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Ok so me and my buddies are really into the fluff, and quite enjoy backround information and such.
Sadly I haven't read much on the Eldar race, and as opposed to the other factions with (mostly) clear motives and goals, I can't seem to find what the eldar are "after" per se.
Anyone help?

The Eldar were created by the old oness to counter the C'Tan.
As a highly psychic species, Eldar had it easy when the immaterium was calm.
But the war in heaven changed this and Eldar got to be careful.
Nonetheless, beeing the most powerful Species after the C'Tan went sleeping, the Eldars arrogance mislead them to affect the immaterium with their
actions and they formed Slaanesh. This slow process came to full effect one day and the "birth" of Slaanesh destroyed the center of the Eldar realms,
their Crown worlds turning into the eye of terror.
Part of the Eldar kept the old ways, and are known now as Dark Eldar. Others fled and became craftworld eldar.
Both are up to escape a fate as snacks of Slaanesh.
The dark ones trough feeding on the feelings of others, to regain what Slaanesh sucks off.
The "high/wood" ones by hiding in the matrix of their craftworlds.
Eldar have "prophecys" too, one of them using a "God" to slay a "God". But it ends in all Eldar dying.

So Eldar are up to leave this place, like any elf in any setup, be it sci-fantasy or fantasy. Its the elven highway. To withdraw is every elfs fate.
Be it somewhere else in real space or death.

Hmm thanks. Seems right as to why I prefer the DE's then. Though I probably am just not as open about dieing for the sake of faith.

Eldar aren't religious (or at least not in the same sense as the Imperium). They follow strict Paths during there lives to avoid feeding Slaneesh (which was created by them getting bored during the period they were undisputed masters of the galaxy and going on hedonistic rampages which slowly formed Slaneesh) and causing another Fall type event, but its not really something I would view as faith based. For the most part Eldar are mostly concerned with keeping themselves alive, of all the main 40k races they are probably the smallest in number so only tend to get into battle to keep themselves safe. However as they are the most advanced psychic race around and Farseers can see the future this can mean they end up making small strikes in very precise locations which can start chain reactions which ultimately sent forces away from their Craftworlds. One of the wars for Armageddon (I think the first one lead by Gaz) was basically a direct result of the Eldar, which both sent the Waaagh away from them and severely weakened the Imperium in the process.

For most Eldar their ultimate goal is the destruction of Chaos, particularly Slaneesh. But most accept that this would probably be the last act of their race as there simply isn't enough of them left. A few Craftworlds are much more aggressive and make some attempts to reclaim worlds that have been settled by the Imperium or Orks, but in the grand scheme of things they barely register.

Dark Eldar are essentially drug addicts, because they live in the Webway their souls are slowly being drained by Slaneesh over time (Craftworld Eldar only have to wear a Spirit Stone which captures their soul when they die to avoid it going to Slaneesh) so they have to keep killing and experiencing pain to replenish their souls. Dark Eldar still maintain all the arrogance of the original Eldar, they still believe that the galaxy is theirs for the taking but really they are actually stuck in a vicious cycle of death and destruction where they basically just have to keep raiding to keep themselves going.

Powerguy wrote:Dark Eldar still maintain all the arrogance of the original Eldar, they still believe that the galaxy is theirs for the taking but really they are actually stuck in a vicious cycle of death and destruction where they basically just have to keep raiding to keep themselves going.

None of that sounds the slightest bit bad to me.

The Dark Eldar aren't really in a vicious cycle of anything. Unlike their kin, they're thriving, and they would appear to be the only faction aside from the Tau that's actively researching new technology, although their research mostly focuses on making more entertaining weapons than making better ones...


Basically, Craftworld Eldar are sitting around angstily angsting angst about how they're dying out because all they do is sit around angsting about their sorry state all day. The Exodites are barbarians who sit on backwaters doing nothing of value, and struggling even to survive because of their abandonment of technology. The Dark Eldar, on the other hand, have a thriving, growing population, every single member of which is trained in a cutthroat meritocracy that makes Chaos cults look warm and cuddly in comparison, while maintaining an active research scene into new technology.

They're just sitting around trying to survive? Wow that sucks to be them knowing that sooner or later they will become extinct- they wont last out any of the other races me thinks :(

Sir Pseudonymous wrote:Basically, Craftworld Eldar are sitting around angstily angsting angst about how they're dying out because all they do is sit around angsting about their sorry state all day. The Exodites are barbarians who sit on backwaters doing nothing of value, and struggling even to survive because of their abandonment of technology. The Dark Eldar, on the other hand, have a thriving, growing population, every single member of which is trained in a cutthroat meritocracy that makes Chaos cults look warm and cuddly in comparison, while maintaining an active research scene into new technology.

To be fair, Bias much?

The Eldar do more than sit around, they are desperately trying to preserve their own race whilst simultaneously preventing Chaos from taking over the galaxy.
As such, in their current state, despite still being very powerful beings with very powerful technology, they simply do not have the numbers to engage in open warfare against the likes of humanity, therefore relying on raids and skirmishes in most cases.

It could easily be argued that Eldar know the most in the galaxy, they fear death as it leads to them being consumed by Slaanesh (hence Soul Stones/Infinity Circuit) and IIRC it implies (I could be wrong) that other psychic-potential races (eg. Humanity) also go to Slaanesh when they die(?), hence if this is the case, then humanities constant wars are actually feeding Chaos, as are their various emotions. This is partially why the Eldar dislike the humans so much, seeing them as an ignorant, upstart race that revels in bloodshed and who will either doom (likely) or save the galaxy.

The Eldar are precariously balanced; being near the edge of extinction but still trying to fight Chaos and save the galaxy.
As for their goals, it can radically differ between various craftworlds, some wanting to craft a new life in the webway, some wanting to reclaim the galaxy as theirs and some simply accepting their doom.

Personally, the Eldar are my favourite race and Lexicanum can always provide plenty of info on such matters.

The Craftworld Eldar are waning away to nothing. After ten thousand years they still haven't stopped wallowing in their fall and tried to rebuild. The Eldar that survived in the webway had rebuilt their cities within a thousand years, and only get stronger as time passes, while those on the Craftworlds dwindle in number (it's implied that a good deal of that has to do with their youths being bored to tears by their rigid moral systems, and leaving to be pirates or rangers, and either dying or quite possibly ending up in the ranks of the Commorite Eldar or Harlequins (who might also be doing well for themselves, there's not much fluff beyond "they live in/maintain the Black Library, fight Chaos, and travel the webway visiting every Eldar settlement" as far as I know)). I think that's proof enough that the Craftworld idea was a failure, and that their paths lead only to the complete downfall of the Eldar that follow them. They're bringing about their own destruction, and waxing angsty prose about it when they bemoan the end of their race.

As I said, Bias much?

Whilst the Dark Eldar have indeed moved on and not wallowed in the result of the fall, they have also damned themselves, desperately trying to appease Slaanesh to save their own souls. The Dark Eldar have given up on their own morality and lives simply for enjoyment and survival.
The Craftworld Eldar fight Slaanesh and Chaos; the entity that destroyed them and threatens the entire galaxy.

Much of the Craftworld Eldar see it as pointless to try and rebuild as they are a doomed race and instead try to stave off the predations of Slaanesh and the other inhabitants of the galaxy whilst simultaneously combating Chaos.

The Craftworld Eldar may be waning away into nothing, however they are doing this almost on purpose, to avoid Chaos and to not 'fuel' it, unlike the Dark Eldar.

The Craftworld idea was developed as a result of The Fall, to enable the Eldar to avoid other races and the predations of Chaos, as a Craftworld they needn't rely on anyone other than themselves. The entire Eldar race pretty much doomed itself in the fall IMHO, the Dark Eldar have almost ridden the waves of this doom, revelling in life whilst they still have it and sacrificing themselves and others to the Chaos Gods.
Craftworld Eldar learn from their past and try to create a new life from it, avoiding Chaos and other civilisations, trying to combat that which destroyed them whilst simultaneously trying to avoid extinction.

I don't claim to be an expert on the Eldar background (particularly DE), but I think there's a lot more to the Eldar than you give them credit for.

The Dark Eldar are damned to obliteration on death (the same fate as humans, if the Eldar codex is to believed), while the Craftworld Eldar and Exodites are condemned to be trapped in a hazy Limbo.

The souls of the Dark Eldar are constantly draining away, because of the nature of Slaanesh as a singularity of Eldar souls, while the Craftworlders and Exodites are shielded by their spirit stones.

I do not believe there is a single Eldar who has gone over to the ruinous powers. Even the Commorites, despite exemplifying every domain of Chaos, are still wholly opposed to the Ruinous Powers, as their existence is the root of their own mortality. Chaos is antithetical to even their society, as mindless gibbering and self-obliteration for the sake of daemons clashes a great deal with their finesse and arrogance.


All Eldar are primarily concerned with their own, or their Craftworld's survival, with the exception of the Harlequins (who don't exactly seem to be struggling themselves). The Craftworlders actions against Chaos are mostly limited to preventing direct threats to the Craftworlds, with the possible exception of Eldrad's attack on Abbadon the Failure's latest aimless flailing at the Cadian gate.

Chaos Eldar exist, but not really among the existing factions.

The 4th (current) Eldar Codex mentions Arhra, who 'shines with the dark light of chaos', whatever that means.

In earlier publications (possibly the Realm of Chaos books?), apparently they say that Chaos Eldar are the greatest yet most at the mercy of their masters, the Chaos gods.

Some of the pre-fall Eldar are stated to have started to worship the nascent Slaanesh, though that was even before the Craftworld list was first made.

Sir Pseudonymous wrote:The Craftworld Eldar are waning away to nothing. After ten thousand years they still haven't stopped wallowing in their fall and tried to rebuild. The Eldar that survived in the webway had rebuilt their cities within a thousand years, and only get stronger as time passes, while those on the Craftworlds dwindle in number (it's implied that a good deal of that has to do with their youths being bored to tears by their rigid moral systems, and leaving to be pirates or rangers, and either dying or quite possibly ending up in the ranks of the Commorite Eldar or Harlequins (who might also be doing well for themselves, there's not much fluff beyond "they live in/maintain the Black Library, fight Chaos, and travel the webway visiting every Eldar settlement" as far as I know)).

Actually if i remember DE codex correctly , they have three advantages over craftworld bethren

- living in webway so they're mostly unaccesable for enemies

- that Commoragh is in reality confederation of pre-Fall webway trade ports NOT AFFECTED by The Fall

- and that they reproduce their cannon fodder in vitro.

And of course they're sure they're REAL Eldar of pre-Fall, unlike "puritan sects" of craftworlds and exodites.


But they have some disadvantages

- need for agony of others to sustain them - ie slave raids that bring attention and hate of other races

- permanent backstabbing in their ranks though Vect(master spider in the jar) currently keep this in check.

- that psykers are not allowed in webway lest they bring attention of She Who Thirsts - so no Farseers and no psyker traits among DE


But getting stronger as the time passes...
(even considering that that was planned by Vect to consolidate his power) Salamanders Chapter raided Commoragh with minuscle forces compared to ones involved in Crusades. If by any chance (Black Library lore?) webways to central parts of dark city will be known to Empire or Orkz , it'll be war with one inevitable result - DE will vanish for quite a while, maybe forever.
They're just vermins in webway.

Sir Pseudonymous wrote:I do not believe there is a single Eldar who has gone over to the ruinous powers. Even the Commorites, despite exemplifying every domain of Chaos, are still wholly opposed to the Ruinous Powers, as their existence is the root of their own mortality. Chaos is antithetical to even their society, as mindless gibbering and self-obliteration for the sake of daemons clashes a great deal with their finesse and arrogance.

There are actually quite a few, as Daba notes. It's merely that we've never had a list for them, and apparently they prefer not to leave the Eye of Terror all that often. So GW hasn't bothered to provide much more information about them other than the fact that they exist.