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

===Elites===
====Kabals====
*'''Court of the Archon:''' If you have an Archon in the same detachment, these don't take up slots - which is now a compulsory rule. In Matched Play, you can only have four of these ''in total'' per detachment, and you can only take them if you have an Archon (meaning it's impossible in Matched Play for them to fill out an Elites slot). They also all gain re-rolls To Hit if the Archon is within 3" of them. Keep in mind that ''they are '''not''' characters, and they are all single model units''. This also means everything has to be rolled individually for them, so keep this in mind when advancing and charging. 
**'''Ynnari Note''': Due to the cost, these are '''excellent''' fodder for Strength from Death in any Ynnari Detachment. All are cheaper than a 5-Elf Kabalite Squad, and as single model units that don’t take up slots, all trigger Strength from Death when they die. 
**'''Lhamaean:''' 15 Points, comes with a Poison 2+ combat weapon that does a mortal wound in addition to its normal wound on a wound roll of 6+. Note that she adds +2 to wound rolls for tasty mortal wounds on a 4+.Remember that unlike normal damage mortal wounds do carry over to the rest of the unit. Buffed when hanging out with an Archon, and at 15 points they're a relatively cheap source of potential mortal wounds. The statline seems mediocre, but she does benefit a lot from Power from Pain (turn 3 onwards); stick near the Archon to make sure those measly 2 swings actually connect. 
**'''Medusae:''' 21 Points, their eyeburst is no longer an AP3 flamer but instead is Assault 4 at flamer distance, S4 AP-2. No automatic hits, but a more reliable number of shots and with an Archon nearby it's more or less like a very reliable flamer. Still pretty deadly to single wound infantry models and only cost 21 points per model.
**'''Sslyth:''' 27 Points for a terrifying melee statline and 3 ablative wounds for your Archon. Going by RAW, the Cold-Blooded Bodyguard ability can only be activated when the Archon loses a wound (and loses his Shadowfield). However, Mortal Wounds ignore the Shadow Field, and can be directed to a nearby Sslyth on a 2+ instead. Worth considering for a close combat Archon.
*** Note: When taking saves, you can choose from all your possible saves which kind you want to make. In some circumstances, it can be worth it to have your Archon take normal armor saves (5+) instead of risking his 2++. Then, when you (most likely) fail those regular saves, you still have a 2+ to pass them off to his Sslyth buddies.
**'''Ur-Ghul:''' 15 Points and a crapload of S4 attacks for a single model, particularly on the charge. Unfortunately those attacks have no AP and only do 1 damage. It has no access to Power from Pain though. That said, 3W a unit does make them excellent Smite shields to protect a more important character.
***The new 40k Warhammer Quest game comes with 4 plastic Ur Ghuls. There may be separate rules for those, but at the very least it'll be easier to get some models without having to buy the old resin model separately.
*'''Kabalite Trueborn (Legends):''' Want to hear something scary? How about a Venom + 4 Blasters deepstriking 17.99" away from your frontline? With the new Screaming Jets Strategem, Blasterborn are crazy good now. Warriors with an additional attack and point of Leadership, and the ability to get 4 Blasters into a 5-Elf Squad. Sounds awesome, so why does nobody use them? Well, you are putting all of your eggs in one basket. Drukhari run on redundancy and not presenting a target that is objectively better to attack than any others. All your opponent needs to do to remove 4 Blasters from the table is to destroy one Venom. Compare this to having to shoot down 4 separate Venoms to get at your Blasters. No longer worth taking unless you just really like them.

====Cults====
*'''Beastmaster:''' Little more than a buff vector for all the beasts. If they stick close to him, they reroll To Hit and can use his Leadership. Now comes stock with an Agoniser for melee, but he is hardly spectacular in a fight, even with combat drugs and obsessions. Same ranged weapon as Hellions too, just in case you wanted to fly around harassing infantry.
**The beasts don't take up slots in a detachment with a Beastmaster, but you can't take a Beastmaster unless you have at least one Beast in the detachment (why you'd want to do that is a mystery). Also, it can't get Warlord Traits. Make sure to double check if whatever you're playing in is using Legends rules or not, because if they are you can give him back his now free Beastmaster's Scourge, letting you use that 4 points elsewhere.
**'''A Note About Drugs:''' Always, ALWAYS give the Beastmaster Splintermind.  The +2Ld makes his ‘shared leadership’ Aura much more potent, and he’s not really ‘fighty’ enough to justify any of the other Drugs (unless you’re taking small Beast units and need to offload the terrible "WS+1" onto a unit that doesn’t care).
*'''Hekatrix Bloodbrides (Legends):''' Take ten, give them as many Hydra Gauntlets as you can, give them Adrenalight, and stuff them in a Raider. Then bury something in an even unholier number of attacks. Just keep in mind the cost when bringing them over Wyches. Everything that has been said for Wyches is relevant to these. 5 in a Venom make an awesome MSU hunting unit. 10 in a Raider is a Tarpit that will eventually kill something due to the sheer number of attacks. Have received a +1 Attack boost as part of their Legends update, placing them once again above regular Wyches.

====Covens====
*'''Grotesques:''' Massively scary. They have an impressive statline complete with S/T5, 4 Wounds and 4 Attacks that hit on 3+ all for 32 points and you can take 10(!) of these. Also like all  <'''COVEN'''>  units they come stock with a 5++ Invulnerable, all of which makes them both tough as nails and scary enough that your opponent will still focus everything he has into them. For armament they come stock with a Flesh Gauntlet and a Monstrous Cleaver. The Cleaver does very well indeed against T4 and less while the Flesh Gauntlet does well against high invulnerable saves unit. Can also take Liquifiers but why bother?
**'''An alternate take:''' While their most significant weakness (Instant Death) is gone they did lose much of their appeal. They are more expensive, lost the Rampage rule, lost re-rolls to wound against T4 or less and lost the amazing Grotesquerie formation (basically Grotesques on Combat Drugs). And they are by no means more survivable, as their 5+ FNP basically already was an Invulnerable Save equivalent and T6 is less significant in this edition. To make things worse, many weapons now deal D3 or D6 damage. Mind you, they used to be able to tank Lascannons easily. I would consider investing into a much cheaper T5 blob of Wracks.
***'''Counter point:''' While they are not what they were in 7th, so were a lot of things. Grotesques can still shrug off a lascannon with their invulvn save (particularly Prophets), something they could not do against S10 and up in 7th. And while they have less attacks then in 7th, they now can hit on 2's in cc, and have -2 base, so I'd say that's a wash. With 4 wounds, a 4++ and 5 attacks at S5 -2, I'd say grots are just as strong as they ever were, just in a different context.
**That being said, there are a few things Grotesques excel at, and that is killing T4 and lower. Where Wracks are hemmed in by having poisoned weapons and ''only'' poisoned weapons, the Grotesques have an answer for situations where their Strength stat actually matters. Similarly, due to their ability to throw out Mortal Wounds via their Flesh Gauntlets, they can threaten Thunderhammer Terminators and other high-invulnerable saves models, which the Wracks are almost entirely powerless against. In addition, the Monstrous Cleaver with its S5 allows the Grotesques to more effectively threaten '''VEHICLES'''. In short, they aren't the end-all be-all of the Covens anymore, but they are far from useless.
**Taken in a prophets of flesh detachment and with Urien nearby these guys will put out 5 WS3+ S6 AP-2 D1 attacks and then have a defensive statline of T6 4++ 6+++ to back it up. A squad of 4 will kill 11 GEQ a turn and even put a decent dent into MEQ and light vehicles. Grotesques are back!
**If you dislike the models or failcast resin, or aren't made of money, the '''Crypt Horrors''' and '''Stormfiends''' from AoS are nice plastic alternatives.

====Unaffiliated====
*'''Incubi:''' New plastic models! These guys are our exclusive edgy Aspect Warriors, armed with giant swords. Not only does each Incubus make 3 attacks at S4 and AP-3, the Klaivex hits on 2's and also has a chance of dealing massively higher damage, enough to cleave a Tyranid Warrior in two in a single strike. The Klaivex can also switch between S4, AP-3 Attacks or dropping 1 AP for two extra swings!. Check your target before deciding which one to use. He also gets +1 A and W over a standard Incubus though, which is nice. They hit on 2's from Turn 3 onwards turning them from scary to horrifying. Take 5 in a Venom and go hunting high value targets, a practicable choice, or take two units of 5 in a Raider and go drown a unit in an unholy number of S4, AP-3 attacks (expensive but a lot of fun). They also have tormentors, which will turn a barely successful morale test into a failure. Don't count on it happening, but it's nice when it does.
*'''Mandrakes:''' Damn good now. No, really. They can pop up more than 9" away from the opponent and immediately shoot with Assault 2 S4, AP 1- attacks with a chance to do Mortal Wounds in addition to the damage on a 6+. ANY attacks targeting them at them take a -1 To Hit penalty and they have a 5++ as well as the PFP save to keep them alive and if their Baleblasts don't quite do it, their 3 S4 AP -1 attacks per model should damn well make sure. Probably the unit that received the biggest buff in the new edition. Mandrakes do work now, son! Maybe taking over Comorragh was just what they needed to get their day in the (Dark) Sun.
**If you dislike the models or failcast resin, the Idoneth Deepkin '''Namarti Thralls''' from AoS are nice plastic alternatives. Also Executrix squads from Raging Heroes make excellent female Incubi.