Total War: Warhammer 3 recently announced its latest DLC, Thrones of Decay, and many new things await the players within Patch 5.0. One of them is Elspeth von Draken, the Dark Lady of Nuln who can withstand any army that is coming her way with her special Imperial Gunnery School among other mechanics unique to her faction. Today, we will discuss Elspeth von Draken Faction’s strengths and weaknesses in this Total War: Warhammer 3 guide. Let’s begin.
With the release of Thrones of Decay DLC for Total War: Warhammer 3, Creative Assembly now favors allowing players to choose which faction and Legendary Lord they want to play from the newest three Lords available inside the full bundle. For example, suppose you thoroughly enjoy how The Empire plays. In that case, you can simply purchase Elspeth von Draken DLC and leave the other two Lords, Malakai Makaisson and Tamurkhan alone until they are ready to venture out into those two factions.
Total War: Warhammer 3 is available on Steam for $54.99, while the Thrones of Decay – Elspeth von Draken DLC is available on Steam for $5.99.
Elspeth von Draken Lore Overview
Elspeth von Draken has many names. Some call her the Dark Lady of Nuln, while others recognize her as the Graveyard Rose. Whatever it may be, one thing is certain: Countess Emmanuelle von Liebwitz’s advisor arrives in Total War: Warhammer 3 to cleanse The Empire’s regions from the encroaching Vampire Counts, Greenskins, and other pesky factions who dare to challenge the might of Wissenland.
Hailing from a lineage deeply influenced by the Winds of Magic, Elspeth has frequently been a secluded yet formidable adversary to The Empire’s foes. As a fervent innovator and a virtuoso of magic, it’s now the moment to highlight her prowess and bolster The Empire’s troops amidst the rise of Chaos.
To do so, Elspeth von Draken begins her campaign in the Wissenland region, where she must fight against numerous threats against Nuln and The Empire, and use the might of Imperial Gunnery School and Gardens of Morr to help her expand The Empire’s growth.
The Dark Lady.
Elspeth von Draken’s New Gameplay Mechanics
To accomplish her goals, those who are daring enough to control Elspeth von Draken for their Total War: Warhammer 3 playthrough are given two important tools, the Imperial Gunnery School, which provides Elspeth with the much-needed mankind’s firepower, and the Gardens of Morr, which gives her faction the ability to traverse into any visible friendly or neutral Empire settlements, as long as she can construct them beforehand.
Imperial Gunnery School
To analyze what Elspeth brings to the table, let us proceed with her first unique mechanic, the Imperial Gunnery School, which gives Elspeth’s army an edge against the ever-expanding world of Warhammer 3.
The Imperial Gunnery School is a crucial institution for The Empire, as this is where you can upgrade its weaponry capabilities. It’s here that Schematics, earned from using gunnery units in battle and defeating enemy gunpowder units, can be exchanged for permanent upgrades to gunnery and artillery units. Some of these upgrades are available immediately, but more advanced ones require the Imperial Gunnery School to level up, emphasizing the importance of knowledge in innovation.
Imperial Gunnery School.
The progression of the Gunnery School is achieved through Field Testing. This involves a series of tasks and prerequisites designed to demonstrate the institution’s capabilities. Once you manage to upgrade the Imperial Gunnery School to Level 2, you can unlock the Amethyst Armoury. This is where you can spend additional Schematics to acquire exclusive Amethyst units and powerful, rechargeable, single-use abilities… Which means more ways to blast your enemies with the power of friendship and gunpowder.
My personal preference when it comes to the Imperial Gunnery School is to upgrade the Steam Tank and Gunnery Infantry nodes first before venturing into other missile units’ upgrades, as most likely for the early duration of your campaign with Elspeth, you’d utilize them before you can afford Helblaster Volley Guns or Land Ships.
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- Upgrades for Gunnery Infantry.
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- Upgrades for Helblaster Volley Guns.
Gardens of Morr
The second unique gameplay mechanic for Elspeth von Draken in Total War: Warhammer 3 is the Gardens of Morr, a magical ability unique to the Dark Lady of Nuln that allows her to traverse into any of The Empire settlements she wants, so long that she already built the necessary Black Towers within that settlement.
This unique gameplay mechanic helps Elspeth utilize Fast Travel to make sure that she can reach any parts of her vast territories, which boosts her campaign flexibility tremendously. Moreover, the Gardens of Morr allows Elspeth to either repel Chaos’ corruption, recruit units in foreign territories, or provide other bonuses.
However, keep in mind that Gardens of Morr are scarce in numbers, and if the settlement that is currently holding a Garden gets razed or occupied by other non-Empire factions, then that specific Garden of Morr will also get destroyed, so analyzing the terrain and decide which settlements are the best to erect a Black Tower will be the key at maximizing the profits you can gain from Gardens of Morr. My personal recommendation for the early turns is to just build one in Nuln, as it will be your central power position for the most part, plus, its location is near perfect since Reikland is just above Nuln, thus protecting it from other factions.
Gardens of Morr.
New Units for Elspeth von Draken in Total War: Warhammer 3
Of course, the Dark Lady of Nuln didn’t come to Total War: Warhammer 3 empty-handed, as Elspeth also gains several new units that are inherently unique to her faction, which includes Nuln Ironsides, Hochland Long Rifles, Knights of the Black Rose, Steam Tank (Volley Guns), and Marienburg Land Ship.
Nuln Ironsides
The first unit within Wissenland that is ready to serve the Dark Lady is the Nuln Ironsides. Drawn from the Imperial Gunnery School guards and apprentices, the Nuln Ironsides belong to the Iron Companies of Nuln, rocking heavy plate armor and black-powder firearms. As some of the most widely respected combatants The Empire has to offer, and with the advanced equipment to match, the Nuln Ironsides are a new Missile Infantry that the enemy will wish they’d kept their distance from.
Equipped with a two-handed rifle and a sword for secondary defense, the Nuln Ironsides excel when positioned with other Handgunners. They specialize in unleashing a relentless onslaught of bullets to bolster their vanguard forces. Their unique passive skill, Blackpowder Discipline, significantly enhances their precision and reloading efficiency while firing from a fixed location.
While their character models are not that different compared to Handgunners, what they do is what’s important here. Since they have a slightly longer range than basic Gunnery Infantries, the Nuln Ironsides have the edge that makes them capable of holding down your rear lines in any battle, be it sieges or open-area battles, these tough men will keep the enemies in check with their mighty rifles.
Nuln Ironsides.
Hochland Long Rifles
The Hochland Long Rifles are perhaps part of the cream of the crop within Elspeth von Draken’s array of units, as these deadly men are capable of picking off any unit, even the opposing forces’ Lords and Heroes cannot escape their fate if a bullet from the Hochland Long Rifles hit them right in the head.
While it’s not as fast as cavalry or Steam Tank, the Hochland Long Rifles make up for it through their hard-hitting rifles, and you should always try to utilize them whenever possible.
Hochland Long Rifles.
Knights of the Black Rose
Total War: Warhammer 3 requires a faction to have a vast array of units, and luckily, Elspeth von Draken arrives with the help of a unique cavalry unit of her own, the Knights of the Black Rose. Founded during the darkest days of the Black Plague, the Order of the Black Rose was always shrouded in mystery, though its size has shifted unreliably over time. With dark silver armor to reference their name, and red gauntlets to signify the spilled blood of their enemies, the Knights of the Black Rose, a new Cavalry unit, frequent the symbols of the God of Death and are only chosen from those of the highest nobility.
As a heavily armored Cavalry unit, the Knights of the Black Rose ride atop a Warhorse as they storm into battle. Equipped with a sword and shield, they excel at prolonged combat without the need to cycle in and out, helping them lock down the enemy as their fellow cavalry push in from the flank and bind the opposition where they stand.
Knights of the Black Rose.
Steam Tank (Volley Guns) and Marienburg Land Ship
The last units that arrive for the Dark Lady of Nuln are the Steam Tank (Volley Guns) and Marienburg Land Ship, both of which are the marvels of The Empire’s engineering and can sustain themselves while also annihilating any type of enemies that are in the wrong side of their barrels.
While Steam Tanks are readily available throughout The Empire’s regions, the Volley Guns variant that Elspeth has is more robust and defensible, by switching out the main cannonball of Steam Tanks in favor of a revolving three-barrelled cannon, making this variant able to fire at an incredibly faster rate, as well as having an Engineer Commander to pop out from its hatch to deliver some killing blows to enemies daring enough to get close to the Steam Tank.
Meanwhile, I was shocked to see the Land Ship’s model, because my first impressions of it reminded me of a parade vehicle for Mardi Gras or other festivals, however, when I tested out its capabilities, there is no doubt left in my mind that the Marienburg Land Ship is the best missile unit that Elspeth von Draken has in her entire army roster, thanks to its mobility and the damage-dealing capacity of this vehicle.
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- Steam Tank (Volley Guns).
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- Marienburg Land Ship.
Strengths and Weaknesses
After assessing Elspeth von Draken’s new gameplay mechanics and units in Total War: Warhammer 3, it’s time to take a look at the Wissenland and Nuln’s strengths and weaknesses in the final part of this guide. We have curated them in the table below:
| Elspeth von Draken’s Wissenland and Nuln Overview | |
|---|---|
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
| Elspeth von Draken herself is a powerful Legendary Lord, capable of dishing out Lore of Death spells to kill her enemies. | Since Elspeth von Draken is a part of The Empire, she realistically cannot expand to the north since other Empire factions reside there, unless you want to initiate needless wars against The Empire. |
| Imperial Gunnery School’s functions are great and will boost your missile units tremendously. | You can only have five Gardens of Morr at maximum, therefore requiring you to be smart on how you want to place them within your borders. |
| Gardens of Morr are the perfect way to allow Elspeth’s army to escape and traverse to five different locations of choice, thus making your playthrough feel safer and more secure from the threats encroaching on Nuln. | Since Elspeth has a limited amount of starting enemies, her territory expansion is not the best, and forces you to declare wars against neutral factions that you desire. |
| Reikland practically borders Wissenland and Nuln, meaning that Emperor Karl Franz can protect your northern and western border, which helps you focus on conquering the eastern and southern parts of the map. | Elspeth’s infantries are unremarkable and most Monster Infantries can penetrate their lines, you need to back these infantries with missile units to ensure their safety. |
Conclusion
Overall, Elspeth von Draken and her Wissenland & Nuln faction is strong, albeit slightly lacking in terms of infantry options, a fatal weakness that you should never display against your enemies, or you might meet an early demise within your Total War: Warhammer 3 playthrough.
Is she worth the price tag? Definitely. Even if you’re not a fan of how The Empire works in general, Elspeth von Draken not only brings many unique mechanics for her faction, but she also brought some updates to other Empire factions that the way the older factions work has changed substantially.
For example, Elector Counts and Imperial Authority receive an overhaul that will boost Karl Franz’s campaigns, while Balthasar Gelt also receives a new campaign mechanic called the Colleges of Magic, and with this tool, whenever Gelt fights a battle with a wizard in his army, he will acquire Arcane Essays, with the number of Arcane Essays per battle correlating with the number of wizards present.
The changes within The Empire that Elspeth von Draken brings are more than enough of a reason to purchase her part of Thrones of Decay DLC. And if you add the amount of unique mechanics that she has, including new units that are almost busted and can contend with other factions’ heavy hitters, then Elspeth von Draken is the perfect entry Empire faction to play as in Total War: Warhammer 3.
