Tier List — After Strategy

CK3 best cultural traditions: tier list for patch 1.20 (2026)

Thu, 12 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT

In Crusader Kings 3, the best cultural traditions in 1.20 are Legalistic Customs and Hereditary Hierarchy for administration, followed by terrain traditions such as Hill Dwellers or Wetlanders for development. On the military side, Formation Fighting Experts stands out if your men-at-arms are spearmen and archers. This ranking applies to 1.20 Crozier, released on 30 September 2026, and its 1.20.1.2 hotfix of 21 October 2026.

In practice, most tier lists online date from 2022 or 2023. The values below come from the official traditions wiki, and every recent change is checked against the patch notes.

How this ranking works

Nobody played these traditions for this article. The ranking rests on three checkable criteria, applied to a standard feudal kingdom.

Quantified effects. A permanent bonus to the economy or to vassals weighs more than a situational bonus.
Accessibility. A tradition locked to a single heritage drops one tier, even when it is strong.
Hidden cost. Penalties and hard requirements push a tradition down.

What a tradition costs

A tradition has a base cost of 2000 prestige according to the wiki, sometimes 4000. Add 2000 if the culture lacks one of the tradition’s preferred ethos, and 3000 if the optional requirement is not met.

The Royal Court DLC, which the culture screens in this article come from, adds the option to replace an existing tradition at a 50% premium. Establishing a tradition takes 5 years for a culture of 5 counties or fewer, up to 30 years beyond 30 counties. A 50-year cooldown follows before any further change.

What matters is the ethos. A culture whose ethos fits the tradition saves 2000 prestige, the price of a whole tradition.

S tier: traditions that change a reign

Legalistic Customs. The wiki gives it +30 vassal limit, -30% title creation cost, one extra tax jurisdiction and -50% on the law cost penalty from realm size. Gamer Empire already listed the same +30 and -30%. The price is +25% tyranny gain and -1% monthly prestige per point of dread. It requires a faith with a Head of Faith.

Hereditary Hierarchy. Reserved for feudal governments holding at least a kingdom with 10 vassals, it gives +10% feudal vassal tax contribution and +25% to the long reign bonus. It also cuts castle costs by 5%. The drawback hits characters with a tier 1 education, whom feudal vassals dislike.

It also rewards the Loyal trait, which gives +0.10 monthly prestige and +5 opinion from the same culture. In a large feudal realm, that combination steadies vassal relations without spending gold.

Terrain traditions. Hill Dwellers gives +20% development in hills, Wetlanders +25% in wetlands, Forest Folk +15% in forest and taiga. Mountain Homes reaches +35% in desert mountains. All of them also cut construction costs on their terrain by 10 to 15%. On paper, this is the best economic return in the game, provided you have the right terrain.

A tier: very strong in the right setting

These five traditions would be S tier in the right realm, but need a specific army, geography or set of neighbours.

Formation Fighting Experts. +15% damage and +20% toughness for spearmen, +10% and +15% for archers, and +15% counter efficiency. It needs 500 archers and 500 spearmen.
Agrarian. +30% development in farmlands and floodplains, at the cost of -2 prowess and +25% men-at-arms recruitment cost.
Castle Keepers. +5 defender advantage per castle level, plus prestige, but castles cost 20% more.
Xenophilic. +25% cultural acceptance gain and +10 opinion from other cultures, ideal for a multicultural empire. It requires at least 30% acceptance with 3 other cultures.
Republican Legacy or Parochialism. +25% levies and +5% development in cities, but 90% of the culture’s counties need a city.

B tier: useful but situational

These traditions have a real effect, but their requirement or their focus makes them less universal.

Strength in Numbers. The wiki now lists +25% levies and +50% supply limit, but bans heavy infantry, heavy cavalry and elephants. In 2023, Gamer Empire still listed +15% levies, so the tradition has changed since.
Swords for Hire. Twice as many mercenary companies and -15% on those of the same culture. It needs 5 rulers with the Brilliant Strategist trait.
Maritime Mercantilism. +10% taxes in coastal holdings and trade ports one era early.
Stalwart Defenders. +100% prestige and gold from defensive wars, plus +25% garrison size.
Philosopher Culture. +20% Learning lifestyle experience and +1 Learning per level of devotion, with no Bellicose ethos allowed.
Pacifists. +15% development growth and +10 popular opinion, against -1 Martial and a more peaceful AI.

C tier: avoid unless you play a specific style

The risk with these traditions is that they take more than they give in a standard kingdom.

Isolationist. -35% cultural acceptance gain, -25% diplomatic range and -50 acceptance for marriages with other cultures.
Ruling Caste. -25% acceptance gain and +300% on the prestige cost of converting to the local culture.
Battlefield Looters. -75% prestige and fame from battles, for +75% loot capacity.
Charitable. -3% monthly income, for +5 general opinion and more effective gifts.

Practiced Pirates deserves its own note. It lets duke-tier rulers or lower, even non-tribal ones, raid over sea with +25% loot capacity. Each unit of loot brought home costs 1.5 prestige outside tribal government, which keeps it for a raiding playstyle.

Summary table

Tier	Traditions	Best for
S	Legalistic Customs, Hereditary Hierarchy, terrain traditions	Any feudal kingdom
A	Formation Fighting Experts, Agrarian, Castle Keepers, Xenophilic, Republican Legacy	Army, terrain or multicultural empire
B	Strength in Numbers, Swords for Hire, Maritime Mercantilism, Stalwart Defenders, Philosopher Culture, Pacifists	Specific playstyles
C	Isolationist, Ruling Caste, Battlefield Looters, Charitable	Avoid in a standard game

What patches 1.19 and 1.20 changed

The 1.19 Scribe notes, released on 20 April 2026, add the Korean Fortress Mastery tradition. They also move Albanian culture from Hill Dwellers to Mountain Homes. The 1.19 beta changelog already listed both changes.

Update 1.20 Crozier gives Sardinian culture three traditions: Ancient Miners, Legalistic and Hill Dwellers. Hotfix 1.20.1 corrects the culture targeted by the Visigothic Codes tradition. None of these patches rebalances the traditions ranked here.

The bigger risk lies with the wiki, where some sections were last verified for 1.18. Before spending 2000 prestige, hover over the tradition in game to confirm its values.

Which combinations to aim for

If you play a feudal kingdom in Western Europe, Legalistic Customs, Hereditary Hierarchy and one terrain tradition make a solid base. Add Castle Keepers if your borders are under threat, keeping in mind that castles then take 10% longer to build and cost 20% more.

For a conquering empire with many cultures, Xenophilic keeps cultural unrest down. A cultural divergence also lets you start again with new traditions, as the Mercian culture screen above shows.

For an army, pick a single doctrine. Formation Fighting Experts and Strength in Numbers pull in opposite directions: the first strengthens spearmen, the second bans heavy troops.

If you are new to the game, our complete beginner guide to Crusader Kings 3 explains how to become culture head and earn the prestige you need.

Going further

Brawl Stars Tier List, Late October 2026: Amber, Wendy and Shade Lead, Vince Stands Apart

Thu, 08 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Three trackers, three snapshots of the same meta

As of October 26, 2026, Season 55 Brawl-O-Ween has been running since October 1, Vince has been playable since the 19th, and the early-month rankings no longer hold. Wendy was then at 58.0% wins on SeeMeta. She now sits at 55.0%, behind Amber and Shade. This tier list therefore starts from today’s data, and it cross-checks it.

Three trackers form the base, and they do not measure the same thing:

SeeMeta: 1,201,126 Ranked battles, from September 26 to October 26. The score weighs win rate at 80% and use rate at 20%.
Brawl Planet: trophy matches over the last three months, averaged across the six Ranked modes.
Brawl Time Ninja: players at 1,500 trophies and above, with an adjusted win rate.

A brawler can therefore shine on one and collapse on another. That is exactly what happens to Cosmo, which is why no figure below is blended with a number from another tracker.

Ranked S-tier: Amber, Shade, Wendy, Juju and Ash

SeeMeta’s S+ tier holds five brawlers. Amber posts 55.6% (2.6% use rate), Shade 55.2% (2.5%), Wendy 55.0% (3.3%), Juju 54.6% (0.3%) and Ash 54.0% (1.7%). Amber and Shade also lead at Brawl Time Ninja in the 1,500+ trophy bracket, and Brawl Planet keeps Wendy, Amber and Shade near the top of its table. That is the only real consensus among the three sources.

The consensus is more surprising than it looks. On September 16, Supercell’s maintenance nerfed exactly these profiles. Shade lost 15% of his Super charge near enemies, and his Jump Scare gadget saw its fear radius drop from 1000 to 600. Amber’s Fire Starters gadget went from 1750 to 1300 health, and her oil trail duration fell from 3 seconds to 1. Wendy gained health (2000 to 2500) but lost most of her spawn shield, from 100% to 40% of max health.

The nerfs trimmed the numbers without changing the order at the top. The risk for anyone climbing in Ranked is to believe the top of the tier list was overturned. It was mostly tightened.

Juju is the odd case. She was buffed on September 16 (health from 3100 to 3500, Super charge rate from 65 to 75), and her 54.6% is solid. But a 0.3% use rate signals a narrow sample, so her figure is more fragile than Amber’s.

Gus, Brock and Bo: the most played, not necessarily the strongest

Gus (52.1%) and Brock (50.4%) are rated S on SeeMeta, but for a different reason than the top five. Gus is the most played brawler of the period at 5.4% use, and Brock follows at 4.8%. Since the score gives 20% of its weight to use rate, these two climb into S thanks to popularity as much as to win rate.

Brock at 50.4% is barely above average. He was also nerfed on September 16. His Rocket Laces gadget cooldown rose from 20 to 22 seconds, and the Super charge gained from his Super dropped from 80 to 70. Gus lost ground too, with his Knockback Spirit gadget now on an 18-second cooldown. If you want a reliable pick rather than a fashionable one, Bo (52.1% at a 1.9% use rate) holds up better.

El Primo and Nori: the price of the nerfs

El Primo (51.4%) and Nori (51.2%) fell to A. Both are clear casualties of September 16. El Primo’s Asteroid Belt gadget goes from a 16-second to a 20-second cooldown, and the Super earned from its projectiles is halved. Nori’s main attack charges 25% slower, and her Hypercharge rate drops from 50 to 28.

Nori still keeps a precise role. She is 2nd in Heist on SeeMeta (57.6%) and 1st at Brawl Planet (65.9%). With Shade, she is one of only two Heist brawlers present in the top 3 of both trackers.

Which brawler for which mode

The best choices change little when you read SeeMeta mode by mode, but they change when you compare with Brawl Planet. Here is SeeMeta’s Ranked podium:

Gem Grab: Amber (55.7%), Shade (55.2%), Wendy (54.7%).
Brawl Ball: Shade (59.4%), Amber (57.4%), El Primo (54.1%).
Knockout: Brock (55.6%), Wendy (55.5%), Sprout (54.1%).
Hot Zone: Amber (59.0%), Juju (57.8%), Wendy (55.7%).
Heist: Shade (58.0%), Nori (57.6%), Bibi (57.4%).
Bounty: Bolt (55.9%), Amber (55.6%), Wendy (55.3%).

Wendy is the only brawler in the top 3 of Gem Grab, Hot Zone and Bounty at both SeeMeta and Brawl Planet. At the latter, she is even first in all three modes. If you only want to keep one versatile brawler, it is her. On SeeMeta, Shade leads Brawl Ball and Heist and Amber leads Gem Grab and Hot Zone, while Brock only appears on a podium in Knockout.

Vince: a spectacular number, not yet comparable

Vince is the game’s 108th brawler, a Mythic Damage Dealer. According to Supercell’s official notes, his trait spawns caterpillars near him. Hitting them with a coffee attack or walking over them turns them into moths for his collection. He loses 50% of that collection when he dies.

His attack is a coffee shot, the Espresso Shot. His Super, Barista Barrage, applies a caterpillar debuff: his attacks then deal bonus damage to the marked target. The more moths he keeps, the stronger that Super gets, which makes every death costly.

On availability, he has been playable since October 19. The free launch event runs until October 29, and 14 Vince Boxes are enough to unlock him. After that, a Mythic brawler costs 1,900 credits in Brawler Blast.

On the numbers, Vince is first at Brawl Planet with 67.1% wins over 106,794 matches, and second at Brawl Time Ninja with 65.6% adjusted in that same 1,500+ bracket. SeeMeta gives him no row at all in its Ranked table. Those scores look like those of a broken brawler. Yet they probably come from a biased sample: players who unlocked him during the launch event, with the free boxes or by buying a pack. Wait for the event to end and for Ranked data to build up before ranking him.

Cosmo: D in Ranked, S in trophies

Cosmo illustrates the gap between trackers better than anyone. SeeMeta rates him D in Ranked, with 44.3% wins at a 0.2% use rate. Brawl Planet places him in S on its trophy matches, where he sits on the podium of several modes. Both figures are accurate, and they do not describe the same games.

The cautious reading is this: Cosmo wins noticeably more in trophy games than in the Ranked games SeeMeta measures. The trackers do not explain why, so it is better not to build a Ranked choice on his trophy score. To see where he comes from, the Season 54 article details his arrival alongside Brawler Blast.

What to keep in mind in late October

In Ranked, Amber (55.6%), Shade (55.2%) and Wendy (55.0%) are the three picks the sources back, with Juju (54.6% at 0.3% use) as a narrower bet. In trophies, Vince posts 67.1% at Brawl Planet, but that lead is not yet proof. Cosmo is a D at SeeMeta (44.3%) and an S at Brawl Planet, so his strength depends on where you play.

Two dates are worth watching. October 29 closes Vince’s free event, which will change who plays him and therefore his numbers. The next balance patch will then show whether Supercell keeps tightening the top of the table. The Season 55 guide follows these changes as they happen.

Finally, these rankings move every day. SeeMeta recalculates its 30 days continuously, and a figure quoted here has a shelf life of only a few days.

Going further

Brawl Stars game page: all our articles and the official links.
SeeMeta tier list and Brawl Planet tier list: the two sources of figures cited.
Brawl Stars World Finals 2026 Tokyo: Groups, Format and LCQ Qualifiers

HoMM Olden Era faction tier list 2026 — which army should you pick?

Wed, 24 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Six factions, six combat philosophies

Heroes of Might & Magic: Olden Era crossed one million copies sold within its first month following Early Access launch on April 30, 2026 — a milestone that confirms the enduring appeal of the HoMM formula. But with six factions offering genuinely distinct mechanics developed by Unfrozen, choosing your starting army can be decisive, especially in multiplayer or on the most competitive random maps.

This tier list ranks all six factions across three axes: raw power in the current meta, accessibility for players new to the game, and versatility against both AI and human opponents.

S-Tier: Dungeon
A-Tier: Necropolis and Grove
B-Tier: Temple and Hive
C-Tier: Schism
Which faction suits your playstyle?
Faction Laws and morale: two rules you can’t ignore

S-Tier: Dungeon — the power of the Alvar Pact

Dungeon represents the Alvar Pact, an underground coalition of dark elves, minotaurs, medusae and dragons. It is the strongest faction in the current Early Access, and that dominance rests on a single defining principle: every unit can switch between two attack modes depending on the situation. This tactical flexibility — unique to Dungeon — lets you adapt in real time to enemy compositions, counter specific threats and maintain constant pressure across all stages of the game.

Onyx Dancers rank as the best starting units in the game according to most community tier lists: mobile, versatile, they let you set an aggressive pace from turn one. Their only weakness is low Initiative, which demands more forward planning when sequencing actions compared to other factions.

Mid-game, Dungeon deepens with high-damage units that benefit from faction synergies. A fully developed late-game army with dragons is simply overwhelming when the scaling goes to plan. Dungeon rewards players who want to dominate — and equally rewards mastery of its advanced mechanics.

A-Tier: Necropolis and Grove — powerful and more forgiving

Necropolis (Shadowspire) is the undead faction, ruled by Necromancers and Vampires. Its signature mechanic: units that fall in combat rise again after each battle as skeletons or undead, generating a continuous stream of passive reinforcements. This accumulation mechanic makes Necropolis especially threatening in long campaign games where every engagement strengthens rather than depletes the army.

Its weakness is a slow early game. Opening turns are less explosive than Dungeon’s, and impatient players may feel at a disadvantage before the snowball begins. In experienced hands on longer maps, however, Necropolis becomes very difficult to stop.

Grove (Murmurwoods) brings together the creatures of the forest — elemental spirits, fey folk and spellcasters. It is the most accessible faction for beginners without sacrificing competitive viability. Its early advantage comes from ranged damage spread across multiple unit tiers: Fauns, Faun Archers, Aqualotls and Herbomancers provide consistent backline output that teaches positioning and rear-line management naturally.

Grove also forgives early mistakes more than most factions, particularly positioning errors in the opening turns.

B-Tier: Temple and Hive — solid but more specialized

Temple represents humans guided by the High Inquisition. Its starting cavalry is strong, its economy scales stably and its buff mechanics are among the most intuitive in the game. For these reasons, Temple is the other faction recommended for beginners: it teaches HoMM fundamentals — frontline tanking, buffing key units, controlling resources — without throwing confusing mechanics at new players.

Its power ceiling is lower than Dungeon or Necropolis in advanced mid-game, however. Against experienced players, Temple lacks the flexibility to reverse unfavorable situations. A solid faction for learning the game, less ideal for pushing competitive ladders.

Hive plays on a swarm mentality: fast units, precise strikes, quantity over individual quality. The faction shines in aggressive early rushes and quick confrontations but struggles in long attrition games where the depth of other factions expresses itself fully. Its swarm interaction kit demands a learning curve that beginners may find counterintuitive.

C-Tier: Schism — promising, watch for patches

Schism is a splinter group of the Alvar Pact that awakened eldritch monsters from the Plane Between Planes. It is the most thematically original faction and the least optimized mechanically in the current Early Access state.

Its eldritch units have unpredictable behaviors that can catch opponents off guard — but can also backfire against their own army. This asymmetry is fascinating in theory and difficult to master in practice. Unfrozen has confirmed balance passes in its 2026 roadmap; Schism is worth reassessing after each major update.

Which faction suits your playstyle?

Playstyle	Recommended faction
Complete beginner	Grove or Temple
Aggressive, early tempo	Dungeon or Hive
Economy and long attrition	Necropolis
Map exploration, campaign	Necropolis or Grove
Advanced mastery, multiplayer	Dungeon
Experimentation, asymmetric play	Schism

Faction Laws and morale: two rules you can’t ignore

Faction Laws are chains of upgrades unique to each faction, unlocked through points accumulated during combat. These progressive bonuses define your army’s identity from mid-game onward. Two players running the same faction can produce very different results depending on their Law choices — this is one of the layers of depth that sets Olden Era apart from a classic HoMM game.

Army morale: units from different factions within the same army suffer a Morale penalty that reduces their stats in combat. Prefer single-faction compositions or split factions across two distinct heroes if you want to leverage cross-faction synergies without the morale hit.

With 90% positive reviews on Steam and one million copies sold, Olden Era is one of the most successful strategy releases of 2026. Our full Early Access review and the breakdown of the 1 million sold milestone and 2026 roadmap give you a complete picture of where the game stands today.

Sources

Civ 7 Tier List 2026: Best Leaders and Civs After Update 1.5

Tue, 12 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

More than a year after its February 2025 launch, Civilization VII has refined its meta. The first tier lists were shaky — too many variables, too small a sample. Today, with tens of thousands of community playtime hours cumulated, some leaders clearly dominate. Here’s our 2026 tier list based on CivFanatics, Pocket Tactics, Game8 analyses, and our own experience.

TL;DR:

S Tier (5 leaders): Confucius, Catherine the Great, Augustus, Ashoka, Himiko
A Tier (4-5 leaders): Xerxes, Amina, Napoleon, Harriet Tubman, Benjamin Franklin
B Tier: the rest, solid but situational
C Tier: objectively weak leaders, to avoid
Caveat: Civ VII tier lists are more volatile than Civ V/VI — civs change per age, leader stays
Since June (updates 1.4.1 to 1.5.0): no leader moves; the new leaders are not ranked yet

What changed since the June update

Three updates have shipped since our June revision: 1.4.1 (June 23), 1.4.2 (July 28) and 1.5.0 (September 15). No leader moves up or down: the changes are systemic (governments, diplomacy, a new map), and none of them states a leader-specific figure we could rank on. Our Civilization 7 hub lists every article on the game.

Governments reworked (1.4.1). Each government now has a passive, two reworked Celebrations and two exclusive Traditions, Traditions carry over between Ages, local happiness has five stages, and Celebrations drop from 10 to 6 turns on Standard speed (government guide). Your government choice weighs more than before, so the leader-government pairing is worth testing: the Classical Republic pays +4 Culture in Joyous Cities and Despotism gives +2 Science per conquered Settlement, which makes a culture-first leader like Catherine the Great or a conqueror like Ashoka the obvious candidates. We have not measured those pairings, so the tiers stay as they are.
Diplomacy (1.4.2 and 1.5.0). Peace deals can now include gold and influence, Reconciliation opens as soon as a leader turns unfriendly, and individual victory conditions can be switched off again (1.4.2 article). Version 1.5.0 lets you pay influence to stay neutral when an ally goes to war (1.5.0 article). In principle this helps diplomatic profiles such as Himiko or Amina, but the amounts are fixed per Age and may prove modest, so we do not move them.
True Start Location Earth map (1.5.0). It is Huge-size only and starts in Antiquity, and your civilization’s position is fixed by geography (1.5.0 article). It is a special mode: this ranking still describes standard maps, where Antiquity civilization choice does not tie you to a place.

New leaders: too early to rank

Four leaders arrived since June. We have not played enough of them to justify a tier, and the sources we used describe their abilities without measuring them.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi (Brush & Blade part 1, with Heian and Sengoku Japan): see the 1.4.1 article.
Yi Sun-sin (Brush & Blade part 2, with Goryeo and Joseon): a naval leader whose value depends on whether the sea becomes a real front. See the part 2 preview and the 1.4.2 article.
Elizabeth I (Hall of History): a Cultural and Economic leader whose Royal Monopoly removes the range limit on Trade Routes, at the cost of land combat strength that falls with each Age (Hall of History article).
George Washington (Hall of History): a Diplomatic and Expansionist leader who gains a Migrant in his Capital at each Celebration (Hall of History article).

Hall of History also adds Babylon, the Gauls and England as civilizations, covered in the same article.

What changed since the June update
How to read this tier list
S Tier: the dominant leaders
A Tier: strong but situational
B Tier: solid without being top
C Tier: avoid in competitive
Leader × civilization combinations

How to read this tier list

Civilization VII has a structural quirk: you play 3 different civilizations within the same game, one per age (Antiquity, Exploration, Modern). Your leader stays the same throughout. Consequence: the leader has more long-term impact than the chosen civ.

Our ranking is based on:

Leader bonuses stable over 500 turns
Adaptability to multiple victory types
Synergy with multiple civs per age
Community feedback 2025-2026 (Reddit r/civ, CivFanatics, Pocket Tactics forums)

S Tier: the dominant leaders

Confucius ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Considered near broken. Massive science bonus coupled with huge civ-choice versatility. Giant cities pumping science every turn. Crowned “reference leader” by most guides.

Preferred victory: Science
Ideal civ per age: Han (Antiquity), Abbasid (Exploration), Modern wild card

Catherine the Great ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rare excellence: cultural victory without sacrificing tech. Science bonus via her cultural output — she unlocks techs and civics in parallel. Flexible, strong from turn 30 to turn 500.

Preferred victory: Cultural
Ideal civ: Normans, French (depending on age)

Augustus ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ +2 production in the capital per town built, +50% gold for urban purchases. Rapid expansion, map covered with towns feeding the capital. Versatile across all victories.

Preferred victory: Production (domination OR wonders)
Ideal civ: Romans (Antiquity), Normans, Mongols

Ashoka (World Conqueror) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The military leader who isn’t militarily obligated. Very solid conquest bonuses but his stats also enable peaceful victories. S-tier thanks to his double profile.

Preferred victory: Domination
Ideal civ: Mauryan (Antiquity), then Mongol/Aksumite

Himiko (Queen of Wa) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Queen of Wa — pure versatility. Few massive bonuses but exceptional adaptability between culture and diplomacy. Beloved by players who change plans mid-game.

Preferred victory: Diplomatic / Cultural
Ideal civ: Meiji Japan (Modern)

A Tier: strong but situational

Xerxes (King of Kings) — A+ Excellent late-game science bonus, better in Modern Age than Antiquity.

Amina — A Strong in trade/diplomacy, perfect if your strategy revolves around city-states.

Napoleon Bonaparte — A Classic military bonuses, effective but less versatile than Ashoka.

Benjamin Franklin — A Science and wonder focus, but less “open” than Confucius who plays with any civ.

Harriet Tubman — A Exploration + late-game science, excellent on Tide of Empires maps.

B Tier: solid without being top

José Rizal — good scientist, defensive gaps
Machiavelli — diplomatic but sometimes frustrating against aggressive AI
Isabella — powerful religious but religion meta weakened in 2026
Tecumseh — territorial defense, good vs AI but limited competitively
Frederick the Great — classic military, eclipsed by Napoleon

C Tier: avoid in competitive

These leaders suffer from miscalibrated or overly situational bonuses after 2025-2026 patches:

Charlemagne — too religion-dependent (weakened meta)
Pachacuti — mountain-specific bonuses that block expansion
Trung Trac — military but without the solid bonuses of Ashoka or Napoleon

Important note: “C” leaders aren’t unplayable, just suboptimal on Hard/Deity. On easier modes, any leader can win.

Leader × civilization combinations

Some community-validated meta combos:

Leader	Antiquity Civ	Exploration Civ	Modern Civ
Confucius (Science)	Han	Abbasid	Russia
Augustus (Production)	Rome	Normans	Mongol
Catherine (Cultural)	Greeks	French	Meiji Japan
Ashoka (Military)	Mauryan	Aksumite	American
Himiko (Diplomatic)	Han	Khmer	Meiji Japan

Experiment — Civ VII’s charm lies precisely in the variety of transitions between civs.

This tier list will evolve with upcoming patches — we update it every 6 months.

Sources

Total War Warhammer 3 Tier List 2026: Best Factions After Patch 9.0.5

Tue, 12 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Patch 9.0.5 for Total War: Warhammer 3 landed on November 3, 2026. It rewrites victory rewards, rebalances Vampire Lairs and adds a new difficulty setting for end-game scenarios. What it does not do is reshuffle the Immortal Empires pecking order. This tier list, revised on November 10, 2026, moves exactly one faction: Norsca, lifted out of C by the Tides of Torment DLC.

The ranking targets solo Immortal Empires campaigns on Very Hard and Legendary. It is built from official patch notes, the Steam pages of each DLC and specialist press coverage, not from a fresh playthrough of every faction since 9.0.5.

The November 2026 ranking at a glance:

S tier: Clan Skryre, Warriors of Chaos, Clan Eshin, High Elves, Chaos Dwarfs
A tier: Greenskins, Kislev, Dwarfs, Vampire Counts, Empire
B tier: Lizardmen, Wood Elves, Khorne, Nurgle, Tomb Kings, Norsca (up from C)
C tier: Vampire Coast, Bretonnia
Not ranked yet: Nagash, Grand Cathay, Dark Elves, Ogre Kingdoms, Tzeentch, Slaanesh, Beastmen, Daemons of Chaos

What patches 9.0 to 9.0.5 changed for the ranking

Update 9.0 and the Lords of the End Times DLC shipped on September 24, 2026. Five patches have followed, up to 9.0.5. Here is what matters for a tier list, and how we handled each change.

Victory rewards and end games (9.0.5). Unique lords and heroes earned as victory rewards now arrive at rank 20, with rare items and a unique trait. New campaigns get an “Endgame Difficulty: Legendary” checkbox, and AI factions should hold up better against end-game scenarios (patch 9.0.5 notes, Patchbeat summary). That shapes the closing stretch of a campaign, not the order of factions.
Vampire Counts (9.0, then 9.0.5). The free 9.0 rework makes Raise Dead the standard way to recruit, paid in Corpses or Blood. Some settlements also hide Vampire Lairs that awaken a new Vampire Lord (Creative Assembly blog, AllThings.How breakdown). Patch 9.0.5 rebalances those Lairs, turns Lahmia into a 10-slot settlement and doubles the Manipulation Neferata gets from Vampire Covens. We keep them in A: the way they play changed more than their rank.
Archaon subjugates Chaos (9.0). When he beats a Chaos legendary lord, Archaon can now subjugate him. A Warriors of Chaos lord joins his faction along with his settlements. A single-god lord such as Skarbrand or Ku’gath joins his roster, and his lands pass to a vassal (9.0 notes, GamingIdeology). One more reason to keep Warriors of Chaos in S.
Regiments of Renown capped (9.0). Every army now has a limit: 2 for a lord at first, rising to 8 for a legendary lord as he ranks up. Armies made entirely of Regiments of Renown are gone, for players and the AI alike, without pushing anyone into another tier.
Norsca climbs from C to B. The full reasoning sits in the B tier section.
Nagash is still being tuned. Patch 9.0.3 on October 9 eased his economy: lower upkeep in the Black Pyramid, higher post-battle income on lower difficulties. It also relaxed the Mortarch subjugation objectives (9.0.3 notes, PCGamesN). Patch 9.0.4 continued that work on October 15. Three patches between October 9 and November 3, 2026: he stays unranked.
Sieges have not changed yet. The rework tested in beta, without pocket ladders, is absent from 9.0.5 (our patch 9.1 explainer). Factions that live off taking cities keep their rank until it ships.

How to read this tier list

What we weigh:

Opening in Immortal Empires: hostile neighbours, resources, room for error in the first turns
Roster: depth, synergies, elite units
Faction mechanics and how well they scale over a long campaign
Legendary lord and the alternatives within the faction
Difficulty on Very Hard and Legendary

These tiers are about solo campaigns. Competitive multiplayer has its own hierarchy: a unit that wins 1v1 duels is not enough to carry a long campaign.

S tier: the strongest Legendary campaigns

Clan Skryre (Ikit Claw). Introduced in Warhammer 2’s The Prophet & The Warlock DLC, Ikit Claw revolves around the Forbidden Workshop. You spend Warp-Fuel and Food there to upgrade Doomwheels, Doom-Flayers and weapon teams, and to build Doomrockets (DLC Steam page). Add Warplock Jezzails and Ratling Guns and you get the most complete ranged army the Skaven have. The risk: two resources to juggle at once, and an army that crumbles if the enemy reaches it.

Warriors of Chaos (Archaon). The warband system lets mortal units climb the ranks, from Marauders up to Chaos Knights and Chosen. Lords and heroes can ascend to Daemon Prince too (Champions of Chaos page). Since 9.0, every Chaos lord Archaon beats can feed his empire instead of simply vanishing. No campaign rewards aggressive expansion more.

Clan Eshin (Deathmaster Snikch). Coming from The Shadow & The Blade (December 2019), the assassin clan fields Eshin Triads and Gutter Runners (Steam page). On the campaign map, its Shadowy Dealings hit rival factions without moving an army. Windows Central saw it as a faction that could win over players who had ignored the Skaven.

High Elves (Alarielle, Tyrion). Slow to start, very strong afterwards. Alarielle brings the Sisters of Avelorn, elite archers, while Dragon Princes and Silver Helms cover the cavalry. Best suited to players who accept a careful first half of the campaign.

Chaos Dwarfs. Forge of the Chaos Dwarfs (April 13, 2023) delivered a complete race: the Tower of Zharr, the Great Drill of Hashut, Labour, war machine trains and K’daai Destroyers (Steam page). The catch: Windows Central called it a rewarding challenge for veterans and decidedly not newcomer friendly (review). S on Legendary, provided you already know the game.

A tier: strong, with known weak spots

Greenskins (Grimgor) — A+. Black Orcs hold the line, and the Waaagh! rewards armies that keep fighting. Of everything in this tier, it is the campaign that forgives mistakes most readily.

Kislev (Tzarina Katarin) — A. A flexible roster, Ice Guard for the infantry, Lore of Ice for Katarin herself. Kislev’s real problem is its exposed position in the north.

Dwarfs (Thorgrim) — A. Ironbreakers, Gyrocopters and artillery: a slow but safe campaign, paced by the Grudges.

Vampire Counts (Vlad, Mannfred, Isabella, Neferata) — A. The 9.0 rework gave them Raise Dead recruitment and lords awakened from Vampire Lairs. Patch 9.0.5 rebalances those Lairs without changing what the faction is. Neferata, free since 9.0, plays through the Web of Power and her Covens.

Empire (Karl Franz) — A. Reiksguard, Demigryph Knights and Steam Tanks. The central start is demanding. Boris Todbringer, a lord added by the same DLC as Nagash, offers another way into the faction.

B tier: playable, with a clear weakness

Lizardmen (Mazdamundi): top-tier magic and geomantic buildings, a less flexible roster than the tiers above
Wood Elves (Durthu): a niche faction, very strong within its style
Khorne: hits hard, but everything hinges on melee
Nurgle (Ku’gath): tough, slow armies and a campaign of patience
Tomb Kings (Settra): a solid roster with an economy unlike anyone else’s
Norsca (up from C): Wulfrik, Throgg and now Sayl

Why Norsca moves up. We had Norsca in C because its roster was too thin. The Tides of Torment DLC, released on December 4, 2025, added a Norscan legendary lord, Sayl the Faithless (PCGamesN). His pack brings shock cavalry (Kurgan Horsemen), infantry (Marauder Bearmen) and monsters such as the Chimera and the Curs’d Ettin. It also adds his Manipulations and a Dark Ritual built around Chaos Altars (Steam page). Wulfrik remains a demanding start; the faction as a whole no longer belongs in C.

C tier: demanding on Legendary

Vampire Coast: an economy of Pirate Coves and Treasure Maps, an army that leans on gunpowder (Deck Gunners, Necrofex Colossus) and on the coastline
Bretonnia (Louen): everything rests on chivalry and the knights, while the infantry struggles to keep up

These factions are not unplayable. They need more planning because their strength rests on a single pillar: the sea for one, the charge for the other.

Not ranked yet: Nagash, Grand Cathay and the rest

This list does not grade every Immortal Empires race yet. Rather than drop a faction into a tier at random, we list each one with its latest documented change.

Nagash: the most ambitious campaign in the DLC, and the most patched since (9.0.3, 9.0.4, 9.0.5). He will be ranked once his numbers settle.
Grand Cathay: Update 8.0, released on May 21, 2026, split its tech tree into Military and Provinces branches alongside the Bhashiva pack (our Grand Cathay article).
Dark Elves: patch 9.0.5 turns Crone Hellebron’s Blood Frenzy into a passive ability that builds while she stays in melee.
Ogre Kingdoms, Tzeentch, Slaanesh, Beastmen, Daemons of Chaos: not assessed in this ranking yet.

Which faction to pick for your playstyle

Starting out in Immortal Empires:

Karl Franz (Empire): a classic roster and readable mechanics
Thorgrim (Dwarfs): slow but sturdy, few surprises
Grimgor (Greenskins): aggressive and forgiving

For veterans:

Ikit Claw (Clan Skryre): two resources and a ranged army to optimise
Archaon (Warriors of Chaos): aggressive expansion and the subjugation of Chaos lords
Chaos Dwarfs: the campaign reviewers judged least accessible to newcomers

For flavour:

Eltharion (Yvresse, High Elves): enemy lords and heroes imprisoned in Athel Tamarha for interrogation
Sayl (Norsca): Manipulations that throw the neighbours into disarray
Settra (Tomb Kings): the most theatrical campaign in the undead roster

We will revise this tier list with every patch that touches campaign balance, starting with the siege rework.

Tier List — After Strategy

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A tier: very strong in the right setting

B tier: useful but situational

C tier: avoid unless you play a specific style

Summary table

What patches 1.19 and 1.20 changed

Which combinations to aim for

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B tier: playable, with a clear weakness

C tier: demanding on Legendary

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