Warhammer — After Strategy

Total War Warhammer 3 tier list 2026: which factions dominate Immortal Empires?

Tue, 12 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Four years after Total War: Warhammer 3’s release, and with the Immortal Empires sandbox now universally recognized as the best Total War mode ever made, factions have found their balance. Some dominate, others are solid, others still frustrate. Our 2026 tier list ranks the 23 playable races (base + DLC) by their strength on Very Hard / Legendary solo campaign.

TL;DR:

S Tier (5 factions): Clan Skryre, Warriors of Chaos, Clan Eshin, High Elves, Chaos Dwarfs
A Tier (5-6 factions): Greenskins, Kislev, Dwarfs, Vampires, Empire
B Tier: rest of the solid, playable factions
C Tier: Norsca, Vampire Coast (under pressure since nerfs)
Competitive multi ≠ solo campaign: some S-tier campaign picks are mediocre 1v1

How to read this tier list
S Tier: the 5 factions that dominate
A Tier: strong with some movement
B Tier: solid without shining
C Tier: challenging on Legendary
Best picks beginner vs veteran

How to read this tier list

Criteria considered:

Starting position in Immortal Empires (hostile neighbors, resources)
Unit roster — depth, synergy, elite units
Unique faction mechanics
Main legendary Lord strength
Campaign difficulty Very Hard / Legendary

Tier evaluated on solo campaign in sandbox mode. Competitive multi has its own tiers (Sisters of Avelorn dominate 1v1, for instance, but are just one unit in a roster).

S Tier: the 5 factions that dominate

Clan Skryre (Ikit Claw) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ King of Immortal Empires since TWWH2 and still on top after 2025-2026 patches. Ikit Claw benefits from:

Warlock Engineers — incredible ranged infantry
Jezzails — long-range snipers
Doomwheels — devastating vehicles
Underground economy via Under-Empires
Starting position (Skavenblight) defensible and rich

Ikit’s campaigns are consistently ranked best in the game by every major guide.

Warriors of Chaos (Archaon) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Historically TWWH1’s worst race, turned monster in TWWH3 thanks to successive reworks. Archaon has:

One of the most forgiving starting positions — Northern Wastes with few immediate threats
Chaos Undivided roster — units from all marks (Khorne, Nurgle, Tzeentch, Slaanesh)
Chaos Gifts mechanics — your favorite boosts your power

Paired with Kholek Suneater as secondary, the best Chaos package.

Clan Eshin ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Skaven assassins. Asymmetric gameplay based on:

Extreme mobility — your army sprints everywhere
Stalking — invisible enemy approach
Death Globes and Gutter Runners — atypical elite units
Starting position — Lahmia accessible and interesting

Very fun to play, very strong mechanically.

High Elves (Alarielle / Tyrion) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Massive late-game. Before 1850 (turn 100+), High Elves struggle a bit. After, they’re a steamroller:

Sisters of Avelorn — best archers in the game, hands down
Silver Helms and Dragon Princes — unmatched elite cavalry
High Magic — very strong
Influence Court — unique elven diplomacy mechanics

Requires early-game patience but rewards massively.

Chaos Dwarfs ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ One of the best-balanced factions. No bad units, solid economy, well-paced campaigns. Specificities:

Demon summonings
Tauri Centaurs — atypical heavy cavalry
Hellcannons and K’daai Destroyers — artillery and monsters
Tower of Zharr — unique career mechanic

A Tier: strong with some movement

Greenskins (Grimgor / Azhag) — A+ The TWWH2 rework lifted Orcs to real force status. Black Orcs still as strong, Waaagh mechanics well integrated.

Kislev (Tzarina Katarin) — A Diversified roster, ice magic, strong in competitive multi too. Ice Guard excellent.

Khazalid Dwarfs (Thorgrim) — A Long but safe campaign. Dwarf artillery still legendary. Gyrocopters and Ironbreakers dominate.

Vampire Counts (Vlad) — A Less broken than before nerfs, but Zombie Dragons and necromancy remain powerful. Vlad > Mannfred > Isabella as Lords.

Empire (Karl Franz) — A Elite Reiksguard cavalry, devastating Demigryphs. Central position difficult but rewarding.

B Tier: solid without shining

Lizardmen (Mazdamundi) — strong magic but somewhat dated roster
Wood Elves (Durthu) — niche, specialized
Khorne Bloodbound — strong but one-dimensional
Nurgle (Ku’gath) — tanks but slow
Tomb Kings — solid roster but weird economy

C Tier: challenging on Legendary

Norsca (Wulfrik) — roster limited since Chaos changes
Vampire Coast — heavily nerfed since 2024
Bretonnians (Louen) — promised rework never really came, dated gameplay

Reminder: C-tier factions are not unplayable. They just require more skill to pull off.

Best picks beginner vs veteran

For starting Immortal Empires:

Karl Franz (Empire) — classic roster, central position, perfect tutorial
Thorgrim (Dwarfs) — slow but robust, few surprises
Grimgor (Greenskins) — aggressive and fun, forgives mistakes

For veterans / challenges:

Ikit Claw (Skryre) — learning the S-tier meta
Archaon (Chaos) — extreme asymmetric gameplay
Alarielle (High Elves) — political puzzle of Court Intrigue

For roleplay / flavor:

Eltharion (High Elves Yvresse) — very different gameplay via Prisoner
Morathi (Dark Elves Cult of Pleasure) — atypical economy
Settra (Tomb Kings) — pharaonic roleplay

For other Total War and Warhammer analyses, see our Tempest Rising review, our EU4 vs EU5 comparison, and our Crusader Kings III beginner guide 2026.

Creative Assembly patches regularly — this tier list will be updated every 6 months.

Total War Warhammer 3: where to start in Immortal Empires

Sat, 21 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Total War Warhammer 3 has become a cathedral of content. It is impressive, generous, sometimes wonderful and honestly intimidating. The wrong reflex is trying to understand everything before starting a campaign: every lord, every DLC, every mod, every school of magic. You will never leave the menu.

The better reflex is the opposite: choose a readable faction, play twenty turns seriously, lose a few battles, and only then widen the door. Warhammer 3 is not difficult because of its rules. It is difficult because it gives too many options too early.

Start small in Immortal Empires

Immortal Empires is the huge sandbox map of Total War Warhammer 3. It is also the best mode to play today, provided you do not treat it like an encyclopedia. Your first campaign should teach three things: hold a province, compose a coherent army and choose your wars.

Do not try to optimize every building. Look first at your economy, recruitment and immediate enemies. If your first province is stable, you are learning. If you move in three directions at once, you are being carried by the map rather than reading it.

Three good first campaigns

Karl Franz, Empire
A very readable general teacher. Correct infantry, solid ranged units, useful cavalry, clear artillery and accessible magic. You will learn diplomacy, multiple threats and classic battles.

Tyrion, High Elves
Strong for learning ranged power, economy and clean armies. Less chaotic than many Old World positions.

Thorgrim, Dwarfs
A strong choice if you enjoy holding a line. Dwarfs forgive some micro mistakes, but they force you to think about placement, artillery and endurance.

Avoid factions with very special mechanics or explosive starting positions for a first campaign. Skaven, Daemons of Chaos and some DLC factions are fantastic, but better once you already know how to read a battle.

Battle basics: line, fire, flank, magic

The basic recipe still works. Your infantry line fixes the enemy, but it does not win alone. Archers, guns or cannons often do the real damage. Cavalry and fast units punish flanks, not solid centers. A lord or hero holds a dangerous point when the line shakes. One well-timed spell is worth more than ten panic casts.

Magic often separates a clean victory from an expensive mess. Do not cast because the spell looks spectacular. Wait until the enemy is grouped, blocked or already committed. A zone spell launched too early creates noise; the same spell when two regiments are packed against your line can decide the battle.

Mods: start light

The Warhammer 3 Workshop is enormous, but it can ruin the learning process. For a first campaign, keep the list short:

Community Bug Fix Mod for known fixes;
one interface improvement if it helps you read information;
possibly a camera mod to observe battles better.

Keep SFO: Grimhammer, Radious and large lord packs for later. They can be excellent, but they change balance. If you begin with them, you will not know whether you are learning Warhammer 3 or a deeply rewritten version of it.

Reading a lost battle

Warhammer 3 can make a defeat look like it came from an overpowered monster or a spell you did not understand. Sometimes that is true, but the causes are often smaller. The line was too stretched. Ranged units lost their angle. Cavalry charged too early and got trapped. The lord chased a secondary target while the center collapsed.

After a failed battle, start with formation. If fast units were too far away, they could not save the flanks. If your shooters were behind a slope or wood, they may have spent the battle searching for line of sight. If magic went into scattered units, it produced noise instead of a swing.

This reading matters more than a tier list. A faction considered strong can collapse when deployed badly. A simpler faction can win cleanly if the plan is coherent: fix, shoot, flank, then pursue only when the enemy line breaks.

When to open DLCs and big overhauls

The right time to install huge mods or buy a new race is not “when you are lost”. It is when you know what you want to change. If you want longer battles, an overhaul can make sense. If you want a more aggressive campaign style, a specialized lord may be a good purchase. If you only want the game to feel less confusing, add interface clarity before adding content.

That discipline avoids the buffet effect. Warhammer 3 can become a game you collect more than you play. One finished campaign with few mods teaches more than ten starts overloaded with novelty and abandoned around turn 25.

DLC: buy for factions, not fear

The commercial trap is obvious: there is always a faction you do not own. Resist it. Buy a DLC because you genuinely want to play its lord or race, not because a tier list calls it central.

For beginners, one complete campaign with content you already own is better than five DLCs launched for ten turns each. Warhammer 3 reveals itself over time: when your economy holds, enemies close in and your main army becomes a real identity.

A simple first-campaign checklist

Before ending turn, ask three questions. Is the starting province secure? Can the main army answer the next enemy stack? Is the economy strong enough to replace losses after one bad battle? If the answer is no, expansion should wait. Warhammer 3 punishes players who mistake map access for campaign control.

In battle, use the same restraint. Keep infantry connected, protect artillery, give missile units a clear line of sight, and do not send cavalry into the center just because it is fast. If a lord, monster or spell wins the fight for you, still ask what would have happened without it. That is how the first campaign teaches the game rather than only carrying you through it.

Practical case: why Karl Franz teaches better than exotic starts

A first campaign with Karl Franz quickly gives the player understandable problems: a province to secure, hostile neighbors, a fragile economy, and armies mixing infantry, ranged units and cavalry. It is not the most original campaign, but it is a good classroom. You see why a line breaks, why artillery needs protection, and why declaring one more war can ruin an already tense front.

Starting with a very exotic faction can be thrilling but misleading. If your economy depends on a special mechanic, if your army ignores normal morale rules, or if your lord compensates for every mistake, you may learn an exception before learning the game. Save those campaigns for the moment when you can already explain why a battle was lost.

Sources and media

This rewrite uses the Steam page for Total War: Warhammer III and the official Total War page. The screenshots above are Steam media tied to steamAppId 1142710.

Verdict

Total War Warhammer 3 does not need more gigantism. It already overflows. The best advice for 2026 is almost anti-spectacular: choose a simple faction, play slowly, understand your defeats, and only then open the door to DLC and mods.

Approached like that, Warhammer 3 stops being an endless menu and becomes what it does best: a factory for absurd, readable battles full of monsters, cannons and decisions that turn on one good moment.

For more Total War, read our Napoleon Total War guide and our Immortal Empires faction tier list.