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Now that Codex: Eldar has come out, I thought I would post my thoughts on the changes that each aspect should get to make them more desireable. If I say no change, than I think the Aspect is fine as is. Thanks for reading:

 

Howling Banshees

The whole purpose of this Aspect is to engage low model count, high Armor save models in close combat and be able to cause at least their point cost in casulties. The reason they are not good at doing this is because of their streagth. STR 3 might make them the best Gaurd killer ever but that doesn't beft their role. Here is what I propose, give them an Exarch ability that confers Furious Charge on the unit. Also, make Warshout have a Leadership modifier of -2. Now the Banshees cause more casualties on MEQ's with a better chance of hitting better.

Scorpions

The role this Aspect should full-fill is killing Orks and Tyranids in close combat. As they stand now, they are the Eldar's equivalent of a BP/CCW Tactical squad with a Powerfist and Infiltrate, no I take that back they are worst than that. So looking at them their combat style is being durable enough to take hits than following it up with a massive counter attack. The problem is that the opponents they are supposed to be able to face with this theory can bypass almost all their durability. So I propose a new special rule called "Scorpion Armor" essentially make them immune to Choppas and Rending in Close Combat. They can still be shot up good, they can still fall to characters and hidden powerfists, but at least, they can engage their foe, where they want to and still be effective. Also I would make their Infiltrate ability be an Always Infiltrate.

Fire Dragons

No Change

Shinning Spears

I would add an attack to each one.

Warp Spiders

No Change

Swooping Hawks

I would make their Granade Launchers a little more potent, and make the Skyleap ability work as it does now according to RAW, but give the opponent free shots like a flyer. The problem with them is that the Warp Spiders can do anything they can do better.

Dark Reapers

No Change

 

I agree that Banshees just don't work, especially when they're competing with Harlies for a slot. S4 would be good for starters, but they're still nothing on Harlies. What if every Banshee were to have an Executioner? Two attacks on the charge instead of three, but at S5. It's a 33% boost against T4 and an 11% boost against T3. However, I still wouldn't take them over Harlies - Rending is just too much better than a power weapon.

I have no problem with Scorpions. I can't imagine taking them, but that's only because Fire Dragons and Harlequins are in the same slot. Scorpions (and Banshees) as Troops would go a very long way towards making them viable. Losing the S8 fist hurt, but they still cut through light infantry faster than almost anything else out there, and they're not bad against Marines.

I also wouldn't touch the Spears, and certainly not that drastically. The problem with the Spears, as I see it, is that they benefit to a disgusting degree from synergy effects. A Farseer with Fortune virtually guarantees that the Spears will hit combat, and Mind War can take care of the power fists that are the only real threat to them once there. However, I am inclined to think that they could use a little boost.

Hawks confuse me. Unless that grenade launcher gets better against Marines or until they get a better gun, there's just no real reason to take them, and Spiders easily outshine them. I really don't know what I'd do to these guys, though your changes seem sensible. However, giving the opponent free shots doesn't seem to work when they can land really far away, given the unlimited range of the grenade pack.

I'd like to add Dire Avengers to the list, too. They got better with the update, but they're still just not worth it next to Spiders. The Serpent nerfing hurt. As well, I don't see people taking Dark Reapers, even with the better save.

My idea for fixing Aspects is somewhat simpler, though it'd require some point adjustments for currently working Aspects. It's just this: raise BS and WS to 5. Consider that the problematic CC Aspects - Banshees and Spears - are problematic simply because, while designed to kill Marines in CC, they don't do it well enough. WS5 essentially raises effectiveness against MEQs by 33% (same as Executioners for Banshees and slightly less than an extra attack for Spears or S4 for Banshees) while leaving effectiveness against T3 (which also tends to be WS3 or less) unchanged. BS5 encourages people to use Swooping Hawks for their guns instead of their grenade packs, although they could probably use S4. It increases Dire Avenger punch to more respectable levels too. It's probably too much for Fire Dragons and Warp Spiders, but Dragons at 18 and Spiders at 24/25 would put that right pretty quickly. It would also encourage Dark Reaper usage over things like Falcons, which are both valuable in themselves and because they work very well with Dragons and Harlies.

I would agree wit Gotchaye, however it still doesn't resolve the in-ability of a swooping hawk to kill a MEQ. They are supposed to be able to swoop to objectives and hold them, but I don't really see what they can hold them against. Also, I'd like to add that if this happend, and Harlies were NOT increased, then it would help to balance them (against the rest of the eldar that is).

I love the idea of skill5 aspect warriors, but don't you think it'd make skill3 guardians seem awkward?

Though I wouldn't mind putting Eldar more in line with highelves, their basic infantry matching the elites of lesser races.

Wonder why they didn't just do that anyways, skill4 guardians, skill5 for aspects, skill6 exarchs.

But then you'd get bs4 on guardian vehicles

Eh, if I had my way, we'd have Guardians at BS4 and vehicles at either BS4 (driven by Guardians) or BS5 (Guardians with targeters). It really seems a no brainer. The Eldar are supposedly all about firepower and fragility, they have incredibly advanced technology, and the crystal targeting matrix needs a new home.

Does anyone really think that Eldar vehicles make sense as they are? They're obscenely durable for their cost and have virtually no firepower, given the way AV12, Holofields, and Spirit Stones work together. A BS4/5 Falcon with something closer to the old Stones and a Holofield rejiggering in the form of a 4+ invulnerable save or somesuch would easily be worth 230+ points, if not 250. That seems about right to me, given relative tech levels. Balance-wise, it's less durable, much less durable for cost, and puts out about three times as much firepower, or twice as much for cost.  They'd still be hard to destroy, but not Monolith-hard, and they'd cost for it.  You couldn't get 165 point invincible transports that carry a Harlequin unit with every bit of the hitting power of Assault Terminators.

While we're on the subject, I'm not sure that the Eldar list can be well balanced while Farseers remain as they are. As I touched on earlier, Shining Spears are simply unbalanceable as long as they have the potential to be Fortuned. You either cost them as if they'll be Fortuned and screw over everyone who doesn't want to babysit them with a Farseer or you price them as if they won't be Fortuned and you create a monster. If you go somewhere in between, as they did, you get a bit of both. It's still not worth it to take them alone and they're still overpowered with Fortune. The Avatar also suffers from this, as do Wraithlords in cover to some extent, and Wraithguard would, if they were competitively priced at all.

They made some strides on this with the new FAQ by making it virtually impossible to Fortune Banshees and Scorpions, since they need a transport, but they failed to actually reduce the price to compensate. Scorpions with Fortune used to be quite viable, while Scorpions without it were not. Now they're just not.

Guide has a similar debilitating effect on War Walkers and anything else that's particularly shooty. Raising BS all around would go a long way towards alleviating this (Guide is worth less the higher the BS is), but it'd still be there. Doom is clearly built into the cost of Dire Avengers - there's no way they're worth what they cost without it.

The added costs can't simply be added to the price of the Farseer powers because the Farseer powers don't necessarily come with the requisite units. If Fortune cost what it ought to cost on Spears, then you'd never see Fortune except when the Eldar player also took Spears. If Guide cost what it's worth on Walkers, you'd never see Guide except with Walkers, etc.

Since GW continues to allow players a great deal of freedom in constructing their army lists, and since they have an aversion to pricing things based on what else is in the list, they really can't afford to allow synergy effects as disgusting as what Farseer powers can bring to bear. In practice, it makes a great many units underpowered except when a Farseer is present, and then they're too good.