With the release of the Forge of the Chaos Dwarfs DLC, Total War: Warhammer 3 players now have no less than 89 Legendary Lords to choose from. Provided, of course, they’re playing the Immortal Empires campaign and are willing to spend a small fortune on DLC in order to unlock everything.
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But while the developers had been pumping out Legendary Lords at a consistent rate since the series first launch seven years ago, the same cannot be said about Legendary Heroes. Creative Assembly did release two new ones when the latest DLC came out, but there are still way more Legendary Lords than Legendary Heroes in Immortal Empires. On the bright side, many of these Legendary Heroes are quite powerful and can be an absolute game changer when used properly.
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10 Henri Le Massif
Henri le Massif is a Bretonnian Paladin hero available exclusively to the Chevaliers de Lyonesse. The hero starts off right next to Repanse’s army and can be embedded into her army on turn one. Visually, Henri doesn’t look too different from a generic Paladin; however, there’s more to him than meets the eye. Among other things, he’s the only Bretonnian hero unit that can use a Hippogryph as a mount.
Henri le Massif's unique trait, There Can Be Only One, gives him +10 to his melee attack and charge bonus. He also gets access to two skills that increase his stats even further, along with a third one that boosts the weapon strength and charge bonus of all ground cavalry units in his army. The rest of his skills are identical to those of a regular Paladin.
9 Kihar The Tormentor
Kihar the Tormentor is a legendary Norscan hero that can be recruited by both Wintertooth and the World Walkers. This is probably one of the least-known Legendary Heroes in Total War: Warhammer 3 considering that not many people play Norsca in Immortal Empires. There’s also the fact that recruiting him requires players to max out their allegiance to the Serpent, which is quite time-consuming. The time investment is well worth it, though.
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Kihar the Tormentor is essentially a Chaos Sorcerer of Slaanesh and comes with many of the same skills and spells. However, this Sorcerer rides a Chaos Dragon in battle instead of a steed or a warshrine and has a unique trait known as Gift of the Serpent that significantly boosts his army. We’re talking 40% increased movement speed, the Strider and Devastating Flanker attribute for all units, and more. It’s interesting to note that Kihar used to be even better in the previous games when he was able to use better Lores of Magic like Fire, Shadows, and Metal. Now he only has access to the Lore of Slaanesh.
8 Ulrika Magdova
Ulrika Magdova is one of the newest Legendary Heroes to join Total War: Warhammer 3, and she’s pretty unique. For starters, she’s one of only two cross-faction Legendary Heroes, with the other one being Felix, who just barely missed this list. She’s also a vampire who fights on the side of humans, so she is quite an interesting character overall. Ulrika can be recruited by both Kislev and The Empire factions following a questline that requires a bit of time investment and a significant amount of gold. She starts off with two unique items and a unique ancillary.
Ulrika is a versatile hybrid hero that focuses on magic and ranged combat while also being decent in melee. She gets access to the Lore of Shadows, a barded warhorse, and a bunch of skills that improve her army in a variety of ways. Some of these are not all that useful, but you do get 25% Spell Resistance and 10% Ward Save to all units, which do come in handy. Her unique trait isn’t anything to write home about as it only slightly improves melee infantry units; however, Ulrika more than deserves a spot on this list regardless because she brings a lot to the table.
7 Coeddil
Coeddil is a Wood Elves Legendary Hero available exclusively to the Wargrove of Woe. He’s a malevolent Ancient Treeman with fewer skills but better base stats and some pretty useful buffs. He also comes with the added advantage of being a hero rather than a lord, meaning you can have both Coeddil and an Ancient Treeman in the same army. That said, Coeddil is unlocked during Drycha’s Fang of Taalroth questline and performs best when attached to her army.
This evil living tree gets a mix of spells from the Lore of Beasts and the Lore of Dark Magic that beautifully complement Drycha’s Lore of Shadows. His unique trait, Rotten Soul, gives Coeddil a couple of additional direct damage spells, while most of his unique skills revolve around boosting the army he’s attached to. His buffs aren’t amazing, but he does improve some of the best Wood Elf units like Dryads, Tree Kin, and Treemen. Coincidentally, those are the same units Drycha tends to focus on. Coedill also gives all units in his army a nice 15% physical damage reduction buff, albeit it only applies during forest battles.
6 Killgore Slaymaim
With a name like Killgore Slaymaim, you can probably figure out what this guy is all about. Killgore is the second Legendary Hero available to Norsca, and he can be recruited in a similar way to Kihar the Tormentor. However, in order to get Killgore, you’ll need to pledge allegiance to the Hound rather than the Serpent. The hero plays just like an Exalted Hero of Khorne but only gains access to a Juggernaut mount instead of having three options.
Killgore Slaymaim makes up for his lack of mount options with his unique trait, Gift of the Hound. The trait gives all units in the hero’s army Hellblade and Frenzy, makes them Immune to Psychology, and buffs them with +45 armor and +10 base weapon damage. As far as unique traits are concerned, Gift of the Hound is one of the best in Immortal Empires, excluding traits of Legendary Lords, of course. In addition, Killgore himself is much faster and tankier than a regular Exalted Hero of Khorne, so expect to get a lot of use out of him on the battlefield.
5 Gorduz Backstabber
Gorduz Backstabber is a new Legendary Hero introduced alongside the Forge of the Chaos Dwarfs DLC and is exclusive to the Chorfs. Unlike Ulrika, who was released around the same time, Gorduz can be recruited as soon as they turn three or four, making him invaluable in the early game. Gorduz starts off with two unique items, the Immortality trait, and can gain access to a Giant Wolf mount starting at level seven.
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Gorduz is absolutely indispensable to any army that incorporates a lot of Hobgoblin units. While he’s no slouch on the battlefield, his real value comes from the fact that he provides a ton of bonuses to Hobgoblins, who are otherwise pretty weak. But with Gorduz in your army, Hobgoblins get bonuses to melee attack, melee defense, weapon strength, missile strength, speed, and pretty much anything else you can think of. Gorduz Backstabber buffs Hobgoblins across the board and even decreases their global recruitment times thanks to his unique trait, Distrustful Disposition.
4 Ghoritch
Ghoritch is a Skaven Legendary Hero created by Throt the Unclean during one of his twisted experiments. The hero is automatically recruited by Throt after completing the quest battle for the Whip of Domination, which becomes available starting at level five. Technically, Ghoritch is exclusive to Clan Moulder; however, you can gain access to him while playing other Skaven factions by confederating Throt.
Ghorith is essentially a Mutant Rat Ogre on (even more) steroids and gets access to skills associated with a number of generic Skaven lords and heroes. However, his unique skills are what really set him apart. In addition to having many skills that improve his already considerable combat capabilities, Ghorith also buffs fellow monster units and provides a couple of factionwide bonuses. Meanwhile, his unique trait, Castellan of Hell Pit, boosts the leadership and charge bonus of all units in his army by a small amount while also giving him a powerful vortex spell.
3 Ariel
Ariel is another Wood Elves Legendary Hero, but unlike Coeddil, she isn’t exclusive to a particular faction. Ariel can be recruited by any Wood Elves faction as soon as the player finishes their first Ritual of Rebirth. That can take quite a while, depending on which faction you’re playing, but it’s well worth the effort, considering how powerful Ariel is. She comes equipped with a full set of unique items right off the bat and is a powerful mage that can use spells from the Lore of Life, Lore of High Magic, and Lore of Dark Magic.
Ariel’s unique trait, Queen of Athel Loren, mainly revolves around further boosting her magic capabilities, and she gets a couple of additional spells via one of her unique skill lines. Among other things, Ariel also provides significant bonuses to her faction, including reduced construction time and cost, extra income from buildings, +3 recruitment rank for both lords and heroes, and more. To top it all off, Ariel vastly improves Sisters of the Thorn and gives her accompanying lord a +20% leadership aura and +10 ward save.
2 Lord Kroak
Lord Kroak is a Legendary Hero that needs very little introduction at this point. This oversized magical toad allows Itza to absolutely crush their enemies in Immortal Empires in the early game. The Legendary Hero is available to Itza right off the bat and can also be recruited by other Lizardmen factions after completing his questline. Much like Ariel, Lord Kroak also comes equipped with a full set of unique items from the get-go, and his skills revolve almost exclusively around magic.
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Lord Kroak gets access to a special Lore of Magic called Deliverance of Itza along with a handful of other spells from the Lore of Light, Lore of Heaves, and Lore of High Magic. In addition, the hero receives a number of defensive skills, including one that grants nearby allies a whopping 40% Ward Save for 18 seconds. Lord Kroak doesn’t boost any specific units, but he does provide some small buffs to all units in his army, as well as various benefits to local regions.
1 Isabella Von Carstein
Isabella von Carstein is undoubtedly the best Legendary Hero, although it does feel a bit like cheating to include her on this list, considering she’s also one of the best Legendary Lords in Immortal Empires. Whether you choose to play her as a lord or hero, she immediately gets accompanied by Vlad as the opposite type of character. While some might argue that she’s best used as a Legendary Lord, Vlad’s faction trait is generally better in Immortal Empires, which is why you’ll want to use Isabella as a hero instead.
In addition to being a powerful mage who gets access to spells from both the Lore of Shadows and the Lore of Vampires, Isabella is a decent melee combatant that buffs both heroes and units. She also starts with a very useful unique item and is one of a small handful of Legendary Heroes that can unlock a flying mount. Her unique trait, Dark Retinue, is all about buffing vampires, but a lot of her unique skills revolve around improving Dire Wolves, Fell Bats, Varghulfs, Vargheists, and Terrorgheists. In short, Isabella is an amazing Legendary Hero both on and off the battlefield.
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