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Total War: Warhammer/Tactics/Magic

2021-12-30T12:34:16Z

2601:844:4300:2939:E09D:FCC1:F35D:EBDF: /* Lore of Fire */

[[Category: Total Warhammer]]

This page goes into details about every single spell (Unique Spells and hero abilities not included) in the game, their uses, and so on. For the general gist of how magic works, head over to [[Total War: Warhammer/Tactics#Magic]]. For up to date #’s on spell damage, cost, and effect see here https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-_Swyh0Ifo8cTI4ZUxoVGtmVVk/view
==Generic Lores==

===Lore of Beasts===
:'''Passive - ''Wild Heart''''': Your power recharge rate and power reserves increase for 29 seconds upon casting a spell from this lore, a nice tool that helps maintain the overall combat effectiveness of your Beasts caster over the course of the battle, but it's not to such a degree that you'll likely notice.
*'''Flock of Doom''': Recreate The Birds by siccing flocks of crows on all enemy units within the casting reticle. Has a low winds cost and a rather quick cooldown, but is virtually useless against single entities or smaller units. Save this for the enemy hordes that might try to tie down your forces, armored or not. This affects all units that have so much as a single model within its cast radius, making it highly efficient against infantry-based armies.
*'''Pann's Impenetrable Pelt''': Buff the physical resistance of a target unit by 20% and their melee defense by 24 for 31 seconds. Compared to how it worked before, this makes a unit substantially more durable in melee combat and, especially if combined with other spells like Shield of Thorns, can turn a key frontline unit into an absolute tank. Overcasting turns it into an AoE spell, which might very well be worth it in the opening stages of a frontline engagement to mitigate damage.
*'''The Amber Spear''': The only other damage dealing spell you have, this time as a single projectile geared towards character/monster sniping. It deals pretty hefty damage and is a great option against more heavily armored beasts that would otherwise shrug off other artillery or missile fire from more conventional units. It does have a powerful but short range explosion effect as well, so it can technically nuke an elite unit but aiming may be more trouble than its worth to get a good hit.
*'''The Curse of Anraheir''': A hex that debilitates enemies with -24 Melee Attack and Defense while also crippling them with a 25% speed debuff. Use this to effectively defang enemy units or combine/alternate with Pann's Impenetrable Pelt to keep your key units alive. Alternatively, when used offensively, this will make it easier to pin down and knock around enemy units that you really need cleaned off the board.
*'''Transformation of Kadon''': This is pretty much ''the'' reason most players bother taking the Lore of Beasts in multiplayer at all. After a brief windup period, the Beast Caster summons either a Feral Manticore (standard), Great Eagle (High/Wood Elves) or Varghulf (Von Carstein). As they can be summoned anywhere within 60m of the caster, this allows you to throw a relatively potent combat monster into an opponent's more vulnerable backline while they can do little more than scramble to address the sudden incursion. With a limit of two casts per battle and a moderately short timer on the monsters before they despawn, each cast should be considered wisely.
*'''Wyssan's Wildform''': A surprisingly vicious combat supplement, this spell grants a target unit +25% Base and AP damage as well as +30 Armor for 19 seconds. Due to the offensive portion of this spell's buffs being percentage-based, Wyssan's Wildform gets ''far'' more bang for your buck when cast on elite units or single entity monstrous units that have naturally high weapon/ap damage. The armor supplement helps, though shouldn't really be a major consideration when you could get better defensive utility out of Pann's Impenetrable Pelt (though pairing the two is hardly ill-advised). Much like Pann's Impenetrable Pelt, overcasting Wyssan's Wildform turns it into an AoE spell and can make single-entity doomstacks disgustingly potent.

===Lore of Death===
:'''Passive - ''Life Leeching''''': Whenever a spell is cast from this discipline, your power recharge rate improves for 25 seconds. Quite frankly, a very nice passive that acts like a built in Arcane Conduit.
*'''Spirit Leech''': The first spell in this Lore and it's one of the best, if we're being honest. A rather cheap, direct damage spell at 8 Winds of Magic. Preferably used against Characters and Monsters and probably the most cost-efficient Character sniping spell in the game (does 834 damage without any resistances on average, ignores armor). It also can serve as a nice counter against Ethereal Units. It actually works very well vs small monstrous cavalry and infantry units, think the 6-24 model range, also ok on smallish elite units also but anything over 20ish models really hurts its efficiency, bjuna is far better for that. one cast can nearly kill most artillery because it (usually) hits the machines, not the crew. Very versatile and mana efficient, the standard to which all direct damage spells are compared.
*'''Doom and Darkness''': Basically the opposite of the Lore of Light's Light of Battle Spell. Sits in the 10 Winds niche of rather specific debuffs. It reduces the leadership of an enemy unit by a whopping 16, enough to send most standard troops into a rout once they have taken some losses and to mitigate any effects the presence of a Character in their vicinity might have. Notably less useful against Undead, who cannot rout, but can still cause them to begin crumbling more quickly if such a tactic is necessary. Of course, this spell is completely useless against Unbreakable units. Pretty useless in very hard or legendary campaign battle difficulty because of the crazy leadership buffs the AI gets, but nice on normal and hard difficulties as well as multiplayer.
*'''Soulblight''': An ok AoE debuff, for its relatively low cost of 8 Winds of Magic/ 14 overcast. Lowers the armor (-30) and weapon damage (-30%) of all units in an AOE for 25 seconds, 50 if overcast. The pairing of armor and weapon damage debuffs don't synergize that well with each other and the lowish base duration can be rough, maybe worth overcasting for double duration if you cast at all. still its a more efficient armor removing spell than plague of rust because of its AOE so that's something. it may only debuff two less important stats but it isn't bad since its an affordable AOE debuff. Doomfire warlocks get this free so never pay winds for it as the dark elves if you can help it. overcast is double duration for slightly cheaper than double so worth it in theory.
*'''Aspect of the Dreadknight''': Same as deal with Soulblight. It might be extremely cheap at 4 Winds of Magic, but its effect of +8 Leadership and Causes Terror for friendly units is simply not good enough, especially when taken into consideration that many factions that can use the Lore of Death (especially the Undead factions) have no shortage of Units that cause fear and terror or are completely exempt from Leadership issues.
*'''The Purple Sun of Xereus''': The good ol' "cast it successfully and the game is over" Vortex from the Tabletop doesn't disappoint here either. At 18 (24 when overcast) Winds of Magic, a fairly expensive Vortex that will completely demolish everything it touches, its only downside being that it is hard to predict where it will eventually go, but even the initial cast on a large moshpit of infantry is worth it. Particularly devastating on Bridge Battles, where Wizards with this spell will rack up a ludicrous amount of kills from one single cast alone.
*'''The Fate of Bjuna''': This is an odd one. A direct damage spell that costs 22 Winds and serves mainly as a middle finger to cavalry, elite infantry any thing with a medium model count. Deals large amounts of damage, but needs careful evaluation on when to use it. It's considered op in multiplayer where elite units are expensive and rare. In campaign, where stacks of endgame units are common, it's too expensive where a bombardment, missile or even vortex does more for cheaper. Its price is very inflated because of its power in multiplayer. You can just drop purple sun on a single unit for cheaper vs the AI most of the time. Not very efficient vs anything with less than 45 models.

===Lore of Fire===
Important to note: All spells from the Lore deal Magical and Fire type damage. It counts as both and is resisted by both.

:'''Passive - ''Kindleflame''''': Whenever you cast a Lore of Fire spell, it imbues a map wide fire weakness to all enemy units as you cast. The benefits combined with this lore are obvious, and allows for great synergy when used with other units who deal fire damage. Combines nicely with flaming sword.
*'''Fireball''': Inexpensive projectile that is found all over the goddamn place. High Elven Mages and Skink Priests can get 4 uses of them for free. It's... alright-ish. Like all projectiles, Fireballs strongly depend the casters positioning and its damage is kinda meh. Can still be reliably used to snipe big monsters and Lords out of the sky, and its considerable range makes it a very attractive and cheap source of Fire Damage to be used against Ethereal units or Wood Elven tree spirits. The minor boost in damage provided by overcasting generally isn't worth the increased mana cost, so in almost every circumstance you're better off just casting normally.
*'''Flaming Sword of Rhuin''': Cheap (8/12) base/overcast buff for your troops that makes all of their attacks deal fire and magic damage, as well as increasing their damage output by 30% for 22/44 seconds. Don't forget that this can also be cast on ranged units, so have fun experimenting with that. With the upcoming changes to magic resistance set to only affect damage inflicted by spells, this is set to become a solid tool for enabling some of your heavier hitters to shoulder through units with high physical resistances. Just beware, flame resistance will still be able to shrug off the damage.
*'''Cascading Fire Cloak''': Extremely cheap (only 5 winds of magic!) AoE buff that increases AP Damage of your melee troops by 24% and also gives them 25 Melee Defence for 19 seconds. Gives your frontline a bit more staying power and makes Greatswords, not to mention Har Garneth Executioners or Swordmasters of Hoeth downright terrifying. Important to keep in mind is that it won't do jack shit for units that bring no AP damage on their own, like Imperial Swordsmen. A 100% increase of 1 would still be 2.
*'''The Burning Head''': Oh sweet baby, yes! A medium prized (10 Winds of Magic) Wind Spell that deals an intimidating amount of damage and also terrifies people. ''This'' is the prime spell of the Lore of Fire. Tons of Fire Damage, but can also deviate a bit, although not as much as Vortex Spells would. It's cheap size relative to its effectiveness make it a very attractive spell to use, and is available in the campaign very early on. Keep in mind it does zero AP damage even when overcast, so it sucks vs armor. On the positive side, your armored forces can tank a stray blast if you cast it alongside/on top of them when they're in battle with chaff or unarmored infantry, making a great tool for front-line engagements.
*'''Piercing Bolts of Flame''': An expensive and semi-unreliable spell, this is your most effective anti-Armor option outside of Flamestorm spam. It deals a high amount of projectile damage as well, so it can deal respectable damage to monstrous infantry or even regular infantry if they clump up. In general though, you'll probably be better off prioritizing other, more potent/cost efficient spells and leave the dedicated anti-armor to other units in your army.
*'''Flamestorm''': When you need to delete infantry whole-sale, this is your go-to spell. Compared to Burning Head, Flamestorm is less efficient and substantially less consistent, but Flamestorm has substantially higher utility against armored enemies and has the ''potential'' to do much more damage overall. Costs a moderate 13 winds but will utterly annihilate any models caught in its wake, armored or not. Overcasting bumps the WoM cost to 20, doubles the duration from 27 seconds to 54, increases base damage but does nothing for the AP values. Only overcast if you're confident the enemy is locked down and you don't mind it potentially rolling into your forces. Even then, just saving the extra winds for a follow up cast may be a more efficient choice.

===Lore of Heavens===
:'''Passive - ''Roiling Skies''''': A mapwide debuff that slows down flying units and debuffs their melee defense for 25 seconds upon casting a spell. Frankly a mediocre and situational perk, but it can be handy if your opponent's playing a faction with a lot of flying cavalry.
*'''Wind Blast''': A cost effective breath spell that does wonders against unarmored chaff infantry like skavenslaves or peasant mobs. A side effect of this particular breath spell worth noting is that it disrupts enemy formations, making it valuable if only to help buy time for your own forces to get into position/get the charge into them while they recover. Overcasting the spell gives it a touch more bite against armored units (4 AP damage), but the difference is so marginal that it's not really worth it. Never overcast.
*'''Urannon's Thunderbolt''': A bolt of lightning that strikes a small area for extremely large AP damage. Has impressive range, so it has moderate use against the near-stationary artillery pieces your opponent may have. It's pure AP damage and overcasting does more than 1300 damage (much more than doombolts 1000ish AP or amber spears 700 AP), if you hit a lord or monster they will FEEEEEL it. Best cost to damage ratio of any single target blast. Cheaper and better than any other of its type. It has a minimal area of effect and does not track targets, so you'll need to aim carefully to actually land true with it.
*'''Harmonic Convergence''': A supporting spell that improves the melee defense/attack of a friendly unit by a rather respectable margin for 24 seconds, including their armor value if overcast. A very potent spell that can help turn the tide of an engagement on the front lines at a rather minor cost of 6 winds. It falls a bit behind similar buffing spells from other lores due to the fact it is limited to a single target, but is still a decent option for a key beat-stick unit of yours none-the-less.
*'''Curse of the Midnight Wind''': An AoE Hex that debuffs all enemies within its casting radius with lowered melee attack and armor values for 25 seconds, 50 if overcast. Combined with Harmonic Convergence, this is best served when you need to turn a frontline engagement around. In general though, at 11 WoM per cast, you may rather opt to simply put that power towards one of the damage dealing spells instead.
*'''Chain Lightning''': Now we're getting to the good stuff. One of the strongest vortex spells in the game, Chain Lightning randomly crawls across the battle field for 21 seconds dealing heavy damage to everything caught up in it, armored or not. It deals pure AP damage, highest of any other vortex spell. High elf archmages get this as a bound spell, and can get Urannon's Thunderbolt from a lord trait, making this lore perhaps a waste to use on them, since they could get so much of it free.
*'''Comet of Cassandora''': When you want to call down the celestial thunder, there's no better choice than the Comet of Cassandora. With a relatively large area of effect and massive damage output, the CoC can wipe out entire units with a well-placed blast, even more so if overcast... if anything is still willfully under the targeting cursor while the comet takes its sweet time to actually arrive. Between the rather lengthy delay before the comet itself actually descends onto the battlefield and the rather intense winds of magic cost (especially if overcast), finding a situation to use the CoC in lieu of either Chain Lightning or even Wind Blast will be quite difficult. All in all, it's terribly inefficient. Thunderbolt does much more damage to a single target and chain lighting is usually cheaper and more efficient for hordes/blobs. In Campaigns against AI, the Comet of Cassandora is a considerably more attractive option when engaging in Siege battles or against clumps of elite, relatively immobile units. Since the AI tends to be blissfully oblivious to the impact indicator and is prone to scrunching multiple units together regularly, they'll rarely make any effort to avoid taking the full brunt of a well positioned Comet.

===Lore of Life===
:'''Passive - ''Life Bloom''''': Whenever a life spell is cast, all your units heal up to 40 hitpoints over the course of 5 seconds. It's not much, but it's free healing that applies to your entire army whenever you cast a spell. Every little bit helps.
*'''Earth Blood''': This is the bread and butter for most life wizards. A nice AoE heal for up to four allied units within its radius that lasts for 7 seconds, with double the length and healing if overcast. The main value of this spell is the relatively inconsequential winds of magic cost (6/11), allowing life wizards to support a rather sizeable chunk of your army for a rather extended period of time.
*'''Awakening of the Wood''': A large damage dealing explosion that dramatically slows down everyone caught up in the blast, but deals squat for damage against anything with an armor value.
*'''Shield of Thorns''': A nice offensive/defensive buff that grants percentage based physical resist and weapon damage bonuses to several of your units within the spell's radius. A great supporting power for key units that goes quite nicely with Earth Blood to keep them in peak physical form. Use on units who already resist physical for best results, overcasting can be good if you need extra weapon damage. Can be cast combined with pelt if you have a beast caster to give 50% physical resist on top of any the unit already has.
*'''Flesh to Stone''': A massive boost to an allied unit's armor value for 44 seconds (88 if overcast), this can turn even a squishy unit like Wood Elf Wardancers into surprisingly tanky beat-sticks, especially if stacked with Shield of Thorns. When compared to SoT, however, it tends to be better against non-AP by far but falls off in the later game when more units tend to have AP values.
*'''Regrowth''': An expensive single target heal that replenishes a substantial amount of HP and vigour to the target unit, especially if overcast. Frankly best reserved for emergencies and/or single entity units as no amount of healing will bring back slain models in a unit. Minor exceptions extend to the very few factions who ''can'' revive slain models, like the Lizardmen when utilizing a Revivification Crystal Bastilodon. In general though, Earth Blood provides better sustain for your army over the course of the battle.
*'''The Dwellers Below''': A shockingly powerful AoE damaging spell for a lore so dedicated to supporting your own units, The Dwellers Below snares all units who travel within the spell's zone with a speed debuff while chipping away at them in the process. While it's good in certain situations, you've likely taken your life wizard for dedicated healing support and will likely have alternative options for offensive spellcasters more suited to the task. Wood elf spellweaver lords get this as a bound spell, which is awesome. Despite its awesome animations, if you look carefully at the spells tooltip, you'll notice that it's a direct damage spell and not a vortex. This is important because it means that instead of centreing it on blobs, you want it covering as many enemy units as possible and you don't have to worry about hitting your own units with it.

===Lore of Light===
:'''Passive - ''Exorcism''''': Whenever you cast a Lore of Light spell, all your units gain 4 leadership and become immune to psychology (fear/terror) for 11 seconds. Useful, if you are facing armies with lots of scary monsters, but largely useless outside of that.
*'''Shen's Burning Gaze''': Inexpensive Projectile, costs the same as fireball (5 winds), but fires 5 projectiles in a grouping. Has the advantage of higher base damage than said Fireball, and the disadvantage that all projectiles need to land for the spell to deal full damage. Given that most entites except the largest ones aren't even big enough for all projectiles to land, it's kinda mediocre. For what it's worth, it has much better AP damage than fire ball for similar cost. If cast at close range, it can be used like a shotgun to get all of the projectiles to hit. It's best vs a monster sized unit obviously, but it's also good vs flying to due decent air tracking. It fires 5 projectiles base goes up to 10 if overcast. Basically just like gaze of nagash from lore of vampires. Also it has bonus vs large.
*'''Net of Amyontok''': This is why you pick the Lore of Light. A medium-prized (10 winds) AoE debuff that locks an enemy in place, right where they stand. The incredible utility of this spell cannot be understated. A must pick against factions with a lot of mobility, although it only affects units on the ground. Despite that limitation, it ''will'' trap any flying cavalry/monsters/characters who are on the ground (from a charge, for example), so if you can catch them with this before they can retreat into the skies, you can severely punish them. Obviously favored by those with good archers and artillery, Sisters of Avelorn and Salamander Hunting Packs being notable beneficiaries.
*'''Pha's Protection''': A cheap defense buff. Grants 30 armour and 24 Melee Defense at the prize of 5 winds of magic for 22 seconds. overcast adds AOE for 10 winds. unexceptional but nice, short duration is unfortunate, but good AOE buffs are rare. maybe worth it if you can hit enough of your units.
*'''Light of Battle''': AoE buff for 7 Winds of Magic that makes all units unbreakable for 22 seconds. Not to be underestimated, but needs a creative mind to use right. very situational, probably not worth it often.
*'''Bironas Timewarp''': Pretty nifty AOE buff spell that costs 11 Winds of Magic and gives units a whopping 24% increase to their movement speed and 24 melee attack. Perfect for Cavalry and other fast units.
*'''Banishment''': A 17/24 overcast winds vortex with good ap damage (7ap same as pit of shades). you get a small zone of bright death. The game advertises this spell as dealing "medium damage", which is bewildering, to say the least. Banishment definitely doesn't need to hide behind its bigger brethren from other Lores. It’s actually incredibly similar to purple sun now, in fact purple sun is probably better now. Still good though. Overcasting increases the base damage by 7, though the AP values are untouched. Generally not worth overcasting in most scenarios. Slann get this as a free bound spell, as always this is awesome.

===Lore of Metal===
:'''Passive - ''Metalshifting''''': Your lore attribute that gives your units +10% AP and Weapon Strength for 13 second. Used best on elite units who already have high AP and damage as something like an Empire Swordsman probably won't be noticing the effects too much.
*'''Searing Doom''': A fairly cost effective bombardment ability against low armor. At only 6 winds of magic it can help destroy early game blobs of crappy infantry. It's biggest disadvantage is the wind up time so any opponent who's paying attention should be able to get out of the way. Fortunately the AI doesn't bother with dodging these most of the time. Low projectile damage means wont do shit to higher health models, kroxikors, dragon ogres etc.
*'''Plague of Rust''': One of the most cost effective armor debuffs in the game, especially if you don't have a lot of affordable AP. Being able to get rid of 30 armor for 4 winds (Or 60 for 6 if you overcast) is situationally good. Plus it lasts 44 seconds so you have plenty of time to deal with them before their defensive stats return to normal. It's certainly better against some factions (this can be a god send against Dwarfs and Bretonnia) than others (Beastmen and Wood Elves will laugh if you bring this). In the campaign almost every unit worth using should have AP anyway, really only good situationally/early game. single target is the biggest problem, at least its cheap with good duration. kind of mediocre. I would rather use soul blight with shorter duration, at least's its AOE. a single armored unit is only ever going to matter enough in multiplayer.
*'''Glittering Robes''': it got buffed. now 60 armor for 44 seconds (no leadership effect anymore), overcast for AOE, actually pretty good if fighting non AP. 6 base/12 overcast. AOE is the big deal, much better than the life equivalent.
*'''Gehenna's Golden Hounds''': You can spend an extra 3 winds of magic for a mediocre vortex that only hurts low armor units and might even kill some of your own troops. Doesn't that sound fun? Use Searing Doom, you'll get better bang for your buck. It actually has the same AP damage per tick as Purple Sun, its mostly just small and hard to aim. Cheap though. Not great
*'''Transmutation of Lead''': A fairly solid -24 melee attack and -30% weapon damage for 38 seconds can really put enemy momentum to a halt (if you overcast, -60% weapon damage). costs 11 base, 16 overcast. unfortunately debuffing melee attack and weapon strength while good is somewhat counter synergistic, becasue if they dont hit the strength doesn't matter, but its just doubling down rather than redundant. Probably dont overcast unless you really think you need it.
*'''Final Transmutation''': Ok so take Spirit Leech, make it a massive AOE and you have a pretty good idea of how Final Transmutation works. This can win you games if you get a big blob in it but at 18 (28 overcast) Winds of Magic it'll probably be all you're casting in multiplayer. In campaign, build up those reserves and you can win battles with this alone. Even if you only hit 2 targets, it has higher damager per winds ratio than Spirit Leech. The overcast version does 2300 damage on average vs Spirit Leech's 834 average. If you can weaken a lord to the 2000 health range this will quickly destroy them. Assuming they have no significant magic resist/healing/wards of course, but still incredibly potent none-the-less. (all direct damage spells bypass armor FYI, so Bejuna, Flock of Doom, Miasma etc, they all do).

===Lore of Shadows===
:'''Passive - ''Smoke & Mirrors''''': A mapwide movement speed buff for 24 seconds whenever you cast a shadows spell is a nice perk that can give you a slight edge in maneuverability over your opponent, though this is very largely dependent on the factions at play. Remember the mediocre speed boosts of pelt or timewarp? This is better, map wide, and free. Still not that great.
*'''Melkoth's Mystifying Miasma''': A Single target direct damage spell that deals damage to one unit while also slowing them down in the process. At 5 winds of magic for a quick cast, it's a great precursor to an engagement or to help prevent your opponent from fleeing. Averages around 1764 direct damage, quite good but only on a large unit, ideally with about 100 or more models. Ok to speed debuff a lord or monster if you really need to as well, other wise dont overcast. best spammed to wear down large units, compare to flock of doom for example.
*'''The Enfeebling Foe''': A 22 second melee defense/attack debuff that cripples a single enemy unit of your choice. Ideally used against characters or monsters who might be trying to wreak havoc in your lines or to give your own lord a step up in a duel against them. Probably worth overcasting for the double duration. One of the best debuffs in the game for a single target. Hit a lord with it then buff your duelist monster, hero, or lord with Mindrazor and you get a nasty killing combo.
*'''The Withering''': Yet another hex that targets a single unit and reduces their armor and leadership for 40 seconds. It only has a prominent niche if you stack lots of leadership debuffs to force opposing units to route, but Doom and Darkness from death does that twice as well (if that discipline is available). all races that can leadership bomb (beastmen, dark elves, norsca, warriors of chaos, and vampires) have access to death, except lizardmen which cant use shadow or death.
*'''The Penumbral Pendulum''': A potent wind spell that is perfect for slicing through frontline units while they're tied up in combat. It's not quite as powerful as the Burning Head or the Winds of Death against unarmored foes, but anything wearing a tin can will get cracked open. This does 36 AP damage base or a whopping 72 if overcast. It actually does more AP damage than wind of death, but usually gets fewer kills due to shorter duration, travel distance, and AOE. Wrecks elite infantry and cavalry.
*'''Pit of Shades''': One of the very select few stationary vortex spells in the game. With a 13 second duration, the Pit of Shades is a fantastic tool in maps that have natural choke points or if you manage to box in a particularly large clump of units. It deals 7 points of pure AP, same as Purple Sun's or Banishment's AP damage, though it has no base damage paired with it. Overcasting doubles the ap to 14, but this is generally unnecessary in most circumstances. It traps enemies inside of it, so not only does it immobilize clumps of enemies for follow-up attacks, it tends to deal tons of damage as long as you get a direct hit. Very reliable.
*'''Okkam's Mindrazor''': A very nasty buff that grants magical attacks to an allied unit as well as a ''very'' substantial 40% buff to weapon and armor piercing damage. Overcast for an expensive but powerful AOE buff. Use on monsters, heroes and lords for best results because it's percentage based; you're gonna get a lot more mileage out of it that way. Good for a goon squad to kill monsters/lords, not worth it for killing infantry usually. Remember weapon strength doesn’t matter if you can’t hit, try to combine it with an a melee attack boost or melee defense debuff for best results. Enfeebling foe for example.

===Scrolls===

In the Campaign, you can occasionally find magic scrolls that give your caster a free spell with limited uses, and some of them aren't available in any lore. Given that they're free, there is no reason to not cast them in any battle. Some of these spells can also be unlocked through faction mechanics or just levelling your caster character up.

*'''Arnzipal's Black Horror''': Stupidly effective Breath Spell that eats chaff alive and even inflicts enough damage to give Elite Units a run for their money. As of the Rakarth Update, Dark Elven Supreme Sorceresses get this spell as a bound spell for levelling up to Level 10 on the Campaign, everyone else has to rely on the enemy to drop the Scroll of Horror.
*'''Assault of Stone''': Probably the strongest Bombardment in the entire game. Covers a huge area, and inflicts a ton AP magic damage. The Dwarfs (of all factions) get the easiest access to it by forging the Sceptre of Stone with Oathgold.

==Faction-specific Lores==

===Lore of the Deep (Vampire Coast)===
:'''Passive - ''Kiss of the Deep''''': Each time you cast a spell it does a small amount of magic damage to every enemy unit on the map. This is especially useful when fighting against armies that have fragile units and rely on [[Wood Elves (Warhammer Fantasy)|superior speed]] or [[skaven|disposable chaff units]] to keep them protected.
*'''Tidecall''': A breath weapon that expands out in a cone, doing moderate damage and disrupting enemy formations. Basically wind blast from the Lore of Heaven, but wetter.
*'''Spiteful Shot''': A buff that provides +90 accuracy to an allied unit. Great for deck gunners, mortars, Queen Bess, or anything else that can shoot, really. It's the cheapest spell in your arsenal so it can be reliably spammed to get more Kiss of the Deep effects.
*'''Denizens of the Deep''': Summons a unit of Rotting Prometheans. The Rotting Prometheans biggest weakness is its low speed, so the ability to drop a unit right into the enemy is amazing. Need to soak up an enemy charge? Want to disrupt enemy artillery? There's an enemy hero giving you problems? Solve every problem with [[meme|giant enemy crabs]].
*'''Fog of the Damned''': A debuff spell that reduces enemy leadership and movement speed. Not your best spell, but it slows enemy melee units down to give your gunners more time to shoot them. It still causes Kiss of the Deeps which is never bad.
*'''Vangheist's Revenge''': Possibly the coolest looking spell ever. Summons a giant ghost boat to broadside the enemy for heavy damage across a wide area. Expensive and slow to cast, but stylish as hell and can potentially wipe out whole units at once.
*'''Kraken's Pull''': A big vortex full of [[slaanesh|wet groping tentacles]] that traps any unit caught inside of it, dealing damage to them and cutting their speed in half. Anything that keeps the enemy away from your lines is useful. The vortex is also immobile, so there's no risk of it backfiring into your units.

===Lore of High Magic (High Elves, Lizardmen, Wood Elves)===
:'''Passive - ''Shield of Saphery''''': A 11% Ward Save graces all your units whenever you cast spells from this discipline.
:'''Passive (Wood Elves) - ''Ancients' Protection''''': A slightly worse version of the Shield of Saphery, this only grants a 10% ''Physical'' Resistance buff, meaning it'll do nothing against magic damage/missiles. Still, it works well enough for Wood Elves since they have a reasonable amount of innate physical resist already and can be further supplemented by physical resistance spells from other disciplines.
*'''Hand of Glory''': A relatively cheap buff for a single allied unit that grants them increased reload skill and melee attack for 29 seconds. Reload skill and melee attack don't exactly go hand in hand as far as complimentary buffs go, but it does give it a bit more potential application across your entire army compared to other more specialized buffs. Despite this, and despite it's lower cost, it will not usually do enough to justify the winds cost since one unit can only do so much. A single fireball would usually do more even, depending on your targets.
*'''Apotheosis''': A very cheap single unit heal that also imbues the allied target with Fear for its 22 second duration. This is, all things considered, a pretty nice spell for a tanky frontline unit and does provide more healing to a single target than Earth Blood (granted, Earth Blood heals multiple targets). The addition of Fear does help push through the squishier, meeker chaff units that might simply be trying to tie you down. Unfortunately, the lore of life exists and all factions with high magic have access to life magic. Never overcast it unless you really need the range.
*'''Soul Quench''': A magic missile with artillery levels of range that explodes for quite reasonable damage against groups of infantry. While it's reasonably effective and cost efficient, you'll likely want to reserve your Winds of Magic for more utilitarian purposes and leave the job of long-range bombardment to your actual artillery units. Keep in mind it has bad armor piercing, use it like fireball pretty much. If you use it at all.
*'''Tempest''': A snare that deals damage and traps a flying unit in a slow moving vortex. This is a very useful tool for dealing with (Legendary) Lords on flying mounts or flying Monsters like Dragons. While they take impressive damage from the Tempest itself, you should always have a unit or two of missile units or artillery on hand to take advantage of their immobility. In general though, this is worse than the Net of Amyntok if your goal is to snare enemy units in place. Great in multiplayer, crap in single player.
*'''Fiery Convocation''': A relatively potent wind spell that deals reasonable damage to enemies it passes through. Even among directional wind spells, there's a lot of room for variance on the path it takes, so try not to use it too close to your own front line. Does the highest AP damage of any wind spell but lower total damage than pendulum, for example. Not really worth the extra cost for the higher AP, its only ok. Very slow cast time means it's hard to hit savvy opponents with it too.
*'''Arcane Unforging''': A very powerful single-entity spell that deals substantial damage to the target while increasing their ability cooldowns by a considerable amount. This is a very valuable spell against enemy Heroes and Lords due to their ability to completely shut them down. Overcharging the spell can add a whopping 45 seconds to their ability cooldowns which, if used at just the right moment, can utterly ruin an opponent's strategy and potentially cost them the field. Obviously less useful against battering ram-type characters who just charge into battle, but hey. Can't have everything. Higher damage but less efficient than other spells of its kind. Spirit leech, final transmutation and soul stealer are honestly better because their AoE capabilities (or higher efficiency in spirit leech's case) make up for their high cost. Still, not a bad spell though, considering Lizardmen lack access to the aforementioned alternatives. Pick your targets well and only overcast against extremely high priority characters with powerful abilities.

===Lore of Dark Magic (Dark Elves, Wood Elves)===
:'''Passive - ''Spiteful Conjuration''''': Reduces armor map wide, it’s ok, works out to 11% less damage resistance for 18 seconds. Almost the same as the lore of metal attribute effectively but almost always better. It affects missile and spell damage not just melee with a longer duration than metal does. Doesn’t actually affect any of the spells from this lore except bladewind however since the rest do pure AP damage.
:'''Passive (Wood Elves) - ''Wrath of the Woods''''': 12% more missile damage map wide for 8 seconds, it’s nice. Like a free half strength flaming sword and stacks with all other boosts.
*'''Power of Darkness''': Basically a 4 times as strong arcane conduit that causes 500ish damage to a unit over time. Which unit is chosen doesn’t matter. 3 use limit per battle. Very underrated, easily the strongest winds recharge skill in the game. Cast on a hydra and it will just regen through most of the damage or on a bolt thrower out of the way. Don’t ever put the damage on your wizard. in campaign you can consider running dark plus a second lore to have the dark act as a winds battery, recomend to combine with other winds boost like knowledgeable sorceressess
*'''Chillwind''': Cheap wind spell that does 24 points of PURE Ap damage. That’s 2/3rds of a pendulum’s AP component. Also slows and lowers reload speed so multi use. Honestly a bargain, it’s pure AP would be worth the cost alone. Plus triggers lore attribute cheaply. Overcast isn’t worth it.
*'''Word of Pain''': A single target only debuff isn’t ideal but it can claim to be probably the best lord or hero off switch in the game. -44 melee attack is massive. Overcast adds a melee defense hit as well. Sometimes worth overcasting. Situational but nice to have.
*'''Blade Wind''': Pretty cheap, pretty damaging vortex. Lowish ap damage but helped by the lore attribute, short duration but that rarely matters. It does it’s job well for its cost. Won’t win any awards but its cheap enough to justify just dropping it on only 1 or 2 units. same cost as base Doombolt so use this on bigger units or blobs usually but Doombolt vs single entities or monstrous units. Overcast doubles duration but unlikely to hit anything long enough for that to matter, not worth overcasting really.
*'''Doombolt''': Does just over 800 pure AP on a direct hit with an decent AOE detonation as well. Plus it’s a bombardment with pretty good tracking. It is like a cheaper comet of casadora with the tradeoff of less AOE range but better single target damage. Comparable damage/efficiency to Amber Spear overcast. Its ideal situation is hitting a lord or monster while surrounded by troops to take advantage of both damage portions. Overcast is proportionate, it only boosts the single target damage though. Against units just use the base version.
*'''Soul Stealer''': AOE spirit leech combined with a caster only heal identical to High Magic’s but with about 50 more healing. Damage is the exact same as Spirit leech, but because it hits every target with their own version it’s more efficient than Spirit Leech with just 2-3 good targets. Plus only healing Dark Elves get. Great spell. Better on Morathi, Malekith, and a black dragon sorceress to make the self healing more valuable.

===Lore of Nehekhara (Tomb Kings)===
:'''Passive - ''The Restless Dead''''': Completely identical to the Lore of Vampires passive, heals injured undead before resurrecting models. Unlike the Lore of Vampires, the Lore of Nehekhara contains many more small buff spells but lacks the damage potential of the former. That does, however, mean that this passive will be triggering a lot more frequently.
*'''Djaf's Incantation of Cursed Blades''': One of the cheapest spells in the game at 3 WoM, this little spell buffs weapon and AP damage by 25% on a single unit. Emblematic of the Tomb Kings lore and battle philosophy in general: while there are no standout spells or units that will single-handedly win you your battles, it's the combined-arms nature of the faction that truly makes it succeed. And the Cursed Blades is perfect for giving those cavalry, Ushabti, and other nasty constructs the edge on the offense.
*'''Neru's Incantation of Protection''': Grants 44% Physical Resistance for 6 WoM. Good for keeping your Tomb King rampaging through the enemy lines on his Warsphinx or giving one of your holding units unexpected resilience.
*'''Ptra's Incantation of Righteous Smiting''': The go-to spell for the missile-focused Tomb Kings player. Granting 40% bonus to missile and missile AP damage for another 6 WoM, this is a beastly spell when put on your artillery constructs which will really pile in the pressure on units trying to approach your lines.
*'''Usirian's Incantation of Vengeance''': The first damage spell for the lore and it's... disappointing. Does middling damage to units in a wide area while reducing their speed by 24%. Situational, potentially useful if built around correctly, but generally safe to ignore in favour of more buffs for the troops.
*'''Usekph's Incantation of Desiccation''': -24 MA and MD to enemy units in a huge area for a whopping 15 WoM. Generally not worth it unless you're planning to bust through an infantry line with your own, which works like none of the time with the slow infantry of the Tomb Kings
*'''Sakhmet's Incantation of the Skullstorm''': Generic magical damage vortex for 11 WoM. Impressive to look at, but not very efficient due to a smaller-than-average vortex radius.

===Lore of the Wild (Beastmen)===
:'''Passive - ''Bestial Surge''''': When ever you cast you gain an extra 18% Charge Bonus and 5% vigour. Needless to say in a speedy hit and run faction like the Beastmen you will need as much of both as you can get.
*'''Viletide''': For 7 winds of magic you get an AOE kaboom that deals decent damage to unarmoured troops. Great for when you are in a grind and need to get the chaff out of the way so that you can fight better stuff but won't do dick against armour.
*'''Bray-Scream''' A cone shaped wind spell that can do decent damage with decent AP. It has very short range but for 5 Winds of Magic it can actually get you some very good damage against infantry with a ton of armor.
*'''Devolve''': For 11 winds this thing is essentially a mini Final Transmutation, and can do some serious damage to large unit sizes (100 and up ideally). Plus the leadership debuff can help with getting the enemy into a rout so you can chase them off. This is your best blob destroying spell and it's decent for what it is. All direct damage spells ignore armor. It does 1100 damage max, 2300 overcast both only against big enough units. Very cost efficient.
*'''Traitor-Kin''': Essentially an AOE Spirit Leech in that instead of doing a ton of damage to several models at once it will drain one model at a time til it dies and move to the next one. This means that it doesn't do as much damage as Devolve but will kill models. It also supplies a speed debuff for lord sniping, which is great for a faction that relies on outrunning their enemies. It's expensive at 12 winds though
*'''Mantle of Ghorok''': The only buffing spell this list has. It provides a meaty 50 Base Weapon Damage, 40% Melee Attack and 50% AP. Needless to say this is amazing for such an aggressive faction and will turn Minotaurs and Bestigors into killing machines. There is the downside of the -30 armour but.. come on man, you're playing the Beastmen. Unless you use this thing on Bestigors you wont even notice. You'll be more turned off by the 11 winds cost. Probably better against armoured opponents.
*'''Savage Dominion''': Ok let's be real. If you're one of the 3 people in this game who play the Beastmen and you're taking this Lore of Magic into an online match, this is why you're bringing it. I don't really need to tell you why getting 2 Cygors for free is really, really good. Not only do you have a solid monster but you also have an artillery piece to rain death rocks from afar. I don't care if it's 18 Winds of Magic, it's easily the best spell in the lore. You can only use it twice though, so use it wisely.

===Lore of Vampires (Vampire Coast, Vampire Counts)===
:'''Passive - ''The Curse of Undeath''''': Heals every undead unit on the map for a small amount over the course of 5 seconds, but in contrast to the Lore of Lifes passive, it can also bring models back. Not a game changer, but free healing is always nice.
*'''Curse of Years''': Not worth it. A big AoE debuff that lowers Melee Defense and Speed at a whopping cost of 16 Winds of Magic. Its general effectiveness is additionally offset by the fact that your Skellies or Deckhands are not all that good at melee in the first place and the debuff just too weak against Lords and Heroes (which are usually the preferred targets for debuffs).
*'''Gaze of Nagash''': Practically interchangeable with Shen's burning gaze from the Lore of Light. Meek Projectile with mediocre damage that also has a hard time even hitting its intended target. Skip.
*'''Invocation of Nehek''': This and Wind of Death are the main reason why the Lore of Vampires is so extremely powerful. Invocation of Nehek brings a very cost-effective heal to the table at a meager 6 Winds of Magic that also resurrects dead models - for 12 on the overcast variant, you get a very big AoE heal that helps especially the many monstrous, low entity units the Counts are able to field. Pumping a half-dead Vargheist or Mourngul unit up a few models can really swing encounters in your favor, not to mention the amount of cheese you can get out of this spell by combining it with the multitude of passive regeneration abilities the Counts have on a lot of units. Maxing it out on Campaign also makes it even cheaper (bringing down the cost from 6/12 down to 5/10) and since it's your first spell, there is no reason to not do so.
*'''Raise Dead (Vampire Counts)''': Summons a unit of Zombies for just 7 Winds. Summons are always awesome, since you can summon these bois behind the melee moshpit for nice charges into the back of your enemy for the additional rear attack moral penalty, or just keeping a nasty unit in the place of your choosing. The mileage of this spell of course depends greatly on your own creativity. The overcast gives you Skeleton Warriors with swords, which is negligible and usually not worth the cost of 13 Winds.
*'''Vanhel's Danse Macabre''': Sweet Little and extremely cheap buff (only 4 winds, 6 when overcast) that grants +24 Melee Attack and Speed like an inverse Curse of Years. Can be worth it on units like Grave Guard or Black Knights, usually situational, unlike Curse of Years its very low costs make it very useful in a pinch or as last resort spell, when your Magic Reserves have dried up and there's nothing else left to cast.
*'''Wind of Death''': Feast your eyes and despair, for you look at the most powerful offensive spell in the entire game. The only thing holding back is its extremely high price tag of 20 Winds (25 when overcast), so one cast will essentially drain your entire magic pool. But your one shot may as well end the game the instant you get it off. A very fast-moving wind spell that ''will'' evaporate any high model count unit in a single cast with a terrifying reach due to high AP magic damage. It's still effective against units with lower model counts and/or magic resist since it deals so much damage.
*'''Drowned Dead (Vampire Coast)''': Similar to its Vampire Count cousin, Drowned Dead summons forth a squad of Zombie Gunmen to help shoot down your foes. Fitting for the Vampire Coast considering how much they love guns. The overcast version summons forth a Zombie Pirate Gunnery Mob, but with handguns so they have more fire power, giving you a stronger edge. How useful this spell is depends on where they are summoned.

===Lore of the Big Waaagh! (Greenskins)===
:'''Passive - ''Power of da Waaagh!''''': Functionally identical to the Lore of Death attribute, every time you cast a spell it increases the recharge rate for all spells. Nothing fancy, but still useful.
*'''Brain Bursta''': Basically a green fireball. Deals decent damage in a large area from a decent distance. You should probably focus on the other spells in the list.
*''''Eadbutt''': A short, wide little breath attack that sends enemies flying. Great for disrupting enemy formations and pushing clumps of enemies around.
*''''Ere We Go''': A buff that gives a unit [[rip and tear|+40 melee attack]], allowing even weedy little goblins to punch above their weight. Absolutely horrific when used on Black Orcs, but there's basically nothing in the greenskin roster that doesn't appreciate krumpin' stuff.
*'''Fists of Gork''': A cheaper alternative to 'Ere We Go that provides +24 melee attack and defense. It's better to use on a lord or hero to give them an edge in a duel, but 9 times out of 10 you'll want 'Ere We Go instead.
*'''Foot of Gork''': '''SPLAT!!''' Summon Gork himself to stomp the shit out of your enemies with one of the most powerful spells in the game. Creates a giant explosion of armour piercing damage that can win the entire battle on its own if cast on the right target. The winds of magic cost is really steep, especially when overcast; but the damage potential cannot be overstated.
*'''Gaze of Mork''': Often overlooked, but not completely useless. Gaze of Mork is a cheap precise sniper-rilfe style spell that does decent damage to a single entity. The best part of the spell is the long range, which is good for greenskins who normally struggle when the enemy is too far away. Overcasting lets it trade shots with artillery all the way across the map.

===Lore of the Little Waaagh! (Greenskins)===
:'''Passive - ''Sneaky Stealin'''''': The polar opposite of the Lore of the Big Waaagh! passive, this one increases the recharge time for enemy casters. An interesting trait, but the effectiveness depends very strongly on what the opponent is bringing.
*'''Curse of Da Bad Moon''': A hilarious looking vortex that bounces around the map, dealing damage and reducing the speed, armour, and melee attack of whatever it touches. A useful debuff, but the spell moves around like crazy and can often come back to your lines.
*'''Gork'll Fix It''': A targeted hex that reduces enemy speed, charge bonus, and vigor. Tailor made to counter knights and chariots, who should always be the first targets. A pretty cheap spell only costing 7 winds of magic, but you get what you pay for.
*'''Itchy Nuisance''': Another Hex, this one decreases enemy weapon damage and melee attack. More generally useful than Gork'll Fix It, but not nearly as good against knights.
*'''Nightshroud''': A strange buff that gives all friendly units in an area Stalk and Undetectable, making them functionally invisible. A great way to protect your slower units from enemy shooting. Note that Undetectable stops working if the unit attacks or casts a spell, so it's pretty much useless on your archers.
*'''Sneaky Stabbin'''': A cheap and weak little spell that gives the target 18% more AP damage and +34 melee attack. Because the bonus to AP is a percentage and not a flat amount, it doesn't do much on units that struggle against armored foes (you know, the ones that really need it). Most of the time the longer duration and better melee bonus of 'Ere We Go! is better, but if you don't have an orc shaman it can get the job done.
*'''Vindictive Glare''': Launches a bunch of little magic missiles into the target, doing moderate magic damage for each missile that hits. Best against big targets so all of the missiles can hit the same target. Anything that helps you against monsters is useful for Greenskins.

===Skaven Spells of Ruin (Skaven)===
:'''Passive - ''Musk of Fear''''': Upon casting a spell, enemy units are inflicted with -13 Melee Attack and -4 Leadership. Considering the relatively spammy nature of the Lore of Ruin (in particular Warp Lightning) this may help your tarpits out considerably but don't rely on it to turn the tide of battle on its own.
*'''Warp Lightning''': Cheap bombardment spell, iconic to non-Pestilens Skaven casters and surprisingly powerful for the cost. There are many ways to buff this spell in campaign but it's also perfectly serviceable in multiplayer. Don't ever be conservative with this spell - it's dirt-cheap and you'll need repeated casts of it to really dish out the hurt. Laugh maniacally like Ikit and blast those tarpitted blobs whenever you see them!
*'''Howling Warpgale''': Despite the situational nature of this spell, it is absolutely vital that you take this spell whenever you start acquiring weapons teams. Flying creatures and units are countered hard by Jezzails and Ratling Guns but it's their speed and other pressing concerns of regular cavalry that can often end in a Feral Manticore or others tearing through your helpless gunners. But with this spell you can pin those flying beasties in the air and make them easy targets for your artillery and snipers.
*'''Death Frenzy''': A straightforward combat buff that can turn an outmatched fight into a much more balanced one. It's tempting to cast this on Clanrats to try to hold the line longer but there are better uses for this spell, like letting that Plague Censer-Bearer unit tear through your opponent's elite infantry and eliciting a serious WTF moment from them as you blow a hole in their infantry centre with crazed great-weapon rats pumped full of magic.
*'''Scorch''': A thin breath spell. One of the disappointments of the otherwise serviceable Lore of Ruin, it has a rather small hitbox that deals middling damage to anything not unarmoured chaff. Since the Skaven have better ways of dealing with unarmoured chaff, you're better off skipping this one.
*'''Flensing Ruin''': An unusual area-damage spell that is supposedly Warp Lightning's superior but in truth it suffers from overly high cost in exchange for improved damage against armoured enemies. Skaven have much better non-magic AP weapons to kill their foes with, and casting this means less castings of Warp Lightning - skip this one too.
*'''Crack's Call''': Another area damage spell, this time a straight wind spell that's similar to Flensing Ruin in its AP potential. The shape of the wind spell lends itself well to thinning out hapless infantry eating up your Skavenslaves and Clanrats, so it's up to you if you want to use this as a in-between the Warp Lightning casts you're hopefully already spamming.
*'''The Dreaded Thirteenth Spell (Exclusive to Grey Seers of Ruin)''': ''Now'' we're talking. While only Grey Seer of Ruin lords can take this, it's the one spell both old 8th Edition veterans and Total War players will take regardless because of its sheer WTF potential - it's a large-area explosion spell that spawns a unit of sword-and-board Stormvermin right on top of whatever unfortunate infantry are left alive from the blast. The high Winds of Magic cost and long cooldown make this a risky proposition but when you see that chance to flip the table on that blob of chaff and create a dangerous opening in your opponent's formation, you turn to this spell.

===Skaven Spells of Plague (Skaven)===
:'''Passive - ''Plague Rash''''': Upon casting a spell in this Lore, inflicts -12% Speed on all enemies on the map. Absolutely amazing debuff, when combined with the sheer number of summons you can throw at incoming cavalry and fast movers, undoubtedly makes this Skaven lore not only the best for Skaven but one of the strongest Lores in the game.
*'''Bless with Filth''': Cheap poison attacks buff. Nothing much to say, it's a nice way of making those Clanrat Spears extra nasty against the big stuff. Gutter runners with poison slings are arguably more efficient.
*'''Pestilent Breath''': The signature breath spell for Plague casters. Good coverage, damage and low cost makes this a staple for clearing out enemy tarpits in short order. Despite not being very effective against armor, it can potentially disrupt the formation with the breath effect which you can take advantage of.
*'''Vermintide''': The earliest summon spell any of the Skaven casters can get and by far one of the most useful. Do not underestimate being able to suddenly summon Clanrats out of nowhere, they can easily become annoying roadblocks against enemy cavalry or delay infantry advances so that your artillery can shoot at them more. In a pinch, you can even throw them behind a unit in combat as a cheap way to inflict outflanked debuffs.
*'''Wither''': -30 Armour doesn't sound like much of a debuff but Wither stands out by having its duration be longer than the cooldown - meaning with patience you can make those high-armor targets naked for a brief period for maximum rape. Best to use this one on units already in combat that you really want dead quickly, either from grenades or Plague Monk attacks.
*'''Plague''': The best AoE damage spell the Skaven have by far and the most visually impressive as well. Absolutely amazing for crushing mobs of any kind while they eat worthless Clanrats from Vermintide, it has a stupidly low casting cost for the effect and damage area. The Plague is not to be trifled with and can turn the tide of the battle with careful usage.
*'''Pestilent Birth''': While Vermintide is the more defensive summon spell in this lore, this spell is for more aggressive players who would much rather like to win the infantry fight by any means. With this spell you can spawn a unit of Plague Monks nearby the caster - terrific for nasty back attacks or adding unexpected pressure onto an enemy unit chewing up Skavenslaves. A devastating spell if positioned correctly but still useful even if misplaced.

===Skaven Spells of Stealth (Skaven)===
:'''Passive - ''Toxic Rain''''': Applies Poison in and AOE around the caster. A weird passive that encourages you to keep your mage close to the enemy, which is normally the last place that you would want to keep you caster, especially one without any mount options. One of the many reasons why this is widely considered the worst lore of magic in the entire game.
*'''Skitterleap''': Grants Stalk, Unspottable and a small speed boost to all of the allies affected. Designed as an ambush spell that allows you to quickly move units around in a position to outflank your enemy. Given that this lore was designed to be used with Clan Eshin units it really only helps out said Eshin units. Other than that Skaven aren't much of a flanking faction so it doesn't help them out that much. Overcasting increases the AOE
*'''Warp Stars''': Fires a bunch of AP magic missiles at a target, increasing the number of projectiles when overcasted. Good for poking down units before a main engagement, though it doesn't do as much damage as other missile spells.
*'''Veil of Shadows''': Causes a massive explosion but does now damage. Designed to displace enemy units and provide a big hole for your units to run through. Great for unclogging gates in sieges against the AI, but the usefulness is questionable since a lot of spell have a similar effect and, you know, actually kill things. Overcast version slows as well.
*'''Armour of Darkness''': Provides armour and missile resistance for a limited amount of time, little extra if overcasted. Once again, since this lore is designed for Clan Eshin units it can help them be a bit more resilient in combat.
*'''Black Whirlwind''': A big AOE damage spell that displaces enemies and causes big damage. This is your crowd clearing spell, and to be fair it's actually not that bad at the job that it's supposed to do. It's biggest problem is other spells, even from other Skaven lores do the same thing more cost effectively. Overcast does more AP damage.
*'''Brittle Bone''': Lowers the speed, vigour, and Melee Defense of a target, making it AOE on overcast. A solid anti Cavalry spell that might actually allow the faster units in your army to catch up to them and bring them down. Probably the best spell on the list, which kind of goes to show how lack luster this particular Lore of Magic is in the first place.

===Rune Magic (Dwarfs)===
: No passive for you. Dwarfs don't use the winds of magic, so every spell in the Runic Magic will be completely free and instead rely on cooldowns that all spells share with each other - i.e. you cast one Rune, all of them will go on cooldown.
*'''Rune of Negation''': Gives a unit 40% damage resistance for 24 seconds, 40 seconds if you overcast. This is pretty nice if you really want a unit to hold the line better than they already do (Ironbreakers with this will be untouchable)..
*'''Rune of Oath and Steel''': You give a unit 30 extra armor, 60 if overcast. Honestly, this is probably the worst rune in the list due to diminishing returns. Dwarfs already have high armor so just giving them more doesn't really help them out in any way. Unless you're putting this on Slayers to help them against missiles, this one is probably best left skipped.
*'''Rune of Wrath and Ruin''': Casts a big fire explosion roughly the size of an Awakening of the Wood, and does extra AP when overcast. This will probably be one of the go to spells on the list since Dwarfs would love a big burst spell to help clear out chaff.
*'''Rune of Breaking''': Imbues Armor Sundering and extra base and AP Weapon Strength for 33 seconds, 55 if overcast. Can be really good for your frontline when fighting heavy armor enemies since you can cause your standard infantry to do more damage and help your non AP missiles burn down armor better.
*'''Rune of Speed''': Gives 24 melee attack and 45% speed for 18 seconds, 30 if overcast. Want to make Hammerers useful? Bring this. Having a rune that briefly covers one of your big weaknesses can help you actually use offensive tactics.
*'''Rune of Slowness''': Reduces Charge Bonus by 40%, Charge Speed and normal speed by 45% for 30 seconds, 45 if overcast. Really helps deal with chariots and cavalry, acting as a snare to help your missiles or Slayers get a hold of them.

===Lore of Ice (Kislev)===
:'''Passive - ''Frost Shield''''': Upon casting, all friendly units gain an increased 15 armor and 12 missile block chance. Considering that this is a faction that is a bit lacking in armor additional protection against missiles will not be a bad thing to have.
*'''Ice Maiden's Kiss''': This is going to be your cost effective "get this low armor chaff off the field so my units can kill something more important" spell. It's pretty much just Wind Blast only with an ice theme and you use it pretty much the same way.
*'''Ice Sheet''': An area of effect spell that lowers enemy Speed and Charge Speed by 48% for 17 seconds. Obviously, this is going to be great against factions that rely on cavalry or are just very mobile in general. Since Winged Lancers and Gryphon Legion are very fast by heavy cav standards, you can use this to let them catch up to units they shouldn't be able to and dominate them. You can also make them easy targets for your ranged troops. Obviously there is no reason to bring this against super immobile factions like Dwarfs but all in all a solid spell against the right foe.
*'''Frost Blades''': Your only aggressive buffing ability, it provides 25 % weapon strength and AP and gives a unit 25 melee attack. Using this on Tzar Guard can turn this from pretty decent infantry to surprisingly scary shredders, though given that the strength of your army relies on your missiles and cav you could argue that it is a waste to put this with your infantry.
*'''Death Frost''': Spirit Leech but icy. Yeah, that's pretty much it. It does more damage that Spirit Leech though, so use it to help get rid of any single entities on the enemy list.
*'''Crystal Sanctuary''': Now THIS is what you want to use on your infantry. It grants a unit 66% damage resistance at the expense of not being able to move. Considering that your units aren't the best damage sponges this can really help you get a solid anchor in your infantry line since odds are they won't be moving any way. Put this on Tzar Guard and they will be holding for as long as Dwarfs.
*'''Heart of Winter''': The big damage AOE spell that also slows. It's a long duration spell that has 5 different stages, each stage increasing in both damage and slow. You can get up to a 60% slow if they stay in here for long enough. Of course, you have to worry about enemies just being able to walk out of it, so you may need to think of a way to lock them down. It's also very expensive, so probably a better in campaign then multiplayer spell.

===Lore of Tempest (Kislev)===
*'''Gust of True Flight''': Grants a friendly missile unit increased range and accuracy. When overcast, it affects all units in an area.
*'''Hailstorm''': An icy version of the Lore of Fire's Piercing Bolts of Flame, bombarding an area with projectiles, and can be overcast for a longer duration and more projectiles.
*'''Swiftwing''': Grants friendly units inside an area increased speed and charge bonus. Overcast to affect a larger area. Probably going to be essential any time you're bringing a lot of cavalry to the fight.
*'''Biting Wind''': Your basic damage wind spell. Can be overcast for increased damage, specially of the armor-piercing variety.
*'''Hawks of Miska''': Your run of the mill, randomly moving damaging vortex, only it also applies Discouraged, reducing Leadership. Overcast for increased damage.
*'''Blizzard''': Big bad stationary vortex that deals heavy damage in a large area and also applies Frostbite that slows enemies. Overcast for increased damage.

===Lore of Yang (Grand Cathay)===
*'''Jade Shield''': Protective buff that gives a unit damage resistance, overcast it to increase the duration.
*'''Dragon's Breath''': Basic breath spell that, according to the description, also leaves behind a field of fire that damages enemies. Overcast for increased damage.
*'''Wall of Wind & Fire''': Pretty unique as far as wind spells go, as instead of being narrow and fast it's wide and slow. Overcast for bonus armor piercing damage.
*'''Stone Ground Stance''': Grants friendly units inside an area increased mass, Expert Charge Defense and bonus leadership. For when you really need your line to hold against cavalry and big monsters. Overcast to affect a larger area.
*'''Might of Heaven & Earth''': Grants a friendly unit magical attacks and flaming attacks, increased melee attack, weapon strength and armor-piercing damage. Overcast for a bigger bonus. Can turn your big melee hitters into absolute blenders.
*'''Constellation of the Dragon''': Makes a big area go kaboom for huge damage. Overcast for increases armor-piercing damage.

===Lore of Yin (Grand Cathay)===
:'''Passive - ''Power of Yin''''': Reduces Armor and speed of nearby enemies for a few seconds after casting a spell.
*'''Storm of Shadows''': Greatly reduces an enemy unit's speed. Overcast to affect all enemy units inside an area.
*'''Cloak of Jet''': Grants a friendly unit Snipe, Stalk and Unspottable, and can be overcast for a longer duration.
*'''Missile Mirror''': Probably the most unique spell of the bunch, you choose an enemy unit and for a few seconds reflect all their projectiles back at them. Can be overcast for a longer duration and larger range. Just imagine the hilarity of dropping this on some Ratling Guns or a Helstorm Rocket Battery. Might not be as good in multiplayer, as the other player can simply tell the unit to stop firing while the spell lasts.
*'''Blossom Wind''': Wind spell that also applies Blinded, so another spell that hampers missile troops. Overcast for increased armor-piercing damage.
*'''Talons of Night''': Bog-standard vortex, it's stationary so that's a plus. Overcast for bonus damage.
*'''Ancestral Warriors''': Summons a unit of halberd-wielding Ancestral Warriors, and can be overcast for longer range. Summon spells are always good, particularly for missile factions like Cathay who like chaff units to hold the enemy back while blasting them with projectiles.

===Lore of Tzeentch (Daemons of Tzeentch)===
: Many of Tzeentch's spells apply Warpflame, which reduces Armor and Fire Resistance.
:'''Passive - ''Fires of Change''''': Ward Save for all units for a few seconds after casting a spell.
*'''Blue Fire of Tzeentch''': Single-target magic missile that applies Warpflame. Overcast for increased armor-piercing damage.
*'''Pink Fire of Tzeentch''': Breath spell that applies Warpflame. Overcast for bonus damage.
*'''Treason of Tzeentch''': A debuff spell that lowers the Leadership of all enemy units inside an area and, if overcast, also their melee attack. Tzeentch has pretty poor melee, so something like this is useful to tip the scales.
*'''Glean Magic''': Increases your army's power reserves and recharge speed while reducing the opponent's. When overcast, the effect lasts longer. Obviously great for a heavily magic-based faction like Tzeentch.
*'''Tzeentch's Firestorm''': A randomly moving vortex that applies Warpflame, although a slightly more unique one, as it's actually three columns of flame moving randomly in an area, not just one single vortex. Overcast for increased armor-piercing damage.
*'''Infernal Gateway''': Stationary, high damage vortex. Overcast for increased armor-piercing damage. Does not apply Warpflame.

===Lore of Nurgle (Daemons of Nurgle)===
*'''Miasma of Pestilence''': Reduces the melee attack and charge bonus of an enemy unit, and can be overcast to affect all enemies inside an area.
*'''Stream of Corruption''': Basically Pestilent Breath from the Skaven's Lore of Plague, cone that deals damage and applies Poison, but thin and long instead of short and wide. Overcast for bonus damage.
*'''Curse of the Leper''': Despite its name, actually a buff. Grants armour and damage reflection (!) to an allied unit, increasing when overcast. Numbers are still unknown, but damage reflection in melee is a pretty unique effect, so one to watch out for.
*'''Rancid Visitations''': Bog-standard direct damage spell on an enemy unit that can be overcast for bonus damage.
*'''Blight Boil''': There's something hilarious about basically popping a giant zit on the enemy. Explosion spell that can be overcast for increased damage.
*'''Fleshy Abundance''': Hell yeah. Targeted healing that can be overcast to affect all units inside an area. Nurgle is the tanky demon faction, so just imagine your opponent tearing their hair out as you just heal the damage they struggled to deal to your lardy dudes.

===Lore of Slaanesh (Daemons of Slaanesh)===
*'''Lash of Slaanesh''': Whip your enemies until they scream "harder dadd-" *ahem* I mean, deals damage in a cone, sends enemies flying, overcast for bonus armor-piercing.
*'''Acquiescence''': Debuffs a unit's melee defense and speed, overcast for a great reduction in speed.
*'''Hysterical Frenzy''': Increases a unit's melee attack and armor-piercing, but also makes them Rampage. Overcast for greater armor-piercing damage. Does not specify if it can be used on enemy units, but having an on-demand Rampage button for missile troops or artillery would be hilarious, not to mention that, as Witch Elves demonstrate, Rampage can act as a pretty tough CC that keeps units your opponent controls out of his hand for a good amount of time.
*'''Pavane of Slaanesh''': Direct damage spell that also reduces melee attack, and can be overcast for a longer duration.
*'''Slicing Shards''': Bombards an area with projectiles, can be overcast for increased damage.
*'''Phantasmagoria''': Reduces Leadership and PREVENT MOVEMENT for all units inside an area, overcast for a longer duration. You thought Net of Amyntok was strong? Here's her older, hotter, meaner sister. A potential problem (if CA doesn't rework how difficulty in the campaign works, that is) is that the leadership debuff is nullified by the buffs the AI gets - then it becomes just a far less efficient Net of Amyntok, in a faction that unlike, say, Tomb Kings or Empire has little trouble outmanuvering its opponent, hasn't got artillery or missile units to speak of that would need protection against cavalry and as such gets far less use out of an immobilization spell like this...

===Lore of the Great Maw (Ogres)===
*'''Braingobbler''': a -16 debuff to leadership
*'''Bullgorger''': Armour Piecing increased by 25% and melee attack increased by +24
*'''Bonecrusher''': Explosive Spell
*'''Toothcracker''': +30 armour and 22% added to missile resist
*'''The Maw''': A bigger explosion
*'''Trollguts''': A Health Regen spell
{{Total War Warhammer Tactics}}

Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Dark Elves

2021-12-30T04:55:31Z

2601:844:4300:2939:E09D:FCC1:F35D:EBDF: /* Campaign Strategies */

{{Topquote|Skulls for Khaine! Blood for Khaine!|Game battle chant for Dark Elves. Why does it sound familiar...}}
This is the tactica for the [[Total War: Warhammer]] version of the Dark Elves.

==Why Play Dark Elves==
*Because you'd like your elves to take their arrogance to the next level and just start murdering people for the crime of not being elves.
*Because you believe that everything looks roughly 1000 times better when covered in spikes.
*Because you enjoy the inherent power fantasy that comes from playing a big spiky asshole out to conquer and enslave.
*You like a versatile unit roster with some serious killing power.
*Because being the good guy is just so boring sometimes.

===Pros===
*'''AP for Days''': If you're playing Dark Elves and having a hard time with armoured troops, you're playing them wrong. A large chunk of the roster has majority AP damage, so armor should be the least of your concerns.
*'''Solid Range''': While you may not be the shootiest of factions, the Dark Elves are more than capable. They are fully capable of melting enemy units before they close to melee with the right build.
*'''Mobility''': You're not as good at it as the Asrai, but with a ton of good light cav and infantry like Witch Elves and Sisters of Slaughter, you are able to get around the battlefield pretty damn fast. Light Cav tactics are a favorite among Dark Elf players.
*'''Powerful Lords''': When it comes to lord options, you are spoiled for choice. Most of their lords are at the very least decent and some like Malekith can carry an entire army to victory if given the time.
*'''Flexibility''': Thanks to Murderous Prowess, you can play offense unlike a lot of factions can. You can also play Defense, kite, heavy monster focus and all-around can use whatever tactic you can think of with these guys.
*'''Strong Economy''': Your economy is god-tier, and this is even before you bring in trade. Raking in high numbers of Slaves all but guarantees that your cash flow reaches insane levels which you can further boost by abusing the Master hero who reduces Slave decay to the point that they literally cannot decay anymore. Combine this with the extremely generous discounts on Black Arks and your pockets will never be empty again.
*'''Naval Supremacy''': An often overlooked, but still important feature is that your Black Arks can dominate the oceans of the world and keeping your homeland secure from any threats. The only faction that rivals your naval power are (big surprise here) the Vampire Coast.

===Cons===
*'''Frail''': Okay, so you don't have it as bad as the Wood Elves, since many of your units are bringing actual armor to the fight, but you're still a glass cannon rush faction. Running into a faction that can simply outlast your burst of melee damage once Murderous Prowess proccs, can and will give you a lot of trouble.
*'''Limited Range''': Their ranged units aren't bad, in fact, Darkshards are extremely good for their cost, but they don't shoot very far. Even some gunpowder units will outrange you, and most factions will get one or two shots off before you get in position.
*'''Unreliable Heavy Cav''': The Stupidity of Cold Ones Knights in this game got translated to Rampage, meaning if they take too much damage, you lose control and they charge forward to probably die if you're facing a smart opponent. Similar to the Lizardmen, but unlike them, you don't have a way to make them stop. [[Fail|Even Malus, who specializes in Cold Ones and had a rule that allowed them to ignore stupidity, can't get rid of rampage]]. The addition of Rakarth finally gives you an ability that allows Cold Ones to ignore Rampage, ironically making him a better Cold One specialist than the ACTUAL Cold One specialist. - they were reworked to only frenzy at 20% health or less, so it’s mostly a positive now. Still not amazing but good with campaign buffs from beast-master lords
*'''Lack of Healing''': You're the only Elven faction with no multi-target healing. The only thing you have is Soul Stealer, which only heals the caster. Combine this with your low health pools, and your units will die a lot faster than their tanky statline might lead you to believe.
*'''Expensive''': Not as much as High Elves, but still pretty pricey. Expect to be outnumbered most of the time.
*'''Poor Public Order''': Being the quarrelsome lot that they are, Dark Elves suffer from a multitude of public order penalties (especially once you have a lot of slaves) and don't have a lot of tools to counter them; managing it can quickly devolve into a frantic nightmare, particularly on high difficulties.
*'''No Encampments''': If you are away from your territory, you can't recruit new guys while encamping. This can be offset somewhat with Black Arks, though that's not an option in regions far from the coast.
*'''DLC''': Scourgerunners and Supreme Sorceresses are some of your best units. They also cost extra. As with most Non DLC factions, you will need to pay extra money to be consistent in multiplayer

==Universal Traits==
*'''Murderous Prowess''': A passive, army-wide ability that gives all units on the map considerable offensive bonuses after you hit a certain threshold of kills (usually around 30-50% of the enemy force). Hard to time right and difficult to control, but extremely effective regardless. Seeing your Corsairs, Shades, and whatnot go into overdrive for 90 seconds is a scary and satisfying spectacle to behold. For a few units, the effect lasts 120 seconds instead of 90.
*'''Slaves''': You get slaves by raiding, winning battles, and looting/sacking settlements. Slaves go to your cities to do the crapwork and are gradually worked to death turn by turn. The Druchii can make a hell of a lot of money by capturing slaves. However the more slaves you've got the harder it is to control them, which leads to unrest.
*'''Black Arks''': A special kind of campaign unit that acts as one of the two true "navies" in the entire game, Black Arks can only exist on the water but they are essentially floating garrisoned cities that can also let your other armies recruit and exchange from them. A powerful incentive for any Druchii player to adopt the raiding lifestyle and an excellent tool for mobile defence across Naggaroth's extensive coastline.

==Lords==

===Legendary Lords===
*'''[[Malekith]]''': Warhammer's rendition of Darth Vader with severe mummy issues arrived on the scene, and he doesn't mess around. A monster of a Hybrid LL, he is everything the likes of Azhag the Slaughterer and Arkhan the Black wish they could be. He punches hard, gets a Dragon relatively early on and his spellcasting doesn't disappoint either. You can hardly go wrong with Malekith.
*'''[[Morathi]]''' : Morathi is a ''very'' weird animal (There's gotta be a sex joke in here somewhere). Unlike many other Legendary Lords, her skill tree is the only one in the game where you actually get to make meaningful choices, as she can alternate between ridiculously powerful spellcasting and good backline harasser, both paths are viable. What sets her apart from other caster lords as her spellcasting is concerned is that, like Teclis, she doesn't specialize in single lore and her pool of spells draws from the Lores of Dark, Death, and Shadows and favors all-out offensive spells from all of them. Arguably the second-best Caster Lord in the game, just behind Teclis.
*'''[[Hellebron]] (DLC)''' : Hellebron exists in her own little niche. Barely armored like Witch Elves, but really, really bloody fast and a buffmachine for your already busted murdermachine frontline. She excels in prolonged combat, preferably against lightly armored chaff and will rack a high kill count very quickly but will cave against elite units and other single entity monsters or characters.
: Get a unique campaign mechanic of her vitality slowly draining way and have to progressively sacrifice more slaves during the Death Night to keep the faction buffed instead of Debuffed, but also create a new stack of frenzied elves to attack [[Ulthwe]].
*'''[[Lokhir Fellheart]] (FLC)''' : Lord of the [[Black Ark]]s. He is a cheaper blender lord in comparison to Hellebron, being a well-armored Infantry blender while on foot like a Vlad von Carstein without magic. CA also gave him his own Dragon mount which only make him better than a Dread Lord on dragon when he pops his attack buffs.
:the Drukii pirate lord starts in the thunder dome that is Lustria but can have a lot of freedom by starting with a middle settlement that is a Black Ark.
*'''[[Malus Darkblade]] (DLC)''': an unremarkable lord until he lets the deamon take over, and then he is a melee powerhouse. Using Malus in combat is like burning a candle wick, his Tz'arkan form and abilities are powerful drain his hit points so know when he should be in deamon or Malus mode. He does have Resistance and Healing in combat so he won't burn out as fast in a fight(More or less since he may take more overall damage depending on what he fights)
:in campaign his battle with his inner deamon is a game mechanic, with having a possession meeter, giving you greater campaign bonuses while Malus is mostly in control, but as Tz'arkan slowly takes over, he gains greater battle prowess but at the cost of large penalties to your empire. You control the possession by drinking a potion that gets progressively more expensive until you finish his storyline to make it free. Tz'arkan will also offer an additional quest to increase the possession but with very good payoffs. For your start position, you get a Black ark in the Southern Land, in addition, have your traditional Drukii hold, [[Hag Graef]], that you can sell for a lot of money but have to listen to [[Malekith]] (which will be an AI) or make it harder by having to run and protect the dame place yourself while also declaring on the big cheese.
*'''Rakarth (FLC)''' Your man you pick if you want to go for a full monster build. he comes with heavy armor and Anti Large to deal with enemy big monsters while also providing buffs to his own beasties. He will also have a Scourgerunner for skirmishing, a Manticore and a Dragon for a straight up brawl. He serves as your best counter to mounters, with his whip being able to strip Fear and Terror from monsters (leaving said monsters susceptible to fear and terror) and armor that gives him buffs as enemy monsters are around him. He's also being voiced by [[A Song of Ice and Fire|Ramsay Bolton]].

===Generic Lords===
*'''Dread Lord (Melee & Ranged)''': Your two generic lord with one focused on melee and has a shield while the other is a hybrid that focuses on shooting. In multiplayer, their ability change to help them buff their respective areas, Sword & Shield having buffs to melee attacks and debuffing enemy damage, while Sword & Crossbow supports other crossbows unit while also being a sniper, and gives a burst bonus to Ld.
*'''Supreme Sorceress (DLC)''': Makes a Sorceress as a lord for money-saving cost.
*'''High Beastmaster (DLC)''': Your monster hunter Lord. not as tanky in melee as a Dread Lord but deals a good amount of anti-large damage in addition to his burst of additional weapon strength. is Also is supportive by giving a single unit a big buff as they charge into melee (don't yet specify anything except can't be used on characters, so go crazy on an Executioners charge). Can Come on a Scouregrunner Chariot(roll though everyone while armed with a ballast) or ride a Manticore which has proven to be cost-effective flying monsters. Can give a big boost to cold ones and monsters in campaign as well as recruiting them faster. If running cavalry or monster stacks, likely your best option. The big MA/MD/ and charge boost they give colds ones really makes them preform better.

==Heroes==
*'''Death Hag''' : Single-entity Witch Elves dialed up to 11. Death Hags excel as extremely vicious infantry blenders with a lot of speed of behind them and, as an added bonus, a variety of buff abilities that make them even deadlier. They tend to get the shorter end of the stick against dedicated duelist characters and their only mount option consists of the Cauldron of Blood, which, to be frank, is a waste, since it sacrifices offensive power and speed for more durability, something that Death Hags with their high Melee Defense don't really need. I’m not sure what the above was talking about, death hags kinda suck on foot like most foot heroes, the mount is good vs infantry and makes them actually pretty tough plus buffs nearby units. Always mount in campaign, foot may have more use in multiplayer I guess.
*'''Sorceress''' : Caster bitches in the flavours of Death, Dark, Shadows, Beasts, and Fire.
*'''Khainite Assassin''' : good on campaign map, terrible in an actual fight.
*'''Master (DLC)''' : Tyrants in Training who never graduate in game to Dreadlords :(. Masters are your tanky Dark Elf hero. You can’t really overuse these, they are amazing. Ap anti large heavily armored high stat combat monsters with great mount options, the guardian skill, easy recruitment from a tier 3 building, the ability to reduce slave decline to zero if stacked, access to martial names of power granting incredibly powerful bonuses, easy to recruit at level 9 and up in any 4 city province. A doom stack of these with the regeneration or hunger/frenzy skill name of power and access to the extra melee attack army wide or leadership reduction traits is probably the campaigns deadliest hero doomstack, rivaling or beating Isabella vampire stacks or lizardmen hero spam. Really, really good heroes. And easier to spam then any comparable hero. Recommend cold one for ground duty (extra armor and ap) or Pegasus for flying (fast and flying with good charge but no shield). Foot is ok too but generally mounts are more than worth it for mobility alone.

==Units==

===Infantry===
*'''Dreadspears''': Your most basic spearmen unit in the DE roster. They're... alright? They lack an offensive punch and High Elf Spearman performs better at the job they are supposed to be doing, being to hold the line to stop enemy cavalry punching through to your precious archers. They work fine in the early game, as well as being cheap, but don't rely on them for too long.
**'''The Hellebronai (RoR)''': Dreadspears that are a bit better in general with poison attacks.
*'''Bleakswords''': The offensive counterpart to Dreadspears, just as basic, just as mediocre. Their only redeeming feature is their large shield. They have more damage potential ''in theory'' but this more or less comes down to what they are facing; they will hold up well against Goblins and Empire State Troops, but basically anyone can hold up well against these units. As with Dreadspears: Okay for the early game, drop them the moment something better becomes available. Seriously only use dreadspears. Never use these. Dreadspears are better defensively and have anti large, the slightly higher MA will never be worth losing antilarge. Alternate Opinion, they're rather cost effective being fairly cheap, are well shielded and can beat most other infantry at their price point and in the early phases of the game. If you take things into consideration they can be quite useful, just don't expect them to move mountains.
*'''Black Ark Corsairs''' : ...These guys. Oh, these guys. Frail as all hell, but worth it. Corsairs should make up the majority of melee troops of your midgame armies as soon as they become available. Their raw damage output as well as their armour (having a value of 90, putting them on the same level as dwarf warriors!) makes them a solid frontline and they will cut down all basic infantry used against them with ease and surprising speed. Their easy availability combined with a reasonable price make sure they are always a good choice, especially against horde-centric factions. One glaring weakness is their lack of AP damage. - whoever wrote the above likes corsairs way too much, they’re good but non synergistic with usual dark elf campaign strategies of crossbow spam. And they aren’t worth using after the early game. You can honestly never use them and just go dreadspears and darkshards and usually do better in the early campaign. I hear they are nice in multiplayer, but campaign wise meh.
*'''Witch Elves''': Talk about glass cannons, Witch Elves are a really weird bunch. They have no armour, but (try to) compensate for this with 20% physical resistance and a 5% ward save after you research technologies. In exchange, they excel in melee attack and apply debuffs to enemy forces attacked by them. The debuff in itself is very unique, as it not only debuffs enemy melee stats but also sends them on a rampage; causing them to stay way longer in a fight which they otherwise would be comfortable with. This is especially useful against all elven factions, since you can lure their expensive specialized elite tropps in matchups that they are not equipped to deal with (i.e. Swordmasters against a Hydra or a Dragon) and ''reliably keep them there''. Well at least as long as your Witch Elves survive the encounter, which, given that their only defense is a meager 28 melee defense and a 5% ward save, might not be that long...
**'''Sisters of Singing Doom (RoR)''' :
*'''Sisters of Slaughter (DLC)''': They wear even less clothes than Witch Elves do, yet are more resilient. Strangely. Their extremely high melee defense, among the best a single unit has, and their missile resistance of 20% make them surprisingly tough to crack, despite being able to easily dispatch many kinds of troops. As one of the few resilient Dark Elven melee units, their job is to dispatch units with otherwise high defensive stats, like Phoenix Guard or Helbardiers, where their melee defense in conbination with their bonus vs. infantry lets them reliably come out on top. Additionally, they come with a unique passive that boost their melee defense and physical resist even further as long as they are losing their current encounter, which makes them surprisingly viable as a high damaging tarpit unit. These and black guard compete to be your best frontline, against elite ap infantry sisters can last up to twice as long because of high physical resist, poison, and amazing stats.
*'''Executioners''': The offensive counterpart to the Black Guards, your ol' reliable murderers of heavy armoured elite troops and anything in between. They won't last long, but kill everything in their path. Frail, especially against missiles, but as a Dark Elf player, you're used to that. I don’t recommend these, they’re fragile, slow and they have weirdly low melee stats compacted to your other elite units. You can replace these with cold one dread knights even. Seriously with the change to primal instincts dread knights have massively higher stats especially with beast master lords skills. And otherwise fill the exact same role but do it better and faster.
**'''Blades of the Blood Queen (RoR)''' :
*'''Black Guard''': Extremely beefy, these are your dedicated elite line holders and monster slayers. Remember murderous prowess makes them into an absolute force of destruction. And they have very good stats, the only downside is knowing that they’ll never be as awesome as Phoenix guard. Even if they can be offensively much deadlier the survivability of Phoenix guard is insane.

===Missile Infantry===
*'''Darkshards''': Basic Dark Elf ranged unit and all and all pretty darn good for the entire game. Indirect fire with pretty good AP makes them very useful, especially when focusing on firing key targets into oblivion. For a little extra, you can get these guys with shields which makes them excellent in an arrow exchange, which is important given [[High Elves|who one of your biggest foes is]] always go shields.
**'''The Bolt-Fiends (ROR)''' : The cool thing about these guys is that they degrade and nullify shields.
*'''Black Ark Corsairs (Repeater Handbows)''': A mixed bag, making up for the relative lack of skirmish units in the Dark Elf roster. Surprisingly mobile and difficult to catch, their biggest strength is easily their flexibility. Nice vs skaven early on.
*'''Shades''': Don't let the low model count discourage you, Shades rank among the best Missile Troops in the game. The high rate of Fire, high damage output, and even decent in melee, especially with greatswords. Actually not really that much better than dark shards if you just use them as archers, much more expensive for only slightly better ranged performance. However if combined with a shadow dart name of power lord can be as good or better than sisters of avelorn. 210 or more range, crazy ap, and better in melee than the sisters by a large margin due to AP and anti infantry. Even with all that taken into account you need a specific name of power, some later technologies, and the red skill tree to make them as good/slightly better than the sisters. And they cost 50% more upkeep with great swords than sisters do. Which really just shows how op sisters are in campaign.

===Cavalry===
*'''Dark Riders''': Your extremely quick light cavalry, comparable to most other units of their class. One key feature is that they are actually fast enough to chase down most other missile cavalry. If your micromanagement skills hold up, Dark Riders can terrorize the enemy backline very efficiently and do so at the highest speed any base game cavalry unit offers, but they get vaporized the instant their charge bonus wears off, so will need to keep the cycle charges going.
*'''Dark Riders (Crossbows)''': changes light melee skirmish cavalry into ranged harassment cavalry. As using repeater Crossbows, they fire two shots of primarily AP damage. As always Useful to annoying poke an enemy to death but also those higher armor units that are normally resistant to those shenanigans. (most other factions only get close-range hand axes or more squisher handguns)
**'''The Raven Heralds (ROR)''': Rather distinct from their vanilla Dark Riders, these guys ride Dark Pegusii and can fly around the battlefield.
*'''Doomfire Warlocks (DLC)''': Really, really weird hybrid unit. In melee they have actually pretty good attack with magic and poison and charge, plus an aoe melee attack animation. They also have 40% physical resist to help keep them alive. One key advantage they have over comparable light to medium cavalry is their ability to fling around the Doombolt spell from the Lore of Dark and Soulblight from the Lord of Death as bound spells. A unit of these is pretty much always useful if nothing else, plus they look great.
**'''Slaanesh's Harvesters (ROR)''' :
*'''Cold One Knights''': A massive disappointment. Evil Elven Dino-Riders should be barrels of fun, alas. They are outclassed by any other medium cavalry they are supposed to be fighting against, really slow for a cavalry unit, have rampage, and share the frailty of all Dark Elves units. Don't bother with them. -actually they no longer have rampage just reworked primal instincts, which means they only rampage at 20% health or less. The new beast master lords can grant them plus 8 MA and MD plus 10 extra charge from their unique skills and another 8 to both from the red skill tree. With both of these they actually become cost effective anti cav. They trade favorable against much more expensive units.
*'''Cold One Dread Knights''': The same problems with the basic Cold One Knights are even worse here since they are exceedingly expensive and hard to get. Dread Knights actually rank among the worst units in the game. How can it get even worse, you might ask? Well, they are Shock Cavalry. On the lowest base speed of any true cavalry unit in the game, making it extremely difficult to get them out of melee combat once they're stuck in it and cycle charging nearly impossible. On top of all that, the bonus vs. large that nearly every high-tier Shock Cavalry in the game gets is also denied to them. - same as cold one knights, the presented info is outdated. they now only risk frenzy at 20% health or less. With campaign skills from a beast master lord they end up with mid 60’s in both MA and MD, they are actually better than sword chaos knights in campaign because of better skills. With how high they’re stats go they can function as prolonged melee units easily. Compare them to executioners and they can basically do everything better.
**'''Knights of the Ebon Claw (ROR)''': What's this? Cold One Knights that don't spaz out.

===Chariots===
*'''Cold One Chariot''' :
*'''Scourgerunner Chariot''' : Scourgerunner Chariots are your jack of all trades chariot, that has a special boon in being on the very few ranged units in the game that get a bonus vs. large on their ranged attacks. Their key advantage is that they also move at Dark Rider speed, which makes them extremely difficult to catch or even hit, and in a pinch, they can even reliably dispatch basic missile tropps and infantry, thanks to a bonus vs. infantry.
**'''The Ravagers of Rakarth (ROR)''' :

===Artillery===
*'''Reaper Bolt Thrower''': Essentially identical to the High Elf counterpart (in spite of the significantly more badass name), the Reaper is likewise probably not going to be winning any prizes for the best artillery piece. Alright, it does hit a bit harder and has a smidge less range, but this is not something people would notice much in most situations. Nevertheless, it remains a useful and versatile addition to a Dark Elf army. Just don't go in expecting a WMD. Like the repeater, they possess two firing modes and can be particularly useful for sniping enemy artillery. In short a decent, if not exactly exceptional, artillery unit.
*'''Bloodwrack Shrine (DLC)''': A Bloodwrack Medusa with a Go-Cart. Despite being described as a chariot don't use it as such, it's too slow to pass through a unit.
Provides +7 MA and -7 MD to nearby allies/enemies respectively. Similar in purpose to the high elf frost Phoenix but offensive. Quite effective if you want your melee units buffed. Plus ok ranged damage from the Medusa herself.

===Monsters===
*'''Harpies''': Harpies fulfill essentially the same role as war hound and fell bat units. They're intended to be fast-moving harassers best used to hunt down or disrupt enemy missile units and artillery crews. When used in their intended capacity they can get some work done, just don't expect them to do much against anything with actual staying power. Even some of the sturdier archer units can prove a bit too much for them. If you're up against an opponent with a heavy focus on ranged firepower they can be a valuable addition. However, sending them in unsupported against basically anything else is a good way to end up with a whole lot of dead bat-ladies. Rakarth makes then a lot better, giving them bonus Melee Attack as well as a smidge of AP damage.
**'''The Crows of Khaine (ROR)''': Basically Harpies with Fear and the ability to regenerate when fighting. Surprisingly tanky because of it, just watch out for units that counter them.
*'''Feral Manticore''': Surprisingly good backline harasser. Manticores make Harpies pretty much obsolete and make for great mid-tier carnage against everything that doesn't have a bonus against large. They are very susceptible to Rampage, so take care of them. Manticores are best taken in groups of 2-4 in order to kill targets fast enough that they don’t die themselves. Paired with a flying master they can make a fast deadly Air Force for cheap which can act as a single unit killing gank squad. Can usually staggerlock foot heroes. And usually outfight other aerial units short of dragons or heroes.
*'''War Hydra''': Lots of nasty surprises with the Hydra, your standard frontline melee monster. One of its core features is its flexibility; it's effective against a lot of targets and can reliably hunt down infantry thanks to its speed and breath attack. It tends to get the short end of the stick against other monsters and anti large. In campaign you can get these 25% cheaper from a klar karond building. Super cheap and easy to spam regenerating monster.
**'''The Chill of Sontar (ROR)''' : Same regenerating monstery goodness as a normal hydra, though it replaces its flaming breath in exchange for one that slows down whatever it hits.
*'''Kharibdyss (DLC)''' : OMNOMNOMNOM. A Hydra on steroids, trades the regeneration factor and flaming breath for poisoned attacks, anti-large, and lots of AP goodness. Works best against armoured monsters, so if the enemy brings big scary beasts it can go toe to toe. If you want to blend infantry though, you’re better off with the Hydra.
*'''Bloodwrack Medusa (DLC)''': Combination monster and short rate direct fire artillery. Can delete chunks of elite infantry very quickly.
**'''The Siren of Red Ruin (ROR)''' : Same as a normal Medusa, but gains a AOE ability that causes moderate damage to all enemies around her.
*'''Black Dragon''' : Evil Dragonny Goodness. Occupies a niche between Sun and Star Dragons in terms of killyness, but retains a devastating breath attack, huge mass, and good mobility. As is tradition, compared with other dragons, quite frail when caught on the wrong foot. Harder to use because dark elves don’t have healing lores.

===Rakarth Campaign Units===

==Tactics==
===Multiplayer Strategies===
Long, Long ago in the distant times of 2017 Dark Elves where one of the top factions in the game with their massive amount of AP, powerful Lords and flexible army. Unfortunately after years of being beaten with the Nerf Bat they have fallen from grace. As of the Twisted and the Twilight patch they are considered low tier they really only have one viable tactic, relying on Scourgerunners and Crossbow Dark Riders. Now just because they are considered low tier doesn't mean you can't win with them as they still have some favorable match ups. As of right now, you are a bit of a one trick pony so you may have to get creative.

*'''Beastmen''':
*'''Bretonnia''':
*'''Chaos Warriors''': Chaos Warriors are slow as hell and very vulnerable to anti-armor.
*'''Dark Elves''': Since Murderous Prowess cares about kills and not whose side they're on it's going to trigger roughly at the same time for both factions.
*'''Dwarfs''': You have the heavy AP to pierce your opponent's stunties. Unfortunately, they have the firepower to shut down a lot of your ranged units before you can get close enough to return the favor.
*'''Empire''':
*'''Grand Cathay''':
*'''Greenskins''':
*'''High Elves''':
*'''Khorne''':
*'''Kislev''':
*'''Lizardmen''': This is one of the matchups in which you shine. All their armored dinosaurs are extremely vulnerable to your wide selection of AP troops, with a special shoutout to Dark Shards and Shades. Lizardmen lack missile infantry beyond their rather frail Skink Skirmishers, though their Chameleon Skinks will prove particularly annoying due to their missile resist and loose formations. Scourgerunner Chariots will run circles around the Lizardmen and, with proper positioning, can easily slip around their screening units to chunk the bigger Artillery Stegadons/Bastilodons that could potentially retaliate against your ranged forces. Try to kite them as much as you can, whittle down their frontline before sending in your Executioners and Blackguard to clean up.
*'''Norsca''':
*'''Nurgle''':
*'''Skaven''':
*'''Slaanesh''':
*'''Tomb Kings''':
*'''Tzeentch''':
*'''Vampire Coast''':
*'''Vampire Counts''':
*'''Wood Elves''':

===Campaign Strategies===
Focus on economy in a few good provinces with 4 cities (Hag Graef, Naggarond, Ghrond, Quintex, Har Ganeth, etc) put income, slave pens, and then black roads or special resources on every city/town. Then put all slaves here. Add 3 or 4 masters to reduce slave decline to zero and you have the strongest, easiest, and fastest to grow economy in the game bar none. Can field near unlimited armies of doom stacks. There you go, you win.

Actually, the most prosperous slave province for the Dark Elves is Yvresse owing to the unique Tower of the Warden building which generates 50 gold per 100 slaves. With a maximum slaveholding capacity of 15500 slaves, combined with the multiplicative effect of slaves on base province income and the ability to stack slave income multipliers through heroes that are essentially unlimited, it surpasses any Druchii province in gold-generating potential. Proving, once again, that Naggarond sucks. This wealth is also why it is viable for certain Dark Elf factions to abandon their starting capitals and conquer Ulthuan instead.- while that may be more profitable technically, it’s irrelevant. Any proper slave strategy give’s effectively unlimited money even in just the dark elf lands. Conquer Ulthuan first or not, either way you won’t need for money with even a little strategy.

[[Category:Total Warhammer]] {{Total War Warhammer Tactics}}