Howling Banshee Squad

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This article is part of the Dawn of War Player's Guide. From RelicWiki

This article has been updated for Soulstorm. The Dark Crusade version is now archived.

Dawn of War Squad

Howling Banshee Squad
Race	Eldar
Version	Soulstorm v1.2
Build Info
Hotkey H	Build Cost 200 0  2 Build Time 28 s Built From Aspect Portal Squad Size 4/9 Requires local Howling Banshees Aspect Stone Limit None
Unit Stats
Hitpoints	385/1
Armour	Infantry High
Morale	400/15/150
Death Penalty	-10
Unit Mass	10
Move Speed	16
Sight Radius	25 (cannot detect)
Reinforcement
Reinforce Cost	50 0
Reinforce Time	10 s
Weapons
Ranged	Shuriken Pistol
Melee	Power Sword

Contents 1 Howling Banshee Squad 2 Tactics 3 Squad Leaders 3.1 Howling Banshee Exarch 4 Abilities 4.1 Fleet of Foot 5 Weapons 5.1 Shuriken Pistol 5.2 Power Sword 6 Researchable Upgrades 6.1 Call of War 6.2 Fleet of Foot Research 6.3 Wargear: Improved Optics 6.4 Wargear: Superior Optics 6.5 Wargear: Reinforced Armour 6.6 Wargear: Enhanced Reinforced Armour 7 The Dawn of War Player's Guide

Howling Banshee Squad

"We are the harbingers of death."

An aspect chosen mostly by female Eldar, Howling Banshees focus on close-quarters combat, their power swords being their weapon of choice. They charge into battle chanting death calls, their distorted masks meant to shock and break the enemy before the Howling Banshees close the range and bring down their blades.

Tactics

Howling Banshees are the melee specialists for the Eldar. Alone and unupgraded, they are outmatched by other races, but when upgraded sufficiently and used in conjunction with other Aspect Warriors, Banshees can outmatch and outpace other melee specialists.

Howling Banshees are extremely agile: when thrown about or disrupted, they only require half a second to recover and resume their attack. Though extremely light initially and very vulnerable to being spread out by area of effect disruption, the armour upgrades reduce the distance that they fly when knocked about.

Call of War is a critical upgrade in order for Howling Banshees to be used at their fullest. The extreme boost to damage, HP, and Exarch staying power immediately transform Banshees into incredibly powerful forces. Because of this, it is recommended as the first upgrade to get once the Soul Shrine is up if you have any Howling Banshees out already (The DPS tables below reflect this by not giving any values for optics upgrades without Call of War).

The Call of War upgrade also boosts the running speed of Howling Banshees by a full 33% and enables charge bonuses. This means that Banshees using the Fleet of Foot ability will move as quickly as a Predator or Rhino, while within close range of the enemy they will move even faster to close into melee. This can be used to your advantage against troops with a setup time or against ranged specialists to negate their firepower.

The Howling Banshee Exarch is a large source of the squad's effectiveness. In addition to the sheer power of her Executioner when upgraded with Call of War, the Exarch's 15% addition to damage to the rest of the squad means that her presence can easily tip the favor of a skirmish in the favor of the Banshees.

Their vehicle and building damage is relatively low compared to their infantry damage, so it is best to leave those targets to be handled by Fire Dragon Aspect Warriors or Wraithlords. Howling Banshees with an Exarch are, however, Eldar's most cost-efficient anti-building units in Tier 1, so should you choose the Banshee Aspect at the beginning of the game you can harass Listening Posts and Generators far more efficiently than with either Guardians or Dark Reapers.

A weakness to Banshees on the charge is that they can be taken down by massed ranged firepower from units such as Heavy Bolter-armed Space Marines or Tau Fire Warriors behind a Snare Trap. Usage of a Falcon Grav Tank's transport capabilities can circumvent this, jumping in two Banshee squads in the middle of those set up weapons with minimal damage taken.

Squad Leaders

Maximum Squad Leaders Allowed: 1

Howling Banshee Exarch

	Howling Banshee Exarch			Hotkey: L
	Cost	80 25	Build Time	15 s
	Requirements	Nothing
	Effects	Increases the squad's weapon damage by 15%. Provides the War Shout ability after Call of War is researched.

Abilities

Fleet of Foot

	Fleet of Foot			Hotkey: F
	Requires	Fleet of Foot Research
	Target Types	Self
	Range	0
	Area of effect	Entire squad	Cooldown time	Toggled ability
Effects	When activated, the squad moves 50% faster but loses 50% accuracy with all weaponry.

Weapons

Shuriken Pistol

	Shuriken Pistol
Damage Per Second Values Infantry Vehicles Buildings Daemons Morale Base Damage Low Med High H.Med H.Hi Cmdr Low Med High Air Low Med High Med High DPS Base Min Max Min.D Initial DPS: 3.6 4.4 2.0 2.4 0.7 1.1 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 2.3 0.7 0.4 1 6 11 1 With Exarch: 4.1 5.1 2.3 2.8 0.7 1.3 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 2.7 0.7 0.4 1 6.9 12.7 1
Cost	Default Weapon	Range	25	Setup Time	0 s
Build Time	Default Weapon	Accuracy	70% (100% w/ Guide which increases the DPS by 42.9%)	Refire Rate	1 s
Area of Effect	0	Requires	Nothing

Power Sword

	Power Sword
Damage Per Second Values Infantry Vehicles Buildings Daemons Morale Base Damage Low Med High H.Med H.Hi Cmdr Low Med High Air Low Med High Med High DPS Base Min Max Min.D Initial DPS: 19.8 19.7 18.3 18.3 16.8 4.4 10.7 6.1 1.6 3.0 6.1 4.6 1.6 12.9 2.7 4.5 11 31 44 2 With Exarch: 22.8 22.7 21.0 21.0 19.3 5.1 12.3 7.0 1.6 3.5 7.0 5.3 1.6 14.8 3.1 4.5 11 35.7 50.6 2 With Improved Optics: 22.2 22.1 20.5 20.5 18.8 5.0 12.0 6.8 1.6 3.4 6.8 5.1 1.6 14.4 3.1 4.5 11 35.7 48.4 2 With Improved Optics and Exarch: 25.5 25.4 23.6 23.6 21.6 5.7 13.7 7.9 1.6 3.9 7.9 5.9 1.6 16.6 3.5 4.5 11 41.0 55.7 2 With Call of War: 26.3 26.2 24.3 24.3 22.3 5.9 14.2 8.1 1.6 4.1 8.1 6.1 1.6 17.2 3.6 4.5 11 41.2 58.5 2 With Call of War + Exarch: 30.2 30.1 28.0 28.0 25.7 6.8 16.3 9.3 1.6 4.7 9.3 7.0 1.6 19.8 4.1 4.5 11 47.4 67.3 2 With Call of War + Improved Optics: 29.5 29.4 27.2 27.2 25.0 6.6 15.9 9.1 1.6 4.6 9.1 6.8 1.6 19.2 4.1 4.5 11 47.4 64.4 2 With Call of War + Improved Optics + Exarch: 33.9 33.8 31.3 31.3 28.8 7.6 18.3 10.5 1.6 5.3 10.5 7.8 1.6 22.1 4.7 4.5 11 54.5 74.1 2 With Call of War + Superior Optics: 34.8 34.7 32.1 32.1 29.5 7.8 18.7 10.7 1.6 5.4 10.7 8.0 1.6 22.6 4.8 4.5 11 54.5 77.3 2 With Call of War + Superior Optics + Exarch: 40.0 39.9 36.9 36.9 33.9 9.0 21.5 12.3 1.6 6.2 12.3 9.2 1.6 26.0 5.5 4.5 11 62.7 88.9 2
Cost	Default Weapon	Range	Melee	Setup Time	0 s
Build Time	Default Weapon	Accuracy	65% (95% w/ Guide which increases the DPS by 46.1%)	Refire Rate	0.8 s
Area of Effect	0	Requires	Nothing

Researchable Upgrades

Call of War

	Call of War			Hotkey: C
	Cost	100 100	Research Time	45 s
	Researched From	Soul Shrine
	Requires	Nothing
Effects	Increases the minimum and maximum damage of Howling Banshee Power Swords by 33% Increases Howling Banshees hitpoints by 195 per member Howling Banshee morale is doubled to 800 Howling Banshee and Howling Banshee Exarch movement speed is increased by 33% Howling Banshee Exarch's hitpoints are increased by 355 Howling Banshee Exarch's Power Sword is upgraded to an Executioner Enables the Howling Banshee Exarch's War Shout ability

Fleet of Foot Research

	Fleet of Foot Research			Hotkey: F
	Cost	50 50	Research Time	60 s
	Researched From	Webway Assembly
	Requires	Nothing
Effects	Activates the Fleet of Foot ability for Guardian Squads, Ranger Squads, Howling Banshee Squads, Dark Reaper Squads, Fire Dragon Squads, Farseer, and the Seer Council.

Wargear: Improved Optics

	Wargear: Improved Optics			Hotkey: G
	Cost	100 50	Research Time	60 s
	Researched From	Soul Shrine
	Requires	Nothing
Effects	Improves Guardian Squad Shuriken Catapult damage by 25%. Improves the Howling Banshee Squad Power Sword minimum damage by 15% and maximum damage by 10%. Improves Dark Reaper Squad Reaper Launcher damage by 50%. Increases Dark Reaper Squad Reaper Launcher range by 5. Improves Fire Dragon Fusion Gun damage by 25%. Improves Warp Spider Squad Death Spinner damage by 25%. Equips Rangers with their Long Rifle Tier 2.

Wargear: Superior Optics

	Wargear: Superior Optics			Hotkey: G
	Cost	150 100	Research Time	60 s
	Researched From	Soul Shrine
	Requires	Wargear: Improved Optics, Moblize to War
Effects	Improves Guardian Squad Shuriken Catapult damage by a further 25% (56% total). Improves Howling Banshee Squad Power Sword minimum damage by a further 15% (32% total) and maximum damage by a further 20% (32% total). Improves Dark Reaper Squad Reaper Launcher damage by a further 50% (125% total). Increases Dark Reaper Squad Reaper Launcher range by a further 5 (10 total). Improves Fire Dragon Fusion Gun damage by a further 25% (56% total). Improves Warp Spider Squad Death Spinner damage by a further 40% (75% total). Equips Rangers with their Long Rifle Tier 3.

Wargear: Reinforced Armour

	Wargear: Reinforced Armour			Hotkey: A
	Cost	100 50	Research Time	60 s
	Researched From	Soul Shrine
	Requires	Nothing
Effects	Increases the maximum HP of Guardians by 25% to 263. Increases the maximum HP of Rangers by 15% to 322. Increases the maximum HP of Howling Banshees by 90 and the Howling Banshee Exarch by 235 to 475 and 670 respectively (670 and 1025 respectively with Call of War). The mass of Howling Banshees increases by 10, making them less vulnerable to knockback attacks. Increases the maximum HP of Dark Reapers by 15% and the Dark Reaper Exarch by 25% to 518 and 806 respectively. Increases the maximum HP of Fire Dragons and the Fire Dragon Exarch by 25% to 625 and 844 respectively. Increases the maximum HP of Warp Spiders and the Warp Spider Exarch by 15% to 707 and 995 respectively. Increases the maximum Morale of the Warp Spiders by 100 to 700.

Wargear: Enhanced Reinforced Armour

	Wargear: Enhanced Reinforced Armour			Hotkey: A
	Cost	150 100	Research Time	60 s
	Researched From	Soul Shrine
	Requires	Wargear: Reinforced Armour, Moblize to War
Effects	Increases the maximum HP of Guardians by a further 25% to 329. Increases the maximum HP of Rangers by a further 15% to 370. Increases the maximum HP of Howling Banshees by a further 200 and the Howling Banshee Exarch by a further 205 to 675 and 875 respectively (870 and 1230 respectively with Call of War). The mass of Howling Banshees is increased by a further 10 (20 total), making them even less vulnerable to knockback attacks. Upgrades the armor type of the Howling Banshees from 'Infantry High' to 'Infantry Heavy Medium,' providing further protection from attacks. Increases the maximum HP of Dark Reapers by a further 15% and the Dark Reaper Exarch by a further 25% to 597 and 1008 respectively. Increases the maximum HP of Fire Dragons and the Fire Dragon Exarch by a further 25% to 782 and 1055 respectively. Increases the maximum HP of Warp Spiders and the Warp Spider Exarch by a further 25% to 884 and 1244 respectively. Increases the maximum Morale of Warp Spiders by a further 100 to 800.

The Dawn of War Player's Guide

The Dawn of War Player's Guide - Thought of the day: Knowledge is power, guard it well.
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Vehicles Rhino Land Speeder Dreadnought Hellfire Dreadnought Land Speeder Tempest Predator Whirlwind Land Raider	Vehicles Chaos Rhino Defiler Chaos Predator Hell Talon	Vehicles Falcon Grav Tank Vyper Wraithlord Nightwing Shuriken Grav Platform Brightlance Grav Platform Fire Prism	Vehicles Wartrukk Wartrak Killa Kan Fighta-Bomma Looted Tank Squiggoth	Vehicles Chimera Sentinel Hellhound Basilisk Marauder Bomber Leman Russ Baneblade	Vehicles Devilfish Troop Carrier Skyray Missile Gunship Drone Squad Drone Harbinger Barracuda Hammerhead Gunship Krootox Greater Knarloc	Vehicles Tomb Spyder Attack Scarabs Destroyer Heavy Destroyer Lord Destroyer Restored Monolith	Vehicles Reaver Jetbike Raider Talos Raven Ravager Dais of Destruction	Vehicles Rhino Transport Immolator Lightning Fighter Exorcist Penitent Engine
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