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I just purchased 10 warp spiders and am looking at grabbing some striking scorpions as well. How do they preform in 8th? any specific stats or special rules I should be aware of? are dragons, hawks, and reapers good as well?

Little early not everyones got a game in yet mate give it a week and people will have a firm answer.

Dire Avengers have been neutered by a typo (that will hopefully be fixed in the day-1 FAQ).

Shining Spears are pretty awesome; I don't have direct experience with them but they look great on paper and after watching a laser-lance Skyrunner Autarch murder things I've got high hopes.

Banshees are interesting; they cost a lot and they do explode when guns are pointed at them, but with charge-out-of-Wave-Serpents and more assault armies they aren't going to need to be as exposed to fire, and their threat range (about 15" average on the ground, 18" from where you left your transport with the disembark bump) lets them get stuck in easily. S3 is still a problem but they might be able to get their Terminator-killer crown from 4th back.

Striking Scorpions haven't really changed; their mode of deployment is a bit different, though. Don't let people try and sell you on plonking them exactly 9" from the enemy and gambling on the first-turn charge, it isn't reliable and Scorpions are too expensive to burn that way. Land them somewhere in cover 12" or so from some sort of gunline unit that the other guy doesn't want to be moving, and the 2+ armour save from sitting in cover will force them to commit way too many guns to killing them while the rest of your army moves up, and all it takes is one or two to start disrupting/buggering up a gunline.

Fire Dragons are still really expensive, but they do have 16" threat (move + run + 6") on melta range going for them, and massed meltaguns are now sending monstrous creatures running for cover as well as vehicles, so you are looking at a more flexible unit than you used to. They still probably need a Wave Serpent to get anything done.

Swooping Hawks are kind of cheap but they don't really do much. They're incredibly fast and have decent range so you can fling out four shots a model at a target almost 30" away from where you started the turn, but all those shots are S3 with no AP. The grenade pack is weird and unreliable; you have a very slight chance of handing a few extra wounds to big units, so long as you start close enough to them that they've probably already killed you. Skyleap is an unreliable gimmick that could turn objective-based games around, but if you're banking on it you've probably already lost. Though more predictable random game length means it could be relevant.

Warp Spiders are one of the better ones; you've got an average move of 21" so they're faster than anything not on a jetbike, and two S6 shots/model with new Rending (at 22pts/model, no less) gives them a healthy amount of firepower. 12" range means you do need to be more careful about getting charged, but Flickerjump (rewritten as "enemies take a -1 to hit for this Shooting phase, but you have a 1/36 chance of a Warp Spider disappearing") makes them pretty resistant to shooting.

Dark Reapers are kind of terrifying. They're more expensive than their 7e incarnation (38pts/model, rather than 33pts/model with Starshot missiles), but they've got a fixed 3+ to hit regardless of modifiers, good range, and huge amounts of damage coming out of 2-damage Starswarm missiles and 3-damage Starshot missiles. They're not great at engaging hordes (though the Tempest Launcher's 2d6 barrage shots at 36" range helps out a lot there), but they've turned from a narrow-focus anti-heavy-infantry unit to a whirlwind of destruction that anything with more than one wound per model will soon learn to fear.

TL;DR: Shining Spears and Dark Reapers look like the real winners, Warp Spiders, Howling Banshees, and Striking Scorpions look like they're in good shape, Swooping Hawks and Fire Dragons are sitting in the "...maybe?" box, Dire Avengers are poo and need a normal points cost instead of a silly one.

(Disclaimer: I haven't used very many Aspects in live games; this is based on a mixture of theorizing and having seen units that do similar things (e.g. comments on Striking Scorpions echo seeing what Assault Marines did under similar circumstances).)

Thank you for a very informative post. that is exactly what I was looking for. Exalted.

Just to clarify, the 7ppm Avenger catapult is not the typo.
The Autarch can also take that as wargear, so it needs a points value for the Autarch to take in addition to his other stuff.
The typo is DAs having such a high base cost to begin with.

And before anyone mentions the Banshee Mask or Mandibalsters being free for the Autarch, note that either of those options are likely included in the Autarchs points value already. The Avenger cat is an additional option that would give the Autarch yet another weapon to shoot.

And yes, Shining Spears are finally awesome.

Dark Reapers are pretty good.

Everything else is unplaybly overcosted. Sure, some are less bad than the others, but it's not worth talking about which kind of crap smells less bad.

 DarknessEternal wrote:
Dark Reapers are pretty good.

Everything else is unplaybly overcosted. Sure, some are less bad than the others, but it's not worth talking about which kind of crap smells less bad.

*Reads this*

*Reads AnomanderRakeMade*

Who is right?

I mostly agree with AnomanderRake, but I would like to add my opinion on our aspects as well. So, here goes:
-Shining spears will be awesome. They are fast, they can fire their lances and twin shuriken catapults at the same time at different targets, they can charge flyers, fall back and still shoot... and they are decently durable.
- Banshees will need the support of a farseer (doom) to kill anything reliably, so I don't think they will be a murder machine in 8th. But, I think, with some support they will be great at stopping other combat units in their tracks. With a warlock nearby you can stack -2, and with the sunrifle (Swooping hawks exarch) -3 to hit on a unit before they charge. That means they should do some damage with almost none in return.
- I agree with everything he said about the Scorpions, but i have a question. Do they shadow strike ability work in combat?
- Fire Dragons are the same point cost as they were in 7th edition with an exarch. They are our best bet at killing big, though models, like Knights (unless you take wraiths of course). I really like the heavy flamer option on the exarch. In my experience, playing eldar aspect armies for the past few years, we struggle to do enough damage to hordes, and the flamer can help there.
- Swooping hawks: See my comment on hordes above. Also, they can be used for deployment tricks, and they will contribute on the turn they come in. I think they will be more useful then people think. They can take out artillery crews, for example. Also, doom helps.
- Warp spiders on the other hand don't look too good to me. i struggle to think of a good target, or use for them.
- Again, I agree about most of what he said about Dark reapers, although they are cheaper then 38 pts/model, and the tempest launcher will be great at engaging hordes

Mathammer wise, Swooping Hawks are actually very cheap for the amount of wounds they put out against almost any kind of infantry IIRC. Whether that will translate into results on the tabletop I don't know, but I feel like S3 has kind of a stigma about it still from being unable to hurt vehicles in previous editions and that's contributing to their lukewarm reception.

Eldar Vampire Hunter wrote:
Mathammer wise, Swooping Hawks are actually very cheap for the amount of wounds they put out against almost any kind of infantry IIRC. Whether that will translate into results on the tabletop I don't know, but I feel like S3 has kind of a stigma about it still from being unable to hurt vehicles in previous editions and that's contributing to their lukewarm reception.

On paper they look average to weak however when I took 7 of them in a game i actually was surprised at what they managed to do. They were left unchecked and killed 2 8 man tactical squads. With the 7 i had I dropped in 12 inches from a unit and fired 28 shots. Also i had Autarch drop in with them and got to reroll all to hits on 1 which meant i was generating a ton of potential wounds. First round i generated 12 wounds on the unit and he lost 6 + failed morale. Luck plays a big part but i still think they are a decent choice especially if you are looking for a multirole unit (Good mobility for capturing points and decent wound generation). Their only issue just like all Eldar is that they are paper and die fast if targeted,

Warp Spiders are good for taking on a wide variety of targets and are also reasonably durable. Their weapons are Assault 2 which synergises well with Battle Focus. Their main weakness is their short range which means they will be at risk of being assaulted by anything they do not completely kill.

The solution to this is to pair them with a CC unit of some sort. The Warp Spiders shoot at a target and then the Scorpions/Banshees/Wraithblades charge in to finish it off. Synergy and using your units in tandem has always been the key to success with Eldar as few of our units are tough/killy/flexible enough to take on all-comers by themselves (there are a few exceptions like Wraithknighhts but they are expensive).

I love Fire Dragons and you will probably need either Fire Dragons or Wraith units in 8th to deal with large targets. Fire Dragons are cheaper and you can fit more in a transport. Wraithguard are more durable hit a bit harder if you get assaulted.

Speaking of Transports, the Wave Serpent is looking very tasty in 8th edition. For around 140 points you get a unit that is faster and tougher than a Space Marine Predator and can carry 12 models. Give it a shuricannon on the chin and a twin Shuricannon turret and it can move fast and fire without penalty with need further upgrades since the Shuricannons are Assault rather than heavy. You can add a few with starcannons/brightlances and CTMs to deal with specific threats. I personally think that Mechanisesd Eldar backed up by a few fast units are going to be pretty strong in 8th edition.

Dark Reapers do look nice. I have 10 of these bad boys and they will be coming out to play. I think that a unit of these and a support weapon battery will make a nice firebase. Add an Autarch to allow them to reroll 1s and babysit them with a Wraithlord to deter people from assaulting them and you have some excellent fire support to cover the rest of your army while it advances.

Banshees really do need a Wave Serpent and probably a Farseer make their mark but they will make a mess when they hit. Scorpions are a bit tougher and can get to the enemy under their own steam.

Swooping Hawks look a little bit lightweight but I will try them out before I write them off. The LD buff for nearby units might be handy.

Shining Spears are looking better than they ever have before. I have always struggled to like them in the past but they might finally be worth taking. 4 shuricat shots plus laser lance and then charge!

Dire Avengers seem to be mysteriously overcosted. I think that they should cost around 12-13 points IMHO. They are almost as expensive as SM Vanguard Veterans which is clearly bonkers! I hope they fix their price in an FAQ. Currently if you want a cheap shooty squad to ride in a Serpent, Guardian Defenders are the better option.

beachedwalrusau wrote:
With the 7 i had I dropped in 12 inches from a unit and fired 28 shots. Also i had Autarch drop in with them and got to reroll all to hits on 1 which meant i was generating a ton of potential wounds. First round i generated 12 wounds on the unit and he lost 6 + failed morale. Luck plays a big part

Considering you should have only killed 2 Marines, Luck wasn't a big part, it was the only part.

This would be like saying the Lottery is a good investment because you played once and won.