High Elves

The High Elves are a race introduced in Total War: Warhammer II. They have six playable factions, each led by a different Legendary Lord.

The High Elves are an ancient, proud race who dwell on the island-continent of Ulthuan, once home to all Elves. The High Elf military consists of small numbers of highly-disciplined elite troops which march to war alongside powerful spellcasters, dragons, and phoenixes. High Elves are also masters of diplomacy and trade, able to manipulate other factions to suit themselves.

How they play
A summary of High Elves gameplay:
 * Units: High Elves have a varied unit roster including spellcasters and dragons. High Elf armies tend to focus on quality over quantity.
 * Martial Prowess: In battle, High Elf armies gain extra bonuses while they are at high strength.
 * Intrigue and Influence: On the campaign map, High Elves can spend this resource to manipulate other factions or to recruit powerful characters.
 * Espionage and Trade: When High Elves make a trade agreement, they gain vision of that faction's territory. They also benefit greatly from trade in general.
 * Rites: High Elves access to various rites, which grant bonuses on the campaign map.
 * Lileath's Blessing: An army stance which replaces channelling and has greater bonuses.
 * Sword of Khaine: High Elf factions, as with other Elf factions, can draw the Sword of Khaine.
 * Tutorial race: This race is rather straightforward, and so anyone new to the franchise should play as them as they are good at pretty much everything, and Eataine is very forgiving, with Avelorn also being quite easy.

Background
"Our beautiful land is besieged on all sides, but we resist like our fathers before us. We will emerge victorious and more intractable than ever to these turbulent times, when our corrupt brothers come to ravage our shores. We are the Asur, the sons of Aenarion and Ulthuan shall never fall."

The High Elves – or Asur, as they call themselves – are among the oldest civilisations in the world; possibly, only the jungle-dwelling Lizardmen can lay claim to a longer existence. Although mortal, Elves lead incredibly long lives; so long in fact that the spans allotted to humans seem to be as fleeting as those of mayflies. From the fortress-paradise of Ulthuan near the centre of the world, the High Elves – although aloof and arrogant – have generally walked the path of Order, using their longevity to become warriors without peer and mages without equal.

The ancient High Elves have long stood guard over the world, ensuring it remains in balance – daemonic efforts of hordes of Chaos and the foolish meddling of younger, ‘lesser’ races notwithstanding. The High Elves are both conceited and detached, no doubt due to their immense longevity and the comparative isolation of their island kingdom of Ulthuan, which encourage such a worldview to a great extent. Whereas in other races such traits could prove fatal, in the Asur’s case they are assets, for the Elves have used them to attain knowledge and skills in magic and war that far outstrip those of almost all their historical adversaries.

However, the Asur are also a race in decline. Though still a great power with a powerful navy and wide influence, their once global empire has been reduced to just Ulthuan and a few outposts. The Asur were never a numerous people, and bitter wars against the Dark Elves and Dwarfs have reduced them to a fraction of their former strength.

Though their numbers grow fewer with every passing year, the Asur will die before they let their island homeland fall.

Unit Roster

 * Main article: High Elves unit roster

The High Elves enjoy a balanced unit roster which isn't lacking in any particular area. They have infantry, cavalry, strong missile troops, artillery, flying units, versatile spellcasters, and powerful monsters. Most High Elf units have decent armour (though not particularly tough), good leadership, and fairly fast movement. High Elf troops tend to be expensive, as they rely on quality over quantity. Star Dragons are the most powerful variety of dragons in the game and arguably the strongest mounts.

High Elf Mages generally have access to either the Lore of High Magic, Lore of Shadows, Lore of Heavens, Lore of Light, or Lore of Life. With The Total Waaagh! Update, High Elf Mages have access to the Lore of Beasts, Lore of Fire, Lore of Metal and the Lore of Death.
 * Magic

Loremasters of Hoeth and Teclis each have access to 6 different spells from 6 different lores of magic, although lore-wise they can access them all.

Also, Mages can be recruited with character traits that give them access to Transmutation of Lead, Gehenna's Golden Hounds, Melkoth's Mystifying Miasma, The Enfeebling Foe, or Urannon's Thunderbolt in addition to their main lore.

Martial Prowess

 * Main article: Martial Prowess

High Elves excel as warriors, having trained in martial disciplines for the equivalent of many men's lifetimes

Martial Prowess is a mechanic that gives the High Elves extra stat bonuses in melee combat when they enter a battle at full health (+12 Melee Defence, +2 Melee Attack). Once the strength of a unit drops below 50%, the Martial Prowess bonuses are lost. Thus, High Elves tend to perform better in the first half of a battle – in campaign, it is important to quickly crush enemies to avoid taking too many losses. Martial Prowess is also important because High Elves units, while having good armour, tend to not be particularly tough – relying on ranged units to soften up the enemy. So, Martial Prowess helps the High Elves withstand the initial charges of the enemy. When facing High Elves, it's good to strip as many high value units of Martial Prowess or Martial Mastery before the melee begins. This means switching the focus of missile attacks to a new target once the current one drops below 50% HP.

In the Campaign
High Elves are a normal, non-horde race who occupy settlements and control provinces.

Playable subfactions
In campaign, there are six playable High Elves factions, each with its own starting position, led by separate Legendary Lords, and having different climate preferences. See individual pages for faction-specific info.

NPCs

 * Loremaster Talarian: Provides quests for the High Elves
 * Squire Galifreius: Provides quests related to the rituals for High Elves

Vortex Rituals
In the Eye of the Vortex campaign, High Elves compete to control the Great Vortex by using Rituals.

Influence and Intrigue at the Court
Influence is a unique resource/currency for the High Elves. It can be gained in various ways and spent to recruit powerful characters or to influence diplomacy via the Intrigue at the Court menu accessed on the campaign map. See the above-linked article for more information.

Espionage and Trade
Espionage gives the High Elves an infiltrator with every faction they have a trade agreement with. This is similar to a defensive alliance, except you won't get pulled into unwise wars with your trade partner as you would with an ally. Additionally, High Elves have extra bonuses allowing them to earn lots of money from trade. On the campaign map, this puts Eataine in a strong position as they start near many friendly factions who are willing to trade. Thus, trade is even more vital to the High Elves than it is for Dwarfs or Empire factions.

Fortress Gates
Fortress Gates are a special type of settlement. Though not specific to the High Elves, they are found mostly in Ulthuan. They have larger garrisons but no building slots. Siege engines cannot be built, which makes them significantly more difficult to attack.

Rites

 * Main article: High Elves rites

High Elves can perform several rites to give them various powerful bonuses. The Rite of Vaul is particularly noteworthy as it causes an event to happen which gives the player a choice of several powerful items.

Alarielle, Eltharion, Alith Anar, and Imrik have variations of the standard rites or brand new ones.

Buildings

 * Main article: High Elves buildings

Technology

 * Main article: High Elves tech tree

Inventory

 * High Elves items
 * High Elves followers
 * High Elves banners

Stances
High Elves have access to the following stances:


 * Special: Lileath's Blessing
 * Common: March, Encamp, Ambush, Raiding.

Nagarythe have access to two stances unique to their faction.

Post-battle options
The post-battle options for High Elves are as follows:


 * Ransom captives
 * Execute captives
 * Force Labour

Commandments
See the article on commandments for a list of High Elves commandments.

Climate preferences
High Elves climate preferences differ depending on which faction you play. See the climate article for more info.

High Elves names
See also: High Elves names

Minor Factions
Minor factions grouped under the High Elves race, using High Elves units. Not all minor factions are found in all campaigns.


 * Chrace
 * Cothique
 * Caledor
 * Tiranoc
 * Ellyrion
 * Saphery
 * Tor Elasor
 * Fortress of Dawn
 * Citadel of Dusk
 * Tor Elithis Refugees - technically a rogue armies faction

During a Chaos Invasion, the AI High Elves factions gain the Shield of Civilization trait along with certain other races.