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Greetings!


The Shadows of Change are expanding…


For those not in the know, with the release of Patch 4.2.0 tomorrow for Total War: WARHAMMER III, the Tzeentch, Cathay and Kislev content pack released back in August of last year will be receiving some additional content! This content will be free for all owners of Shadows of Change, whether past, present or future. We’ll go into what’s arriving in WARHAMMER III during these patch notes, but if you’d like a more detailed look at not only the new arrivals to the game, but how they were conjured up as well as some other intel, you can swing over to a trio of blog posts penned by WARHAMMER III’s own Senior Game Director, Rich Aldridge.


Part 1: Grand Cathay

Part 2: Tzeentch

Part 3: Kislev


Before we kick things off good and proper, here are some highlights from our latest offering:



⬥    ⬥    ⬥  


DOWNLOAD ON THE MICROSOFT STORE

Remember that you’ll need to update your game in the Microsoft Store:

  1. Open the Microsoft Store.
  2. Click the [∙ ∙ ∙] symbol next to your profile picture.
  3. Select Downloads and updates.
  4. Press the Get updates button to automatically detect, download, and install the latest changes to your game!
  5. Open the game. The title screen should show you on Update 4.2.0.

If you are unable to launch the game after downloading the update, make sure you add (or re-add) the Total War: WARHAMMER III client or folder as an exception to your firewall and antivirus program.


DOWNLOAD ON STEAM

Remember that you’ll need to update your game in Steam:

  1. Open Steam.
  2. Click on Library to see your games list.
  3. Click Downloads at the bottom of the Library window.
  4. [If the new build does not download automatically,] click the Download Now button to manually download the new update.
  5. Open the game. The title screen should show you on Update 4.2.0.

If you encounter any issues downloading or playing the game, you can verify the integrity of the Steam files to correct any download or installation errors.


DOWNLOAD ON EPIC

Remember that you’ll need to update your game in Epic:

  1. Open the Epic games launcher.
  2. Click your profile portrait in the upper right corner of the client window.
  3. Select ‘Settings’ from the navigation page
  4. Click Downloads at the bottom of the Library window.
  5. Scroll to the Manage Games section and check the Allow Auto-Updates
  6. Expand the menu for Total War: WARHAMMER III and open the game Options.
  7. Select the “Auto-update” box and let the game update.
  8. Open the game. The title screen should show you on Update 4.1.0.

If you encounter any issues downloading or playing the game, make sure you verify your game files to correct any download or installation errors.


NEED HELP?

If you experience any issues after downloading the update, please take a moment to visit our support site for additional troubleshooting steps and assistance.



PATCH 4.2.0


Amendments:


RELEASE SPOTLIGHT


SHADOWS OF CHANGE UPDATE


We’re kicking off Patch 4.2.0 with the new content additions to the Shadows of Change DLC. Tzeentch, Grand Cathay and Kislev are all getting some new stuff for you to play around with in WARHAMMER III, so let’s quickly see what’s in store.


TZEENTCH


Chaos Lord of Tzeentch



Marked by Tzeentch, the Changer of Ways’ latest Chaos Lord is built for war.


Hauling hefty Chaos armour and a Halberd into battle, the Chaos Lord of Tzeentch isn’t just able to dish out heaps of damage to large units, but take a fair beating himself without breaking a sweat, assuming those that oppose him are even able to smash through his intrinsic magical barrier.


With Change or Die! at his disposal, the Chaos Lord can improve the Leadership and Damage Resistance of nearby allied troops, while also recharging their magical barriers with the Paragon of Change.


Exalted Hero of Tzeentch



When two heads still isn’t cutting it, the Exalted Hero of Tzeentch opts for a bit extra.


This magical melee brute with high weapon strength and a shiny Halberd is a specialist in all things mighty. Able to scorch his foes with magical attacks, cut down Trolls with a swing of his blade, and sustain himself in battle long after those he faces are tuckered out, this frightful schemer is always on the path to greater glory, ready to exploit any weakness he can to get it.


Pray he doesn’t find yours.


Centigors of Tzeentch



This unholy combination of Chaos and Beastmen delivers the best of both worlds.


Wielding Great Axes embedded with the magic of Tzeentch, these fast and hard-hitting units bring their Primal Fury and rowdiness to the frontlines, able to push ahead with Vanguard deployment, synergise with other Tzeentchian spellcasters thanks to their Arcane Charge, and take down Daemons with ease.


Changebringers



Flame-spewing daemons work great on the ground, but what if you wanted to take to the skies as well?


With the Changebringers, agility is the name of the game. Soaring through the air on their Discs of Tzeentch, these abominations launch armour-piercing flame attacks from above, disregarding any and all obstacles those pesky ground-users have to contend with. Although they can’t take as much punishment as the Flamers that came before them, the Changebringers can unleash devastation quicker than most with their increased Charge Bonus, cranking the heat up to eleven.


GRAND CATHAY


Saytang, the Watcher


Legendary Heroes are often larger than life, but rarely has it been so literal.


Saytang, towering above many units on the field, wields a magical bow capable of launching artillery-grade projectiles into the enemy’s defences.


Not content at just being potent from a distance, Saytang can also cause problems once they’ve made it up close, able to take plenty of damage while buffing nearby Constructs, and leap to-and-fro thanks to their mighty wings.


Note: There are some further art changes we’ll bring to Saytang in a future update, which will see us replace some of his current VFX with something slightly closer to the lore. Stay tuned.  


Gate Master




The Gate Master is both a superb defensive addition to the Cathayan roster, and a hybrid fighter with a sword, shield and crossbow.


He excels at maintaining a defensive line, buffing nearby allied troops and sniping enemy combatants from afar, and still being able to hold his own when the conflict becomes more up close and personal.


Plus, he can mount a trusty Warhorse, letting Grand Cathay rest assured that he’ll always be exactly where he’s needed.


Great Moon Bird



In a first for Grand Cathay, the Great Moon Bird is a magical flying monster with both fire and magic on its side.


With a mere flap of its wings, the Great Moon Bird can produce a nasty AoE to chip away at anyone unfortunate enough to be caught in the vortex, and may serve as a mount for the Astromancer to mix up their playstyle even more, raining fiery death from above.


Celestial Lion


It doesn’t get more majestic than this.


The Celestial Lion is another provider of some often-needed air support for Grand Cathay, being quick on its feet and dexterous in the sky. Wherever it chooses to be, both Fearsome Roar and Terror play a role in making the enemy’s morale crumble under the sight of this horrifying beauty. 


KISLEV


The Golden Knight, Naryska Leysa



Naryska Leysa, Kislev’s Golden Knight, is an armour-clad guardian with Legendary Hero status, buffing the resolve of nearby friendlies and protecting crucial characters as their bodyguard.


As an inspiration to those that fight beside her, the Golden Knight wields a magical blade, Urson’s Claw, and can go toe-to-toe as a duellist in the heat of battle with her Warhorse as an optional mount. 


The more damage she takes, the stronger her allies become, and this notorious Champion of the Ice Queen will not be felled easily. 


Druzhina




A lesser noble with a strong connection to the nature beyond the walls of Kislev, Druzhina brings a hybrid flavour to his role as a leader with strong single target damage from a distance, and armour-piercing axe swings up close.


As a first for Kislev, Druzhina has brought plenty of extra ammo to spare, and as well as bolstering nearby missile units, he’s quick to top up their ammunition and keep the missiles flying.


Frost-Wyrm



This magical, flightless monster slithers across the battlefield at a rapid pace. With tooth and claw, the Frost-Wyrm serves Kislev as an individual beast, but may be ridden into battle by Katarin and her Ice Witches. Able to rip, tear and decimate the units ahead of it, those that are able to elude the Frost-Wyrm’s frontal assault may count themselves lucky.


That is until its lashing tail whips them on the way past, and they fall at the might of Kislev’s latest beast.


Kislevite Warriors



Kislev can’t always pitch their most expensive units into the grinder, so the Halberd-wielding Kislevite Warriors are here to bolster the frontline for those looking to pinch some pennies.


As an excellent choice for the early-game, the Kislevite Warriors are cheap and plentiful, able to form a barrier of anti-large infantry on the battlefield, taking the heat from the rest of Kislev’s forces, and taking down some Giants while they’re at it.


Lore of the Hag



Available to Mother Ostankya and her Hag Witches, the Lore of the Hag brings six brand new spells to everyone’s favourite horror story.


Focused primarily on disruption and hexes, whether it be hindering targets’ speed and vigour through The Forbidden Fens, reducing enemy block chance and armour with Curse of the Ancient Witch, or summoning a static vortex of destruction with Cursed Cauldron, Mother Ostankya has never been more frightful.


Ice Court Sled - FreeLC



Katarin deserves to travel in style, and with the Ice Court Sled, a free addition to WARHAMMER III alongside Patch 4.2.0, she can do just that.


Headed by six of Kislev’s finest steeds, Katarin has never zipped across the battlefield faster, able to smash through enemy lines when she makes impact. But that’s not all. With a duo of Ice Guard’s along for the ride, able to snipe enemies with their bows, the Ice Court Sled delivers heaps of damage whether near or far.


For a much more comprehensive deep dive into the Shadows of Change update, head on over to the Tzeentch, Grand Cathay, and Kislev blogs if you haven’t already.



Part 1: Grand Cathay

Part 2: Tzeentch

Part 3: Kislev



BLOOM TWEAKS


There’s lots of shiny things in the world of WARHAMMER III, whether it be the armour of the High Elf troops or the water flowing through the lands. So much so that the bloom can get a bit much, causing images to be blown out. So, we’ve resolved some issues with excessive bloom which previously appeared overly shiny and distracting, and adjusted bloom settings to prevent these blown out visuals, providing a balanced and improved appearance of bloom effects on armour, water, and unit banners in-game.


Here’s how it looked before:


And here’s how it looks now: 


CORRUPTION BORDERS


The borders of corrupted lands have also seen a slight tweak, enhancing interpolation for more natural, slanted edges and eliminating the more aggressive examples of the jagged, blocky appearance that can be seen at territory borders.


Here’s how it looked before:


And here’s how it looks now: 



SHOUT-OUT TO THE MODDERS


We wanted to give a shout-out to our modding community who continue to unlock new experiences for our players. In particular, we’d like to thank the following for their contributions to experiences that overlap with content we are now supporting with Patch 4.2.0.

GATE MASTER:

THE LORE OF HAGS: 

KATARIN SLEIGH:

CHANGEBRINGERS: 

GOLDEN KNIGHT:


STABILITY & PERFORMANCE



GAMEPLAY


Below are changes made to the gameplay systems, AI, and other mechanics that define how the game is played.


RULES & SYSTEMS



AI RULES & LOGIC



EXPLOITS



BATTLE HIGHLIGHTS


RAMPAGE REWORK


One of the biggest changes in this patch is that we have completely reworked the way that the Rampage attribute functions. We’ve done this because Rampage has always been one of those attributes that’s been a little bit nebulous in the way that it actually works. With these changes, we hope that the functionality will be a lot more clear-cut.


Rampage used to work by tracking two hit point thresholds, 75% and 40%. When a unit hit 75% hit points remaining it would be issued a “Rampage Token”, which the unit would spend when it next took damage. If the Rampage Token was spent, the unit entered the rampage state for 40 seconds, becoming uncontrollable. The same thing would happen when the 40% hit point threshold was crossed.


In short, to Rampage a unit using the old system, the unit needed to fulfil the following set of conditions:



Pretty complicated right? So what does it do now?


Rampage – A unit with the Rampage attribute will be uncontrollable and will attack the nearest enemy unit. When there are no enemy units nearby, a rampaging unit will move around randomly instead.


With these changes, it’s a lot clearer in what the attribute actually does. If your unit has Rampage, they will be uncontrollable, if they do not, they function as normal. The random movement exhibited by rampaging units if there are no enemy units nearby is new behaviour, as units used to just stand still in their rampaging state if there were no enemies nearby. We made this change so that Rampage can now be used from a distance to remotely disrupt formations if required. this makes some of the spells and abilities that apply Rampage (particularly some of the Slaanesh abilities) quite potent.


So what about the units that had the Rampage attribute innately? Feral Manticores and the like?


Under the new implementation, units don’t inherently have rampage anymore, instead we now control the application of rampage with two new abilities which replicate the old behaviour in a more deterministic and player facing way. Rampage tokens are also no more, so the random chance of rampage being applied after a hit is no longer a factor.



A unit with these new abilities will rampage twice per battle, once at the 75% hit point threshold and once at the 25% hit point threshold.  It will always happen (unless you have a way to stop it like the Lizardmen do with their “Cold Blooded” ability).


The eagle-eyed amongst you may notice that we have changed up the second hit-point threshold from 40% (from the original version of Rampage) to 25% to offer more of a gap between the two thresholds. This is to avoid situations where it’s easier for the two abilities to stack and make a unit Rampaging for a long period. We’ll be monitoring this change carefully to judge it’s wider impact on the game.


Here’s a full list of units that now have the Feral Rage I and Feral Rage II abilities:



Further down in these notes you’ll find all of the abilities that have been altered as a result of this change. Since Rampage is now always-on if the attribute is present, it made some abilities incredibly spicy (I’m looking at you Madness of Khaine contact effect) so we have conducted a review of every ability that grants the attribute to ensure that it plays nicely with the new design.


Let us know what you think of the new design, as we’re always happy to hear your feedback!


STEALTH LIZARDMEN UPDATE


With the changes to Rampage, we have also taken the opportunity to stealthily update the Lizardmen in battle slightly, with some thematic new abilities that were in the original army books, but missing from the game. Special shout out to Loremaster of Sotek, who has been campaigning for Spawn-Kin in particular for a while.


Spawn-Kin – This ability encourages synergy between Skinks and Kroxigors.


When Skinks and Kroxigors are in close proximity to one another:



There are two new attributes to govern this behaviour:


The following units are considered to be Skinks: \"\"



The following units are considered to be Kroxigors: \"\"



We had thought about introducing this synergy to characters as well, but with their vast array of mounts, it opens a whole can of worms. Is a Stegadon mount considered a Skink versus the Ancient Stegadon, which is also covered in Skinks? We opted to keep it simple in that regard. Let us know your thoughts though!


Predatory Fighter – A unit with this ability gains a small portion of Melee Attack and Speed whenever an enemy that they have recently fought is routing. This allows Saurus and other Predator-type units on the Lizardmen roster a definite edge when chasing down routing enemy units.


The following units have the Predatory Fighter ability:



Sacred Duty & Eternal Duty – Temple Guard now gain the Causes Fear and Immune to Psychology attributes when standing next to a Lord or Hero. This upgrades to Eternal Duty for the Star Chamber Guardians Regiment of Renown, offering the Causes Fear and Unbreakable attributes instead.


Solar Engine – Any Lizardmen unit positioned near a Solar Engine will now regain vigour from it’s warm invigorating rays.


NEW ATTRIBUTES


Elemental – The Elemental Attribute works very much like the existing Daemonic and Undead attributes. Elementals cannot be routed, but take damage when their leadership is broken. Elementals also have: Physical Resistance as well as Fear and Terror Immunity.


The following units are considered to be Elementals:



Construct – The eagle eyed among you may notice that this attribute is not new, as it originally arrived with the release of Rise of the Tomb Kings. Much like the Undead, Daemonic and Elemental attributes, this attribute prevents the unit it is applied to from being routed, but damage is applied when leadership is broken. We have now applied the Construct attribute to several other units that fit the criteria of being a construct.


The following units are now considered to be Constructs:



Glorious Charge – This attribute originally comes from the Kislev army book, being a unique trait of Winged Lancers and the Gryphon Legion. When charging into an enemy unit Charge Bonus duration is doubled and the enemy unit takes a Leadership penalty as if they have been attacked in the flank.


The following units have Glorious Charge:



Immune to Flanking – Units with this attribute take no penalties when flanked. Simples!


The following units are now Immune to Flanking:



Revealed – Units with this attribute are permanently visible to the enemy, regardless of line of sight. The Hide Forest, Stalk and Unspottable attributes are also negated by this attribute. The Revealed attribute is generally used offensively to reveal enemy units within an area.


Silenced – Units with the Silenced attribute are unable to use active abilities or cast spells. This attribute is generally used offensively to shut down spellcasters.


MOUNT SCALE FIX


In a previous release, we made some changes to fix some mount issues which inadvertently caused all characters mounted using the Warbeast 2.0 tech (a new bit of tech we made for WH3 to support synchronised rider animations on large mounts) to be rescaled. We’ve gone through and adjusted the scaling of all affected characters to bring this back into alignment.

 

While Karl Franz is indeed larger than life, we do prefer he’s also not larger than Deathclaw!



RACES & BALANCE


GENERAL



SPELLS (GENERAL)




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CAMPAIGN



UNITS



Tzaangors were previously a bit confused on if they were marked Gors or marked Bestigors. They came to the negotiation table where they’ve collectively agreed that they are marked Gors.



SKILLS



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CAMPAIGN



UNITS



TECHNOLOGY



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TRAITS



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UNITS



SKILLS



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UNITS



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TECHNOLOGY TREE REBALANCE


The Technology Tree for Grand Cathay has had a balance pass to bring it more in line with other tech trees in WARHAMMER III, in an aim to reach the same bar set by some factions that came after their addition to the base game. 


Generally, a push has been made to remove underwhelming or filler effects that were nice to have, but not potent enough to pursue. Plus, we aimed to increase the useful effects granted by certain technologies to make them all feel like a viable choice, and encourage experimentation with your tech progression paths.


We won’t cover all of them here, you’ll want to jump into a campaign of your own to try them out, but here’s a few examples to let you know what kind of changes you’re in for.



CAMPAIGN



UNITS



ABILITIES



ITEMS



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GENERAL UPDATES



UNITS




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UNITS




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SKILLS



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UNITS



Half the size, but now have the full ethereal package! These are the unit summoned by the Hag Witch (Beasts) Spirit’s of Koldunja ability.



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GENERAL UPDATES



CAMPAIGN



UNITS



SKILLS


\"\"


UNITS



\"Balance


SKILLS



\"\"


CAMPAIGN


UNITS


\"\"


CAMPAIGN



UNITS




\"\"


CAMPAIGN



SKILLS



\"\"


TECHNOLOGY



UNITS



\"\"



CAMPAIGN



UNITS


\"\"


UNITS



ITEMS


\"\"


CAMPAIGN



SKILLS



TRAITS



\"\"


CAMPAIGN



UNITS



SKILLS



TECHNOLOGY



\"\"


GENERAL UPDATES



UNITS



CAMPAIGN



SKILLS



UNIT ABILITIES


FOREWORD ON ABILITY DURATIONS


A running theme you’ll see below is a lot of existing abilities that cause Rampage are going to decrease in duration to account for the increased reliability. We’ve marked each ability affected by this with a (Rampage!) text! We’ve also reduced the duration of some abilities that grant a bonus in exchange for rampaging, as we felt that losing control of your unit for too long (Gaze of Khaine lasts over a full minute!) was a bit too un-interactive.


SLAANESH ARMY ABILITY REFACTOR


Following the changes to rampage, we were faced with the dilemma of handling Slaanesh’s army wide abilities, we weren’t quite happy with the power level versus the accessibility of each tier. We’ve shuffled both the order and the effects of these around a bit.


This also applies to campaign; these abilities have switched places in the appropriate places on skills and techs.


1FascinationSweet Sorrow
2NarcissismNarcissism
3Sweet SorrowFascination



With the updated Rampage, this ability was proving itself a bit too scary as the first one available to Slaanesh. Instead it now rests square as the top end, with its combined package of a rampage to force enemies out of position and a direct damage effect that causes vicious damage vs multi-entity elites.      



Narcissism is getting a small buff to duration to compete more evenly with Fascination in its dedicated control role.



Sweet sorrow has been reimagined as a single target nitrous oxide, letting you hit a unit of your choice with a burst of massive speed and refill its vigour on demand. Able to restore the vigour of an exhausted unit, provide a burst of speed for a chariot or cavalry unit to punch through enemy lines or just to make N’kari even more unreasonably fast!


CHARACTER ABILITIES



QUEST ABILITIES



This one comes with a story.


The Glare of Insanity is used by the giant boss hydra you face during The Beast of Raema monster hunt. Originally, this ability cycled on and off duration the battle, causing your entire army to occasionally rampage (up to twice per unit) but in the new implementation this resulted in a truly demented battle where your entire army was near permanently uncontrollable. Good for a laugh but not very playable! This now triggers just once at the start of the battle, giving you a chance to recover once your armies have slammed together in the initial carnage! 

              

SPELLS



UNIT ABILITIES   

                         


The Nan-Gau Grenades ability now causes the unit to steadily carpet bomb the area beneath them over 10 seconds, we’ve moved more of the damage into the explosions instead of direct grenade impacts. Giving you a chance to either focus the bombardment on one unit for devastating effect or swing across a battle line to scatter damage across several units!



This ability has been reworked into a one-time use powerful petrification effect. Which steadily slows a targeted enemy down. Escalating by 25% every 8 seconds until the target spends the last 8 seconds unable to move.



GAME


Below are changes to the systems that support and enhance the gameplay of Total War: WARHAMMER III.


GRAPHICS



AUDIO



UI


 

LOOKING FORWARD


There we are!


We’ve been excited to finally get this update into your hands, and we can’t wait for you to jump in and try it out tomorrow.


As for what’s on the horizon for WARHAMMER III, we’ve got our sights set on Thrones of Decay as we look forward to welcoming the newest recruits from Nurgle, the Empire, and the Dwarfs, with open arms.


Until then, we’ll be keeping a watchful eye on your feedback, engaging where we can, and dropping hotfixes for WARHAMMER III along the way.


Take care of yourself, and we’ll see you on the battlefield.


— The Total War Team


 

HOTFIX 4.2.1


We’ve been delighted with the response to the Shadows of Change update released in 4.2.0 back in February, and we’re jumping back in with a new hotfix to keep polishing things up.


Firstly, to correct an error from the 4.2 patch notes, we mistakenly listed Pavane of Slaanesh as losing access to Rampage, which is not the case. Instead, Rampage was removed from Hysterical Frenzy, and Pavane can continue to cause Rampage to their heart’s content.


Now for the rest:



That’s all for now!


Thank you for your continued input and feedback on Patch 4.2.0 as we continue to implement these new updates. Please keep sharing your insights with us on our official forums, and we’ll see you on the battlefield!

 


HOTFIX 4.2.2



Today we’re bringing you Hotfix 4.2.2 for Total War: WARHAMMER III, which tackles a few bugs, crashes, glitches, and more.


Here’s what we’ve got:



Recently we learned that one of the random names generated from the High Elf pool had connotations that could be tied to an abominable character from 20th Century history. Upon learning this, our teams have taken immediate action to return to WARHAMMER II so that we can release an update removing the name. 


As the name is also accessible within WARHAMMER III, we’ve similarly directed our team to make the very same update here as well. 


We apologise that the name has been present in the game for this long, and are grateful to those who brought it to our attention so that we could take action.


Once again, thank you for your continued input and feedback on Patch 4.2.0, Hotfix 4.2.1, and the game as a whole. Please keep sharing your insights with us on our official forums, and we’ll see you on the battlefield!

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Hi everyone,


I’m Richard Aldridge, Game Director for Total War: WARHAMMER. Today I want to share some news with you on the new content that will be arriving soon for Shadows of Change with Patch 4.2 – free for existing owners, and bolstering the DLC for anyone picking it up post Patch 4.2.


I’ll be covering what you can expect going forward from the Total War: WARHAMMER series, taking a peek behind the curtain as to how we go about planning, creating and making our DLCs, and having a close look at the new additions Grand Cathay will be receiving as a part of Patch 4.2.



Reflecting on Shadows of Change


I’ll cut straight to it, we didn’t give you enough new characters and units to play with at the original release of Shadows of Change.


We believe we can put this right for you, having listened to your feedback these past months to provide you with better and more varied options for your armies. We know that you, our community, are as passionate about the game as we are, and we’re pleased to say that many of your suggestions are being enacted upon.  Not all ideas and requests are possible, though. The Era of Karl Franz is, as you’ve come to expect, a rich and exciting setting for Total War, and we work closely with The Warhammer Studio to ensure that the content for this era of Warhammer is as faithfully represented in our game as possible.


All of the forces featured within the Shadows of Change DLC can look forward to a sizable collection of reinforcements, but we won’t be adding Hag Mothers as Generic Lords, as Mother Ostankya is the only Hag Mother of Kislev. Similarly, the relationship between Gospodars and Ungols is taking a back seat as we look less at the tensions of historic Kislevite culture, and more at what defines Kislev as a unified military force in the Era of Karl Franz.


Similarly, we won’t be adding beaks to Tzaangors, as while this avian characteristic occurs in other Warhammer settings, these elite Gors in the Old World represent those Beastmen who have drawn the eye of the Changer of Ways, rather than a totally separate offshoot breed. But as ever, we aim to ensure that whatever we do add to Total War: WARHAMMER III is as authentic an experience of the world of Warhammer as possible.



What to Expect Moving Forward


Looking to the future, the team and I love the Warhammer universe and want to make as much content for it as possible. Whether that be to add further exciting characters like the Golden Knight, spectacular units and creatures (Yes, I’m looking at you mighty “Hotpot”) or other unexplored lore. We still plan to make many more DLCs for Total War: WARHAMMER III, with some of them like Thrones of Decay following the same premise and composition as Shadows of Change where we will add to and develop three existing races from across the Warhammer world. Accompanied by our patches and updates, this will give us the opportunity to go back to some of your most beloved races and give them some attention.


Below I have laid out what you can expect to see for Shadows of Change and Thrones of Decay in terms of the content and features for these products moving forward.


DLC Content – Shadows of Change & Thrones of Decay



Potential Further Content 



*Subject to the IP, theming of the DLC, and where applicable



Thank you again for your invaluable feedback since the release of Shadows of Change, and in particular the thoughts on improving the rosters and having parity across the races with the content we are adding as a part of them.


As mentioned above; each race will now have a Legendary Lord, Legendary Hero, Lord, Hero, 5 units and 3 Regiments of Renown. This, we hope, will allow you to lead thematic armies that are better connected to the Legendary Lords in the DLC, add both lower tier troops and big centrepiece monsters and start to fill some of the gaps and needs of the races in the game that you have asked for.


Where possible, with “Further Content” we will also be adding thematic lores of magic, mounts for new and existing characters to make use of, and making some much-requested FREELC where it makes sense (Cough, cough, Katarin’s Sled).


I hope that everything I’ve mentioned above looks much more in line with your own expectations for the DLC, as we move to significantly bridge the gap to our past products like Chaos Dwarfs in what we will offer moving forwards, starting with Shadows of Change.


Now onto the exciting stuff you’ve all come to see.



GRAND CATHAY ADDITIONS



To set the scene, when we went back to look at what we could add to enrich the offering of Grand Cathay in Shadows of Change we focused heavily on the theme that surrounds the Jade Dragon, his Celestial Court. Having his eyes and ears everywhere, having the ability to quickly react and protect his Empire, to be the emperor in all intents and purposes.


This meant plenty of conversations with Games Workshop in looking to find characters and units that best complimented this approach and made sense from a lore perspective. Looking into what we hadn’t included previously in Total War: WARHAMMER III or Shadows of Change quickly helped us fill in some of the gaps in Grand Cathay’s roster, such as with the Gate Master and Celestial Lion. The Lion in particular was something that almost made the cut for the original release of Shadows of Change, so I am super excited to see it now in the roster as both a monstrous unit and a mount option.


But it also got us to look a little further afield too, as you will see with our first-ever Legendary Hero for Grand Cathay – Saytang the Watcher.


Saytang the Watcher, Sentinel of the Heavens (Legendary Hero)


So let me introduce Grand Cathay’s first colossal legendary hero to you. We wanted to add Saytang to move away from what is currently known about Grand Cathay and showcase some of the other inhabitants of this mighty Empire.


Saytang represents an ever-watching protective figure, not dissimilar to Yuan-Bo but as you will see is a fair bit larger. Saytang gives us the opportunity to expand on Grand Cathay’s use of magical constructs, something which is core to this great nation in how it protects itself. Along with giving them devastating long ranged artillery-like potential. Saytang also lends themselves nicely to the connection the Jade Dragon has to the winds of Azyr (Heavens) and the more magical elements of Grand Cathay.


“Known as the guardian of the sky, the heavenly bowman, or commonly to the people of the southern provinces simply the watcher, Saytang is the great sentinel that stands atop the Mountains of Heaven. Towering over other sentinels, Saytang is an imposing sight with its outstretched wings and great stone feathered helm. Those who have witnessed Saytang in battle claim no armour or barrier can turn aside the arrows it fires from its great wind bow, the shafts piercing the ranks of the enemies and even the iron hides of fell beasts. And though Saytang cannot fly in the true sense, its power allows it to leap great distances, even jumping from mountain peak to mountain peak in the defence of the empire.”

—New lore as told by Games Workshop



Above you can see the first step we take when designing and adding content to our DLC’s. Starting with a thumbnail image, it gives us a quick and flexible method to work with Games Workshop in first realising the character or unit. Its job is to get across the scale, flavour, functionality and work required to bring this model to life, but be easily adaptable to suit the needs of the IP and the game before we move onto the next stage of the creation process – the concept art.


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When entering the concept stage of the creation process, we are looking to up the visual quality of the model from the thumbnail, adding details, looking at materials and textures to use. This will act as a comprehensive blueprint, to guide our 3D character artists in the creation of the final model for you to play with in game. We also use this as a sounding board for how our animations and designs will work, tweaking the size and scale of body parts to work with the games engine, creating a proxy model to test things out in maximising the fun of each character or creature.


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So now you know a little of the process behind how we created our characters, let’s discuss what Saytang is good at doing in game.


Gameplay Overview


Saytang the Watcher is a giant-sized legendary hero, which (disregarding mounted characters) is a rare sight in Total War: WARHAMMER III. Much like the Bone Giant of the Tomb Kings, Saytang uses a giant magical bow to fire artillery-grade projectiles into the enemy lines. Saytang is also relatively strong in close combat, with good defensive stats and the ability to buff other nearby Constructs. Saytang doesn’t fly being a construct, even with those mighty wings, but can jump large distances to close the gap on the enemy.



Gate Master of the Celestial Cities (Hero)


You may have seen the art of this character since the release of Total War: WARHAMMER III, a character which didn’t quite make the final cut. But he is now here to stand tall and add a bit of melee strength to your Grand Cathay frontline.


“Jade Warriors are the profession soldiers of Grand Cathay, and the Gate Master of the Celestial Cities are their leaders. To earn the title of Gate Master a Jade Warrior must have served in the defence of their city, and many are veterans of the empire’s many wars. Like their soldiers, a Gate Master is trained in defensive warfare and how best to defend their city, and as such know how to read the lay of the land before a battle. This can prove useful in enacting the will of their Lord Magistrate, who trusts their Gate Masters above all other officers in their armies.”


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Gameplay Overview


The Gate Master is a defensive line-holding hero with hybrid weaponry. Using his abilities, he can buff the defences of nearby troops whilst shooting enemies with his crossbow from behind the main battle line. A fun fact is that the Gate Master is the first hero with a conventional crossbow that we have put into the game (Dark Elf Repeaters not withstanding), which will serve the armies of Cathay well in many different scenarios.



Mounts:



Great Moon Bird (Monster & Monstrous Mount)


Continuing the theme of the Celestial Court and to give Grand Cathay some added flying power, we have added the Great Moon Bird as both a monstrous single entity flying unit and as a mount option for a variety of characters to field.


“Favoured of the Empress, the Great Moon Birds are found in the highest peaks of the Mountains of Heaven. They are said to make their nests in the craters of Mannslieb, the silver moon of the Warhammer World, and only fly down to earth when called by either the Empress or the most powerful Astromancers. Fearsome to behold in battle, the Moon Bird are often wreathed in silvery flames – or moon fire – which burns the enemies of the empire who come into contact with it. Powerful lords, especially wizards of the Celestial Court, might even be granted a Moon Bird as a mount, though this is usually only for a short time before the creature once more returns to the heavens.”


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Gameplay Overview


Similar to the High Elf Phoenixes, the Great Moon Bird is a magical flying monster with flaming attacks and a powerful AoE vortex ability. Grand Cathay haven’t had any flying single entity monsters in their roster before now, so new strategies will become viable in battle; whether it is providing air-to-air defence for Sky Junks or striking deep into the enemy lines. The Great Moon Bird is also a mount for the Astromancer, which offers them a whole new level of battlefield mobility.



Mount Option for:  Astromancer

 

Celestial Lion (Monster & Monstrous Mount)


Probably my favourite model of the new additions to Grand Cathay, the Celestial Lion’s beauty and strength is second to none. Acting as both a single entity monstrous flying unit and a mount option for a variety of characters from Grand Cathay, the Celestial Lion will strike terror into those that stand within its way.


“Winged lions exist in the east, believed to have descended from natural beasts warped during the coming of Chaos to the world. Unlike the fell Manticores of the west, these celestial beasts have been purified by the power of the Dragon Emperor and live within the sacred hunting grounds of the Forests of the Moon. Favoured sorcerers or warriors may be gifted such a creature by the Dragons, riding it into battle and striking fear into the foes of the empire.”


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Gameplay Overview


The Celestial Lion is another flying single entity monster for the armies of Cathay to utilise. Similar to a Griffon or Manticore, it is able to provide air support on a budget compared to higher tier units like the Great Moon Bird. The Celestial General can also make use of this beast as a mount.



Mount Option for: Celestial General

 

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Before I end today, I wanted to cover an omission that you may have been hoping for in Grand Cathay’s roster update; an Elite Core Infantry unit. There is a very good reason for this and trust me we aren’t monkeying about. The first as we explained is on keeping the focus on the Celestial Court and the Jade Dragon. The second being that the Celestial Courts don’t have a unit of this type to add, that said we’ve only just scratched the surface of the possible content we can create for Grand Cathay and as I mentioned earlier, we have plans to support the game with lots of new content for the foreseeable future.


So when can you expect Patch 4.2 and all of its additions to SoC?


Well, the team are still working flat out to have everything ready for release, but we want to be upfront with you that there is a chance that our intended date could shift slightly. This is the true nature of video game development, in spotting those last-minute issues or adding that final polish which can lead to release dates changing.


It’s important to all of us here that we get Patch 4.2 right for you, so we won’t rush it out before it’s ready. As is stands today we’re on track to release in the middle of the month, but like I said, this could shift closer to the end of Feb depending on how the remaining work goes. I’m optimistic, and the team are super energised in getting everything done and ready to put into your hands.


Next week I’ll be back with a deep dive on the additional units coming to Tzeentch, along with confirmation of 4.2’s release date.


Thanks for taking the time to read this – chat to you all next week!

 

—Rich (Game Director) & the Total War: WARHAMMER Team

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Hi everyone,


Before I get into the details on the new additions for Tzeentch, I wanted to talk to you about the release date and where we are as of today. The team are still working flat out to finish things up and we found a few things at the start of this week that we need to address before handing things over to you.


I’m really pleased to say that the team is making great progress through these last few changes and we are still on track to release to you later this month, but the release won’t be this week (which we had originally been trying really hard to hit). I’ll be back later this week with more information on the extra characters and units coming to Kislev, as well as to update you further on the release plans.


Before we dive straight into things, if you haven’t read the last blog entry which focused on Grand Cathay, you can do so here.


Right, onto the fun stuff!



TZEENTCH ADDITIONS


Listening to your feedback on characters and units which you have shared with us since the release of Shadows of Change, we have focused on improving the melee offering at Tzeentch’s disposal for their Lords and Heroes. Tzeentch armies have always heavily leaned on magic but we understand having those hard-hitting frontline generals and heroes are important in balancing out your armies. This is exactly what we have added to the roster for you in the form of the Chaos Lord of Tzeentch and the Exalted Hero of Tzeentch. We have also taken the opportunity to add a further two new units into the DLC for Tzeentch, which I’ll cover below.


To broaden the connection between Tzeentch and the Beastmen which we first established with the introduction of the Tzaangors in the DLC’s original release, we are now adding Centigors of Tzeentch. Having additional Chaos aligned Beastmen in the Tzeentch roster is something that we always wanted in order to best represent the various forms of Chaos, and the Centigors of Tzeentch will pack quite the bestial punch on the field of battle for you.


We also heard your feedback on the appearance of our Tzaangors in game and your expectations of them having beaks. To be clear, in the Warhammer Fantasy Battles universe, Tzaangors don’t have beaks. Instead, they much more closely resemble the appearance of a classic Gor from the Beastmen roster, which have a brutal and bestial look with teeth and jaw rather than an avian (bird)-like appearance. Rather than being a separate, offshoot species of Beastmen, they are instead Gor who have sworn allegiance to the Lord of Change.


Our second addition comes in the form of the Daemonic flying Changebringers, a classic Tzeentch unit from the Storm of Chaos book released way back in 2004. These Flamers ride Discs of Tzeentch into battle, making them a fast and fearsome opponent. As with all the additions, I’ll cover them in greater detail below.


So, let’s get to it!

 

Chaos Lord of Tzeentch (Lord)


Having created a variety of Marked characters and units with the release of Champions of Chaos for the Warriors of Chaos to field, we really wanted to come back and flesh out some of the missing cast, giving you the options to create the ultimate Chaos army that you have always wanted.


So just like with those mentioned units, the Chaos Lord of Tzeentch will be available for both Tzeentch and the Warriors of Chaos races.


“Those few who succeed upon the twisting path of Tzeentch become the most otherworldly of all Chaos Champions. They are blessed with both exceptional warrior skills and the arcane powers of the Lord of Magic. This deadly combination makes them cunning leaders and lethal warriors who command their armies with uncanny presence.”


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Gameplay Overview


The Chaos Lord of Tzeentch is built for combat. Carrying his trusty halberd it makes him adept at fighting monsters and larger creatures. He can certainly go toe to toe with some of the biggest foes the Warhammer world has to offer. He’s also great at holding his ground through the use of his Expert Charge Defence and Charge Reflection passive abilities.



Mounts:



Available to:



Exalted Hero of Tzeentch (Hero)


When we started the process of finding a suitable model to best represent this character, we knew we wanted to do something a little different and special. So, we went back, really far back into the Warhammer archives looking at the various depictions Tzeentch’s champions have taken the form of.


Needing to be a melee focused character one model really stood out, which I’m lucky to say I even have in my collection (and really need to paint); the Tzeentch Champion with two swords from the early 90’s.


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“The Exalted Heroes of Tzeentch are ostensibly the most bizarre and macabre of the Lord of Change’s mortal servants. Their armour is typically Tzeentchian, inlaid with bands of gold and bluish-silver and assembled from strangely curving components, but it is the God of Magic’s generous gift of two extra heads that sets His Exalted Heroes apart from others on the battlefield. It is a change that irrevocably affects the mind, splitting a Hero’s mortal personality into three conniving extremes. With eyes sealed shut, the central head jeers the whims of the two other personalities dwelling in the leering cyclopean heads on either side. Yet with a singular will, the creature swings its weapon with Tzeentch-imbued strength.”


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Gameplay Overview


The Exalted Hero is a melee specialist, using his magical attacks and high weapon strength to get into the thick of the action. He is armed with a mighty halberd to be in keeping with the rest of our Tzeentch roster, rather the dual swords that this character takes inspiration from in its miniature form. He has solid melee defence that will sustain him long into the fight. Just like his Lord counterpart, he is adept at taking a charge with Expert Charge Defence and Charge Reflection passive abilities.



Mounts:



Available to:



Centigors of Tzeentch (Unit)


As mentioned earlier, our thoughts here were to expand on the connection Chaos has across its many followers, and in this case, Tzeentch. Using the Chaos Marks system, we opted for the Centigors to provide bestial cavalry to add versatility to what is normally quite a missile and magic heavy focused army.


Like with the Tzaangors, these creatures have been developed based on the setting of Warhammer Fantasy Battles. So, no beaks or other things that you might associate with Tzeentch in Age of Sigmar, in keeping our content true to the source material. Just like the Tzaangors this unit will be available to both Tzeentch and Beastmen races to play with and the team and I have plans for how we can improve the offering of further Chaos Marked Beastmen for you in the future.


“Beastmen are creatures of pure Chaos, and so tend to exalt all four Ruinous Powers equally. However, sometimes a she-gor spawns a whelp that is clearly a chosen one of the Changer of Ways, its fur patterned with the Mark of Tzeentch, or its horns curling to form His unholy symbol. These Centigors are as bitter and spiteful as their non-Tzeentchian kin, with a stronger resentment for their own clumsy, awkward nature, and harbouring a deep jealousy of creatures whose minds and bodies are better matched. This feeds their arcane rage and makes them much more dangerous – having been touched by Tzeentch, this is likely no coincidence.”


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Gameplay Overview


A fast and hard-hitting unit, the Centigors of Tzeentch carry great weapons offering armour piercing power to take on tougher opponents. Carrying the Mark of Tzeentch grants them magical attacks and barrier.



Available to:



Changebringers (Unit)


Last but by no means least are the Changebringers, a unit of Flamers which fly across the battlefield on Discs of Tzeentch. These horrors will help Tzeentch quickly reach their enemies in battle and keep the pressure on from above.


“Flamers are capable of a fair turn of speed, expelling gaseous ichor through the fungoid ‘skirt’ at their base to bound and leap across the ground with considerable mischievous gusto. A Flamer uses its blazing limbs to hurl bolts of magical flame at the foe. This is not fire in its truest sense, but a roiling cloud of Chaos energy. It does not burn, but warps reality. A Flamer’s victim might briefly feel invigorated, before collapsing into a writhing puddle of flesh.”


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Gameplay Overview


A step up from your normal Flamers of Tzeentch, Changebringers have the manoeuvrability, speed and agility to be able to fly across the battlefield, whilst ignoring the terrain and any penalties they may cause. But, if need be, their increased charge bonus will help them with making the first move.



Available to:



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Thanks for reading, and I’ll be back later this week with my final blog on the great nation of Kislev and the new characters and units they’ll be receiving as part of Patch 4.2.


—Rich Aldridge (Game Director) & the Total War: WARHAMMER Team

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Hi all, I’m back with the final update on the unit additions we’re bringing to Shadows of Change.


Hopefully you’re all up to date with the changes that are coming to Grand Cathay and Tzeentch as a part of Patch 4.2. But if you missed anything you can check out those updates by clicking the images below:



Before I get into all the details about what to expect with Kislev, I’m excited to confirm that Patch 4.2 will launch on Thursday, February 22.


As I alluded to in our last blog on Tzeentch, the team have been working hard to get this exciting new content into your hands and we can’t wait to hear what you think. Next week, we’re thrilled to say that Black Library author David Guymer is back with a brand new short story on the Witch of Kislev, and on Wednesday, we’ll be publishing the full Patch Notes for Patch 4.2 so that you can get caught up on what to expect when this all new content drops for Shadows of Change.


Let’s get to it!


Kislev 8th Edition Lore & IP


If like me you’ve grown up with Warhammer and been a long-time fan, seeing Kislev given new characters and units at the launch of Total War: WARHAMMER III was a special moment. Likewise with the additions of Mother Ostankya, Hag Witches and other units in Shadows of Change.


This new, uncharted ground for the faction, was one that we worked closely with Games Workshop on, from before the release of Total War: WARHAMMER III and through the development of Shadows of Change. Games Workshop took us through their various designs, concepts, and deep dives into the new and updated lore that they had created for Kislev.


Like with many things in life, this meant some ‘out with the old and in with the new’. Mother Ostankya is a good example of this. She is Kislev’s only true Hag Mother in the new and current lore that our game is based on. She is very much her own unique character, with her own motives, desires, magical items and history. This is why you see her charge into battle atop her sled, pulled by the Things in the Woods with her cauldron, rather than more direct references to real world mythology. This new take, like with all the other additions to Kislev, is what makes them exciting and brings them in line with the other races in 8th Edition and Games Workshop lore.


The same is true of other parts of past Kislev lore. The distinct Ungol and Gospodar split within Kislev is something that is no longer at the forefront of Kislevite lore, instead taking a back seat to allow us to tell new stories with the faction. There are still nods to this – the horse archers already in the game, for example – but there won’t be more implemented into our game now or moving forwards.


You can think of Kislev in a similar way to the books and resources that we use from Games Workshop in making our game. We focus on the newest army books (8th Edition or as close to as possible) and miniatures, rather than adding things from the early editions, RPG books, old miniatures or peripheral novels and supplements that no longer embody the core nature of the character, race, environment, etc. By doing this, we ensure that we’re showing you the most authentic version of the Warhammer world possible!


I hope this explains much more of our thinking, how we go about things and how we look to best represent the most current version of the lore in our game. So now let’s get to it and run you through the changes that are coming to Kislev as part of Patch 4.2.



KISLEV ADDITIONS


I think I need to first address the elephant in the room when it comes to Kislev and the content that was offered at the launch of Shadows of Change and what wasn’t, the lack of a new spell lore for Mother Ostankya and the omission of Hag Mothers as a generic lord type.


I’ll start with the spell lore that we’re adding to Patch 4.2 for both Mother Ostankya and her Hag Witches to make full use of. “The Lore of the Hag” will be comprised of six new spells and a lore attribute focused on both hexing enemy units and overcasting to bless your own. I’ll go into more detail on what each spell does in the section below.


Coming back to the Hag Mothers now, as previously mentioned there is only one “Hag Mother” in the current lore of Kislev as told by Games Workshop and this is Mother Ostankya herself. This lore is very new as is Mother Ostankya herself in the IP, so I want to inform you as best as I can to share with you who she is, how she aids Kislev and why there are no other Hag Mothers in the lore or our game.


Mother Ostankya is a character of great importance to many Kislevites acting as a guardian of the land in times of great peril, but also to be wary of and not cross to avoid her wrath. It is her magic that is wielded in battle both by herself and her Hag Witches and her unstoppable force that brings both man and nature to fight for her cause and that of Kislev’s. With the exception of Mother Ostankya herself, the few other Hags of Kislev are not generals – they have no interest in leading armies themselves! Instead, they help enact Mother Ostankya’s will through aiding Kislev’s other leaders and their forces.


With this new lore in mind and staying as close and true to it, we needed to look for other Generic Lord option for Kislev to field instead of Hag Mothers and I think we came up with a good option thanks to Games Workshop’s help and guidance; the Druzhina.


More on him later. Let’s first take a look at the Lore of the Hag as I promised you and show you what fun new tricks Mother Ostankya has at her disposal.

 

Lore of the Hag (Spell Lore)


Available to both Mother Ostankya and Hag Witches, “The Lore of the Hag” features six new spells and a new lore attribute. The spell lore is focused primarily on disrupting and hexing enemy units, but with a twist, as when overcasting these spells, they become augments that you can use on your own forces! This compliments Mother Ostankya’s campaign mechanics of curses and blessings to provide more ways to play with this unique character in battle.


“The Hag Witches draw from the power from the woodlands, fens and oblasts of Kislev, holding those who stray into them terminally accountable. Incantations and curses take shape to summon forth the spirit-magic of the land, blessing the Kislevites who fight for it and cursing those who may see it harmed.”


Lore Attribute


Fate of the Interlopers - Area of Hexes


“Those trespassing upon this ground soon find their fate is completely sealed; their end decided.”



Spells


The Forbidden Fens



“The Hag beseeches ethereal forces deep underground to seep upwards and hamper the progress of her enemies, draining all momentum from them.”



Witchbrew



“The Hag’s cauldron erupts in a bubbling crescendo, splashing its contents – and the Motherland’s boundless wrath – all over her hopeless enemies.”



Curse of the Ancient Witch



“A hooded figure summoned by the Hag whispers words of terror, both mortal and immortal, to those who should never, ever have gone wandering in the woods…”



Vengeance of Spirits



“The Hag channels a malevolent spirit into an enemy’s soul to saturate their being and gradually tear them to bloody, miniscule shreds from the inside out.”



Cursed Cauldron



“Conjured up from the Hag’s cauldron, spectral missiles shoot upwards to rain carnage down upon the foe.”



Malediction of Madness



“A sudden rush of nightmarish visions floods the victim’s psyche, driving them to a fleeting madness that debilitates even the hardiest warrior.”



Druzhina (Lord)


The Druzhina is a character steeped in Kislev lore, a lesser noble that lives beyond the walls of Kislev’s great cities and tends to his own lands and his people. Ever ready to serve the Tzar or Tzarina, the Druzhina are well connected to the nature that surrounds them and bring with them to war items that have been handed down generation by generation.


They will act as a great addition to Kislev’s roster, bridging the gap that we had between the Boyars and that of Mother Ostankya in who could lead her armies.


“Druzhina are drawn from minor Kislevite nobility, and consist of landowning men of sufficient means that they can afford a horse, armour and weapons with which to defend the Motherland when called upon by the Tzar. As is befitting of members of the establishment, Druzhina have disdain for city-dwellers, and are keen on preserving the rural hierarchy that provides their power and status, but are also self-sufficient, resourceful and have a healthy attitude to the very real likelihood they will be killed during military service. The Druzhina’s main weapon of choice is the Great Axe – very nasty, when swung with conviction! – yet they also carry a bow.”


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Gameplay Overview


Despite being a faction of Hybrid units, Kislev has lacked a truly Hybrid lord-type character to sit in between the melee-focused Boyar and the magic-focused Ice Witch. The Druzhina subscribes to this playstyle by supporting missile lines with his abilities, whilst holding his own in melee with a powerful armour piercing great weapon.

Mounts:


The Golden Knight, Naryska Leysa (Legendary Hero)


Balancing out the Legendary Heroes on offer in Shadows of Change, meant us looking for a character to join Kislev’s ranks.


The Golden Knight is the champion of the Ice Queen. This is an honorary rank bestowed to the greatest warrior among the Druzhina (or occasionally in history, Boyars or even the common soldiery). Naryska is the daughter of the previous golden Knight, who died at the side of Tsar Boris. As a girl, Naryska learned swordcraft from her father, honing her skills as a warrior from the finest in the realm. Though she was derided by her peers, she stood forward as a candidate as the Guardian of the Tsarina when the Druzhina elected her father’s successor.


Naryska is tall and powerfully built, the physical equal of any mighty warrior. But her greatest attribute is her determination. Such is her drive, that she trains longer and more intensely than any other… and in battle she fights with a fury born of stubborn pride. In Kislev she is unmatched in combat.


Every Golden Knight is consecrated by the Cult of Ursun, and so Naryska bears both religious ornamentation and the favour of the Ice Court. In this way she unifies the divided church and state.


“The Queen of Kislev’s champion is known as “The Golden Knight”, an honorary rank bestowed upon the finest warrior from among the ranks of the Druzhina, although Boyars or even the common soldiery have, on occasion, risen to the position. The current incumbent is Naryska Leysa, daughter of the previous Golden Knight, who was killed in battle at Tzar Boris’ side. In spite of fierce opposition from her peers, Naryska was promoted to champion on merit, for she is easily the physical equal of any man and twice as determined, having learned swordcraft from the finest practitioners in the land. On the battlefield, she is a whirlwind of furious attacks born of her stubborn, prideful nature, and unmatched in single combat.”


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Gameplay Overview


The Golden Knight is a heavily armoured guardian hero with a focus on protecting friendly characters and buffing the resolve of her comrades nearby. Wearing a full suit of armour and wielding the powerful magical sword, Urson’s Claw, she is a bulwark which many a foe will have difficulty overcoming.



Mounts:



Kislevite Warriors (Unit)


We’ve come to better understand that not every unit in the DLC needs to be a centrepiece monster and headed in the other direction with this new unit plugging a much needed lower tier infantry gap.


The Kislevite Warriors armed with their halberds are Tier 1 troops that are decent at withstanding a charge and bound by their blood will fight to the bitter end for Kislev.


We’ve taken inspiration in their design from older Mordheim miniatures, just like the Druzhina in creating something with a much closer feel and look to the land and woods that Mother Ostankya protects.


“The grim and hardy appearance of these men of the Oblast tell tales of a lifetime of endurance. Nothing matters more to Kislevite Warriors than the defence of the Motherland against the insidious forces of the Ruinous Powers and the preservation of a way of life stretching back many centuries – tasks they undertake with grim determination and armed with razor-sharp halberds. They are deeply religious, cherishing the traditional Kislevite gods, but chiefly Ursun, the Bear-God, from whom they surely draw their strength in combat. Such men are also extremely loyal to the Tzar and his family, whom they consider to be important symbols of Kislev just as much as Father Bear himself.”


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Gameplay Overview


Kislevite Warriors are halberd-wielding infantry that occupy a low price point within the Kislev roster. Because they don’t pay the tax of being a hybrid unit, Kislevite Warriors have more entities than a standard Kislivite infantry unit, which makes them an effective meat shield for the rest of your army.



Frost Wyrm (Unit & Mount)


You may recognise this name if you have ever ventured into Norsca or played a campaign of theirs. Now called a Chaos Frost Dragon the Norscan unit is very different to Kislev’s true Frost Wyrm. A hulking flightless beast, deadly in combat with its massive fanged jaws, scything claws and a vicious lashing tail.


The Frost Wyrm acts as both an individual unit, or a mount for Katarin or her Ice Witches.


“Frost Wyrms are creatures of magic who primarily roost in the Crags of Shargun. Swift and sinuous, who sleep away the warmest parts of the year in hibernation, venturing out onto the oblast to hunt prey when the weather is at its coldest. Their natural prey are the wandering herbivorous beasts which are easily devoured whole by an adult Frost Wyrm In times of famine they have been known to consume Chaos beasts too, taking savage delight in chomping down a Troll or Minotaur when the need arises.

Beings of Ice Magic, Frost Wyrms are naturally aligned to the witches of the Ice Court. In desperation an Ice Witch will travel to the Crags and beseech the slumbering Wyrms for aid and it is not unknown for a Frost Wyrm to answer their calls in times of coldest winter. The Ice Queen’s power is such that winter travels where she does – and no Frost Wyrm would ever refuse her.”


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Gameplay Overview


The Frost Wyrm is a deadly mid-tier Monster which can move its way across the battlefield relatively quickly for a monster of its size. With the top end of the roster getting particularly crowded, the Frost Wyrm’s power level is comparable to that of a Dark Elf War Hydra or the Stegadon of the Lizardmen. This enables it to really stand out on its own as a unique pick when compared to the Elemental Bear or Incarnate Elemental of Beasts.



Mount for:



Ice Court Sled (Mount - FREELC)


I can’t tell you how pleased the team are to be finally realising the Ice Court Sled in game for you all. It’s been on our wishlist like many of yours for some time since the launch of Total War: WARHAMMER III. Katarin will now rightly be able to nip across the snow-covered plains, hills and mountains of her lands.


Note: Players will only need Total War: WARHAMMER III to access this piece of free content. Ownership of the Shadows of Change DLC is not required.


“The Ice Court’s reinforced sled is drawn by mighty steeds with breath like the winter wind, and whose flanks shimmer with glittering ice crystals.”


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Gameplay Overview



Mount for:



⬥    ⬥    ⬥


I hope you enjoyed learning about all the new characters, units and spells coming to Kislev, as I have an added treat for you lore lovers out there next week that I touched on at the start of this blog. We have once again partnered with Black Library novelist David Guymer to bring you a wonderful dark tale “Things in the Wood”, taking a closer look at Mother Ostankya and the kingdom of Kislev. Total War Account holders, please keep your eyes peeled for news in your inbox from Monday.


So, now you’ve heard all about all the new additions, the team wanted to gather together the content in its entirety to show you just what the Shadows of Change offering looks like now in comparison to launch.


BEFORE:


AFTER:



That’s it for now, thank you for your ongoing support and feedback. The team and I are super excited for the future and will be talking to you more on what’s next in the not too distance future for Total War: WARHAMMER III.


For Sigmar!


—Rich Aldridge (Game Director) & the Total War: WARHAMMER Team

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[Originally posted July 13th, 2023] 


Greetings!


In our first Feature Focus we took a close look at the impact of Elevation in Total War. In this piece we’ll be examining ‘damage’ in similar detail, and it’s a hefty topic to say the least – so much so, in fact, that we’re breaking it down into two parts.


In Part 1 we cover some of the fundamental aspects of damage in Total War, as a clear understanding of these is the key to ensuring that you’re making the correct tactical decisions in battle.


Ready? Tool up!

 

Damage 101


At the core of all combat interactions, there are two types of damage: ‘Base’ and ‘Armour-Piercing’.


Base damage is affected by armour, while Armour-Piercing (AP) ignores it.


Damage is dealt in discrete chunks through weapon strength, missile weapon strength, explosions and even vortices. All of these damage methods contain an amount of both Base and AP damage, which is carefully balanced and configured across units and abilities within the game.


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To help us talk about the various steps of a damage calculation, we’ll run a practical test with a unit of Bretonnian Foot Squires charging a unit of Empire Spearmen.


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When the Foot Squire entity swings, there’s actually a fair amount of maths going on, so we’ll work through the process step by step.


First, we must determine if the attack actually hits. This starts with determining what the effective hit chance of the attacker is. The base chance for an attack to hit is 35% before modifiers, so let’s get modifying.


We add the Foot Squires melee attack of 26.


The Spearmen are small entities, and Foot Squires have 12 bonus vs Infantry, so we add a further 12.


The Foot Squires are charging, and this is the first attack being made during a charge, so we can assume all of the units’ charge bonus is added as well for a further 18.


NOTE: Further attacks will have a lower bonus from the charge as this value decays linearly over 13 seconds after the successful charge. For example, they would only gain 9 if the next attack was made exactly 6.5 seconds after the charge.


35 + 26 + 12+ 18 = 91%! Huge!


Now we subtract the defender’s melee defence. Empire Spearmen have 34 melee defence, so…
91 – 34 = 57% A bit less huge!


57 is the target number for our hit chance test.


It’s worth noting that the final hit chance can never exceed 90% or be below 8%. Another modifier that could apply here is the flank and rear penalties, which kick in when the attacking entity attacks from the left, right or rear quadrants of the target entity, respectively, causing their effective melee defence for the attack to be multiplied by 0.6 or 0.3.


The game now randomly picks a number between 1 and 100. If the number is equal to, or lower than, the final calculated hit chance, the hit is considered successful, and we move to resolving damage.


First, the damage of the attack before modifiers is 35. Split across Base and AP like so:
9/26.


This is roughly a 77% Armour-Piercing ratio, and this relationship is important because it informs what further modifiers will do.


As above, the Spearmen are still small entities and the Foot Squires have 12 bonus vs infantry, which also applies here to the damage.


The attack is going to do an additional 12 points of damage, with a 77% AP ratio adding 3.085 to Base damage and 8.914 to Armour-Piercing.


NOTE: We’ve rounded the numbers to three decimal points for your sanity! The game quantifies six decimal points during these calculations.


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We now also factor in the charge bonus, adding a further 18 points of damage, again at a 77% AP ratio. Another 4.628 to Base damage, and 13.371 to Armour-Piercing damage.


That’s a lot of numbers, but the net result is 16.714 Base damage and 48.285 Armour-Piercing, for a total of 64.913 damage! This is where we apply the modifier for height advantage/disadvantage outlined in the previous blog, but we’ll keep it clean here and fight on levelled terra firma.


Alas, the Spearmen do wear at least a bit of armour. Their armour value is 30, which means that they can reduce the Base portion of the attack by a percentage value between 15% and 30% (between 0.5x and 1x the armour value, with rolling above 100% being functionally identical to rolling 100%.) A roll of 100% means the attack does no base damage whatsoever, as there is no minimum.


For the sake of this test, the Spearmen have rolled a value of 27.4667 against this attack, a respectable result. This reduces the 16.714 Base damage down to 12.123; a measly four points shaved off this heavily piercing attack!


Without any resistances to calculate, we’ve arrived at the final step, where the damage is applied to the target entity and where, mercifully, all these pesky decimals get rounded off. With a final value of 12.123 base damage (rounding to 12) and 48.285 Armour-Piercing (rounding to 48), the attack does a devastating 60 damage to the Empire Spearmen, who have a health value of 69 per entity. Nice!


It’s worth noticing here that the Spearmen that was hit has a miniscule 9 hit points remaining, and any further attacks are likely to blow right past that. The extra damage beyond that which is needed to kill the entity being hit is lost to the void and goes nowhere.


There is, in fact, such a thing as too much damage!


A practical thing we can see here is that a charging Foot Squire is likely to kill an Empire Spearman entity in two good thwacks with his greatsword, putting out close to twice the damage he shows on the unit info panel with his opening swings.


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The Spearmen who manage to strike back have their own tricks.


Despite only having Charge Defence vs Large, and therefore not being able to negate the Foot Squires charge bonus, they do have Charge Reflector. This means that when they strike the charging Foot Squires as they come within 3.9 seconds of their charge, the Spearmen will do double damage!


Unfortunately for the spearmen, they don’t really have the melee stats for this matchup. With a 31% chance to hit due to their relative attack and defence and only 6 Armour-Piercing (12 when they’re attacking the charging Squires) they’ll struggle to defeat the Foot Squires’ 70 armour. (35-70% damage reduction vs the base portion of the attack).

 

Fire, magic & spells… Oh my


The fundamentals of damage application outlined here apply to almost all damage sources in the game, but there are a lot of different methods to deal damage, each with their own quirks, many of which we’ll cover in later blogs such as charge impacts! For today, however, we’ll cover a couple more key modifiers that come up in regular play.


First up, the three additional types a source of damage can have: Fire, Magic and Spell.


Fire Damage has two effects:



Magic Damage has one effect:



NOTE: Despite a common misconception, magical attacks do not ignore armour and are treated as regular attacks for that calculation.


Spell Damage is applied by damage from lores of magic or bound spells and has two effects:



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Resistances come in several flavours: Fire, Spell, Physical, Missile and Ward Save.


So, let’s work our way through when and how each is applied:



When applying resistances, they are summed together. So, let’s demonstrate that with the following hypothetical. Please note that the total value of the resistances can never exceed a final value of 90%.


A particularly buff man-sized rat unit has:



An Iridescent Horror casts the Blue Flame of Tzeentch Spell at this unit.


Blue Flame is a Spell, a Missile, and also has the Flaming tag.


So we apply Spell Resistance, Missile Resistance, Fire Weakness and Ward Save. Physical Resistance is ignored due to being a Spell.


20 + 20 + 20 – 20 = 40%


Despite the intimidating array of resistances, the defending unit only reduces the incoming damage by 40%, maintaining a decent chunk of its initial value.

Lovely stuff.


Goodness, is that the time?

 

Next up


The damage is done, but the fight isn’t over.


There’s a lot left to cover, but we probably could all do with a breather following that stat attack. Next time, we’ll plunger ever deeper into this topic, looking at the specific quirks of Explosions, Vortexes and Wind effects, cracking the case of how damage is applied by Large Monsters and Lords using splash attacks, and opening the forbidden box labelled ‘Game Ticks.’


Uh oh.


Please hit us with your feedback, and we’ll see you on the battlefield!


– The Total War Team

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