Total War: WARHAMMER III – Update 1.2.0

Total War: WARHAMMER III

CA Evangelos
May 17 2022

Update 1.2 available on the Microsoft Store, Steam, and Epic @ 3p UTC on May 17th

Greetings and glory to everyone joining us in Total War: WARHAMMER III. Welcome to UPDATE 1.2: another key opportunity for the WARHAMMER team to introduce a variety of changes, fixes, additions, and even a handful of new features to the battlefield. Here’s a brief look at what you can look for in today’s build:

  • The first Regiments of Renown pack, which adds elite troops to the Campaign and Battles
  • Mounts now automatically unlock for all mounted characters—no skill points necessary!
  • Auto-resolve fixes for key Campaign issues identified over the first months of WARHAMMER III
  • AI improvements to address concerns with Siege Battles and an overbearing “anti-player bias”
  • Numerous improvements to Unit Responsiveness during Battles
  • Technology updates (and more) for every playable race
  • A long list of fixes for Campaigns and Battles based on player feedback
  • …and more!

For new players to Total War, it’s important to note that any custom mods you’re running may not work (at first) with the new changes we’ve made to the game. If you encounter issues following the update, it is recommended that you verify the integrity of the files and temporarily disable your mods until any compatibility issues can be resolved. If, after that, your issues continue, then our support team is on call to offer guidance, work with you one-on-one, and get you in and playing!

? CONTACT SUPPORT: TOTAL WAR TECHNICAL SUPPORT

Finally, we’ve also organized these release notes a little differently from previous releases. Rather than breaking changes down by the game modes—Campaign and Battle—we’re instead focusing on the factions: lumping all of their changes into their own sections while including mode-specific changes therein. There are still general sections for Campaign- and Battle-specific changes, but we hope to paint a more complete picture of how each faction is changing from build to build by capturing all their updates in one place.

Let us know what you think and we’ll continue to make adjustments as we go! In the meantime, we hope you enjoy Update 1.2 and look forward to reading your thoughts as we prepare for 1.3 and beyond!

See you on the battlefield!

— The Total War Team

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? 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 1.2.0.

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 1.2.0.

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 1.2.0.

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

? Having trouble? Visit our support site!

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Update 1.2.0

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Jump to:

Daemons of ChaosGrand CathayKhorneKislevNurgleOgre KingdomsSlaaneshTzeentch

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RELEASE SPOTLIGHT

Check out the highlights of today’s update!

Regiments of Renown I

We are introducing our first REGIMENTS OF RENOWN pack as a free upgrade to Total War: WARHAMMER III. This pack adds elite, recruitable troops to the game with improved stats and special abilities for use in the Campaign and Battle settings.

Seven new units are available to unlock:

THE DUNE DRAGONS – CELESTIAL DRAGON GUARD
GRAND CATHAY

Elite heavy infantry capable of holding back the strongest of foes, The Dune Dragons utilize their magic halberds and magic resistant armour to carve through daemonic foes. In addition to their fine armaments, The Dune Dragons have the ‘Encourage’ attribute: inspiring their fellow Cathayan’s to greater feats of bravery.

HELLFORGED HOST – EXALTED BLOODLETTERS OF KHORNE
KHORNE

Wielding the fiercest of Khorne’s blades, the Hellforged Host also bears heavier armour than lesser Bloodletters—making them a formidable line-breaking unit.

DAZH’S HEARTH-BLADES – TZAR GUARD (GREAT WEAPONS)
KISLEV

With blades blessed by the Kislev God of Fire and Hearth, Dazh’s Hearth-Blades cut through foes with flaming attacks that make them particularly strong against regenerating foes.

FESTERING STOOGES – EXALTED PLAGUEBEARERS OF NURGLE
NURGLE

The Festering Stooges are daemons of Nurgle that truly exemplify the cycle of birth, death, decay, and rebirth. Healing over time and restoring their numbers through their defensive abilities, this unit represents the pinnacle of Grandfather Nurgle’s enduring infantry.

POWDER-GUTS – MANEATERS (OGRE PISTOLS)
OGRE KINGDOMS

These hardened mercenaries have spent so much time in the employ of Nuln that they have adopted some of the finest arms and tactics the Empire has to offer. Firing faster and with greater range and accuracy, these Ogres are a significant threat to armoured foes.

BRINGERS OF BEGUILEMENT – EXALTED DAEMONETTERS OF SLAANESH
SLAANESH

The Bringers of Beguilement are some of Slaanesh’s most relentless daemons: never tiring due to their ‘Perfect Vigour’ attribute and enrapturing the weak willed with their ‘Rampage’ contact effect.

BLAZING SQUEALERS – EXALTED PINK HORRORS OF TZEENTCH
TZEENTCH

Delivering devastating ranged fire via their ‘Warpflame’ projectiles, the Blazing Squealers also provide nearby friendly units with more ammunition—making them an excellent linchpin for any Tzeentch host.

Multiplayer Leaderboard Reset

To account for the balance changes made in both Update 1.1 and 1.2, we’ve reset the multiplayer leaderboards. We’ll be watching them closely to see who rises to the top, and will talk with you more about when (and how often) we reset the leaderboards to give new competitors the opportunity to secure the top spots in the future!

GAME

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

Stability & Performance

  • Fixed an issue where occupying a settlement with a loaned army could cause the game to crash or freeze.
  • Fixed a soft lock when entering Slaanesh’s realm to collect the final soul and then passing the turn.
  • Improved the performance impact of shadow splits and the distance at which trees are culled.

Cinematics

  • Fixed an issue where Boris Ursus’ intro movie would fail to unlock in the movie viewer. If you have already unlocked him, you can start a New Campaign with Boris to unlock the movie.

GAMEPLAY

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

Mount Skills Auto-Unlock

Mount Skills Auto-Unlock

A long-standing player request: all characters will now be granted their Mounts (and all mount-related skills) automatically upon reaching the required level rather than requiring a skill point to unlock them. This allows players to focus on developing their characters with their earned points rather than having to invest them towards unlocking their low-level mounts.

Battle Auto-Resolution

Battle Auto-Resolution

Several changes have been made to how auto-resolve calculates its outcomes:

  • The outcome is now determined by the Battle difficulty setting rather than the Campaign difficulty setting.
  • The difficulty scaling of auto-resolve has been reduced on Hard (and higher) difficulty settings.

This should result in less punishing outcomes on higher difficult settings, allowing more time for you to focus on the fights that really matter in your campaign for glory. We will continue monitoring the behavior of auto-resolve and making adjustments in future builds.

AI Behavior

AI Behavior

Based on player feedback, we’ve made several adjustments to the behavior of AI-controlled players:

  • We’ve increased the aggression levels of AI players, which should make them more inclined to initiate Siege attacks against settlements.
  • Significantly toned down the anti-player bias in the AI’s target-selection—especially on higher difficulties. The AI should now be less inclined to deploy forces over significant distances to engage the player if they are not perceived to be a particular threat.
  • The Wood Elves should be more focused on defending their capital city.

These improvements should not only help them play a more meaningful role in your campaigns, but will prevent them from developing an anti-player bias when you aren’t the immediate threat.

Unit Responsiveness

Another area of improvement involves unit responsiveness during battles. We’ve made several adjustments which should help improve their behavior and reactivity when engaging with enemy units:

  • Ranged units will now correctly rotate and fire when ordered to shoot a target behind them.
  • Ranged units should now reform properly after rotating to engage targets behind them.
  • Resolved issues which would result in units ignoring orders and becoming unresponsive for short periods of time.
  • Resolved issues which would prevent flying units from attacking single-entity land units.
  • Reduced the delay before ranged units can fire a volley.
  • Reduced the delay before ranged units can respond to issued commands after firing a volley.
  • Removed transition animations used by Iron Hail Gunners and Armoured Kossars which resulted in an overall reduction in their damage per second. This also increases their responsiveness when ordered to move after firing a volley.
  • Implemented a partial fix for instances where units engaged in battle would ignore player-issued retreat orders and instead reengage in melee combat. We will continue to identify and make improvements in future releases.

This will be a long-term project, but we believe these are some positive steps to take towards creating a more engaging battlefield.

Manual Fire

Adjustments have been made to the manual fire option for artillery units used in Battles:

  • Cooldowns when using the manual fire mode should now mirror the timings in regular Battle gameplay.
  • Re-enabled manual fire in multiplayer settings.

General Updates

  • Fixed an issue which would result in plagues failing to be removed properly after changing the ownership of and subsequently losing an afflicted army.
  • Players will no longer receive achievements for recruiting greater Daemon units while playing as the Daemon Prince. Rather, they must now be recruited when playing as the respective god’s faction.

FACTIONS & BALANCE

Daemons of Chaos

Campaign

  • When previewing parts, the stats of the Daemon Prince now properly consider army effects in the calculation.
  • The switchable plagues rollout button is no longer available when it’s not the player’s turn.
  • Fixed an issue which prevented the final options in the Daemonic Glory tree from unlocking upon meeting the prerequisites.
  • Fixed an issue which would prevent early game missions from properly awarding Undivided Glory when playing as the Daemon Prince.
  • Fixed an issue which allowed the player to continue earning glory in the mono-god progression trees after dedicating to the Undivided.

Skills

  • Corpulent Carapace: Fixed an issue where the skill would not apply its effects to the Daemon Prince’s army.
  • Foul Miasma: Fixed an issue where the skill would not apply its effects to the Daemon Prince’s army.
  • Transition’s Troopers: Fixed an issue which prevented the skill from applying to the Blue Horror unit.

Items

  • Moved the +10% physical resistance granted by the Daemon Prince’s default Daemon Head and added it to his base stats. This stat should now align with the +20% base physical resistance of all Daemons.

Grand Cathay

DEV NOTE:

“In Update 1.1, we took the first steps to increase the performance of Cathay (overall), but we felt it was necessary to take additional measures with niche units that haven’t quite solidified their place in the roster.

Of special note are the Crane Gunners, which we are looking to push beyond the power level of the Warplock Jezzails (a similar unit from WARHAMMER II). This change comes at a higher price point, however, to clearly indicate their quality.

The other unit receiving some much requested (and much needed) changes is the Wu Xing War Compass. Sharing the Winds of Magic pool with their caster characters is awkward, and we recognize that doing so doesn’t work as well in our game as we’d like. As such, the mount now provides two charges of each spell for free; to compensate, however, we weakened the version of the Celestial Comet spell available to the unit.

Lastly, we’re aware that the Formation Attack feature has been tough to deal with for Cathay players, which is why it’ll be something we looking to fix in the upcoming 1.3 release.”

Campaign

  • The “Dispatch” and “Add Caravans” buttons are now greyed out when the player doesn’t own any settlements.

Battles

  • The Harmony icon will no longer block the cursor when the player is trying to target spells on an enemy force.
  • Fixed an issue where the ammunition effects of Great Bastion buildings would not always apply while under siege.

Units

  • Celestial Dragon Crossbowmen: Multiplayer cost reduced from 1100 to 1050 gold
  • Celestial Dragon Guard: Multiplayer cost reduced from 1100 to 1050 gold
  • Crane Gunners: Increased armour-piercing missile damage from 30 to 35
  • Crane Gunners: Projectiles now penetrate infantry targets
  • Crane Gunners: Improved the overall accuracy of the unit
  • Crane Gunners: Multiplayer cost increased from 900 to 1200 gold
  • Fire Rain Rocket: Multiplayer cost reduced from 1300 to 1200 gold
  • Great Longma Riders: Multiplayer cost reduced from 1500 to 1400 gold
  • Jade Lancers: Increased the charge bonus from 48 to 55
  • Wu Xing War Compass: Multiplayer cost increased from 800 to 950 gold
  • Wu Xing War Compass: Cost of the Astromancer mount increased from 400 to 600 gold
  • Zhao Ming: In multiplayer, Warding Iron is now provided as a free passive ability

Abilities

The multiplayer costs of the following Lord Magistrate abilities have also been reduced from 150 to 100 gold:

  • Tactician
  • Inspired Marksmanship
  • Inspired Assault
  • Inspired Defence

Skills

  • Persistent Fire (Miao Ying): Fixed an issue where the unique skill would not apply to Crane Gunner or Iron Hail Gunner units

Spells

  • Dragon’s Breath: Reduced the damage per second (base version) from 28 to 21
  • Wu Xing War Compass: The mount’s spells are now treated as abilities with 2 uses each, and no longer require Winds of Magic.

The following adjustments have been made to the Wu Xing War Compass spell, Celestial Comet:

  • Celestial Comet: Reduced ranged damage from 1728 to 864
  • Celestial Comet: Reduced explosive damage from 72 to 36
  • Celestial Comet: Reduced the projectile delay from 4 to 2 seconds

Technology

  • Improved Winches: Fixed an issue where the technology would not apply the bonus to Jade Warrior Crossbowmen

The following technologies have been changed from their original function:

  • Alchemist Compact: Moved the “Hero recruit rank: +4 for Astromancers” benefit to the Astromantic Choir
  • Dragon Scales: Now also provides +10 Armour to Jade Warriors and Jade Warriors (Halberds) in addition to Jade Warrior Crossbowmen and Jade Warrior Crossbowmen (Shields) units
  • Fletching Mentors: Increased Ammunition from +8% to +10%
  • Fletching Mentors: Now also affects Celestial Dragon Crossbowmen and Jade Warrior Crossbowmen in addition to Peasant Archer units
  • Improved Winches: The +5% Range bonus now also affects Celestial Dragon Crossbowmen in addition to Jade Warrior Crossbowmen and Jade Warrior Crossbowmen (Shields) units
  • Nan-Gau Polearms: Increased the Melee attack bonus from +4 to +5
  • Nan-Gau Polearms: Now also affects Celestial Dragon Guard units in addition to Jade Warriors (Halberds)
  • Powder Mixing: Further reduced the recruitment cost of Fire Rain Rocket units from -10% to -25%
  • Yang Reflection: Further reduced the upkeep of Yang armies from -3% to -6%
  • Yin Healing: Increased the casualty replenishment rate for Yin armies from +3% to +6%

The following technologies have had the noted bonuses added to their existing benefits:

  • Alchemist Compact: Hero action success chance: +8% for Alchemists
  • Astromantic Choir: Hero recruit rank: +4 for Astromancers
  • Astromantic Choir: Hero action success chance: +8% for Astromancers
  • Chelonian Stance: Armour: +15 for Peasant Long Spearmen units
  • Crane Sights: Range: +10% for Crane Gunners units
  • Defensive Formations: Melee defence: +4 for Peasant Long Spearmen, Celestial Dragon Guard, and Jade Warriors units
  • Dragon Emperor’s Blessing: Hero and Lord recruit rank: +2
  • Dragon Emperor’s Blessing: Recruit rank: +2
  • Dragon Emperor’s Blessing: Winds of Magic power reserve: +3 per turn
  • Dragon Fleet Aegis: Income from Hanyu Port settlement: +50%
  • Drill Training: Recruit rank: +2 for Peasant Long Spearmen units
  • Grace of Quai Yin: Upkeep: -10% for Yin armies
  • Harmonic Balance – Yang: Income from Industry (Yang) buildings: +40%
  • Harmonic Mastery – Yang: Casualty replenishment rate: +5% for Yang armies
  • Horse Bonding: Recruit rank: +3 for cavalry units
  • Improved Winches: Armour-piercing missile damage: +3 for Celestial Dragon Crossbowmen, Jade Warrior Crossbowmen, and Jade Warrior Crossbowmen (Shields) units
  • Nan-Gau Polearms: Weapon strength: +10% for Jade Warriors (Halberds) and Celestial Dragon Guard units
  • Powder Mixing: Recruit rank: +3 for Fire Rain Rocket units
  • Rite of Yang: Upkeep: -10% for Yang armies
  • Sea Dragon’s Edict: Income from Hanyu Port settlement: +50%
  • Sea Dragon’s Edict: Income from trade: +7%
  • Sky Junk Rigging: Missile strength: +10% for Sky-junk units
  • Sky Junk Rigging: Ammunition: +20% for Sky-junk units
  • Wadding Cartridges: Ammunition: +15% for Grand Cannon units
  • Yang Reflection: Casualty replenishment rate: +3% for Yang armies
  • Yin Healing: Upkeep: -3% for Yin armies

Khorne

DEV NOTE:

“While we were content with the balance of Khorne in Update 1.1 (and more or less still are), our careful approach allowed us to identify some of the less effective units that can now receive some small adjustments in 1.2. The key changes affect the Skullcrushers, who will now gain a ‘bonus vs large units’ advantage to set them apart from Bloodcrushers. Also worth noting are Gorebeast Chariots: which are getting a much-needed increase to their mass so they can be more effectively utilized as chariots.”

Campaign

  • Khorne’s Glare (Unholy Manifestation): Fixed an issue which would result in the player’s capital being razed if the targeted army was destroyed during the active period.
  • Fixed an issue which would prevent Exalted Bloodthirsters who had previously recovered from being wounded from being recruited.
  • Fixed a rare issue where, upon losing the Lord of a Khorne Blood Host army during the battle to occupy a settlement, the settlement would not actually be occupied.

Units

  • Bloodthirster: Multiplayer cost reduced from 2300 to 2200 gold
  • Cultist of Khorne: Multiplayer cost increased from 600 to 700 gold
  • Gorebeast Chariot: Increased the mass of the Gorebeast itself from 1400 to 2000
  • Gorebeast Chariot: Increased melee defence from 22 to 25
  • Gorebeast Chariot: Increased melee attack from 30 to 35
  • Herald of Khorne: Increased the multiplayer cost of the Locus of Wrath ability from 50 to 200 gold
  • Minotaurs of Khorne: Multiplayer cost reduced from 1600 to 1450 gold
  • Minotaurs of Khorne (Great Weapons): Multiplayer cost reduced from 1700 to 1550 gold
  • Skullcannon: Increased health from 4196 to 4700
  • Skullcannon: Increased base weapon damage from 55 to 75
  • Skullcannon: Multiplayer cost reduced from 1000 to 950 gold
  • Skullcrushers: Now enjoy an additional +10 bonus vs large benefit
  • Totem of Endless Bloodletting: Increased the melee attack bonus from +5 to +8

Technology

  • Dog Fighting: Fixed an issue where the tech would offer vanguard deployment to all units in addition to strider for the Flesh Hound unit.

The following technologies have been changed from their original function:

  • Deathbringers Defiant: Increased the ward save for Bloodthister units from +4% to +8%
  • Deny Their Missiles: Increased the missile resistance when attacking from +4% to +8%
  • Dragon Slayers: Increased the missile resistance bonus from +4% to +10%
  • Exist Always: Further reduced upkeep costs from -4% to -8%
  • Harvester’s Pride: Increased the skulls collected from skull piles from +10% to +50%
  • Hungrier Spawn: Increased the speed bonus from +10% to +20%
  • Killer’s Trophy: Increased the spell resistance versus Tzeentchian factions from +5% to +10%
  • Ogre Bane: Increased the weapon strength versus Ogre Kingdoms units from +5% to +15%
  • Prince Breaker: Increased the bonus vs. large when fighting the Daemon Prince from +6 to +10
  • Raging Denial: Increased the spell resistance bonus from +5% to +8%
  • Renegotiate Bargains: Increased the ammunition bonus from +12% to +15%
  • Return for Honour: Further reduced the wound recovery time from -1 to -2
  • Skull of the Enemy: Increased the skulls collected from skull piles from +10% to +25%
  • Skulls for the Skull Throne: Increased the skulls gained per turn from +20 to +50
  • Staunch Defender: Rather than boosting the leadership aura, the tech now provides the following benefit: “Defensive supplies: +2000”
  • Tzar Enders: Increased the charge bonus versus Kislev from +5% to +20%
  • Tzeen Killers: increased the spell resistance bonus from +5% to +10%

The following technologies have had the noted bonuses added to their existing benefits:

  • Better Breeding: Recruit rank: +3 for Gorebeast Chariot of Khorne units
  • Dragon Slayers: Bonus vs Large: +10 when fighting against Cathay
  • Gift of Martial Skill: Upkeep: -5% for Khorne Blood Hosts
  • Hungrier Spawn: Armour-piercing damage: +10% for Spawn of Khorne units
  • Killer’s Trophy: Upkeep: -5% for Khorne Blood Hosts
  • Prince Breaker: Melee defence: +4 when fighting against Daemon Prince
  • Prince Breaker: Leadership: +6 when fighting against Daemon Prince
  • Renegotiate Bargains: Armour-piercing missile damage: +3 for Soul Grinders of Khorne
  • Return for Honour: Hit points: +10%
  • Skull of the Enemy: Skulls gained from kills: +50%
  • Skulls to Bring: The Skull Throne cost: -20%

Kislev

DEV NOTE:

“With Kislev, our objective in 1.2 was to re-assess the performance of their Sleds after observing the prior fixes to their charge and mass interactions. We felt that—given their excellent kiting capabilities—it would be appropriate to tone down their usefulness in melee. To compensate for this change, we are improving the performance of some other units slightly, as well as some of the less prominent spells.”

Campaign

  • When Boris is unlocked, the dilemma offering settlements will now take into account which settlements the player already owns to prevent the display of invalid options.

Units

  • Gryphon Legion: Increased armour from 100 to 110
  • Gryphon Legion: Multiplayer cost reduced from 1200 to 1150 gold
  • Heavy War Sled: Reduced the mass of the unit from 4100 to 3100
  • Heavy War Sled: Reduced the armour-piercing weapon damage from 77 to 55
  • Heavy War Sled: Reduced the range from 140 to 130
  • Ice Guard (Glaives): Multiplayer cost reduced from 1250 to 1200 gold
  • Ice Guard (Swords): Multiplayer cost reduced from 1150 to 1100 gold
  • Light War Sled: Reduced the mass of the unit from 3500 to 2500
  • Light War Sled: Reduced the armour-piercing weapon damage from 77 to 55
  • Light War Sled: Reduced the range from 140 to 130
  • Tzar Guard (Great Weapons): Increased melee defence from 32 to 36
  • War Bear Riders: Increased armour from 95 to 100
  • War Bear Riders: Increased melee defence from 32 to 34

Abilities

The multiplayer costs of the following Patriarch abilities have also increased from 150 to 200 gold:

  • Dazh’s Song of Winter Sunlight
  • Salyak’s Lullaby
  • Tor’s Battle Hymn

Spells

  • Crystal Sanctuary (base version): Reduced the Winds of Magic cost from 14 to 12
  • Crystal Sanctuary (overcast version): Reduced the Winds of Magic cost from 24 to 22
  • Ice Maiden’s Kiss (base version): Increased the damage per second from 16 to 18
  • Ice Maiden’s Kiss (overcast version): Increased the damage per second from 32 to 36
  • Blizzard (base version): Increased the damage per second from 3 to 4
  • Blizzard (overcast version): Increased the damage per second from 6 to 8
  • Biting Wind (base version): Increased the damage per second from 24 to 26
  • Biting Wind (overcast version): Increased the damage per second from 32 to 36

Technology

  • Witch Hunter Conclaves: Corrected a reference to the wrong commandment in the effect text.

The following technologies have been changed from their original function:

  • Breechloaders: Increased the reload speed bonus from +10% to +15%
  • Breechloaders: Now also affects Kossars and Streltsi units in addition to Armoured Kossars
  • Cold Storage: Increased growth from +5 to +10
  • Convalescence: Increased the casualty replenishment rate from +2% to +3%
  • Dwarven Anvils: Now provides +10 armour for all Kislev melee cavalry units
  • Hooked Axe Blades: Now also affects Armoured Kossar units in addition to Kossars
  • Ice Rites: Increased the physical resistance bonus from +5% to +10%
  • Iron River Stone: Further reduced the construction cost of resource-producing buildings from -10% to -15%
  • Mesh Layers: Now provides missile resistance to units regardless of their rank
  • Norse Hatred: Now provides both its leadership and melee defence bonuses when fighting against Warriors of Chaos and Daemons of Chaos in addition to Norsca
  • Praag Veterans: Units are now immune to Psychology when fighting against Warriors of Chaos and Daemons of Chaos
  • Streltsi Arsenal: Increased the armour-piercing missile damage bonus from +5% to +10%
  • Tzar Loyalty Rite: Increased the leadership bonus from +4 to +8

The following technologies have had the noted bonuses added to their existing benefits:

  • Breechloaders: Armour-piercing missile damage: +3 for Kossars, Armoured Kossars, and Streltsi units
  • Cold Storage: Casualty replenishment rate: + 2%
  • Convalescence: Growth: +5
  • Ice Court Control: Recruit rank: +1 for Kislev units
  • Ice Court Control: Public Order: +1
  • Ice Court Indoctrination: Recruit rank: +1 for Kislev units
  • Ice Court Indoctrination: Public Order: +1
  • Ice Rites: Spell resistance: +5% for Elemental Bears
  • Iron River Stone: Construction cost: -5% for all buildings
  • Norse Hatred: Melee Attack: +4 when fighting against Warriors of Chaos, Daemons of Chaos, and Norsca
  • Orthodoxy Blessed: Global recruitment duration: -1 turn for all units
  • Orthodoxy Blessed: Recruit rank: +1 for all units
  • Orthodoxy Blessed: Recruitment cost: -5% for all units
  • Pirate’s Weapons: Armour-piercing missile damage: +2 for Kislev units
  • Pirate’s Weapons: Range: +10% for Kislev units
  • Pirate’s Weapons: Reload time reduction: +10% for Kislev units
  • Tzar Loyalty Rite: Melee defence: +4 for Tzar Guard units

Nurgle

DEV NOTE:

“With Nurgle, we are making careful tweaks to multiplayer while also giving the Great Unclean One the bound-spell treatment. The spells you unlock with campaign technologies will also be losing their reliance on the Winds of Magic—instead providing a single charge to drop during battle!”

Units

  • Cultist of Nurgle: Multiplayer cost increased from 500 to 600 gold
  • Kugath: Now has access to Pestilent Decay in the multiplayer setting
  • Plague Toads: Multiplayer cost reduced from 650 to 600 gold
  • Plagueridden: Multiplayer cost reduced from 1000 to 850 gold

Spells

  • Great Unclean One: Spells are now treated as abilities with 1 use each, and no longer require Winds of Magic.

Technology

The following technologies have been changed from their original function:

  • Despicable Rival: Reduced leadership bonus versus Tzeentchian forces from +8 to +7
  • Despicable Rival: Increased the missile resistance bonus from +6% to +7%
  • Eye Crusts: Has an entirely new behavior: “Ward save: +7% for Plaguebearers of Nurgle and Exalted Plaguebearers of Nurgle units”
  • Fattening Seeds: Now also affects Rot Flies of Nurgle units in addition to Plague Drones of Nurgle
  • Fleshy Growths: Increased the ward save bonus from +4% to +7%
  • Fleshy Growths: Now also affects Rot Flies of Nurgle units in addition to Plague Drones of Nurgle
  • Plague Paragon: Increased the lord recruit rank from +2 to +4
  • Specimen Collection: Increased the casualty replenishment rate from +2% to +7%
  • Speckled Hides: Now also affects the Plague Toads of Nurgle and Pox Riders of Nurgle units in addition to the Beast of Nurgle
  • Ravenous Tadpoles: Increased the speed bonus from +5% to +15%
  • Ravenous Tadpoles: Now also affects the Pox Riders of Nurgle units in addition to the Plague Toads of Nurgle
  • Revel in Malady: Further reduced the upkeep bonus from -4% to -7%

The following technologies have had the noted bonuses added to their existing benefits:

  • Despicable Rival: Spell resistance: +7% when fighting against Tzeentchian factions
  • Eastern Malady: Leadership: +12 when fighting against Cathay
  • Fattening Seeds: Recruit rank: +2 for Plague Drones of Nurgle and Rot Flies of Nurgle units
  • Favourite Children: Armour: +10 for Nurglings units
  • Plague Beasts: Recruit rank: +2 for Beast of Nurgle units
  • Pox Tally: Recruit rank: +2 for Plaguebearers of Nurgle and Exalted Plaguebearers of Nurgle units
  • Preferred Strain: Recruitment cost: -25% in regions with Mountain climates
  • Ravenous Tadpoles: Bonus vs Large: +7 for Plague Toads of Nurgle and Pox Riders of Nurgle units
  • Spore Diffusion: Nurgle corruption in adjacent provinces: +1
  • Strain Resistance: Recruitment cost: -25% in regions with Frozen climates
  • Temperate Strain: Recruitment cost: -25% in regions with Temperate climates
  • Viral Incubation: Recruitment cost: -25% in regions with Chaotic Wasteland climates

Ogre Kingdoms

DEV NOTE:

“We’ve been mostly happy with the state of the Ogres as of 1.1 aside from a few outliers…

Greasus’ performance in Battles is at the forefront of our attention. We obviously expect our Legendary Lords to live up their titles, so we’ve made some tweaks to his viability.

Giants have also been underwhelming in most rosters for a long time, and we want to give them a bit of a nudge with an added bonus to their missile resistance.

Maneater (Ogre Pistols), on the other hand, have been drastically overperforming when it comes to their ranged attacks—especially considering their potency in melee combat, as well. So, we’re bringing this unit a bit more in line to achieve better balance for its hybrid nature.”

Units

  • Firebelly: Multiplayer cost of the Flame Incarnate ability reduced from 150 to 100 gold
  • Firebelly: Multiplayer cost of the Eruption ability reduced from 200 to 150 gold
  • Giant: Now enjoys the added benefit of +15% missile resistance
  • Gnoblars: Multiplayer cost increased from 200 to 250 gold
  • Greasus Goldtooth: Increased armour-piercing damage from 405 to 455
  • Greasus Goldtooth: Multiplayer cost of the Hoardmaster ability reduced from 150 to 50 gold
  • Hunter: Multiplayer cost of the Stonehorn Mount increased from 1100 to 1300 gold
  • Maneaters (Ogre Pistols): Reduced the armour-piercing damage of projectiles from 96 to 68
  • Maneaters (Ogre Pistols): Multiplayer cost increased from 1400 to 1500 gold

Abilities

  • Offers to the Great Maw can now be performed by armies at sea.
  • Overtyrant’s Crown (Greasus Goldtooth): Increased the damage resistance bonus from +5% to +10%

Technology

The following technologies have been changed from their original function:

  • Ridin’ Stick: Increased the charge bonus from +7% to +12%
  • Contract Scrawls: Increased the treasury reward from contracts from +10% to +50%
  • Ogre Breath: Increased the recruit rank bonus from +1 to +2
  • Sinew Bindings: Increased the weapon strength bonus from +5% to +10%

The following technologies have had the noted bonuses added to their existing benefits:

  • Live Bait: Weapon strength: +20% for Gorgers units
  • Mercenary Tithe: Diplomatic relations: +10 with all factions
  • Stolen Black Powder Recipe: Range: +10% for Ironblaster units
  • Stolen Black Powder Recipe: Reload time reduction: +10% for Ironblaster units

Slaanesh

DEV NOTE:

“We’ve been happy with where Slaanesh landed after Update 1.1, so we’re only making careful tweaks to account for the new power level of chariots across the game. Of course, the Keeper of Secrets will be getting bound spells with a single use as well—much like its counterparts in other rosters.”

Campaign

  • Slaanesh armies can no longer summon disciple armies after pressing the End Turn button.
  • The Vale of Creatures landmark building will now properly provide the bonus recruitment rank for Daemonette units.
  • Factions vassalized to N’Kari will now properly dispel the Fog of War over their controlled provinces.
  • Vassalizing an enemy faction of an ally will no longer instigate war with your ally.

Units

  • Alluress: Multiplayer cost of the Exalted Seeker Chariot mount reduced from 700 to 600 gold
  • Cultist of Slaanesh: Multiplayer cost increased from 600 to 700 gold
  • Daemonettes of Slaanesh: Increased melee attack from 38 to 40
  • Exalted Seeker Chariot: Multiplayer cost reduced from 1500 to 1450 gold
  • Hellflayers: Increased charge bonus from 50 to 60
  • Hellflayers: Multiplayer cost reduced from 1200 to 1100 gold
  • Herald of Slaanesh: Steed mount now deals poison attacks as a melee weapon contact effect
  • Spawn of Slaanesh: Now enjoys the Soporific Musk melee weapon contact effect

Spells

  • Keeper of Secrets: Spells are now treated as abilities with 1 use each, and no longer require Winds of Magic.
  • Phantasmagoria (base version): Reduced the Winds of Magic cost from 19 to 14
  • Phantasmagoria (overcast version): Reduced the Winds of Magic cost from 25 to 22

Technology

The following technologies have been changed from their original function:

  • Blissful Coquetry: Has an entirely new behavior: “Pleasurable act cost: -30%”
  • Decadent Apostles: Increased melee attack bonus from +4 to +6
  • Enriching Toil: Increased the bonus income gained by sacking settlements from +20% to +25%
  • Glorious Doomriders: Has an entirely new behavior: “Bonus vs Infantry: +6 for Seeker Chariots, Exalted Seeker Chariot, and Hellflayers units”
  • Invigorating Essence: Rather than affecting two units, the tech now benefits all units in the roster. To accommodate for this boost, the overall casualty replenishment rate has been reduced from +10% to +6%
  • Rampant Consumerism: Increased the bonus income of all buildings from +5% to +6%
  • Seeking Affluence: Increased the bonus income from looting settlements from +20% to +25%
  • Wanton Destruction: Increased the bonus income from razing settlements from +20% to +25%

The following technologies have had the noted bonuses added to their existing benefits:

  • Decadent Apostles: Enables Soporific Musk attacks for Marauders of Slaanesh units
  • Enriching Toil: Upkeep: -2%
  • Seeking Affluence: Upkeep: -2%
  • Spreading Perfection: Hero action success chance +6% for Cultists
  • Wanton Destruction: Upkeep: -2%

Tzeentch

DEV NOTE:

“Tzeentch continues to be one of the more powerful factions thanks to an excellent library of spells and a massive amount of warp-firepower. With that in mind, we’ve made several adjustments in 1.2:

Naturally, we couldn’t resist giving the Lord of Change the bound spell treatment.

Screamers were one of the few underwhelming Tzeentch units, so we’re looking to bring them up to par with the rest of the roster in terms of their usefulness.

Lastly, we’re keeping a critical eye on Blue Horrors in multiplayer with a higher cost—given that they are the most efficient basic infantry in the game. For 1.3, we’re discussing whether we weaken the base unit (e.g. less ammunition) while compensating for the loss via skill tree tweaks.”

Campaign

  • Grimoires can no longer be generated by reducing the cost of Changing of the Ways actions to a negative value.

Units

  • Blue Horrors: Multiplayer cost increased from 400 to 500 gold
  • Cultist of Tzeentch: Multiplayer cost increased from 300 to 400 gold
  • Screamers: Increased armour from 20 to 30
  • Screamers: Increased health from 4112 to 4640

Spells

  • Lord of Change: Spells are now treated as abilities with 1 use each, and no longer require Winds of Magic

Technology

The following technologies have been changed from their original function:

  • Locus of Transmogrification: Increased the recruitment rank bonus from +1 to +2
  • Gift of Mutation: Lowered the recruitment cost reduction from -10% to -9%
  • Piercing Screams: Increased the charge bonus from +5 to +9
  • Thaumatic Locus: Has an entirely new behavior: “Winds of Magic power reserve capacity: +20”
  • Warpflame Formulae: Lowered the upkeep bonus from -10% to -9%

The following technologies have had the noted bonuses added to their existing benefits:

  • Cult Whisperer: Spread Corruption action: Tzeentch corruption is increased by an additional 1 (all Cultist Heroes)
  • Disc Taming: Recruit rank: +2 for Doom Knights of Tzeentch units
  • Exalted Locus of Conjuration: Armour-piercing missile damage: +6 for Blue Horrors of Tzeentch, Pink Horrors of Tzeentch, and Exalted Pink Horrors of Tzeentch units
  • Greater Locus of Change: Passive ability: “Arcane Mirth” for Blue Horrors of Tzeentch and Pink Horrors of Tzeentch units
  • Locus of Contrivance: Spell resistance: +40% for Forsaken of Tzeentch and Spawn of Tzeentch units
  • Piercing Screams: Enables charmed attacks for Screamers of Tzeentch
  • Scatter Loci: Casualty replenishment rate: +5%
  • Stannic Deviance: Lord and Hero recruit rank: +3 for Lore of Metal casters
  • Warpflame Formulae: Missile strength: +9% for Flamers of Tzeentch and Exalted Flamer of Tzeentch units

CAMPAIGN

Below are Campaign changes made to the overworld campaign and world mechanics.

General Updates

  • When a faction that is in the Chaos Realm is confederated by another faction, they are now expelled from the realm, as they are no longer permitted to be in the Realm of Chaos.
  • Fixed an issue where certain Legendary Lords would lose their immortality when confederated. Note that this change will only take effect in new campaigns.
  • Fixed an issue where an early game mission asking the player to confederate would trigger at the wrong time and (unintentionally) trigger for the Daemon Prince.
  • Fixed an issue where players originally assigned to a team where unassigned if a multiplayer campaign was resumed at any point without them.
  • Fixed an issue where skill previews would also include enemy effects.
  • Removed a placeholder tooltip which displayed at the bottom of the building browser in higher resolutions.
  • Heroes who repeatedly target settlements of their own race will no longer receive the “Hates <race>” trait of their own race.
  • Fixed an issue where Devotion would not always update after exiting the pre-Battle screen.
  • Fixed an issue where settlement banners would fail to display when loading a saved game.
  • Fixed an issue where settlements would lose their walls if occupied by the Ogre Kingdoms or Norsca, resulting in Minor Settlement battles instead of walled Siege battles.
  • Fixed an issue where the Erengrad Port settlement would not transfer ownership properly when occupied.
  • The Skaven Ruins Walls icon is no longer visible for Skaven-controlled ruins in the Settlement panel.
  • Fixed an issue where the ‘Change View’ buttons were enabled for ruins in the Settlement panel.
  • Fixed an issue where character models would bounce between their current and previous positions if their movement was interrupted.
  • Adjusted the path of caravans to prevent issues which would prevent them from pathing along their route.
  • Fixed an issue which would prevent the player from traversing towards the Forge of Souls rift if they’d already entered a realm during that phase of rifts.
  • Fixed an issue where entering ambush stance below a portal would result in your army getting stuck beneath the teleporting army.
  • If a player initiates a battle on top of a portal in the Slaanesh realm, they will now be able to move in and out of the portal so they can move into the next ring once the battle is resolved.
  • Fixed an issue where fighting on top of a point of interest in the Nurgle realm would fail to trigger the survival battle mission.
  • Reduced the likelihood of getting stuck between the edge of a floating island and a teleport locus in the Tzeentch Realm.
  • Fixed an issue where AI players would constantly replace Lords when under siege, leading to prolonged besieging times.
  • Fixed an issue which could be used to generate infinite AP, allowing for infinite movement during a single turn.

Prologue (The Lost God)

  • Added a tooltip to the quest marker which is now displayed on hover.
  • Fixed instances where a flat battle map would be loaded during certain battles during the Prologue campaign.

The Realm of Chaos

  • The Protection chain of buildings now also provide the rift-blocking effect for AI-controlled WARHAMMER I and II races.

Dilemmas

  • Undercover Bosses (Grand Cathay): Fixed an issue where the 50% reduction to recruitment costs would be applied twice to Terracotta Sentinels and the Wu Xing Compass units.

Diplomacy

  • Fixed an issue where sending a request to an AI player to break one of their alliances would have no effect.

Missions

  • Close a Chaos Rift: The mission will now successfully complete when a rift is closed by a Hero.

BATTLES

Below are Battle-specific changes made to the Battles throughout the game.

General Updates

  • Fixed an issue which allowed AI players to ignore Deployables cooldowns when defending in battles.
  • Fixed an issue where tower projectiles would diminish in strength despite having upgraded the main settlement chain in the world view.
  • Unbreakable units will no longer rout when all Victory Points are captured.
  • Updated the deployment zones and reinforcement logic lines in subterranean Battles. This applies to underway Battles triggered by the Dwarfs, Greenskins, and Skaven.
  • Partially fixed issues where Marauder Horsemen would have trouble attacking defensive towers.
  • Fixed an issue which prevented artillery from being re-crewed after the machine model was destroyed.
  • Destroyed artillery will no longer lose all its ammunition, thus preventing it from being re-crewed and used during the battle.
  • Fixed an issue which prevented Ku’gath Plaguefather and Soul Grinder units from attacking walls.

Domination Mode

DEV NOTE:

“In the last patch, we feel like we may have made a few too many economy changes in Domination mode. The adjustments accelerated the game progression in a way that resulted in a significant portion of any given army being deployed at any given time—which, in turn, reduced the strategic choices of what unit(s) to field throughout the match.

We’d like to go back to the more deliberate pacing, though this will also come with a slightly stronger comeback mechanic due to the income ratios shifting. So, we are also making a slight tweak which increases the recovery time of withdrawn units.

  • Reduced the passive supplies income from 20 to 15
  • Increased the health penalty incurred following a teleport withdraw from 20% to 50%

Graphics

  • Adjusted an issue on certain Battle maps which would result in the snow glowing with radioactive intensity.

MULTIPLAYER

General

  • Fixed an issue which prevented the option of replacing Heralds with Exalted Greater Demons in multiplayer campaigns.
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