Total War: Warhammer III Realms Of Chaos Beginner’s Guide

Struggling with Total War: Warhammer III’s Realms Of Chaos? Fear not, as this Beginners Guide has all the information and strategies that you need to win the day. Read on to discover what threats lay in wait and what types of units you should take with you to win the Daemon Prince Battles!

Total War: Warhammer III Realms Of Chaos Beginner's Guide

Total War: Warhammer III’s Realms of Chaos are some of the most spectacular environments in the entire Total War series. However as wonderful looking as they are it can be difficult to understand what your goal is for each Realm. And it can be hard to plan what army you should take to defeat the armies that lurk within them and each Daemon Prince. But with this beginner’s guide, you needn’t struggle anymore!

This Total War: Warhammer III Realms Of Chaos Beginner’s Guide will tell you what your objective is for each Realm, provide you with strategies to best complete them, and advise on what kind of armies you should be brought to defeat the Daemon Princes that lurk therein. It will also give you tips on how to win in the final battle at the Forge of Souls too. Because let’s face it. No one likes seeing an hour’s work melt away due to bungling one of these battles. Trust me, that happened many times when writing my review.

BEFORE WE BEGIN

It’s possible that Creative Assembly will rework Total War: Warhammer III’s Realms Of Chaos in the not too distant future. Some changes might be minor tweaks or possibly even a full-on rework. I shall do my best to keep the guide up to date. But if there are any radical changes then a new guide might be needed. If that is the case, a disclaimer will be posted above.

Remember to close rifts you don't need with spare armies or agents.

Remember to close rifts you don’t need with spare armies or agents.

Also, due to the sheer variety of army compositions that can be fielded, I can’t give you full army lists for each faction. This is because you can tackle these Realms in any order and the units I might recommend may not be available to you right away if ever. And to be frank, this guide would take hours to read if I did. As such this guide will advise you on what the daemons of that respective realm are weakest against and what you should bring to best exploit that. Full guides for each playable faction might follow on the site in the coming months. So be sure to keep an eye out for them if you want more detailed suggestions.

GENERAL TIPS

Below are tips that are universal across all of the Realms Of Chaos. These are things that you need to bear in mind before you charge into them:

  • Take full stacks of 20 to the realms.
  • Bring the highest tier units that you can afford.
  • Bring heroes that can increase the army’s movement and replenishment rate.
  • Defences become near useless later in the campaign in The Realms of Chaos.
  • Use points in the Daemon Prince battles for reinforcements, healing, ammo, and morale replenishment. And only buy upgrades if you feel you need them.
  • Don’t be afraid of withdrawing a unit that is low on health. You can bring them back as reinforcements.
  • To remove negative traits gained you need to place your army in a settlement with a Protection building. These are found in the defence buildings tab.
You can Auto Resolve all but the final battle if you can't be bothered fighting.

You can Auto Resolve all but the final battle if you can’t be bothered fighting.

ADDITIONAL TIPS

To further elaborate on some of these points. When building your armies for The Realms Of Chaos you should always do your best to take full stacks with the best units you can afford supported by a couple of heroes both on and off the battlefield. You will be almost constantly under attack whilst you are in the realms or suffering from attrition. So you need to mitigate that damage as best as you can and ensure you aren’t spending too long stationed in one place.

Whilst the Defences aren’t a total waste of money the towers offer mixed results. Early on they can prove effective, with even the lower tier ones being useful. However, later on, even the most powerful towers can struggle to be effective. You should get them to support your army. They will not win a battle for you. Barricades are more useful as they force your enemy to take different routes and can slow their advance.

Defences can also distract the enemy. Quite spectacularly at times.

Defences can also distract the enemy. Quite spectacularly at times.

This makes your foes especially vulnerable to your ranged units and counter-chargers. However, I’d prioritise reinforcements and healing over trying to build some great defensive position as I feel the defences are over costed for what little they do. With that out of the way, let’s tackle each of the realms themselves.

REALM OF TZEENTCH

The Realm Of Tzeentch is possibly the hardest in the game at the time of writing. Not due to the level of challenge present but more so due to how random it can feel and how easy it is for the A.I. to complete it in the least number of turns. Your goal is to travel via a series of portals to reach the Impossible Fortress at the edge of the map. However, when you first arrive there will be no way of telling which portal leads to where.

The worst realm in this Total War: Warhammer III Realms Of Chaos Beginner's Guide.

The worst realm in this Total War: Warhammer III Realms Of Chaos Beginner’s Guide.

But, by leading your army to one of the glowing points on the map you can choose to show which two portals are paired together. Additionally defeating the Tzeentch daemon armies will add a mark over one of the portals but will not reveal a pairing. The pairings are different every game. As such, I can’t just share with you the route you need to take. One strategy (though a time-consuming one) is to screenshot the area or make a copy on a notepad and then make a note of where the portals lead to. Then you reload to when you first entered the realm and go through them in the correct order. Sadly you can’t rely on just following an enemy army, as the portals they take don’t follow the same pairings as they do for you.

WHAT TO BRING?

Daemons of Tzeentch armies are made up of many hybrid infantry squads which are capable of dishing out a great amount of fire-based ranged attacks. They also have many powerful spellcasters and flying monsters too. However, they are an incredibly squishy army; they don’t hold up well in melee combat or any situations with sustained damage. The moment you can shut down their ranged attack they become a far easier threat to deal with. As such I recommend:

  • Units with decent missile defence.
  • Cavalry units to close the distance to them. Ideally heavy cavalry.
  • Missile units to deal with their flying units.
  • Squads with the Anti-Infantry attribute.
These nerds can't handle this porky cavalry.

These nerds can’t handle this porky cavalry.

If you do intend to bring missile units bear in mind that Tzeentch’s can outrange some of the standard options such as Armoured Kossars and Gnobblar Trappers. In cases like that, it is better to use them to support other troops in your army (in the case with the Trappers) or switch to them to their melee stance (in the case with Armoured Kossars).

REALM OF KHORNE

The Realm of Khorne is the easiest of all the Realms featured in this Total War: Warhammer III Realms Of Chaos Beginner’s Guide. When you first arrive you will notice a bar over your army. To reach the Daemon Prince, you must fill this bar by fighting the other armies present within this realm. You have the option of fighting the various rouge armies that spawn or the armies of other factions that come in.

Khorne cares not where from where the blood flows!

Khorne cares not where from where the blood flows!

To aid you you can gain a powerful weapon for your faction leader from the glowing spots in the realm if you so wish. However, this weapon will spread Khorne corruption to your provinces when you return home. And you will lose it when you go to another Realm Of Chaos, so don’t become too attached to it. Oh, and heads up, the rouge armies can respawn after a few turns. So be careful to not get ambushed by them.

WHAT TO BRING?

The armies of Khorne are hard-hitting and devastating in melee combat. As such it is best to try and put as much distance between you and them as possible. Whilst Khorne does have access to some artillery the vast majority of their armies are melee-based, with higher-level armies having heavily armoured troops in their ranks. So I’d recommend:

  • A mixture of heavy infantry and ranged (if you can get them).
  • Skirmishing cavalry to distract and wear down their troops.
  • Armour-Piercing Units. 
  • If your army lacks ranged options I’d recommend using heavy cavalry in place of ranged and using the  ‘hammer and anvil’ strategy; holding an enemy in place with one unit and slamming into the rear flank with another.
Khorne's daemons are deadly in melee, don't let them get close!

Khorne’s daemons are deadly in melee, don’t let them get close!

One of the best and most effective ways of defeating a Daemon army regardless of allegiance is to break their morale. They function similarly to the various Undead factions in the game; if their morale drops low enough the troops in the unit are banished from the battlefield. And Khorne is no exception to this. This means that even armies that are considered weaker can still sneak a win with clever planning and positioning.

REALM OF NURGLE

Next up in this Total War: Warhammer III Realms Of Chaos Beginner’s Guide is The Realm Of Nurgle. The challenge here is to reach the target locations before your foes do all whilst suffering constant attrition. To make matters all the more difficult several Nurgle Daemon armies will attack you once you start to get within range of them.

Nurgle's Realm Of Chaos is a long attrition filled journey.

Nurgle’s Realm Of Chaos is a long attrition filled journey.

When you first arrive should be to visit one of the glowing spots near where you spawned in from. These locations will grant you a buff that will reduce the amount of attrition you take. Additionally travelling through the Realm in Encampment mode will prevent you from taking any attrition but will reduce your army’s movement speed. So flicking between that and standard or double movement is advised.

WHAT TO BRING?

The daemons from the Realm of Nurgle are slow and durable in almost equal measure. It is incredibly difficult to outlast them in a battle of attrition. As such you can’t just leave your units to do their job and hope for the best. So you need to be brutal when it comes to dealing damage to them and ideally damaging their morale at the same time. For these armies I recommend bringing:

  • Units with flame attacks as this reduce the effectiveness of regeneration.
  • Long-range squads.
  • Spellcasters that can cast offensive spells or give a unit a magical damage buff.
  • Nurgle Roster currently lacks any anti-large and anti-monstrous units. Bring them along if you can.
  • Units to debuff their armour and/or speed.
By the time these guys use all their ammo they'll have only killed five daemons from that unit.

By the time these guys use all their ammo they’ll have only killed five daemons from that unit.

The Daemons of Nurgle have high damage resistance across all their units. Due to this, the majority of your armies are going to struggle with putting them down. However, they are vulnerable to magic damage. So giving units buffs and banners to grant them this can help. Additionally, as noted in the tips, fire damage can reduce the effectiveness of their regeneration if you can get it. Ranged units are a mixed bag against them as they can be slow to fire and some damage they do can be regenerated quickly.

REALM OF SLAANESH

The Realm Of Slaanesh, much like the Realm of Khorne is one of the more straight forwards that you will face in Total War: Warhammer III. This particular Realm of Chaos is broken up into a series of rings that lead down to the battle with the Daemon Prince. Your job is to make it to one of the portals on each ring which will take you to the next level down.

This Realm Of Chaos will offer you powerful buffs and items if you leave.

This Realm Of Chaos will offer you powerful buffs and items if you leave.

Each ring gets smaller the further down you go, and all of them have at least one Slaanesh Daemon army that will try and defeat you on the way down. Additionally, when you are about to pass through each portal you will be offered a reward to boost your army, your nation, or your heroes. These are powerful rewards, however, if you accept them you will be thrown out of the Realm and unable to return until the next Rifts open.

WHAT TO BRING?

The Daemons of Slaanesh are fast-moving but low armoured. And rely on hit and run tactics for the most part. This is due to the buffs they get when doing so. They are a glass cannon of sorts. Powerful but brittle. Because of this, I recommend:

  • Heavy infantry and/or anti-infantry.
  • Units that can debuff their leadership and buff your own.
  • Monsterous units.
  • Units to buff your armour or attack.
  • Anti-cavalry squads.
Slaanesh can't hit and run if you hold them in place.

Slaanesh can’t hit and run if you hold them in place.

The forces of Slaanesh can be difficult given their speed and how devastating they can be on the charge. However, they aren’t suited to long engagements; if any fights go on for too long they will fall to pieces quickly. If you can hold them in place it will aid you greatly. Additionally, anything you can do to boost your army’s attack, morale, or defensive power will be a major bonus. And to that end, I wouldn’t recommend bringing low tier units to the realm if you can help it.

FORGE OF SOULS

The final location in this Total War: Warhammer III Realms Of Chaos Beginner’s Guide is the big one. The Forge of Souls. There is no challenge to unlock the battle here as you have already done that by collecting the four Daemon Prince Souls to get there. The only thing you need to bear in mind is that you will have a limited number of turns to reach this final battle so don’t delay it too long.

The least complicated realm in this entire Guide!

The least complicated realm in this entire Guide!

The faction you must face here is a Chaos Undivided army. This means that it will feature a mixture of units from all the other Daemon factions in-game. The first wave you must face off against is mostly lower-tier daemons which are weak but easy to deal with. The second wave is harder as it is made up of several Soul Grinders. The final wave will be a combination of all three as well as the Daemon Prince himself. 

WHAT TO BRING?

There is no point in spending much of your points of defences; by this point what you are facing off against is either too fast or too powerful to really be troubled too much by them. You are better off saving points for reinforcements. Your best chance to win this battle is to bring the best stuff you have access to and try to outlast everything they throw your way. I recommend that you bring:

  • Units with bonuses against large and monstrous.
  • Ranged is good if you can get it.
  • Do not bring any siege equipment unless they are being carried by fast-moving units.
  • Characters that can debuff the armour of the Daemon Prince and/or buff your attack.
  • High morale units.
  • Monsters to take on the Daemon Prince or at least distract them.
The final battle is going to be a long and bloody one.

The final battle is going to be a long and bloody one.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I should point out that there might be a glitch in this battle as daemons from the first wave will spawn constantly once you capture that point. Due to this, you will have to keep moving as you cannot fight this endless tide off once they start spawning.

As such I recommend leaving a couple of units to try and hold them off for as long as possible. It might be a glitch. It might be intentional. Either way, it is incredibly easy to get swarmed by them. So ensure you have some troops at the ready to hold them back as long as possible whilst the main force deals with the Daemon Prince. This will be the hardest battle in the game. But so long as you keep moving and don’t stay in one place too long and don’t get distracted fighting off respawning units you can do it.

Now go make pincushions out of those Daemon Princes!

Now go make pincushions out of those Daemon Princes!

And so concludes this Total War: Warhammer III Realms Of Chaos Beginner’s Guide I hope that you have found it useful. If so be sure to share it with your friends and drop a like. For more guides, reviews, and gaming news updates follow KeenGamer on Twitter. Go on, it’s free! And if you have any tips I may have missed be sure to share leave them down below!

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