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According to the fluff Eldar society is mostly automated and the Eldar themselves do not have to work in order to keep things running. If this is the case and Eldar are already a "dying" species wouldn't it make more sense for them to use their technological prowess and send robots to do all the warring for them? Are they too proud and honorable to not fight?

It probably goes back to the fact that the last time they got that lazy, a new warp god appeared.

There's also the point of what would they do with warriors then?

 Brennonjw wrote:
It probably goes back to the fact that the last time they got that lazy, a new warp god appeared.

You know, just maybe.

And remember that Eldar technology is not "robotic" ala AIs and drones. It is psychically-based. Their wraith constructs and other automatons are the result of psychic energy and spirit stones. Those require either a spirit stone (which is the soul of a dead warrior, and not something they are keen on doing) or requires someone like a Bonesinger to keep it running, again, not something you want to just throw out in the battlefield.

The Eldar fluff has many holes and is quite self contradicting. Why don't craftworlds use vat born to boost their numbers? Why don't they regenerate people like the Dark Kin? If they have such magical technology, why don't they use it to bolster their numbers? Lots of questions

Lore-wise the Eldar have very few excuses to not be the top power in the galaxy at this point. They've had millenia to come up with the best arms/armor ever made, but somehow humans took a fraction of that time to make superior and hardier goods. I like to think the bigger reason for them not mass producing automatons and better weapons is resource scarcity. Most of them live on floating craftworlds now, where I can't imagine it's easy to come by new raw materials.

It seems like they spend most of their time avoiding contact in deep space, not really settling anywhere. When they do, they end up riding raptors and stuff somehow (exodites).

Like Curran mentioned, only craftworlds like Iyanden are super up on the Wraith construct jazz. A lot of other craftowlrds look down on the practice.

 Brennonjw wrote:
It probably goes back to the fact that the last time they got that lazy, a new warp god appeared.

This sums it up nicely. Allowing their Wraith constructs to fight for them whilst they found other more pleasurable activity’s to entertain them would be a very bad thing for everyone not just the Eldar. It would also defeat the very purpose of the Path system. The Eldar experience life on a completely different level to humans physically, mentally and spiritually everything is turned up to 11, so it really is a bad thing for them to bottle up their negative emotions. The Path of the Warrior is a way for the Eldar to face and confront their darker more dangerous desires in a focused and controlled manner that will eventually provide them through hardship, pain and some very deep soul-searching a way to master their more bloodthirsty natures. Plus it’s not like they have a choice, when Kaela Mensha Khaine calls the Eldar too war there is no way for them to ignore his summons no matter how hard they try.

The Eldar fluff has many holes and is quite self contradicting. Why don't craftworlds use vat born to boost their numbers? Why don't they regenerate people like the Dark Kin? If they have such magical technology, why don't they use it to bolster their numbers? Lots of questions

“ASURMEN: HAND OF ASURYAN” sheds some light on this. Vat born Eldar where being produced long before the Fall. They were used by the Eldar to Prolong their already millennia long lives, some even dreamed of outliving stars. The gift of life that had once been something sacred was now a mere plaything to the Eldar and as they continued to be reborn or regenerate they begain to view themselves as divine, eventually turning their backs on the gods of old. To the modern Craftworld Eldar the process represents everything that went wrong with the Eldar Empire. It is a reminder of the terrible hubris and arrogance of their ancestors that believed themselves the equal of Gods. The Craftworlder’s are apprehensive if not downright terrified about what the ramifications would be if they allowed themselves to do the same. Would they be strong enough to avoid the same fate as those that came before them or would they be taking the first steps down a very dark path.

Basically the Craftworlders think a lot about what they SHOULD do rather than what they CAN do?

 Silverthorne wrote:
The Eldar fluff has many holes and is quite self contradicting. Why don't craftworlds use vat born to boost their numbers? Why don't they regenerate people like the Dark Kin? If they have such magical technology, why don't they use it to bolster their numbers? Lots of questions

And one answer: Depression.

Craftworld Eldar, as a faction, are clinically depressed. They're on the edge of being outright suicidal. They don't do any of those things because they think not only are they doomed, but that they deserve to be doomed.

Dark Eldar never stop to think long enough to realize the terrible situation they're in (they know they're in it, which is why they don't stop).

Exodites are past depressed, they've actually given up completely and are just waiting to die while going through the motions of life.

Maybe they can get over the shock of their Fall eventually, but who knows. Remember the time scale here. The Eldar could do whatever they wanted whenever they wanted for 65 million years. Then a mere ten thousand years ago, nearly their entire way of life was wiped out.

If 6.5 billion humans were wiped out on Earth 2 days ago. You can bet there'd be a lot of psychological hang ups on the survivors.

 Silverthorne wrote:
The Eldar fluff has many holes and is quite self contradicting. Why don't craftworlds use vat born to boost their numbers? Why don't they regenerate people like the Dark Kin? If they have such magical technology, why don't they use it to bolster their numbers? Lots of questions

Didn't there used to be something about the lack of reincarnating eldar souls being a problem? I think I remmeber reading that because so many eldar souls were eaten, that there were very few to reincarnate into new eldar or something.

It seems like they spend most of their time avoiding contact in deep space, not really settling anywhere. When they do, they end up riding raptors and stuff somehow (exodites).

Exodites are a seperate faction - they left the eldar homeworlds before the fall and whilst they have polite contact with the craftworlders, they are no more craftworlders than dark eldar or corsairs. They tend to ride megasaurs because (a) they settled on the maiden worlds which the eldar had seeded with megafauna for no particular reason other than kaiju are cool and (b) they deliberately didn't take much technology with them (as opposed to the craftworlders, who have only what technology they had time to pack). They're essentially the Amish with pet godzillas.

The closest faction to the original 'eldar empire' technology level is the Haemonculus covens and/or Aesdrubael Vect. The former because they retain most of the super-science-magic (but lack the resources to enact it on that scale) and the latter because whilst he may not understand how they work, he has a massive, massive toy cupboard of valuable collectables). You'll note Vect is the one who provided the Fireheart superweapon in Warzone Valedor.

Basically the Craftworlders think a lot about what they SHOULD do rather than what they CAN do?

Very much true. You may not agree (especially if you're not eldar!) with their conclusions but one thing farseers and autarchs rarely do is act rashly. Except Biel-Tann, but they're warmongering specist nutters just looking for an excuse for a war, so....yeah.

The whole 'path of the warrior' thing is essentially using the battlefield experience as a psychotherapy tool to deal with repressed anger. As noted, taking the man (or eldar) out of the battlefield loop would invalidate the point of that.

Brother-Redemptor wrote:

 Brennonjw wrote:
It probably goes back to the fact that the last time they got that lazy, a new warp god appeared.

This sums it up nicely. Allowing their Wraith constructs to fight for them whilst they found other more pleasurable activity’s to entertain them would be a very bad thing for everyone not just the Eldar. It would also defeat the very purpose of the Path system. The Eldar experience life on a completely different level to humans physically, mentally and spiritually everything is turned up to 11, so it really is a bad thing for them to bottle up their negative emotions. The Path of the Warrior is a way for the Eldar to face and confront their darker more dangerous desires in a focused and controlled manner that will eventually provide them through hardship, pain and some very deep soul-searching a way to master their more bloodthirsty natures. Plus it’s not like they have a choice, when Kaela Mensha Khaine calls the Eldar too war there is no way for them to ignore his summons no matter how hard they try.

The Eldar fluff has many holes and is quite self contradicting. Why don't craftworlds use vat born to boost their numbers? Why don't they regenerate people like the Dark Kin? If they have such magical technology, why don't they use it to bolster their numbers? Lots of questions

“ASURMEN: HAND OF ASURYAN” sheds some light on this. Vat born Eldar where being produced long before the Fall. They were used by the Eldar to Prolong their already millennia long lives, some even dreamed of outliving stars. The gift of life that had once been something sacred was now a mere plaything to the Eldar and as they continued to be reborn or regenerate they begain to view themselves as divine, eventually turning their backs on the gods of old. To the modern Craftworld Eldar the process represents everything that went wrong with the Eldar Empire. It is a reminder of the terrible hubris and arrogance of their ancestors that believed themselves the equal of Gods. The Craftworlder’s are apprehensive if not downright terrified about what the ramifications would be if they allowed themselves to do the same. Would they be strong enough to avoid the same fate as those that came before them or would they be taking the first steps down a very dark path.

The part where Vat born Eldar are used to rebirth or regenerate dying Eldars reminds me of Jupiter Rising. In this movie, Milla Kunis discovers that earth is actually a farm where they cultivate humans and extract the essence of life out of people to create a real fountain of youth serum. This stuff is wolverine's healing x factor in a bottle. These people live for many thousands of years in perpetual youth.

CWE also don't use vat grown because they don't have an infinite number of soul stones. They have to go out and collect them from the crone worlds.

If they grew a bunch of eldar with out being able to provide soul stones to them they would doom them to slaneesh when they died. DE are fine with that CWE not so much.

Indeed. The Dark Eldar's plan is, essentially, "well, I just won't die, then" and if asked about the thousands of lower-caste eldar vat-born who get used as cannon fodder, is likely to say "well of course, but who the hell cares about them?"

Trystis wrote:
CWE also don't use vat grown because they don't have an infinite number of soul stones. They have to go out and collect them from the crone worlds.

If they grew a bunch of eldar with out being able to provide soul stones to them they would doom them to slaneesh when they died. DE are fine with that CWE not so much.

That is the most important reason right there.
The number of soulstones sets a hard cap on the maximum size of the Eldar population. The Craftworld Eldar, unlike their Commorrite kin, are not willing to sacrifice Eldar souls for cannon fodder.

The reason why the Eldar do not send robots to fight for them is similarly simple. It would go against the Craftworld Eldar culture of the Paths, not to mention that Eldar constructs are powered by the souls of dead Eldar, which essentially makes it a form of necromancy. Not something the Eldar like to do. Eldar use constructs only as a desperate measure.

can someone post the picture of the 4 eldar paths refusing to do poop duty? then the rangers find a whole bunch of spirit stones. (eldar poop spirit stones)