Total War: Warhammer 2 Tomb Kings information: Dynasties, the Mortuary Cult, and free items

The Tomb Kings are up there with the Skaven for the weirdest faction in Total War as a collection so far, for one game-changing motive: they pay no gold to both recruit or keep their items. Instead, their armies and their items have a easy cap, which you will need to increase by way of analysis and constructing, presumably reflecting the method of awakening from centuries of demise and dealing to revive their former glory.

The exceptions to this are your fundamental skeleton warriors and skeleton spearmen, which aren’t solely free, however uncapped, which means you’ll be able to run 20-stack armies proper from the beginning of the sport – recruitment time is your solely limitation. Otherwise, you will want to construct extra copies of the specified constructing if you wish to increase your recruitment capability – need extra Tomb Guard? You will want one other Royal Barracks. This clearly places stress in your city slots that different races received’t really feel, since they’ll draw limitless items from a single recruitment constructing (if they’re prepared to place up with the delay of worldwide recruitment).

If you assume you’ll be swimming in gold with out the necessity to fund recruitment or repairs, assume once more – income from commerce and taxes is far weaker in comparison with different races. Settra earns simply 130 gold on the primary flip of his marketing campaign, but there are many locations to spend it: buildings value as a lot as they do for anybody else, and the Dynasty tree and the Mortuary Cult (we’ll get there) are each stuffed with temptations. In abstract, gold is treasured, and its common sources are miserly. We felt fairly a agency nudge to finish quests and wage warfare with a purpose to high up our reserves – take into account sacking slightly than occupying settlements, raiding enemy territory typically, and selecting the cash within the post-battle choices display.

Conquests and quests are additionally your finest supply of the Tomb Kings’ second forex: Canopic Jars. You will spend these within the Dynasty tree and Mortuary Cult, amongst different locations, and can usually have a selection between both jars or gold in your post-battle and settlement seize choices. The exception is when you select to raze a settlement, which can award each.

Your military capability and hero capability are each capped, very like your empire-wide unit capability. You can solely subject one Lord at the beginning of the sport, and should unlock extra. You can do that by way of the tech tree or the Mortuary Cult. 

Let’s discuss techs first. The Tomb Kings’ tech tree represents their dynasties of their ancestors; you’ve got a selection of six dynasties to analysis, every of which can improve your military capability by one, and unlock bonus techs that may buff explicit items or ways. One of those will add a strong distinctive Lord so that you can recruit, and one other will likely be a Proclamation, which can usually assist your revenue. All of those unlocked techs are researched in a single flip by spending gold or jars.

The First Dynasty, for instance, comprises numerous buffs for Nehekharan Warriors and Chariot items, and techs to boost the recruitment capability of every of your three Hero sorts. Its Proclamation grants +10% marketing campaign motion vary, +5% commerce revenue, and -10% building prices for infantry and chariot buildings. Its Lord is Wakhaf, who will get +eight melee assault in desert terrain, +10% vary for missile items, +16 cost bonus, +20% ambush success charge, and the Stalk attribute. Other dynastic Lords are equally highly effective.

As nicely because the six dynasties, the Tomb King tech tree has a remaining column of seven techs that may grant particular followers named Heralds. Each Herald will be unlocked for 150 jars, and recruiting all seven unlocks an endgame tech that will increase military and world recruitment capability, in addition to lowering world recruitment period.

Researching every dynasty will sluggish your analysis charge by 10%, so subsequent ones are slower to unlock. This provides an additional twist to the query of which to analysis first, and places a delicate brake in your armies’ enlargement. But dynasties will not be your solely possibility for that…

The Mortuary Cult is the order of Nehekhara’s priesthood. For Canopic Jars and commerce sources – similar to iron, gems, spices, and so forth – the Liche Priests can craft magical objects to your characters. They may also awaken Legions of Legend, that are a bit like Regiments of Renown, however Creative Assembly say they are going to be even stronger.

Magical objects will be crafted throughout all classes and all rarities. Naturally, the very best are the most costly: Legendary weapons just like the Crook & Flail of Radiance will value you 500 jars and 4 commerce sources, as an example, whereas the most costly Legion of Legend will set you again 1,850 gold, 250 jars, and three commerce sources. That can be the Venom Knights of Asaph – an elite unit of Necropolis Knights, who’re the Tomb Kings’ tier-four, serpent-riding monstrous cavalry.

You may also purchase military capability slots on the Mortuary Cult. There is a recycling icon on the button to do that, which we helpfully forgot to mouse over, however we’re guessing this will likely be a repeatable means. Trouble is, at 10,000 gold and 750 jars, it is vitally costly.

While Total War: Warhammer II’s vanilla races are fussing over a foolish magic plughole, the Tomb Kings have observed that the comet which destabilised mentioned plughole has additionally reawakened the Black Pyramid of Nagash. 

Somewhat lore notice, right here: Nagash was a megalomaniac priest and a strong wizard from the times when Nehekhara was nonetheless a human realm. After torturing the secrets and techniques of Dark Magic from a captured Dark Elf sorceress, he developed the lore of Necromancy, writing its secrets and techniques in 9 books. He went on to betray his personal brother for the throne of Khemri, Nehekhara’s best metropolis, which he then practically bankrupted to construct his fearsome Black Pyramid. This pyramid was greater than a monument to Nagash’s narcissism; it was additionally an arcane fulcrum, which he used to channel the winds of magic and amplify his energy. Nagash was finally kicked out of Khemri by a grand alliance of rival cities, however that may have been a mistake as a result of it drove him to forged the apocalyptic spell that turned Nehekhara right into a land of the dwelling useless. But we digress.

Controlling the Black Pyramid is integral to the Tomb Kings’ marketing campaign victory. To achieve this, you will want to gather 5 of the 9 Books of Nagash. These could also be carried by highly effective rogue armies, or held in distant or well-protected settlements, so claiming one is sort of an endeavor. One is held within the White Tower of Hoeth, as an example, so you’ll have to trespass on Ulthuan and assault a High Elven faction, which can or might not get assimilated by Lothern, who typically emerge as one of many strongest factions within the sport. It will likely be attention-grabbing to see how claiming the books compares with finishing a Vortex ritual when it comes to sport tempo.

Each e-book additionally confers highly effective faction-wide bonuses. One permits the recruitment of sure Vampire Count items, one other boosts military and unit capacities, and a 3rd will conjure a sandstorm after conquering an enemy settlement. It is all slightly cool. 

Gathering the books is your greatest job, however you aren’t completed after it’s full. You additionally have to seize the Black Pyramid itself from a hostile 20-stack garrison military that features Ushabti and Tomb Guard. Then you might want to improve its important constructing chain to degree 5. Lastly, you will need to win the ultimate battle there – we think about this will likely be just like the ultimate battle on the Isle of the Dead on the finish of the Vortex marketing campaign.

The Tomb Kings get their very own lore of magic, which displays their tabletop ways of empowering and therapeutic their very own troops. It gives loads of buffs, debuffs, and heals, however has little in the best way of direct harm spells. 

Your first spell is Incantation of Cursed Blades, a pleasant all-purpose fight increase which provides weapon harm, in addition to anti-large and armour piercing harm. If you want your archers, Incantation of Righteous Smiting is an analogous spell within the first block, including missile harm, reload ability, and armour piercing missile harm. 

The lore attribute, Restless Dead, heals after which resurrects your military everytime you forged a spell, and has a map-wide vary – it’s an auto-pick, roughly. The remainder of the primary block features a ward save (Incantation of Protection) and Incantation of Vengeance, a direct harm spell whose harm enemies have a excessive probability to withstand. Why take it, then? Because it additionally slows them down, which ought to come in useful for concentrating on Vortices, ranged assaults, or lining up a cost.

The second block within the Lore of Nehekhara is far more aggressive, that includes a strong debuff and a Vortex. Incantation of Dessication is a hex that hammers its goal’s melee assault and defence, whereas Incantation of the Skullstorm is a reasonably customary Vortex, dealing main magic harm over a randomly transferring space of impact. Earthing, Power Drain, and Arcane Conduit full the remainder of the magic ability tree, as per common.