The High Elves – high-fantasy divas that they are – love to take centre stage. In Total War: Warhammer 2 they are no different, having created the Great Vortex that lies at the heart of the campaign, draining the forces of evil and Chaos out of the world.
Seem like a benevolent bunch, don’t they? Sure, that is what they want you to think, but they are also masters of scheming, espionage, and court craft. If you fancy your Total War experience with a dash of Game of Thrones, then this is the faction for you, and our High Elves guide will tell you all you need to know about them.
High Elves not quite your thing? Perhaps our Dark Elves guide is for you instead.
High Elf Traits
The High Elves, or Asur, inhabit the circular island paradise of Ulthuan, and while away their days reading tomes, practicing magic, and gossiping about who is consorting who. At the centre of this haven is the not so blissful Great Vortex, which each faction is seeking to exploit for their own gain.
This is done through rituals, which progress each faction’s storyline. To conduct these, the High Elves require Way-Fragments, which you gather by completing missions and improving your settlements through the main building chain (so upgrading from an Elven Village, to Elven Town, to Elven City).
One of the best sources of Way-Fragments are ritual resource sites – settlements that generate a large number of Way-Fragments each turn. These are denoted by a glowing Way-Fragment symbol. If you see such a settlement, make sure you go for it.
The High Elves’ trump card is ‘Influence’, which you gain by picking responses to unique dialogue pop-ups, and use to alter relations between any two factions in the game. This is useful to secure precious trade deals for yourself, say, or to play other factions against each other while you scheme up a way to stab them in the back. You can also spend Influence to hire Lords and Heroes with special traits; for 40 Influence, we got a mage who reduced local construction costs by 30%. We didn’t even send him into battle, but just left him in our capital.
Another handy High Elf trait is Espionage, which enables you to see whatever your trade partners can. By using Influence to raise relations with the Bretonnians in the Southlands, we were able to broker a cascade of trade deals, and explored half that continent without leaving Ulthuan. What’s that? You thought the High Elves were above such devious skullduggery? Bah!
You should also note the Elven Embassy building, which gives High Elves a bonus to income from trade tariffs. If you fancy getting filthy rich, spam these, ensure you are producing every tradeable resource you can, and pursue trade deals aggressively. Protect your reliability rating (so, don’t betray anyone), to give yourself the best chance of success in diplomacy.
Climate is one of the curiouser new traits of Total Warhammer 2. While climate is mercifully stable in the Warhammer world (the perks of using magic over fossil fuels as an energy source), everyone has their preferences. While you can technically settle in any region, you will incur penalties to construction and recruitment times, public order, growth, and income if you try and settle somewhere your people consider ‘Unpleasant’. These penalties get especially severe if you settle somewhere ‘Uninhabitable’. The Asur like to inhabit Frozen regions, Savannas, and Temperate Islands, don’t enjoy Mountains, Magical Forests, Temperate, or Jungles, and suffer the most serious penalties in Wastelands, Chaotic Wastelands, or Deserts.
The unique army stance of the High Elves is Lileath’s Blessing, which slows down their campaign map movement, but boosts their spellcasters’ XP gains by 20%, Wind of Power magic reserve by 15%, speed by 10%, while reducing miscast chance by 50%. So if you have mages or Teclis in your army, this stance is worth whacking on just before you head into battle.
High Elves Technologies
The High Elf tech tree is split into two branches – Military Advancement and Trade Advancement. This is a tad deceptive, because under Trade Advancement you will find a few handy military techs (such as Great Weapons, which increases weapon strength for some elite infantry by 5%). For the most part, however, Trade Advancements relate to empire growth. The final tier contains some real gems, like Maritime Empire, which gives you visibility of coastal areas across the whole world, and Rapid Resettlement, which reduces construction costs in recaptured settlements by 15%.
The military techs are split into four stages, each one unlocked by a gateway tech that requires you to build certain buildings. In the early game, it is sensible to focus on techs that complement each other and combine to supercharge specific units, rather than spreading yourself too thin. You won’t be coming up against terribly diverse armies in the early skirmishes, so you don’t need to worry too much about diversity yourself, and the stronger units that you start the game with – like the Flamespyre Phoenix and Eagle Claw Bolt Thrower in Tyrion’s campaign – are powerful enough for the time being.
So, for example, Spearwall and Naval Discipline go together nicely, because between them you improve the strength of Lothern Sea Guard (and Spearmen) by 10%, and their Leadership and Defence by 5. Spearmen will become obsolete, and though you technically don’t have a better archery unit, Sea Guard are one of the only ranged units in the game who are also strong in melee. They are almost as good at range as your dedicated archers, so we suggest getting them on-stream early, focusing on technology that buffs them, and continuing to field them until pretty much the end of the campaign.
High Elves Legendary Lords
The High Elves offer a choice of two leaders for two distinct campaigns. You will take charge of one of the twin brothers, Tyrion and Teclis, who are descendants of the legendary Phoenix King and Chaos slayer Aenarion. The pair have contrasting views about how to protect the Great Vortex and how to defend the elven capital of Lothern from opportunistic Dark Elf invaders. Tyrion is a hands-on warrior, and gets perks relating to combat, campaigning, and army management, while Teclis deals with the magics. He can learn dozens of spells across several different lores, enabling nifty combinations such as Net of Amyntok and Comet of Casandora. Try it – it is devastating. He also gets a +10 boost to relations with High Elves and humans.
Prince Tyrion’s campaign sees you defending the High Elf homeland. It is among the easier campaigns, with the neat shape of Ulthuan making managing your fronts early on uncomplicated, and the surrounding High Elf factions offering ample opportunities for forming confederations. With that said, the different High Elf factions aren’t exactly drinking fine wines together and bantering over who has the pointiest helms and longest staffs. They are a fractious bunch, and if you don’t properly manage relations with them, you may even find yourself at war with your fellow pointy-ears.
Teclis, despite being worn down by the curse of Aenarion (a sad family lineage story for another day), is an adventurer where his brother is a homebody, and he spreads the word of magic and fighting evil across the land. It is no easy task, so expect a rougher ride than with Tyrion. The campaign begins on the Turtle Isles on the west coast of Lustria, and throws you into almost immediate conflict with the Lizardmen and Dark Elves. A word of advice here is to try and take the ritual resource site of Tlaxtlan from the Lizardmen quickly, which will start raking in those precious Way-Fragments and give you an edge in the Vortex race.
Total War Warhammer 2 Skaven DiplomacyBattle Tactics
The High Elves are a disciplined, flexible army with a good balance of units in the way of infantry, cavalry, and some seriously impressive air contingents.
Spearmen are the earliest units you have access to, which is a good start, as these guys have some of the best defensive stats among first-tier units. It is worth unlocking the rangey archers as quickly as possible, too, so you can have your classic line-up of spears in front and archers behind.
An excellent second-tier unit for more Machiavellian military strategists are the Ellyrian Reavers. These shock cavalry have the added bonus of Vanguard Deployment, which means that at the start of battles you can place them anywhere on the field outside the enemy’s deployment zone. Stick them in some woods while the enemy marches towards your main army, then once they get stuck into battle, crash into them from behind and watch the bodies fly. Classic.
Later on, the High Elves get the obligatory upgrades to their earlier units. Dragon Princes are arguably the best shock cavalry in the game, while the much-feared tabletop trifecta of elite infantry – Swordmasters, White Lions, and Phoenix Guard – are worth your close attention. Swordmasters are devastating anti-infantry damage dealers, White Lions are mobile hunters with great defence against ranged attacks, and tier-five Phoenix Guard are powerful anti-large tanks and one of the best infantry picks in the game.
One of the biggest tactical boons comes with the flappy flying units, which include giant eagles, dragons, and phoenixes. You unlock both the Flamespyre Phoenix and the Frostheart Phoenix simultaneously, and having them them rain their respective elements down on enemies like infantry and cavalry before your melee charges in is sure to demoralise them. Sprinkle enemies with ice attacks from the Frostheart Phoenix from to slow them down and soften them up, and then, while they are vulnerable, rain fiery hell down on them from the Flamespyre. After that, for the coup de grace, you can swoop into the target unit with both birds.
The trade-off for all this is that the High Elves only get one piece of artillery, and don’t have any ground-based monsters, therefore lacking the ability to cause serious fear and disarray among enemy units. That aside, they’re a discerning choice for those who believe war should be fought with style, panache, regal robes, and wing-crested helms.
Last week I played a couple of battles in Total War: Warhammer 2, leading an army of Lizardmen to victory against a pair of High Elf mages that'd been meddling (surprise, surprise) with magical ruins beyond their comprehension. I had a great time with it and we'll be able to share that gameplay footage in a couple of weeks.
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But for now, I thought it'd be useful to break down everything else we learnt during the visit to developer, Creative Assembly. While it was fun to control an entirely new race in these battles, aside from the unit roster it was a fairly similar experience to that of the previous game. It's actually on the campaign map that things seem really fresh.
Oh and, yeah, I did try to get confirmation regarding the game's fourth race that is very obviously the Skaven. Here's what they gave me:
'The fourth race hasn't been ratified yet,' said communications manager Al Bickham. Ratified. He actually said ratified. I don't know what I'm even doing anymore. I quit.
Let's talk about the end-game
Although you can win the campaign in standard Total War fashion through conquest of the other races on the map, Warhammer 2 has an alternative objective that you'll want to be thinking about.
'This is our interesting experiment,' explains Bickham. 'To build a crashing crescendo to the end-game, rather than owning half the map, painting it your colour and knowing that nobody can beat you.'
Each of the four races has ambitions to either stabilise or corrupt a big magical whirlpool called the Great Vortex, requiring them to complete a series of rituals across the various continents of the New World.
The AI-controlled races will be pursuing this goal too, just like the player, meaning that it's entirely possible to lose the campaign even if you have the largest armies in the game. It's going to be really important to keep an eye on how your neighbours are getting on with the Vortex each turn and we're told the UI will make it very clear who's currently in the lead.
There's also meant to be some kind of big finale planned as one of the races approaches victory. You'll know it when the Vortex is being tampered with, we're told. I imagine there'll be a relatively large battle involved. Just a guess.
'The end-game is the really big thing,' said game director, Ian Roxburgh. 'It changes the whole atmosphere of playing through the campaign.'
Legendary lords and starting positions
In the first Total War: Warhammer, selecting a legendary lord is simply a case of deciding which hero you want to begin your campaign with. Other than the unit leading your first army and the abilities they can unlock, not a lot really changes.
In Warhammer 2, this isn't the case. Each race offers two legendary lords for you to choose between and they have entirely different starting locations. If you're playing as the High Elves, for example, you can go for Prince Tyrion and start your campaign with a city in Ulthuan surrounded by other High Elf factions, or instead select his brother Teclis and find yourself on an entirely different continent. Those two campaigns will inevitably play very differently, as your initial goals, enemies and allies change as a result.
'That means, effectively, we've got four new playable races but we've got eight unique factions,' said Roxburgh.
Interestingly, the legendary lord that you choose not to control will still exist on the campaign map, leading an entirely separate faction. If you want to recruit them, it'll require some shrewd diplomacy and an eventual confederation.
Old World races
Alongside the High Elves, Dark Elves, Lizardmen and yet-to-be-ratified races, you'll also find the Old World races from Warhammer 1 have a presence in the New World. These factions won't be seeking to control the Great Vortex, but you'll be able to interact with them, through conflict or diplomacy, as you would any other race.
We're told there are plenty of examples of this happening in the lore itself, with Old World races like the Empire sending expeditionary forces into the New World. Creative Assembly hasn't needed to take too many liberties when it comes to the Warhammer fiction, said Roxburugh.
Rogue armies
Okay, this is really exciting! The campaign map of Warhammer 2 will feature armies made up of units from different races, which you'll need to deal with before they become a threat to your settlements. We've never seen this before.
'It's an interesting campaign mechanic,' said Roxburgh. 'But it also generates lots of cool battles that you'd never usually see.'
These armies are also meant to make sense from a lore perspective, we're told. Roxburgh described an example he liked of a goblin beastmaster that had collected creatures from each of the different races and brought them under his control. Elsewhere, there are mercenary bands and rebel forces that have offered inspiration.
Regardless, it sounds like this will provide some really unique battle setups. I asked if we'll see something similar in the Custom Battles themselves.
'We'll look into that!' promised Roxburgh.
High Elves
Just as we saw in its prequel, the various races of Warhammer 2 are looking to offer very different playstyles both in battle and on the campaign map.
The High Elves have a couple of tricks up their overly-flamboyant sleeves, particularly when it comes to foreign politics. As a general rule, once they begin trading with another faction, they gain line of sight of everything under its control. This is information that's only usually shared between allies.
They also have a unique currency to think about called influence. This is generated by agents on the campaign map or by solving political dilemmas that crop up from time to time. It can then be spent to alter the relationships between different factions from afar. Are the Dark Elves and the Lizardmen getting a bit too cosy? You can do something about that.
Lizardmen
We saw a little less of the Lizardmen than the High Elves on the campaign map (and nothing of the Dark Elves, sorry!), but we do know the two legendary lords: Lord Mazdamundi and Kroq-Gar.
Those familiar with the fiction of Warhammer Fantasy will have heard about the Geomantic Web, an impressive matrix of natural energy spreading across the New World and beyond. The Lizardmen's temple cities are each built on specific places of power within this web.
Controlling these temple cities in Warhammer 2 provides significant bonuses for the Lizardmen, especially if they connect directly
'If and when you own that capital and you upgrade the building chain for that building,' explains Roxburgh. 'You strengthen your ties with the other cities. If two built-up cities are linked together, they'll both operate at a higher level.'
This is reflected through the use of commandments that are unlocked as more and more cities are linked together. Unlike the commandments offered by other races (small increases to growth, income etc.), these are meant to feel much more impactful.
Capturing settlements
A small thing perhaps, but worth knowing if you didn't like how this worked in the previous game. In Warhammer 2 every race can claim every city on the map. That being said, some cities make more sense than others depending on the needs of the race in question.
There are some disadvantages to growth and public order to consider if you capture cities that are deemed inappropriate, but yes, you can absolutely paint the map your colour if you choose to.
The Grand(er) Campaign
One of the most exciting features of Warhammer 2 is the way in which it plans to bring together the campaign maps of both games in a separate mode.
I did ask Creative Assembly if they've settled on a name for this campaign type yet, although it seems they're still working on that.
'Mega campaign? Combined campaign? We're still figuring that out,' said Bickham.
'I'll be honest with you,' continued Roxburgh. 'I don't spend any of my time worrying about what we call it, I worry about how it works.'
We're still not exactly sure how this campaign will work, but we know it puts sandbox gameplay above anything else. As a result, features like the Great Vortex victory conditions won't translate to this version of the game.
Creative Assembly anticipate this will eventually be seen as the de facto way of playing Total War: Warhammer.
We'll have more to share on the battles themselves towards the end of E3, with gameplay from one of Warhammer 2's quest battles. I don't want to brag, but it's a pretty tough encoutner and I do pull out a rather impressive Phyrric Victory in the end. And yes, I imagine we'll be hearing more from Creative Assembly about both the Dark Elves and the Skaven(?) before too long.
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Although the diplomacy is often limited to other factions of the same race, you should spare a moment to learn about it some more. Diplomacy allows you to establish trade agreements, non-aggression pacts and even military and defense alliances (if your relations are good enough). In case of factions of the same race, you can also try to incorporate them under your reign.
Other factions' attitude towards you
The attitude of other factions is determined by a number of factors.
You can open the diplomacy tab by clicking the icon in the top-right corner, or by pressing '7'. This will take you to the world map with a list of discovered factions. By default, the map will indicate the attitudes of other factions towards you with colors. If you chose any faction, you will be able to see what attitude others have towards it.
There are the following colors:
Additionally, by clicking on any faction in the tab on the right, you will see a list of treaties and agreements binding the faction, as well as some info about the trading goods they have (which ones do they import, and which export). You will find here some personal info about faction leaders. At the bottom of the screen there are the treaties that different factions have signed. If you hover the mouse over the given faction's icon, you will see a list of the factors influencing your relations. There are different possibilities:
The diplomatic relations is also influenced by the race. There are some serious animosities between the Dark and High elves, so they have a default penalty of -60 to their relations.
Maintaining friendly relations to other factions gives you a series of advantages. First of all, the trade agreement and the non-aggression pact, which ensures safety to your country. The military access treaty allows your armies to freely move on the territories of another faction (which, without it, is treated as violation of borders and causes your relations to deteriorate).
You should also consider defense alliances. Thanks to that, you will be able to call your allies to help you if you're attacked. Likewise, if your ally gets attacked, you'll be asked to help them out - declining is synonymous to breaking the pact.
Military alliance are also useful, but more risky; while you'll be able to call your allies to help you with any war, even those spurred by yourself, you might be asked to do something you'd rather not do, or forced to fight a whole bunch of angry factions.
Confederacies and vassals
Establishing a confederacy is very useful if you want to unite nations of your race without bloodshed. In case of confederacies the whole faction - along with all its armies and heroes will be merged into yours. Remember that this is an expensive operation - for the duration of five turns you will suffer a -40 penalty to relations with other factions of the same race, and on top of that, all your provinces will get a -8 order penalty. Additionally, you will take control of all the armies; if the country you're incorporating is in poor economic condition, your income may drop drastically - in such case, consider dismantling the armies you don't need and try to stabilize the economy over a few turns. Always try to get some money from the faction you're taking over.
The best chance to form a confederation is when you're in great relations with another country. If that country's losing a war then the chances of forming a confederacy are even better.
If you make another faction your vassal, they will still be visible on the map, but their foreign policy will still be dependant on you; they will pay a tribute every turn (a percentage of their income). Similarly to the confederacy, you need a high diplomatic level to make another faction your vassal.
Trade
The trade is an exchange of goods that you can generate in certain buildings (wood, iron, exotic animals, etc.). You can trade with another faction if they don't have the resource you're trading - otherwise, they won't be interested. Different goods have different prices, plus the income from trade depends on how much of the resource you produce.
Every resource you export yields a sum of money every turn. The income you get from the resource can be checked by hovering over the given resource in the diplomacy tab. In order to check how much money you get off the trade with a faction, you have to hover over the icon of the trade agreement, next to the given faction in the diplomacy tab.
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