Omens of Destruction: Introducing Skulltaker

Ere, you lot! 

Welcome to the first of our Total War: WARHAMMER III Omens of Destruction blog series. Unless you’ve been living under a Rock Lobber, you’ll know that this DLC pack welcomes three new Legendary Lords to the ever-growing pantheon of playable characters alongside a suite of new units, lords, heroes, campaign mechanics, and more. Check out the announcement trailer below! 

This week’s blog is all about daemons, decapitation and hero-dueling as we cower before Khorne’s newest servant. Known as ‘the slayer of kings’, ‘the blooded wanderer’ and ‘Khorne’s champion’, Skulltaker is a character as infamous as he is deadly given his fearsome reputation for defeating the strongest foes throughout the world and adding their skulls to his cloak in an act of eternal torment. 

Let’s jump right into it. 

THE SKULLTAKER, THE HERO SLAYER 

LEGENDARY LORD 

Skulltaker embodies Khorne’s unyielding fury, taking immense pride in his martial abilities and viewing himself as an unstoppable force. His existence revolves around combat, never refusing a challenge and always eager to prove his superiority over others. 

Arrogant and bloodthirsty, he only respects those who dare to face him in battle. Weaker enemies are swiftly dispatched, their skulls claimed without honour. His true glory lies in defeating powerful foes, cementing his reputation as a fearsome champion of Khorne’s ideals of strength, dominance, and unrelenting warfare. 

Here's a quick look at what the Skulltaker offers in battle and campaign.

BATTLE PLAYSTYLE 

Few ascend to the exalted position of Khorne’s Champion and those who do are assured to be lethal in every regard. A force of daemonic destruction, Skulltaker excels at hunting down and dueling enemy lords before cleaving through ranks of troops with his two-handed Slayer Sword. His abilities include: 

• Slayer Sword (Active Augment): Skulltaker’s flaming daemonic sword applies the 'Dazed' effect, reducing the target's weapon strength and armour-piercing damage whilst boosting his own armour-piercing and base weapon damage. 
  
• Cloak of Skulls (Passive Augment): Imbued with Khornes might, Skulltaker’s cloak greatly boosts his Ward Save and Spell Resistance. 
  
• Bloody Onslaught (Active Ability): Skulltaker gains increased armour-piercing melee damage and the Immune to Flanking attribute. 
  

CAMPAIGN MECHANIC: CLOAK OF SKULLS

Skulltaker's gameplay loop revolves around seeking out the strongest opponents, defeating them in brutal combat, and claiming their skulls as trophies. With each victory, he grows stronger, continually enhancing his prowess to take on even more powerful foes. 

At the outset of a campaign players will see that all foreign lords on the map are marked with a ‘Champion's Essence’ resource above them. To collect this rare resource, Skulltaker must defeat these powerful enemies in battle. Once claimed, this resource enhances the abilities of his Cloak of Skulls, which features multiple skulls at various levels. Players can apply Champion's Essence to unlock new bonuses or upgrade existing ones, granting Skulltaker powerful new abilities and traits that greatly increase his strength and dominance in battle. 

SCYLA ANFINGRIMM (LEGENDARY HERO)

Scyla was once a fierce Norscan warrior known for his bloodthirsty raids and relentless victories. Khorne granted him powerful gifts, but this overwhelming might eventually transformed him into a Chaos Spawn. Though still favored by Khorne, he has become a mindless beast, treated like a prized hound by his tribe rather than a respected lord. His aggressive and brutal nature makes him a formidable combatant, embodying the savage bloodlust of Khorne. 

Now more beast than man, Scyla’s instincts are dominated by chaos. Driven by primal urges, he kills in the name of Khorne, becoming a terrifying presence on the battlefield. In the heat of combat, he embodies his dark god's desires: to kill for Khorne! 

His playstyle primarily focuses on disrupting formations, making him especially effective against small entities: 

• Kill for Khorne! (Explosion): Mindless and savage, Scyla produces an explosion from his body causing severe disruption and sending nearby enemies into a rampage. 
  
• Serpentine Tail (Passive AOE Hex): Whipping his huge tail he inflicts direct damage in a radius around him. 
  
• Brass Collar of Khorne (Passive Augment): Imbued with his master’s hatred of magic, Scyla’s Brass Collar grants enhanced Ward Save and Magic Resistance based on the number of kills he achieves. 
  
• Crimson Juggernaut (Active Ability): A nigh unstoppable force, Scyla gains increased speed, charge speed and charge bonus all whilst gaining the Glorious Charge attribute.  
  

SKARR BLOODWRATH (LEGENDARY HERO)

As a Chaos Warrior devoted to Khorne, Skarr is a skilled and brutal combatant, known for his savage and bloodthirsty nature. He dispatches enemies with alarming ease, even resorting to ripping out throats with his teeth. He has endured gruesome conditioning, and with each death and resurrection by Khorne, he loses fragments of his sanity and personality—a fate he has faced many times. 

Skarr’s reckless bravery was evident from a young age when he challenged and killed his tribe’s chieftain, who was twice his size. He dismisses those in the South as weak and instead seeks tougher foes in the North. Warriors are drawn to him, not for his charisma or leadership skills, but because he is the strongest warrior, leading by example in the chaos of battle. 

He specializes in anti-infantry and armour-piercing, making him highly effective at cutting down high-tier armored infantry with ease. 

His abilities include: 

• Bloodthirst (Passive Ability): The more murderous Skarr is in battle the more he heals, allowing him to continue the slaughter in Khorne’s name.  
  
• Bloodborn (Passive Ability): When Skarr’s health drops low, he receives a burst of health, the quantity of which is directly tied to his Bloodthirst ability and the number of units he has previously killed.  
  
• Skaramors Butchers (Passive Ability): Ever keen to strengthen his bloodthirsty herd by culling the weak, he provides nearby troops with a passive bonus that grants nearby friendlies increased weapon strength and armor sundering. 
  
• Inevitable Horror (Active Ability): Reduces leadership and increases the fatigue of enemies around him, making them easier for Skarr and his minions to finish off and break. 
  
• Bloodstorm Blades (Active Ability): His unique archaic weaponry grants significant damage and anti-infantry bonus for a short duration. 

BLOODSPEAKER (LORD)

Cruel Instigators, the Bloodspeakers drive others to extreme efforts in their quest to become more ‘Khorne-worthy.’ They're priests and zealots who drive those around them to acts of frenzied worship - promising glory, demanding obedience, and threatening punishment for weakness or failure. 

These evangelists of Khorne are fiercely loyal, worshipping him with religious zeal. As skilled Marauders or Chaos Warriors, they are savage and bloodthirsty in battle, relentless in their devotion to combat, never allowing rest or respite in their service to Khorne. 

They excel at enhancing the units around them with buffs, and when mounted, they gain added mobility to support and boost their allies more effectively. 

BLOOD BEASTS (UNIT)

Among Khorne's cursed followers, these creatures stand out as both the most brutal and mysterious. Their true nature remains unclear—whether they are daemons or mortals is unknown. Resembling massive, ape-like monsters, they excel in powerful charges and deal devastating armour-piercing damage. Their sheer size and ferocity grant them strong armour-piercing melee capabilities, while their monstrous presence instills fear in their enemies. Marked by Khorne, they gain all the benefits of his favor, further enhancing their destructive power on the battlefield. 

SLAUGHTERBRUTE (UNIT)

The Slaughterbrute is a towering Chaos beast, overflowing with muscle and aggression. Those who attempt to control these savage creatures with ordinary methods often meet a grisly fate, as the Slaughterbrute will tear apart anyone who tries to break its will. Only through sorcery can its mind be enslaved, bound to a Chaos Champion. 

As a unit, the Slaughterbrute's immense size makes it deadly in melee combat with high armour-piercing damage. Its scaly skin provides resistance to missile attacks, while its presence on the battlefield induces terror in its enemies. Such a monstrous entity is unbreakable whilst in the presence of an alive Lord, but should they fall in battle, it will rampage and can rout.  

KHORNGORS (UNIT) 

These units play an aggressive, hard-hitting role on the battlefield, marked by Khorne to receive a variety of combat enhancements. As they take damage, a special ability activates making them temporarily unbreakable. Equipped with two-handed weapons, they excel at delivering armour-piercing melee attacks. Additionally, their Vanguard Deployment allows them to be positioned outside the usual deployment zone, giving them a tactical edge in battle. 

WRATHMONGERS (UNIT)

These Chaos Warriors are fierce and skilled fighters, fueled by their devotion to Khorne. Their savage bloodlust make them brutal in battle, and they hold disdain for anyone they see as weaker. Their madness only deepens after surviving a night against daemons.

Equipped with paired wrath-flails, chains with hammer-heads on the end, they deal devastating splash and armour-piercing damage. Infused with daemon power, their attacks are both powerful and unique, tearing through enemies with ease. 

SKULLREAPERS (UNIT)

Skullreapers are massive, elite Chaos Warriors. Clad in heavy, half-plate Chaos armour and gifted with mutations that amplify their combat abilities, each Skullreaper is as powerful as a Chaos Champion. Only the Wrathmongers outrank them in strength and status. They are a cost-effective, anti-infantry unit, similar to Chaos Warriors of Khorne but with less armour and dual-wielding weapons. 

Skullreapers, Wrathmongers, Bloodspeakers, and Skarr Bloodwrath are units and characters that follow those most devoted to Khorne, rather than Undivided Warriors of Chaos. Therefore:

• Skarbrand, Skulltaker, Arbaal, Valkia, and the Daemon Prince (once fully aligned to Khorne) will have access to Skullreapers, Wrathmongers, and Skarr Bloodwrath.
• Skarbrand, Skulltaker, Arbaal and Valkia will have access to Bloodspeaker, but the Daemon Prince will not have access to any Mortal Lords.
  
• Archaon doesn’t have access to these units yet, but this is something we want to address in a future update.
  

KHORNE LEGACY UPDATES

Before we wrap up, there's an important point we'd like to address. We've received extensive feedback from our previous DLC, particularly regarding updates to legacy races, and here’s what we’ve developed to enhance Khorne, which will be included in the upcoming update alongside this DLC: 

SKULL THRONE 

You can now purchase rewards using skulls, with the amount you spend unlocking higher tiers of rewards. This creates a progression loop that transforms what was once a single button into a dynamic feature offering varied benefits, such as bonuses to armies, growth, control, corruption stats, and more. Recognizing that the previous version of the Skull Throne lacked choices for players, we set out to enhance its usefulness and value. As a result, there are now 10 unique Skull Throne actions available, allowing players to unlock higher-tier actions by spending their skulls within the Skull Throne.

UNHOLY MANIFESTATIONS 

Wielding the power of the gods should feel more useful, so we’ve taken some steps to improve their rewards as well as giving the UI a good old tidy-up.  

Eternal War: 

• Base Rewards: Spawns army to fight at source 
• Upgraded Rewards: Spawns army to fight at force, and Campaign movement range after battle +25% 

Khorne’s Glare: 

• Base Rewards: Take control of unoccupied ruin 
  
• Upgraded Rewards: Take control of unoccupied ruin, and Occupied ruin will be a tier 2 settlement 

Slaughter Incarnate: 

• Base Rewards: Character experience gain +150% (3 turns) 
  
• Upgraded Rewards: Character experience gain +300% (3 turns) 
  

Call of Battle: 

• Base Rewards: Target settlement will be razed 
  
• Upgraded Rewards: Target settlement will be razed, and Target settlements province will become fully Khorne corrupted

ECONOMY 

Our goal was to improve the clarity of the current Khorne sacking and post-battle loot economy. 

Now only recruitment buildings, landmarks, and resource buildings generate passive income. Khorne's primary economic infrastructure focuses on increasing the global amounts gained from sacking, looting, and post-battle loot. 

Army upkeep is now much easier to manage. By increasing your Bloodletting level or constructing upkeep reduction buildings, it has become simpler for the sack and loot economy to thrive, even during turns of downtime between battles. This includes Blood Hosts, which no longer incur upkeep costs. 

Additionally, recruitment costs have been reduced to better align with the value of the units. The recruitment cost of units is no longer set at twice their value and now matches their base custom battle costs. 

BLOOD HOSTS 

We found that the current gameplay loop for Khorne felt too one-dimensional, primarily centered on spawning infinite Blood Hosts without rewarding players for developing their own forces. To address this, Blood Hosts now require skulls to spawn when razing settlements, and they no longer incur upkeep costs. This change encourages players to focus on recruiting a wider variety of forces beyond just Blood Hosts. 

BLOODLETTING 

Bloodletting is currently essential to every aspect of Khorne's faction, which we felt was not very intuitive and posed significant risks, as a loss of momentum could disrupt your entire empire. In order to mitigate this, Bloodletting rewards are now specifically tied to the forces they are attached to, allowing for more targeted benefits. These effects focus on maintaining momentum by providing bonuses for casualty replenishment, upkeep, and recruitment. Additionally, we have adjusted the thresholds for Bloodletting to make it easier to build momentum with new forces. 

BUILDINGS 

While adjusting the economy for Khorne, we made several changes to the effects of standard buildings, recruitment, and resources. New infrastructure building effects have been introduced, with the recruitment of Daemonic or Mortal units now tied to the type of settlement. Mortal recruitment chains can only be built in settlements with the Mortal settlement chain, while Daemonic units are restricted to Daemonic settlements. Also, all resources now feature a unique set of effects, moving away from the previous standard of same Skulls and income effects. 

DAEMONIC REFORGING 

We recognized that Daemonic units were not aligning with their lore-inspired resilience, often making mortal units the preferred choice. To address this, we have introduced a new feature for all Daemonic factions: Daemonic Reforging. Now, all Daemon units have a chance to be ‘Reforged’ after dying in battle, as they can never be truly killed outside the Realms of Chaos. By default, the chance for Daemons to return after battle is quite low; however, this probability is influenced by various factors such as technologies, skills, and, most importantly, the corruption level of the province where the battle occurred. These factors will also affect the amount of health a Daemonic unit returns with after battle. 

TECHNOLOGY TREE 

We've reworked the Khorne technology tree into two separate tabs: 

Pillars: sequences of technologies that provide campaign-focused bonuses. Each tier requires a certain number of battle victories to unlock. The bonuses are similar to the old technology tree, with some tweaks and new additions here and there. Technologies that focus on improving Blood Hosts are grouped together in their own pillars for improved clarity. 

Armoury: Technologies that provide battle-focused bonuses. Each group provides bonuses to a specific type of unit and most effects are new. 

REOCCUPATION IMMUNITY 

While playing as Khorne, we noticed that the AI would often occupy recently razed regions, blocking Khorne's intended expansion into these areas. To solve this, we have introduced a re-occupation immunity for regions razed by Khornate factions. Now, once a Khornate faction razes a region, it cannot be recolonised by any faction (including Khorne) for three turns, providing a grace period for Khornate factions to naturally expand into these areas.

In creating this new state for razed regions, we also revisited the Beastmen faction to improve clarity around blocked ruins. Ruins that are currently blocked from colonisation now display a distinct flaming ruin icon instead of the regular ruin icon, making them easier to identify. 

We’re confident these updates will significantly enrich the Khorne experience for all players. And who knows - there might just be another Legendary Lord of Khorne just around the corner, ready for release in Update 6.0. 

Well, we think we've covered enough for today - let’s see what’s on the horizon next!

UP NEXT 

If you’re keen to see Skulltaker in action then stay tuned for the first of our upcoming Omens of Destruction gameplay showcases which premieres tomorrow at 3PM GMT.

Next week we'll be back with our next blog focused on Golgfag Maneater, and the changes coming to the Ogre Kingdoms, so stay tuned for more!

We’d love to hear your thoughts on Skulltaker, so feel free to join the conversation and share your feedback on our official community channels. 

See you on the battlefield! 

— The Total War Team 

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