What to Expect from Total War: Warhammer III Champions of Chaos DLC

The champions of chaos must fight their way to the ancient city of Zanbaijin, exploiting the damage from Ursun’s roar, to claim the warrior-souls trapped within the Altar of Battle. It is only right that the journey to The Fallen City, where the altar resides, be bathed in bloodshed.

Four Lords will be available to lead your forces, each of them championing one of the Chaos Gods: Khorne, Nurgle, Tzeentch, and Slaanesh. Spreading the corruption of their God will grant bonuses in battle, but the corruption of an opposing god will weaken them.

• Valkia the Bloody:

Khorne (the Lord of Battle)

Blood for the Blood God, Skulls for the Skull Throne! The reawakened Dread-Consort of Khorne has come to grace the battlefield as a winged unit. A melee specialist, the warrior queen is geared towards being in the heart of the fight where she can inflict the most carnage for her lord.

• Festus the Leechlord:

Nurgle (the Lord of Decay)

It turns out mad scientists do belong on the battlefield, particularly when their areas of expertise revolve around plague. This devotee of the Plague God wields sickness and poison to “leech” the enemy of their lives.

• Vilitch the Curseling:

Tzeentch (the Architect of Fate)

Who says you can’t have the best of both worlds? Tzeentch’s will brought to life, the Twisted Twins fuse brute strength and baleful sorcery to dominate the fight, only getting stronger during the fury of combat.

• Azazel, Prince of Damnation:

Slaanesh (the Dark Prince of Chaos)

A truly devoted daemon, terrorising humanity for as long as anyone can remember. A prized tool of Slaanesh, Azazel is absolutely fearsome in combat but leans more towards control. His wings allow him to dictate the battle from above, controlling the pace and flow.

Each Lord has a set of unique abilities and stats that will influence the gameplay of your campaign and battles. For a more detailed breakdown, read our other article, Who is the True Champion of Chaos?

Playing one of the Chaos factions adds a few new mechanics into your playthrough for both the Immortal Empires and Realm of Chaos campaigns, though it will not interact with the Ursun Storyline.

Harvesting Souls: Victory in battle will grant you harvested souls that can be offered up to the Gods in exchange for power and reinforcements. This appears to be a separate currency earned through fighting that is needed to gain access to different perks.

Chaos Gifts: A system for exchanging souls for perks and reinforcements. “Gifted” units (primarily daemonic forces) can only be acquired by purchasing them with souls.

Warbands: These Lords count as warbands, and recruit their forces instantly from either their local province or through the Chaos Gifts system.

Path to Glory: There is a new tech tree that you can progress through by spending souls and also allows the player to promote their Lords to Daemon Princes. It includes general as well as faction-specific specialisations.

Dark Fortresses & Vassals: Certain regions within the Chaos Wastes and Norscan Homelands will unlock the ability to build special strongholds. When constructed in the Norscan homelands they will become your vassal so long as you occupy it.

Marked Units:

After recruiting forces into the Warband under your lord, most can be “marked”. A marked unit is devoted to one of the Gods and receives new visuals, stats, and voice lines dependent on the chosen God. Ascending a unit will halve their rank and reset all chosen skills.

Knights of the Brazen Throne (Skullcrushers of Khorne)

Aligned to Khorne, these dual-axe-wielding Skullcrushers are one of the best counters to other infantry and armoured units, making mincemeat of anything they get close to.

Bilious Thunderguff (Chaos Giant)

Aligned to Nurgle, this giant appears to poison opponents with an ability called “Violent Wind”, essentially farting everyone to death. A good choice against heavily armoured units. This unit also causes terror, making enemies flee for a short time — probably from the smell.

The Sibilant Slaughtercade (Chaos Chariots)

Aligned to Slaanesh, these swift carts are drawn by Steeds of Slaanesh, ideal for flanking manoeuvres in combination with infantry or cavalry. As followers of the Dark Prince, they are sure to be fast glass cannons.

The Severed Claw (Aspiring Champions)

Aligned to Tzeentch, this is an anti-large variation of Aspiring Champions. Combining a barrier with magically imbued halberds means they excel when matched with opponents bigger than them.