Welcome to the Dark City! If you’ve always been Drukhari-curious but never knew how best to approach this weird collection of torture elves, Frankenstein elves, and pirate boats, then this is the article for you. We’ll take a look at the Drukhari in 10th edition in their faction focus, and break down their detachment in their Detachment Focus. All other competitive content related to Drukhari will appear here, too.
Faction Overview
The Drukhari are the dark mirror of the noble Aeldari. Where the Asuryani walk their dedicated Paths of restraint and avoidance of temptation, and the Harlequins dance in the safety of Cegorach’s protection, the Drukhari live much as the ancient Eldar did, indulging their every whim to excess and delighting in theri own mastery and power. Living this way opens their souls to the thirst of Slaanesh, who seeks to devour all of the ancient Aeldari race, but the Drukhari have found a way to stave this off – inflicting pain on others. To this end they raid the galaxy, endlessly seeking to inflict torment on those they believe are beneath them (which means every other species in the galaxy) in order to preserve their own damned souls.
In-game, the Drukhari retain many of the elven-style archetypes you might expect, but pushed to the extremes. They’re lightning-fast, fragile but punchy, with little heavy armour to speak of – though that is somewhat mitigated by the Pain and Parasite Engines of the Haemonculus Covens, which add a monstrous element to the usual elvish playstyle. Their preferred method of war is to blast targets apart with darklight (think lasers, but evil) and splinter (think bullets, but poisonous) weaponry at range, before closing in for a savage melee kill.
The 10th edition index… does not quite get that playstyle right. In particular, a lot of the second part of that equation is supposed to be done by units that just don’t hit hard enough to do it right. Still, that’s the idea; hopefully in a future balance update or the as-yet-unannounced codex we’ll see some changes that make it function a little better.
How to Play Drukhari in Warhammer 40k
Looking for advice on how to play Drukhari? From getting started to playing at competitive events, we’ve got you covered with these articles.
- Competitive Faction Focus: Drukhari
- Detachment Focus: Realspace Raiders
- The Skysplinter Assault Detachment: The Goonhammer Review
- Hammer of Math: Drukhari Dance-Off
- Competitive Stats for the Drukhari
Hobby
Want to know how to paint your Drukhari? Whether you prefer the Cults, Kabals, or Covens, you can check out our How to Paint Everything guide for more info.
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