Great Moon Bird

is a monster unit introduced in Total War: Warhammer III, added with Patch 4.2.0 to Shadows of Change.
== Recruitment ==
* Unlocked with: Celestial Observatory
== Description ==
The Great Moon Bird is the Moon Empress' favourite celestial creature, enjoying her noble patronage and protection as a result. Found in numbers near the highest peaks of the Mountains of Heaven, they are said to make their nests in the craters of Mannslieb, the Silver Moon, only to fly down at the Empress' behest, or that of the most powerful Astromancers in the realm. In battle, they are a petrifying sight – wreathed in "Moon Fire", silvery flames that burn Cathay's enemies to cinders at the slightest touch. Lords or Wizards of the Celestial Court are sometimes gifted a Great Moon Bird as their personal mount, though such associations tend to be brief, with the creature returning to its natural habitat after a period of time.
== Attributes ==
== Unit Abilities ==
=== Active Abilities ===
* Moon Flare
=== Passive Abilities ===
* Battle Harmony: Yin
* Wounds
== Strategy ==
Adding to the faction's crowded roster of SEMs, AoEs and flyers, the Great Moon Bird is essentially Cathay's phoenix. It sits between the Frostheart Phoenix and Arcane Phoenix in terms of power, tankier and crucially faster than either, able to outpace most things that might be sent to counter it, but doing less damage in melee than the Arcane. It also has a respectable bombing ability when you're flying it over the enemy infantry on your way to their artillery. Notably with Yin Harmony its best friends are the Celestial Lion and Great Longma Riders, Yang entities that can accompany it for some mutual boosting.
With some micro to keep it away from concentrated ranged fire, heavily armored targets and anti-large, this is a valuable and quite flexible unit for your mid-to-late game army, falling short of being a must-get thanks to its lack of armor piercing.
== Gallery ==
great-moon-bird-concept.png
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Category:Shadows of Change units