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Since Pathfinders are there just to markerlight enemies, would running 2 base units of 5 be effective, or should I take upgrade options (even bonding knife)?

Don't take them at all. As a matter of fact, smash every Tau figure you have. Stomp it in the ground. Burn it, and chant to Chaos as they burn.

Ok, in reality, leave em stock. They'll drop like flies regardless, dont sink points into them.

Unless you have some super awesome top secret uber tactic to use with them I would leave them bone stock and use them to light up targets.

Don't field them at all. There's more durable and reliable ways to get marker hits if that's what you're after.

 DarknessEternal wrote:
Don't field them at all. There's more durable and reliable ways to get marker hits if that's what you're after.

Such as...

Pathfinders are best naked if you just want markerlights. The 'ui upgrade is okay, but anything that will force a morale check is liable to kill them off. The bonding knives will only come into play when the squad is down to a single model(in a squad of 5), which is not worth saving. Neither rifle is great on BS3, but if you had to take any the ion is slightly better.

Lshowell wrote:
smash every Tau figure you have. Stomp it in the ground. Burn it, and chant to Chaos as they burn.

KILL MAIM BURN DESTROY. Blood for the blood god SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE. Seriously though he is right about taking them stock.

 Dr. Serling wrote:
Pathfinders are best naked if you just want markerlights. The 'ui upgrade is okay, but anything that will force a morale check is liable to kill them off. The bonding knives will only come into play when the squad is down to a single model(in a squad of 5), which is not worth saving. Neither rifle is great on BS3, but if you had to take any the ion is slightly better.

Lshowell wrote:
smash every Tau figure you have. Stomp it in the ground. Burn it, and chant to Chaos as they burn.

KILL MAIM BURN DESTROY. Blood for the blood god SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE. Seriously though he is right about taking them stock.

Exalted!

 40k Wargamer wrote:

 DarknessEternal wrote:
Don't field them at all. There's more durable and reliable ways to get marker hits if that's what you're after.

Such as...

Sniper drone teams and marker drones.

Markerlights are literally all their good for. If gw ever took them away from pathfinders they would become more useless than dark eldar mandrakes. For their points their dreadful infantry that can't decide if their light objective campers of flanking skirmishers. Their horribly out of place in ever category. They solely have a job because markerlights exist.

 DarknessEternal wrote:

 40k Wargamer wrote:

 DarknessEternal wrote:
Don't field them at all. There's more durable and reliable ways to get marker hits if that's what you're after.

Such as...

Sniper drone teams and marker drones.

Still bloody expensive though :/

But if you have to take Pathfinders straight stock is best. but prepare to have them targeted REALLY quickly.

In all fairness, any markerlight unit in a tau army should be the first thing targeted.. Take them out and their shooting at an average BS just like most everyone else.

Under the assumption that your Markerlights will be the first things targeted, you can make the Pathfinder unit considerably more durable by adding 4 drones.

4 Pathfinders, Shas'ui upgrade, 2 Marker/Shield/Gun Drones, Recon Drone, Grav-inhibitor Drone.

An equal number of drones and Pathfinders gives the unit majority T4 with 5 ablative wounds (Recon Drone has 2 wounds). Can alternately replace the Recon Drone with a Pulse Accelerator Drone and save 13 points. Won't withstand a tremendous amount of firepower, but does increase the survivability of the unit for a price (roughly 150% more expensive than a unit of 4 stock Pathfinders).

Considering the range Pathfinders will sit at, there's no difference between T4 and T3 versus the guns that will actually train on them.

If you're committed to taking Pathfinders at all, naked is best. Don't spend any points on them except more of them.

As stated multiple times, naked pathfinders are the only viability they have. They simply die way too easily to be worth bringing the fancy guns, which are actually kinda strong in their own right. But this plays into my general idea of this game: dont paint a unit a bullseye on their forehead more than you already have.

People hear Pathfinder and they immediately go "Target located. Destroy now" because of markerlights and their easily removed footprint that causes a LOT of problems if left alone. Nothing you do to this unit will make them more survivable without a fish, but the fish makes them not do anything. Howevery anything you buy will make them an even more expensive unit thats already a primary target. Why make the biggest, most obvious target in your army take up more points in your list, when you KNOW you might get to shoot them once maybe twice a game?

I really wish the Firewarrior Shas'ui could take the Ion Rifle or the Rail Rifle because then those two guns would actually get used. Kinda long the same lines of old ork codex Kustom Mega Blasta - technically a very good gun, but not on the units its available to.

As said before, naked is the best way to go for Pathfinders.

That being said, Marker Drones are a much better source of ML. Take 6 in a squad of Broadsides w/ Target Locks and a Buff Commander and you're good to go. Sky Rays are also a great source, since they have Skyfire.

Actually my favorite way of marker support is in a missilepod crisis team and buffmander combo. Outside a couple wonky units (damn daemon manta-ray thingies and their randomly allocated "vector strikes" being the big one that comes to mind) the buffmander tanks like hell for this unit while giving the 12 missilepod shots tankhunter, reroll hits, and ignores cover while making the 6-8 marker drones BS5 with rerolls to hit. I bring 6 markerlights in this combo and usually use it on either a riptide or a broadside unit, basically saying whatever i lit up is dead now lol.
Tad pricy, yes, but got to remember its technically two units crammed into one. Targetlocks on the crisis suits and they almost always annihilate something the same turn my drones marked up another. Theyve even reliably wounded Riptides thanks to Monster Hunter allowing me to get 8+ wounds per turn, and thats not a favorable shot since 2+ armor.