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Technology

3K views 37 replies 26 participants last post by  Col. Schafer 
#1 ·
Who's more advanced technologically, eldar or tau? Not in terms of game rules or anything but in fluff.
 
#2 ·
I would have to say Tau. There tech is advancing at such a rate that if it isn't more advanced right this second then by the time you read...



... this, then it will be.

Whats more Eldar tech is based more on spirits stones than anything else so theres a limit on what can be done with it. Tau tech doesn't rely on any one particuler thing so they use anything they can get there hands on.
 
#4 ·
I would say it is hard to compare considering The Tau is a relatively new race and the Eldar is virtually extinct. Personally, if I had to compare the two technologically as of right now, I would say Eldar. They conquered the galaxy and owned the stars, and they still possess the technology that contributed to that.
 
#5 ·
Not sure if that's true. I'm sure I've read that the Eldar have forgotten how plenty of technology works. It's just they have a valid excuse unlike the Imperium that has practically done everything in it's power to forget.

The Tau are behind the Eldar and will be for some time. Eldar technology manipulates the warp and only one race has managed to surpass them technologically by means purely of the materium.
 
#7 ·
Hmmm..... lets see here..... The Eldar have warp technology. Oops, did they just win the battle? Seriously, the Tau have nothing that compares to the power of the warp. Tau have awesome suits with cammle toed pilots, the Eldar have awesome suits with x-conehead spirits as pilots. We have mastered the art of crystaline lasers and plasma weaponry. On the other hand, Tau do have a better understanding of "programming". by that I mean they have bomb targeting capabilities and pin-point accuracy. Their skimmers still have the occasional problem of crashing, at least more than the good 'ol Falcons :biggrin:. I think there is a huge difference in the TYPE of technology they both excel in. The Tau are good with "programming" and are really tech. support styled. The Eldar are good with break-through, "no other race can touch this scientific feat" type technology (more scientific). When it comes down to it, Eldar still win in my books

Mark one win for the cone heads!
Mark one loss for the cammle toes!

Hm, how hard is this Eldar "super psycher" stuff? Let me give mind war a try. VOTE FOR ELDAR OR I WILL RIP YOUR BIG TOE OFF......:angry:



Did it work?
 
#9 ·
The Eldar do not rely on psych for anti-gravity. The sprirt stones do nothing but help pilot. The spirit within doesnt make the thing fly, they require jet engines just like everyone else :biggrin:. I think the Eldar surpass the Tau with their holo-fields and vecotred ENGINES. But for real, the Tau marker lighting is primitive by concept, but still totally bad ass.
 
#10 · (Edited)
Tau don't even come close to Eldar tech. Just look at the weaponry. The pinnacle of Tau firepower is the railgun (hyper-accelerated magnetic propulsion) ... the Eldar use this for their basic weapon that just about everyone gets: Shurikan weaponry.
Wraithcannons/Distort-Cannons open a stable warp-hole that will completely obliterate anything it hits. Tau get headaches trying to comprehend that the Warp even exists.
Eldar armour responds to impacts and re-inforces the area hit. Tau armour is still just solid material.

EDIT:

Just to add to what I said, the Dark Eldar have an even better grasp of technology then Craftworld Eldar. Their vehicles and weapons all utilise their technology on a far more sophisticated level.
 
#12 ·
They're actually still using the webway for the use of portals, they simply open a gateway to the webway tunnels where their units are waiting. Dark Eldar still avoid the warp as much as any other Eldar.
 
#13 ·
Shurikan weapons could also be described as a shotgun. A shotgun that fires molecular size disks. Woo-hoo.

Eldar tech also relies heavily on wraithbone, and spirit stones. Plus, most of Eldar technology, isn't technology. It's magic. Think about it. How do Eldar make vehicles? They sing wraithbone into shape. How does Iyanden continue to fight? They have a host of undead spirits trapped in wraithbone armor.

Meanwhile, the Tau BUILD the things they use, piece by piece. Seeing as the best and brightest of Eldar "technology" is a Fire Prism, which is in all regards an oversized Lascannon, I'd say the Ion Cannon beats it for higher tech.

The Tau do have one critical failing though: They are not able to use Warp travel. But then again, neither are the Eldar. The Eldar (and their more fascinating and highly unpleasent cousins) use the Webway instead. But this also raises the question, does the Webway go everywhere? Would the Eldar be unable to use it to go anywhere?

So, with both the failings in mind, the Eldar are more advanced, yes, but the Tau have better technology.

-Dirge
 
#14 ·
This is a fairly ambiguous question. It's like asking whether or not Japan or America is more advanced in Technologies. Japan is by far ahead in the field of Robotics, but America is ahead in the field of Silcon.

Both the Tau and the Eldar are advanced in various ways, each having certain advantages over the other. While Eldar have a better understanding of the Warp and can utilize it to greater extents, the Tau's knowledge of Mecha far surpasses anything in the galaxy, save with the guarded knowledge of the Machine Cult.

Tyranid aren't exactly advanced, since their "technologies" reside primarily in bio-engineering, exceeding every other race we know of. But a Venon Cannon will tear through infantry as easily as a rail-gun.

One also has to consider Orks, who inherently know how to build, operate and loot/modify other races vehicles. They could construct their own Mecha, albieght with their own unique dangerous, that would work just as well as Tau Mecha, in Orc opinion anyway.

As far as Eldar "magic" is concerned, anything beyond what we understand is usually attributed to magic. Travel back to the age of smithing with a blow tourch and they'd thinkg you were the devil himself. "Singing" could easily be considered harmonically based/tuned technologies. (Kind of nifty if you think about it)
 
#15 ·
IMO the Tau in terms of making stuff out of raw materials like Battlesuites (I know the Eldar have like warwalker things that a pilot can get in but they look like really bad chicken walkers and aren't much of an actual suit.) and Railguns and things to anihilate the enemy the Tau seem more advanced.

But then again manipulating the warp like the Eldar do with D-Cannons and making the webway (Back when they knew how to anyway) has/had to require quite a high level of techonology don't you think?

Also supposedly Eldar Wraithbone is stronger than Adamantium. Anyone else heard this?
 
#17 ·
Just because you don't understand it doesn't mean it isn't scientifically founded. Sufficiently advanced tech, is, after all, indistinguishable from magic. that Tau technology is understandable is just proof that it is not nearly so advanced.

Technological superiority in 40K goes something in this order.

Kroot are the lowest tech race. They have a second-hand understanding of Orkish technology.

Orks are next. They have crude technology that can't actually function on its own merit.

Chaos has some human technology, but their understanding of it has devolved as their own tech relies much on the rules of a fundamentally different universe to the main one. I would hesitate to call anything manufactured in the warp technological as warp technology does not rely on concrete analysis and application of laws.

Humans and Tau are roughly equatable. Human technology runs the gamut from sticks with rocks tied on to single examples that approach the Eldar's lower technology levels. This range makes it very hard to calculate some sort of mean technology level. Tau have more examples of more 'sleek' technology, but I would hesitate to call most of it more advanced. It is simply applied in a more useful way because of a lack of mysticism. Tau also have a lower technology peak, and significant gaps, namely any warp-based tech.

Eldar are much more advanced than either. Their technology has plateaued before humanity existed, and has advanced beyond ability to comprehend. Most significantly, their wap-based technology has advanced to the point where it is integrated into the most basic functionings of their society.

Tyranids are easily forgotten. However lacking they may be in their other fields, they are masters of biotechnology to such an extent that no other species is remotely comparable. Since they have evolved along a different technological path comparison is difficult, but they have clearly reached the absolute limits of biotechnology. I would put them around or above the Eldar as they have pushed their primary field of technological advance further.

The C'tan, sinc they provided the Necrons with their technology, are the undisputed masters of technology. This is expected, as their comprehension and mastery of the physical universe is equatable to the Chaos god's mastery of their own.
 
#18 ·
The C'tan, sinc they provided the Necrons with their technology, are the undisputed masters of technology. This is expected, as their comprehension and mastery of the physical universe is equatable to the Chaos god's mastery of their own.
I thought the technology was originally created by the Necrontyr but the C'tan could manipulate it in ways they could not understand?

Certainly the original necrodermis bodies of the C'tan were created by the Necrontyr.
 
#21 ·
Tau firearms technology is not more advanced. Humanity will be able to replicate all of theTau's weapon systems in several dozen years, but gravitonic propulsion is well beyond us. It requires both a vastly deeper understanding of the physical structure of the universe and a massive level of pure science research.
 
#23 ·
Eldar are the trust fund babies of the 40K universe. Practically everything they have was handed to them by the Slaan. They really aren’t all that creative except in terms of psychics. That doesn’t mean that their tech isn’t top notch however. You may hate their daddy’s credit card, but it has a hell of a limit.

Tau on the hand have no ability with psychics at all, but they are really tech savvy, and growing at a rapid clip. This advancement isn’t, by any stretch of the imagination, certain or potentially unlimited. They may hit a plateau that they can’t get over. It can and does happen as the standard pattern of advancement, barring outside help. Unfortunately they haven’t gotten to the point where they can match off against the Eldar in terms of how advanced they are overall.

So right now, Eldar. In the future, almost certainly Tau.
 
#24 ·
So right now, Eldar. In the future, almost certainly Tau.
Not necessarily. For Tau to become superior they would need time, that is something not guaranteed in the 40k universe. Im sure if the tyrinids hit Tau worlds all their tech wouldn't count for squat. And if they eventually tuned into the warp for means of travel or any other reason, im pretty sure their tech rate would slow as they dealt with chaos.

And would the Eldar let the Tau become the most technologically adept race in the universe, would they let the Tau surpass them...i don't think so, and to strike while their technology is still more advanced would probably beat the Tau down or at least slow their growth rate significantly.

Just a thought or two...
 
#28 ·
...but...

1 - the 'crusade' they stymied was partly abandonned due to the far more rapid and serious advances of the Tyrannid Hivefleets, since which time the Imperium's been pretty busy. If (sure, it's a big if) the Imperium could concentrate on the Tau for a relatively short time, the Tau would be finished. In a year or so, if that. They only have about 20 systems (or something). The Imperium has millions (or something). The numbers may be wrong, but's it's that magnitude of difference we're talking about.

2 - as was pointed out earlier, the Tau cannot colonise the Galaxy without FTL travel; as FTL travel in the 40k universe pretty much implies the Warp, they can't do that without increasing their psychic potential thereby exposing them to Chaos. The price of freedom from Chaos is being stuck in their local systems. Any Galaxy-wide race or empire implies susceptability to Chaos.

3 - you correctly I think state that the Eldar are to proud (and, let's face it, just racist) to learn from the Tau; but they're not so stupid as to let the potential competition steal the lead. They would crush the Tau without any qualms if they thought the Tau were a serious threat (if they could of course). The fact is, the Imperium is a bigger obstacle to the Eldar than the Tau, and I'm sure the Eldar are quite happy for the Tau to fight the Imperium and vice versa. The Eldar have time on their side. Let your two opponents exhaust each other, then pick over the pieces. That's what I'd do...

:playing the long game cyclops:
 
#29 ·
I will agree with you on 1 and 2, but my experience with the fluff of the eldar is that they are not interested in crushing other races that are not a threat to their way of life.

The Craftworlds are mainly concerned with the forces of Chaos because they're destroying the galaxy. The Eldar actually do not mind the Imperium so much. They just know how easily the humans can accidentally make things worse for everyone. The only other times the Eldar attack are when Farseers need to change the course of the future to avert greater threats, and if they are themselves under attack.

In the case of the Tau, they have the enlightened leadership of Aun'Va and the Ethereals to keep them from making the wrong decisions. It's hard to imagine a galaxy ruled by the Tau being nearly as bad as the current one, and the Farseers must be able to see that.
 
#30 ·
Who's to say what is right and wong? What is right to the Imperium may be wrong for the Tau. What is wrong for the Eldar may be right for the Tau etc....one mans dream is another mans nightmare. I haven't been in 40k very long and i don't have the wealth of knowledge some of you guys out there have but i have seen that the Eldar are racist and arrogant, im sure they would have no problem in handing the Tau their doom. But right now i think they've got their hands full with Slaanesh.

But the Tau are also a magnificently arrogant race...thinking their way is the correct and only way and then destroying those that dont believe. That doesn't seem very righteous to me. Sounds just as nasty as the rest of the galaxy. But if they keep on going like that they'll end up pissing someone off enough to where they get there arses handed to them in bin bags.
 
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