Total War: Warhammer 3 has received a new paid DLC. Along with this, the strategy game also gets a free update, and it’s packed with content. MeinMMO editor Benedict Grothaus has already played it.
Lords of the End Times absolutely blew me away; I didn’t expect so much new content. Although Creative Assembly previously communicated what was included, I knew, that I could become the king of the undead, but the actual scope feels overwhelmingly extensive.
However, not everyone may want to buy the new Lords, and after lengthy dialogue with the community, you can purchase the content individually. Each new Lord – namely Nagash, Boris the Terror, the Glottkin brothers, or the Warpstone-infused rat Thanquol – costs 9 euros on Steam or just over 30 euros in a bundle.
While I completed Nagash’s campaign for my test, my highlight lies not in the DLC itself but in the free update that accompanies Lords of the End Times. Here you get a free Lord: Neferata, the first vampire of Warhammer, as the leader of the Lahmian sisterhood of vampire lords.
Neferata is not the only new feature; vampires receive a complete overhaul, and as a fan of these noble undead, I was naturally immediately intrigued. Pun intended.
Undead are no longer recruited; they are created, as it should be
Vampire lords have not been significantly changed since their first release in 2016. Now, with Lords of the End Times, they receive a completely new playstyle that even completely differs from all other factions.
A significant change concerns your growth. Rather than relying on the (annoying) confederation system, you can now force other legendary Lords into a confederation if the right conditions are met, similar to what happens with dwarfs.
However, the most important aspect may be recruitment. Instead of simply recruiting units as before, and using necromancy only for reinforcement or emergencies, resurrection is now the standard method. Buildings increase the maximum number of a certain unit that can be active, but recruitment goes directly through necromancy in the army – and it is of course “direct.” No waiting time needed.
That alone has already pleased me immensely and fuels the fantasy of the undead army, which spontaneously turns their defeated enemies into new servants. Additionally, there are new currencies: corpses, which are of course needed to create undead, and blood.
Blood is finally the most important resource for vampires, as it not only summons stronger units but is also necessary to create new vampires. For with the update, they are exactly the elite they should be.
Real vampires are no longer just “better undead”; they are nobility – and rare!
Instead of simply being able to recruit vampires as commanders, a new leader must first be found. Because as we all know, vampires comfortably sleep in their noble oak coffins in their cozy tombs.
These tombs can exist in settlements without the knowledge of the inhabitants. As a vampire lord, you must locate these tombs and bring them under your control, either through heroes or through brute conquest.
However, before you simply knock on the coffin and ask the occupant if they would like to lead an army, you can first pump them full of blood for various benefits:
- You can awaken the vampire along with his necromancers (i.e., heroes), so he comes with reinforcements.
- With enough blood, you can directly raise the starting level of the vampire (and the necromancers) to up to 35.
- You can also awaken your new commander directly with good equipment or positive traits.
- A total of 6 different bonuses are possible.
All of this costs a lot of blood, which is already a rare resource. Accordingly, you can invest a lot of time to “breed” the ideal vampire. Additionally, bloodlines are now enhanced with blood and provide buffs for commanders of the corresponding line and additional bonuses for certain units or campaign effects.
Neferata embodies everything that makes vampires so fascinating
Together with the rework, Neferata comes into play, one of my absolute favorite characters from Warhammer. The first vampire was originally a ruler of the present tomb kings and became a bloodsucker only by chance and dark magic.
If you’re into vampires, you should definitely check out her campaign. Neferata is arrogant and knows her status – and she exerts power not only through violence but especially through intrigue.
Similar to the Skaven, she can maintain secret positions in other cities, the vampire circles, with which she can influence other factions and even engage diplomatically with them.
She has access to intrigues that can block or even dominate the diplomacy of other lords, or simply steal money or items. After all, someone has to do the dirty work. So someone else, of course.
Although I plunged the world into undeath with Nagash and ascended to godhood, I had even more fun with Neferata’s campaign – however, all the new characters in Lords of the End Times have truly become cohesive. I will definitely play Neferata more often.
In general, I liked Lords of the End Times so much that I played nothing else for quite a while, just looking at the different campaigns and innovations. Especially the endgame, the true apocalypse
, occupied me the longest: In Total War: Warhammer 3 I wanted to become the king of the undead, now I am their god – But almost the world went under beforehand
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