Survival battles

Survival battles are a type of battle introduced in Total War: Warhammer III.
* Players will have to complete multiple stages of objectives to win. They are semi-scripted, similar to other Set piece battles.
* Players can use salvaged resources to summon reinforcements/units to the battlefield, similar to domination battles.
* Players may be required to hold a certain area against waves of enemies.
* Survival battles may be connected to the Khorne, Tzeentch, Slaanesh, Nurgle races. A survival battle was played by media and influencers in May 2021 which featured Kislev vs Khorne.
== Overview ==
A survival battle is a large, complicated battle against multiple waves of computer-controlled opponents that combines elements from several other types of battles. The player is charged with securing a fixed position, with several victory points, against successive and increasingly dangerous waves of AI-controlled enemies.
Survival battles are much larger and longer than regular battles, and would be far too taxing for a regular single stack to deal with. However, as with unwalled settlement battles, the player has access to supplies; unlike unwalled settlement battles, there are many more things that they can be used for. Supplies are given to the player after securing objective points, with a large initial burst and a trickle thereafter (though it is not an infinite trickle), and on causing damage to enemy units.
=== Uses of Supplies ===
Firstly, in addition to their main army, the player also has access to a reinforcement army. In player-set survival battles, this army can be tweaked to specifications; for survival battles in the Realm of Chaos campaign, the army is preselected and is different depending on which Lord is in play. These reinforcements can be summoned at captured objective points by spending supplies, adding them to the forces on the field; in the Realm of Chaos fights, each successive objective point allows for increasingly powerful reinforcements to be summoned. 
For instance, a Kislev attacker in a Survival Battle may only be able to summon Armored Kossars, Streltsi, and Snow Leopards at objective #1, but can call on Tzar Guard and Ice Guard by objective #2 and Elemental Bears and War Bear Riders by objective #3. Reinforcements can appear at any objective, with the call-in needing to be moved to new objectives manually. Units are divided into four effective "grades" for this system -- three grades for army units, and a fourth for Lords and Heroes. To use Grand Cathay as an example, Peasant Long Spearmen are grade 1, Jade Warriors are grade 2, Celestial Dragon Guard are grade 3, and Zhao Ming is grade 4. The cost of summoning a unit to the field is equivalent in supplies to its gold cost in army composition -- a unit of Armoured Kossars costs 650 gold out of your cap to add, and likewise costs 650 supplies to summon to the battlefield.
Additionally, any units which retreat from a Survival Battle do so via "teleport retreat", which forces them to wait uninterrupted for ten seconds before teleporting them off the battlefield. Units retreated in this way will also appear in the reinforcement menu and can be re-summoned by spending supply; units that have fled will slowly heal while off the battlefield, but not over the healing cap whether they started the fight below-strength or took damage beyond the cap during it. The cost of re-summoning retreated units will decrease as they heal back more. Note that as a result, as with adding such levels in army comp, units with veterancy ranks or upgraded units will be more expensive to summon back.
Thirdly, the player can use supplies to restore their existing units in the field. There are six of these options:
* Restore Health, which restores unit HP at a rate of 1% per second for 20s. This option can resurrect dead combatants, though only after healing injuries to living ones.
* Restore Stamina, which restores unit vigor at a rate of -1% fatigue per second for 15s.
* Restock Ammunition, which refills 50% of a unit's ammunition supply immediately, with a 15s "duration" for cooldown. This option costs the same no matter how much ammunition it refills.
* Encouraging Words, which grants a unit Unbreakable for 15s provided that the unit is currently Fearless (not Broken, Shattered, Terrified, or otherwise routing) and at less than 50% leadership.
* Focus, which can only be used for spellcaster units and cuts 30s off of all cooldowns.
* Channel the Winds, which adds 2 Winds of Magic reserves every second for 15s.
All six of the restore options become more expensive to use on more advanced units. Healing a unit of Peasant Long Spearmen will cost only 100 supplies; restoring the ammunition of a Celestial Dragon Crossbow unit will cost 300. Using the options on Lord and Hero units costs 400 by default, with Focus costing 200 less and Channel the Winds costing 200 more. While their cost can add up fast, the restorative options are crucial to keeping an army going through the full duration of a grueling Survival Battle, and some can save an entire fight if applied at the right moment.
Finally, the player can also spend their supplies on upgrading individual units, improving a number of characteristics for the duration of the battle. All upgrades come in three progressively more expensive levels; bronze, silver, and gold, with the more expensive options providing larger stat increases. While the cost of these upgrades varies depending on a unit's grade, the bonuses applied are universally the same. There are four possible ways a unit can be upgraded in this way:
* Weapons Upgrade increases a unit's Base Weapon Damage and Armor-Piercing Weapon Damage, with the Silver and Gold upgrades also adding upgrades to Melee Attack. These range from +20% BWD and +20% APWD for the Bronze, to +40% BWD, +40% APWD, and +30% Melee Attack for the Gold.
* Armor Upgrade increases a unit's Armour, with the Silver and Gold upgrades also adding flat Damage Resistance. These range from a simple +10 Armour for the Bronze, to +30 Armour and +10% Damage Resistance for the Gold.
* Missiles Upgrade is only available to units with ranged attacks, and increases the unit's Base and AP Missile Damage, with the Silver and Gold upgrades also adding range. These range from +15% BMD and APMD for the Bronze, to +25% BMD, +25% APMD, and +20% Range for the Gold.
* Shields Upgrade is only available to units which already have shields, and increases the unit's chance to block missiles over the standard 35%. The Silver and Gold upgrades also add Missile Resistance, with bonuses ranging from +18 to Missile Block for the Bronze, to +42 Missile Block and +20% Missile Resistance for the Gold.
Unit upgrades can be very expensive, starting at 200 base for grade 1 units and 800 for grade 4, doubling in price for the Silver, and tripling in price for the Gold -- fully upgrading a Lord with a ranged attack and a shield would cost a massive 9600 supplies! Upgrading your entire army is out of the question; however, certain crucial units may benefit greatly from the appropriate boost.
== Strategy and Tips ==
Survival Battles are long affairs where shepherding the health and long-term fighting ability of your own army is as important, if not moreso, than destroying the enemy. Take extra care not to let units get mauled unnecessarily and design your army to be able to hold position well. Fire support and discipline are critical, and strategies involving using your Lords and Heroes to "bomb" down strong enemy units should be carefully considered.
* Maximize your use of terrain, as the enemy has to come to you.
* Any units with limited-use powers such as Potion items for Lords and Heroes, bound spells such as those on the Wu Xing War Compass, or limited-use abilities like the Patriarch's Salyak's Lullaby need to be very careful about when to use them, as there is no way to restore their uses with Supplies. However many they start the battle with is how many they have for the whole thing.
* If multiple units are selected, the Resupply and Upgrade powers will apply to all of them, with costs adjusted accordingly. This can save time in a pinch, but can also waste resources if you're not paying attention.
* The Restock Ammunition power is critical to keeping your fire support units fighting, but costs the same whether it restores 50% or 1% of a unit's supply. Try to make sure you're only resupplying units with less than 50% ammo left to get the most out of it.
* As the Channel the Winds power adds to your reserves, your supply of Winds of Magic is still dependent on your recharge rate.
* Unit upgrades give the same boosts to units no matter how powerful; a unit with 10 base armor and one with 100 base armor will both gain 10 armor from the Bronze Armor Upgrade.
* The Range boosts from the Silver and Gold Missiles Upgrade can be very valuable, if applied to units that already have long ranges -- particularly artillery.
== Realm of Chaos ==
The Realm of Chaos campaign features four survival map battles that are different to the regular model, with a fifth serving as the climactic encounter of the campaign. Once beaten for the first time, these special "Chaos Realms" survival battles are unlocked for play in the Skirmish mode.
In the four regular Chaos Realms Survival Battles, the player is charged with attacking a long map with multiple objective points, securing each one in sequence and ultimately the entire map. Objectives are defended by small AI-controlled garrisons. When each objective is secured, the player will have forty-five seconds to prepare their position before the enemy launches a large wave of troops at them from multiple directions. If the wave is successfully held off by destroying or routing all units involved in the wave, the next objective will be unlocked. At the final objective, the player will have to defeat a powerful Daemon Prince Lord with abilities customized to the Chaos God whose realm is being assailed.
Enemy waves feature specific unit compositions, but will also be accompanied by other supporting units which are not required to be destroyed to advance. Units that are part of the wave will be specifically marked; once all marked units are destroyed or routed and the Wave meter reaches 0%, all supporting units will also route.
In addition, along with the typical Survival uses for supplies, the Realm of Chaos maps also feature sockets around their objectives for building barricades and towers, as used in unwalled settlement battles. While expensive, these can be major force multipliers for fighting the increasingly difficult attacking waves.
The four "typical" Chaos Realms Survival Battles can be tackled in any order depending on which order the player enters the Chaos Realms in, and will adjust in difficulty to match appropriately. In no particular order, they are The Brass Citadel, The Impossible Fortress, The Mansion of the Plague Lord, and The Palace of Slaneesh. The final battle takes place at The Forge of Souls, and is similar to the structure of the others, though not identical.
Category:Battle mode
Category:Total War: Warhammer III