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Total War: Warhammer 3 was expanded massively with its 2.0 update, most notably with the introduction of the sprawling Immortal Empires campaign. Immortal Empires combines the maps of all three games in the trilogy into a world-spanning campaign, featuring every faction that has been released so far. One of the original factions that have had a rework in Total War: Warhammer 3 is the Warriors of Chaos, with the Champions of Chaos DLC adding four new Legendary Lords.

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Each of the Champions of Chaos is dedicated to a different Chaos God, with the Champion of the blood-god Khorne being Valkia the Bloody. As the Dread-Consort of Khorne, Valkia combines the heavy infantry of the original Warriors of Chaos with the hard-hitting daemons and monsters of her patron god. Though she lacks both magic and scheming tricks on the campaign map, her armies are melee experts, boasting the absolute best frontline infantry in the trilogy.

Blood For The Blood God

Total War: Warhammer 3 Valkia the Bloody Post Battle Screen

Just like her fellow Champions of Chaos, Valkia the Bloody steals a campaign mechanic from her god's pure-daemon faction, the Exiles of Khorne. All of Valkia's armies gain the Bloodletting ability, granting them steadily increasing bonuses the more battles they win in quick succession. Khorne cares not from whence the blood flows, and players should make sure to never leave their Legion of the Gorequeen armies sitting idle too long.

Bloodletting also ties into some of Valkia's own unique abilities, particularly her 20% boost to Campaign Movement Speed after winning a battle. This faction-wide trait will enable players to remain on the offensive, keeping Bloodletting high while they move from one conquest to the next. In addition, Valkia's personal army gets a 35% boost to Campaign Movement Speed whenever an enemy retreats rather than engages her in battle, making her almost impossible to escape from.

Dark Fortresses & Souls For Khorne

Total War: Warhammer 3 Valkia the Bloody Gifts of Chaos

Despite her focus on wholesale bloodshed and slaughter, Valkia can still benefit from having vassals at her command. This is partly because the Warriors of Chaos can only establish their most powerful settlements in Dark Fortresses, rare locations spread across the Immortal Empires map, and will benefit from having allies to fill in those gaps. As an added benefit, holding a Dark Fortress in a Norscan tribe's homeland will automatically vassalize that tribe.

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In the Immortal Empires campaign, Valkia can gain one of these Fortresses on turn 1 by attacking Dagrak's End. This will vassalize the Norscan faction to her west, giving her a great start for her future conquests. Although the riches of Naggarond to the south may be tempting, Valkia can also head east along the edge of the Chaos Wastes, where she'll find many more Dark Fortresses to conquer and Norscans to vassalize.

Whether she's slaughtering Norscans or Dark Elves, Valkia will gain Souls from any mortal enemies she defeats. These Souls are the unique Warriors of Chaos resource and are used both for the Gifts of Chaos mechanic and to upgrade Valkia's Lords and Heroes. Undivided characters can use Souls to devote themselves to Khorne, gaining new powers and abilities at the cost of half their levels. Alternatively, players can spend Souls to transform a high-ranking Lord into an immortal Daemon Prince, granting incredible power but again at the cost of half the Lord's levels.

Building Armies As Valkia

Total War: Warhammer 3 Valkia the Bloody Gifted daemons recruitment

Valkia has several options when it comes to recruiting new units for her armies. The first is Warband recruitment, which can be performed in friendly or enemy territory, but is limited to what units are available in that province at the time. Each province has a small pool of Warriors of Chaos units to recruit from, based on factors like climate and Total War: Warhammer 3's Chaos corruption. These units have a chance to replenish each turn, with rarer and more powerful units being less likely to replenish.

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Players will be able to upgrade their Warband units once they reach certain veterancy ranks, provided the correct technologies have been researched. These upgrades will turn the unit into a higher-tier equivalent, with Marauders becoming Warriors and then Warriors becoming Chosen as an example. As the Dread-Consort of Khorne, Valkia the Bloody can either keep her Warband troops as generic Chaos Undivided or grant them the Mark of Khorne, giving unique bonuses suited to the Blood God. Each Lord will have a different Authority over Khornate or Undivided units, giving bonuses based on factors including Traits, Skills, and Heroes in the army.

As well as Warband recruitment, Valkia can also receive Khornate daemons from the Exiles of Khorne roster using the Gifts of Chaos mechanic. Once a Gift of Chaos that gives units is slotted, players will regularly be able to recruit small numbers of that unit into their armies. Finally, if Valkia creates vassals or gains allies she will be able to construct Outposts in their settlements, enabling her to recruit their units.

Valkia On The Battlefield

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Khorne is the most martial of the four Chaos Gods and has a hatred of magic and trickery. As such, Valkia's armies represent a blend of the heavily-armored infantry and tough monsters of the Warriors of Chaos with the devastating melee power of Khorne's daemons. Chaos Warriors and Chosen, either Undivided or Khorne-marked, will go toe-to-toe with most infantry in the game, while Exalted Bloodletters can quickly chew through high-value targets like Grand Cathay's Celestial Dragon Guard with their superior Melee Attack.

Khorne's influence adds more damage and devastating charges to the Warriors of Chaos roster from the original Total War: Warhammer, allowing Valkia's troops to defeat almost any army in straight combat. These traits also make them one of the best armies for siege battles in Total War: Warhammer 3, as street-to-street fighting leaves little room for clever maneuvers and often requires a straightforward grind into prepared enemy positions.

Total War: Warhammer 3 is out now for PC.

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