitaire, for the same trick from farther away, but the Solitaire already has the 3+ invuln.
*'''The Laughing God's Eye''': Whilst within 6" of the bearer, Harlies auto-pass Morale and gain a 6+++ against mortal wounds caused in the psychic phase.
*'''Cegorach's Rose''': Replaces a Harlequin's Kiss, and is identical, bar its two abilities.  It comes with a standard re-roll failed wound rolls, which is nice, but won't stack with a Troupe Master, and is not nearly as nice as the next bit: Against {{W40kKeyword|INFANTRY}} units, it deals a flat 3 damage, as opposed to 1d3.  This is enough to make the bearer (a Solitaire, because who else) an absolute nightmare for your opponent's multi-wound models.  Most importantly, this brings consistency to the Solitaire and turns him into the scariest character assassin on the battlefield.

Psychic Awakening stuff below this. Again, you're welcome.

*'''The Shadowstone''': Shadowseer only, adds 3” to the range of the bearer’s aura abilities and psychic powers. Straightforward, useful.
*'''The Veil of Tears''': Once per turn, the first save roll that fails for the bearer counts as succeeding. Save yourself a CP reroll. or the Player of Twilight Warlord trait one. A nice defensive little buff.
*'''Domino Shroud''': Once per battle at the end of any phase, so long as the bearer didn’t arrive from deepstrike this can be used. Place a marker within 12” of the bearer, then remove them from the battlefield and set them up within 1” of the marker and more than 1” from enemy models. The bearer cannot charge after using this, though it can use it after they did charge. Using it defensively to pull a character out of harm's way after combat is pretty straightforward. Offensively, you can stick it on a Death Jester to get him into place for a round of shooting that advancing alone might not get him to. Or you could stick it on a Solitare, run him at the nearest unit and start blending. In your opponent's move phase the next turn, pull him out and set him out of LOS and in position to get ready to fuck something up on your turn. Don’t like getting charged by a smash captain or horde of Boyz? At the end of your opponent's Charge phase, teleport out of combat before the Fight phase. You can also use it to bail out of combat if you lose a few too many wounds in overwatch.
*'''Destiny’s Jest''': Clown favored combat drugs, sorta. Pick one off the list or roll 2d6, rerolling duplicates to get both. You may wanna do this, as literally none of these are necessarily bad on any character aside from maybe the melee stuff on a Death Jester
**1. +1 attack 
**2. +1 strength 
**3. +1 toughness 
**4. +1 wound 
**5. +3” movement 
**6. Improve AP of melee weapon by 1
*'''Cegorach’s Lament''': Replaces a Shrieker Cannon. Compared to a stock one, it has a 36" range, loses the rending effect but gets a guaranteed -3 AP, and it's shrieker profile, renamed Wail, gets a flat 3 damage. Best of all, it's not locked behind a specific masque. Compared to Curtainfall, you lose out on one point of strength and ''potentially'' higher AP for more consistent AP and a slightly longer range. The difference in strength will generally only be noticeable against T6/7 targets, meaning they'll wound just as reliably against the typical GEQ/MEQ targets your Death Jester will be trying to snipe. For character hunting, the more consistent AP, damage, and slightly better range offered by Cegorach's Lament will prove more useful against any character with above or below T7 and T6 respectively. Even if you're running the Dreaming Shadow as your Masque, this one should be your default pick for your Death Jester in most circumstances. Feel free to take both on two separate Death Jesters if you really want though.
*'''The Twilight Fang''': Troupe Master only, replaces Harlequin Blade or Power Sword. (Why would you pay for the power sword when you can keep the free blade though?)Regardless of which option you pick to replace, it's a S +2 AP -3 D 2 weapon. Already powerful on its own, it lets you skip an upgrade on a troupe master and save about 6-7 points while getting the benefits of all three options consolidated into one. In addition, you can make additional attacks with the weapon based on the current battle round number. The later the game goes, the scarier your Troupe Master becomes, arguably rivaling a Solitare if it gets high enough.

===Other Wargear===

*'''Flip Belt''': In the movement phase, you can move across units and terrain as if it wasn't there. As of the April 2019 FAQ, you can ignore models that aren't buildings in the charge phase now!