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Total War Warhammer 2 |OT| Of Mice and Ratmen
- Thread starter karnage10
- Start date
LurkerPrime
Member
I'd be really impressed if the victory conditions are anything more sophisticated than "eliminate X, Y, Z factions, hold 60 territories," identical to standard victories in the first game.
Also, I wonder how dominant the Dwarves will be in Mortal Empires. In vanilla TWWH1, they never failed to conquer everything possible when uncontested by players. But I guess with some new factions at play in the Old World, it could mix things up a lot. Skaven numbers would do a number on their cavalry-free armies, for instance. (Of course the AI Skaven will never win against them, but eh.)
Also, I wonder how dominant the Dwarves will be in Mortal Empires. In vanilla TWWH1, they never failed to conquer everything possible when uncontested by players. But I guess with some new factions at play in the Old World, it could mix things up a lot. Skaven numbers would do a number on their cavalry-free armies, for instance. (Of course the AI Skaven will never win against them, but eh.)
clockworkinyou
Banned
I hope TWWH1 goes on sale on steam when ME releases. I want it all
Everything (except Norsca) is on sale over at Bundlestars. Not the best sale prices ever but it could do if you're in a hurry.
PeskyToaster
Member
Releasing ME like this is a good idea because by the third game they'll have had time to get player data to work out the kinks before they add in the third piece. Can't wait to see the whole thing though. Do they have free-for-all battles in campaign? I think it would be sweet to just stumble upon two enemy armies going at it and wipe them both in one swoop.
BibiMaghoo
Member
I don't mind the cut ocean. It would have worked with it present as it does in Civ, taking many turns to cross a distance but understand the need for it gameplay wise. I am far more concerned about what other changes they have made though, because if they alter the map drastically it will lose a lot of its value to me. They have mentioned trimming down lustria and that is fine, it is large in W2, but other than reducing the size of landmasses, I don't want them to trim things out. We don't know at this point how altered it will be, but that partial screen is heartening.
Them confirming that Russian leaks makes it pretty indicative of what it'll be though, right? This thing. So the southern part of Lustria, western Canada and Africa south of Nehekara.
PeskyToaster
Member
They either have to shrink the ocean or put those "fast travel" zones that Empire had for moving between the maps
BibiMaghoo
Member
I'd forgotten about that to be honest, and it does match up with the other image as far as Ulthuans location to Bretonnia and Estalia. That is absolutely fine, although there should be some jungle/Lustrian presence for Tomb Kings to fight when they land.
Yeah it seems more than fine to me which is why all the whining is kind of annoying. I'd rather it be somewhat condensed for performance reasons if anything. There's already going to be what, 300ish settlements? That's crazy. And 35 unique starts even before all the DLC/FLC to come.
Ha, I suppose it is a bit wierd but I don't see any other way of doing it as there are already so many start positions and lords there.
Maybe because it is the centerpiece of the Warhammer fantasy setting?
295 to be exact.
Having finished both Tyrion and Teclis' campaigns, I have to say the HEs have incredible economy. You don't even really need to take the blue line campaign skills to reduce recruitment and upkeep costs for their lords because you get so much money from both taxes and trades.
Tyrion's campaign is significantly easier and his Defender of Ulthuan skills are so damn good for campaign. I played both on Normal and they were mostly pretty easy. Thinking of increasing campaign difficulty to Hard when Mortal Empires releases.
Tyrion's campaign is significantly easier and his Defender of Ulthuan skills are so damn good for campaign. I played both on Normal and they were mostly pretty easy. Thinking of increasing campaign difficulty to Hard when Mortal Empires releases.
ShadowSwordmaster
Banned
I have done Tyrion, Malekith, Lord Skorlk, and Kroq-Gar campagains. Out of them, I would say that Malekith was my favorite with Tyrion coming close and Lord Skrolk was my hardest one.
LurkerPrime
Member
It didn't occur to me how much I'd have to fight Dark Elves as Hexoatl. You basically need an army on standby at all times to guard against their incursions. And there are many.
The only saving grace is that they're incredibly disorganised, sending one army at a time, almost in a line, so you can generally cut right through their assaults.
The other problem is finding trading partners. Last Defenders somehow didn't get revealed during the port event... which means I need to send someone down to make contact. Those Lizardmen factions are my only hope for trade. As good a trade partner as Teclis is, it's only a matter of time before he confederates with Lothern. (And unfortunately, he's allied with the Dwarves and other Lizardmen, making them the dominant faction in Lustria.)
That's a bummer. Any idea which one it is specifically? Might be worth reporting to CA themselves.
I've had like four+ CTDs while playing Total Warhammer 2, far more than in the first, but the only one post-Windows Update didn't seem related. (The game didn't like me dismissing troops then replacing them with blessed ones with that UI up.)
The only saving grace is that they're incredibly disorganised, sending one army at a time, almost in a line, so you can generally cut right through their assaults.
The other problem is finding trading partners. Last Defenders somehow didn't get revealed during the port event... which means I need to send someone down to make contact. Those Lizardmen factions are my only hope for trade. As good a trade partner as Teclis is, it's only a matter of time before he confederates with Lothern. (And unfortunately, he's allied with the Dwarves and other Lizardmen, making them the dominant faction in Lustria.)
That's a bummer. Any idea which one it is specifically? Might be worth reporting to CA themselves.
I've had like four+ CTDs while playing Total Warhammer 2, far more than in the first, but the only one post-Windows Update didn't seem related. (The game didn't like me dismissing troops then replacing them with blessed ones with that UI up.)
PeskyToaster
Member
I'm almost done with my Queek campaign. Probably going for Dark Elves next. My friend has just finished his PC so we're excited to try out some co-op.
Kept having food issues near end of my Skaven campaign, only to realize the raid stance does not impact money generation when in your own territory with these guys. I should have been raiding my own stuff all this time. Oh well, I've just triggered the final vortex upgrade so not too much time left now.
Probably do HE next.
Probably do HE next.
turn 80 as DE Cult, finally stabilized. Just conquered Naggaroth and got a huge boost to my economy, eliminated all the other DE factions - the one on, eh, "Rhode Island" had a very nice upgraded city as well. The Lizardmen sneaked up on me on the West coast, taking all the ruins, declaring war, and sending dinosaur armies against my cities. Side note, dinosaur armies are incredibly vulnerable against DE crossbows in siege battles
I'm afraid of starting a ritual yet, point-wise only the LM are ahead of me with 2 finished rituals, the HE failed one
it doesn't really get mentioned much, but one of my favorite new campaign improvements are all the unique city-specific buildings, I love these. Also, the DE "choose your title" skill for the lords is a neat little mechanic as well
I'm afraid of starting a ritual yet, point-wise only the LM are ahead of me with 2 finished rituals, the HE failed one
it doesn't really get mentioned much, but one of my favorite new campaign improvements are all the unique city-specific buildings, I love these. Also, the DE "choose your title" skill for the lords is a neat little mechanic as well
Pyros_Eien
Member
Yeah raiding only spawns the rebel armies due to crap public order, which you can then kill for more food and free xp. Just if you're on VH/Legendary, you can't really justify having armies just raiding for food but in normal/hard you can kinda just make lords just for food. The commandments should help enough with the pastures settlements though, in most provinces the loss isn't really crazy and in the few that really generate a lot of gold you can keep them off. If you're fighting often enough, it's easy to sustain like this without raiding(although raiding works well enough in a pinch/when you have inactive armies anyway).
LurkerPrime
Member
I wonder if any factions will get Legendary Heroes at some point? It seems like a big place to expand at some point, or to make a faction stand out.
It's not really mentioned on the map, but pastures are like +4 to +6 food, depending on tier.
Sort of an aside, but pastures are absolutely worth beelining for as Skaven. Having ample food (or a surplus) lets you focus more on strategic strikes against weak factions, or to better position your armies.
It's not really mentioned on the map, but pastures are like +4 to +6 food, depending on tier.
the vortex campaign drags on quite a bit
at turn 120 soon, still haven't done a ritual, but wiped out the LM main faction. The HE haven't started ritual 4 yet, should they proceed with it I'm getting ready for landfall. Making preparations to do all rituals in one go as soon as I have public order in my outer provinces under control, and finished walling up. The ritual cties can be any of my cities? Only asking because I'm rather spread out now
the turning point of my campaign was capturing a capital city. They give you a lot of gold
I wonder how they want to keep mid-to-late game Mortal Empires interesting
at turn 120 soon, still haven't done a ritual, but wiped out the LM main faction. The HE haven't started ritual 4 yet, should they proceed with it I'm getting ready for landfall. Making preparations to do all rituals in one go as soon as I have public order in my outer provinces under control, and finished walling up. The ritual cties can be any of my cities? Only asking because I'm rather spread out now
the turning point of my campaign was capturing a capital city. They give you a lot of gold
I wonder how they want to keep mid-to-late game Mortal Empires interesting
clockworkinyou
Banned
Won my Teclis HE campaign on Easy, final battle was fun.
Tried starting a Malekith campaign, but the DE are lame. Looks like I'll try Lizards next.
Tried starting a Malekith campaign, but the DE are lame. Looks like I'll try Lizards next.
ShadowSwordmaster
Banned
I think its just the Chaos Invasions from the first game from what they have said about Mortal Empires.
Kaffeemann
Banned
Mortal Empires (combined campaign) will be released on the 26th:
https://twitter.com/totalwar/status/920288287411113984
Will most likely come with a patch as well.
https://twitter.com/totalwar/status/920288287411113984
Will most likely come with a patch as well.
ShadowSwordmaster
Banned
Sweet.
If you bought them on WH1 yes, except Norsca which will release later in the future.
LurkerPrime
Member
They answer some questions farther down:
- Total Warhammer 1 doesn't need to be installed.
- You must own Total Warhammer 1 (base game) to have access to Mortal Empires (which somehow makes Mortal Empires "free" in Total Warhammer 2; you cannot purchase it separately.)
- the Blood DLC is scheduled to release with Mortal Empires. It will be free if you own the previous blood DLC.
- You only have access to Mortal Empires factions that you own. So if you have TWWH1 + TWWH2 and no DLC, you will have access to basic factions only.
- There will be footage of Mortal Empires before release.
- You must own Total Warhammer 1 (base game) to have access to Mortal Empires (which somehow makes Mortal Empires "free" in Total Warhammer 2; you cannot purchase it separately.)
- the Blood DLC is scheduled to release with Mortal Empires. It will be free if you own the previous blood DLC.
- You only have access to Mortal Empires factions that you own. So if you have TWWH1 + TWWH2 and no DLC, you will have access to basic factions only.
- There will be footage of Mortal Empires before release.
manfestival
Member
How long should I realistically wait before buying the game? Till a good price drop? I remember how long it took last time bit when it dropped it all went down pretty well
Sändersson
Member
Yup and the fact that no one seems to be talking about this is very concerning. If Gtx 1080 nets you a mininum of 30-40 frames in lustria when everything is revealed.. how will the mortal empires work..? Like have the devs even mentioned campaign map performance?
best intervention force
turn 140 and I just started the first ritual. I'm in a very secure position, but this will take a while. Confederated with Malekith, then decided to reload because he's more useful as a buffer in the far north, and taking him in tanks my economy. I just turtle it out now for 50 turns I guess
I'd pay good money for a DLC that updates the game 1 factions and brings them on par with the new ones in terms of faction mechanics and tech tree
also, my old laptop is going crazy on the campaign map as well. Doesn't help that the AI turns take incredibly long now
turn 140 and I just started the first ritual. I'm in a very secure position, but this will take a while. Confederated with Malekith, then decided to reload because he's more useful as a buffer in the far north, and taking him in tanks my economy. I just turtle it out now for 50 turns I guess
I'd pay good money for a DLC that updates the game 1 factions and brings them on par with the new ones in terms of faction mechanics and tech tree
also, my old laptop is going crazy on the campaign map as well. Doesn't help that the AI turns take incredibly long now
Sändersson;252335594 said:
The worst i have ever seen when it comes to gpu usage.
I had to use afterburner and limit power draw to 80%, otherwise the card would max out @100% powerdraw on the campaign maps and the temperature would skyrocket as well as my fans spinning up to 100%
With 80% powerlimit on my 1070 the temps are still high but not dangerously so..
What a wierd bug. This is really something i would like digital foundry to investigate since the developer seems clueless
Kaffeemann
Banned
Live stream of the Mortal Empires campaign will be live in half an hour:
https://www.twitch.tv/totalwarofficial
https://www.twitch.tv/totalwarofficial
Blood and gore DLC probably launching alongside mortal empires (sauce)
I can't see the video ( i don't have time);
Can anyone give me a summary to update the OP?
I can't see the video ( i don't have time);
Can anyone give me a summary to update the OP?
LurkerPrime
Member
"ESRB Rating Pending to Mature."
That's very descriptive, @totalwar
That's very descriptive, @totalwar
The streaming consisted only in 4vs4 multiplayer matches with a mix of Warhammer 1, DLC and 2 factions in new maps. They will show the campaign map next week.
oh god, it took 200 endless turns and 52 manual battles, but I finally completed the Cult of Pleasure campaign, sometimes waiting minutes for the AI turn just watching it move around heroes aimlessly. I don't think I can do this again for a while, this was incredibly draining
I like the idea of the vortex campaign but kinda hate the execution. The cinematics for the rituals were really neat, though, I had no idea those existed. Also didn't expect
mortal empires won't be any better because of the insane waiting time between turns. I wish the game would just teleport the units around and stop panning across the entire map for every single move
I like the idea of the vortex campaign but kinda hate the execution. The cinematics for the rituals were really neat, though, I had no idea those existed. Also didn't expect
the twist. I loved the space rat
LurkerPrime
Member
I have some bittersweet news: you can specify what you see for other factions individually, by allies, by enemies, or by neutrals, seeing their entire move, nothing, or something inbetween. There's also a button on the turn timer to skip all events for as long as it's active.
This feature is new to Total Warhammer 2, but something similar was in the first game.
%#^@!
I somehow missed this. Could have shaved off hours of that campaign
it helped that some campaigns in game 1 could be completed in a couple of hours with 4 or 5 manual battles. The reason why I won't go back to Skaven anytime soon, aside from the missing units
LurkerPrime
Member
Yeah that's holding me back from Skaven as well. I like their playstyle, however I fight ten or fifteen battles in an entire campaign (including quest battles), so suddenly fighting hundred(s) is... too daunting.
If you're looking for the button: When you pause the AI turns (top middle where the faction flags are rushing by) you can change it or fast forward, and there's a botton on the top left UI somewhere for it (at all times), too.
There's actually a lot of weird, unsurfaced/poorly surfaced UI stuff. There's a whole spell browser in the top left, listing what spells are in the various schools, along with unique spells. There's the whole online wiki thing built into the game. And there's smaller stuff like the Objectives button (which in the first game, had objectives split into chapters, with each chapter having these really arbitrary goals that gave a reward when the chapter was completed.) And a big one: you can see any innate garrison in a settlement by going to the garrison tab, even for enemy/out of sight (but revealed) settlements.
Then there's various map tooltips that only appear if you hover in specific areas with specific things selected; i.e.:
It's fortunate most of this stuff is needed to optimise, rather than play. But it'd be a lot better if these little things were tighter and more important to the overall game. They should tone down the item and hero spam and extra levels, and instead focus on making what's currently here shine. Like, the skill tree, infrastructure, and dynamic trait overhauls are a good start.
If you're looking for the button: When you pause the AI turns (top middle where the faction flags are rushing by) you can change it or fast forward, and there's a botton on the top left UI somewhere for it (at all times), too.
There's actually a lot of weird, unsurfaced/poorly surfaced UI stuff. There's a whole spell browser in the top left, listing what spells are in the various schools, along with unique spells. There's the whole online wiki thing built into the game. And there's smaller stuff like the Objectives button (which in the first game, had objectives split into chapters, with each chapter having these really arbitrary goals that gave a reward when the chapter was completed.) And a big one: you can see any innate garrison in a settlement by going to the garrison tab, even for enemy/out of sight (but revealed) settlements.
Then there's various map tooltips that only appear if you hover in specific areas with specific things selected; i.e.:
- with an army selected: the amount you gain from razing, ambush chance at the location, attrition in an area, or cost to move to a location
- possible hero actions on a target
- teleport to quest battle with an LL and their quest battle selected (costs 5k)
- specific leadership modifiers in a battle when hovering over a unit's flag or w/e
- and many more.
It's fortunate most of this stuff is needed to optimise, rather than play. But it'd be a lot better if these little things were tighter and more important to the overall game. They should tone down the item and hero spam and extra levels, and instead focus on making what's currently here shine. Like, the skill tree, infrastructure, and dynamic trait overhauls are a good start.
LurkerPrime
Member
Mortal Empires infographic
There's unfortunately no info on Steam for it.
And... I noticed that I have a 30th Anniversary Regiments DLC for Total Warhammer II in my Steam library now. Haven't launched the game yet to see if it's integrated, but it appeared just today.
There's unfortunately no info on Steam for it.
the problem I have with the vortex campaign is that you really just trigger a mini-Chaos invasion right at your door step with each ritual, that's not any better or more interesting than what game 1 did. There's no incentive to do rituals early, you don't get any permanent boni out of it as far as I can tell (the -10% upkeep reduction is just for the duration of the rituals I think?). On higher difficulties it will most likely wreck you early game (unless you save the game, see where the armies spawn, then reload and postion accordingly), the Skaven and Lizardmen (successors, I took out Mazdamundi) in my campaign both got reduced to irrelevance just by the Chaos and intervention armies. Never mind that you can't really lose the campaign if you fail to complete the rituals first. I also dislike that it takes 60 turns to finish them
think it's a just a pretty underwhelming and lazy mechanic, all in all
what they should have done is take a look at the Civ games and their non-domination victory goals. Make it so that each ritual gives you a faction specific permanent boost, and the faster you completed it compared to the others, the better the reward (like, a 15% upkeep reduction for the first who finishes it, then 10% for second place, 5% for third and so on). Then introduce more options to distrubt the rituals, diplomatic actions to unite the other factions against the one leading in the rituals. If a faction is getting close to reaching the last ritual, everyone would be hellbent on preventing them from completing it. The intervention armies are a pretty terrible and unfun solution, imho. This way there would actually be a race because you get something out of doing the rituals sooner than the other factions
e: Mortal Empires trailer
think it's a just a pretty underwhelming and lazy mechanic, all in all
what they should have done is take a look at the Civ games and their non-domination victory goals. Make it so that each ritual gives you a faction specific permanent boost, and the faster you completed it compared to the others, the better the reward (like, a 15% upkeep reduction for the first who finishes it, then 10% for second place, 5% for third and so on). Then introduce more options to distrubt the rituals, diplomatic actions to unite the other factions against the one leading in the rituals. If a faction is getting close to reaching the last ritual, everyone would be hellbent on preventing them from completing it. The intervention armies are a pretty terrible and unfun solution, imho. This way there would actually be a race because you get something out of doing the rituals sooner than the other factions
e: Mortal Empires trailer
The Chaos Invasions are bothersome as hell, they always spawn somewhere where they can absolutely mess everything up and where there are not that many armies, so I've just resigned to building every settlement with a defensive building.
Hate it the most now on my third playthrough however as Skavens, had not this much problem against them as High Elves or Lizardmen, now they are completely annihilating my armies. Just gonna postpone the ritual, upgrade everything and build 6 stacks of armies and place them where the 2 Chaos invasion forces spawns.
Mortal Empires on the other hand looks great, looking very much forward to spreading the light of Sigmar to the shores of the High Elves.
Hate it the most now on my third playthrough however as Skavens, had not this much problem against them as High Elves or Lizardmen, now they are completely annihilating my armies. Just gonna postpone the ritual, upgrade everything and build 6 stacks of armies and place them where the 2 Chaos invasion forces spawns.
Mortal Empires on the other hand looks great, looking very much forward to spreading the light of Sigmar to the shores of the High Elves.
Kaffeemann
Banned
The Vortex campaign has zero replayability. It was fun at first but I don't seem myself ever playing it again after Mortal Empires is out.