Welcome to the FAQ for the Immortal Empires release (Update 2.0.0) for Total War: WARHAMMER III. Here, you’ll find a hefty amount of information and answers to important questions regarding the release of the new game mode.
If you experience technical issues, we recommend that you verify the integrity of your files to ensure they’ve all downloaded properly. If you continue to experience issues after that, our Support Team is always available to work with you one-on-one to figure out the problem.
For game issues, we recommend visiting one of our official spaces to post or contribute to a thread. We will be collecting reports and working fixes into our development schedule.
Thank you, as always, for your support; we’ll see you on the battlefield!
WHAT IS IMMORTAL EMPIRES?
Immortal Empires is a new grand-scale campaign mode for Total War: WARHAMMER III available for free to owners of all three Total War: WARHAMMER titles. It combines the landmasses, Legendary Lords, war units, and more from the series into one colossal mode spread across the vast Warhammer World. It is the most complete and definitive Warhammer strategy experience ever conceived.
For more information, read about it here: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1142710/view/3324233322418110931
WHEN DOES THE IMMORTAL EMPIRES BETA RELEASE?
Immortal Empires will release on the 23rd of August.
IF I OWN ALL THREE GAMES, DOES THIS MEAN I HAVE ACCESS TO ALL OF THE CONTENT/RACES/FACTIONS/ETC. IN IMMORTAL EMPIRES?
Owning the base games of all three Total War: WARHAMMER titles will only grant you access to the set selection of Races and Legendary Lords available in those given games. You will need to purchase the DLC for those games to access the respective races and factions in Immortal Empires.
For example, if you wish to play with the Vampire Coast or Tomb Kings, you will need to own their respective products.
HOW DO I DOWNLOAD AND PLAY IMMORTAL EMPIRES?
Immortal Empires will download automatically along with the release of Update 2.0 on August 23rd. No additional download or opt-in is required to play if you meet the requirements.
WILL IMMORTAL EMPIRES HAVE THE SAME MINIMUM AND RECOMMENDED SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS?
Yes; Immortal Empires will have the same minimum and recommended specifications as Total War: WARHAMMER III.
HOW BIG IS THE DOWNLOAD SIZE?
The download size for Total War: WARHAMMER III and Immortal Empires has been reduced from 120GB to ~104GB.
DO I NEED TO INSTALL ALL THREE GAMES TO PLAY?
No; as long as the other games are in your library, you only need to have Total War: WARHAMMER III installed to access Immortal Empires.
WILL IMMORTAL EMPIRES SUPPORT CROSS OWNERSHIP?
Immortal Empires will not support cross-platform ownership. Like previous Total War games, players should own all of the required content on a single store in order to access it in-game.
WILL IMMORTAL EMPIRES SUPPORT CROSS-PLAY?
Yes, Immortal Empires will support cross play. Like Total War: WARHAMMER III, players can join and play with each other across the Microsoft, Steam, and Epic platforms.
ARE THE REALM OF CHAOS OR EYE OF THE VORTEX MECHANICS ACTIVE IN THIS?
No; Immortal Empires does not feature the Realm of Chaos (WARHAMMER III) or Eye of the Vortex (WARHAMMER II) campaign mechanics. It is a sandbox experience first and foremost, though each race will still have their own unique victory conditions for the campaign.
HOW MANY PLAYERS DOES MULTIPLAYER SUPPORT?
Like Total War: WARHAMMER III, Immortal Empires will support up to eight players in multiplayer campaign or battles.
HAVE THE FACTIONS FROM THE PREVIOUS GAMES BEEN BALANCED AGAINST THOSE FROM WARHAMMER III?
As Immortal Empires is launching in BETA, balancing is still work-in-progress.
However, we have made a concerted effort to ensure that Total War: WARHAMMER I and II factions are able to compete with their WARHAMMER III counterparts.
Norsca, Lizardmen, Dark Elves, and the Vampire Counts have received the largest updates so far. More information regarding them can be found on the Total War blog here: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1142710/view/4972554042134301101
WILL IMMORTAL EMPIRES BE LOCALISED?
Yes, Immortal Empires has been localised in the same set of languages available to Total War: WARHAMMER III.
WILL IMMORTAL EMPIRES BE MODDABLE?
With an all-new game mode, we know there’s a huge community ready to start implementing their own spin and style to what the game has to offer. Much like Total War: WARHAMMER III, players will be able to load mods that change how Immortal Empires plays. The final piece of the puzzle is the Total War Assembly Kit, which we will be releasing alongside a future update.
WHAT’S NEW IN IMMORTAL EMPIRES?
Immortal Empires has a range of new features and improvements ready to be experienced on August 23rd. These include; Be’Lakor as a playable Legendary Lord, an all-new ‘Sea Lanes’ mechanic to help circumnavigate the map, updated mechanics and playstyles for factions introduced in WARHAMMER I and II, fresh lore-inspired victory conditions for the campaign, new end-game scenarios, and much more.
For more information, please visit the Total War blog: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1142710/view/3324233322418110931
WHY ARE YOU RELEASING IMMORTAL EMPIRES AS A BETA?
Immortal Empires is the most ambitious project we’ve ever attempted, combining the content of three massive games into one world-spanning mode. This means that it has also been one of the most technically challenging and there is still some work to do as we collect feedback, monitor the gameplay, and update it over time to address balance concerns and bugs. This is still the full Immortal Empires experience, but the beta tag helps us set expectations as we continue to make it the best it can be.
Visit the Immortal Empires introductory blog for more information: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1142710/view/3324233322418110931
Total War: WARHAMMER III – Introducing Valkia the Bloody
Hello Total War: WARHAMMER community! Today we’re revealing the final Legendary Lord joining the Champions of Chaos Lords pack—Valkia the Bloody—coming to Total War: WARHAMMER III on August 23rd.
Valkia the Bloody is the cruel and daemonic consort of Khorne: returned from the dead to further the work of her diabolic paramour. Once a fell queen of a great northern tribe, the Blood God reawakened her as a form more pleasing to himself. The followers of Khorne fight all the harder in her presence, for it is said His gaze always lingers around her.
ON THE BATTLEFIELD...
The winged warrior-queen is one of the most skilled combatants in both the mortal and immortal realms—with melee stats to rival even those of Skarbrand. She has a range of powerful abilities, including Daemonshield, which grants invulnerability for a short period, Spear of Slaupnir which causes the ground to erupt in a straight line, and her Gaze of Khorne passive ability, which increases the base weapon damage, armour-piercing, and leadership of warriors in her area of influence.
FACTION EFFECTS
Has access to Bloodletting
Campaign movement range: +20% after winning a battle (all characters)
Souls gained from sacrificing captives: +50%
Vassals gain Frenzy and spread Khorne’s corruption
LORD EFFECTS
Passive ability: The Gaze of Khorne
Campaign movement range +35% after enemy retreats from battle
PRE-ORDER NOW!
Azazel, Festus, Vilitch, and Valkia join the battlefield in the Champions of Chaos DLC, coming alongside the release of Immortal Empires on August 23rd. Pre-orders are available now on all stores now—and you’ll even score a 10% discount if you pick them up before August 30th!
We’ll be sharing an even more in-depth look at Valkia in a Let’s Play video coming TOMORROW, so look for that over on the official Total War YouTube channel. Then, keep your eyes on our social channels for more news about Immortal Empires and the Champions of Chaos, both coming this August 23rd!
Total War: WARHAMMER III – Introducing Vilitch the Curseling
Hello Total War: WARHAMMER community! Today we’re revealing the third Legendary Lord joining the Champions of Chaos Lords pack—Vilitch the Curseling—coming to Total War: WARHAMMER III on August 23rd.
The malformed sorcerer-twin known as Vilitch the Curseling is a living manifestation of Tzeentch’s twisted delight in anarchy. The Great Sorcerer fused the frail runt with their warrior brother: granting Vilitch both baleful abilities and control of their autonomous sibling’s diabolic strength. Now, as they ruthlessly plot to further their own power, their enemies fear the disturbing creature known as the Twisted Twin!
ON THE BATTLEFIELD...
The chaotic fusion of warrior and wizard makes Vilitch a force to be reckoned with upon the battlefields of The Old World, as they are both a formidable melee and spellcasting Lord of Tzeentch. Their passive ability, The Twisted Twin, increasingly raises their spell mastery, melee defence, and melee attack the longer they're in close combat or casting spells.
FACTION EFFECTS
Vassals gain increased barrier hit points and spread Tzeentch’s corruption
Has access to Changing of the Ways
Forces receive benefits for having high Winds of Magic
Converts a portion of own battle casualties into Souls
Has access to the Tzeentch teleport stance
LORD EFFECTS
Steal +15% of the experience earned by other Lords
Passive ability: The Twisted Twin
Teleport stance usage cost: -25% Winds of Magic (Lord’s Army)
UP NEXT
We’ll be sharing an even more in-depth look at Vilitch in a Let’s Play video coming TOMORROW, so look for that over on the official Total War YouTube channel. Then, prepare yourself for more news about the final Legendary Lord joining the Champions of Chaos next week!
Total War: WARHAMMER III – Addressing the Chaos Debate
Hello Total War: WARHAMMER fans! Over the past few weeks, months, and even YEARS, there's been a healthy debate within the community as to how we approach the implementation of certain races in the Total War: WARHAMMER games. Nowhere has that been more apparent than the split between the Warriors of Chaos, the Daemons of Chaos, and the “Monogod” races (Tzeentch, Slaanesh, Khorne, and Nurgle).
With that discussion rising to the forefront following the reveal of the Champions of Chaos, we wanted to take a moment to sit down with our design team and get their thoughts on the process behind it. So today, we’re here to provide you with a clear picture of what, why, and how we’ve split the Lords of Chaos, as well as the role it will play in our forthcoming DLC!
(You ready for a super deep dive? Let’s go!)
CHAOS Q&A
WHY ARE THE FOUR NEW LEGENDARY LORDS CONSIDERED "WARRIORS OF CHAOS?"
With this being the first Warriors of Chaos Lords Pack since 2015, we wanted to reintroduce this iconic race in a way that was befitting of their infamous world-ending reputation. To that end, introducing four Legendary Lords—each of whom is aligned with one of the four Chaos Gods—was a flavorful way to start, particularly given that we already have two Undivided Lords in the form of Archaon and Kholek.
Beyond the flavor that each Champion could bring to this Lord’s Pack, we found that several design elements aligned exceptionally well with the revamped Warriors of Chaos mechanics. For instance, the vision for Azazel was that he’s been sent out into the world to find and lure promising Undivided champions into devoting themselves to Slaanesh. He’s basically an evil talent scout—a role implied as far back as Morkar the Uniter, who may have been persuaded along his path to become the first Everchosen way back in the days of Sigmar.
For some characters, it would have been very hard to find a niche for them in the Monogods roster. Festus is a good example here; he’s a durable Lore of Nurgle spellcaster who’s a master of brewing plagues...but how do you make him interesting alongside Ku’gath, who’s better at all those things in addition to throwing exploding Nurglings? The answer: put Festus in the Warriors and you’ve *immediately* got a combination of features that’s entirely unique!
Finally, this approach allowed us to push the quality of the pack far higher than we could have otherwise. Having the whole team laser-focused on a shared feature-set meant that every single playtest, improvement, and bug fix benefited all the characters rather than one.
It needs to be stressed, though, that even in this context, our goal was to create four Warriors of Chaos experiences that feel like Khorne, Nurgle, Slaanesh, and Tzeentch—much in the same way that Wulfhart and the new Volkmar feel like Empire factions even though they don’t share the same mechanics as Karl Franz. These are true hybrids: drawing a ton of flavour and gameplay from their relevant Dark God. They’ll be fully capable of running armies that will look very much like the ones you’d see when playing as the relevant God-specific race...but with Dragon Ogres!
WHERE DOES THIS LEAVE THE ‘MONOGOD’ RACES OF KHORNE, SLAANESH, NURGLE, AND TZEENTCH?
It’s important to state: the new DLC characters existing within the Warriors of Chaos race DOES NOT prevent us from adding mortal characters to the Monogod rosters.
This is something we confront on a DLC-by-DLC basis. In some instances, mortal characters might fit better alongside a Daemon-focused roster or the Monogod mechanics; in others, the roster might end up with wildly different, bespoke feature-sets more appropriate to the given faction. Don’t worry; there are plenty of exciting characters who will be joining the Monogods in the future....
It’s also worth stressing that this pack will still massively transform the Monogod playstyle. In some cases, their rosters are almost doubling in size, with each God gaining a new hero and two lords to lead their armies, topped off by the ability to convert Mortal Lords into Daemon Princes. Even older heroes are getting updated: with Cultists now riding the new Warshrines into battle as mounts. Combined with a ton of balance changes and the new Immortal Empires starting positions, we’re pretty sure the Monogods will offer a ton of fresh, new experiences.
WHY ARE THERE TWO SLAANESH LEGENDARY LORDS IN THE WARRIORS OF CHAOS?
With hindsight, everything is much clearer...
It's fair to say that if Sigvald hadn’t already been in the game since 2016, he would have (undoubtedly) been the Slaanesh Champion in Azazel’s place. Beyond that, we wanted to ensure that all four of the Dark Gods had representation within this pack in order to provide you with a larger variety of Legendary Lords to play at launch. Plus, we really like the Swiss Army Knife dynamism that Azazel brings to the roster!
Ultimately, our aim has been to ensure that both Slaaneshi Lords offer a distinct playstyle. As Azazel is a Daemon Prince, he has a narrower choice of units to recruit from, solely focusing on Undivided and Slaaneshi units, whilst Sigvald has the potential to branch out into units from all four pantheons and Undivided. That’s not to say you’ll see Sigvald leading armies of screaming Khornate berserkers or festering Nurgle-worshipers: due to the Dark Authority system (see below) Sigvald’s own personal retinue will maintain a distinctly Slaanesh flavour and he’ll need to do some delegation to others to efficiently maintain units devoted to other Gods. So, even though there’s only one Lord in the Slaanesh race, you’ve got three *very* different ways to play a Slaanesh-themed campaign.
HOW DO THE UNIT ROSTERS WORK IN A CAMPAIGN?
While the Warriors of Chaos can eventually access a truly vast array of mortal and daemonic units, it’s not just a case of constructing specific buildings and spewing out multicoloured units... Much like the lore, you’ll have to work hard to amass the forces of multiple Gods, and certain characters will find it easier (or more difficult) than others.
Every unit in the roster is treated as either a “Warband” unit or a “Gifted” unit. Warband units are your bread and butter: consisting of Mortal humans as well as the bulk of the Undivided monstrous units. Almost all of them can be “Marked”—an act that devotes them to a specific God and turns them into a new unit with new visuals, stats, and even new voice lines—though you can’t necessarily Mark a unit right from the start.
Gifted units are primarily Daemons accompanied by a few specialist, non-Daemonic units—such as Hellcannons and Shaggoths—and are recruited by spending Souls on Chaos Gifts (hence the name) or via certain special events. The catch? There’s a cap on the number of these “Gifted” units you can have in any given army; that is, unless you’re Be’lakor, who can recruit as many as he likes! Like Marks, these options aren’t necessarily available from the very start of your Campaign.
In fact, the specific conditions for unlocking these options is one of the key ways we’re differentiating the individual factions. For example:
Be’lakor can recruit a whole bunch of Gifted units from Turn 1 onward, but must unlock the ability to Mark mortals in his skill tree.
Sigvald can recruit Slaanesh mortals and Daemons from Turn 1 onward, but must wait to unlock other God’s forces. (Though he might struggle to keep Khornate units in check...)
Archaon can unlock the ability to recruit God-specific units and is best-suited to access and lead forces that mix-and-match with a bit of everything.
Kholek will have the hardest time getting access to God-specific units, but has easier access to Dragon Ogres and Dragon Ogre Shaggoths.
On top of these special conditions, a “Dark Authority” system restricts which units you can include in any given army. God-specific units won’t simply follow anyone... For example, if you want Nurgle followers or Daemons in your army, you’ll need a Nurgle lord or hero in the army to keep them in line; otherwise they’ll suffer from increased upkeep and reduced replenishment. And if you try and put Khorne units in an army with Slaanesh characters or (Gods forbid) a wizard, you’ll need to make sure there’s a proper Khornate character present to balance things out. We really want to sell the idea that these “Warbands” are perilous coalitions of rivals, forcing you (the player) to think carefully about how you organize your armies.
WHAT’S SPECIAL ABOUT THE NEW DLC LORDS?
Comparatively, the four new DLC Lords are almost akin to a sub-race within the Warriors: Lords who are more closely aligned to their specific God, and thus limited in their access to the full suite of Marked units in lieu of their patron God’s specific units alongside the Undivided. To accommodate this sacrifice, they instead gain a variety of specialist advantages:
They can start Marking Mortals and recruiting Daemons from Turn 1 and will find it both easier and cheaper to do so.
They share a uniquely structured tech tree—about half of which is built for their particular faction—that allows for more specialization in God-specific units and mechanics.
They spread (and benefit more from) their own God’s corruption, but are actively penalized by the corruption of an opposing God.
They get access to their God’s battle mechanics and army abilities.
They each get versions of certain Campaign features belonging to the main Daemon faction; for example: Festus can brew and spread plagues, but they have slightly different effects to Ku’gath’s.
There’s also a ton of other variations we’ve made where appropriate; for example, vassals belonging to the DLC lords will take on certain attributes from their masters: spreading their favoured corruption and gaining thematic bonuses in battle. They’ve even got unique ways to keep their troops in line; Festus, as an example, can get more Nurgle Authority by bestowing his armies with plagues, making it easier for him to put Nurgle troops in Undivided-led forces.
All in all, we’ve tried to make these four Champions feel different from the rest of the Warriors of Chaos. Our dialogue engineers have even gone so far as to ensure that units in these characters’ armies use different voice lines when led by one of the characters; you’ll hear Marauders and Warriors and Chosen in Azazel’s army shouting about their allegiance—not just to Slaanesh, but to Azazel himself!
On top of all that, they also participate in a brand-new Campaign set on the Realms of Chaos map, which offers a dramatic narrative following the main game’s Ursun storyline. It’s a nifty, alternate take on the Rifts system: one with more control in the leadup to a truly epic finale.
WHAT ABOUT CONFEDERATION?
Initially, the team were aiming for Archaon (at minimum) to be able to confederate all the Warriors of Chaos. However, there were some significant technical and balance issues that we were unable to resolve in the time we had to implement the rest of their feature overhauls. Given the technical issues, we were concerned that launching with confederation enabled could jeopardize the core experience of the Warriors of Chaos; as such, we chose to disable the option for the initial release of Immortal Empires.
With that said, we know that this is important to you, and will be looking to enable some form of confederation for the Warriors in a post-release patch. We'll talk more about how we'll aim to accomplish that feat in the future!
COMING SOON!
We hope this offers clarity into our design process and helps you understand where our four newest Legendary Lords are landing in the WARHAMMER III roster! As mentioned before, there’s still room for adjustments and changes, so we look forward to hearing what you think when you get your hands on them this August.
Check back next week for another look at an upcoming Champion, as well as more details about Immortal Empires!
Total War: WARHAMMER III - Introducing Festus the Leechlord
Hello Total War: WARHAMMER community! Today we’re revealing the second Legendary Lord joining the Champions of Chaos Lords pack—Festus the Leechlord—coming to Total War: WARHAMMER III on August 23rd.
Doctor Festus is a deranged devotee of Nurgle who pledged a lifetime of service to the Plague God in return for his forbidden knowledge. He goes to war with few intentions beyond furthering his revolting studies of sickness, ailments, and plagues... It is a far better fate to die on the battlefield than to be captured for the doctor’s experiments!
ON THE BATTLEFIELD...
Long forgetting the Hippocratic Oath he so vehemently preached as a mortal, Festus can be found concocting a variety of horrific potions and unleashing Lore of Nurgle spells, both of which allow him to manipulate the battlefield in insidious ways. Whie his Healing Elixirs ability replenishes the hit points of his own combatants, the Harbinger of Pestilence ability instead deals damage to enemy combatants. Yet there’s a catch: both act more like toggleable passive abilities that are mutually exclusive to use (meaning that only one of the two can be active at any one time).
FACTION EFFECTS
Vassals gain poison attacks and spread Nurgle’s corruption
Can brew Plagues
Souls +25 when a plague is spread
LORD EFFECTS
Plague duration: +3 turns (local armies)
Battle healing cap: +25% (Lord’s Army)
UP NEXT
We’ll be sharing an even more in-depth look at Festus in a Let’s Play video coming TOMORROW, so look for that over on the official Total War YouTube channel. Then, keep your eyes peeled for more news about the third Legendary Lord joining the Champions of Chaos next week!
Total War: WARHAMMER III – Immortal Empires Race Updates
Welcome back, Total War: WARHAMMER fans, to another instalment of the Immortal Empires blog series. This week, we’re taking a closer look at some of the most significant race updates you’ll experience come this August, when the Immortal Empires BETA finally arrives—specifically to the Vampire Counts, Lizardmen, Dark Elves, and Norsca.
Before we explore those juicy details, it’s important to recognize that importing races from Total War: WARHAMMER I and II into Immortal Empires is no simple task; it’s *far* more complex than a simple copy and paste from game to game. WARHAMMER III introduced significant updates to the series—in the form of new mechanics, overhauled game systems, and a host of new foes to face—meaning that many races required substantial adaptations to survive in a fresh new world of war and politics. As such, while these updates won’t be quite to the same scale as what you’ll see with the Warriors of Chaos, they will nonetheless evolve their play styles in important (and meaningful) ways.
VAMPIRE COUNTS
Everyone’s favourite bloodsuckers were in a difficult place coming out of WARHAMMER II: mainly relying on a devastating two-punch combo of free skeleton armies and the evisceration of their enemy with Winds of Death. While it was a real power-trip at times, it did eventually get a bit dry… (Bone-dry, you might say.)
On top of that, changes to systems like the Winds of Magic in WARHAMMER III have a heavy impact on the race, so the team spent time enhancing them in ways that help them stay fresh…as fresh as an exhumed corpse can be, at least.
So, the headline: free skeletons are GONE. You’ll still have ways to make them (grave)dirt cheap, but not to the same extent as before. We know this is a big change—one that might disappoint some people—but it not only distorted the Vampire Counts’ gameplay too much, but made much of the roster obsolete, particularly in conjunction with the reduced supply line penalties in WARHAMMER III.
To make up for the loss, we’ve made a whole host of other changes that we hope will more than make amends for it. Here’s a look at some of the key changes:
Across-the-board balance changes to the roster: leadership increases to most units, adjustments to Ethereal units, and the ability to recruit Mournguls (in a Campaign) if you own the Vampire Coast DLC.
Improvements to Raise Dead pools: which now offer better units by default and scale up with Vampiric corruption—making them less reliant on battle sites.
Reshuffle of recruitment buildings, with many units now available earlier and more easily.
Revamped tech tree, skill trees, and Bloodline effects to give the race access to powerful new effects: such as increased healing caps and extra Winds of Magic.
As for individual Lords, we’ve already highlighted some of the changes coming to the undead power couple—Vlad and Isabella Von Carstein—in our Dedicated Factions blog, but don’t worry: Mannfred and the Necromancer Lords will have their time in the sun moon too.
Mannfred Von Carstein has moved to the Southlands where he seeks the unholy Books of Nagash. As the most magically gifted of the Vampire Lords, he has also received increased magic reserves, and his Master of the Black Arts ability now boosts his spell mastery by 25%.
To complement his new starting position in The Haunted Forest, Helman Ghorst now starts the campaign mounted on his Corpse Cart, and can acquire skills that enhance his aura abilities—granting powerful faction-wide buffs to Zombies. If you want to drown the world in rotting flesh while watching from the back of your sweet ride, he’s the Legendary Lord for you!
Not to be outdone by this young upstart, Kemmler has also upped his game. His best bud, Krell, will now be a permanent summon by default, while Kemmler’s skill tree serves to super-charge Krell’s combat stats.
LIZARDMEN
We know that “Lizardmen” and “update” together might generate some excitement, so we’ll get the bad news out of the way first: the Geomantic Web is still pretty much the same—other than a few adjustments to reward you for fulfilling the Great Plan. We fully recognize that it’s ripe for a more substantial update and hope to find an opportunity to do so in the future.
With that said, there’s still a load of other changes coming for our scaly friends…
We’ll start with the humble Skinks! As has long been requested, Tehenhauin now unlocks Regiments of Renown units by levelling up, and will be able to use his sacrificial pyramid to generate extra Blessed Spawning units. His chameleonic comrade, Oxyotl, will be receiving new missions to hunt down and eliminate the new Daemonic enemies who recently arrived on the Immortal Empires map, and his mission durations will now scale with campaign difficulty, making it much harder to thwart Chaos if you choose to player at harder levels.
The stalwart Saurus will also benefit from changes that help them take on the Daemonic hordes in battle! Their innate “Primal Instincts” ability kicks in earlier: granting them greater bonuses and no longer triggering their Rampage. Both Saurus characters also get revamped lord and faction effects to account for this in addition to helping them develop their own play styles. Kroq’gar will focus on creating a coterie of elite Saurus characters—with major buffs for Old-Bloods and Scar-Veterans—while Gor’rok will enjoy new effects that lean into his defensive nature; while his unique rite no longer makes Saurus’ Unbreakable, it now grants them Barrier as well as immunity to hostile weapon effects like poison—a perfect boon for taking on a certain pestilential rodent…!
As the premier magic-wielders of the setting, the Slann—including Lord Kroak—are getting skill tree tweaks to fit the new magic system in WARHAMMER III while gaining access to powerful effects like Barrier and increases to their Winds of Magic capacity. On top of that, Mazdamundi will also receive a whopping +50% range increase to all his spells—befitting for a frog of such continent-shifting power.
Finally, Nakai will enjoy a variety of balance changes: including tech tree updates to boost his economy, as well as new and improved benefits upon constructing Temples to the Old Ones. He’ll also benefit from some of the fundamental improvements to diplomacy that were introduced in WARHAMMER III—notably improving how the AI interacts with vassal factions.
DARK ELVES
Next, let’s turn to the Druchii, who—in addition to being in a prime position to benefit from the new Sea Lanes—have seen big changes to their slaves mechanic.
Previously, this was a feature that resulted in insane late-game economic performance with relatively little interaction from the player. As such, in WARHAMMER III, slaves are now considered a faction-level resource rather than something you stow in a province. Slaves can now be “spent” at numerous buildings to generate income, or invested in three powerful “Slave Diktats” to benefit a specific province.
For a long while, the Druchii have had a…complicated relationship with Chaos, so the influx of Daemonic factions has led to a few notable changes. Morathi now gets unique interactions with Slaanesh corruption and can even recruit Daemonettes, while Malus’ Possession ability now allows for more frequent use of Tz’arkan and interacts differently with the new corruption types.
Last of all, Rakarth can now capture and tame a host of new beasts: including Sabretusks and Feral Bears. (Rakarth even got an in-depth spotlight in our recent Q&A with the development team!)
NORSCA
Let’s talk cold, angry, and primed to raid! Norsca had a somewhat tumultuous entry into the series with their unique ability to construct outposts instead of regular settlements. Built on the foundation of the climate-locked occupations of WARHAMMER I, this design did not make a graceful transition into WARHAMMER II; where it was originally designed to grant them unparalleled flexibility, it instead became their greatest weakness.
So, if you take one thing home when you’re done raiding these shores, it’s the fact that Norsca is now a regular occupation faction—with access to their complete building tree anywhere in the world.
While that is the big one, there are additional smaller changes coming to freshen up the race:
DEVOTION TO THE GODS
Like before, players can dedicate the ruins of their enemies to one of the four Dark Gods in order to gain their favour, but there was always a massive disparity in the rewards given. As such, we’ve evened things out a bit.
Full dedication to the Crow no longer causes a (admittedly mostly impotent) global plague. Rather, you will be joined by Burplesmirk Spewpit, the Exalted Great Unclean One.
Full dedication to the Hound no longer gives you access to The Ice-Forged Legion. Rather, you will be joined by Killgore Slaymaim, An Exalted Hero of Khorne.
All reward characters grant their army an incredibly powerful boon that twists their battle profile to align closer to the Dark God’s ideal forces. For example, Azrik’s forces enjoy access to Barriers, magical weapons, and global Winds of Magic generation benefits.
If you just had the terrifying realization that we didn’t say where the Ice-Forged Legion went, don’t worry; your favourite Hellcannon Battery has become a regular Regiment Of Renown unit that unlocks once you reach the appropriate level.
COMMANDMENTS
Being fully settled and capable of holding complete provinces all over the world, Norsca has a full set of commandments to enact over them and solidify their new holdings.
RESOURCES
Wine, furs, and everything in-between, Norsca can now construct buildings to exploit almost all resources for local or global bonuses.
CAPITAL TARGETS
With new forces of Order come new cities to raze for unique benefits. The Kurgan hordes have never taken Wei-Jin, but perhaps they only lacked a unifying iron fist…?
To tie us off, let’s head off the question on everyone’s minds: no, this is not the “Norsca rework.”
These changes are about freeing Norsca from the shackles of their outposts and giving them a taste of the fresh new powers of the Dark Gods in WARHAMMER III. Like the rest of Immortal Empires, this is just the beginning: the foundation upon which to build and make future tweaks to the different factions.
COMING SOON!
That’s it for now! Check back soon for more updates and Immortal Empires news and be sure to join us on August 23rd to see all the changes for yourself!
Total War: WARHAMMER III - Introducing the Champions of Chaos
Hello, Total War: WARHAMMER fans (or should we call you “Champions” of the WARHAMMER community?)! Today is a very exciting day, as it's not only time to unveil the Champions of Chaos Lords Pack for Total War: WARHAMMER III but announce that it will be releasing on August 23rd alongside Immortal Empires.
Fit for a champion, the game’s first Lords Pack welcomes not two, but FOUR, new Warriors of Chaos Legendary Lords—each of whom will be aligned with one of the four ruinous Chaos Gods. Embark on crusades of destruction with brand-new gameplay features, wreak havoc with a host of new battlefield units, and master the new narrative-driven campaign mechanics that will unearth the fabled path to Zanbaijin.
WHAT'S IN THE PACK?
CAMPAIGN
4 new Legendary Lords
New campaign mechanics
Playable in both the Immortal Empires and Realm of Chaos campaigns (but do not interact with the Ursun storyline)
BATTLE
8 new ‘Marked’ Lord and Hero characters
36 new ‘Marked’ versions of mortal Chaos units
New Chaos Warshrine with four ‘Marked’ variants
4 Regiments of Renown units (one for each Chaos God)
SPOTLIGHT: AZAZEL (THE ECSTATIC LEGIONS)
While we’ll be introducing you to each of the four new Champions of Chaos over the next few weeks, we’re going to get started right away by spotlighting the first Legendary Lord: Azazel, Prince of Damnation!
A prince amongst Daemons, Azazel has been the bane of humanity since time immemorial—his constant acts of devotion and debauchery assuring his high standing in the eyes of Slaanesh. All who know of him dread to face him in battle, for the cost of losing means not only the death of the body, but all the horrific certainty of the soul’s eternal damnation.
Azazel is the Swiss Army Knife of Slaanesh—capable of inflicting hellish causalities in all aspects of battle. In close combat, he has access to the “Temptator” ability: granting a temporary ward save and reflecting any damage upon those who dare attack him. In a support role, he can call upon a range of spells from the Lore of Slaanesh: such as “Phantasmagoria” and “Lash of Slaanesh.”
Plus, he can fly, which grants him a looming position from which to control the flow and tempo of the battlefield.
FACTION EFFECTS
Diplomatic relations +80 with Empire, Kislev, Cathay, and Bretonnia
Vassals gain “Immune to Psychology” and spread corruption
Can Seduce units
Applies and benefits from Seductive Influence and Gifts of Slaanesh
LORD EFFECTS
Passive ability “Domineering Aura”
Seduce Units cost: -20% for Empire, Bretonnia, Kislev, and Cathay units
Seduce Units budgets +25%
THE CHAMPIONS CAMPAIGN
A PROLOGUE
In the ancient city of Zanbaijin, the servants of the Chaos Gods have clashed for millennia. The souls of those who fall in these vicious conflicts are sealed within the Altar of Battle itself, which stands at the heart of The Fallen City.
Ursun's roar has shaken the world and the Altar’s seal has become fragile. The correct ritual will have the power to shatter it completely: leaving the myriad warrior-souls of bygone eras ripe for the claiming.
However, Zanbaijin is not an easy place to reach—even for a Champion of Chaos...
Your Champion must forge their path to Zanbaijin by forcing open the still-healing scars in the world created by Ursun's roar. Only then will you be able to find the Altar of Battle and claim the souls for your patron god.
Will you take up the mantle of a Champion of Chaos? Then slay your enemies, collect their souls, make your way to the ancient city of Zanbaijin, and perform the ritual. When the Altar of Souls is within your grasp, you will change the balance of power between the Chaos Gods forever!
CAMPAIGN MECHANICS
CHAOS GIFTS Winning battles grants you the Souls of your enemies. These Souls can be exchanged for great power and Daemonic reinforcements as the Champions of Chaos dedicate them to their patron god or to the Undivided union of all four gods.
DARK FORTRESSES & VASSALS Occupying a special Dark Fortress region—most often found in the Chaos Wastes and the Norscan homelands—enables the Champion of Chaos to construct a powerful stronghold. By occupying a Dark Fortress in a Norscan homeland capital, you will gain the respective Norscan faction as an eternal vassal for as long as you control their homeland.
WARBANDS Champions of Chaos recruit all their forces instantly—either from local provinces or as units granted via Chaos Gifts.
Your mortal units can ascend the ranks of Chaos: rising from humble Chaos Marauders all the way to Chosen or Chaos Knights. You can also dedicate them to a specific Chaos God by granting them the chosen God’s Mark of Chaos.
PATH TO GLORY Champions of Chaos can spend Souls on their Chaos Lords and Chaos Sorcerer Lords in order to promote them to Daemon Princes.
Your Heroes and Lords can also dedicate themselves to one of the four Chaos Gods: Marking themselves and gaining new strengths from their new alignment.
THE CHAMPIONS ROSTER
Also coming with the Champions of Chaos Lords Pack is a new unit lineup! These new/unique units will be available to the Warriors of Chaos and relevant Chaos God factions in both the Campaign and custom Battles, while a smaller contingent will also be available to the Daemon Prince during his Campaign.
In custom Battles, the four Champions themselves will join in: fighting alongside the Warriors of Chaos and their patron God’s forces.
NEW & UNIQUE UNITS
Here is a quick look at the units joining the roster (not including a large number of units already available in WARHAMMER III):
MARKED LORDS
Chaos Lord of Khorne
Chaos Sorcerer Lord of Nurgle
Chaos Lord of Slaanesh
Chaos Sorcerer Lord of Tzeentch
CHAOS WARSHRINE
Chaos Warshrine (Undivided)
Chaos Warshrine of Khorne
Chaos Warshrine of Nurgle
Chaos Warshrine of Slaanesh
Chaos Warshrine of Tzeentch
MARKED HEROES
Exalted Hero of Khorne
Exalted Hero of Nurgle
Chaos Sorcerer of Slaanesh
Chaos Sorcerer of Tzeentch
MARKED UNITS
Chaos Marauders of Khorne
Chaos Marauders of Khorne (Dual Weapons)
Chaos Marauders of Nurgle
Chaos Marauders of Nurgle (Great Weapons)
Chaos Marauders of Slaanesh
Chaos Marauders of Slaanesh (Hellscourges)
Chaos Marauders of Tzeentch
Chaos Marauders of Tzeentch (Spears)
Chaos Warriors of Nurgle
Chaos Warriors of Slaanesh
Chaos Warriors of Tzeentch
Chosen of Khorne
Chosen of Khorne (Dual Weapons)
Chosen of Nurgle
Chosen of Nurgle (Great Wepons)
Chosen of Slaanesh
Chosen of Slaanesh (Hellscourges)
Chosen of Tzeentch
Chosen of Tzeentch (Halberds)
Forsaken of Khorne
Forsaken of Slaanesh
Marauder Horsemen of Khorne (Throwing Axes)
Marauder Horsemen of Nurgle (Throwing Axes)
Marauder Horsemen of Slaanesh (Javelins)
Marauder Horsemen of Tzeentch (Javelins)
Chaos Knights of Khorne
Chaos Knights of Khorne (Lances)
Chaos Knights of Nurgle
Chaos Knights of Nurgle (Lances)
Chaos Knights of Slaanesh
Chaos Knights of Slaanesh (Lances)
Chaos Knights of Tzeentch (Lances)
Chaos Chariots of Khorne
Chaos Chariots of Nurgle
Chaos Chariots of Slaanesh
Chaos Chariots of Tzeentch
Regiments of Renown (Champions Edition)
In addition to the above forces, four new Regiments of Renown units will be joining the game: each of which aligns to a different Chaos God.
KNIGHTS OF THE BRAZEN THRONE (Skullcrushers of Khorne)
Alignment: KHORNE
These Skullcrushers are outfitted with jet-black armour and dual axes. They gain bonuses to their combat prowess when charging and are a strong counter to infantry units.
BILIOUS THUNDERGUFF (Chaos Giant)
Alignment: NURGLE
Bilious Thunderguff is a Giant that has been tainted by the gifts of Nurgle. Bilious used to experience extreme bouts of indigestion; now, with his newfound gifts, he is now able to channel his trapped wind and harness it against his opponents.
THE SIBILANT SLAUGHTERCADE (Chaos Chariots)
Alignment: SLAANESH
Those Chaos Charioteers who catch the peripheral gaze of the Dark Prince are offered a place within the Sibilant Slaughtercade. Pulled by Steeds of Slaanesh, these maligned Chaos Chariots have a wealth of additional attributes as they thirst for the souls of their enemies.
THE SEVERED CLAW (Aspiring Champions)
Alignment: TZEENTCH
The Severed Claw is a unit of Aspiring Champions aligned to Tzeentch. These fearsome Warriors are protected by a barrier and armed with magically imbued Halberds, making them formidable hunters of larger targets.
OLD WORLD UPDATE: WARRIORS OF CHAOS
Finally, an Old World Update for the Warriors of Chaos will be free to all owners of the Chaos Warriors Race Pack—originally released alongside Total War: WARHAMMER in 2015. This update significantly overhauls how the race plays: gifting them with the brand-new gameplay mechanics available to the Champions of Chaos, above (Chaos Gifts, Dark Fortresses, Warbands, Path to Glory).
A separate Marked Chaos Warriors (free DLC) will also be available for download, further expanding the ranks of your Northern kin. Those units include three Warriors of Chaos variants:
GREAT WEAPONS for Nurgle
HELLSCOURGES for Slaanesh
HALBERDS for Tzeentch
Watch for all of this when Immortal Empires drops on August 23!
UP NEXT
Over the next three weeks, we’ll introduce you to the remaining three Champions joining the Chaos ranks! Look for their reveals alongside their exclusive trailers, in addition to tips and tricks on how to get started with the new Warriors!
Total War: WARHAMMER III - Hotfix 1.3.2
Good day, WARHAMMER III fans! Today’s hotfix comes with a fix for a major issue highlighted by the community following our last game update: a performance problem which scales based on the number of mods being run in the game.
In a recent hotfix, it appears that we inadvertently removed some data that the game was continuing to search for—a search that would end up being run more often as you added mods. While recent changes made this an issue for Steam users, today’s fix should result in small performance gains during Battles on ALL PC platforms where Total War: WARHAMMER III is available!
As always, thanks to the individuals and communities who dug into the issue, provided the details that helped narrow down the problem, and brought it to our attention! Your persistence (and patience) will continue to lead to gains on the performance front, so keep the feedback coming!
See you on the battlefield!
— The Total War Team
📃 HOTFIX 1.3.2
The game will no longer search for files which do not exist and will no longer scale the number of searches based on the number of mods being run by the game.
Total War: WARHAMMER III Immortal Empires Q&A with Richard Aldridge and Mitchell
You asked; we answered! Total War's own Richard Aldridge and Mitchell Heastie sit down to tackle some of the top Immortal Empires questions asked by you, the community. 💬
(Be sure to watch all the way to the end...!)
Total War: WARHAMMER III - Compatibility Hotfix 1.3.1
Hello everyone! Today's hotfix makes behind-the-scenes changes which, while minor, are necessary for us to make following Update 1.3. These should have no impact on your gameplay, cross-platform compatibility, or save games, and we apologize for the inconvenience of a surprise build!
If you do experience any issues, our support team is ready and available to help you work through any issues: 🛠 Contact the SEGA Support Team See you on the battlefield!
— The Total War Team
📃 COMPATIBILITY HOTFIX 1.3.1
Updated several supporting files related to future releases for Total War: WARHAMMER III. (No player-facing changes.)
