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Crazed by poisonous concoctions, their dual daggers lacerate and shred for the Bloody-handed God.

Witch Elves are a Dark Elves Dark Elves melee infantry unit introduced in Total War: Warhammer II.

Recruitment[ | ]

Description[ | ]

Witch Elves are the cruellest of all their heartless race, for they live only to serve Khaine's malevolent demands for bloody, agonising sacrifice. Their observances to the Lord of Murder are blood-slicked affairs. Still-beating hearts are ripped from victim's chests and hurled into fires, writhing flesh is daubed with gore-red runes and altars are decorated with the entrails of dying captives. Yet ceremonies are but a part of the Witch Elves' worship - their truest observances take place upon the field of battle. On the eve of war, Witch Elves drink blood laced with poisonous barbs, driving them into a divine frenzy. Whilst in this god-touched state, they give no thought to their own defence, and seek only to hack foes apart in a blood-drenched orgy of slaughter. There is little grace to such an assault, merely a whirling storm of venom-coated blades that slash at the foe with maddened fury. Those enemies unfortunate enough to survive their wounds are rounded up by the Witch Elves at the battle's end. These poor souls are torn apart in wild victory celebrations, their blood offered in libation to the ever-thirsting Lord of Murder.

Attributes[ | ]

  • Wh2 main def infantry dual daggers Dual Dagger Infantry
  • Anti-Infantry: Anti-infantry units have an advantage against targets that are smaller than a horse. This advantage can be a damage bonus against small targets, superior weight used to smash through lighter enemies, or an explosive attack from range that effects a large area.
  • Madness of Khaine: The Witch Elves' venom makes its target susceptible to the Madness of Khaine – forcing it into a mindless, rampaging bloodlust.
  • Murderous Mastery: Merciless, frenzied agents of slaughter even when unprovoked, this unit takes especially well to Khaine’s murderous blessing.
  • Dodge: This highly dexterous unit dodges blades and missiles with ease; its luck is known to run out quickly when facing magical weapons, however.

Unit Abilities[ | ]

Active Abilities[ | ]

Passive Abilities[ | ]

Strategy[ | ]

General[ | ]

As a unit available from a Tier 2 building, Witch Elves are tempting buys in the early game. However they are also not cheap and should be viewed very much as luxuries, something to get a couple of once the core of your army has been sorted out.

Battle[ | ]

One of the most extreme glass cannons in the game, Witch Elves need to be deployed with a great deal of care. Their 20% Physical Resistance might lead you to believe they have some resilience, but this needs to be weighed against their exceptionally low hitpoints and armor. Discount them completely from your front line because if you put them there they will die the moment you take your eye off them. Instead they ideally should be behind or to the side of your line, looking for high value enemy troops to engage or hit from the flanks.

This section only applies to Total War: Warhammer II:

  • Ideally they should never be the only unit attacking an enemy unit; the Madness of Khaine! debuff is the sauce that's going to enable them to give you value by melting infantry units quickly.

Their speed and Dodge also allows them to chase down careless ranged units that get too close, although again such a tactic has to be measured against their very scant health.

Following Patch 4.2.0, the witch elves receive some changes:

  • The Madness of Khaine! contact effect was replaced with Poison!.
  • They gain the Witchbrew ability with one use.

With these changes, the Witch Elves have become better duelists especially thanks to Witchbrew which gives them a massive offensive stat buffs but at the cost of becoming uncontrollable thanks to having rampage in the ability.

Video Guide[ | ]

Changelog[ | ]

Patch 4.2.0[ | ]

  • Added Ability: Witchbrew (Single Usage)
  • Removed Contact Effect: Madness of Khaine
  • Added Contact Effect: Poison

Gallery[ | ]

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