The Dark Elves began many centuries ago during an Elven civil war. At that time there was an Elven prince named Mordain, and he wanted power to crush all his enemies, Elf or otherwise. In his mad search for power, he discovered the art of summoning evil creatures from another plane. Enraged, the High Elf council tried to purge themselves of Mordain and his followers, and in so doing caused the great Elven civil war. The High Elves won and banished Mordain and his followers to a island to the south. Unswayed by his situation, he continued to study the dark arts, and finally came up with one spell to wipe out the High Elves once and for all... or so he thought. He tried summoning 4 powerful Daemon princes from the nether plane, who were supposed to do his bidding. Well... he was half right. He summoned the four Daemon lords, but he had no control over them. Not only did they turn on, and destroy him, but the magical backlash that their passing caused, caused great earthquakes and floods - this time was called the "Sundering". Now the Dark Elves live alone and use their power of the dark arts to become the dominant power of Etheria...even if it is behind the scenes...

Wisp
Wisps are little bouncing balls of light. While they lack arms, legs or any real type of internal structure, they have the ability to build any structure. Wisps also have a nifty ranged attack that does cold damage, and in the end are roughly as powerful as an unupgraded imp. While they have decent build skill, they lack the fortitude of non-gelatinous builders, so they are unable to be put into mines.

Ancient Wisp
If a small Bouncing ball of goo doesn't suit you, for 100 Crystal you can morph 4 wisps into the larger Ancient Wisp. While as a builder, the Ancient Wisp is actually less effective than its smaller cousin, it is a much better fighter, being one of the best level 2 ranged units. And that's not all, Ancient Wisps also produce crystal like a level 2 Crystal mine. Once you build 30 or more of these bigger globs of goo, you'll never lack crystal again.

Dark Infantry
These Dark Elf infantry are built of gold and metal from the Tree of Pain. While they give a use to your Trees of Pain in the early game, these drop-outs of Dark Elf society are not worth much. They lack upgrades, or decent abilities. In the end, apart from a few exceptions, Spiders or Skeletons would be better.

Skeletons
Bane must have been late on his rent last month because he sub-leased his Undead to half the races of Etheria. The Skeletons come from the Tomb or Gravestones, and cost gold and metal. While these Skeletons don't get the same power as as their Undead brethren, they are still missle resistant and take resources the Dark Elves don't need much in the early game.

Spider
Built from the Tomb for a bit of stone, the Spider could be called the REAL Dark Elf basic infantry. While they don't have much power, they are ridiculously cheap, and very fast moving. They also cause poison, much to the dread of their enemies. A good use for the basic Spider is to be put on rampant to annoy converting enemy heroes.

Queen Spider
Queen Spiders cost gold and stone at the Tomb, and require a rune. These little beauties are the mothers of the basic Spiders, and it shows. The Queen Spiders are very respectable in stats, and can do everything the basic Spider can do, and more. Their best feature is the ability to turn their victims into an egg sac. It's a vicious cycle: a Queen Spider kills a ground unit and it makes an egg sac; after a few seconds the egg sac explodes into 4 regular Spiders. With Queen Spiders, the Dark Elf player should never worry about not having enough troops.

Dark Rider
One of the more interesting units the Dark Elves produce. Costing gold and metal, and requiring a rune, Dark Riders are produced at the Tree of Pain. While they only have meager stats, their power is in their special ability - triple damage to heroes. Many a hero has run for the hills when they see these bad-boys coming in mass.

Dark Archer
Little more than a Dark Infantry with a bow, these guys are the basic ranged units of the Dark Elves. Sadly overshadowed by the superior Dark Elf spellcasters, these archers are actually quite good ranged units in their own right. They receive full archer upgrades including flame arrow, and even cause poison. They cost gold, metal, and crystal so they might be too expensive for some people's taste.

Sorcerer
THE Dark Elf unit - far and away the most powerful unit they can produce. Costing gold and crystal at the Tree of Pain, they also get heavy upgrades from the Void. The Sorcerer is a very strong ranged unit in itself, but the major appeal is the spell "Pillar of Fire". Pillar of Fire cast by a dozen Sorcerers can level a base in short order. Sorcerers should be included with any Dark Elf army.

Spider Priestess
The second Dark Elf spellcaster, and a new unit in WBC3, costs stone and crystal from the Tree of Pain. While not the spellcasting juggernaut that the Sorcerer is, the Spider Priestess has a few tricks up her sleeve. First, while she does have a shorter range, she has more damage than the Sorcerer. Second, she can summon Queen Spiders, and quite a few of them, with her spellcaster upgrades.

Assassin
The advanced Dark Elf infantry. The Assassin requires a rune and costs gold from the Tree of Pain. A hired gun (or blade as it were...) the Assassins slink through the night in order to unleash their stabbing urges on their enemy. While the chance to instantly deal 1,000 damage to the enemy would be good in its own right, they also generate 100 gold for each assassination.

Imp
Whats up with all the race cross-overs? The basic infantry of the Daemons is built with crystal at the Kargothian Gate. While these little buggers aren't all that impressive, they do deal cold damage and take crystal that the Dark Elves should have in abundance.

Daemon
While not a produceable unit in the strictest sense, they are definitely part of the Dark Elf army. A powerful melee flyer, they can be pretty hard to obtain. First, you need a fairly expensive upgrade from the Void; second you need several 1AP living (not Undead or Seige) ground units. Now you have a new option in the command menu for Sacrifice. You get a slight increase to the chance of summoning for each unit you sacrifice at the time, and it take 25 units to get a 100% guaranteed summons. This process is a tedious one, but the added air support is a great benefit for the Dark Elves.

Blackguard
A Sorcerer that has obtained so much magic that it consumed their flesh, forcing them to wear a mask. These powerful beings are the Dark Elf generals, and while they lose the spellcasting ability of the Sorcerers, they make up for it by being the best Dark Elven melee unit. Their true power, however, is their ability to cast invisiblity and stalk the map unseen. Many an unwary enemy has fallen to Blackguards that appear from the ether and disappear without a trace. Blackguards cost gold, metal and crystal and are built at the Tree of Pain.

Kargoth
Every one thousand years, the Sorcerers fight in a great battle to the death, to steal each others' power. When the last Sorcerer has achieved the great power, the spider goddess Aranea tranforms him into Kargoth the Destroyer, a giant Spider, to be her mate. He reigns as such for 1,000 years, until he finally mates with Aranea and is killed, and a new Kargoth is chosen. Kargoth has a ranged electric attack, and like all titans, ignores armor and causes terror. Kargoth is built at the Kargothian Gate.

Phoenix
Not with the greatest stats in the world, Phoenixes do have a few things going for them. First, they have a ranged fire attack, one of only two basic fliers that are ranged. Next, they are the only basic Eyrie flier that attacks both ground and air. And last but not least, they can convert, giving the Elves that control them a very useful tool for map domination.

Harpy
Originally created by Sartek, these creatures eventually betrayed him, and now align themselves with Etheria's evil and twisted races. They can only attack ground units, but make up for this weakness by being able to cast the useful "Drain Mana" spell, which neutralizes enemy casters. They also cause poison.

Frost Dragon
Although the Frost Dragon has the weakest stats of any Dragon, it is one of the most useful in combat. Like all Dragons it has a short range, with a splash breath attack that scores an automatic critical. However, the cold critical is extremely useful, as it reduces both the enemy attack and move speed by half. This means that even if your Frost Dragon doesn't kill anything, it can still drastically reduce the combat ability of the enemy army. Frost Dragons cause terror, and are resistant to fire.

Dragonliche
The Dragonliche is the Undead Dragon. It has a ranged, magical, splash breath weapon. This breath weapon also does double damage to good creatures, and it drains the targets of XP, making it harder for survivors to gain levels. In addition, the Dragonliche is missile resistant, meaning that arrows only do 1 or 2 points of damage to it. Dragonliches are also resistant to cold.

Dark Elves are a very unique race, as they are basically the only race to really gain full power in the mid game. The typical Dark Elf strategy involves using Spiders to annoy the enemy and help with map control, while building up an Ancient Wisp farm. Once you get to level 3-4, you send in Sorcerers with what ever melee units you have handy. Also boosting your forces with Queen Spiders from your Spider Priestesses.

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Interesting hero combinations

Empire Alchemist
Alchemy gives transmute, which is of great benifit to Dark Elves, and any other race which lacks the Trade upgrade. The trade and wealth skills of the Empire heroes benefit as well, helping with the use of the large stockpiles of metal and crystal, and boosting the gold supply.

Daemon Ranger
Taming gives a large boost to Spiders. And with the combat skills of the hero, he can get by quite well without protection due to the weedy level 1 Dark Elven units. The nature summoning spells, and the pyromancy damage spells, also make him a well-rounded mage.