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In another thread about Bloodthirsters strength, I had pointed it that farsight managed to defeat one literally single handedly once he acquired the dawn blade ( because the thirster tore his arm off) and they had brought up farsight's swords ability to grant him the natural lifespan of the enemies he defeats.

Now, let's keep in mind the bloodthirster probably didn't die, and just retreated back to the warp, but let's looks at farsight's average enemies....

Orks,
SpaceMarines
Annnnd Tyranids...


We already know he's lived 200 odd years, that's 160 more than the average Tau. We already know from the fluff that he's clearly more skilled than his rules state.


But how long do any of these things love naturally? Is it possible that with only just a few kills from his sword that he becomes virtually immortal?

Copy and paste the original idea on this

 Deadshot wrote:

NauticalKendall wrote:

pm713 wrote:

 Orblivion wrote:

 herpguy wrote:
In game rules have almost nothing to do with the background.

All the rules do is say that A is stronger than B.


Anyways, going by the fluff, there is no greater warrior in the galaxy than a Bloodthirster, and nothing is a match for one.

Except a few of the primarchs.

And Librarians.

In the Farsight Enclaves Supplement, Farsigt defeats one with one arm. I say one arm because the bloodthirster ripped his her one off... Keep in mind a crisis suit is linked to their nervous system, so he felt that arm being torn away... Food for thought

I'm interested in this. The Dawn Blade apparently adds the remaining life of the slain (the time it would have lived if it had NOT been slain by thw Dawn Blade) to the wielder's lifespan. As Daemons are literally immortal except in truly exceptional circumstances where True Death is afflicted, does this mean by slaying a Daemon that Farsight

A) Becomes immortal.
B) Gains time = to the time the Daemon would have remained manifest
C) Time = to the time the Daemon's mortal body would have until "slain"
D) Feth all because Chaos.

Kill a few eldar he will be good. They can live for thousands of years. Though not know of tau ever coming into conflict with them

jhe90 wrote:
Kill a few eldar he will be good. They can live for thousands of years. Though not know of tau ever coming into conflict with them

I think some Eldar attacked them as revenge for the Tau attacking some Exodites which was revenge for an Eldar raid on the Tau which was actually the Dark Eldar.

I would say that much like the average primarch, he's functionally immortal unless someone kills him with the caveat that he has to occassionally go into battle.

I've played a Farsight list since long before the new codex or Farsight Enclaves were a thing. I like the concept of this legendary, apparently immortal frontier sheriff who has no time for the govenment back home trying to bring him to heel.

He has the capacity in the long run to outstrip the tactical knowledge and technological capability of any other being in the galaxy. He's already building and improving on a Tau version of Guilliman's Codex Astartes (the Mirrorcodex).

The only way he ever dies is if he eventually 'retires' to direct battle from afar and never gets his hands dirty again. At that point, the blade would probably pass to a subordinate and the cycle would begin anew.

pm713 wrote:

jhe90 wrote:
Kill a few eldar he will be good. They can live for thousands of years. Though not know of tau ever coming into conflict with them

I think some Eldar attacked them as revenge for the Tau attacking some Exodites which was revenge for an Eldar raid on the Tau which was actually the Dark Eldar.

That was against the "Kel'shan" sept. I don't quite know the exact time line, but if any commander participated in that, it would have been O'R'alai.

With farsight having time on his side, do you think that he could overtime achieve primarch level skill?

Given enough time, in terms of tactics, yes he can probably match their brilliance for warfare. However blood thirster slaying or not he's still hampered by his body. His sword might be worthy to go toe to toe with a Primarch's weapon but a crisis suit won't.

To Spartan089's point, there is a limit to Tau physiology. Farsight by himself will never be able to go toe to toe with even an Ogryn, much less a Primarch.

However...

Several thousand years prior, the Tau weren't an empire and didn't have more than a hunter/gatherer tech level. Now they have Crisis Suits. They are constantly improving upon their tech.

So, I think you have two factors here.

1. Farsight's Personal Stats
Weapon Skill and Ballistic Skill seem to be a representation of personal skill in combat and should be able to train up to at least WS/BS 8 over the course of time for a near immortal Tau Commander who values marital prowess. This is really his ability to hit and I'm thinking that someone with a few thousand years of training under his belt will rarely miss unless he's fighting similarly trained enemies.
I'm going to say Strength and Toughness will never really improve from Tau standard, but this is taken care of in wargear.
Presumably, Initiative should also improve as the mind impulse connection to a battlesuit is improved and streamlined. Also, better tech would have AI assisted speed enhancers.
His Leadership is already 10, but I could see something like Calgar's ability to choose to pass of fail coming into play over time.

2. Farsight's Wargear.
Assuming Farsight is willing to constantly upgrade his Crisis Suit or is willing to pilot new marks of battlesuit, the sky is really the limit here.
We already have 2+ armour saves with a potential 3++ from Riptide shield tech. It wouldn't be a stretch to add in FnP from a Signature System and maybe It Will Not Die from some sort of repair based Signature System.
Strength and Toughness should be able to be technically enhanced. We really only need Toughness 6 to give him a poor man's Eternal Warrior.
Number of Wounds could be improved using something like a swarm of micro drones that are programmed to take hits for the bearer... literal ablative wounds.
Basically, imagine Farsight loaded up with all the Signature Systems from both the Codex:Tau Empire and Supplement:Farsight Enclaves. Now wishlist a few Tau relics for future Codex updates and Supplements. From a game standpoint, he would be a points heavy Lord of War most likely, but I think from a fluff perspective having Farsight eventually going head to head versus something like a Daemon Primarch is a distinct possibility. It might take a couple thousand years to get to that point, but it could happen. You really have a lot of potential when you're highly motivated (protect the Empire!), have tons of time on your hands (near immortal due to his blade) and have an entire organization supplying you with and improving upon your tech.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I want to point out that the Dawn Blade is the key. Without it, he'll never achieve anything more than any other high end Commander. With it, but without the Tau Empire at his back he would survive but never really improve. It's a combination of tech improvement over time combined with tactical and personal skills acquired through battle and study/training that is the key.

NauticalKendall wrote:With farsight having time on his side, do you think that he could overtime achieve primarch level skill?

Spartan089 wrote:Given enough time, in terms of tactics, yes he can probably match their brilliance for warfare.

I don't see a being of mere flesh and blood proving superior to Warp-empowered demi-Gods in many areas. Though it'd depend on the Primarch; I can't see Farsight being a better general than Gulliman, for instance, but Angron's easy to outsmart.

Seeing as how Farsight fights often in combat I would also view it as inevitable that he dies in combat at some point.

 Kriswall wrote:

He has the capacity in the long run to outstrip the tactical knowledge and technological capability of any other being in the galaxy. He's already building and improving on a Tau version of Guilliman's Codex Astartes (the Mirrorcodex).

The Necrons, in particular Imotekh, should be able to be retain his position as premier general. Plus I don't see the Tau as being able to match Necron technology. If nothing else breaching the Webway required the aid of a C'tan.

Kriswall wrote:2. Farsight's Wargear.
Assuming Farsight is willing to constantly upgrade his Crisis Suit or is willing to pilot new marks of battlesuit, the sky is really the limit here.

I don't see any reason why any technological advance Farsight gains would not be shared to a large extent by the rest of the Tau.

And again there's no real reason he would prove able to surpass Imotekh (except perhaps against the Orks) or other Necrons Lords focussed on warfare in either technology or strategy.

 Kriswall wrote:
marital prowess

That's unique!