Total War: Warhammer 3 guide - how to play Kislev

 Detailed Faction Guide - Legendary Lords Costaltine, Katarina, and Boris, Learning Technologies, and Best Faction Units

Kislev is a northern faction that has three legendary lords - Patriarch Kostaltine, Queen Katarina, and Boris Ursus. As in previous parts of Total War: Warhammer, all three generals will be available to the player after the unification of the faction.

Kislev's unique currency is devotion. It is needed to attract supporters in the struggle between Costaltine and Katarina, as well as to summon one of the four gods - Thor, Dazh, Ursun and Soljak. Loyalty points can be obtained in battles with the armies of Chaos and after various successful political actions. Having gained more loyalty points than the enemy, the hero will receive bonuses and the ability to form alliances with political opponents by activating the confederation. Another opportunity to attract supporters is to pay gold every 20 turns.

Gods bonuses in the order of greatest benefit:

• Sales - income from trade + 15%, income from all buildings + 8%, increase in supporters +1 when building a building;
• Salyak - height +20, loss replenishment rate + 8%, increase in supporters +1 when obtaining a character rank;
• Thor - melee attack + 5%, army ability - "Wrath of the Bear" (increases damage and damage through armor) - three uses per battle, growth of supporters +2 during the battle;
• Ursun - causes non-combat losses in enemy armies on your territory, the ability of the army "Severe Winter" (discipline -8, speed -25%, amount of forces spent per second + 1%) - three uses per battle, increase in supporters +5 when capturing a settlement.

Another feature of Kislev is chieftains. They can be selected and appointed to rule in settlements. Each ataman has his own bonuses that affect the reduction of corruption, the income of the settlement, growth, and control. The most useful chieftains at any difficulty level are those with income and growth bonuses.

The faction's technology branches are divided into four parts: Earth, Praag, Erengrad, and Kislev. Each of them has both military and economic bonuses. However, there is among them the most useful tree - the Earth. The remaining three can be studied in order of need.

Lords

Costaltine is the supreme patriarch of the Ursun cult and head of the Great Orthodoxy. He can strengthen the army, restore the health of fighters, and also gives a saving throw (damage reduction) by 20% for the Patriarchs (regular hero lords), so it is mandatory to have two of these characters in his army as “tanks”. Kostaltin is deprived of magic, so for his faction, it is necessary to hire witches in the Ice Court and pump them in battle, because the Patriarch faction does not have bonuses for witch heroes on the global map.

Katarina is an ice mage and queen of the Ice Court. She does not have bonuses to strengthen the army but is able to deal damage to enemies and improve the attack of allied units with the Ice Blades spell. In addition, hired witch-heroes immediately receive 3 levels. For the Katarina faction, loyalty points are accumulated after the actions of the ice witches on the global map. That is why from time to time they will have to be “pulled out” from the army in order to increase an important resource.

Boris Ursus is the king of Kislev. To open it, the player will have to defeat Costaltine or Katarina in the Battle of Bohu and free the king. When playing as Boris, you can optionally help one or another legendary lord, depending on the bonuses you want to receive. Boris himself does not need to have a lot of loyalty points - they should be spent on supporting Katarina or Kostaltine. That is why Boris is the most “fighting” lord. Players will often have to fight for it, as points will be constantly spent, and Chaos will often attack the lands of Kislev.

Boris has, perhaps, the best bonuses of all the legendary lords of the faction - a 50% reduction in the cost of building a garrison and religious buildings, as well as a one-turn reduction in construction time for buildings in settlements and the capital. Of the combat bonuses, he has a 50% reduction in the cost of maintaining Warbear Riders and increased discipline with a melee attack in battles against Chaos warriors and demons, as well as Norsca units.

Army

Kislev has unique melee and ranged infantry, great horsemen, and decent monsters. Among the infantry, the royal guards, kossari (50% of the army), archers and the ice guard stand out. These are the units that should form the backbone of the army in the campaign and are also indispensable in PvP battles. The Ice Guard, being the most expensive infantry unit, is used in 3-4 copies. Often this is enough in the middle and late stages of the game to deal with large enemy units. Their main strength is in magical attacks and frostbite, slowing the enemy by 30%. This debuff allows you to keep the enemy at a distance, which is especially useful in PvP.

The cavalry of Kislev is as strong as the infantry. The faction has both ranged cavalry units and sled-mounted rangers, similar to the Imperial war wagon from the Total War: Warhammer 2 add-on The Hunter & The Beast. They differ only in animals in harness. In Kislev, these are bears, so in close combat, the unit is able to deal a lot of damage to enemy infantry, which does not have protection from large targets. As for ordinary horsemen, it is better to use winged hussars, which are not much inferior in characteristics to the Griffin legion but are much cheaper. Riders on war bears are useful only in battles with large enemies. As a rule, two units are enough for one army.

Finally, the northern faction's monsters are situational. The largest of them is the elemental bear. He has weak defense, but excellent armor penetration, high discipline, and a good attack with armor. It looks good as a unit for 1v1 monster skirmishes, and for destroying enemy horsemen and infantry that do not have a bonus against large enemies.

Another bear unit is Baby Thunder. This is the only artillery in Kislev. In the campaign, it is of little use because of the high cost, and in PvP battles, the unit is not needed at all.

The last monster of the faction is the snow leopard. This is the best representative of Kislevite monsters in terms of price quality. Almost all of his characteristics, with the exception of armor, give him the ability to easily destroy enemy magicians, and two such leopards can kill almost any monster.