Tau Commander

From RelicWiki

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 Commander Unit

Tau Commander
Race	Tau
Version	Soulstorm v1.2
Build Info
Hotkey C	Build Cost 250 55  0 Build Time 50 s Built From Tau Barracks Unit Size 1 Requires Nothing Limit 1
Unit Stats
Hitpoints	1000/2
Armour	Commander
Morale	500/12/500
Unit Mass	25
Move Speed	16
Sight Radius	25 (cannot detect)
Attachable	No
Weapons
Ranged	Burst Cannon
Melee	Burst Cannon (melee)

Contents 1 Tau Commander 2 Tactics 3 Abilities 3.1 Snare Trap 3.2 Target Acquired 3.3 Jump Packs 3.4 Jumpshot 4 Weapons 4.1 Burst Cannon 4.2 Burst Cannon (melee) 5 Weapon Upgrades 5.1 Flamer 5.2 Missile Pods 5.3 Fusion Blaster 5.4 Plasma Rifle 6 Researchable Upgrades 6.1 Jump Packs Research 6.2 Improved Metallurgy 7 The Dawn of War Player's Guide

Tau Commander

"I will lead us to victory!"

The Tau Commander is the primary hero of the Tau Empire. Encased in an experimental XV22 Battlesuit, he can use jump jets to quickly get into battle, ready to unleash a barrage of firepower from the many weapon systems his battlesuit can be outfitted with.

In Dark Crusade, Shas'o Kais was tasked with retaking the planet Kronus from its invaders. Commander Or'es'Ka led the Tau in their subjugation of the Kaurava System in Soulstorm.

Tactics

The Tau Commander does very good ranged damage and is good against all targets with the appropriate upgrades. It is important to keep the Tau Commander out of melee, which can be done by slowing enemies with Snare Traps and/or using jump packs to fall back and resume firing from safety. Enemies often target the snare traps, so a good tactic is throwing a Snare Trap behind the Commander, and then jumping behind it once the trap has gone invisible. It is possible to use snare traps rather then Kroot Carnivores to keep melee units away from Fire Warriors, but this should be a temporary arrangement and it requires extra Plasma Generators. However, Snare Traps are most effective in tandem with Kroot auxiliaries; for example, the Commander can lay Snare Traps below Fire Warriors to counter an enemy's jump infantry. The Snare Trap can also be laid on top of a Necron Lord, effectively making the Necron Lord think he got out of the wrong side of bed that morning.

In the early game when facing off at range versus other troops, jump your commander, upgraded with the Flamer, behind the enemy lines to quickly destroy enemy morale. In tier 2, the Tau Commander becomes an effective anti-vehicle unit with the Fusion Blaster and Missile Pods upgrades, but should be assisted by Stealth Suits upgraded with Fusion Blasters against numerous or durable vehicles. Late in the game, the Tau Commander should be used solely for laying Snare Traps and fire support. His low health and inability to attach to another squad means he must be kept behind the bulk of the Tau army and out of direct fire.

The Tau Commander has the lowest health out of all the primary commanders. He can only get his health to 1400 with both Improved Metallurgy and the Ethereal. He deals an amazing amount of damage once fully upgraded, but this firepower doesn't come cheap. A Tau Commander with all weapon upgrades costs 475 255  , and if he dies all upgraded weaponry is lost and must be repurchased when he is rebuilt.

One useful tactic to increase the survivability of the Tau Commander is to look first at his weaponry. With his fragile health, your best bet to keep him alive is through his Missle Pods, which outrange most non-Tau enemy infantry. Though this lessens his damage potential, this tactic can help harass the enemy while your assemble your troops for the assault. And since the enemy always has the tendency to move his/her forces to the area, you can have the chance to see what's in store for you when you finally attack.

Another very useful tactic is for the Tau Commander become a make-shift detection unit while no other allied detection units are in the vicinity. With some excess resources, have the Tau Commander make a wall of Snare Traps in an area or better yet, a choke point, do this as fast and tactical as possible. Though the snare traps do not give an area of sight, they can be monitored easily by memorizing their locations and with the red beam they emit. Once one or two Snare Traps have disappeared, it is easy to assume that your enemy has detected them or is on the move for an assault. This way you can gather your forces and repel an incoming attack. This may also serve as an early warning device as although your Snare Traps cannot detected infiltrated units, they still TRIGGER when one passes nearby. Be warned though, never EVER place one Snare Trap near the other as this will result in triggering more than one Snare Trap and a waste of resources.

Abilities

Snare Trap

	Snare Trap			Hotkey: N
	Requires	Nothing
	Target Types	Any enemy units
	Range	20
	Area of effect	4	Cooldown time	10 s
	Cost	35
Effects	Places a Snare Trap at the targeted spot on the ground. The trap can be attacked and destroyed as normal (50 HP, Building Low armor type), however it is Infiltrated after 10 seconds. When an enemy unit enters the Snare Trap's area of effect, all enemy units within a radius of 8 from the trigger unit have their weaponry cooldown tripled and lose 90% of their movement speed for 12 s. This destroys the snare trap. Troops with Teleport or Jump ability can use it to escape the effects of the trap. Units jumping or teleporting over a Snare Trap will not trigger a Snare Trap. Units landing in the trigger radius will set it off, but only the first unit to touch down will be affected.

Target Acquired

	Target Acquired			Hotkey: G
	Requires	Nothing
	Target Types	Infantry, Heavy Infantry, Commander, Daemon Medium
	Range	35
	Area of effect	0	Cooldown time	120 s
Effects	An instant high powered attack from the Tau Commander inflicting damage on the target. This ability automatically targets squad leaders over regular units in the squad.
Damage Values Infantry Vehicles Buildings Daemons Base Damage Low Med High H.Med H.Hi Cmdr Low Med High Air Low Med High Med High Morale Min Max Min.D 200 200 200 200 200 200 - - - - - - - 200 - 75 200 200 200

Jump Packs

	Jump Packs			Hotkey: J
	Requires	Jump Packs Research
	Target Types	Terrain
	Range	50
	Area of effect	None	Cooldown time	45 s
Effects	The Tau Commander quickly jumps over any intervening terrain to another location. At full charge the Tau Commander will have two jumps available, requiring 90 s total to charge.

Jumpshot

	Jumpshot
	Requires	Nothing
	Target Types	All enemy squads
	Range	Melee
	Area of effect	0	Cooldown time	Passive ability, once every 5 seconds
Effects	When engaging in melee, the Tau Commander jumps up and shoots the enemy with his main ranged weapon, not the Flamer or Missile Pod.

Weapons

Burst Cannon

	Burst Cannon
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: 23.1 34.7 34.7 30.8 27.0 19.3 11.6 7.0 7.0 NA 19.3 7.7 7.0 23.1 7.0 5.3 15 100 120 10
Cost	Default Weapon	Range	40	Setup Time	0 s
Build Time	Default Weapon	Accuracy	70%	Refire Rate	1 s
Area of Effect	0	Requires	Nothing

Burst Cannon (melee)

	Burst Cannon (melee)
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: 23.1 34.7 34.7 30.8 27.0 19.3 11.6 7.0 7.0 NA 19.3 7.7 7.0 23.1 7.0 5.3 15 100 120 10
Cost	Default Weapon	Range	Melee	Setup Time	0 s
Build Time	Default Weapon	Accuracy	70%	Refire Rate	1 s
Area of Effect	0	Requires	Nothing

Weapon Upgrades

Maximum Weapon Upgrades Allowed: 4

Flamer

	Flamer				Hotkey: F
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: 7.5 15.0 13.8 11.3 8.8 6.3 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 6.3 3.8 2.0 8.8 2.0 20 20 10 15 1
Cost	50 25	Range	15	Setup Time	0 s
Build Time	20 s	Accuracy	100%	Refire Rate	0.5 s
Area of Effect	Range 5 in a 60 degree arc	Requires	Nothing
Notes	The Flamer does not replace any existing weaponry.

Missile Pods

	Missile Pods				Hotkey: M
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: 5.3 5.3 5.3 5.3 5.3 5.3 50.1 36.4 18.2 50.1 22.8 13.7 9.1 5.3 13.7 8.8 50 200 320 15
Cost	50 50	Range	10-45	Setup Time	0 s
Build Time	20 s	Accuracy	70%	Refire Rate	2 s
Area of Effect	2.5	Requires	Path to Enlightenment
Notes	The Misile Pods do not replace any existing weaponry. This weapon does knockback (30-50 force).

Fusion Blaster

	Fusion Blaster				Hotkey: P
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: 28.7 24.4 30.1 17.5 17.5 35.9 57.4 50.2 18.7 NA 28.7 21.5 17.5 50.2 17.5 5.3 15.1 185 225 25
Cost	50 50	Range	20	Setup Time	0 s
Build Time	30 s	Accuracy	70%	Refire Rate	1 s
Area of Effect	0	Requires	Path to Enlightenment
Notes	The Fusion Blaster replaces the Burst Cannon when upgraded.

Plasma Rifle

	Plasma Rifle				Hotkey: P
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: 57.8 115.5 96.3 115.5 96.3 57.8 77.0 77.0 38.5 NA 38.5 38.5 38.5 57.8 57.8 7 20 250 300 25
Cost	75 75	Range	40	Setup Time	0 s
Build Time	25 s	Accuracy	70%	Refire Rate	1 s
Area of Effect	0	Requires	Fusion Blaster and Mont'Ka Command Post/Kauyon Command Post
Notes	The Plasma Rifle replaces the Fusion Blaster when upgraded.

Researchable Upgrades

Jump Packs Research

	Jump Packs Research			Hotkey: J
	Cost	50 25	Research Time	20 s
	Researched From	Cadre Headquarters
	Requires	Nothing
Effects	Gives the XV15 Stealth Team, Tau Commander, and Vespid Stingwing Strain the Jump Packs ability. Increases the movement speed of the Tau Commander by 25% to 20.

Improved Metallurgy

	Improved Metallurgy			Hotkey: I
	Cost	150 150	Research Time	25 s
	Researched From	Path to Enlightenment
	Requires	Kauyon Command Post
Effects	Fire Warrior armour is upgraded from Infantry Heavy Medium to Infantry Heavy High. Health of Fire Warriors increased by 10% to 374. 35% health bonus to Skyray Missile Gunship (1350 HP), Drone Harbinger (1013 HP), Drone Squad (439 HP), Barracuda (1687 HP), Krootox (8775 HP) and Greater Knarloc (10800 HP). Health of Tau Commander increased by 200 to 1200.

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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Infantry Servitor Scout Marine Squad Space Marine Squad Assault Marine Squad Grey Knights Terminator Squad Assault Terminator Squad Skull Probe Apothecary Force Commander Librarian Chaplain	Infantry Heretic Cultist Squad Chaos Space Marine Squad Raptor Squad Khorne Berzerker Squad Horror Squad Possessed Squad Obliterators Chaos Lord Chaos Sorcerer Daemon Prince Bloodthirster	Infantry Bonesinger Guardian Squad Ranger Squad Howling Banshee Squad Dark Reaper Squad Fire Dragon Squad Warp Spider Squad Harlequin Farseer Seer Council Avatar of Khaine	Infantry Gretchin Slugga Boy Squad Shoota Boy Squad Stormboyz Tankbustaz Nobz Squad Flash Gitz Mega Armoured Nobz Mad Dok Big Mek Warboss	Infantry Techpriest Enginseer Guardsmen Squad Heavy Weapons Team Kasrkin Ogryns Command Squad Commissar Psyker Priest Vindicare Assassin	Infantry Earth Caste Builder XV15 Stealth Team Vespid Stingwing Strain Fire Warrior Team Kroot Carnivores Kroot Shaper Pathfinder Team XV88 Broadside Battlesuit XV8 Crisis Battlesuit Kroot Hound Pack Tau Commander Ethereal Shas'Ui Bodyguard	Infantry Builder Scarabs Necron Warriors Wraith Flayed Ones Immortals Pariahs Necron Lord Essence of the Nightbringer Essence of the Deceiver	Infantry Tortured Slave Mandrake Squad Warrior Squad Hellion Squad Scourge Squad Wych Squad Warp Beast Pack Archon Haemonculus	Infantry Ecclesiarchal Servitor Missionary Battle Sister Squad Seraphim Squad Celestian Squad Death-Cult Assassin Sister Repentia Squad Canoness Avenging Angel Confessor Living Saint
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