Awesome guide, was really hoping someone would start doing these after Legend said he was done making them. Glad I found this and hopefully there are more to come!
More excellent content. Your videos are so rich in information & insight with almost no useless extraneous commentary that it feels like watching a favorite TV show at 1.2x speed with no commercials. Can’t get enough, Keep it up… and maybe some non elven content too :)
Thanks mate. With the transition into IE I'm trying to do right by my audience by getting some up to date elven content out, but I have intention to cover every faction in due course. It looks like Empire is around the corner :)
One super easy way to win sieges is to Bait enemy defenders. Basicaly, you place your forces on one side and then move them asap to another, where ai has no units. Depending on fortress, enemy can have more or less time to react, before your archers climb over the wall, secure the position and massacre anyone incoming. Hawks and sisters are also super usefull at pulling ai units to other positions, or tying them up if they get to close to your archers. From there its either a trip to capture point, or slaughtering defenders halfway.
Unfortunately, despite it all going pretty well for me, Durthu was nearly annihilated by Grom lol. Hadn't checked on him and by about turn 14 when Wydrioth confederated he was stuck up in Grimhold. Grom at Waterfall Palace with a Waaggh
Oh no! I'm fairly certain you can resurrect him if Waterfall Palace revolts! Sack and Raid outside it and the revolt army should take it with Durthu in charge. Failing that. Just take it yourself, wait for things to calm down and raid your own territory. Let him take it and besiege it. After 5-10 turns things should begin calming down and you can gift him peace and then eventually confederate the old fashion way.
@@ElvenPlotArmour Torgavann ended up ending Grom, and Durthu is still alive so fingers crossed he sticks around. Good vid though man, I always forget to diplomacy and just steamroll but it can really make your game more interesting. You keep reminding me to use it.
@Elven Plot Armour Great guide as always! You have really good micro. I'm an old fart so my micro is way slower than you young bloods. I have to make due with more map strategy and be less relient on those super tough micro battles. A couple notes if you are open to suggestions. 1. The Dreaming Cloak unit summons will help you take Hag Hall (or any other province capital) without the ball ache of a fight. All you need to do is park your army in a blind spot furtherest from their main capture point, knock down a gate and then go summon your unit of Glade Guard on the main capture point. You'll start collecting tickets and win a decisive battle without any losses. Please note, you can't start capturing the point with your summoned unit until you knock down the gate or a portion of the wall. Later on you'll be able to capture the points by hovering over them with your flying heroes. I know this works with Wood Elves but not with the Empire or High Elves. 2. I have never been able to have a successful autoresolve against the Skaven Forest Encounter army with the basic Witchwood garrison, Shadow Caster and a couple Gladeguard as shown in your guide. I have to fight it manually or grab the first tier of walls along with a Treeman Lord. 3. As mentioned by Briggsyy55 below, there are always consistent Forest Battles that spawn in Athel Loren. Each Forest Encounter always spawns at the same time and spot in every game I've played as WE in WH2 and now WH3. The spawn times are directly related to the level of the Oak of Ages and when it levels up. Orcs spawn in Findol's province, Brets spawn in Daith's, Dwarves spawn in Durthu's and an Elf forest encounter in Orion's which can be used for a Drycha confed if you are playing as Durthu. I'm not sure if any of that will help but thanks again for the great guide and I look forward to the future content you create. Keep up the great work!
Massive thanks for taking the time to write this out. The consistent forest encounter battles is something I never knew about so a big thanks there! I thought they'd patched out using Summons to capture but that's another useful tip. Cheers again mate!
For anyone watching this, I got a tip for the early fight with green skins ! As told, they can be either really weak or really strong ! If they have a strong army, what you can do is hire the Three Lord at turn 8 instead of turn 9 and get him to recruit instead of the Sisters of Twilights, then set your Sisters of Twilight in ambush mode, so their army will rush you and you can destroy them in the forest without having to care about the colony garnison !
Did that on my campaing and it helped me a lot, especially cause I'm not really experienced in battles so I struggle a bit with colony assaults sometimes
Hello! I’m looking for a new faction to play at L/VH and I’m leaning towards wood elves. (I main Ikit Claw) I play competitive coop with 2-3 other friends, so I’m wondering if Wood Elves would be viable considering their alternative play style. I’m mainly concerned that I’ll be too spread out protecting my woods. And a human player probably won’t take too long to beat through my bank-rolled ally. Regardless, I’ll likely be picking up one of the Elves, so your channel will be very helpful going forward. I already subscribed, because you have the best 20 turn guides I’ve found on CZcams! Thanks for the content,
Hey thanks, glad it all helps out. Your considerations are very on point regarding how well the AI allies will perform. In WH3 the autoresolve is so overtuned it makes the AI far less threatening. If it's a coop game then this isn't really a problem, or even in a 1v1, as this allows you reach around the map and have several conflicts to earn money. The issue with 3 players is you're at risk of having 2 human fronts which is something your allies won't be able to deal with. Skaven players tend to be drawn more to the interesting factions and find High Elves boring, though I'd argue their influence mechanic is OP in a competitive matchup, so Tyrion would be a good place to start. If you're looking at Dark Elves, Lokhir is by a fair way the strongest, but is alone in the east so may be less interesting. In a coop campaign it's often most enjoyable to select races that work well together and aren't too far apart as the interactions can be magic. If playing Co-op, having 1 wood elf player able to teleport around and have a wide presence can actually be a massive strength or allow you to buddy up with distant friends thanks to their world root ability (see my Race Mastery on Wood Elves). The TLDR is, if it's competitive, it doesn't matter - all elves can function well and it's the blend between you that will determine how you go. After Ikit you may find HE too dry and if you like the vibe of WE then go with them. If they're in the west, go Sisters of Twilight. If in Athel Loren, Orion can most quickly confederate the others, but Durthu is also a good choice (unless you're comfortable on the battlefield avoid Drycha, though she does offer a choice in the East). Remember, where there's a tree, you can eventually be present so there's a LOT of flexibility here. Finding race that you enjoy playing and fits your style is the most important thing, as you'll probably end up playing their lords and improve. If you're not into diplomacy at all, then Dark Elves are a safe bet :)
My attempt at this has not gone to plan . Skaven were already in Ice Rock Gorge and Clyostra sailed across with a full stack right when I was about to remove the herd stone. So I didn't have the economy early, after dealing with her, to go after Brettonia and now the Dwarves have already wiped them out in Montefort.
Since making this guide they moved Alith Anar, but I was hoping that hadn't changed too much. Perhaps more aggressive AI? Sorry to hear it's not going to plan, but remember you can always recover and keep ranking up. Just keep those filthy rats away from the forest!
@@ElvenPlotArmour hey! I hope you can make an updated 20 turn guide, perhaps include some auto resolve strats for MP IE players? I think there are other things that happen now that don't in this video
Just wanted to say thank you so much for all your work on these guides. Very new to the world of Warhammer Immortal empires. This guide is so helpful on my first Campaign with the wood elves who I'm finding to be a much more enjoyable faction than HE. Wondering if I should have start with Durthu as a beginner. Only wish we had the full stream of you playing this in its entirety to see all the nuances and what to do after. Do you stream these at all on twitch or CZcams? Sorry if this info is on the discord have yet to join it. Thanks again and looking forward to more of these!
Hey Armour, thanks for another 20 turn guide - they've really helped me figure out how to escape the brain ache with some starts since WH2! I wanted to ask: would you ever consider a Khalida 20 start? Her initial beginning is easy enough against the Vamps, but I personally always find that Skarbrand, and wild card of Thorek & Kroq-Gar will more often than not come at me. At which point, I'm sure you can guess how the suffering goes from there!
Appreciate it mate. Ultimate plans to get to all factions, including Tomb Kings. Have to honor the supportbase by prioritising their pick content first so it might be a while haha. She does have a dicey start. My first thought would be getting onside with Thorek and/or Krok Gar. If you can align them to enough common wars you'll likely create something long standing. Scarbrand would be someone you'd want out sooner than later, but you also have maneuverable enemies around there. My focus would be on closing off fronts with geography and diplomacy, build up and take things piecemeal! I haven't tried that one personally yet so take everything I say with a dumptruck of undead salt!
@@ElvenPlotArmour I hear you! Unfortunately both Kroq and Thorek start in decidedly unfriendly terms with Khalida, and you know how the TK economy can be so it's a bit dicey doling out gifts. The general grace I've found however, is leaving the third region by Khalida untouched as a buffer of sorts to delay Kroqs discovery while just rushing through the mountains? As for the Vamp Counts, they seem to be rather passive on N/N at least, so it's easy enough to simply sweep around in a clockwise loop then up to Lahmia for the finisher! But I'll try your suggestions. Thanks again!
This is a bit too "rigid" as in, it doesn't really have to go the way described. Maybe it's also cause the vid is 1 year old, but I just started a campaign and it was vastly different. Khatep murdered the Greenskin faction on turn 7, before I could even get the quest. There was also Manblight tribe beastmen stack roaming around my areas, and Cylostra took Storag Kor by turn 8. Diplomacy is also quite a bit different than in the vid, it's way harder to get a NAP with the Wood Elf factions. Also, there's an incursion of Skaven that triggers around turn 6-7 and you have to deal with it basically immediately, else it becomes a really OP stack of late game units and can destroy or at least set you back a lot. EDIT: Also, did Volley of Kurnous get massively nerfed in the meantime? It barely puts a dent into any unit now, while in the vid it takes it to around 50%...
I do have to say, this guide is absolutely dated now Ostankya was released. The geopolitics of this region is changed a lot.. ON the plus side you can give territory to her as well, allowing her to fight Morathi. I think the logic in this guide and approach are still the way to go, but as a blow-by-blow it's not going to work, but I think the same can be achieved. I'm unsure if Volley got nerfed, try to hit lines of units side on or clustered units to maximise damage - maybe the splash was reduced?
@@ElvenPlotArmour It is definitely dated. Its almost impossible to get to the Bretonnian factions fast enough in order to attack them. Both factions are getting wiped out as well as the Karak, consistently.
Oo I've never tried to ally Morathi, but it absolutely could work, though in WH3 she doesn't have the bite she used to and will probably need help fending back Tyrion.
For the 12:42 battle, could you not setup to kill the lord, which would end the battle and give full exp without the other armies coming in. Then fight the other armies separately for another full exp gain. Just more exp overall.
Great call, and yes, that's a perfectly fine way to do it. I chose to utilise the advantage to ambush them as they entered the battlefield to deal damage that way to make the subsequent siege easier to do (where they would have towers and other advantages). Both are acceptable ways, but WE are good at ambushing, so I took the ambush route.
As of Thrones of Decay this strategy needs some tweaking., or it was just my roll for 2 starts. The skaven army has stronger AR and Khatep destroys those orcs on turn 9, Karak Norn also destroyed turn 10. Taurox also drops his herdstone at Clar Karond shaking it up a lil bit. Thats the furthest ive gotten so far. Cheers mate
Awesome job. That is an unbelievable start. But you know the two forest battles in athel Loren are orcs and bretonnia right? You can just fight them once. End turn and fight them twice and confederate without declaring war on any others…. (Well you definitely could in TWW2 and I see the same in TWW3, just haven’t tried myself yet)
Also, there is a dwarf forest encounter in Durthu's province that spawns so you don't have to go hunting Dwarves if they are gone. I don't remember the turn number that the encounter spawns but it won't spawn until after the Oak is high enough level for Durthu's confederation quest.
Do you mean the very first ones after confederating into Athel Loren? The challenge I found was getting in there in time to catch those battles, but you may well have found another reliable method! Regarding multiple fights against the same army, it's much more difficult in WH3 to keep armies alive in successive battles, but I do think your method could be possible!
@@ElvenPlotArmour yes once you reach the confederation level of the oak of ages the forest encounters spawn and they stay until you attack. One is hidden under a quest battle sometimes I have noticed.
Hey mate, sorry if this isn't working for you. It was like a charm but the AI is continually tweaked. It really surprises me Grombrindal getting wiped? Surely that one is just unlucky. One advantage of the Wood Elves is they so very well defensively. Hire some casters and get some solid levels on them and earn some gold, then go for the counter attack!
@@ElvenPlotArmour Not Grombrindal, Karak. The Dwarves next to Orion. Every start he wipes them out right when I start the quest for Orc confed and Manafort gets wiped out too. Any suggestions? I also meant cant confed on manafort, not can. Ive done 10 starts and Karak and Manafort get wiped everytime. Edit: MONTEFORT fuck, i cant spell. Might be durthu that takes out the dwarves too, but I reach pav in 11 turns and the bret faction was wiped out.
Great Guide for a great faction. I really like the Sisters and consider them to be the best and most fun We faction. Although im not so certain when it comes to the best HE and DE faction. Any opinions ?
Sisters safely are the strongest faction. Drycha's diplomacy and geography would rightfully place her last under my rating system. While Orion and Durthu have stronger starts, the Wood Elf racial strengths of confederation and Worldroots allow the Sisters to close the shortfall in geography and they're so strong, so early on the battlefield it's hard to challenge them. They're a top tier race in IE, no doubt! HE Tyrion is still incredibly strong with incredible diplomatic and geographic control. Alarielle's start isn't as fast as Tyrion's early or mid game, but she's arguably the strongest lategame elf, economically. Eltharion's start is far more difficult, but he boasts the strongest mechanics if you can just survive those 20 turns and is still very good, but he's a low A tier now, and everyone. Next, Tier down we have Alith Anar - the potential to be most explosive but his start is rough. Imrik and Teclis are the two weakest, but they're not D Tier like they were in WH2 and are now both C+ to a low B in my eyes. Some believe mechanics make or break a faction. The opportunities they afford you is all that matters. Despite having no unique gimick, Tyrion is still King. Play 20 Turns as any elf and see Tyrion achieves more, easier. And this is coming from an Imrik main haha. Dark Elves I'd need more time to think, but Lokhir is hands down the strongest again. Nobody got weaker, but the North is more challenging now. Malus is slightly better too with his demon sympathies.
@@ElvenPlotArmour Thank you for your elaborate answer, it is amazing that you actually respond to all comments. I think i agree with you on Tyrion being the strongest, although Eltharion can also be very powerfull if you soley focus on Ulthuan (which admittetdly is kind of taking away his flavour and making him into a budget tyrion who is strong through his mechanics). On a side note im a little confused by tyrions faction effect which should reduce recruitment time by 1 Turn for all infantry and cavalary. Since Infantry includes, at least to my understanding, all normal siced units and the effect should also apply to global recruitment shoudnt Tyrion be able to globally recruit spearmen and archers in 1 turn from the get go ? Im not Clear on that and would be very thankfull for a little help understanding it.
Did they make the Al more aggressive or do I just have bad luck? I just got declared on by vampire coast lady and two southern dark elf lords on round 12 And now all the brettonians from Parravon to castle Bastonne have been wiped out before I could get my 3 battles🙂
They've certainly been tweaking the AI aggression and they still honestly haven't found the sweet spot yet. The Vampire Coast shouldn't be a problem if you have Alith Anar and Grombrindal on side. Regarding Brettonia, you can alternatively find a minor faction or try the 'forest intruder' battles can also spawn Brettonians. Just don't attack Leon or the Lady just to get this quest, it's not worth Alienating yourself!
Good question mate. The main Wood Elf change was fixing Orion's Wild Hunt. The Sisters function the exact same. They're just as deadly, even outside of siege battles. This is still the strongest setup imho. Grombrindal to protect the Witchwood and expand into Athel Loren ASAP will secure your economy for the campaign :) Wood Elf compositions work well on the battlefield and in sieges so little to change here.
@@ElvenPlotArmour Alright, thanks for the tips! Ill restart my solo campaing, had a problem were Durthu decided to start a war with the Empire before i managed to confederate him, pulled Bretonnia with him too. I play modded tho so some stuff wont go 1:1 with my runs but thats fine. Keep up the good work! Edit: so i just double checked and seems either my mods are causing this or the prize to upgrade the "Tree Of Ages" has been nerfed. On your run its 2,5k which is nice, on mine its 10k which makes it a bit annoying to play around it. Edit2: It seems its 2.5k and 8 turn building time on yours and on mine its 10k with 5 turn building time. Seems there wasnt that big of a problem than i first though.
@@ElvenPlotArmour in my campaign the dark elves decided to declare war on me and just rushed at me at turn 13, taurox died to ogres and there's cylostra near vaul's anvil
Would putting points in buffing your missile infantry in her red tree after route marcher not be better early game, as opposed to going into their yellow tree buffing them?
Absolutely! The priority is the blue line, personal line and getting those x3 archer buff points. The order is subjective, but because this is expansive I took cost reduction. But definitely worth taking!
@@ElvenPlotArmour Yeah I figured lowering lowering costs as much as possible early game was priority due to WE economy. Just couldn't decide if buffing Sisters damage or archers were the better option early on.
How do you keep the empire on-side when you attack the dwarves? I got enormous diplomacy penalties with both Reikland and the Golden Order (who are both pretty strong in my save) when I attacked them. Feels like it might be easier to kill grombrindal with the exiles of nehek and make the tomb kings protect you without upsetting anyone else. Malekith will eventually kill grom anyway and the tomb kings are a bit sturdier since then recruit new armies so fast.
Thanks for sharing your findings. If you're ever worried about Karl, you can attack Bastonne like you saw in this run and gift those neighboring settlements to him. This also means if he gets hostile with Leon and wins, you've still got a strong defender. A single gifting of territory will smooth things over and he's very easy to keep on side. If you're worried I'm sure a couple of small gifts will calm him until the penalties for attacking the dwarfs go. Regarding Exiles of Nehek, I initially tried to keep them alive. The problem is they're so passive and WILL eventually get overrun by Malekith and the other go getters there - including Grombrindal. The advantage of him is that he's clear in what he hates - dark elves - and he'll prioritise them which means he's always busy fighting the biggest threat there. Grombrindal can easily hang in a stalemate with Malekith if you gift him some settlements and bank roll him. If you can get Alith Anar to join a 3 way alliance you can forget about that corner and move on to greener pastures :) I have a Wood Elf Changes Video recently released which shows what this looks like a bit later. Cheers again for the feeback - it's great to hear other perspectives!
@@ElvenPlotArmour thanks for the response, great advice. I found gifting Karl settlements kept him happy during my war with the dwarves at first but then when I destroyed the faction I got a sudden massive penalty with both him and gelt that I couldn’t recover from. I’d be tempted to leave the dwarves alive with one remaining settlement to be destroyed by someone else but by that point they have no other enemies around them and only you to grudge on.
@@ElvenPlotArmour yes glade captain, it isn't showing in the heros tab or in the building that is required to recruit them. I also tried it with and without mods and after reinstalling both dlc. not quite sure what is going on
Great question. In WH2 I'd say that was an automatic decision. In WH3 Grombrindal is too aggressive and will attack them eventually. By attacking the Exiles you can gift the settlements to Grombrindal, build an ally and strengthen him at the same time.
I have a Sisters of Twilight walkthrough and in the first couple of battles I show one method. The other way is to click one way a few times then the other. You probably find you stop moving and the character needs to turn on the spot then starts moving. THIS is where you're probably getting wrecked. The tip is to always be moving forward and then turn. I recommend a "lazy 8" pattern. As you learn enemy firing patterns you can get more creative. Let me know if you have any more trouble.
Something I figured out early on with lords wasting ammo, turn your auto run option on. For w.e reason if it is off and your double clicking your lord has this weird ramp up from walk to run that takes a second or so to actually begin running. With the option on they run immediately, but be mindful of this with your entire army as always running WILL wear them out in battle.
The confederated faction simply had an army at the time of confederation. All armies and characters become yours, if you didn't acquire any units then they've been wiped in recent turns.
Oh no, I haven't seen that one yet! haha. There's another Forest which has Greenskins in it to the east, you can deeproot there with a big army or score it off Grom if he's still alive!
@@ElvenPlotArmour my second orc settlement was besieged by ogres, at first they captured it, then I booted up and was able to attack them and everything is ok, but now I have a war with ogres
Awesome guide, was really hoping someone would start doing these after Legend said he was done making them. Glad I found this and hopefully there are more to come!
Appreciate the support mate. Plenty more coming :)
More excellent content. Your videos are so rich in information & insight with almost no useless extraneous commentary that it feels like watching a favorite TV show at 1.2x speed with no commercials. Can’t get enough, Keep it up… and maybe some non elven content too :)
Thanks mate. With the transition into IE I'm trying to do right by my audience by getting some up to date elven content out, but I have intention to cover every faction in due course. It looks like Empire is around the corner :)
Great video mate. You're bang on about the settlement trading, it feels so natural that I can't recall how we did without it in WH2 lol
I think going back to WH2 would be a headache after being so spoiled haha
One super easy way to win sieges is to Bait enemy defenders.
Basicaly, you place your forces on one side and then move them asap to another, where ai has no units.
Depending on fortress, enemy can have more or less time to react, before your archers climb over the wall, secure the position and massacre anyone incoming. Hawks and sisters are also super usefull at pulling ai units to other positions, or tying them up if they get to close to your archers. From there its either a trip to capture point, or slaughtering defenders halfway.
Appreciate the pointers. Thanks mate!
Unfortunately, despite it all going pretty well for me, Durthu was nearly annihilated by Grom lol. Hadn't checked on him and by about turn 14 when Wydrioth confederated he was stuck up in Grimhold. Grom at Waterfall Palace with a Waaggh
Oh no! I'm fairly certain you can resurrect him if Waterfall Palace revolts! Sack and Raid outside it and the revolt army should take it with Durthu in charge. Failing that. Just take it yourself, wait for things to calm down and raid your own territory. Let him take it and besiege it. After 5-10 turns things should begin calming down and you can gift him peace and then eventually confederate the old fashion way.
@@ElvenPlotArmour Torgavann ended up ending Grom, and Durthu is still alive so fingers crossed he sticks around. Good vid though man, I always forget to diplomacy and just steamroll but it can really make your game more interesting. You keep reminding me to use it.
@Elven Plot Armour
Great guide as always! You have really good micro. I'm an old fart so my micro is way slower than you young bloods. I have to make due with more map strategy and be less relient on those super tough micro battles.
A couple notes if you are open to suggestions.
1. The Dreaming Cloak unit summons will help you take Hag Hall (or any other province capital) without the ball ache of a fight. All you need to do is park your army in a blind spot furtherest from their main capture point, knock down a gate and then go summon your unit of Glade Guard on the main capture point. You'll start collecting tickets and win a decisive battle without any losses. Please note, you can't start capturing the point with your summoned unit until you knock down the gate or a portion of the wall. Later on you'll be able to capture the points by hovering over them with your flying heroes. I know this works with Wood Elves but not with the Empire or High Elves.
2. I have never been able to have a successful autoresolve against the Skaven Forest Encounter army with the basic Witchwood garrison, Shadow Caster and a couple Gladeguard as shown in your guide. I have to fight it manually or grab the first tier of walls along with a Treeman Lord.
3. As mentioned by Briggsyy55 below, there are always consistent Forest Battles that spawn in Athel Loren. Each Forest Encounter always spawns at the same time and spot in every game I've played as WE in WH2 and now WH3. The spawn times are directly related to the level of the Oak of Ages and when it levels up. Orcs spawn in Findol's province, Brets spawn in Daith's, Dwarves spawn in Durthu's and an Elf forest encounter in Orion's which can be used for a Drycha confed if you are playing as Durthu.
I'm not sure if any of that will help but thanks again for the great guide and I look forward to the future content you create.
Keep up the great work!
Massive thanks for taking the time to write this out. The consistent forest encounter battles is something I never knew about so a big thanks there! I thought they'd patched out using Summons to capture but that's another useful tip. Cheers again mate!
great info man, no fluff, solid content
Thanks mate!
For anyone watching this, I got a tip for the early fight with green skins ! As told, they can be either really weak or really strong ! If they have a strong army, what you can do is hire the Three Lord at turn 8 instead of turn 9 and get him to recruit instead of the Sisters of Twilights, then set your Sisters of Twilight in ambush mode, so their army will rush you and you can destroy them in the forest without having to care about the colony garnison !
Did that on my campaing and it helped me a lot, especially cause I'm not really experienced in battles so I struggle a bit with colony assaults sometimes
Also, don't end their army, try to let escape a few of them, so you have one more free battle for the confederation quests
Hello! I’m looking for a new faction to play at L/VH and I’m leaning towards wood elves. (I main Ikit Claw)
I play competitive coop with 2-3 other friends, so I’m wondering if Wood Elves would be viable considering their alternative play style. I’m mainly concerned that I’ll be too spread out protecting my woods. And a human player probably won’t take too long to beat through my bank-rolled ally.
Regardless, I’ll likely be picking up one of the Elves, so your channel will be very helpful going forward. I already subscribed, because you have the best 20 turn guides I’ve found on CZcams!
Thanks for the content,
Hey thanks, glad it all helps out. Your considerations are very on point regarding how well the AI allies will perform. In WH3 the autoresolve is so overtuned it makes the AI far less threatening. If it's a coop game then this isn't really a problem, or even in a 1v1, as this allows you reach around the map and have several conflicts to earn money. The issue with 3 players is you're at risk of having 2 human fronts which is something your allies won't be able to deal with.
Skaven players tend to be drawn more to the interesting factions and find High Elves boring, though I'd argue their influence mechanic is OP in a competitive matchup, so Tyrion would be a good place to start. If you're looking at Dark Elves, Lokhir is by a fair way the strongest, but is alone in the east so may be less interesting. In a coop campaign it's often most enjoyable to select races that work well together and aren't too far apart as the interactions can be magic. If playing Co-op, having 1 wood elf player able to teleport around and have a wide presence can actually be a massive strength or allow you to buddy up with distant friends thanks to their world root ability (see my Race Mastery on Wood Elves).
The TLDR is, if it's competitive, it doesn't matter - all elves can function well and it's the blend between you that will determine how you go. After Ikit you may find HE too dry and if you like the vibe of WE then go with them. If they're in the west, go Sisters of Twilight. If in Athel Loren, Orion can most quickly confederate the others, but Durthu is also a good choice (unless you're comfortable on the battlefield avoid Drycha, though she does offer a choice in the East). Remember, where there's a tree, you can eventually be present so there's a LOT of flexibility here. Finding race that you enjoy playing and fits your style is the most important thing, as you'll probably end up playing their lords and improve. If you're not into diplomacy at all, then Dark Elves are a safe bet :)
Incredible job. Loving this series. Keep the great work up!
Thanks mate!
Thank you for the video. Nice one again.
Cheers champion!
My attempt at this has not gone to plan . Skaven were already in Ice Rock Gorge and Clyostra sailed across with a full stack right when I was about to remove the herd stone. So I didn't have the economy early, after dealing with her, to go after Brettonia and now the Dwarves have already wiped them out in Montefort.
Since making this guide they moved Alith Anar, but I was hoping that hadn't changed too much. Perhaps more aggressive AI? Sorry to hear it's not going to plan, but remember you can always recover and keep ranking up. Just keep those filthy rats away from the forest!
@@ElvenPlotArmour hey! I hope you can make an updated 20 turn guide, perhaps include some auto resolve strats for MP IE players? I think there are other things that happen now that don't in this video
Just wanted to say thank you so much for all your work on these guides. Very new to the world of Warhammer Immortal empires. This guide is so helpful on my first Campaign with the wood elves who I'm finding to be a much more enjoyable faction than HE. Wondering if I should have start with Durthu as a beginner.
Only wish we had the full stream of you playing this in its entirety to see all the nuances and what to do after. Do you stream these at all on twitch or CZcams? Sorry if this info is on the discord have yet to join it. Thanks again and looking forward to more of these!
All good mate. I think I'll start doing what I used to, which is do the first 20 turn guide, then long stream from that point onward. Good luck!
Hey Armour, thanks for another 20 turn guide - they've really helped me figure out how to escape the brain ache with some starts since WH2!
I wanted to ask: would you ever consider a Khalida 20 start? Her initial beginning is easy enough against the Vamps, but I personally always find that Skarbrand, and wild card of Thorek & Kroq-Gar will more often than not come at me. At which point, I'm sure you can guess how the suffering goes from there!
Appreciate it mate. Ultimate plans to get to all factions, including Tomb Kings. Have to honor the supportbase by prioritising their pick content first so it might be a while haha. She does have a dicey start. My first thought would be getting onside with Thorek and/or Krok Gar. If you can align them to enough common wars you'll likely create something long standing. Scarbrand would be someone you'd want out sooner than later, but you also have maneuverable enemies around there. My focus would be on closing off fronts with geography and diplomacy, build up and take things piecemeal! I haven't tried that one personally yet so take everything I say with a dumptruck of undead salt!
@@ElvenPlotArmour I hear you! Unfortunately both Kroq and Thorek start in decidedly unfriendly terms with Khalida, and you know how the TK economy can be so it's a bit dicey doling out gifts. The general grace I've found however, is leaving the third region by Khalida untouched as a buffer of sorts to delay Kroqs discovery while just rushing through the mountains? As for the Vamp Counts, they seem to be rather passive on N/N at least, so it's easy enough to simply sweep around in a clockwise loop then up to Lahmia for the finisher! But I'll try your suggestions. Thanks again!
This is a bit too "rigid" as in, it doesn't really have to go the way described. Maybe it's also cause the vid is 1 year old, but I just started a campaign and it was vastly different. Khatep murdered the Greenskin faction on turn 7, before I could even get the quest. There was also Manblight tribe beastmen stack roaming around my areas, and Cylostra took Storag Kor by turn 8. Diplomacy is also quite a bit different than in the vid, it's way harder to get a NAP with the Wood Elf factions.
Also, there's an incursion of Skaven that triggers around turn 6-7 and you have to deal with it basically immediately, else it becomes a really OP stack of late game units and can destroy or at least set you back a lot.
EDIT: Also, did Volley of Kurnous get massively nerfed in the meantime? It barely puts a dent into any unit now, while in the vid it takes it to around 50%...
I do have to say, this guide is absolutely dated now Ostankya was released. The geopolitics of this region is changed a lot.. ON the plus side you can give territory to her as well, allowing her to fight Morathi. I think the logic in this guide and approach are still the way to go, but as a blow-by-blow it's not going to work, but I think the same can be achieved.
I'm unsure if Volley got nerfed, try to hit lines of units side on or clustered units to maximise damage - maybe the splash was reduced?
@@ElvenPlotArmour It is definitely dated. Its almost impossible to get to the Bretonnian factions fast enough in order to attack them. Both factions are getting wiped out as well as the Karak, consistently.
@@DontTouchMyHoHos Fortunately I love the Sisters and will have to go them again :)
My favorite way to play sisters is to ally morathi at the beginning, I'm sure that's sub optimal but I mean its Mommy Morathi
Oo I've never tried to ally Morathi, but it absolutely could work, though in WH3 she doesn't have the bite she used to and will probably need help fending back Tyrion.
@@ElvenPlotArmour I like to ally morathi and allarielle and make them "play nice" 😆
For the 12:42 battle, could you not setup to kill the lord, which would end the battle and give full exp without the other armies coming in. Then fight the other armies separately for another full exp gain. Just more exp overall.
Great call, and yes, that's a perfectly fine way to do it. I chose to utilise the advantage to ambush them as they entered the battlefield to deal damage that way to make the subsequent siege easier to do (where they would have towers and other advantages). Both are acceptable ways, but WE are good at ambushing, so I took the ambush route.
As of Thrones of Decay this strategy needs some tweaking., or it was just my roll for 2 starts. The skaven army has stronger AR and Khatep destroys those orcs on turn 9, Karak Norn also destroyed turn 10. Taurox also drops his herdstone at Clar Karond shaking it up a lil bit. Thats the furthest ive gotten so far. Cheers mate
Awesome job. That is an unbelievable start. But you know the two forest battles in athel Loren are orcs and bretonnia right? You can just fight them once. End turn and fight them twice and confederate without declaring war on any others…. (Well you definitely could in TWW2 and I see the same in TWW3, just haven’t tried myself yet)
Also, there is a dwarf forest encounter in Durthu's province that spawns so you don't have to go hunting Dwarves if they are gone. I don't remember the turn number that the encounter spawns but it won't spawn until after the Oak is high enough level for Durthu's confederation quest.
Do you mean the very first ones after confederating into Athel Loren? The challenge I found was getting in there in time to catch those battles, but you may well have found another reliable method! Regarding multiple fights against the same army, it's much more difficult in WH3 to keep armies alive in successive battles, but I do think your method could be possible!
@@ElvenPlotArmour yes once you reach the confederation level of the oak of ages the forest encounters spawn and they stay until you attack. One is hidden under a quest battle sometimes I have noticed.
I dont believe this works anymore, the dwavres get wiped out before I can even get my first confed and manafort is taken as well.
Hey mate, sorry if this isn't working for you. It was like a charm but the AI is continually tweaked. It really surprises me Grombrindal getting wiped? Surely that one is just unlucky. One advantage of the Wood Elves is they so very well defensively. Hire some casters and get some solid levels on them and earn some gold, then go for the counter attack!
@@ElvenPlotArmour Not Grombrindal, Karak. The Dwarves next to Orion. Every start he wipes them out right when I start the quest for Orc confed and Manafort gets wiped out too. Any suggestions? I also meant cant confed on manafort, not can. Ive done 10 starts and Karak and Manafort get wiped everytime.
Edit: MONTEFORT fuck, i cant spell. Might be durthu that takes out the dwarves too, but I reach pav in 11 turns and the bret faction was wiped out.
Great Guide for a great faction. I really like the Sisters and consider them to be the best and most fun We faction. Although im not so certain when it comes to the best HE and DE faction. Any opinions ?
Sisters safely are the strongest faction. Drycha's diplomacy and geography would rightfully place her last under my rating system. While Orion and Durthu have stronger starts, the Wood Elf racial strengths of confederation and Worldroots allow the Sisters to close the shortfall in geography and they're so strong, so early on the battlefield it's hard to challenge them. They're a top tier race in IE, no doubt! HE Tyrion is still incredibly strong with incredible diplomatic and geographic control. Alarielle's start isn't as fast as Tyrion's early or mid game, but she's arguably the strongest lategame elf, economically. Eltharion's start is far more difficult, but he boasts the strongest mechanics if you can just survive those 20 turns and is still very good, but he's a low A tier now, and everyone. Next, Tier down we have Alith Anar - the potential to be most explosive but his start is rough. Imrik and Teclis are the two weakest, but they're not D Tier like they were in WH2 and are now both C+ to a low B in my eyes. Some believe mechanics make or break a faction. The opportunities they afford you is all that matters. Despite having no unique gimick, Tyrion is still King. Play 20 Turns as any elf and see Tyrion achieves more, easier. And this is coming from an Imrik main haha.
Dark Elves I'd need more time to think, but Lokhir is hands down the strongest again. Nobody got weaker, but the North is more challenging now. Malus is slightly better too with his demon sympathies.
@@ElvenPlotArmour Thank you for your elaborate answer, it is amazing that you actually respond to all comments. I think i agree with you on Tyrion being the strongest, although Eltharion can also be very powerfull if you soley focus on Ulthuan (which admittetdly is kind of taking away his flavour and making him into a budget tyrion who is strong through his mechanics). On a side note im a little confused by tyrions faction effect which should reduce recruitment time by 1 Turn for all infantry and cavalary. Since Infantry includes, at least to my understanding, all normal siced units and the effect should also apply to global recruitment shoudnt Tyrion be able to globally recruit spearmen and archers in 1 turn from the get go ? Im not Clear on that and would be very thankfull for a little help understanding it.
4:00 +few seconds. Skill Tree.
Did they make the Al more aggressive or do I just have bad luck? I just got declared on by vampire coast lady and two southern dark elf lords on round 12
And now all the brettonians from Parravon to castle Bastonne have been wiped out before I could get my 3 battles🙂
They've certainly been tweaking the AI aggression and they still honestly haven't found the sweet spot yet. The Vampire Coast shouldn't be a problem if you have Alith Anar and Grombrindal on side. Regarding Brettonia, you can alternatively find a minor faction or try the 'forest intruder' battles can also spawn Brettonians. Just don't attack Leon or the Lady just to get this quest, it's not worth Alienating yourself!
SoT has been changed quite alot now compared the video, are we getting updated version or should we use still this tactic?
Good question mate. The main Wood Elf change was fixing Orion's Wild Hunt. The Sisters function the exact same. They're just as deadly, even outside of siege battles. This is still the strongest setup imho. Grombrindal to protect the Witchwood and expand into Athel Loren ASAP will secure your economy for the campaign :) Wood Elf compositions work well on the battlefield and in sieges so little to change here.
@@ElvenPlotArmour Alright, thanks for the tips! Ill restart my solo campaing, had a problem were Durthu decided to start a war with the Empire before i managed to confederate him, pulled Bretonnia with him too. I play modded tho so some stuff wont go 1:1 with my runs but thats fine. Keep up the good work!
Edit: so i just double checked and seems either my mods are causing this or the prize to upgrade the "Tree Of Ages" has been nerfed. On your run its 2,5k which is nice, on mine its 10k which makes it a bit annoying to play around it.
Edit2: It seems its 2.5k and 8 turn building time on yours and on mine its 10k with 5 turn building time. Seems there wasnt that big of a problem than i first though.
@@ElvenPlotArmour in my campaign the dark elves decided to declare war on me and just rushed at me at turn 13, taurox died to ogres and there's cylostra near vaul's anvil
What to do when greenskin in early turn is obliterated? Cant confederate
Would putting points in buffing your missile infantry in her red tree after route marcher not be better early game, as opposed to going into their yellow tree buffing them?
Absolutely! The priority is the blue line, personal line and getting those x3 archer buff points. The order is subjective, but because this is expansive I took cost reduction. But definitely worth taking!
@@ElvenPlotArmour Yeah I figured lowering lowering costs as much as possible early game was priority due to WE economy. Just couldn't decide if buffing Sisters damage or archers were the better option early on.
How do you keep the empire on-side when you attack the dwarves? I got enormous diplomacy penalties with both Reikland and the Golden Order (who are both pretty strong in my save) when I attacked them. Feels like it might be easier to kill grombrindal with the exiles of nehek and make the tomb kings protect you without upsetting anyone else. Malekith will eventually kill grom anyway and the tomb kings are a bit sturdier since then recruit new armies so fast.
Thanks for sharing your findings. If you're ever worried about Karl, you can attack Bastonne like you saw in this run and gift those neighboring settlements to him. This also means if he gets hostile with Leon and wins, you've still got a strong defender. A single gifting of territory will smooth things over and he's very easy to keep on side. If you're worried I'm sure a couple of small gifts will calm him until the penalties for attacking the dwarfs go.
Regarding Exiles of Nehek, I initially tried to keep them alive. The problem is they're so passive and WILL eventually get overrun by Malekith and the other go getters there - including Grombrindal. The advantage of him is that he's clear in what he hates - dark elves - and he'll prioritise them which means he's always busy fighting the biggest threat there. Grombrindal can easily hang in a stalemate with Malekith if you gift him some settlements and bank roll him.
If you can get Alith Anar to join a 3 way alliance you can forget about that corner and move on to greener pastures :)
I have a Wood Elf Changes Video recently released which shows what this looks like a bit later.
Cheers again for the feeback - it's great to hear other perspectives!
@@ElvenPlotArmour thanks for the response, great advice. I found gifting Karl settlements kept him happy during my war with the dwarves at first but then when I destroyed the faction I got a sudden massive penalty with both him and gelt that I couldn’t recover from. I’d be tempted to leave the dwarves alive with one remaining settlement to be destroyed by someone else but by that point they have no other enemies around them and only you to grudge on.
The Glade Guard hero is not available to me to recruit, it also doesn't show in the building browser on Trickster's Gallery. Any ideas?
Do you mean the Captain? I've had no issues mate. Any mods?
@@ElvenPlotArmour yes glade captain, it isn't showing in the heros tab or in the building that is required to recruit them. I also tried it with and without mods and after reinstalling both dlc. not quite sure what is going on
@@ashokan144 glade captain was flc from ca’s website :)
cool guide, why not make friends with the tomb kings?
Great question. In WH2 I'd say that was an automatic decision. In WH3 Grombrindal is too aggressive and will attack them eventually. By attacking the Exiles you can gift the settlements to Grombrindal, build an ally and strengthen him at the same time.
Everytime I try to waste ammo my lords get destroyed in WH3.
Do you have a more specific video or resource on this topic?
I have a Sisters of Twilight walkthrough and in the first couple of battles I show one method. The other way is to click one way a few times then the other.
You probably find you stop moving and the character needs to turn on the spot then starts moving. THIS is where you're probably getting wrecked.
The tip is to always be moving forward and then turn. I recommend a "lazy 8" pattern. As you learn enemy firing patterns you can get more creative.
Let me know if you have any more trouble.
Something I figured out early on with lords wasting ammo, turn your auto run option on. For w.e reason if it is off and your double clicking your lord has this weird ramp up from walk to run that takes a second or so to actually begin running. With the option on they run immediately, but be mindful of this with your entire army as always running WILL wear them out in battle.
14:04 how did you get him to give you the army and the settlement?
The confederated faction simply had an army at the time of confederation. All armies and characters become yours, if you didn't acquire any units then they've been wiped in recent turns.
@@ElvenPlotArmour aaah through the missions. Thx man!
Alith next please!
Cheers mate. I'm looking into whether or not his start position is moving in the upcoming patches. Any other top pics incase the rumors are true?
Oh yeah his position is getting changed. Better to wait for next update.
@@GalaxyArmchair Hey mate, I haven't forgotten you. This guide should be coming in the next couple of weeks or so. Cheers :)
my orcs were killed by ogres lol
Oh no, I haven't seen that one yet! haha. There's another Forest which has Greenskins in it to the east, you can deeproot there with a big army or score it off Grom if he's still alive!
@@ElvenPlotArmour my second orc settlement was besieged by ogres, at first they captured it, then I booted up and was able to attack them and everything is ok, but now I have a war with ogres
@@ElvenPlotArmour I don't have a captain glade, are they from DLS?
@@pokormikota1637 flc from ca’s website :)
gg
Thanks mate!