Total War: Warhammer 3 represents the final chapter in the hit strategy trilogy from Creative Assembly. Now with the addition of the Immortal Empires update, the game allows players to lead any of the factions from the trilogy onto a massive, world-spanning campaign map. Players will guide their Lords and Heroes across the Total War: Warhammer 3 world, gaining XP and Ranks along the way.
The max Rank for Lords and Heroes has been increased again to 50 in Total War: Warhammer 3, after starting at 30 in the original Total War: Warhammer, and then being increased to 40 in Total War: Warhammer 2. On top of this increase, there have been some major changes to how Ranks and skill trees work in the latest title, meaning that high level characters now have even more points to spend.
How to Reach Max Rank in Total War: Warhammer 3
Whether they're playing the daemonic Ecstatic Legion or the human Empire, players will find that their Lords and Heroes increase Rank at a steady pace. There are, however, ways to ensure that characters reach their max level as quickly as possible. One of the best methods to boost XP for Lords is to take on and win battles that the auto-resolve has calculated as a defeat. The larger the supposed difference in power between the two armies fighting, the more XP that will be paid out to the winner. By taking advantage of the terrain, using clever tactics, and making good use of their units' strengths, players can even win a battle that the auto-resolve has calculated to be a decisive defeat.
Another way to accelerate how fast Lords move up through the Ranks is to focus skill points on their personal abilities. Represented by the top-line of the skill tree, these abilities will make a combat-focused Lord more effective when fighting, while a wizard Lord will gain access to more powerful spells. Lords and Heroes gain additional XP based on the amount of damage and kills they personally inflict on the enemy army. This is particularly powerful for magic-using characters, as the offensive spells in Total War: Warhammer 3 can slaughter multiple units in just a few seconds, earning huge amounts of bonus XP.
How to Spend Skill Points in Total War: Warhammer 3
The difference between a low level and a high level character in Total War: Warhammer 3 can be immense. For Lords, not only can their own personal abilities and combat prowess increase, but they can provide permanent buffs to their army and even their entire faction. For Heroes, more skills means better performance in combat, plus much more reliable and powerful Hero actions on the campaign map.
With 49 skill points to spend, and essential skills like mounts and immortality now free, most characters will have completed almost all of their skill trees by the time they hit 50. Therefore, players should focus on the order that they'll level things up rather than the final result. The top line of skills will boost the character's personal abilities, the middle line will boost their army, and the bottom line will improve their performance on the Total War: Warhammer 3 campaign map.
Most Lords and all Legendary Lords will also unlock a fourth line of unique skills somewhere between levels 10 and 20, generally found between the top-line and the mounts. These skills should be prioritized as soon as they are available, as they often contain the most powerful and thematic abilities that the Lord can acquire.
Total War: Warhammer 3 is out now for PC.