XV8 Crisis Battlesuit

Those Tau Fire Warriors who have proven themselves in battle earn the right to wear the most powerful Tau infantry armor, the XV8 Crisis Battlesuit and bear the rank of Shas'vre. XV8 Crisis Battlesuit warriors are experienced Tau fighters who have fought the deadliest foes and triumphed. Their loyalty and skill is beyond question, and the best and bravest of them may be honored by being elevated to become a bodyguard to their Shas'o or Shas'el. Teams of Crisis Battlesuit warriors will have fought together for many years and, in many cases, will have performed the Ta'lissera ritual where the warriors swear oaths of communion and loyalty to one another, placing the welfare of the team ahead of their own personal desires.

A Bodyguard team of Fire Warriors in XV8 Crisis Battlesuit armor may accompany a Shas'o or a Shas'el Tau XV8 Crisis Battlesuit Commander. The Bodyguards will always be Shas'vre veterans, experienced and proven in battle. It is common for such Bodyguard teams to be predominantly made up of the Commander's kin or long-term friends, and it is a great honor to be chosen for such duty. The Bodyguard embody the Tau philosophy of striving for the Greater Good at the expense of personal glory and these warriors are greatly respected by the rest of the Fire Caste.

As Crisis Suits can be outfitted with a number of different weapons, code names for certain successful configurations have come into use by the Tau (and adopted by Tau players) to quickly describe the configuration of their Crisis teams. [[Category:X]]
 * Death Rain - Three Shas'ui all with twin-linked missile pod, drone controller and 2 gun drones.
 * Sun Forge - Three Shas'ui all with twin-linked fusion blaster and shield generator.
 * Burning Eye - Shas'vre and two Shas'ui, all with twin-linked plasma rifle and target lock.
 * Vior'la Monat - Shas'vre, bonded, drone controller and two gun drones, burst cannon, fusion blaster, hard-wired multi-tracker.
 * Fire Spiker - Three Shas'ui all with a fusion blaster, missile pod and target lock.
 * Brightwind - Shas'vre with burst cannon, plasma rifle, multi-tracker and hard-wired drone controller with two gun drones. One Shas'ui with target lock, fusion blaster and missile pod, one Shas'ui with missile pod, plasma rifle and multi-tracker.
 * Darkfall - Shas'vre with twin-linked missile pods, drone controller with two gun drones and hard-wired blacksun filter. One Shas'ui with shield generator, flamer and drone controller with two gun drones, One Shas'ui with flamer, fusion blaster and drone controller with two shield drones.
 * Fireknife - Shas'ui (Team Leader) with plasma rifle, multi-tracker, missile pod, hard-wired drone controller with two gun drones, bonded. Two Shas'ui with plasma rifle, multi-tracker, missile pod, bonded.
 * Blinding Spear - Shas'vre with plasma rifle, burst cannon, multi-tracker, hard-wired drone controller (two gun drones). Two Shas'ui with plasma rifle, burst cannon, multi-tracker.
 * Soul Cleanse(Monat) - One Shas'ui with flamer, fusion blaster, shield generator, hard-wired drone controller with two gun drones.