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My friend has played them for years and complains all the time about them and how although once they were great, GW ruined them now. In combat he uses them pretty effectively I guess but it always seems like a bunch of blundered attacks and movements that should be great but are ruined by tiny problems. So what are the REAL advantages of them? Specialized I know, but that is really a hindrance more than an advantage at times...

It's all about play style. I too constantly bemoan the loss of the craftworld supplementary codex. Eldar were not ruined though, as a relatively old codex Eldar are downright mean and ugly in standard play, and a force to be reckoned with in the tourney meta even if the chances of them takig it all are slim.
The REAL advantages of Eldar are: Fast, Psychic powers, specialized troops, holofields, garishly colored clowns are always amusing.

They're an army that rewards good players and penalizes bad ones. Highly specialized and fragile units make them tough for some people to play. Their codex has aged fairly well, even if there are a few stinker units in there.

It is definitely possible to play the Eldar effectively, especially if you use all of their psychic abilities correctly, examples are fortune and doom and guide will rock your opponents world. Example: Fortune an eldar farseer with counsel and turbo boost them, they are are re rolling 3+ cover saves and they have 4+ invuln if i am correct and can re roll that if no turbo boost, really hard unit to kill

BLOODCLAWallday wrote:My friend has played them for years and complains all the time about them and how although once they were great, GW ruined them now.

With the 5th edition ruleset they lost a little bit of their teeth but they still a good army. It was more the loss of str 6 weapons being counted as defensive weapons and the lowering points creep that made then a bit less effective. If anything ruined them it was what happened with shuriken in the change to 3rd ed, but then that ruleset ruined all of 40k for me...

In combat he uses them pretty effectively I guess but it always seems like a bunch of blundered attacks and movements that should be great but are ruined by tiny problems. So what are the REAL advantages of them? Specialized I know, but that is really a hindrance more than an advantage at times...

Flexability, synergy with the rest of the army, fast redeplyment (in most cases), high str weaponry all over the place, massed numbers of shots, specialist troops and ofcourse the best psychic powers in the game. Skimmer heavy with nasty squads inside too . The specialised thing see synergy. Pretty much any loss of a squad shouldn't hurt them too badly as theres another for that role around and they are supported by a different type of squad.
Your friend is possibly just having a learning curve or a run of bad luck if how you describe his games is happening.

Well hopefully, all our worries will be over just before/after the release of 6th edition.