Dark Elf

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Dark Elf Information pages
Dark Elf Buildings Overview
 * Dark Tower
 * Tower
 * Walls
 * Ramparts
 * Tree of Pain
 * Tomb
 * Gravestone
 * Spider Eggs
 * Gallery
 * Brood
 * Reformatory
 * Void
 * Kargothian Gate

Dark Elf Researches Overview
 * Rune of Cielos
 * Burial
 * Black Ward
 * Rune of Animos
 * Ancient Wisp
 * Fletcher
 * Bowyer
 * Flaming Arrows
 * Rune of Manos
 * Slavehorde
 * Blood Potion
 * Dark Order
 * Summon Mana
 * Sorcery
 * Darkbolt
 * Sacrifice
 * Rune of Mortos
 * Meditation
 * Harpy Hag

Dark Elf Armies
 * Wisp
 * Spider
 * Skeleton
 * Dark Infantry
 * Dark Archer
 * Ancient Wisp
 * Dark Rider
 * Queen Spider
 * Phoenix
 * Sorceror
 * Zombie
 * Thrall
 * Spider Priestess
 * Daemon
 * Imp
 * Assassin
 * Harpy
 * Blackguard
 * Storm Dragon
 * Dragonliche
 * Kargoth

Pros

 * With access to Ancient Wisps they effectively have unlimited crystal.
 * Powerful archers that, when upgraded, can pretty much level un-prepared bases by themselves.
 * A multitude of ways to inflict Poison on their enemy, including the possession of the strongest Poison in the game (from Assassins).
 * Have acess to the best elven spellcaster and one of the best in the game, the Sorceror, that with the Dark Bolt upgrade can do up to 40 eletrical damage.
 * Spectacular number of magic upgrades that can turn all 3 spellcasters (Blackguard included) into truly dangerous and unpredictable powerhouses. To add more, spellcaster heroes are also greatly gifted by the same upgrades.

Cons

 * Difficult economy with half resource production rate from mine fillers and 1.03.24's Ancient Wisp nerf (they produce half the Crystal they once did).
 * Map control is required to use Phoenixes for conversion, which is possible only with a select few Dark Elven hero classes such as the Assassin.
 * Lacks affordable and accessible tough units. Any direct confrontation in melee from the mid-game onwards is very likely to fail.
 * Very little in the way of upgrades for their early game units, which can lead them to be almost redundant late game.
 * Their Titan and General can be disappointing at times.

Heroes
As soon as you see what the Dark Elves have to offer, your mind should instantly draw to the 'Assassin' conclusion. A Dark Elf Assassin cannot be outmatched at well... assassinating by any other race (although there could be some hidden compatibility and synergies somewhere). With all points poured into Dexterity and the Assassination skill, the Dark Elf Assassin becomes a fearsome hero and big creature slayer that should be avoided until you can swarm them. Until then, the Dark Elf Assassin has near direct control over the map at the start (given that there aren't tons of Army Setup Points) as there will be few counters to them until later. As soon as the enemy hero makes a big enough mistake and travels too far into the Dark Elf Assassin's territory, it could mean his death and his death could mean the game (especially if the hero was a support hero like a Merchant). Lastly, given enough speed, the Assassin can also chase down and Assassinate enemies too slow to run away (which should be most of them).

The Dark Elves' synergy in Summoning Magic as the Summoner class is very useful. In particular, it not only provides Quasits to help boost resource production (even when production of resources from miners had been decreased in the 1.0324 Unofficial Patch), but it gives the Dark Elves a powerful flying unit that can be summoned in hordes. Imps fly, and deal a decent amount of cold damage - one of the greatest damage types in the game. Even Dark Dwarven golem armies are pulverized by the freezing attacks of an Imp horde.

Counters

 * In the early game, the Undead will have absolutely no trouble at all dispatching any Dark Elf player. This is due to a mass prevalence of piercing-type damage used by basic Dark Elven units (Dark Infantry, Dark Archer, Spider and Queen Spider).
 * The Dark Elves, like most other Elven races require map dominance due to the fact that their builders cannot be put into mines. Although Phoenixes really help achieve this, map dominance is no easy task. Destruction and fortification of Dark Elven and enemy mines respectively can put a damper on the Dark Elves. However, later on in the game the Dark Elves are capable of creating slave hordes and summoning Zombies so map dominance is less necessary later in the game, unlike the other elven races.
 * Another race that spells doom for Dark Elves are the Dark Dwarves. Golems and siege weapons are immune to poison and in the case of Golems, negate their piercing attacks(except for Iron Golems) and as such spellcasters and/or Imps are much needed to face them.