A quick run through of each elite in the game highlighting some good and bad points for players. I do not pretend to be the authority on DoW3 but for the most part it makes sense. Of course I had to include an arbitrary rating list too but this is based on my own experience with the units and against them.
Contents
Space Marines
Space Marines have a lot of excellent elite choices to choose from and it really depends on your play style.
Venerable Dreadnought
If you prefer plenty of plasma in your army then the Venerable Dreadnought is good until you unlock his ability as a doctrine. The overcharged shot does lots of damage if aimed correctly and the plasma cannon does very good damage to tanks. 1v1 the venerable dreadnought should beat any other vehicle but in large scale fights can become a bit lost. It is also fairly slow making it a much more deliberate weapon.
- Overall: 6/10
Kill Team Ironmaw
Kill Team Ironmaw is a good early game pickup as they are better than a marine squad and can cheaply be upgraded to kill essentially anything in tier 1. They can be useful late game too as other elites can be spawned around them, allowing you to support a teammate in an attack with a surprise Imperial Knight spawn. They don’t really bring much outside these two abilities and are less good once you have the doctrine unlocked.
- Overall: 7/10
Gabriel Angelos
Gabriel Angelos is a solid early game pickup and can pretty much face tank anything before tier 3. His simple abilities make him easy to play but as with any character with activated abilities he gets lost in larger fights. The problem with all melee space marines is that there never seems to be enough of them and this is the same with Angelos. He doesn’t do enough damage late game to take and provides very little utilitiy.
- Overall: 5/10
Chief Librarian Jonah Orion
Chief Librarian Jonah Orion is an interesting pick as he has some really nice buffs. The lightning bolt and the aoe damage buffs are both very good and useful early game. Being so cheap he does not really hamper any late game development of more expensive elites either. His stonewall ability is very nice, because although you protect yourself you also cannot shoot out of the bubble. This skill seems most useful when trying to trap escaping forces or shield your own forces for a retreat. However in both cases if requires good timing and position from your own troops. Can be very powerful if used correctly but is very poor late game if not used correctly.
- Overall: 6/10
Imperial Knight Solaria
Imperial Knight Solaria is the most expensive elite unit available and for good reason. She can put out the most consistent high damage of any of the titans. Her missile pack can wipe out whole armies if used right. Solaria is a scary mobile fire platform with here overheat ability increasing her damage as she fires. If you are playing a defensive late game style Solaria is excellent when backed up with plenty of whirlwinds, as they do about twice as much damage with their extra fire damage. Solaria is very good if you get to the extreme late game as she can clean up armies very nicely. Her downside is that for her cost she does not bring much more than other titans and her distinct lack of mobility is a shame. If you want to make a hard push late game then Solaria will not be as effective as you might hope. If you want a longer drawn out late game where you can attrition your opponent then she is fine.
- Overall: 8/10
Imperial Knight Pegasus
Imperial Knight Pegasus is my preferred choice of titan for Space Marines as his ion shield allows him to soak up and outrageous amount of damage. He can push into an army and take all their fire while allowing your own army to do the dirty work. His other abilities are powerful but nothing crazy. Pegasus really allows the rest of your army to shine as he is so tanky. Massed predators work well with Pegasus as they can snipe off any real threats to him and can mince through enemy armour while Pegasus eats all the infantry. A more consistent pick than Solaria but less explosive. You will have more fun with Solaria but Pegasus will win you more games.
- Overall: 9/10
Terminators
Terminators are always a solid pick for Space Marines as they are both tanky and can dish out good damage back. Best used against mass infantry armies like Orks their rocket packs can do a lot of work. The assault cannons are a bit lack lustre but they more than make up for this with their longevity and missile packs. A solid mid game pick against armies where anti-armour is less of an issue. For their cost they are good but the will slow your development towards titans later on.
- Overall: 6/10
Assault Terminators
Assault Terminators are a funny one because they suffer from the same crutch as Gabriel Angelos. They are slow and often outnumbered in melee and for their cost they are at best a mid game pick. If you choose to go for a heavy melee army then they probably should be in there, possibly alongside Kill Team Ironmaw to get them to the front lines quicker. They are hard to kill but a concerted effort late game will see them die quickly. Good in the right hands but the strategy needs to be right.
- Overall: 5/10
Chaplain Diomedes
Chaplain Diomedes is actually pretty good for what he costs you. He can support elites well by giving them extra time on the field when they die and Diomedes can more than hold his own against most elites early game. His buffs are nice but tend to get lost later in the game. Diomedes is probably best in a late game strategy as your cheapest elite, but he is there for his abilities and not for his fighting. Good with Pegasus and Solaria but will you ever expect to get both of them out?
- Overall: 6/10
Orks
Gorgutz
Gorgutz is a really nice elite to have, he can soak up lots of damage and dish out a fair amount back. The main reason I rate Gorgutz so highly is his 2 abilities. The ability to leap means he can attack shielded positions and also taunt units. It’s worth sacrificing him late game to taunt all those lascannons trust me. The whirl also allows the melee part of an Ork army to reach combat, massively increasing their worth. Gorgutz is one of the few elites that really brings something to his army throughout the game and supports an already strong army archetype really well. He is probably the first elite on the teamsheet despite not having the damage output of some of the other elites.
- Overall: 9/10
Da Commando
Da Commando is another great elite pick and for good reason. Having an early game stealther that can literally 1 shot most tier 1 units from stealth is pretty crazy. Added to this that he can bait people into traps with his stun mine makes Da Commando one of my favourite Ork elites. Late game he is less useful due to more stealth revealers and tankier units but he still has utility as a stealther. Da Commando is a really solid pick and will rarely let you down, if even it’s only in the early game where he truly shines.
- Overal: 7/10
Weirdboy Zappnoggin
Weirdboy Zappnoggin seems on the surface to be really cool. He has loads of strong abilities that he can cast on friends and foes alike. The key word there however is ‘cast’. Zappnoggin requires a lot of micromanagement and in a game already heavily on this is it really worth to be adding more? He also requires a fair amount of scrap to be really powerful and usually you want to be upgrading your line troops to able to survive against the superior troops around the battlefield. His doctrines tell the same story as they are both active abilities, despite both being good. He is too hard to power up and use properly for my liking but could be a force to be reckoned with in the right hands. Not for the faint of heart.
- Overall: 5/10
Big Mek WazMakka
Big Mek WazMakka is another elite that suffers from too many triggered abilities for me to really rate highly. The tractor beam can be lethal when used right and is probably scariest when used to pull units into some ork boyz to be ganked. This can also be used to pull units out of cover. His scrap ability is weaker as there should be more than enough scrap around if you build correctly and the scrap turrets don’t do enough late game. His doctrines again and a bit tame and give you little to no control on how they work, leading to a rather random set of skills. Another elite that in the right situation, with the right player could be really good, but not regularly enough to warrant a space for me.
- Overall: 5/10
Mad Dredd
Mad Dredd is a really good ganker. Against small units repositioning he can be utterly devastating. The tunnel ability is powerful, but needs to be used with some care. The issue I have with Mad Dredd is his cost. 7 elite points essentially for a good dreadnought that can kill small units quickly… it’s less impressive when you say it like that. For me he doesn’t distinguish enough from normal deff dredds and so i’d rather save for something more substantial. He has the same issues that the venerable dreadnought suffer from.
- Overall: 6/10
Meganobz
If you want a melee strategy that can rush effectively you might want to look closely at Meganobz. If you can time the electric wall you can increase your own troops speed and close gaps quickly. You can also use it to stop their escape. Meganobs can take a real pounding and are best right at the front. Think of them as an ablative armour for the rest of your army. They have to be looted to be really good, otherwise they just melt against tanks but the kombi-rockets are good and can dent pretty much anything. They aren’t the fastest but if you want them to be at the front they will do their job well. Good, but uninspiring.
- Overall: 7/10
Beauty Da Morkanaut
Beauty Da Morkanaut is the big end-game piece for the Orks. If you want to slowly wander forward taking no damage and being exceedingly hard to kill then you need this beauty. Despite being heavy on the micro, it is worth it as Beauty as so many skills to repair, absorb, heal, reinforce. Works best in a heavy melee army. Meganobz, nobz, deff dreads etc are all decent picks. The only thing I would say about the Morkanaut is that it doesn’t synergise very well with the early game army but if you last until the endgame, Beauty is pretty nice to have around.
- Overall: 8/10
Gorkanaut
If morkanauts are the immoveable object then the Gorkanaut is the unstoppable force. If you want to literally one-shot your opponent’s entire army, then take the gorkanaut. The orbital meteor rocket fist skill is absurd. It does well over 25% to the opponent’s core and instakills every tank in the game. It also does about 20% to other titans. This is all without mentioning the mega gattler that can turn light infantry into a fine mist. But. Both these abilities are on a long cooldown and if you are in a big fight don’t expect much from the gorkanaut after these first two skills. Gorkanauts are there to win a fight in 10 seconds. Deff Dredd rushes and offensive armies work best with a gorkanaut because you can just smash everyone aside and keep going. Potent, but in small doses.
- Overall: 8/10
Stormboyz
Stormboyz are a funny thing to be made into an elite. To all intensive purposes they are really good assault marines, but really nothing more. Early game they can be devastating but as soon as you start getting 3 or 4 unit fights they become less overwhelming. They function exactly like marines and are not good enough to take over something else.
- Overall: 4/10
Eldar
Wraithknight Taldeer
Wraithknight Taldeer seems really good on paper, and she is. A jumping melee titan has to be good. However, Taldeer suffers from being a unit entirely opposed to the Eldar archetype but still being an eldar; melee but squishy. Unless Taldeer gets a good positive K/D in terms of titans she probably hasn’t made up her value. The ability to close with another titan is a blessing and a curse because it allows her to do her work quickly, but being that close to so many plasma guns, lascannons and rokkits can’t be good for your health. She’s good, but not that good.
- Overall: 8/10
Wraithknight
A ranged Wraithknight is the other titan option for Eldar, and this is by far the better of the two. An outrageous beam attack which I can personally testify to leave 3 or 4 teams instantly rage quit is great to have and coupled with the manoeuvrability of elder and the free wraith recall it’s possible to make a hard push and still escape unscathed. I really like the wraithknight and is good enough to build a whole strategy around. Very solid, never a bad pick.
- Overall: 9/10
Farseer Macha
Farseer Macha has really good utility options. Early game she can deal a lot of damage with her throwing spear and can couple this with her stasis field. The stasis field itself can also be a powerful late game option both offensively and defensively. Whilst her damage output and toughness are both low she allows other units to shine. Her doctrine is also worth taking her for as it provides extra time on the battlefield for your elites. Hard to use properly but she can shine in the right hands.
- Overall: 8/10
Striking Scorpions
Striking Scorpions are a pretty powerful early game unit that can be super strong if combined with plenty of banshees. They are probably one of the best unit elites you can get early on but as with some of the unit elites they scale badly towards the late game. A good unit to be aggressive with but still some back up to really shine. 2 units of banshees or some dire avengers can really make this units hard to deal with early in a game. Good for an aggressive army, probably better in 1v1s.
- Overall: 6/10
Jain Zar
Newer players to the game might see Jain Zar as a really strong elite, and in certain situation, she is. Very high damage output and capable to assassinating early game elites at will she provides nice harassment and offensive options early on. She does however require a lot of your time in game to utilise. You need to be constantly moving her around and spotting isolated units to get her value. If you are playing in larger games then there might be more time to use her, but she will be less effective. Nice to have, but having her is more of a bonus rather than a requirement.
- Overall: 5/10
Warp Spiders
Warp Spiders are like a better version of the Mad Dredd as they have 4 ways to teleport troops forward rather than 1. They are a good unit to have as they can make the already illusive elder impossible to find. While their doctrines are average they are a nice unit to have available. Probably not a unit you’ll use every game but when they hit the spot, they might just win you a game on their own.
- Overall: 7/10
Ranger Ronahn
Ranger Ronahn really struggles to find a place in the elder army. His attacks are slow and don’t do enough damage to justify taking him. His long range shot has little real use outside of some cheesy strategies to place units behind enemy lines but this rarely works. His doctrines to help rangers are nice but totally superfluous to requirements. 3 elite points is too steep for what he brings.
- Overall: 4/10
Autarch Kyre
Autarch Kyre is an enigma, wrapped up in a deceit folded within a mystery. Basically he’s hard to analyse. He is the only elite you do not get to use in the campaign which is a shame as there is little incentive to spend 200 skulls to find out what he does. His abilities should be fine and he works well as a harasser, but he relies on the rest of your army to spot targets for him. The ability to turn into a skimmer is nice in some maps but the risk of accidentally flying into an enemy army mid game outweighs his utility as a harasser for me.
- Overall: 5/10
Written by Rhúnon.
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