Ranking the best and worst Total War: Warhammer 2 DLC
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Total War: Warhammer 3 might be on its way, but if you fancy watching rats, lizards and elves murder each other right now, Warhammer 2 will take excellent care of you. Creative Assembly has spent the last four years expanding it, and there's now a big list of DLC to sift through. Buying everything will set you back around £90/$110. To make sure you only get the best, we've ranked the lot.
Before we jump in, however, it's worth noting that nearly all of the DLC on this list gets a recommendation. There's always at least something, whether it's a new lord, unit or faction mechanic, that shakes up the meta and makes the DLC worth a punt. There are a lot of additions that are equally crucial, too, so instead of ranking each DLC individually, they've been placed in tiers.
S-tier
Rise of the Tomb Lords
Rise of the Tomb Lords was the first of Warhammer 2's full expansions, and as such it's much meatier than a lot of the DLC in this list. It introduces the rotting Tomb Lords, a bunch of mummified villains up to no good. This additional race also comes with a bunch of factions and starting situations, and unique systems to use during the Eye of the Vortex campaign. This spices up the main mode considerably, especially if you've already conquered it as one of the original races.
If you follow the Rule of Cool, you'll find plenty of exotic units to keep you happy, including colossal animated statues and skeletons riding giant snakes. And it's much easier to put together big armies full of this stuff, thanks to the absence of recruitment and upkeep costs. The undead are extremely economical. It also means you can take greater risks, since the loss of an army isn't nearly as big a deal as it might be when playing another race. One of the factions also includes units from the first game's Vampire Nobles, so you can really get the undead party started.
Curse of the Vampire Coast
Warhammer 2's only other full expansion is also undead themed. Curse of the Vampire Coast brings the bloodsuckers into Warhammer 2 but, unlike their noble counterparts from the first game, this bunch of walking corpses love a bit of piracy. Undead pirates alone make this worthy of inclusion in S-tier, but it also includes giant crabs and other hideous, damp monstrosities, making it even easier to recommend.
Like the Tomb Lords, these piratical vamps also have their own quest and unique systems in the Eye of the Vortex campaign. The ability to establish secret pirate coves is reminiscent of the foul skaven undercities, generating cash and more infamy, the latter of which is essential to winning the campaign. This is also the race for you if you want more guns in Warhammer 2. These guys love to shoot, and they're backed up by some nasty artillery.
Mortal Empires
Though technically free DLC, Mortal Empires requires both games to play, but it's entirely worth buying the original Warhammer for even if you have no plans to play through the vanilla campaign. What it does is squash both Old and New World maps together, with a few cuts, to create a ridiculous mega-map, upon which the gargantuan Mortal Empires campaign takes place.
Every race, faction and leader from both games is available to play, as long as you have the appropriate DLC, in the ultimate battle. It's Total War: Warhammer unshackled. Performance used to be the price you had to pay, with wait times being absurdly long while the AI made its moves. This was understandable, given the vast number of factions and huge world, but Creative Assembly has made some big improvements in this regard. These days, you'll hardly notice the wait, especially if you're using an SSD.
A-tier
The Silence & The Fury
Creative Assembly's latest expansion is the quintessential Warhammer 2 DLC. It revitalises a race that has long been ignored—in this case the beastmen—taking them from garbage to one of the best, and it makes fans of the lizardmen sad. Warhammer's scaliest warriors have had lots of DLC, and none of it great, and The Silence & The Fury continues this tradition. But it still belongs in this tier because the beastmen are back, baby.
The new beastmen leader, Taurox, is blessed with one of the game's best campaigns, bolstered by a dizzying momentum. If you want total war in Total War, this is the fella you'll want to play with. Destruction is his deal, and he's very good at it. He's also a bull made out of living bronze, which is very cool. He brings with him some great units like the beastly Doombull Lord, and the absolutely grotesque Jabberslythe, a slimy, venomous toad-monster. I should add that while his lizardman counterpart Oxyotl has a crap campaign, his limited teleportation mechanic and new units like the Skink Oracle, a magical hero riding a mighty troglodon, are welcome additions.
The Prophet & The Warlock
The skaven are Warhammer 2's MVP. Sure, they're very weak in small numbers, smell terrible and absolutely eat babies, but we've all got flaws. And The Prophet & The Warlock is the best DLC for this, the best race. It introduces a new skaven and lizardmen leader, factions and units, and while it's definitely worth checking out if you're a fan of scales, you're really getting this for the extra rats.
Picking Clan Skryre and its leader, Ikit Claw, lets you explore the more inventive side of the Skaven, giving you access to the Forbidden Workshop. Here, you can invest in upgrades for your devastating weapons teams and vehicles, like the Rattling Gunners and Doom-Flayers, turning them into even more horrifying engines of death. You can even start dropping Warpstone Doomrockets, essentially nukes, capable of wiping out entire units—several of them—in one strike. It's absurd. On top of that, there's the Doomsphere, a bomb that can be built in skaven undercities, capable of completely destroying the unsuspecting settlement above. Every additional unit and mechanic is a new delight, and if you have any interest in playing the game's best race, this is the DLC for you.
B-tier
The Twisted & The Twilight
In the first Warhammer, the wood elf DLC was a real high point, solidifying the series as Creative Assembly's most experimental. This DLC brings them to the New World with their own campaign where they'll face their opposing faction (also playable), the skaven Clan Moulder.
The skaven are, as always, weird and wonderful, but Throt the Unclean and Clan Moulder have a lot in common with their counterparts from The Prophet & The Warlock, and thus don't feel quite as inventive. The wood elves are a bit more unique, though not as wacky, with dragon-riding twins serving as a two-in-one leader. They only fall in battle if both are done for, giving them lots of staying power. As well as being demons when it comes to ranged combat, there are some superb flying units in the roster, too, so you'll have a ridiculous amount of range and mobility. The Forge of Daith unique mechanic is a bit disappointing, though, basically just doling out some random items throughout the campaign.
The Queen & The Crone
Warhammer 2's first Lords Pack follows the rivalry between Alarielle of the high elves and Hellebron of the dark elves. These magical women really don't like each other. Both are solid picks for their respective factions, but Alarielle is a bit more must-play due to her ability to recruit the Sisters of Avelorn, one of the best archer units in the game. They're hybrids, too, so they won't get crushed in melee.
Both have handy unique mechanics, though they lack the creativity of some of the later DLC additions. Alarielle gets bonuses if the realm of Ulthuan is free of enemies, while invaders will come with unpleasant repercussions. Hellebron, meanwhile, can sacrifice slaves to empower herself and use a unique rite to boost her army's strength when fighting high elves. It might be overshadowed by flashier expansions, but it's easy to recommend to anyone wanting to play the pointy-ears.
C-tier
The Shadow & The Blade
Thematically this is one of my faves, but this dark elf and skaven DLC is let down a bit by the new abilities it introduces. Malus Darkblade's possession mechanic, where he allows a daemon to take over his mind, empowering him while harming his army, sounds like a great gamble, but the costs are just too brutal. You won't want to use his main hook. The skaven Clan Eshin, meanwhile, can purge entire factions at the touch of a button, which is as boring as it is powerful.
Despite this, there's still quite a bit to recommend here. The skaven Shadowy Dealings and Greater Clan Contracts mechanics are a lot of fun, making you feel like a very sly bastard while you reap a tonne of rewards, and you'll get some cracking units, like the perfect-for-sieges Warp-Grinders for the skaven and the absolutely devastating Scourgerunner Chariots for the dark elves.
The Warden & The Paunch
As a fan of gobbos and orcs with a desire to punch every high elf in the face, this DLC feels made for me. Grom the Paunch is a very hungry goblin with a culinary obsession only overtaken by his hatred of high elves, Eltharion (the titular Warden) in particular. His whole deal is finding recipes and ingredients by defeating enemies, which can be turned into feasts that empower the faction and its armies. It's a brilliant system.
Grom's high elf counterpart is no slouch either, and he gets a unique and nifty base of operations that he can upgrade, and he can imprison lords that fall in battle and interrogate him. The pair of campaigns are heavily intertwined, and this feels like one of the most cohesive DLCs. So why is it in this tier? Unfortunately, it's buggy. There were some launch issues that were ironed out, but now there's a bug that makes it impossible to finish Grom's campaign if you encounter it. It's been around for months and still appears to be an issue.
The Hunter & The Beast
Yet another DLC where the lizardmen get the short end of the stick, but this time the opposing faction doesn't pick up quite as much of the slack. It's still the DLC you'll want to pick if you fancy playing the Empire in the New World, however, as the second faction is an Imperial expeditionary force with lots of big guns and a penchant for hunting dinosaurs.
It's fine, really, and you might get a kick out of playing as a bunch of nomadic lizards, especially with the inclusion of the intimidating (though not as handy as you'd expect) dread saurions. The ranged Empire units are also a massive boon, and it's a good choice if you want to infuriate your enemies with lots of ambushes. Unfortunately, both campaigns are a bit of a slog, with new mechanics introducing more problems than they solve.
Z-tier
Blood for the Blood God 2
Total War's now traditional gore DLC continues to be a massive disappointment. While the bloodsoaked battles of Warhammer feel like the perfect setting for it, there's just not much here. You'll hardly notice the dismemberments, and the blood is so gratuitous it just looks silly and ends up hiding your striking units. It's basically like tipping a bottle of Mephiston Red all over your army. Avoid.