Update 2.0

Update 2.0 is a major update for Total War: Warhammer III, which released on 23 August 2022. The previous update was Hotfix 1.3.2.
It contained bug fixes and balance changes, and added the enormous Immortal Empires combined campaign (initially labelled a beta release). As well as all the returning content from the previous two games, the Immortal Empires beta had a new playable Legendary Lord: Be'lakor, leading the Shadow Legion faction. As well, a total rework of the Warriors of Chaos mechanics was released, free for all to those who own the Chaos Warriors Race Pack.
For multiplayer and custom battles, all races/units from the previous two games became playable to those who own those games/DLCs.
The Champions of Chaos and Blood for the Blood God III paid DLCs will released alongside patch 2.0.
==Patch notes==
https://www.totalwar.com/blog/tww3-update-200/
The Full Patch Notes are also preserved below [2022_08_23, 19:25]:
== Release Spotlight ==
Here's some of the big features worthy of the spotlight in Update 2.0:
=== Immortal Empires [BETA] ===
The biggest addition in Update 2.0 is Immortal Empires: the world-encompassing vision we've been working towards since the original Total War: Warhammer launched in 2016. This colossal campaign mode includes all the races, Legendary Lords, factions, and units from across the entire trilogy in a single, unified campaign map representing the broad continental sweep of the Warhammer world. 
Immortal Empires is initially launching as a BETA, as there is still a ways to go before we consider it complete! Merging this much content from across several games has been a monumental task, 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. For more information, you can read this blog post:
* An Introduction to Immortal Empires
Requirements
Launching an Immortal Empires campaign requires ownership of all three games in the Total War: Warhammer series on the same platform (i.e. Steam, Epic Game Store, Microsoft Store).
Only Warhammer III needs to be installed, however, as the Campaign is only accessible via the third instalment's front-end Campaigns menu. Note that playing as Legendary Lords which launched as DLC also requires ownership of their respective DLC packs on the same platform.
* Total War: Warhammer (Microsoft Store / Steam / Epic Games Store)
* Total War: Warhammer II (Microsoft Store / Steam / Epic Games Store)
Players who do not own all three games but do own Warhammer III can still join multiplayer campaign games hosted by an owner of all three; they will, of course, also be limited to playing as the Legendary Lords they own.
Features
Immortal Empires is a Campaign mode in its own right with its own specific set of features:
* Access up to 86 Legendary Lords from all three titles, many of whom have undergone campaign tweaks and unit balance changes to level the playing field with Warhammer III's races. This work is ongoing.
* Be'Lakor is now a Legendary Lord with his own faction.
* Dedicated factions for Grombrindal, Helman Ghorst, Volkmar the Grim, Sigvald the Magnificent and Kholek Suneater.
* New starting locations for 29 Legendary Lords.
* Improved personal faction mechanics for a selection of the older Legendary Lords (such as Volkmar the Grim).
* A new Sea Lanes feature, which allow you to move armies between distant lands and continents—from one side of the map to the other—without leapfrogging them all the way across the map.
* New dynamic end-game scenarios: Randomised mid- to late-game challenges we're introducing to challenge the late-game Steamroll—where the player is so powerful that there's little-to-no challenge left and less of a reason to complete the campaign.
* Revamped victory conditions. Most players don't end up finishing campaigns, and we want to give them better reasons—and a greater level of satisfaction—for doing so. As such, we've simplified the victory requirements into more meaningful objectives while avoiding any arbitrary playstyle requirements.
* Corruption rework. Players will have new tools for spreading (or reducing) corruption through more active usage of their armies. Small amounts of natural reduction will also be available to uncorrupted factions.
* 8-player multiplayer campaigns. And as a bonus, only the host of an Immortal Empires multiplayer campaign needs to own all three games. Friends who only own Warhammer III will still be able to join the campaign, though their Legendary Lord choices will (naturally) be limited to the ones they own.
For more information about Immortal Empires, please visit the official Total War blog or the dedicated Immortal Empires FAQ.
=== Champions of Chaos ===
Arriving day-and-date with the Immortal Empires BETA Update is the Champions of Chaos Lords Pack, now available for Total War: Warhammer III on all storefronts!
The Champions of Chaos Lord Pack introduces four new Legendary Lords (instead of the usual two in previous Lords packs)—each aligned with one of the four Ruinous Powers. Each Champion has risen through the ranks thanks to their infamous deeds to become the favoured of the four Dark Gods;
* Valkia the Bloody, the deadly but daemonic consort of Khorne
* Festus the Leechlord, the deranged plague-doctor of Nurgle
* Azazel, Prince of Damnation, the ecstatic heir of Slaanesh
* Vilitch the Curseling, the conjoined sorcerer-twin of Tzeentch
Players can embark on new crusades of destruction with brand-new gameplay features and mechanics, 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.
The Champions of Chaos are playable in the Realm of Chaos campaign and, of course, in Immortal Empires. For more information on everything coming to the Champions of Chaos Lords Pack, check out our recent blog post:
* Introducing the Champions of Chaos
Available now!
You can now purchase the Champions of Chaos DLC on all platforms where Total War: Warhammer III is available!
Note: If you choose to purchase the Champions of Chaos, please do so on the correct platform for your game, as cross-platform product ownership is not available.
* Microsoft Store: Champions of Chaos Lords Pack
* Steam: Champions of Chaos Lords Pack
* Epic Games Store: Champions of Chaos Lords Pack
* The Total War Store: Champions of Chaos Lords Pack
=== Blood for the Blood God III ===
Also coinciding with the launch of Immortal Empires and Champions of Chaos is the Blood for the Blood God effects pack. This DLC is available on all digital storefronts and unlocks a whole new world of blood and gore effects in Total War: Warhammer III.
Note that this is a free update to players who have already purchased the Blood for the Blood God pack for either Total War: Warhammer I or II and will be available immediately to owners on Steam after downloading the Immortal Empires update. (Microsoft and Epic Store users: see below.)
The Blood for the Blood God III introduces the following to all three games:
* Blood spurts
* Gory spatter on unit models
* Limb and head dismemberment (humanoids and non-legendary characters)
* Zombies and skeletons may continue to fight after dismemberment!
* Explosive gibbing from deadly mid-torso strikes
* Blood-drenched UI elements
* Random, global campaign events that generate greater carnage in battle
In addition, new features have been added to Warhammer III for owners of the pack:
* A slider to fine-tune the amounts of blood generated
* Specular particles and specular blood visual effects
* New textures and shaders
* Blood effects for all the characters and units in Warhammer III
Available now!
You can now purchase the Blood for the Blood God DLC on all platforms where Total War: Warhammer III is available!
* Microsoft Store: Blood for the Blood God III
* Steam: Blood for the Blood God III
* Epic Games Store: Blood for the Blood God III
Already own the Blood Pack?
If you previously purchased the Blood for the Blood God I or Blood for the Blood God II pack, you DO NOT need to purchase it again for Warhammer III:
* On the Epic Store, the Blood for the Blood God III pack will be free to claim and install. You can find it here.
* On the Microsoft Store and Steam, the Blood for the Blood God III pack will be unlocked and installed automatically; just launch Warhammer III to enjoy its benefits!
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== Stability & Performance ==
Improvements made to the overall stability and performance of the game.
* Fixed a crash that could occur during AI army recruitment.
* Fixed a framerate stutter caused by units passing through and destroying incidental buildings or scenery.
* Fixed a softlock triggered when using diplomacy to threaten a faction who then declared war on the player as a response.
* Fixed an issue which resulted in game benchmarks permanently hiding certain elements of the UI—preventing any further interactions until the client was restarted.
* Fixed a crash triggered by quickly selecting a unit in the unit panel immediately after disbanding a Lord.
* Fixed a rare crash triggered by players leaving their multiplayer campaign.
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== Gameplay ==
Below are changes made to the gameplay rules, AI, and other mechanics that dictate how the game is played.
=== Rules & Systems ===
Diplomacy
We've made several adjustments to the Diplomacy system used throughout the Warhammer III experience:
* Allies can now be issued “occupy” orders (in addition to “attack” and “defend” orders), which will encourage them to actively claim a settlement or colonize ruined settlements.
* Allied outposts can now be constructed outside of province capitals.
* Rebalanced the base aversion for several factions—generally improving their relations with others. (This is most beneficial to the Ogre Kingdoms.)
* Reduced the amount of threat generated by all factions.
* Factions will now (once again) consider previous positive and negative events related to dead factions when interacting with live ones.
* Players will no longer receive reliability rating penalties when forced into war via an Elector Counts dilemma.
* Reduced the relative likelihood of war declaration.
* Rebalanced the amount of gold offered in gifts, as it was previously more efficient to send numerous small gifts rather than a single large gift.
* Reduced the number of deals the AI can make from 3 → 2 per turn.
* Friendly factions will no longer charge their allied player with Ultimatums.
A change has been made which should make loaning small armies significantly cheaper while maintaining a similar cost for full stacks.
* Reduced the base Allegiance cost of loaning armies; increased the additional cost-per-unit.
Daemon War Declaration
Dev note:
While lore-appropriate, the automatic declaration of war by the Daemon factions led to several undesirable behaviours, such as preventing factions exploring the map to avoid triggering a war. This is notable in Immortal Empires, where Chaos factions are more likely to encounter non-Chaos factions early in the Campaign. So, we've removed the automatic war declaration behaviour from most of the factions who previously had it—the exception being those that act as opponents in the Realm of Chaos campaign and emerge from Rifts.
Nevertheless, Chaos factions retain extremely high aversion penalties with most non-Chaos factions and will largely ignore positive diplomatic events with them. So don't expect Karl Franz and Skarbrand to become best friends anytime soon!
* Khorne, Slaanesh, Nurgle, and the Daemons of Chaos will no longer automatically declare war upon encountering a non-Daemon faction.
Confederation
* It is now slightly harder to confederate minor factions, but considerably easier to confederate major factions.
* Apart from Kislev and the Greenskins, AI major factions will no longer confederate each other outside of extremely rare circumstances.
Embedded hero bonusses
With the addition of the new Marked Exalted Heroes, the hero embed effects required some adjusting to avoid overlapping:
* Bloodreapers: Now apply Increase Mobility
* Plagueridden: Now apply Increase Replenishment
Battle reinforcement times
There was a margin of inaccuracy built into reinforcement arrival times based on the level differences between the Lords involved in a Battle. This effect was minor and added confusion, so it has been removed.
* The estimated reinforcement times during Battles are now always accurate.
Reload time calculation
Dev note:
Previously, all ranged units had an innate (hidden) reload time reduction baked into their base stats ranging (roughly) between -7% and -15%. This variance led to several issues: some as simple as base reload times appearing as decimal values in the UI (rather than nice, round numbers) to complex problems with how additional reload time reductions were calculated, how stacking reload-reduction effects scale under different circumstances (often scaling DPS exponentially), and how other gameplay systems play off the value.
To address these issues, we're removing the innate reductions on all units except the Regiments of Renown—which will still see reductions, though we want to maintain their “veterancy” status to some extent. This will result in a slight reduction to the DPS of ranged units across the board, though the exact impact will depend heavily on context; generally speaking, it will be smallest on units without any Campaign buffs, and most noticeable in situations where multiple reload-time reductions have been stacked on a unit.
* Removed the innate reload time reductions from all non-Regiment of Renown units.
* Reduced the innate reload time reduction for Regiment of Renown units from -30% to -18%.
* Standardised the effect of rank on reload time; Rank 9 should now always equate to a -18% reduction in reload time
Dev note:
In addition to the above change, we've also updated the UI to reflect the actual damage output of units more accurately. A unit cannot fire faster than its reload animation—which, in most cases, lasts roughly 4 seconds—but the UI was not taking this into account. This means that when multiple reload-time reduction effects were stacked, the UI would display higher damage values than were being dealt.
* Altered the minimum reload time value displayed in the UI from 2 to 4 seconds. (Note that this is purely a display change and will have no impact on actual reload times.)
Wounds
Dev note:
We found that healing was allowing single-entity units to come back from very low hit-point thresholds too easily and with no significant trade-offs. As such, we've changed how Wounds work during Battles.
* Once the Wounds ability has been triggered (by dropping below the 25% hit-point threshold) on single-entity unit, it will now remain active for the remaining duration of the Battle.3
=== AI Rules & Logic ===
Campaign AI
* AI factions without a region (excluding Hordes) will no longer sue for peace.
* Fixed several instances where the AI would decide to sack a settlement they could not occupy—even when it was not the optimal decision to make.
* Updated the AI to prevent them from prioritizing the ownership of regions in an adjacent province over regions in the province they already own (assuming that both are equal).
* Implemented a new system which guides AI expansion, and which allows for targeted regions to evolve depending on the state of the game.
* Fixed instances where Hellebron's Blood Voyage would raid the ruins of a settlement after they'd already razed it.
* Fixed an issue which would result in Rogue Armies going inactive for several dozen turns.
* Improved the AI's stance-selection logic to help avoid attrition.
* AI logic improvements to when they use Rites.
* AI logic improvements to when they select commandments.
* AI logic improvements to when they elect to occupy a settlement.
* Anti-player bias has been reduced for the Immortal Empires campaign.
AI Faction features
Dev note:
A prevalent complaint from Warhammer II was that the AI would fail to use certain faction-specific advantages. We've now enabled the AI to use these, allowing them to play by similar rules as the player. We may expand these in future and are keen to hear your feedback on how it feels!
AI factions now have access to several faction features:
* Tehenhauin can now use his Pyramid features.
* Nakai can now use his Temples features.
* Dwarf and Tomb King factions can now use crafting.
* Ikit Claw has been told to stop worrying and learn to love the bomb.
* Vampire Counts now gain and use blood kisses as normal, meaning their access to bloodline lords should feel much more natural.
* Sisters of Twilight can use the Forge of Daith.
Military force generation & utilization
Dev note:
Previously, we could only use overarching groups such as ‘melee infantry' when determining how the AI groups its units. In Warhammer III, we now have much better control: allowing us to produce several sub-groups within the ‘melee infantry' group. This should reduce instances where the AI spams one unit or only recruits low-tier units when higher ones are available.
Only some factions have been updated to this new system: the Empire, Dwarfs, Bretonnia, Vampire Counts, Norsca, and all Chaos factions. We intend to move the rest over in a future patch.
* Rebalanced the priority assigned by the AI to each unit throughout their rosters.
* Beyond turn 50, the AI will now actively explore the map once it is in a strong position to do so. This replaces the old system where the owners of major ports were revealed at turn 75.
* The AI will now place more weight on its *overall* balance of power rather than its *local* balance of power when evaluating its strategic situation.
* Retired the old army morale system now that no factions use it, eliminating cases where the AI would retreat for seemingly no reason.
* The AI will only attempt to colonize a settlement when the colonizing force is at or near full health.
Battle AI
* Improved the capture behaviour of AI forces during Siege Battles.
* The AI will no longer place melee units in areas more suitable for their missile units during Battles.
* Improved how the AI prioritizes their attacks between barricades and enemy units.
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== Races & Balance ==
=== General ===
Starting armies
* Starting armies have been equalized across all factions; some gained units, and some lost units.
* Factions without a region or those with more challenging start positions retain slightly larger armies to account for their disadvantage.
* High-tier units have been removed from the armies of Lords who do not offer specific effects for them.
Economy
* Supply lines in Immortal Empires have been set to: Normal (1%), Hard (2%), Very Hard (4%), Legendary (4%)
* Increased the background income for all major factions from 2500 to 3000 gold on all difficulties.
Garrisons
* Garrison budgets have been equalized across the board, now falling between the Warhammer II Mortal Empires and Warhammer III Realm of Chaos amounts.
* Some factions have additional units on the same budget, while others have less.
* Heroes have been removed from the baseline garrisons but can still be added via certain building unlocks.
* We will revisit heroes as part of specific and special buildings, as well as specific locations providing unique garrisons, in the future.
Buildings
* We've reconfigured the system which determines which buildings are available in what locations.
* Duplicate building chains previously created for unique locations have been removed.
* Elf Gates, Empire Forts, and Bastions now use a standardized set of rules across all factions and races.
* The generic, primary settlement chain will always be used as a fallback.
Building income
Several adjustments have been made to the income of Port incomes:
* Recategorized ports into one of three categories: Top, Medium, and Low.
* Norsca and Vampire Coast ports remain in the Top class.
* The majority of races construct Medium class ports, which have been adjusted to Warhammer III income values: 100 (Wharf I), 200 (Harbour III), 400 gold (Port V).
* Lizardmen, Skaven, and Greenskins construct Low class ports, which have had their income values reduced to: 75, 150, 300 gold.
* Special ports have had their income values adjusted to 200, 400, 800 gold.
In addition to general building incomes:
* Adjusted several landmarks to avoid disrupting the economic balance.
* Adjusted the income values of damaged buildings, which would sometimes provide greater-than-intended incomes.
* Removed the adjacency increases to income from building.
* Kislevian Ducat: Replaced the resource income bonus with a settlement income bonus.
Building costs
* Increased the cost of the Settlement chain upgrades for all races.
We have streamlined building costs into three distinct bands. This enables us to better balance each race in line with its intended playstyle. All races will therefore be assigned to one of three bands, with positive and negative cost offsets for low- and high-cost races:
* Low Cost: Greenskins, Norsca, Skaven
* High Cost: Chaos, Dwarfs, High Elves, Wood Elves
* Medium Cost: <all other races>
Building times:
* Increased the time to complete Settlement upgrades by 1-2 turns. Reduced the infrastructure build-up while maintaining other construction times.
* Increased the time to complete Garrison and Defence buildings by 1-2 turns.
* Reduced the amount of time it takes to construct Resource buildings.
* Corrected instances where high-tier buildings would have lower-than-intended construction times.
All races will now be assigned to one of three bands with positive and negative time offsets for slow and fast races:
* Slow Building Times: Daemon Prince, Khorne, Slaanesh, Tzeentch, Lizardmen, Tomb kings, Wood Elves
* Medium Building Times: Kislev, Cathay, High Elves, Dark Elves, Empire, Dwarfs, Vampire Coast/Counts, Warriors of Chaos, Bretonnia
* Fast Building Times: Ogre Kingdoms, Skaven, Greenskins, Norsca
Recruitment & Hero capacity
* Reduced the previous increases to hero capacity.
While the base recruitment capacity of all races and factions is now 2, there are some exceptions to the rule:
* Beastmen: Recruitment capacity reduced to 2 in Hordes.
* Beastmen: Recruitment capacity reduced to [2,3,3,4,4] in settlements.
* Greenskins: Recruitment capacity increased by +1.
* Skaven: Recruitment capacity increased by +1.
* Tomb Kings: Recruitment capacity increased by +1.
=== Skills (General) ===
* Immortality: Now unlocks automatically at Rank 20 for all characters.
* Magical Reserves: Now grants +5 Winds of Magic maximum reserve capacity to own army.
=== Spell Lores (General) ===
Lore of High Magic
* Fiery Convocation (base): Armour-Piercing Damage: 48 → 35
* Fiery Convocation (overcast): Armour-Piercing Damage: 96 → 50
* Tempest (base/overcast): Affected Targets: Flying → Flying unit
* Tempest (base/overcast): Effect Range: 20 → 35
* Tempest (base/overcast): Replaced the “Cannot Move” debuff with a -60% Speed debuff
* Tempest: Duration: 17 → 18
* Tempest (overcast): Duration: 17 → 15
* Tempest: Cooldown: 44 → 37
Lore of Dark Magic
* Power of Darkness: Uses: 3 → 2
* Soul Stealer: Winds of Magic cost: 18 → 16
Lore of Life
Dev note:
Since the Vigour stat in Warhammer III applies throughout the duration of the ability (or spell), we've rebalanced the old values to mirror the original design power levels.
* Regrowth: Bonus to Vigour: -100% → -5%
Lore of Death
* Aspect of the Dreadknight: Added the “Can Cause Fear” and “Can Cause Terror” attributes
* Wind of Death (base): Winds of Magic cost: 20 → 15
* Wind of Death (overcast): Winds of Magic cost: 27 → 20
Lore of Fire
* Burning Head (base): Damage Per Second: 12 → 20
* Burning Head (overcast): Damage Per Second: 18 → 30
=== Traits (General) ===
Dev note:
While the Warhammer II version of Knowledgeable invited all sorts of abusive behaviours, the stricter caps on Winds of Magic in Warhammer III were probably an overcorrection that resulted in the new Knowledgeable trait feeling quite weak. As such, we've not only reworked the trait to focus on experience rather than magic, but also positioned the Magical Reserves skill (shared by nearly all spellcasters) as a means to increase your maximum Winds of Magic capacity.
* Knowledgeable: Now increases the rate of experience gained by +20%
=== Units (General) ===
Barded Horses
Dev note:
In previous Total War: Warhammer games, characters had the choice of upgrading to a standard horse or a “Barded” version—which traded speed for armour at around a 50 gold cost. This choice was fairly negligible, so we've combined the stats of both horse types into the “Barded” skin to streamline the game experience with a single solid upgrade.
* The Horse and Barded Horse have been combined into a single unit—the Barded horse—for The Empire, Bretonnia, High Elves, Vampire Counts, and Warriors of Chaos races.
Dragons
Dev note:
The combat stats of all dragon units have been reworked so they can play a more significant role in battles. In Warhammer II, they were prone to getting stuck in infantry mobs where they would be unable to break free or repeatedly backstabbed for significant damage. While they will struggle to lift off when being chased by light, fast units, we're adjusting their stats, attacks, and costs to help them deal with being mobbed by infantry units. You can find specifics about these changes in the respective sections for each race.
* Adjusted the armour, health, and mass of Dragon units to allow them to deal with being mobbed by infantry.
* Retained the breath attack stats from Warhammer II, meaning they'll perform slightly better in Warhammer III.
* Reducing the multiplayer costs to make them more accessible in the competitive environment.
==Beastmen==
Dev note:
As the last race to receive major tweaks in Warhammer II, there isn't much needed to bring the Beastmen into Warhammer III.
One area we did address involves their ability to quickly re-recruit destroyed units due to their low cost, short recruitment times, and large number of recruitment slots. This made losses feel too trivial for the race, and while we want the Beastmen to be agile and responsive—which is why we want to keep their recruitment times low—we've reduced the number of recruitment slots they get while away from a Herdstone region. This will make replenishing your armies feel slightly more difficult while out in the field.
We'd also like to bring Taurox in-line with the power level of the other Beastmen Lords, so Taurox now generates slightly less Momentum and Rampage per battle, gains less additional movement range from his unique stance, and must spend more Momentum to replenish his movement. On the flip side, he now counts as a Khorne unit for the purposes of Khorne corruption, which means that he'll be even stronger in certain regions.
Finally, we've swapped the starting positions of Morghur and Khazrak to put each of them a bit closer to their nemeses.
=== Units ===
Taurox the Brass Bull
* Rune-Tortured Axes Melee Attack Bonus: 10 → 8
Harpies
* Multiplayer Cost: 600 → 500 gold
Wargor
* Multiplayer Cost: 800 → 600 gold
=== Abilities ===
Barbed-Knuckle Boxing
* Melee Attack Bonus: +25 → +24
Slaughterer's Call
* Melee Attack Bonus: +10 → +8
=== Items ===
The Dark Mail (Khazrak the One-Eye)
* Now provides +20 armour and +25% spell resistance
==Bretonnia==
Dev note:
Alberic's new starting position is on the coast of Lustria, where he'll be looking to finally complete his long-delayed Grail Quest. His old position is now occupied by the faction of Aquitaine, who have also been added to the Bretonnian technology tree to allow for confederation.
We've also rebuilt the Chivalry mechanic using more modern frameworks, making it more robust and flexible for both us and for modders who want to tinker with the system. From a player perspective it should function in the same way, but with some slight changes; for example, traits now grant their Chivalry bonus per-turn rather than just once.
One small but notable change is to Damsels, who now have the Replenish embed action to help with Bretonnia's historically weak replenishment.
=== Units ===
Damsels
* Added Action: Replenish
Mounted Yeomen
* Melee Attack: 24 → 26
* Base Melee Damage: 20 → 21
* Armour-Piercing Melee Damage: 6 → 7
* Charge Bonus: 32 → 36
* Mass: 500 → 600
The Green Knight
* Hit Points: 4176 → 5274
* Armour-Piercing Damage: 280 → 430
* Physical Resistance: 55% → 40%
* Removed 150 Base Weapon Damage
* Added Contact Effect: Frostbite
==Daemons of Chaos==
Dev note:
With the addition of multiple new mortal units to the Daemon Prince's roster as part of the Champions of Chaos DLC, we've made changes to the Daemon Prince's roster to avoid cluttering his Daemonic Glory panel. With the exception of mortals mounted on Daemons (e.g. Skullcrushers), most mortal units can now be recruited from their respective settlements *without* first investing in the associated Daemonic Glory tech. This not only keeps Daemonic Glory progression nice and tidy, but helps resolve issues where choosing the “wrong” path results in a situation where you're unable to recruit a diverse set of unit types in the early game.
=== General Updates ===
* The Daemon Prince no longer requires Daemonic Glory to access Mortal units.
* In Battle, the Daemon Prince's icon no longer clips out of the frame when at low health.
=== Campaign ===
* The recruitment cost effects for Nurgle and Khorne units in the Daemon Prince roster should now function as intended.
=== Mission ===
* Claim the Capital: Now properly awards the player with 60 Undivided glory
==Dark Elves==
Dev note:
The Dark Elves' Slave system, while powerful, heavily incentivized a single play style where the player would funnel all their slaves into a single super-province and eventually trivialise the economic aspect of the game. In Warhammer III, this has been replaced by a new system where individual buildings consume slaves from a global pool to generate income. Slaves can also be invested in one of three powerful “Slave Diktats” to unlock short-term benefits in specific provinces.
In Battle, our goal with the Dark Elves was to lean into their offensive nature while reworking a handful of abilities to be more useful—in particular, those of the Legendary Lords. Rakarth's utility has been increased by reducing his ability restrictions and granting damage resistance via his Beastlord's Gaze. Malus Darkblade will be better able to sustain his health after you allow Tz'arkan to take over. Crone Hellebron will be a significantly stronger and tankier combatant, while Morathi will be less frustrating to fight against as she stacks less debuffs on her enemies. And finally, Malekith's items now provide several new magic-related effects to make them more impactful and interesting.
Unit-wise, many smaller changes were made; of special note would be the Bloodwrack Medusa and Bloodwrack Shrine, where significant stat changes should help establish a stronger role in Dark Elf armies. Naturally, the Black Dragon will also be enjoying the benefits of the Dragon rework—allowing it to take more punishment while pushing its way out of mobs when surrounded.
Overall, we hope this offers a more interesting and varied playstyle for the Dark Elves, and we look forward to hearing what you think!
=== General Updates ===
Most individual Dark Elf characters have been adjusted to help them adapt to the new Warhammer III landscape:
* Malekith: Upkeep cost reductions are now smaller but apply faction-wide to help him fight on multiple fronts. Parts of his Tyrant skill tree are now attached to his base lord effects.
* Malus: The effects of the Possession bar have been changed. It is now possible to use Tzar'kan at lower Possession levels, though doing so will immediately increase his Possession.
* Malus: High Possession now applies faction-wide, and Slaanesh corruption now replaces its former penalties.
* Morathi: Now spreads (and benefits from) Slaanesh Corruption, and can recruit a variety of Daemonette units.
* Rakarth: Now based on the Western coast of Lustria, where he has access to several new beasts in his Monster Pens: Giant Spiders, Feral Wyverns, Feral Bears, Feral Ice Bears, Sabretusk Pack.
=== Units ===
Black Ark Corsairs
* Base Damage: 21 → 25
* Armour-Piercing Damage: 7 → 10
Black Ark Corsairs (Handbows)
* Base Damage: 21 → 25
* Armour-Piercing Damage: 7 → 10
Black Dragon
* Hit Points: 7324 → 8324
* Armour: 80 → 90
* Mass: 2200 → 4000
* Multiplayer Cost: 2100 → 1900 gold
Black Guard of Naggarond
* Added Ability: Murderous Mastery
Bleakswords
* Base Damage: 21 → 25
* Armour-Piercing Damage: 7 → 10
Bloodwrack Medusa
* Ammunition: 18 → 30
* Melee Attack: 34 → 40
* Melee Defence: 34 → 40
Bloodwrack Shrine
* Ammunition: 25 → 35
Cauldon of Blood
* Hit Points: 6332 → 7032
Chill of Sontar (War Hydra)
* Base damage of Frost Breath: 40 → 54
* Armour-Piercing Damage of Frost Breath: 24 → 32
Cold One Dread Knights
* Melee Defence: 42 → 44
Cold One Knights
* Melee Defence: 26 → 28
Dark Riders
* Base Damage: 20 → 21
* Armour-Piercing Damage: 6 → 7
Dark Riders (Shields)
* Melee Defence: 28 → 30
* Base Damage: 20 → 21
* Armour-Piercing Damage: 6 → 7
Darkshards (Shields)
* Multiplayer Cost: 650 → 600 gold
Doomfire Warlocks
* Melee Defence: 26 → 28
Dreadspears
* Armour: 30 → 40
Har Ganeth Executioners
* Melee Attack: 38 → 40
* Added Passive Attribute: Immune to Psychology
Harpies
* Multiplayer Cost: 600 → 500 gold
Kharibdyss
* Multiplayer Cost: 1650 → 1600 gold
Knights of the Ebon Claw
* Melee Defence: 52 → 54
* Added Passive Ability: Primal Instincts
Master
* Multiplayer cost: 700 → 400 gold
Morathi
* Multiplayer cost: 750 → 900 gold
Shades (Dual WeaponsS)
* Base Damage: 21 → 25
* Armour-Piercing Damage: 9 → 10
Shades (Greatswords)
* Multiplayer Cost: 1150 → 1050 gold
Sisters of Slaughter
* Melee Attack: 39 → 40
* Multiplayer Cost: 1100 → 1000 gold
Slaanesh's Harvesters
* Melee Defence: 34 → 36
The Crows of Khaine (Harpies)
* Multiplayer Cost: 850 → 750 gold
Witch Elves
* Melee Attack: 36 → 38
* Base Damage: 23 to 30
* Armour-Piercing damage: 9 → 10
* Multiplayer Cost: 800 → 750 gold
=== Abilities ===
Beastlord's Gaze (Rakarth)
* Now has a 10% damage resistance effect
Beastslayer (Rakarth)
* Duration: 17 → 34 seconds
Blood Frenzy (Crone Hellebron)
* Now uses intensity scaling
* Armour-Piercing Effects: 6%/12%/18% → 10%/20%/25% (in each phase, respectively)
Enchanting Beauty (Morathi)
* Inflicted melee attack impairment -8 → -5
Merciless Slaver (Lokir Fellheart)
* Inflicted Leadership debuff: -4 → -6
The Daemon's Curse (Malus Darkblade)
* No longer deals damage to self
* Duration: 12 → 34 seconds
* Cooldown: 60 → 120 seconds
* Inflicted Leadership debuff: -16 → -10
Whiplash (High Beastmaster)
* Now affects any non-character unit rather than only large entities
=== Items ===
We've changed the item availability for the Master hero unit:
* Replaced the Helm of Many Eyes with the Crown of Command
Circlet of Iron (Malekith)
* Altered from a hex to an augment
* Added Effect: -50% miscast chance
* Added Effect: +80% Winds of Magic recharge rate
Destroyer (Malekith)
* Added Effect: -20% spell resistance
Heartrender & The Darksword
* Melee Attack (debuff): -8 → -5
* Melee Defence (debuff): -10 → -5
Hydra Blade
* Multiplayer Cost: 200 → 150 gold
Pearl of Infinite Bleakness
* Multiplayer Cost: 200 → 150 gold
Supreme Spellshield (Malekith)
* Added Effect: +20% spell resistance on self
Whip of Agony (Rakarth)
* No longer requires a specific target unit type
* Multiplayer Cost: 200 → 150 gold
==Dwarves==
Dev note:
Having received their own update at the end of Warhammer II, there weren't too many changes we wanted to make to the Dwarfs right at the launch of Immortal Empires. One notable addition is Grombrindal, who now leads his own faction of The Ancestral Throng in Naggaroth. From there, he ventures outwards on a mission of vengeance against the treacherous Malekith.
=== Units ===
ANCESTOR SPIRIT
* Armour-Piercing Damage: 125 → 250
* Removed the 250 Base Weapon Damage
DRAMAR HAMMERFIST
* Hit Points: 2532 → 3292
* Physical Resistance: 75% → 55%
* Armour-Piercing Damage: 220 → 280
* Removed the 60 Base Weapon Damage
* Added Contact Effect: Frostbite
HALKENHAF STONEBEARD
* Armour-Piercing Damage: 125 → 250
* Removed the 250 Base Weapon Damage
* Added Contact Effect: Frostbite
HANS VALHIRSSON
* Armour-Piercing Damage: 125 → 375
* Removed the 125 Base Weapon Damage
* Added Contact Effect: Frostbite
KING LUNN IRONHAMMER
* Armour-Piercing Damage: 125 → 250
* Removed the 250 Base Weapon Damage
* Added Contact Effect: Frostbite
THRONI IRONBROW
* Hit Points: 2532 → 3292
* Physical Resistance: 75% → 55%
* Armour-Piercing Damage: 90 → 320
* Removed the 230 Base Weapon Damage
* Added Contact Effect: Frostbite
==Cathay==
Dev note:
For now, we're relatively happy with Cathay's campaign gameplay. The Kurgan Warband will be seeing some additional downscaling to account for the new threats that have appeared beyond the Bastion, but we're holding off on any significant changes until we get a better sense of how they perform in the Immortal Empires environment.
=== General Updates ===
* The value used to grant campaign movement range bonuses to Yin or Yang armies is now working as intended.
* Units with the Formation Attack attribute now correctly gain +8 melee defence, as intended. This addition is now mentioned in the Formation Attack text.
=== Units ===
ANCESTRAL WARRIORS
* Hit Points: 6720 → 8560
* Physical Resistance: 75% → 55%
* Armour-Piercing Weapon Damage: 25 → 36
* Removed the 11 Base Weapon Damage
* Added Contact Effect: Frostbite
=== Spells ===
BLOSSOM WIND
* Radius: 5 → 6
* [Base] Armour-Piercing Damage: 16 → 18
* [Overcast] Armour-Piercing Damage: 20 → 26
==Greenskins==
Dev note:
Overall, we're happy with where the Greenskins fit in campaign right now, though they'll still be enjoying a few key changes in Update 2.0. For starters (and, perhaps, most notably), new starting positions have been assigned for Grimgor and Skarsnik!
As part of our overall effort to improve the functionality of campaign features in multiplayer, the Waaagh! system now supports multiple simultaneous Waaaghs. This means that two Greenskin players can now combine their Waaaghs into a truly unstoppable Greentide. There are even new trophies available for successfully Waaaghing against some of the new Warhammer III races.
In Battle, the Greenskins have received some deep and meaningful lovin' in Update 2.0—making them fightier than ever! First off, two Greenskin abilities have had their durations increased to make them feel more impactful, as we found that they'd previously time out before having any real impact on the battle. These are:
* Smash 'em Faster
* Sneaky Stabbin'
Many of the Greenskin Lords have had their health pool increased—making them more viable in head-to-head combat against the horrific daemons you're likely to face.
Fanatics have had a significant overhaul; they're a little more expensive but now enjoy a reduced cooldown on their abilities in addition to seeing them recharge outside of combat. This means they can now fire off their abilities at any time, allowing units like the Night Goblin Warboss and Fanatic Archers to use their abilities before they're engaged in combat and rout their enemies.
Finally, the Regiments of Renown for the Greenskin roster have been much improved: with stat upgrades across the board, and with the Krimzon Killers now being accurately portrayed as dual-axe infantry in their stats.
=== Units ===
AZHAG THE SLAUGHTERER
* Hit Points: 4396 → 5221
* Hit Points (when riding Skullmuncha): 5716 → 6788
BLACK ORKS
* Melee Defence: 26 → 31
BROKEN TUSKS MOB (ORC BOAR BOY BIG ‘UNS)
* Melee Defence: 29 → 35
* Melee Attack: 27 → 30
* Recruitment Cost: 1300 → 1050 gold
* Upkeep Costs: 325 → 260 gold
DA BIG ‘UN (ROGUE IDOL)
* Melee Defence: 27 → 30
* Added Ability: Unbreakable
DA EIGHT PEAK LOONIES (NIGHT GOBLINS – FANATICS)
* Recruitment Cost: 700 → 735 gold
* Upkeep Cost: 175 → 184 gold
DA SWAMP FINGS (RIVER TROLLS)
* Base Melee Damage: 30 → 40
* Armour-Piercing Melee Damage: 50 → 66
* Charge Bonus: 24 → 30
DURKIT'S SQUIGS (NIGHT GOBLIN SQUIG HOPPERS)
* Leadership: 60→ 70
* Melee Defence: 24 → 28
* Melee Attack: 32 → 36
* Charge Bonus: 26 → 35
GRIMGOR IRONHIDE
* Hit Points: 5536 → 7123
GROM THE PAUNCH
* Hit Points: 5296 → 5764
KRIMZON KILLERZ (BLACK ORCS)
* Updated to Dual Axe Infantry
* Melee Defence: 34 → 30
* Melee Attack: 45 → 50
* Base Melee Damage: 14 → 20
* Armour-Piercing Melee Damage 36 → 30
* Charge Bonus: 29 → 35
* Added Attribute: +8 Bonus vs. Infantry
LOGEY BOGEY'S SPORE ‘SPLODAZ (SNOTLING PUMP WAGONS)
* Hit Points: 4096 → 4696
MOON-HOWLERS (GOBLIN WOLF RIDERS)
* Charge Bonus: 18 → 23
* Added Attribute: Expendable
MORGRUBB'S MANGY MARAUDER (GOBLIN WOLF ARCHERS)
* Charge Bonus: 10 → 18
* Recruitment Cost: 625 → 600 gold
* Upkeep Cost: 156 → 145 gold
* Added Attribute: Expendable
NIGHT GOBLIN ARCHERS (FANATICS)
* Recruitment Cost: 575 → 600 gold
* Upkeep Cost: 144 → 151 gold
NIGHT GOBLIN SQUIG HOPPERS
* Leadership: 50 → 60
* Melee Attack: 25 → 28
* Base Melee Damage: 8 → 10
* Armour-Piercing Melee Damage: 19 → 22
* Charge Bonus: 26 → 32
NIGHT GOBLIN WAR BOSS
* Added Ability: Stalk
NIGHT GOBLINS (FANATICS)
* Recruitment Cost: 500 → 525 gold
* Upkeep Cost: 125 → 131 gold
ORC BOAR BOY BIG ‘UNS
* Melee Defence: 20 → 26
* Recruitment Cost: 950 → 850 gold
* Upkeep Cost: 237 → 214 gold
ORC BOYZ
* Recruitment Cost: 450 → 430 gold
* Upkeep Cost: 112 → 107 gold
RIVER TROLLS
* Base Melee Damage: 30 → 37
* Armour-Piercing Melee Damage: 50 → 61
ROGUE IDOL
* Melee Defence: 20 → 24
* Added Ability: Unbreakable
SNOTLING PUMP WAGONS
* Hit Points: 4096 → 4696
SNOTLING PUMP WAGONS (FLAPPAS)
* Hit Points: 4096 → 4696
SNOTLING PUMP WAGONS (SPIKY ROLLERS)
* Hit Points: 5096 → 5856
SQUIG HERD
* Recruitment Cost: 500 → 300 gold
* Upkeep Cost: 125 → 75 gold
TEEF ROBBERS (GOBLIN WOLF CHARIOTS)
* Speed: 92 → 110
* Mass: 30
* Added Attribute: Ignore Terrain
WURRZAG
* Hit Points: 4128 → 4903
* Hit Points (when riding Spleenrippa): 4680 → 5556
=== Abilities ===
We've reworked the Spinning Loons, Loons of Eight Peaks, and Da Boss' Loons abilities for all Fanatic units:
* Fanatic units no longer need to be in combat for these abilities to recharge
* Cooldown: 45 → 30 seconds
SMASH ‘EM FASTER
* Active Duration: 18 → 30 seconds
=== Spells ===
SNEAKY STABBIN'
* Active Duration: 19 → 40 seconds
‘EADBUTT
* [Base] Winds of Magic cost: 7 → 5
* [Overcast] Winds of Magic cost: 12 → 9
=== Items ===
SKULL WAND OF KALOTH
* Multiplayer Cost: 200 → 175 gold
==High Elves==
Dev note:
We've made a few adjustments aimed at helping the High Elves engage with the new diplomacy systems in Warhammer III. With trade being so much simpler, they no longer get vision from trade agreements; they now generate additional Influence from Allied Outposts, and Teclis—being the diplomatic sort—now gets a hefty reduction to his allied recruitment costs to help him get a foothold from his new starting position in the Southlands.
Some slight adjustments have also been made to their economy, where we've removed some of the more…abusable trait-related scaling and replaced them with additional bonuses for having high levels of Control—rewarding you for turning Ulthuan into the paradise it should be.
In battle, High Elves have been in a tight spot due to their reliance on their ranged units—not dissimilar to the Wood Elves. By allowing Martial Prowess and Martial Mastery to remain active for longer, our aim is to ensure that the frontline units can hold and dish out damage for longer.
The Dragon rework benefits the High Elves more than most given the variety of their options; we're excited to see how the changes play out in the hands of the players! We're also bringing the Frostheart Phoenix into the spotlight: giving it the power to stack a significant number of slow effects on enemies, in order to improve the efficacy of both your ranged units and charges into battle.
Finally, we've also heard your feedback regarding the starting positions of Teclis and Alith Anar in Immortal Empires. While we couldn't change them in time for its launch, we will be looking to make some small moves in an upcoming release.
=== Units ===
FROSTHEART PHOENIX
* The Blizzard Aura ability now also reduces enemy movement speed and charge speed by 12% each
* Multiplayer Cost: 1650 → 1500 gold
* Added Contact Effect: Frostbite
MOON DRAGON
* Armour: 60 → 70
* Hit Points: 7324 → 8324
* Mass: 2200 → 4000
* Multiplayer Cost: 2000 → 1800 gold
PHOENIX GUARD & REGIMENT OF RENOWN PHOENIX GUARD
* Mass: 140 → 150
STAR DRAGON
* Armour: 80 → 90
* Hit Points: 8424 → 9424
* Mass: 2500 → 4400
* Multiplayer Cost: 2400 → 2200 gold
SUN DRAGON
* Armour: 60 → 70
* Hit Points: 6008 → 7008
* Mass: 1800 → 3500
* Multiplayer Cost: 1700 → 1600 gold
SILVER HELMS
We've also adjusted the recruitment cost of Silver Helms to better match their current power level:
* Silver Helms: Recruitment Cost: 900 → 850 gold
* Silver Helms (Shields): Recruitment Cost: 1000 → 950 gold
=== Abilities ===
We've adjusted both the Martial Prowess and Martial Mastery abilities to increase their uptime:
* Reduced the hit point threshold of when the abilities deactivate from 50% to 25%
PRIMAL RAGE
We've also adjusted the Primal Rage ability to scale with the intensity settings of Warhammer III:
* Primal Rage now scales based on the amount of time spent engaged in melee, up to +25% base and +25% armour-piercing weapon damage.
SWORD OF TECLIS
We've also made several adjustments to the Sword of Teclis ability to offer greater spell mastery and cast more powerful spells:
* Effect Duration: 30 → 23 seconds
* Now grants bonus Winds of Magic reserves Per Second
* Now grants Spell Mastery
=== Multiplayer ===
* Shadow-walkers are now available to use in competitive play
==Khorne==
Dev note:
Skarbrand's fast-paced, aggressive playstyle was pretty fun to play, but we found that he was a little *too* capable of rampaging across the map and eliminating other factions before they had the chance to find their footing. As such, we've shifted a lot of the movement range bonuses to begin at a lower level and build up over the course of his Campaign: slowing Skarbrand's initial rush potential while preserving his ability to pull off massive combos in the late game.
=== Campaign ===
* Reduced the innate movement range bonus of Blood Hosts from 35% to 10%
* Increased the bonus movement range granted to Blood Hosts via technology unlocks from 10% to 15%
* Reduced the innate movement granted after razing a settlement via Skarbrand's faction effect from 25% to 15%
* Reduced the bonus movement range granted after razing a settlement via the Skull Throne ritual from 25% to 15%
* Increased the bonus movement range granted after razing a settlement via technology unlocks from 10% to 15%
* Reduced Skarbrand's innate post-battle movement bonus from +35% to +25%
* Reduced the duration of the Skull Throne ritual to 5 turns so it can no longer be maintained at an 100% uptime
=== Units ===
CHAOS FURIES
* Multiplayer Cost: 550 → 575 gold
MINOTAURS OF KHORNE
* Now have access to the Frenzy passive ability
* Now benefit from +15% spell resistance
MINOTAURS OF KHORNE (GREAT WEAPONS)
* Now have access to the Frenzy passive ability
* Now benefit from +15% spell resistance
=== Skills ===
LOCUS OF ENDLESS WAR
* Now grants +15% post-battle movement speed
RESTLESS FURY
* Post-Battle Movement Bonus: +15% → +10%
==Kislev==
Dev note:
As with most Warhammer III races, Kislev will only see light adjustments as we focus on those factions returning from Warhammer I and II.
One change worth highlighting was made to Boris as we provide him with new interactions in the Chaos Wasteland climates. While he'll still suffer some penalties for occupying those territories—this is not a land that will *ever* be fit for any stout Kislevite—he'll take less than most and will be rewarded with additional Devotion for purging and holding the region. This boost is intended to support his (deliberately very challenging) Immortal Empires start, but should also benefit him in the Realms of Chaos map.
=== General Updates ===
* The penalties inflicted by the Chaos Wasteland climates on Boris Ursus have been reduced
* Boris Ursus now generates Devotion from holding Chaos Wasteland settlements
* Boris Ursus' wings are now visible on his campaign map model
=== Units ===
SNOW LEOPARD
* Domination Capture Weight: 5 → 4
==Lizardmen==
Dev note:
While the core Lizardmen features haven't found the opportunity for a revamp quite yet, we've made numerous changes to the individual Lords:
* Kroq'gar's faction effects have been entirely revamped and now focus on Scar-Veterans and Old-Bloods. Not only will he be able to recruit them earlier, but they'll gain a scaling weapon strength buff for every level they gain.
* Gor'rok has a new set of faction and lord effects that lean more into his defensive nature. His unique Rite has been revamped: rather than granting Unbreakable to Saurus' (which was most useful when losing and substantially annoying to counter), it now grants them Barrier and immunity to contact effects like poison.
* Oxyotl's special missions now target Daemon factions and will scale better with campaign difficulty.
* Tehenhauin now unlocks Regiments of Renown by levelling up, like other factions. His pyramid instead offers a repeatable way to get Blessed Spawning units.
* On top of a new starting position in exotic Cathay, Nakai has received a revamp to the effects received from his Temple of the Old Ones system. In addition, his tech tree has been updated to provide much better economic scaling over the course of the campaign—substantially improving his ability to sustain multiple hordes.
Additionally, Slann—including Mazdamundi and Kroak—will enjoy several updates to their skill trees to keep them up at the top-tier of casters and offer them new effects like Barrier.
In Battle, we wanted to shake up the rampage system. By taking away rampage from Primal Instincts, we hope to not only make rampaging feral units and the non-feral army more distinct, but to also address long-standing player frustrations over losing control over a significant portion of your armies. By making the buffs stronger and triggering them earlier, Lizardmen should possess a power level comparable to the Warhammer III Chaos races.
We are also making a handful of tweaks to key monsters—such as the Ancient Salamander—to help them reach the power standards set in Warhammer III.
Finally, given the long wind-up of the Deliverance of Itza spells cast by Lord Kroak, we are also increasing their power level from what they were in Warhammer II. Bear in mind that while it may look like they were reduced, the core mechanics of area of effects spells have changed in Warhammer III to (overall) make them more powerful.
=== Units ===
AMAXON BARBS (RAZONDON HUNTING PACK)
* Ammunition: 15 → 18
ANCIENT SALAMANDER
* Hit Points: 4168 → 5168
* Ammunition: 20 → 25
COLOSSADON HUNTERS (RIPPERDACTYL RIDERS)
* Hit Points: 5780 → 6250
* Multiplayer Cost: 1450 → 1400 gold
DREAD SAURIAN
* Melee Defence: 26 → 28
FERAL CARNOSAUR
* Mass: 3500 → 4000
* Melee Attack: 41 → 45
FERAL COLD ONES
* Hit Points: 3904 → 5024
FERAL DREAD SAURIAN
* Melee Defence: 26 → 28
GELTBLOM'S TERROR (FERAL CARNOSAUR)
* Mass: 3500 → 4000
* Melee Attack: 51 → 55
RAZORDON PACK
* Ammunition: 15 → 18
RIPPERDACTYL RIDERS
* Hit Points: 5780 → 6250
* Multiplayer Cost: 1150 → 1100 gold
SALAMANDER PACK
* Ammunition: 15 → 18
SKINK PRIEST AVATAR
* Hit Points: 2200 → 5168
* Physical Resistance: 75% → 55%
* Armour-Piercing Weapon Damage: 70 → 280
* Removed the 210 Base Weapon Damage
* Added Contact Effect: Frostbite
THE SHREDDER OF LUSTRIA (DREAD SAURIAN)
* Melee Defence: 34 → 36
=== Abilities ===
PRIMAL INSTINCTS
Numerous adjustments have been made to the Primal Instincts ability:
* No longer triggers rampage
* Increased the melee attack bonus from +8 → +10
* Added effect: +5% Physical Resistance
* Increased the trigger threshold from 25% → 50% hit points
The following units now have access to the Primal Instincts ability:
* Ancient Stegadon
* Ancient Stegadon (Engine of the Gods)
* Bastiladon (Ark of Sotek)
* Bastiladon (Revivification Crystal)
* Bastiladon (Solar Engine)
* Dread Saurian
* Pok-Hopak Cohort
* Star Chamber Guardians
* Stegadon
* Temple Guards
* The Shredder of Lustria
* The Thunderous One
GOLDEN TRIBUTES (Nakai)
* Added Effect: +10% damage resistance
PRIMAL ROAR (Nakai)
* Effect Duration: 17 → 25 seconds
REVIVIFICATION CRYSTAL (Bastiladon – Revivification Crystal)
* Effect Duration: 40 → 30 seconds
RUINATION OF CITIES (Mazdamundi)
* Base Damage: 48 → 36
* Armour-Piercing Damage: 24 → 16
=== Spells ===
DELIVERANCE OF ITZA
* Levels I, II, and III: Base Damage: 40 → 30
* Level I: Armour-Piercing Damage: 22 → 10
* Level II: Armour-Piercing Damage: 37 → 20
* Level III: Armour-Piercing Damage: 52 → 30
==Norsca==
Dev note:
Norsca have received some of the most substantial changes in Warhammer III as we help them rise to meet the challenges of a new battlefield. The biggest change is that they can now occupy all settlements, though their economy will retain a strong focus on Port cities. To accompany this, they now have access to new resource buildings and a new set of provincial commandments to help assert control over their new territories.
In addition to this, we've revamped their Allegiance to the Gods rewards to match some of the mechanics and content introduced in Warhammer III; you can read up on the full changes below!
=== General Updates ===
Several adjustments have been made to the Allegiance to the Gods mechanic for Norsca:
* The Hound: No longer grants you a Hellcannon Battery; rather, you are granted with the unique Exalted Hero of Khorne: Killgore Slaymaime
* The Raven: Arzik the Maze-Keeper can now access the Lore of Tzeentch spell set
* The Serpent: Kihar the Tormentor has been updated with the Sorcerer or Slaanesh model and can access the Lore of Slaanesh spell set
* The Crow: No longer triggers a global plague; now provides the unique Great Unclean One: Burplesmirk Spewpit
=== Units ===
FROST WYRM
* Hit Points: 6120 → 7120
* Mass: 2000 → 3800
* Multiplayer Cost: 1700 → 1600 gold
MARAUDER CHAMPIONS
* Base Weapon Damage: 30 → 35
* Armour-Piercing Weapon Damage: 9 → 15
MARAUDER CHAMPIONS (GREAT WEAPONS)
* Base Weapon Damage: 10 → 15
* Armour-Piercing Weapon Damage: 30 → 35
=== Abilities ===
The following abilities have been updated to leverage the new Warhammer III intensity settings, and scale based on the time spent engaged in melee combat:
* Berserk
* Rage
SEAFANG (Wulfrik)
* Base Damage: 54 → 36
* Armour-Piercing Damage: 27 → 20
==Nurgle==
Dev note:
Nurgle's economy has shifted a bit to provide more money from their cyclical buildings while reducing the massive bonus for sacking the income they gain from plagues. Plague balance is still on our radar as something that requires additional attention, so this is something we will continue to investigate and adjust over time.
With the release of the Champions of Chaos and the accompanying Warriors of Chaos update, Nurgle is gaining a massive number of units to the roster. We've even added Chaos Warhounds to as a bonus, which should provide Nurgle with additional tools to handle fast-moving units in certain matchups.
=== General Updates ===
* Chaos Warhounds (Poison) have been added to the unit rosters in the Campaign and Custom Battle modes.
* Plaguebearers of Nurgle now properly receive the Melee Defence bonus granted by the Armour of Malady skill.
Since Nurgle forces do not globally recruit, we've updated the boon granted in Tzeentch's Realm in the Realm of Chaos campaign:
* Updated the global recruitment boon effects received in Tzeentch's Realm to grant cost reductions to recruitment.
=== Units ===
CHAOS FURIES
* Multiplayer Cost: 550 → 575 gold
=== Spells ===
STREAM OF CORRUPTION
* [Overcast] Armour-Piercing Damage: 48 → 36
==Ogre Kingdoms==
Dev note:
The Ogres have not been a focus for changes in this update, but they should still benefit from general improvements we've made to the global diplomacy between races (see above). With the rebalance, many races will be less unfriendly towards Ogres in particular, giving them the space to take greater advantage of their Contracts mechanic.
One thing worth mentioning: we've already heard the feedback regarding Skrag the Slaughterer's starting position in Immortal Empires and will look at moving him to a more appropriate settlement in a future update!
=== General Updates ===
* Greasus Goldtooth can now equip followers only intended for Tyrants.
* AI Ogre Kingdoms factions will now select Big Names
=== Units ===
GNOBLAR TRAPPERS
* Multiplayer Cost: 450 → 400 gold
GNOBLARS
* Multiplayer Cost: 250 → 200 gold
==Skaven==
Dev note:
We're generally happy with the state of Skaven in their Campaign at the moment, but will continue to observe their performance—as well as your feedback—to see where adjustments can be made. In particular, we look forward to hearing your thoughts about the new starting positions for Clan Eshin (now based in Cathay) and Clan Rictus (finally back home in Crookback Mountain).
Skaven corruption has also seen some slight tweaks, now granting a small amount of Food when low as an extra incentive to spread out and conquer new territories.
In Battle, the Skaven are getting a small boost to their power levels required to take on the Daemonic factions in Warhammer III. Of note:
* The Veil of Shadows spell available via the Skaven Spells of Stealth will receive a significant cost reduction, allowing it to be used more often as an area-denial tool.
* Much of the infantry roster are receiving buffs to give the Skaven slightly better frontline options.
* Warplock Jezzails will penetrate through one model—just like Cathay's Crane Gunners!
* Doom-Flayers and Doomwheels are getting significant buffs to make them viable in a larger variety of matchups.
We look forward to hearing what you think!
=== Units ===
BROOD HORROR
* Melee Attack: 28 → 40
CHIEFTAIN
* Melee Attack Bonus (when riding Bonebreaker): 38 → 40
CLAN VULKIN TAILSLASHERS (CLANRATS – SHIELDS)
* Fire Resistance: 70% → 25%
DEATH GLOBE BOMBARDIERS
* Explosion Radius: 3 → 4
DOOM-FLAYERS
* Melee Attack: 26 → 30
* Melee Defence: 22 → 26
* Multiplayer Cost: 1200 → 1100
DOOMWHEEL
* Increased hit points from 5388 → 6388
ESHIN TRIADS
* Multiplayer Cost: 750 → 700 gold
MUTANT RAT OGRE
* Melee Attack: 50 → 52
NIGHT RUNNERS
* Multiplayer Cost: 500 → 450 gold
NIGHT RUNNERS (SLINGS)
* Multiplayer Cost: 500 → 450 gold
PACKMASTER
* Melee Attack Bonus (when riding a Brood Horror mount): 38 → 40
PLAGUE MONKS
* Melee Attack: 26 → 28
PLAGUE MONK CENSER BEARERS
* Melee Attack: 29 → 31
PLAGUE PRIEST
* Melee Attack: 38 → 40
* Melee Attack Bonus (when riding a Plague Furnace mount): 28 → 30
QUEEK HEADTAKER
* Melee Defence: 43 → 46
RAT OGRES
* Melee Attack: 24 → 26
* Multiplayer Cost: 800 → 700 gold
SKAVENSLAVE
* Hit Points: 8640 → 9000
SKAVENSLAVE SLINGERS
* Hit Points: 6300 → 6720
* Multiplayer Cost: 225 → 200 gold
SKAVENSLAVE SPEARS
* Hit Points: 8640 → 9000
THE AVALANCHE MORTARS
* Shrapnel Explosion Radius: 3 → 4
WARLORD
* Melee Defence (when riding a Bonebreaker or Brood Horror mount): 48 → 50
WARPLOCK JEZZAILS
* Projectiles now penetrate 1 entity
* Multiplayer cost increased from 900 to 1000
WARLOCKS (GARRISON)
* Replaced Warp Lightning with Scorch. (You live this time, man-thing!)
=== Abilities ===
DEATH FRENZY
* Now also boosts Armour-Piercing Damage by 30% when activated
=== Spells of Ruin ===
CRACK'S CALL
* [Base/Overcast] Base Damage: 48 → 35
* [Base/Overcast] Armour-Piercing Damage: 48 → 35
FLENSING RUIN
* [Base] Duration: 14 → 24 seconds
* [Base] Winds of Magic cost: 16 → 14
* [Overcast] Duration: 22 → 38 seconds
* [Overcast] Winds of Magic cost: 22 → 20
* Multiplayer Cost: 200 → 150 gold
SCORCH
* [Overcast] Duration: 3 → 6 seconds
=== Spells of Stealth ===
BLACK WHIRLWIND
* [Base] Armour-Piercing Damage: 5 → 3
* [Overcast] Armour-Piercing Damage: 10 → 4
VEIL OF SHADOWS
* [Base] Winds of Magic cost: 12 → 8
* [Overcast] Winds of Magic cost: 16 → 10
* Multiplayer cost reduced from 150 → 100 gold
=== Spells of Plague ===
PESTILENT BREATH
* [Base] Base Damage: 16 → 20
* [Overcast] Base Damage: 16 → 30
PLAGUE RASH
* Active Time: 10 → 5 seconds
WITHER
* [Base] Winds of Magic cost: 10 → 6
* [Overcast] Winds of Magic cost: 16 → 10
=== Items ===
PIPES OF PIEBALD
* Charge Speed (debuff): -5% → -20%
* Charge Bonus (debuff): -10% → -20%
SCRYING STONE
* Active Ability Duration: 15 → 30 seconds
==Slaanesh==
Dev note:
With the changes coming to Vassals as a part of the Warriors of Chaos rework, some benefits will spill over to N'kari, whose Vassals should now be more reliable. The new “Occupy” War Coordination will also give you the ability to issue more specific commands to your minions.
As with all the Warhammer III Chaos factions, Slaanesh is receiving a massive roster expansion alongside Champions of Chaos, so we're being cautious about making any major corrections until we can see how it plays out.
=== General Updates ===
* Removed the following (non-functional) effect from N'Kari's quest item: “Enabled draining attacks”
Changes have been made to Slaanesh's Secdution mechanic to alleviate issues where vassalizing non-Chaos factions would damage N'kari's relations with other Chaos factions:
* Seductive Influence now increases the affected faction's diplomatic relations with *all* Chaos factions rather than just Slaanesh.
* Seductive Influence no longer unlocks treaties (as they are all available by default).
With all Daemons gaining access to diplomacy (in some form), we felt like N'kari needed a bit more to distinguish his more diplomacy-oriented play style. As such, we've boosted his advantages in this area:
* Increased N'kari's bonus to vassal income and added an additional bonus to Allegiance Point generation.
* Vassals created by Slaanesh will now never rebel and should always join wars alongside their master.
=== Units ===
CHAOS FURIES
* Multiplayer Cost: 550 → 575 gold
==The Empire==
Dev note:
There are minimal unit balance changes to Empire right now as we're largely happy with where they are. We'll be keeping a close eye on their performance via your feedback now that Immortal Empires is out though, and we'll tweak them as required in future patches should the need arise! 
The Empire do benefit from a brand-new starting position via Volkmar's Cult of Sigmar, who now hunt for the Books of Nagash from their base in Sudenburg (in the Southlands). Similar to the other book-hunting factions, Volkmar will gain specific bonuses from each book he finds and destroys; destroying books will also increase his Zeal: granting him access to the unique Elector Counts units and ancillaries.
Volkmar himself has seen a few key changes: starting with a Battle Prayer already unlocked and unlocking others faster than your standard Arch-Lector.
With the addition of several new and dangerous threats to The Empire in Immortal Empires, we've made a few tweaks to help you manage your Imperial Authority: with some of the Authority-related dilemmas triggering more frequently. We're still not quite happy with the balancing of the system, however, so you'll be seeing some additional balance tweaks in an upcoming patch.
=== Units ===
WAR WAGONS
* Base Missile Damage: 3 → 5
* Armour-Piercing Missile Damage: 15 → 25
* Run Speed: 50 → 66
==Tomb Kings==
Dev note:
While the Tomb Kings join Immortal Empires in a good place, they did feel a bit slow in the early game: relying heavily on Skeleton spam until they could tech-up. As such, we've changed up their building tree to ensure they have access to more exciting units earlier on in their Campaign—though in limited quantities.
We've also made changes to each Legendary Lord's faction and Lord effects to not only bring them up to par in Warhammer III, but to ensure that each has a clear role:
* Settra's growth bonuses have been increased, construction time and replenishment effects have been improved, and he also gains bonuses to Allegiance point generation; Settra might not serve, but others surely will!
* Khalida now gets buffs to diplomacy, control, and research rate—representing her beloved status and the technical expertise of her home city of Lybaras.
* Arkhan now gets an additional army available at the start of his Campaign, making him a much more dangerous threat in the early-game and a real contender in the fight for Nehekhara.
* Khatep now receives substantial cost reductions to Rites and the Mortuary Cult—which should scale better into the late game than his previous effects.
In Battle, the Tomb Kings have undergone quite significant changes to increase the resilience of their infantry and the staying power of their lords.
* Khalida: Having always had the option to support both melee and missile units with her area-of-effect melee abilities and passive missile buffs, Khalida is gaining additional charges for her Venom Staff and a reduction to its cooldown. This should allow her to use it more often, helping her be just as effective at range as she is in melee.
* Infantry: The skeleton infantry units for the Tomb Kings have had their leadership and armour increased across the board, which should keep them in the fight just long enough to be useful. Their costs have also been adjusted slightly to represent their actual value on the battlefield.
* Monsters: Are also gaining leadership increases to keep them in the fight for longer, in addition to some small health and defence increases.
=== Units ===
* Reduced the flame weakness of Lords and Heroes from 25% to 15%
ARKHAN THE BLACK
* Multiplayer Cost: 1000 → 900 gold
* Multiplayer Cost: Skeletal Steed mount: 200 → 180 gold
* Multiplayer Cost: Skeleton Chariot mount: 400 → 360 gold
BLESSED LEGION OF PHAKTH (SKELETON ARCHERS)
* Leadership: 40 → 55
BONE GIANT
* Leadership: 50 → 60
CHOSEN OF THE GODS (USHABTI – GREAT BOW)
* Leadership: 40 → 55
FLOCK OF DJAF (CARRION)
* Multiplayer Cost: 500 → 450.
HIGH QUEEN KHALIDA
* Hit Points: 4840 → 5323
* Hit Points (when riding a Necroserpent mount): 5404 → 5943
* Hit Points (when riding a Skeleton Chariot mount): 5629 → 6188
* Armour: 50 → 55
KHEMRIAN WARSPHINX
* Leadership: 50 → 70
KING NEKHESH'S SCORPION LEGION
* Leadership: 40 → 55
* Melee Defence 38 → 42
NECROPOLIS KNIGHTS
* Base Damage: 21 → 25
* Armour-Piercing Damage: 40 → 42
NECROPOLIS KNIGHTS (HALBERDS)
* Bonus vs. Large: 30 → 32
NECROSPHINX
* Leadership: 50 → 75
* Hit Points: 8360 → 8960
NEHEKHARA WARRIORS
* Leadership: 44 → 55
SEPULCHRAL STALKERS
* Ammo: 8 → 12
* Added Attribute: Magical Melee Attacks
SKELETON ARCHERS
* Armour: 10 → 20
* Leadership: 30 → 45
SKELETON HORSE ARCHERS
* Armour: 20 → 30
* Leadership: 40 → 45
* Melee Attack: 16 → 20
* Melee Defence 18 → 22
* Charge Bonus: 14 → 25
* Multiplayer Cost: 500 → 475 gold
SKELETON HORSEMEN
* Armour: 20 → 30
* Leadership: 40 → 45
* Melee Attack: 22 → 24
* Base Melee Damage: 20 → 21
* Armour-Piercing Melee Damage: 6 → 7
* Charge Bonus: 26 → 34
* Mass: 500 → 600
SKELETON SPEARMEN
* Armour: 10 → 20
* Leadership: 30 → 45
SKELETON WARRIORS
* Armour: 10 → 20
* Leadership: 30 → 40
THE KEPHRA GUARD
* Armour: 50 → 70
* Leadership: 70 → 80
THE SPHINX OF USEKPH (NECROSPHINX)
* Leadership: 50 → 85
* Hit Points: 9180 → 9780
TOMB GUARD
* Armour: 50 → 55
* Leadership: 60 → 70
TOMB GUARD (HALBERDS)
* Armour: 50 → 55
* Leadership: 60 → 70
USHTABI
* Leadership: 44 → 55
* Base Melee Damage: 20 → 22
* Armour-Piercing Melee Damage: 52 → 57
USHTABI (BOW)
* Leadership: 44 → 55
USIRIAN'S LEGION OF THE NETHERWORLD
* Leadership: 49 → 65
* Hit Points: 6960 → 8760
* Physical Resistance: 70% → 55%
* Armour-Piercing Damage: 9 → 42
* Base Damage: 33 → 0
* Added Contact Effect: Frostbite
=== Abilities ===
THE VENOM STAFF
* Cooldown: 120 → 30 seconds
* Ability Uses: +2
* Explosive Armour-Piercing Damage: 68 → 61
=== Items ===
ENKIL'S KANOPI
* Cost: 200 → 150 gold
THE BLESSED BLADE OF PTRA
* Weapon Imbuement: Magical Attacks
VAMBRACES OF THE SUN
* Weapon Imbuement: Blinded
* Weapon Imbuement: Flaming Attacks
==Tzeentch==
Dev note:
Due to the massive roster expansion from the Champions of Chaos and the removal of automatic war-declaration for Chaos factions, we're holding off on making any major changes to Tzeentch for now.
That said, we've heard the early feedback about Kairos Fateweaver's current starting position in Immortal Empires and will be looking to move him across the sea (to the Southern Wastes) as part of a future patch.
=== General Updates ===
* Removed the Battle reinforcement-time accuracy effects from Kairos' faction effects, as they are no longer relevant with the removal of reinforcement time uncertainty.
* Tzeentch factions will no longer use their Unholy Manifestations mechanic on factions in the Chaos Realms if they are not also in the Chaos Realms.
* Sarthorael's Watchers (minor faction) will no longer declare war on the Kurgan Warband as it benefits them to have Kurgan Warband attacking the Great Bastion.
=== Units ===
CHAOS FURIES
* Multiplayer Cost: 550 → 575 gold
==Vampire Coast==
Dev note:
In addition to a new starting position for Cylostra on the coast of Naggaroth, we've extended the Dead Rise Again feature—previously exclusive to Vampire Counts. This gives Vampire Coast units a chance to come back to life after a battle even if they were destroyed, particularly in areas with high Vampiric Corruption. (Though we pity the poor soul who puts the Bloated Corpses back together after a battle…)
In battle, Vampire Coast factions will also be receiving a similar style of roster-changes to the Vampire Counts. We're bringing the shared units in-line and are ensuring the leadership and hit point increases are present across zombie units as well.
A much-requested unit to address has been Depth Guard, who have received a performance overhaul, especially when you consider the percentage-based healing in Warhammer III. This should allow Vampire Coast players to gravitate towards melee play, at least to a certain degree.
One of the minor but interesting changes in our opinion is the Zombie Pirate Gunnery Mob gaining some range and Vanguard Deployment. We're excited to see how Vampire Coast players can make interesting openers happen with this!
=== Units ===
ANIMATED HULKS
* Multiplayer Cost: 750 → 500 gold
CYLOSTRA DIREFIN
* Hit Points: 3488 → 4532
* Physical Resistance: 75% → 55%
* Armour-Piercing Weapon Damage: 100 → 300
* Removed 200 Base Weapon Damage
* Added Contact Effect: Charmed
DAMNED KNIGHTS ERRANT
* Hit Points: 5400 → 6960
* Physical Resistance: 75% → 55%
* Armour-Piercing Weapon Damage: 9 → 30
* Removed 21 Base Weapon Damage
* Added Contact Effect: Frostbite
DAMNED KNIGHTS OF THE REALM
* Hit Points: 7200 → 9300
* Physical Resistance: 75% → 55%
* Armour-Piercing Weapon Damage: 9 → 37
* Removed 28 Base Weapon Damage
* Added Contact Effect: Frostbite
DAMNED PALADIN
* Hit Points: 3188 → 4242
* Physical Resistance: 75% → 55%
* Armour-Piercing Weapon Damage: 135 → 390
* Removed 255 Base Weapon Damage
* Added Contact Effect: Frostbite
DAMNED PALADIN (WARHORSE)
* Hit Points: 3672 → 4774
* Physical Resistance: 75% → 55%
* Armour-Piercing Weapon Damage: 135 → 390
* Removed 255 Base Weapon Damage
* Added Contact Effect: Frostbite
DAMNED QUESTING KNIGHTS
* Hit Points: 7500 → 9675
* Physical Resistance: 75% → 55%
* Armour-Piercing Weapon Damage: 36 → 48
* Removed 12 Base Weapon Damage
* Added Contact Effect: Frostbite
DEATH SHRIEK TERRORGHEIST
* Leadership: 40 → 60
* Hit Points: 7544 → 8544
* Armour-Piercing Damage: 325 → 350
DEPTH GUARD
* Hit Points: 6540 → 7200
* Multiplayer Cost: 1200 → 1100 gold
* Added Attribute: +5 Damage vs. Infantry
DEPTH GUARD (POLEARMS)
* Hit Points: 6540 → 7200
* Multiplayer Cost: 1300 → 1200 gold
MOURNGUL HAUNTER
* Mass: 1500 → 2000
* Multiplayer Cost: 1450 → 2000 gold
* Added Contact Effect: Frostbite
MOURNGULS
* Mass: 1150 → 1500
* Melee Defence: 24 → 26
NIGHT TERRORS (MOURNGULS)
* Mass: 1150 → 1500
* Melee Defence: 31 → 33
ROTTING LEVIATHAN
* Leadership: 55 → 60
ROTTING PROMETHEANS
* Leadership: 44 → 50
ROTTING PROMETHEANS (GUNNERY MOB)
* Leadership: 44 → 50
SCURVY DOGS
* Charge Bonus: 24 → 28
SHADEWRAITH GUNNERS (DECK GUNNERS)
* Hit Points: 2656 → 3392
* Physical Resistance: 75% → 55%
* Armour-Piercing Weapon Damage: 2 → 18
* Removed 16 Base Weapon Damage
* Shots can now penetrate 1 target
* Added Contact Effect: Frostbite
SYREENS
* Hit Points: 4920 → 6240
* Leadership: 40 → 50
* Physical Resistance: 75% → 55%
* Armour-Piercing Weapon Damage: 23 → 30
* Removed 7 Base Weapon Damage
* Added Contact Effect: Charmed
THE BLACK SPOT (ZOMBIE PIRATE GUNNERY MOB – HANDGUNS)
* Leadership: 30 → 40
* Hit Points: 6960 → 7560
THE BLOODY REAVER DECK (DEPTH GUARD – POLEARMS)
* Hit Points: 6540 → 7200
* Multiplayer Cost: 1600 → 1500 gold
THE LAMPREY'S REVENGE (ROTTING PROMETHEANS – GUNNERY MOB)
* Leadership: 54 → 60
THE TIDE OF SKJOLD (ZOMBIE PIRATE DECKHANDS MOB)
* Leadership: 40 → 50
* Hit Points: 10720 → 12000
ZOMBIE PIRATE DECKHANDS MOB
* Leadership: 30 → 40
* Hit Points: 10720 → 12000
ZOMBIE PIRATE DECKHANDS MOB (POLEARMS)
* Leadership: 30 → 40
* Hit Points: 10720 → 12000
ZOMBIE PIRATE GUNNERY MOB
* Leadership: 30 → 40
* Hit Points: 6960 → 7560
* Range: 90 → 120
* Added Attribute: Vanguard Deployment
ZOMBIE PIRATE GUNNERY MOB (BOMBERS)
* Leadership: 30 → 40
* Hit Points: 6960 → 7560
ZOMBIE PIRATE GUNNERY MOB (HAND CANNONS)
* Leadership: 30 → 40
* Hit Points: 6960 → 7560
* Multiplayer Cost: 600 → 500 gold
ZOMBIE PIRATE GUNNERY MOB (HANDGUNS)
* Leadership: 30 → 40
* Hit Points: 6960 → 7560
=== Abilities ===
BOMB THROW (Gunnery Wight)
* Base Explosive Damage: 24 → 60
* Explosive Armour-Piercing Damage: 7 → 30
* Multiplayer Cost: 150 → 50 gold
CACKLE FRUIT (Gunnery Wight)
* Base Explosive Damage: 30 → 60
* Explosive Armour-Piercing Damage: 7 → 30
* Multiplayer Cost: 150 → 50 gold
PIGEON PLUCKER PENDANT (Gunnery Wight)
* Added effect: -10% speed
* Multiplayer Cost: 100 → 50 gold
=== Spells ===
TIDECALL
* [Base] Base Damage: 16 → 20
* [Overcast] Armour-Piercing Damage: 8 → 10
==Vampire Counts==
Dev note:
Vampire Counts weren't in a great place in Warhammer II, relying on the redundant strategy of spamming endless stacks of free skeletons. We've made some big changes to help deal with this and make their gameplay more dynamic and interesting.
* Improvements to Raise Dead; pools will now scale off Vampiric Corruption in addition to Battle sites, giving more reliable access to some units
* Tech tree revamp: free skeletons and zombies are gone, but many other techs have been improved
* Updated skills for Necromancers and Master Necromancers
* Improved the early-game economy
* Updated Bloodline effects
* Access to Mournguls if you own the Vampire Coast DLC
On top of all that, several individual lords have got new stuff too:
* Helman Ghorst has struck off on his own, and now preys on the caravans of the Ivory Road from his lair in the Haunted Forest. He's received an update to his skill tree – he starts mounted on his Corpse Cart and gains some powerful faction-wide buffs to Zombies.
* Vlad and Isabella have been updated to work better together: with the lord you don't pick being converted into a Legendary Hero so that they can fight alongside each other in the same army.
* Mannfred now starts in the Southlands, hunting the Books of Nagash. He'll gain bonuses for each book, but if he manages to get back to Drakenhof and construct a special landmark, the effects of each of them will be doubled.
We're very much looking forward to hearing your reactions to these changes.
On the Battle side, the objective has been to bring them up to par with the Daemonic rosters. Given that both undead and daemonic units share the same leadership-based crumble mechanic, the disparity between daemonic and undead leadership values needed to be addressed. To that end, the vast majority of Vampire Counts units have seen a leadership boost across the board
Over the course of time many units have become generally under-tuned across the board and to resolve this most units have been tuned up depending upon their role within the roster. In particular, Ethereal units have been given a rework (due to the sheer number of magic attacks present in Warhammer III), with their huge physical resistance being reduced and replaced with significant health boosts. In addition, ethereal units all come with the frostbite contact effect (to represent their deathly touch) and their damage has been made exclusively armour piercing (except for the Banshees).
The Black Coach has been retooled significantly. All three of its abilities have had their time-in-melee requirement to activate replaced with number of kills. This better reflects the intended use of the Black Coach; holding a chariot-type unit in prolonged melee is the opposite of what players should be doing. Its abilities have also been shifted around and slightly tweaked to more elegantly suit the purpose of the unit. Overall, the changes listed below have been made to allow the Vampire Counts to stand tall and fight toe-to-toe with attrition-based factions like Nurgle, and blitz factions like Khorne. Naturally, the increase in overall power level will come with unit cost increases.
=== Units ===
BANSHEE
* Leadership: 40 → 50
* Hit Points: 3180 → 4226
* Physical Resistance: 75% → 55%
* Melee Defence: 38 → 45
* Melee Attack: 40 → 50
* Armour-Piercing Weapon Damage: 210 → 240
* Charge Bonus: 25 → 35
* Added Contact Effect: Frostbite
BLACK COACH
* Melee Attack: 24 → 29
* Mass: 2350 → 2750
* Melee Attack Interval: +0.8 seconds
* Base Weapon Damage: 30 → 50
* Armour-Piercing Weapon Damage: 90 → 150
* Splash Attacks: +2
BLACK KNIGHTS
* Melee Defence: 32 → 36
* Melee Attack: 24 → 30
* Melee Attack Interval: -0.9 seconds
* Base Weapon Damage: 25 → 30
* Charge Bonus: 26 → 31
* Multiplayer Cost: 750 → 1000 gold
* Weapon Imbuement: Magical Attacks
BLACK KNIGHTS (LANCES & BARDING)
* Melee Defence: 23 → 38
* Melee Attack: 23 → 30
* Melee Attack Interval: -1.1 seconds
* Charge Bonus: 62 → 67
* Multiplayer Cost: 1050 → 1100 gold
* Weapon Imbuement: Magical Attacks
BLOOD KNIGHTS
* Leadership: 65 → 70
* Base Weapon Damage: 25 → 30
* Armour-Piercing Weapon Damage: 13 → 15
* Multiplayer Cost: 750 → 1000 gold
* Added Ability: The Hunger
CAIRN WRAITHS
* Leadership: 40 → 50
* Hit Points: 4920 → 6240
* Physical Resistance: 75% → 55%
* Removed all Splash Attacks
* Added Contact Effect: Frostbite
CHILLGHEISTS (HEXWRAITHS)
* Hit Points: 5760 → 7440
* Physical Resistance: 75% → 55%
* Base Weapon Damage: 5 → 0
* Armour-Piercing Weapon Damage: 37 → 42
* Added Contact Effect: Frostbite
CORPSE CART
* Multiplayer Cost: 250 → 300 gold
CORPSE CART (BALEFIRE)
* Multiplayer Cost: 400 → 500 gold
CRYPT GHOULS
* Melee Attack: 27 → 32
* Melee Attack Interval: -0.3 seconds
* Multiplayer Cost: 500 → 600 gold
* Added Attribute: Stalk
* Added Attribute: Vanguard Deployment
CRYPT HORRORS
* Leadership: 44 → 54
* Hit Points: 8960 → 10752
* Melee Defence: 26 → 33
* Melee Attack: 34 → 39
* Melee Attack Interval: -0.2 seconds
* Charge Bonus: 24 → 30
* Splash Attacks: +1
DEVILS OF SCHWARTZHAFEN (VARGHEISTS)
* Mass: 450 → 1300
* Added Ability: The Hunger
FEASTERS IN THE DUSK (CRYPT GHOULS)
* Melee Attack: 36 → 41
* Melee Attack Interval: -0.3 seconds
* Multiplayer Cost: 700 → 800 gold
* Added Ability: Frenzy
* Added Attribute: Stalk
* Added Attribute: Vanguard Deployment
FELL BATS
* Leadership: 30 → 35
* Melee Attack: 14 → 19
* Melee Attack Interval: -0.3 seconds
* Base Weapon Damage: 16 → 20
* Mass: 70 → 150
* Multiplayer Cost: 350 → 400 gold
* Added Attribute: Vanguard Deployment
GRAVE GUARD
* Melee Attack Interval: -0.4 seconds
* Weapon Imbuement: Magical Attacks
GRAVE GUARD (GREAT WEAPONS)
* Melee Attack Interval: -0.4 seconds
* Weapon Imbuement: Magical Attacks
HEXWRAITHS
* Hit Points: 7544 → 8289
* Physical Resistance: 75% → 55%
* Base Weapon Damage: 5 → 0
* Armour-Piercing Weapon Damage: 37 → 42
* Added Contact Effect: Frostbite
KONIGSTEIN STALKERS (SKELETON WARRIORS)
* Leadership: 30 → 40
* Armour: 60 → 80
MASTER NECROMANCER
* Added Ability: Lesser Raise Dead
MORTIS ENGINE
* Weapon Imbuement: Magical Attacks
NECROMANCER
* Added Ability: Lesser Raise Dead
SKELETON WARRIORS
* Leadership: 30 → 40
* Domination Capture Power: 6 → 2
SKELETON WARRIORS (SPEARS)
* Leadership: 30 → 40
* Domination Capture Power: 6 → 2
STRIGOI GHOUL KING
* Melee Defence: 40 → 50
* Melee Attack: 54 → 75
* Charge Bonus: 30 → 35
STRIGOI GHOUL KING (TERRORGHEIST MOUNT)
* Melee Defence: 42 → 47
* Melee Attack: 40 → 52
* Charge Bonus: 40 → 45
STRIGOI VAMPIRE LORD
* Melee Defence: 48 → 50
* Melee Attack: 65 → 75
TERRORGHEIST
* Leadership: 40 → 50
* Hit Points: 7544 → 8289
* Melee Defence: 42 → 47
* Melee Attack: 36 → 41
* Mass: 1600 → 2200
* Multiplayer Cost: 2050 → 2100 gold
THE CLAW OF NAGASH (MORTIS ENGINE)
* Weapon Imbuement: Magical Attacks
THE DIREPACK (DIRE WOLVES)
* Charge Bonus: 24 → 28
THE TITHE (ZOMBIES)
* Leadership: 30 → 40
* Hit Points: 12600 → 15400
* Physical Resistance: 15% → 20%
VAMPIRE
* Leadership: 60 → 70
* Melee Defence: 35 → 40
VAMPIRE LORD
* Melee Defence: 45 → 50
VARGHEISTS
* Mass: 450 → 1300
* Added Ability: The Hunger
VARGHULF
* Leadership: 40 → 50
* Hit Points: 7048 → 8248
* Splash Attacks: +2
* Removed Ability: Regeneration
* Added Ability: The Hunger
VEREK'S REAVERS (BLACK KNIGHTS – LANCES & BARDING)
* Melee Defence: 32 → 36
* Melee Attack: 32 → 38
* Melee Attack Interval: -1.1 seconds
* Charge Bonus: 62 → 67
* Multiplayer Cost: 1300 → 1400 gold
* Weapon Imbuement: Magical Attacks
WIGHT KING
* Hit Points: 4393 → 5096
* Hit Points (when mounted): 4768 → 5468
* Melee Attack: 34 → 44
* Mass: 500 → 700
* Multiplayer Cost: 500 → 600 gold
* Splash Attacks: +3
* Weapon Imbuement: Magical Attacks
ZOMBIE DRAGON MOUNT
* Mass: 2200 → 4000
ZOMBIES
* Leadership: 30 → 40
* Hit Points: 10080 → 12320
* Domination Capture Power: 5 → 3
=== Abilities ===
BALEFIRE
* Removed existing effects from the ability
* Changed from an Area-of-Effect Debuff to an Area-of-Effect Augment
* Grants +20% Fire Resistance within the area-of-effect
* Imbues Flaming Attacks within the area-of-effect
* Imbues Magical Attacks within the area-of-effect
BLACK NIMBUS
* Removed the prerequisite “time in melee combat” condition before the ability activates
* Added a prerequisite “number of kills” to activate the ability
BLACK SCYTHES
* Removed the prerequisite “time in melee combat” condition before the ability activates
* Added a prerequisite of more than 40 kills to activate the ability
* Removed existing effects from the ability
* Added Boon: +50% Armour-Piercing Weapon Damage
* Imbues Flaming Attacks
MASTER OF THE DEAD
* Unit must now be out of melee to activate this ability
STORM OF THE NIGHT
* Target: Flying → Flying Unit
* Duration: 17 → 22
* Effect Range: 20 → 35
* Removed Debuff: Cannot Move
* Added Debuff: -60% Speed
UNHOLY VIGOUR
* Removed the prerequisite “time in melee combat” condition before the ability activates
* Added a prerequisite “number of kills” to activate the ability
* Removed existing effects from the ability
* Added Boon: Restores Vigour
VIGOUR MORTIS
* Restores Vigour (1% per second) to units within its area-of-effect
==Warriors of Chaos==
Dev note:
The Warriors of Chaos are effectively a brand new faction: rebuilt from the ground up with a bunch of cool new features adopted from the Champions of Chaos. Essentially everything has changed—so we won't go into too much detail—but here are the headlines:
* New feature: Warbands
* New feature: Chaos Gifts and Eye of the Gods
* New feature: Dark Fortresses and Norscan Homelands
* New tech tree
* Updated skill trees and faction effects
It's a lot, and we're very excited for you to get your hands on it and give us some feedback.
We do want to mention that we've heard your feedback regarding the lack of confederation for Warriors of Chaos. We really wanted to do it, but there are a lot of tricky interactions between it and the new Warriors of Chaos features that have proved very difficult to resolve, particularly related to non-legendary characters and their skills and upgrade paths. We're hoping to get a limited form of confederation in for Archaon and Be'lakor in an upcoming patch while we investigate more generalised solutions to some of the problems of confederation.
With the arrival of Champions of Chaos, the Warriors of Chaos have had a major roster expansion. Mortal units from other monogod factions such as Skullcrushers of Khorne and Hellstriders of Slaanesh now feature as choices in the Warriors of Chaos roster.
We've implemented the long-awaited bigger Chaos Steeds! By doing this we've also altered the way that the Chaos cavalry are setup in the game, which allows for much greater flexibility when it comes to altering the scale of assets and configuring riders. Riders and mounts across the Warriors of Chaos feature new synchronised attack animations which should optimise their performance in combat.
On top of the addition of a plethora of new marked units (which the Warriors of Chaos are limited to taking a maximum of 4 in multiplayer battles), older Chaos characters have also received a refreshed set of items, which should help to rejuvenate their roster a fair bit.
=== Units ===
ARCHAON THE EVERCHOSEN
Archaeon has been updated with a new, mixed Spell Lore with the following spells:
* Spirit Leech
* Searing Doom
* The Burning Head
* Flaming Sword of Rhuin
* Transmutation of Lead
* The Purple Sun of Xereus
We've also made several tweaks to his speed stats:
* Walk Speed: 15 → 18
* Run Speed: 33 → 35
* Charge Speed: 40 → 48
* Run Speed (when mounted on Dorghar): 78 → 94
* Acceleration (when mounted on Dorghar): 60 → 70
* Charge Speed (when mounted on Dorghar): 108 → 113
* Turn Speed (when mounted on Dorghar): 60 → 90
Additions:
* New Item: The Armour of Morkar
* Weapon Imbuement: Flaming Attacks
* New Ability: Paragon of Ruin
ASPIRING CHAMPIONS
* Hit Points: 3080 → 7808
* Melee Defence: 62 → 45
* Melee Attack: 46 → 40
* Base Damage: 34 → 68
* Armour-Piercing Damage: 14 → 28
* Entity Mass: 250 → 600
* Multiplayer Cost: 550 → 1100 gold
* Removed Attribute: Vanguard Deployment
CHAOS CHARIOTS
* Entity Mass: 700 → 1100
CHAOS KNIGHTS
* Run Speed: 66 → 70
* Charge Speed: 107 → 108
* Turn Speed: 60 → 90
CHAOS KNIGHTS (LANCES)
* Run Speed: 66 → 70
* Charge Speed: 107 → 108
* Turn Speed: 60 → 90
CHAOS GIANT
* Missile Resistance: 0% → 15%
DRAGON OGRE SHAGGOTH
* Added Attribute: Wallbreaker
FORSAKEN
* Base Damage: 46 → 44
GOREBEAST CHARIOTS
* Mass: 1400 → 2000
HELLCANNON
* Updated the persistent visual effects of the unit
KHOLEK SUNEATER
* Building Damage Multiplier: 1.25x → 2x
* Added Attribute: Wallbreaker
* New Ability: Tempest Rage
MARAUDER HORSEMASTERS
* Entity Mass: 600 → 700
MARAUDER HORSEMEN
* Charge Speed: 113 → 110
* Turn Speed: 140 → 120
MARAUDER HORSEMEN (THROWING AXES)
* Charge Speed: 113 → 110
* Turn Speed: 140 → 120
MIRROR GUARD (CHAOS WARRIORS)
* Base Damage: 29 → 26
* Armour-Piercing Damage: 9 → 10
* Walk Speed: 14 → 15
* Run Speed: 38 → 33
* Charge Speed: 44 → 43
* Physical Resistance: 0% → 10%
* New Ability: Supreme Vanity (see below)
* Added Attribute: Strider
* Weapon Imbuement: Magical Attacks
PRINCE SIGVALD THE MAGNIFICENT
* Physical Resistance: 0% → 10%
* Removed Ability: Deadly Onslaught
* Removed Ability: Heroic Killing Blow
* Removed Ability: Foe Seeker
* Added Ability: Mortal Blow
* New Ability: Paragon of Excess
* New Item: Sliverslash
SUMMONERS OF RAGE (DRAGON OGRES)
* Updated the unit with new in-game visuals
* Updated with a new Unit Card
THE DAEMONSPEW (FORSAKEN)
* Hit Points: 7360 → 8000
* Melee Defence: 27 → 32
* Melee Attack: 40 → 35
* Base Damage: 46 → 44
* Run Speed: 46 → 41
* Charge Speed: 50 → 45
* Added Attribute: Fear
* Updated the unit with new in-game visuals
* Updated with a new Unit Card
THE SOUL OF DAMNATION (HELLCANNON)
* Updated the persistent visual effects of the unit
* Updated with a new Unit Card
THE SWORDS OF CHAOS (CHAOS KNIGHTS)
* Reworked Ability: Apocalyptic Charge (details below in the Abilities section)
* Added Attribute: Immune to Psychology
* Updated the unit with new in-game rider visuals
* Updated with a new Unit Card
UNDIVIDED CHAOS LORD
* Mass (when riding a Chaos Dragon mount): 2200 → 4000
* Multiplayer Cost (when riding a Manticore mount): 1400 → 1500 gold
* New Mount: Chaos Chariot
* New Ability: Paragon of Ruin
* New Item: Armour of Damnation
* New Item: Aethersword
UNDIVIDED CHAOS SORCERER
* Armour: 100 → 80
* Fixed an issue which would prevent their weapon from dealing Splash attacks
* Mass (when riding a Chaos Steed mount): 950 → 1500
* Turn Speed (when riding a Chaos Steed): 120 → 90
* Multiplayer Cost (when riding a Manticore mount): 1200 → 1000 gold
* New Mount: Chaos Warshrine
UNDIVIDED CHAOS SORCERER LORD
* Armour: 100 → 80
* Fixed an issue which would prevent their weapon from dealing Splash attacks
* Mass (when riding a Chaos Dragon mount): 2200 → 4000
* Mass (when riding a Chaos Steed mount): 950 → 1500
* Turn Speed (when riding a Chaos Steed mount): 120 → 90
* Multiplayer Cost (when riding a Manticore mount): 1200 → 1300 gold
* New Mount: Chaos Warshrine
* New Ability: Paragon of Ruin
* Added Item: Tormentor Sword
UNDIVIDED EXALTED HERO
* Mass (when riding a Chaos Steed mount): 950 → 1500
* Turn Speed (when riding a Chaos Steed mount): 120 → 90
* Multiplayer Cost (when riding a Manticore mount): 1100 → 1200 gold
* New Mount: Chaos Chariot
* Added Item: Doom Totem
WYRD SPAWN (CHAOS SPAWN)
* Damage Resistance: 15% → 20%
* Removed Attribute: Woodsman
* Added Attribute: Terror
* Weapon Imbuement: Magical Attacks
* Updated with a new Unit Card
=== Abilities ===
APOCALYPTIC CHARGE
* Reworked into an Active Ability
* Affects: All Allies within range
* Increases Charge Bonus by +20%
* Increases Charge Speed by +10%
* Range: 35 metres
* Duration: 30 seconds
* Cooldown Duration: 120 seconds
[NEW] SUPREME VANITY
* Passive Ability
* Affects: All Lords and Heroes within range
* Increases Melee Defence by +10
* Range: 35 metres
[NEW] TEMPEST RAGE
* Active Ability
* Affects: Self
* Increases Base Damage by +25%
* Increases AP Damage by +25%
* Increases Charge Bonus by +20%
* Increases Melee Attack by +24
* Duration: 36 seconds
* Cooldown Duration: 120 seconds
=== Items ===
[NEW] AETHERSWORD
* Active Ability
* Affects: Self
* Enables Magical Attacks
* Grants Attribute: Armour Sundering
* Increases Base Damage by +25%
* Increases AP Damage by +25%
* Duration: 27 seconds
* Cooldown Duration: 90 seconds
[NEW] ARMOUR OF DAMNATION
* Passive Ability
* Affects: Self
* Increases Armour by 5
* Increases Damage Resistance vs All by +5%
* Only Enabled when in Melee
* Deactivates if health drops below 50%
[NEW] DOOM TOTEM
* Passive Ability
* Affects: All Enemies within range
* Reduces Leadership by -4
* Range: 35m
FILTH MACE
* Replaced the Poison Contact stat effect with a new Corroded Armour contact stat effect.
* Base Weapon Damage: +30% → +25%
* Added: Armour-Piercing Damage +25%
HELM OF MANY EYES
* Melee Defence: +5 → +54
* Altered the ability from a Passive to an Active ability
* Updated from an area-of-effect buff to a single target
* Removed the Melee Attack stat
[NEW] SILVERSLASH
* Active Ability
* Affects: Self
* Enables Magical Attacks
* Grants Attribute: Armour Sundering
* Increases Base Damage by +50%
* Increases AP Damage by +50%
* Duration: 26 seconds
* Cooldown Duration: 120 seconds
SKULL OF KATAM
* Replaced the enemy-targeted debuff with a self-buff
* Increases Spell Mastery by +40%
* Deals direct damage to the character that triggered the ability
* Duration: 27 seconds
[NEW] THE ARMOUR OF MORKAR (Archaon the Everchosen)
* Active Ability
* Affects: All Allies within range
* Increases Melee Defence by +29
* Grants Attribute: Charge Defences vs All
* Range: 35 metres
* Duration: 29 seconds
* Cooldown Duration: 120 seconds
THE CROWN OF DOMINATION (Archaon the Everchosen)
* Added: Can Cause Terror when equipped
==Wood Elves==
Dev note:
While Wood Elves have received a limited set of changes, they will now be able to heal two new Forests—each of which has new narrative encounters to resolve and bonuses to unlock.
On the Battle side, we found that we needed to increase the performance of their melee infantry to help them compete with the other factions. While Wood Elves remain excellent at skirmishing and ranged combat in general, melee has always been an intentional Achilles heel. It will be less of one now thanks to changes to Dryads and Bladesingers.
Wood Elves will also be benefiting from the Dragon overhaul: allowing them to break up (and out of) infantry mobs.
=== Units ===
BLADESINGERS
* Melee Attack: 44 → 48
* Charge Bonus: 30 → 34
* Bonus vs. Infantry: +8 → +12
DRYADS
* Melee Attack: 33 → 35
* Base Weapon Damage: 29 → 35
* Charge Bonus: 12 → 18
FOREST DRAGON
* Hit Points: 6008 → 7008
* Armour: 50 → 60
* Mass: 2200 → 4000
* Multiplayer Cost: 1800 → 1600
LOST SYLVAN KNIGHTS (GREAT STAG KNIGHTS)
* Hit Points: 5536 → 6240
* Physical Resistance: 75% → 55%
* Armour-Piercing Weapon Damage: 42 → 53
* Removed 21 Base Weapon Damage
* Added Contact Effect: Frostbite
MALEVOLENT DRYADS
* Base Weapon Damage: 29 → 35
* Charge Bonus: 12 → 18
WRAITHS OF THE FROZEN HEART (DRYADS)
* Base Weapon Damage: 29 → 35
* Charge Bonus: 12 → 18
=== Abilities ===
CEITHIN-HAR'S TENACITY (Sisters of Twilight)
* Base Damage / Armour-Piercing Damage / Charge Bonus Effects: +10% → +20%
FANATICAL RESOLVE (Drycha)
* Level I Effects: +5% Base Weapon Damage, +5 Melee Attack → +10% Base Weapon Damage, +10 Melee Attack
* Level II Effects: +10% Base Weapon Damage, +10 Melee Attack → +15% Base Weapon Damage, +15 Melee Attack
* Level III Effects: +15% Base Weapon Damage, +15 Melee Attack → +20% Base Weapon Damage, +20 Melee Attack
*
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= CAMPAIGN =
Below are changes made to the overworld Campaign and world mechanics.
=== General Updates ===
* Fixed an issue where a Lord's name would not be listed in the related event message when a loaned army is returned after dying from attrition.
* Fixed an issue where unit stats would not update when moving between territories with different forms of corruption.
* Fixed several bugged character animations throughout the Campaign map.
=== Prologue (The Lost God) ===
* Fixed an issue which prevented Yuri from receiving experience points when auto-resolving battles after Dervingard.
* Fixed an issue where the Diplomacy UI would still be accessible after defeating all other factions, resulting in the display of placeholder assets.
* Corrected the alignment of several HUD buttons and decorative UI elements throughout the Campaign.
* Heroes controlled by AI factions can now perform actions against the player on the Campaign map.
=== The Realm of Chaos ===
Four new provinces have been added to the Realm of Chaos map:
* Middle Mountains
* Northern Wastelands
* Marches of Couronne
* Albion
Other changes:
* The four new Champions of Chaos factions will now be present within the Realm of Chaos campaign. They do not participate in the race for Ursun; rather, they will pursue their own unique agendas set around the ancient city of Zanbaijin.
* To accommodate the new Champions of Chaos starting positions, several regions have had their ownership updated.
* Several new AI factions have been added to the map: including the Marches of Couronne—led by Louen Leoncoeur's vassal, Earl Adalbert—and Wintertooth, led by Throgg the Troll King.
* Wei-Jin is now available as a Grand Cathayan settlement with ten building slots.
* Reduced the number and frequency of Kurgan Warband spawns to account for the presence of Azazel north of the Bastion.
* Kurgan Warbands can no longer declare war on most Chaos-aligned factions.
* The player can now collect multiple weapons from the Khorne realm.
* When in the Khorne realm, the AI-controlled Daemon Prince will no longer try and collect magic weapons from the points of interest.
* Armies summoned via Chaos Rifts should now always target the settlement of the region where the Rift spawned.
=== Immortal Empires ===
* Fixed an issue where reinforcement lines would display when hovering the mouse over settlements with hidden Skaven, thereby revealing their presence to the player.
* Added item sets for all Warhammer I & II Legendary Lords who had two or more quest items.
* Markus Wulfhart no longer stands with his mouth open during Campaign animations.
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= BATTLES =
Below are Battle-specific changes made throughout the game.
=== General Updates ===
* Collision has been removed from all unit corpses, as it was causing pathfinding issues. Overall, this should improve responsiveness of units in Battle.
* Fixed an issue that would cause the Sorceress (mounted) and the Supreme Sorceress to T-pose after dying.
* Fixed a rare issue with units that could fire while moving which would result in entities getting stuck and failing to respond to new orders.
* Fixed an issue which caused the battle radar to disappear when toggling help during a Battle.
* Fixed several bugged animations in Battle.
=== Ambush Battles ===
* Older Ambush Battle maps have been updated with the new withdraw mechanic
=== Domination Battles ===
Dev note:
In the Domination game mode, we're looking the reduce the initial wait time before capture points unlock. This should force combat earlier in the match: with players vying for map control as soon as they are able.
We've also reworked the capture rates of different units, as noted for individual units (above) as well as below. The goal with this is to bring cavalry a bit more into the meta while reducing the impact of cheap, expendable infantry.
* Reduced the lockout from Capture Points from 3 to 2 minutes.
* Capture Power – Cavalry: 3 → 4
* Capture Power – Monsters: 2 → 3
* Capture Power – Monstrous Infantry: 5 → 3
* Capture Power – Heroes and Lords: 2 → 3
* Capture Power – Expendable Infantry: 2
=== Minor Settlement Battles ===
Dev note:
Older factions from Warhammer I & II now have Minor Settlement Battles in the Campaign. These battle maps are also accessible through the front-end Battle menu.
BRETONNIA
* L'Anguille
* Quenelles
DARK ELVES
* Har Kaldra
* Grey Rock Point
HIGH ELVES
* Eagle Gate
* Evershale
* Shrine of Asuryan
LIZARDMEN
* The Cursed Jungle
THE EMPIRE
* Helmgart
TOMB KINGS
* Antoch
* Numas
VAMPIRE COAST
* The Blood Swamps
=== Major Settlement Battles ===
Dev note:
Older factions from Warhammer I & II now have Major Settlement Battles in the Campaign. These battle maps are also accessible through the front-end Battle menu.
BRETONNIA
* Couronne
* Parravon
DARK ELVES
* Ancient City of Quintex
* Naggarond
HIGH ELVES
* Gaean Vale
* Lothern
LIZARDMEN
* Temple of Skulls
TOMB KINGS
* Ka-Sabar
* Khemri
VAMPIRE COAST
* Sartosa
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= MULTIPLAYER =
=== General ===
* Gotrek and Felix can now spawn in Multiplayer Campaign games and when playing as Kislev or Cathay.
* Fixed several issues which could cause desyncs during Multiplayer Campaigns.
* When a player is joined by another player in Battle, the supporting player will no longer be able to end the Battle before reinforcements arrive; only the main player can make this decision.
* When a player reinforces another human player, they will now be able to see their own army's abilities before the Battle instead of their ally's.
* Fixed an issue which sometimes prevented players from sharing units with other reinforcing human players during Multiplayer Campaign Battles.
=== Multiplayer Battles: Map-Pool Update ===
As part of the Immortal Empires release, a significant number of battle-maps from Warhammer I and II have been completely reworked and are now available in Warhammer III.
* This update adds two new maps to Domination: Black Ark and Grove of Slaughter.
* Land Battle matchmaking maps have been updated.
* Land Battles and Domination Battles now have unique map pools, ensuring a distinct experience between the two modes.
* Matchmaking will remain a single queue with a random chance to land in a Domination or Land Battle map.
= GAME =
Below are changes to the systems that arrive in the Immortal Empires update to support and enhance the gameplay of Total War: Warhammer III.
=== Graphics ===
* Fixed several issues which would result in graphical artifacting.
* Fixed an issue which would cause shadows cast by flying units in Battle to flicker on the landscape.
* Toned down the…”enthusiastic” fire effects of Treekin Regiment of Renown units.
* Improved the visual effects of deployment zones in multiple Battle maps.
BATTLE UNIT BANNER HEIGHT NORMALIZATOIN
Dev note:
The selectable banners that hover above units have undergone a full review and correction pass; this means there should no longer be instances where the banners or banner poles clip into the unit geometry.
* Normalized the height of banners for all factions across the game.
=== Audio ===
* Each race available in Warhammer III now utilizes a modular UI sound-effect system which plays unique UI sound effects for the given faction.
* Found and fixed several instances where unit and character voice lines would fail to trigger.
Dev note:
Previously, we had a standard sound which triggered upon casting a Lore of Magic spell; we've now implemented casting sounds which are atmospherically inspired by the Lores to which they belong.
* All 27 Lores of Magic now have bespoke casting sounds.
=== UI ===
* Overhauled the front-end Campaign- and Faction-selection menus.
* Players can now select between three different UI colour themes via the Settings menu.
* Corrected issues with the English and Turkish versions of the epilepsy warning displayed at the start of the game.
CUSTOM & MULTIPLAYER BATTLE UI OVERHAUL
The Custom and Multiplayer Battle interfaces have also been overhauled!
* The “vs A.I.” Battle has been renamed to “Skirmish vs A.I.“
* Added a button to quickly navigate to the Spell browser.
* Unit categories are now collapsible in the Custom Battle screen.
* The Spell Lore buttons on the spell browser have been re-ordered and have a fresh batch of colours to differentiate between them.
Rather than being contained in a small drop-down menu, the options to customize spells, abilities, items, and mounts have their own areas in the UI.
* Spells, abilities, items, and mounts can now be grouped, equipped, and unequipped as groups.
* The associated costs relating to a particular spell, ability, item, or mount are now displayed up front.
Spellcaster Lords and Heroes have had their Spell Lores grouped beneath their base unit archetypes to reduce clutter in the menus.
* For Example: The High Elf Archmage is now displayed as one configurable unit rather than nine separate ones.
* Vampires have similarly been grouped by their Bloodline.
Certain units now have the option to pick between different variants:
* The Warriors of Chaos can mark their mortal units in Custom Battles using this menu.
* Wood Elf Tree units can select between their Athel Loren, Avelorn, and Wargrove of Woe variants.
Finally, the “Campaign Exclusives” section of the unit roster has been renamed to “Extended Roster” to better convey that the units are selected outside the regular unit pool:
* The section is no longer hidden when the Unit Caps option is enabled, ensuring you can mouse over units to learn why they're restricted.
* Some units and characters have been moved out of this section for organizational purposes but retain the special unit cap that restricts them from being used in competitive play.
IN-GAME UI
* Removed ‘reinforcement prediction accuracy' references, as all factions now have 100% prediction accuracy.
* All Warhammer III factions now use hand-drawn settlement occupation images rather than the original icons.
* Re-sized the Campaign Objectives panel to make more space for the Teleport button.
* Updated the ability tooltips in Battles to more accurately convey explosion damage.
* The “move to area of attrition” cursor now displays as intended.
* Updated the Greenskin's WAAAGH! ability icon for improved readability.
* Fixed an issue where cancelling a province's commandment would fail to remove the commandment from play.
* Fixed an issue which prevented the addition of units to a reinforcing army by double-clicking to quickly add them. Each army tab now has an active state to allow the choice of where to add units.
* Improved the readability of costs in the Sacrifice of Sotek panel when hovering over individual items.
* When targeting the Daemon Prince's army with an agent, the Daemon Prince icon will now be visible in the agent action panel.
* Fixed several issues where certain portraits of Lords and Heroes in the recruitment panel appeared stretched.
WAR COORDINATION INTERFACE
* A list of allies and vassals can now be accessed via a dedicated button next to the minimap.
Category:Patches