Creative Assembly’s 17-minute “What’s Next?” talk for Total War: Warhammer 3 back in June made it clear that the DLC updates for the game’s mix of grimy fantasy and grand strategy would be more substantial, and we’re seeing that now with 5.2 Update Dev Blog. Dwarves are getting a fresh feature, Chaos Cults are getting a rework, Cathay’s Ivory Roads are getting an update, and a “mini-feature” called Unusual Locations is being added, which sounds pretty nippy.
The blog post notes that yes, Dwarves have just received an update, but apparently the Creative Assembly has received feedback that it encourages a much more comprehensive playstyle. I have fond memories of my first Dwarven campaign, which culminated in an epic siege where I was the defender, and the fresh added feature seems to make turtles a more viable option for those Dwarves who want to pretend to be a fraudulent fish that lives in a rock and swims around. It’s called The Depths.
Deeps will allow the dwarves to expand their settlements both downwards and upwards, by building a Great Gateway, which gives access to the Deep Roads, err, I meant Deeps. Expanding into Deeps comes with all sorts of bonuses, such as Guild Foundries, which augment income and research rate, and the Seal the Hold! strategy, which allows you to ignore siege losses and gives bonus defensive supplies and ammo in siege defenses. Both of these strategies are balanced by reduced effectiveness depending on the number of settlements you have. My dwarven nation, having shrunk to, say, four holds, will finally pay off. Time to delve greedily.
A mini feature for everyone in Update 5.2 is called Unusual Locations. These can be landmarks or even organizations that appear in your settlements during the campaign and provide a Warhammer-style trade-off. The first example given is the Grail Knight Grave, which increases control and reduces corruption, as well as providing a garrison and giving characters who stay there a chance to gain a trait if control is above 75. Nice for the Bretonnians. The second is the Grand Illuminator’s Residence, which provides a home for the Cult of Illumination in the Empire. It has a chance to augment the loyalty of your Electors and gives prestige per turn, but at the cost of increasing Chaos Undivided corruption in the region.
These kinds of additions add depth to your campaigns and make it tempting to try out factions you’ve ignored or taken a break from. I’ve been interested in trying Dwarfs again after being inspired by the recently released Dwarfen Mountain houses an army in Warhammer: The Old Worldand that’s exactly what I need to move them to the top of the list for my next campaign.
