[ TAU UNITS BY TIER ]
R = Requisition, P = Power, s = Seconds (seconds listed a second time are for leader units)
Squad sizes are listed as initial squad total + reinforcements total + leader total.
Tier 1 Units
Tau Commander
Cost: 250R, 55P
Reinforce: N/A
Squad Size: 1
Health/Morale: 1000/700
Damage: 100-120, 100-120
Abilities: Snare Trap, Target Aquired, Jump Jets
Upgrades: Flamer, Missile Pods, Fusion Blaster, Plasma Rifle
The Tau Commander is a great new addition to the game - certainly one of the more powerful command units when microed well. He dishes out a constant stream of punishing damage, and his abilities are quite useful. His snare is exceedingly useful, in fact - the effect is something around an 80% reduction in movement speed, if not more. This is great for finishing off enemy commanders which are trying to escape, preventing melee units from reaching your Fire Warriors early on (very important), and more. The snares cost 30 power to deploy, so early on you'll want to conserve them, but later you'll find they are too valuable to pass up. Target Aquired itself is a powerful ability when combined with good micro - it gives a nice initial damage boost in a fight against another hero early on, which can make the difference between winning and losing. Or, in some cases, it can be used as a finisher if someone decided to stay until the last minute - fire it off and that will be the end of that!
His versatility and potency only improve in the second tier, and boy do they improve. Right in time for vehicles, you are able to add both Missile Pods and a Fusion Blaster, both of which do great damage to vehicles and buildings, with Missile Pods having great, constant disruption of enemy infantry units. Immediately after the Fusion Blaster, you're able to get the juicy Plasma Rifle, which seems to be the ultimate ranged weapon, able to cut through infantry in mere nanoseconds, with vehicles and buildings not faring much better. Not only that, but it has immense range, out to the very edge of the screen. A truely powerful combination.
All of this is being utilized at once, with the mobility of a jump-jet commander. A true winner in every stage of the game - so long as you use him less like a hammer and more like a scalpel!
Tip: When facing the Necrons, upon slaying their Necron Lord, place a Snare Trap on his corpse to snare him when he gets up, allowing you to kill him again. And again, and again, and again, if you're lucky. Thanks to Shinova for this cunning suggestion!
XV15 Stealth Team
Cost: 85R
Reinforce: 85R, 12s, 30s
Squad Size: 1+2+1
Health/Morale: 250/300
Damage: 4, 5-8
Abilities: Jump Jets, EMP Grenade
Upgrades: Fusion Blaster, XV25 Leader, Jet Packs, Stealth Burst Cannon Enhancements Target Lock, Advanced Pulse Rifle, Targeting Optics
Great unit for it's initial purpose, which is point capping, and point harassing. They can fire while invisible, but that certainly doesn't mean it's a wise idea. Their damage is terrible, and while they can kill heretics and other weak builders, or at least harass them - you do not want to be fooled into thinking these are an effective fighting force early in the game - that comes later, and in a very specific fashion. Feel free to research jump jets to make them even more mobile and effective at harassing, but keep them moving, keep them harassing, and keep them away from detector units. Early on, the only things that will reveal your Stealthsuits are Necron builders and the Imperial Guard's Scanner, but they are fortunately unarmed, and Necrons are very slow, meaning you'll have plenty of time to move before reinforcements arrive to stop your harass. Be mindful of Imperial Guardsmen, however, as they can put a hurt on your Stealthsuits if their massive numbers catch him in the midst of capping a valuable point! Also keep in mind that you are revealed while decapping, so if you're going to harass near or in the enemy base, decap and move without delay. This is why jump jets help, allowing you to jump in, decap, and jump out again with haste.
Make sure to conserve your Stealthsuit teams into Tier 2, avoiding their unecessary demise. In the mid to later tiers, you'll find that they are suprisingly effective at taking out enemy vehicles and buildings with their Fusion Blaster upgrades. For maximum effectiveness, always upgrade them first with their leader, who comes equipped with his own Fusion Blaster, as well as the ability to throw vehicle-jamming EMP grenades. After that, reinforce and upgrade them with additional Fusion Blasters on a 1:1 basis until the squads are full, and go hunting! Remember to avoid detector units, and you'll end up a real thorn in your foe's ass.
Vespid Stingwings
Cost: 300R, 50P
Reinforce: 50R, 10P, 12s, 30s
Squad Size: 5+1
Health/Morale: /300
Damage: 28-36, 22-25
Abilities: Sonic Pulse, Shred, Jump
Upgrades: Elder Strain Leader
Another potent unit, making for the perfect base-rusher. Not only are they speedy in movement, but speedy in production - instant, in fact. They have zero build time, so make use of it aggressively or defensively as the situation calls for it. Offensively, their Shred ability can make mincemeat of almost any tier 1 building in their path, especially Generators, which can seriously hamper an opponent's economy. Defensively, they are detectors for cloaked units, so if you find yourself having problems with early cloaked harassment, Vespids are going to be your solution, albeit an expensive one. You don't have turrets, so you'll have to make due. Whatever you use them for, make sure that you use them wisely - they are too expensive to just throw away, and they are damned fragile, even for the Tau. Hit and run is the name of the game at any stage in the game. Do not use them for combat with enemy troops!
Kroot Carnivores
Cost: 160R
Reinforce: 40R, 12s
Squad Size: 4+6
Health/Morale: /300
Damage: 33-45, 10-15
Abilities: Feral Leap
Upgrades: N/A
A wonderful melee unit which scales well into the later game. They come with great numbers, nearing even the Guardsmen with a maximum of ten per squad. Combined with great resillience, good melee damage, and fairly cheap costs, they are your premier early game melee soldiers, and later game meatshields/fodder. Once you get Feral Leap, they become a great attack force, which is able to put the hurt on many types of units, disrupting them as well as damaging and stunning them. Don't be afraid to reinforce these guys to keep them absorbing enemy fire. If you are finding them useful in tier 2 as an attack force of whatever variety, be sure to attatch Kroot Shapers to them, which will greatly increase their speed and health.
In addition, Kroot Carnivores are able to utilize the ability which mroe or less gives them their namesake - Cannibalize! This ability allows them to eat fallen units on the battlefield, which both heals them and boosts the maximum health of all Carnivores on the field. While unconfirmed, it is possible that this bonus stacks multiple times - but even if it doesn't, it goes without saying that you should use this ability at every opportunity.
Fire Warrior Squad
Cost: 210R
Reinforce: 70R, 12s, 20s
Squad Size: 3+3+2
Health/Morale: /300
Damage: 10, 46-53
Abilities: Photon Grenade, Energy Shield
Upgrades: Advanced Pulse Rifle, Improved Metallurgy, Targeting Optics
Your bread and butter infantry unit, even if they are a glass cannon. Don't let their fragility dissuade you, they pack the meanest low-tier infantry punch in the game, and it scales very well into later tiers when concentrated and upgraded. They are fairly expensive for infantry, and coupled with their lack of constitution, you'll have to micromanage them well in conjunction with your Commander, and later (or sooner, depending on your build) Kroot of all kinds. They are not disposable, and require dancing like Eldar units do - but it pays off greatly, as they outshoot anything and everything at this point in the game. As you reach tier 2, you get a versatile selection of two leaders, which you can mix and match as you desire. The Fire Warrior Sha'sui, who acts like your typical "sergeant", bringing Photon Grenades to disrupt and damage enemy units.. and your Shield Drone, which bestows the Energy Shield ability, which renders your squad nigh-invulnerable for a period of time, which seems fairly lengthy. I'm not sure if it is a set amount of damage, or if it's a damage reduction for a set length of time.. but I'll update this when I find out. Regardless, it enables them to face turret emplacements quite nicely; a Commander with two shielded Firewarrior squads can literally break their way into a turret-defended base with minimal support from other units (so long as the Commander is packing heat).
All in all, Fire Warriors scale very well, and later upgrades simply put them over the top in cost effectiveness.
Tier 2 Units
XV88 Broadside Team
Cost: 240R, 120P
Reinforce: N/A
Squad Size: 3
Health/Morale: /1500
Damage: 0, 168-217
Abilities: N/A
Upgrades: N/A
Ah, the Broadsides - how much we expected of you. In theory, these units would be outstanding - mobile heavy weapons platforms in teams of three, with the ability to either disrupt infantry and do significant damage to buildings and vehicles with their missile pods, or the ability to rip buildings and vehicles a new one with their railguns from immense range. In practice, Broadsides are hampered significantly by either bugs (hopefully) or their intended implementation (hopefully not). The fact of the matter is, once they are Entrenched in order to make use of their Railguns, they are unable to be ordered to attack targets of your chosing. Instead, they attack the nearest "valid" targets, which include buildings and vehicles, over infantry. Without the ability to focus their impressive firepower on vital targets which are posing the most threat to your army or structures, their DPS is dilluted and their usefulness falls into debatability. To top it off, they are very, very fragile, and coupled with immobility, they are easy prey to a wide variety of units. For now, I'd say they are average to sub-par, at best.. and an exercise in futility at worst.
Pathfinder Squad
Cost: 150R, 40P
Reinforce: 75R, 20P, 12s
Squad Size: 2+3
Health/Morale: /300
Damage: 10, 13-16
Abilities: Markerlight
Upgrades: N/A
You should always incorporate at least one squad of Pathfinders into your main infantry force if you have significant numbers of ranged troops. Firstly, you will be facing units like cloaked Tankbustaz, which are extremely dangerous to your very fragile vehicles, such as the Skyray. Pathfinders are one of your detector units, thus you will be able to nullify this threat effectively with your superior firepower. Secondly, Pathfinders have the amazing Markerlight ability, which increases the ranged damage sustained by the targeted squad by 75% - that is ENORMOUS, and can put down extremely dangerous enemies in the blink of an eye. Imagine all of your Fire Warriors dealing somewhere around 110 damage a shot? Yeah, that adds up very quickly - and this applies to Crisis Suits, Commander, Broadsides, and so forth. I think you get the picture. Be careful with them though, as they are somewhat expensive and are a small squad, thus vulnerable to concentrated fire.
Kroot Shaper
Cost: 100R, 50P
Reinforce: N/A
Squad Size: 1
Health/Morale: 1000/
Damage: 55-70, 50-60
Abilities: N/A
Upgrades: N/A
I've touched on him earlier with regards to Kroot Carnivores, but it bears mentioning again. More or less, he's a Commissar that happens to have dreadlocks and a beak, aside from lacking the ability to kill his own men. Attatch him to your Carnivore squads, and they're suddenly doing their job better, which consists primarily of being shot at and clogging up enemy formations for the sake of your expensive ranged units. On his own, he's a fairly potent unit, but nothing to write home about. I tend not to use them unless I am floating req, as they don't seem to sway the action either way.
Drone Squad
Cost: 120R, 210P
Reinforce: 70R, 40P, 20s
Squad Size: 3+2
Health/Morale: /
Damage: 0, 100-140
Abilities: Burrow
Upgrades: N/A
These are basically Harbiner Drones, like the ones launched from the Drone Harbinger, but these are permanent and can be used near important locations such as Criticals and Relics to utterly destroy capping squads trying to leech your points away. They do good damage, are fairly survivable, and you usually have the element of suprise with them. However, make note that their attacks are very short range, about the distance of a flamer; this isn't necessarily a bad thing, however, as the Drones will explode on the enemy when they die, so you'll want them relatively close regardless of their weapons' range. More or less defensive units - the Drone Harbiner will give you the same Drones in a better offensive capacity.
Devilfish Transport
Cost: 50R, 75P
Reinforce: N/A
Squad Size: 1
Health/Morale: 750/0
Damage: 0, 25-30
Abilities: N/A
Upgrades: N/A
The stealth-bomber of the Tau world. I can hear you laughing now, but I assure you that these extremely cheap units are worth their weight in gold. You can most likely transport your entire ranged force in two or three of these, which includes mechanized suits - but the best part is that you can transport them cloaked! That is a massive advantage, even with detector units being commonplace in later tiers. You could easily slip two of these past a battle which your Kroot are engaged in as a distraction, and whisk them to the rear of an enemy base.. this is one situation in which I'd actually say that Broadsides, bugs or not, would be highly useful in. Load up a Devilfish with them, pop them out and entrench in the rear of an enemy base, and have them rip into targets of opportunity. As soon as a response is mustered, you can pop them back in and escape - it'll be highly unlikely that they'll be able to detect your Devilfish for long even if they brought detectors with them, as it is fairly speedy. All in all, the cheap cost, quick speed, passive cloaking and good capacity make this a unit for the truely skilled to put to use like no other transports.
Skyray Missile Gunship
Cost: 100R, 225P
Reinforce: N/A
Squad Size: 1
Health/Morale: 1000/0
Damage: 0, 132-170
Abilities: Missile Barrage
Upgrades: Improved Metallurgy
This is a fairly difficult vehicle to use effectively against a skilled opponent, merely due to it's extreme fragility. While it provides tremendous disruption and damage, it is more vulnerable to anti-vehicle fire than perhaps any other vehicle in the game; a sentinel can pop them in two shots from it's fearsome lascanon, from long range! However, when protected sufficiently with both units and a keen awareness of one's surroundings, these units are able to employ their devastatingly powerful Missile Barrage, which can wipe out squads, buildings, vehicles, you name it.. in one or two volleys at most. The last thing the targets of your Skyrays will see are streaks of cleansing blue, before wishing they'd seen the error in denying the Greater Good.
Drone Harbinger
Cost: 100R, 200P
Reinforce: N/A
Squad Size: 1
Health/Morale: 750/0
Damage: 0, 100-140
Abilities: Launch Harbinger Drone*
Upgrades: Improved Metallurgy
A very interesting vehicle, and one which I've not gotten to use all that much yet. However, in limited practice, it is a highly versatile and potent vehicle, which serves a unique role on the battlefield. You see, the Harbinger doesn't actually need to be in the line of fire of any enemies, because it doesn't have to do any of the fighting itself. Instead, it launches Harbinger Drones* as listed below. The most useful and unique feature of the vehicle is that it can set it's own rally point to the battle, for the benefit of it's tiny attackers. They're suprisingly survivable in practice, becaus they tend to mix in with your other units, more or less supplementing your attack force's heavy firepower. While each one costs thirty power, they do a great deal of damage, and are fairly autonomous, attacking whatever falls in their sights. You can keep pumping drones out as long as you have the power to produce the them, limited only by the timer on the launch ability (roughly 5 seconds, I'd wager).
*Harbinger Drone
Cost: 30P
Reinforce: N/A
Squad Size: N/A
Health/Morale: 325/0
Damage: 0, 100-140
Abilities: N/A
Upgrades: N/A
Tier 3 Units
Etheral
Cost: 175R, 200P
Reinforce: N/A
Squad Size: 1
Health/Morale: 1500/500
Damage: 33-46, 0
Abilities: Air Caste Strike, Holographic Projection, Summon Honor Guard
Upgrades: Missile Pods, Flamer
The Etheral is a mystical unit, which has a few unique abilities, but a dangerous frailty which can seriously hamper your forces morale and health, possibly costing you the battle - or the war. Due to the penalties inflicted on your forces when the Etheral is slain, you would best be served keeping him in a safe, secure location, from whence he can create the lethal Honor Guard units, which are detailed below. They are not inherently attatched to him, so you would more or less be using the Etheral as a "Honor Guard" barracks. He does possess a powerful airstrike ability similar to that of the Force Commander - the Air Caste Strike. It does little appreciable damage to buildings, thus is relegated to an anti-infantry role; however, if you are making use of Kroot units to engage enemy forces (as you should be) this may prove costly for you as well. It would be better utilized in a ranged-heavy army, such as one comprised of Fire Warriors, Crisis Suits, Skyrays, and other such units, who will typically be out of the line of fire of the Etheral's airstrike. Last, but not least, the Etheral possesses the unique "Holographic Projection" ability, which allows him to create a copy of targeted units. Very useful on fragile and important units such as Hammerheads, Crisis Suits, Skyrays, and so forth. Creative, skilled players will surely find many ways to make use of this ability in game-altering fashion.
Honor Guard
Cost: 0
Reinforce: 70p
Squad Size: 4
Health/Morale: /500
Damage: 10, 62-80
Abilities: N/A
Upgrades: N/A
Honor Guard units are created by the Etheral, as detailed above. They are free to produce, and serve as fully upgraded, elite Fire Warriors which have immense range and overall potency - even against buildings. They are limited only by the timer of the Etheral's ability used to summon them, and are independant of the Etheral as well as each other. These units would be best utilized as your heavy assault units, attacking from flanks to quickly obliterate your enemies valuable units from great distances, with immense firepower. Enemy command units and expensive heavy infantry are prime targets for these heavy hitters.
*Mont'ka - Path of the Killing Blow
XV8 Crisis Suit
Cost: 180R, 40P
Reinforce: 75R, 20P, 12s
Squad Size: 5
Health/Morale: 2500/600
Damage: 0, 225-270
Abilities: Jump Jets
Upgrades: Missile Pods, Flamer
A controversial unit at this point in time. While they certainly pack a mean punch, they are fairly slow and fragile against incoming fire. Don't treat them like vehicles, but rather heavy infantry units - emplacements such as bolter turrets and heavy infantry fire can make short work of them, so keep tabs on your jump jet ability to get them into an advantageous position. Due to these problems, I'd certainly recommend against the Flamers, unless you are facing a melee-heavy enemy and have lots of melee units yourself to tie them up. If you can manage to get close to your targets, the Flamers will make short work of them, breaking them extremely fast and doing a great deal of damage in addition to their primary weaponry. Otherwise, go with the Missile Pods which have range parallel to that of their main armament. Used in conjunction with the Commander, who is also able to utilize jump jets, you have a hard hitting team. Just pay close attention to how you use them, or you'll regret it.
Hammerhead Gunship
Cost: 150R, 275P
Reinforce: N/A
Squad Size: 1
Health/Morale: 2700/0
Damage: 0, 143-162
Abilities: N/A
Upgrades: N/A
The famous Hammerhead, also known as the "Railhead" is a signature unit in the Tau tabletop lineup. Known for it's ability to make even Monoliths wary of it's devastating cannon, it has always been a primary target for enemies. In Dark Crusade, however, it's more in line with other armored units. As the description states, it is a tank which sways the balance of offense and defense towards the tip of it's railgun, in lieu of heavy armor. Like the Skyray, although to a lesser extent, it is fragile and should fall in behind your lines to produce the maximum effect. It's armament does great damage to enemy vehicles and buildings alike, and it makes a good addition to your army. Never use them in an army without a Pathfinder unit, however, as cloaked anti-vehicle units will be able to rip it to shreds with impunity, wasting your resources and time.
*Kauyon - Path of the Patient Hunter
Kroot Hound Pack
Cost: 260R, 60P
Reinforce: 50R, 15P, 10s
Squad Size: 4+4
Health/Morale: /800
Damage: 170-250, 0
Abilities: N/A
Upgrades: Feral Leap
Essentially, they're Kroot Carnivores but slanted towards offense rather than providing a meatshield for your army. Same feral leap, but a great deal more damage - enough to put a gash into any target they encounter. They do seem fairly fragile though, so make sure to use them in conjunction with any Kroot Carnivores you have left, rather than a spearhead for your army by themselves.
Krootox
Cost: 150R, 275P
Reinforce: N/A
Squad Size: 1
Health/Morale: 6500/
Damage: 275-375, 400-500
Abilities: N/A
Upgrades: Improved Metallurgy
A true beast. With 6,500 un-buffed health, and somewhere around 8,500 health upgraded, they're nigh impossible to kill in any normal sized engagement. If you don't have Improved Metallurgy by the time you get Krootox, you had better get it right now. They do tremendous damage with their melee, and in small groups can serve as the perfect bulldozer to spearhead your army, soaking up tremendous fire and destroying any and all defensive positions before the finally do surrender their lives. They do great damage while closing in, but their range is very short and their gunfire is terribly inaccurate. In any case, 400-500 damage a shot is nothing to sneeze at, unless you're allergic to ass-whupping.
Tier 4 Units
Greater Knarloc
Cost: 400R, 400P
Reinforce: N/A
Squad Size: 1
Health/Morale: 10800/
Damage: 600-800, 0
Abilities: N/A
Upgrades: N/A
While the Knarloc seems to be a true "uber unit", it actually might prove a tad underwhelming when compared to those of other races, merely due to it being ill-equipped for engaging large numbers of attackers, such as the Baneblade or Monolith. It focuses on one target at a time, and attacks fairly slowly.. and it's disruption isn't on par with the aforementioned tier 4 units (though that is a double edged sword). In any case, it does possess a great amount of health and armor, and absorbs damage like no other. Combined with Krootox, you have a truely unstoppable wall for the rest of your army to follow behind.
[ MONT'KA vs. KAUYON ]
Ah, the heated debate - should one pursue the path of the Killing Blow, or that of the Patient Hunter? Both have their strengths and weaknesses, and people will always have opinions one way or the other, but we must take a practical, logical approach to what will be more effective in the majority of situations we are likely to encounter. Before we begin our thought process, let's summarize which units and upgrades each Path provides:
Mont'ka Path:
XV8 Crisis Suits
Hammerhead Gunships
Kauyon Path:
Kroot Hounds
Krootox
Greater Knarloc
Improved Metallurgy
Advanced Optics
Already, it's rather clear that the Kauyon path provides more options than the Mont'ka, but that isn't enough to justify a stance either way, necessarily. We've already covered these units in the guide, however, and looking back in retrospect we can see that the units offered by the Kauyon path are all more than viable; they're above average units which provide an extremely useful element to the Tau gameplay approach by being durable. However, they're not only durable, but are extremely damaging in the attack, as well. However, as we peer back at the two offerings of the Mont'ka outpost, we find that both are relatively fragile units, prone to being destroyed by keen player opponents. Units like infiltrated Tankbustaz with their ability to creep around and hit your vauluable units where it hurts, and Sentinels with their highly damaging weaponry and quick maneuverability prove challenging for the Hammerhead, regardless of it's immense firepower. The Crisis suit finds it easier to escape harm via it's potent jump jet ability, however is otherwise a sluggish unit which is still quite vulnerable to concentrated fire, forcing it to hang behind your main attack force in many instances.
Another problem with relying on the firepower provided by the Mont'ka path is that you miss out on two important upgrades which apply to a large variety of units - Improved Metallurgy and Advanced Optics. These two upgrades alone can give your Krootox bonus health equivalent to an entire XV8 Crisis Suit.. and it applies to every Krootox you build. It also scales your Fire Warriors effectively into tier 3, allowing them to masssively out-range everything, keeping them out of the way of serious harm while allowing them to continue their punishing assault.
This is not to say that the Hammerhead and XV8 Crisis Suits are poor units, but perhaps simply overshadowed by the potential gains offered by the Kauyon path, at this point in the game's balancing.
R = Requisition, P = Power, s = Seconds (seconds listed a second time are for leader units)
Squad sizes are listed as initial squad total + reinforcements total + leader total.
Tier 1 Units
Tau Commander
Cost: 250R, 55P
Reinforce: N/A
Squad Size: 1
Health/Morale: 1000/700
Damage: 100-120, 100-120
Abilities: Snare Trap, Target Aquired, Jump Jets
Upgrades: Flamer, Missile Pods, Fusion Blaster, Plasma Rifle
The Tau Commander is a great new addition to the game - certainly one of the more powerful command units when microed well. He dishes out a constant stream of punishing damage, and his abilities are quite useful. His snare is exceedingly useful, in fact - the effect is something around an 80% reduction in movement speed, if not more. This is great for finishing off enemy commanders which are trying to escape, preventing melee units from reaching your Fire Warriors early on (very important), and more. The snares cost 30 power to deploy, so early on you'll want to conserve them, but later you'll find they are too valuable to pass up. Target Aquired itself is a powerful ability when combined with good micro - it gives a nice initial damage boost in a fight against another hero early on, which can make the difference between winning and losing. Or, in some cases, it can be used as a finisher if someone decided to stay until the last minute - fire it off and that will be the end of that!
His versatility and potency only improve in the second tier, and boy do they improve. Right in time for vehicles, you are able to add both Missile Pods and a Fusion Blaster, both of which do great damage to vehicles and buildings, with Missile Pods having great, constant disruption of enemy infantry units. Immediately after the Fusion Blaster, you're able to get the juicy Plasma Rifle, which seems to be the ultimate ranged weapon, able to cut through infantry in mere nanoseconds, with vehicles and buildings not faring much better. Not only that, but it has immense range, out to the very edge of the screen. A truely powerful combination.
All of this is being utilized at once, with the mobility of a jump-jet commander. A true winner in every stage of the game - so long as you use him less like a hammer and more like a scalpel!
Tip: When facing the Necrons, upon slaying their Necron Lord, place a Snare Trap on his corpse to snare him when he gets up, allowing you to kill him again. And again, and again, and again, if you're lucky. Thanks to Shinova for this cunning suggestion!
XV15 Stealth Team
Cost: 85R
Reinforce: 85R, 12s, 30s
Squad Size: 1+2+1
Health/Morale: 250/300
Damage: 4, 5-8
Abilities: Jump Jets, EMP Grenade
Upgrades: Fusion Blaster, XV25 Leader, Jet Packs, Stealth Burst Cannon Enhancements Target Lock, Advanced Pulse Rifle, Targeting Optics
Great unit for it's initial purpose, which is point capping, and point harassing. They can fire while invisible, but that certainly doesn't mean it's a wise idea. Their damage is terrible, and while they can kill heretics and other weak builders, or at least harass them - you do not want to be fooled into thinking these are an effective fighting force early in the game - that comes later, and in a very specific fashion. Feel free to research jump jets to make them even more mobile and effective at harassing, but keep them moving, keep them harassing, and keep them away from detector units. Early on, the only things that will reveal your Stealthsuits are Necron builders and the Imperial Guard's Scanner, but they are fortunately unarmed, and Necrons are very slow, meaning you'll have plenty of time to move before reinforcements arrive to stop your harass. Be mindful of Imperial Guardsmen, however, as they can put a hurt on your Stealthsuits if their massive numbers catch him in the midst of capping a valuable point! Also keep in mind that you are revealed while decapping, so if you're going to harass near or in the enemy base, decap and move without delay. This is why jump jets help, allowing you to jump in, decap, and jump out again with haste.
Make sure to conserve your Stealthsuit teams into Tier 2, avoiding their unecessary demise. In the mid to later tiers, you'll find that they are suprisingly effective at taking out enemy vehicles and buildings with their Fusion Blaster upgrades. For maximum effectiveness, always upgrade them first with their leader, who comes equipped with his own Fusion Blaster, as well as the ability to throw vehicle-jamming EMP grenades. After that, reinforce and upgrade them with additional Fusion Blasters on a 1:1 basis until the squads are full, and go hunting! Remember to avoid detector units, and you'll end up a real thorn in your foe's ass.
Vespid Stingwings
Cost: 300R, 50P
Reinforce: 50R, 10P, 12s, 30s
Squad Size: 5+1
Health/Morale: /300
Damage: 28-36, 22-25
Abilities: Sonic Pulse, Shred, Jump
Upgrades: Elder Strain Leader
Another potent unit, making for the perfect base-rusher. Not only are they speedy in movement, but speedy in production - instant, in fact. They have zero build time, so make use of it aggressively or defensively as the situation calls for it. Offensively, their Shred ability can make mincemeat of almost any tier 1 building in their path, especially Generators, which can seriously hamper an opponent's economy. Defensively, they are detectors for cloaked units, so if you find yourself having problems with early cloaked harassment, Vespids are going to be your solution, albeit an expensive one. You don't have turrets, so you'll have to make due. Whatever you use them for, make sure that you use them wisely - they are too expensive to just throw away, and they are damned fragile, even for the Tau. Hit and run is the name of the game at any stage in the game. Do not use them for combat with enemy troops!
Kroot Carnivores
Cost: 160R
Reinforce: 40R, 12s
Squad Size: 4+6
Health/Morale: /300
Damage: 33-45, 10-15
Abilities: Feral Leap
Upgrades: N/A
A wonderful melee unit which scales well into the later game. They come with great numbers, nearing even the Guardsmen with a maximum of ten per squad. Combined with great resillience, good melee damage, and fairly cheap costs, they are your premier early game melee soldiers, and later game meatshields/fodder. Once you get Feral Leap, they become a great attack force, which is able to put the hurt on many types of units, disrupting them as well as damaging and stunning them. Don't be afraid to reinforce these guys to keep them absorbing enemy fire. If you are finding them useful in tier 2 as an attack force of whatever variety, be sure to attatch Kroot Shapers to them, which will greatly increase their speed and health.
In addition, Kroot Carnivores are able to utilize the ability which mroe or less gives them their namesake - Cannibalize! This ability allows them to eat fallen units on the battlefield, which both heals them and boosts the maximum health of all Carnivores on the field. While unconfirmed, it is possible that this bonus stacks multiple times - but even if it doesn't, it goes without saying that you should use this ability at every opportunity.
Fire Warrior Squad
Cost: 210R
Reinforce: 70R, 12s, 20s
Squad Size: 3+3+2
Health/Morale: /300
Damage: 10, 46-53
Abilities: Photon Grenade, Energy Shield
Upgrades: Advanced Pulse Rifle, Improved Metallurgy, Targeting Optics
Your bread and butter infantry unit, even if they are a glass cannon. Don't let their fragility dissuade you, they pack the meanest low-tier infantry punch in the game, and it scales very well into later tiers when concentrated and upgraded. They are fairly expensive for infantry, and coupled with their lack of constitution, you'll have to micromanage them well in conjunction with your Commander, and later (or sooner, depending on your build) Kroot of all kinds. They are not disposable, and require dancing like Eldar units do - but it pays off greatly, as they outshoot anything and everything at this point in the game. As you reach tier 2, you get a versatile selection of two leaders, which you can mix and match as you desire. The Fire Warrior Sha'sui, who acts like your typical "sergeant", bringing Photon Grenades to disrupt and damage enemy units.. and your Shield Drone, which bestows the Energy Shield ability, which renders your squad nigh-invulnerable for a period of time, which seems fairly lengthy. I'm not sure if it is a set amount of damage, or if it's a damage reduction for a set length of time.. but I'll update this when I find out. Regardless, it enables them to face turret emplacements quite nicely; a Commander with two shielded Firewarrior squads can literally break their way into a turret-defended base with minimal support from other units (so long as the Commander is packing heat).
All in all, Fire Warriors scale very well, and later upgrades simply put them over the top in cost effectiveness.
Tier 2 Units
XV88 Broadside Team
Cost: 240R, 120P
Reinforce: N/A
Squad Size: 3
Health/Morale: /1500
Damage: 0, 168-217
Abilities: N/A
Upgrades: N/A
Ah, the Broadsides - how much we expected of you. In theory, these units would be outstanding - mobile heavy weapons platforms in teams of three, with the ability to either disrupt infantry and do significant damage to buildings and vehicles with their missile pods, or the ability to rip buildings and vehicles a new one with their railguns from immense range. In practice, Broadsides are hampered significantly by either bugs (hopefully) or their intended implementation (hopefully not). The fact of the matter is, once they are Entrenched in order to make use of their Railguns, they are unable to be ordered to attack targets of your chosing. Instead, they attack the nearest "valid" targets, which include buildings and vehicles, over infantry. Without the ability to focus their impressive firepower on vital targets which are posing the most threat to your army or structures, their DPS is dilluted and their usefulness falls into debatability. To top it off, they are very, very fragile, and coupled with immobility, they are easy prey to a wide variety of units. For now, I'd say they are average to sub-par, at best.. and an exercise in futility at worst.
Pathfinder Squad
Cost: 150R, 40P
Reinforce: 75R, 20P, 12s
Squad Size: 2+3
Health/Morale: /300
Damage: 10, 13-16
Abilities: Markerlight
Upgrades: N/A
You should always incorporate at least one squad of Pathfinders into your main infantry force if you have significant numbers of ranged troops. Firstly, you will be facing units like cloaked Tankbustaz, which are extremely dangerous to your very fragile vehicles, such as the Skyray. Pathfinders are one of your detector units, thus you will be able to nullify this threat effectively with your superior firepower. Secondly, Pathfinders have the amazing Markerlight ability, which increases the ranged damage sustained by the targeted squad by 75% - that is ENORMOUS, and can put down extremely dangerous enemies in the blink of an eye. Imagine all of your Fire Warriors dealing somewhere around 110 damage a shot? Yeah, that adds up very quickly - and this applies to Crisis Suits, Commander, Broadsides, and so forth. I think you get the picture. Be careful with them though, as they are somewhat expensive and are a small squad, thus vulnerable to concentrated fire.
Kroot Shaper
Cost: 100R, 50P
Reinforce: N/A
Squad Size: 1
Health/Morale: 1000/
Damage: 55-70, 50-60
Abilities: N/A
Upgrades: N/A
I've touched on him earlier with regards to Kroot Carnivores, but it bears mentioning again. More or less, he's a Commissar that happens to have dreadlocks and a beak, aside from lacking the ability to kill his own men. Attatch him to your Carnivore squads, and they're suddenly doing their job better, which consists primarily of being shot at and clogging up enemy formations for the sake of your expensive ranged units. On his own, he's a fairly potent unit, but nothing to write home about. I tend not to use them unless I am floating req, as they don't seem to sway the action either way.
Drone Squad
Cost: 120R, 210P
Reinforce: 70R, 40P, 20s
Squad Size: 3+2
Health/Morale: /
Damage: 0, 100-140
Abilities: Burrow
Upgrades: N/A
These are basically Harbiner Drones, like the ones launched from the Drone Harbinger, but these are permanent and can be used near important locations such as Criticals and Relics to utterly destroy capping squads trying to leech your points away. They do good damage, are fairly survivable, and you usually have the element of suprise with them. However, make note that their attacks are very short range, about the distance of a flamer; this isn't necessarily a bad thing, however, as the Drones will explode on the enemy when they die, so you'll want them relatively close regardless of their weapons' range. More or less defensive units - the Drone Harbiner will give you the same Drones in a better offensive capacity.
Devilfish Transport
Cost: 50R, 75P
Reinforce: N/A
Squad Size: 1
Health/Morale: 750/0
Damage: 0, 25-30
Abilities: N/A
Upgrades: N/A
The stealth-bomber of the Tau world. I can hear you laughing now, but I assure you that these extremely cheap units are worth their weight in gold. You can most likely transport your entire ranged force in two or three of these, which includes mechanized suits - but the best part is that you can transport them cloaked! That is a massive advantage, even with detector units being commonplace in later tiers. You could easily slip two of these past a battle which your Kroot are engaged in as a distraction, and whisk them to the rear of an enemy base.. this is one situation in which I'd actually say that Broadsides, bugs or not, would be highly useful in. Load up a Devilfish with them, pop them out and entrench in the rear of an enemy base, and have them rip into targets of opportunity. As soon as a response is mustered, you can pop them back in and escape - it'll be highly unlikely that they'll be able to detect your Devilfish for long even if they brought detectors with them, as it is fairly speedy. All in all, the cheap cost, quick speed, passive cloaking and good capacity make this a unit for the truely skilled to put to use like no other transports.
Skyray Missile Gunship
Cost: 100R, 225P
Reinforce: N/A
Squad Size: 1
Health/Morale: 1000/0
Damage: 0, 132-170
Abilities: Missile Barrage
Upgrades: Improved Metallurgy
This is a fairly difficult vehicle to use effectively against a skilled opponent, merely due to it's extreme fragility. While it provides tremendous disruption and damage, it is more vulnerable to anti-vehicle fire than perhaps any other vehicle in the game; a sentinel can pop them in two shots from it's fearsome lascanon, from long range! However, when protected sufficiently with both units and a keen awareness of one's surroundings, these units are able to employ their devastatingly powerful Missile Barrage, which can wipe out squads, buildings, vehicles, you name it.. in one or two volleys at most. The last thing the targets of your Skyrays will see are streaks of cleansing blue, before wishing they'd seen the error in denying the Greater Good.
Drone Harbinger
Cost: 100R, 200P
Reinforce: N/A
Squad Size: 1
Health/Morale: 750/0
Damage: 0, 100-140
Abilities: Launch Harbinger Drone*
Upgrades: Improved Metallurgy
A very interesting vehicle, and one which I've not gotten to use all that much yet. However, in limited practice, it is a highly versatile and potent vehicle, which serves a unique role on the battlefield. You see, the Harbinger doesn't actually need to be in the line of fire of any enemies, because it doesn't have to do any of the fighting itself. Instead, it launches Harbinger Drones* as listed below. The most useful and unique feature of the vehicle is that it can set it's own rally point to the battle, for the benefit of it's tiny attackers. They're suprisingly survivable in practice, becaus they tend to mix in with your other units, more or less supplementing your attack force's heavy firepower. While each one costs thirty power, they do a great deal of damage, and are fairly autonomous, attacking whatever falls in their sights. You can keep pumping drones out as long as you have the power to produce the them, limited only by the timer on the launch ability (roughly 5 seconds, I'd wager).
*Harbinger Drone
Cost: 30P
Reinforce: N/A
Squad Size: N/A
Health/Morale: 325/0
Damage: 0, 100-140
Abilities: N/A
Upgrades: N/A
Tier 3 Units
Etheral
Cost: 175R, 200P
Reinforce: N/A
Squad Size: 1
Health/Morale: 1500/500
Damage: 33-46, 0
Abilities: Air Caste Strike, Holographic Projection, Summon Honor Guard
Upgrades: Missile Pods, Flamer
The Etheral is a mystical unit, which has a few unique abilities, but a dangerous frailty which can seriously hamper your forces morale and health, possibly costing you the battle - or the war. Due to the penalties inflicted on your forces when the Etheral is slain, you would best be served keeping him in a safe, secure location, from whence he can create the lethal Honor Guard units, which are detailed below. They are not inherently attatched to him, so you would more or less be using the Etheral as a "Honor Guard" barracks. He does possess a powerful airstrike ability similar to that of the Force Commander - the Air Caste Strike. It does little appreciable damage to buildings, thus is relegated to an anti-infantry role; however, if you are making use of Kroot units to engage enemy forces (as you should be) this may prove costly for you as well. It would be better utilized in a ranged-heavy army, such as one comprised of Fire Warriors, Crisis Suits, Skyrays, and other such units, who will typically be out of the line of fire of the Etheral's airstrike. Last, but not least, the Etheral possesses the unique "Holographic Projection" ability, which allows him to create a copy of targeted units. Very useful on fragile and important units such as Hammerheads, Crisis Suits, Skyrays, and so forth. Creative, skilled players will surely find many ways to make use of this ability in game-altering fashion.
Honor Guard
Cost: 0
Reinforce: 70p
Squad Size: 4
Health/Morale: /500
Damage: 10, 62-80
Abilities: N/A
Upgrades: N/A
Honor Guard units are created by the Etheral, as detailed above. They are free to produce, and serve as fully upgraded, elite Fire Warriors which have immense range and overall potency - even against buildings. They are limited only by the timer of the Etheral's ability used to summon them, and are independant of the Etheral as well as each other. These units would be best utilized as your heavy assault units, attacking from flanks to quickly obliterate your enemies valuable units from great distances, with immense firepower. Enemy command units and expensive heavy infantry are prime targets for these heavy hitters.
*Mont'ka - Path of the Killing Blow
XV8 Crisis Suit
Cost: 180R, 40P
Reinforce: 75R, 20P, 12s
Squad Size: 5
Health/Morale: 2500/600
Damage: 0, 225-270
Abilities: Jump Jets
Upgrades: Missile Pods, Flamer
A controversial unit at this point in time. While they certainly pack a mean punch, they are fairly slow and fragile against incoming fire. Don't treat them like vehicles, but rather heavy infantry units - emplacements such as bolter turrets and heavy infantry fire can make short work of them, so keep tabs on your jump jet ability to get them into an advantageous position. Due to these problems, I'd certainly recommend against the Flamers, unless you are facing a melee-heavy enemy and have lots of melee units yourself to tie them up. If you can manage to get close to your targets, the Flamers will make short work of them, breaking them extremely fast and doing a great deal of damage in addition to their primary weaponry. Otherwise, go with the Missile Pods which have range parallel to that of their main armament. Used in conjunction with the Commander, who is also able to utilize jump jets, you have a hard hitting team. Just pay close attention to how you use them, or you'll regret it.
Hammerhead Gunship
Cost: 150R, 275P
Reinforce: N/A
Squad Size: 1
Health/Morale: 2700/0
Damage: 0, 143-162
Abilities: N/A
Upgrades: N/A
The famous Hammerhead, also known as the "Railhead" is a signature unit in the Tau tabletop lineup. Known for it's ability to make even Monoliths wary of it's devastating cannon, it has always been a primary target for enemies. In Dark Crusade, however, it's more in line with other armored units. As the description states, it is a tank which sways the balance of offense and defense towards the tip of it's railgun, in lieu of heavy armor. Like the Skyray, although to a lesser extent, it is fragile and should fall in behind your lines to produce the maximum effect. It's armament does great damage to enemy vehicles and buildings alike, and it makes a good addition to your army. Never use them in an army without a Pathfinder unit, however, as cloaked anti-vehicle units will be able to rip it to shreds with impunity, wasting your resources and time.
*Kauyon - Path of the Patient Hunter
Kroot Hound Pack
Cost: 260R, 60P
Reinforce: 50R, 15P, 10s
Squad Size: 4+4
Health/Morale: /800
Damage: 170-250, 0
Abilities: N/A
Upgrades: Feral Leap
Essentially, they're Kroot Carnivores but slanted towards offense rather than providing a meatshield for your army. Same feral leap, but a great deal more damage - enough to put a gash into any target they encounter. They do seem fairly fragile though, so make sure to use them in conjunction with any Kroot Carnivores you have left, rather than a spearhead for your army by themselves.
Krootox
Cost: 150R, 275P
Reinforce: N/A
Squad Size: 1
Health/Morale: 6500/
Damage: 275-375, 400-500
Abilities: N/A
Upgrades: Improved Metallurgy
A true beast. With 6,500 un-buffed health, and somewhere around 8,500 health upgraded, they're nigh impossible to kill in any normal sized engagement. If you don't have Improved Metallurgy by the time you get Krootox, you had better get it right now. They do tremendous damage with their melee, and in small groups can serve as the perfect bulldozer to spearhead your army, soaking up tremendous fire and destroying any and all defensive positions before the finally do surrender their lives. They do great damage while closing in, but their range is very short and their gunfire is terribly inaccurate. In any case, 400-500 damage a shot is nothing to sneeze at, unless you're allergic to ass-whupping.
Tier 4 Units
Greater Knarloc
Cost: 400R, 400P
Reinforce: N/A
Squad Size: 1
Health/Morale: 10800/
Damage: 600-800, 0
Abilities: N/A
Upgrades: N/A
While the Knarloc seems to be a true "uber unit", it actually might prove a tad underwhelming when compared to those of other races, merely due to it being ill-equipped for engaging large numbers of attackers, such as the Baneblade or Monolith. It focuses on one target at a time, and attacks fairly slowly.. and it's disruption isn't on par with the aforementioned tier 4 units (though that is a double edged sword). In any case, it does possess a great amount of health and armor, and absorbs damage like no other. Combined with Krootox, you have a truely unstoppable wall for the rest of your army to follow behind.
[ MONT'KA vs. KAUYON ]
Ah, the heated debate - should one pursue the path of the Killing Blow, or that of the Patient Hunter? Both have their strengths and weaknesses, and people will always have opinions one way or the other, but we must take a practical, logical approach to what will be more effective in the majority of situations we are likely to encounter. Before we begin our thought process, let's summarize which units and upgrades each Path provides:
Mont'ka Path:
XV8 Crisis Suits
Hammerhead Gunships
Kauyon Path:
Kroot Hounds
Krootox
Greater Knarloc
Improved Metallurgy
Advanced Optics
Already, it's rather clear that the Kauyon path provides more options than the Mont'ka, but that isn't enough to justify a stance either way, necessarily. We've already covered these units in the guide, however, and looking back in retrospect we can see that the units offered by the Kauyon path are all more than viable; they're above average units which provide an extremely useful element to the Tau gameplay approach by being durable. However, they're not only durable, but are extremely damaging in the attack, as well. However, as we peer back at the two offerings of the Mont'ka outpost, we find that both are relatively fragile units, prone to being destroyed by keen player opponents. Units like infiltrated Tankbustaz with their ability to creep around and hit your vauluable units where it hurts, and Sentinels with their highly damaging weaponry and quick maneuverability prove challenging for the Hammerhead, regardless of it's immense firepower. The Crisis suit finds it easier to escape harm via it's potent jump jet ability, however is otherwise a sluggish unit which is still quite vulnerable to concentrated fire, forcing it to hang behind your main attack force in many instances.
Another problem with relying on the firepower provided by the Mont'ka path is that you miss out on two important upgrades which apply to a large variety of units - Improved Metallurgy and Advanced Optics. These two upgrades alone can give your Krootox bonus health equivalent to an entire XV8 Crisis Suit.. and it applies to every Krootox you build. It also scales your Fire Warriors effectively into tier 3, allowing them to masssively out-range everything, keeping them out of the way of serious harm while allowing them to continue their punishing assault.
This is not to say that the Hammerhead and XV8 Crisis Suits are poor units, but perhaps simply overshadowed by the potential gains offered by the Kauyon path, at this point in the game's balancing.