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Eldar as a species are dying out, meaning they put serious value on the lives of their individual people. Their warriors also fight in extremely hazardous ways, often up close and with light armour. Given the extremely advanced technology of their species, why have they not replaced their footsoldiers with expendable robotics? I am particularly thinking the highest-risk jobs like Howling Banshees and Fire Dragons, here. It makes sense to do so, right? Wraith constructs are also ideal candidates for this.

Because their technology doesn't work the same way - all Eldar-related tech is psychically channeled. They basically use wraithbone for everything they do - this requires an Eldar (or an Eldar soul) to work. So they already do use robotics - wraithlords and wraithguard are their "robots," as well as their Craftworlds.

You'd think their society would be advanced enough to produce robotics that do not require a soul to function.

I always figured that the Eldar and the Imperium are similar in a lot of ways. Their technology never advances (Or at least does so at a snail's pace) and they are staunch traditionalists. To answer your question, the reason that Eldar don't employ expendable battle robots is because they don't have that tech and their ancestors didn't fight using robots.

The reason the Eldar don't use expendable battle robots is because their ancestral enemy is the Necrons.

It's like expecting the Colonials in Battlestar Galactica to start using robot infantry after everything they went through with the Cylons.

So? Necrons are not robots either. They are metallic life, but still life.

I'm pretty sure using robots is part of what lead to the Fall. With the robots they don't need to fight themselves.

 Ashiraya wrote:
So? Necrons are not robots either. They are metallic life, but still life.

The associations are there though, and they do use horrific robot weapons such as Scarabs and Wraiths.

pm713 wrote:
I'm pretty sure using robots is part of what lead to the Fall. With the robots they don't need to fight themselves.

Well, the easy life led to boredom. And boredom led to corruption. So, in a sense, yeah. But the exact nature of the Eldar Empire's labor saving technologies are a mystery.



In any case, based on the end results, the Eldar's take on labor saving tech was far more sinister than what Humanity's galactic federation went through in their last days. The Empire's technology allowed for the laziness and boredom that let corruption seep into their culture over time. The Human federation's labor saving machines (possibly through corruption) decided they wanted to declare outright war on Mankind.

I'm pretty sure it's the same reason the Imperium doesn't use artifically intelligent machines.

Perhaps for the Eldar, just as for Man, the precise reason is lost to tradition, but it's a simple one:

Any machine with a will but with no soul has absolutely no defense whatsoever against the corrupting influence of Chaos.

 Ashiraya wrote:
You'd think their society would be advanced enough to produce robotics that do not require a soul to function.

The old fluff states that the Eldar used robots for everything when they were at the height of their power. The automated labor (and warmaking) lead to an idle populace that sought out more and more extreme forms of entertaining to occupy themselves. Something, something, Slaanesh is born. Moral of the story: don't use robots, kids.

AIs seem universally dangerous in the 40k setting. Watch out Tau, the Drone uprising is neigh

The only Eldar faction I could see as having both the tech-level (only Exodites don't fit into this category really) and the desire to use fully automated troops would be Corsairs, to be honest. All the others with the kit to do it either don't need them or have very valid reasons for not wanting them.

 Ashiraya wrote:
You'd think their society would be advanced enough to produce robotics that do not require a soul to function.

Eldar never advanced in such a way. Eldar technology is based entirely on magi-tech involving souls. I doubt they could even replicate a Windows Computer, their tech base is simply completely different as it went down an alien path.

The question is: Why don't Dark Eldar use advanced robotics?

Craftworld Eldar do not use robotics because it made them lazy and baby Slaanesh was born. Imperium doesn't use robotics because they are afraid another Men of Iron incident may happen.
But Dark Eldar do not have these fears. They are not afraid of robot uprisal or themselves getting lazy.

They are perfectly capable of making extremely effective and intelligent robotics to do the dirty work. Their technology is purely based on material universe, not psychic energy.

Well, for one Dark Eldar warriors are naturally more expandable since they are mostly vat-grown. They also have Heamonculus 'flesh robots'.

They probably just consider robots boring.

 Wyzilla wrote:

 Ashiraya wrote:
You'd think their society would be advanced enough to produce robotics that do not require a soul to function.

Eldar never advanced in such a way. Eldar technology is based entirely on magi-tech involving souls. I doubt they could even replicate a Windows Computer, their tech base is simply completely different as it went down an alien path.

By "souls", I assume you mean psychic energy?

I think putting actual soulstones into wraith-constructs didn't come about until after the Fall. If I'm not mistaken, even soulstones didn't come about until after the Fall, as a method developed to counteract Slaanesh's predilection for nomming the souls of every Eldar that died.

So.. pre-Fall Eldar "robots" used psychic energy?

Using soul less robots with any kind of true AI is extremely dangerous in 40k
Eldar did have robots way back in the game. Their name just slowly evolved into wraith constructs.


http://www.solegends.com/citrt/rt403eldarwarbot.htm

Cyke wrote:

 Wyzilla wrote:

 Ashiraya wrote:
You'd think their society would be advanced enough to produce robotics that do not require a soul to function.

Eldar never advanced in such a way. Eldar technology is based entirely on magi-tech involving souls. I doubt they could even replicate a Windows Computer, their tech base is simply completely different as it went down an alien path.

By "souls", I assume you mean psychic energy?

I think putting actual soulstones into wraith-constructs didn't come about until after the Fall. If I'm not mistaken, even soulstones didn't come about until after the Fall, as a method developed to counteract Slaanesh's predilection for nomming the souls of every Eldar that died.

So.. pre-Fall Eldar "robots" used psychic energy?

Supposedly, that was the rationale behind Spirit Stones. Dunno about Wraiths. However, in the novel Angel Exterminatus, there were plenty of stones and constructs (not to mention a couple of Revenants) on the Crone World of Iydris, in the Eye of Terror. If they weren't there before/during the Fall, then the Craftworlders put them there since then.

Other people have mentioned and I agree. It seems to be more of a cultural thing. The fall was a result of eldar lives being too easy and the trick is that craftworld eldar already hated that life before it lead to the down fall of their race. That just kind of confirmed what already thought.

(I kind of wish they would take the idea of a technology taboo and just run with it, but the eldar still use a lot of techy bits in their armies.)

Broly wrote:
The question is: Why don't Dark Eldar use advanced robotics?

Craftworld Eldar do not use robotics because it made them lazy and baby Slaanesh was born. Imperium doesn't use robotics because they are afraid another Men of Iron incident may happen.
But Dark Eldar do not have these fears. They are not afraid of robot uprisal or themselves getting lazy.

They are perfectly capable of making extremely effective and intelligent robotics to do the dirty work. Their technology is purely based on material universe, not psychic energy.

Because Dark Eldar literally gain sustenance from doing the dirty work. It's better for them to do it themselves to gain maximum sustenance from causing misery than leaving everything to soulless, emotionless robots.

They're useful as a weapon to wipe out internal enemies or a trump card, like Vect's Castigators, but if used on raids etc they'd probably make things worse.