Swooping Hawks have a power sword for their Exarchs and it's been stated Devs plan to have Exarch only weapons available to some extent for basic classes. Question from Crusader: "Any plans for Exarch weapons available to the standard classes? -snip-" Answer from BrentEllison (Lead Designer & Protector): "We plan to have some capacity for using those weapons because as you say, you'd pretty much have no variety as a basic class. " - said in Official Basic Class list page 20 post #198. But my guess is that it will be an elite SH to have a sword/whatever melee is allowed because Devs already described the basic class as a ranged harasser jump troop in a past livestream plus there's plenty of melee in the other basic classes. Too much melee across them could run the risk of players thinking "why be X class with a choppa when Y class can chop stuff just as good and even better?" I could be wrong. Time will tell. Warlocks confirmed to have access to spears (relic weapon Wyrmfang Spear in RTS) and Howling Banshees are likely to get them because assault archetype & Executioner Spear is a signature weapon, also too cool to not have (which can be said about triskeles but they're after launch question 6 here). Dire Avengers sometimes use spears too I think however for EC it can be reasoned they won't because they're not the assault archetype class. Could be an Elite DA with it I suppose.
He's just talking about clangs. The paper rock scissors of melee will still apply, and Eldar will have to be the fastest at it to win. Your power claws will be far too slow.
but hawks are flying snipers. lasblasters are the longest range light weapon eldar have. their damage just sucks.
Wups, I am a bit late to the party I don't think the Dire Avengers have anything which equal a Stalker Bolter, since even the Avenger Shuriken Catapult lacks sufficient range. Even if they had a Stalker Bolter EQ I do not reckon it will be efficient at more than Medium Range. I think the Swooping Hawks might be able to carry a more "sniper like" weapon, since the Lasblaster have potential to become a better long ranged weapon than the Shuriken Catapult, especially the Hawk's Talon could fill this group, but will probably be very costly to field and potentially reduce the amount of Grenades you can carry. I think the Striking Scorpion will be rather tough, even if he should be denied his stealth. He do carry a Heavy Armor after all which is said to be almost immune to Bolter fire, making him a bit more like a slightly weaker MoN, but with more movement speed and stealth. I hope the Dire Avengers will be allowed to use Power Weapons, especially the Power Glaive alongside a Shimmershield. It is already confirmed that they can carry a Diresword (RTS) and depending on the type of sword the Early Access one is, they might also be able to carry regular Power Swords. I don't think Dire Avengers would be much use in melee without a Force Field of some kind, they are kinda squishy after all. EDIT: A Shimmershield might be to strong for a regular Dire Avenger, since it also protects nearby allies (would be a good "veteran" item though), so a Forceshield might be better if it comes in different versions (a "cheap" and a "costly", a bit like how the Mark of Chaos will be).
Personally I cant wait for Falcons/Firestorms/Wave Serpents. I really love this game's AV combat (much more than PS2 one) and I also hope they will implement Ulthwe Black Guards - Ulthwe do not have too much of AWs - Instead their force is mix of BGs/Warlocks/Seers and AV stuff.
I see the Eldar being a force that really needs to engage its enemy rather than hold back with heavy firepower. Were already seeing a difference where Chaos relies more on melee combat and aggressive tactics. Space Marines tend to rely more on ranged combat and forming powerful firing lines. Based on the Eldar class list, which only has 1-2 medium to long range options (swooping hawks & Dark Reapers) they are gonna have to rely more on melee or short to medium ranged combat. Sneaking up on their enemy and disrupting enemy fire with Howling Banshee screams and flanking with striking scorpions and finishing them off face to face with dire avengers gunfire. Honestly a kill team of 5 eldar could really mess up a large group of space marines if they flanked them and got in there. I imagine that before they release the howling banshee with scream suppression they first need to remove suppressing of allies completely. It only annoys your teammates and imagine an AoE suppression effect on an entire short-medium based faction. There are gonna be banshees everywhere working alongside dire avengers and warlocks and striking scorpions. I know it doesnt make a whole lot of logical sense to remove suppression on your allies but itll make everyone's day a lot happier. I'm expecting some long range capabilities from eldar vehicles that will even the odds a little.
I am actually super pumped to see if Shimmershield makes its way into the game as a squad defensive buff. I really like the idea of taking your dire avenger from a tactical shooter to a squad buffer (obviously a situational decision to use it).
Same to me. I really enjoyed by Magrider back in PS/PS2, so i can't wait to see the REAL grav-tank. To bad bE cuted some features, like you know. Falcons can fly and they can run up to 800 km/h. Also, i wonder if Falcons/Prisms can strafe like MR?
