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Certain Legendary Lords have more advantageous starting positions on the map while others are just plain too powerful and can be an army on their own. Picking one of these Legendary Lords either on the campaign map or custom battles can easily spell doom for the opposing army. Do note that these rankings might change in the near future as developers scramble to rebalance the meta.

Updated December 17, 2022 by Sid Natividad: Now that the dust has settled and the End Times are drawing closer once more, it might be time to re-evaluate the true winners of Total War: Warhammer 3. It’s by far Creative Assembly’s most ambitious project to date with updates still ongoing in the Immortal Empires beta stage.

There are even more Legendary Lords vying for power in the Total War: Warhammer 3 hierarchy this time around. There are bound to be favorites here, so having more choices is always a good thing. Take note that these Legendary Lords are selected either for their dueling capabilities, one-man-army potential, or campaign buffs and bonuses.

15 Vlad Von Carstein (Vampire Counts)

Sub-faction: Sylvania Starting position: Northern Sylvania (center)

Mannfred von Carstein might have gotten a favorable position in the Southlands, but sooner or later, he’ll run into Settra and Skarbrand, putting his territory in peril. Vlad, meanwhile, starts off in good old Sylvania along with Isabella. Their region is practically uncontested as the Dawi aren’t even that much of a threat to their plains.

They could easily expand towards the Empire, sandwiching Altdorf easily thanks to Hellman Gorst’s starting spot. When it comes to battle, Vlad is the standard Vampire Counts lord. He can hold his own, but it’s better to protect him at all costs lest his whole army fails.

14 Settra The Imperishable (Tomb Kings)

Sub-faction: Khemri Starting position: Land of the Dead (south)

Granted, players can go southland undead playstyle either with Mannfredd or Settra, but of the two choices, the latter might be better. For he does not serve, he rules! Besides, Settra already has some allies in the Southlands and can easily confederate to snowball even harder.

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Against Skarbrand and his Khorn-horde, he might stand a better chance because Tomb Kings have access to Warsphinx and other competent large-unit killers. Settra himself is a powerhouse with the proper mount and can easily go toe-to-toe with Chaos’ Legendary Lords. Just watch his HP.

13 Ku’gath (Nurgle)

Sub-faction: Poxmakers of Nurgle Starting position: The Dragon Isles (southeast)

Ku’gath from papa Nurgle almost has the same advantage as Kairos from Tzeentch. He starts off alone and lonely in the Dragon Isles and must expand quickly for some much-needed hugs from all those clean and healthy younger factions. He’s almost uncontested in this endeavor, with the most immediate threat being the Dragon Prince, Imrik.

As a battle unit, he’s a well-rounded wizard capable of combining the best combat tactics of Skaven and Vampire Counts. He’s not as robust as Kairos, but his ability to sustain his units while debuffing enemy units is troublesome.

12 Kairos (Tzeentch)

Sub-faction: Oracles of Tzeentch Starting position: Dawn’s Landing ( Southern tip)

Other Chaos agents have it great as well, the game is centered around that faction, after all. Kairos starts off rather well with his Dawn’s Landing position on the Immortal Empires map. In doing so, there’s usually just one simple option for him, to paint the land with Tzeentch’s maddening change northward.

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Kairos won’t receive much resistance unless Mannfred allies with Settra. But Kairos Fateweaver can prove to be a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield. His spells alone make him the equivalent of five or so artillery units. This makes him one of the best Wizard lords in the game.

11 Zhao Ming (Grand Cathay)

Sub-faction: N/A Starting position: Wastelands of Jinshen (east)

Grand Cathay has proven to be one of the most well-rounded factions in the game, and their Legendary Lords reflect that. Zhao Ming, for example, is often considered by the community as the most powerful lord in Grand Cathay. He’s tanky, deals incredible damage, and has tons of spells at his disposal— he’s a better version of Malekith from the Dark Elves.

But his luck doesn’t stop there as Grand Cathay also has one of the most advantageous starting positions in Immortal Empires. They’re all tucked away far into the east where they usually only have to worry about Snikch and his rats.

10 Valkia The Bloody (Warriors Of Chaos)

Sub-faction: Legion of the Gorequeen Starting position: Dagrak’s End, Ironfrost Glacier (northwest corner)

Valkia the Blood might not have the size, but she certainly has the ferocity and the ability to turn into a one-man army. Even without the Sword of Khaine, players can simply sic her against the enemy frontline and let her rip everything to shreds without much worry.

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Players might need to look out for certain duelist lords that are on this list, but other than that, Valkia will tear through a generic lord’s army with ease. Due to her location in the northwest corner of the map, Valkia can also snowball harder than most other Chaos Lords, turning her into an immediate threat to the Dark Elves.

9 Grimgor Ironhide (Greenskins)

Sub-faction: Grimgor’s ‘Ardboyz Starting position: Path to the East (Eastern-center)

Those who prefer to just WAAAGH! all over the place instead of strategizing will be blessed with as much fun as they can without interruption. Because Grimgor Ironhide and his Greenskin ‘Ardboyz practically have the whole continent for themselves.

They aren’t threatened by any factions within a significant radius except for Kholek Suneater. But that meat mountain moves around as a horde anyway and might be too busy beelining for Grand Cathay. As for Grimgor’s skills, any Warhammer veteran ought to know by now that he’s almost as good in the game as he is in official lore. He is still da best at stomping Chaos lords.

8 Tyrion (High Elves)

Sub-faction: Eataine Starting position: Lothern, Eataine (bottom of the donut)

Tyrion in Warhammer lore is a massive powerhouse who turned into a god near the end of the High Elf storyline. In Total War: Warhammer 3, he’s also quite arguably the best duelist lord in the game. With the Sword of Khaine, nothing can kill him.

Against armies, he’s slow when it comes to killing, sadly. That small steed and his human-sized model can only do so much against thousands of enemies, plus he has no spells, unlike his brother. But when it comes to assassinating other lords on the battlefield, there’s none higher than this High Elf.

7 Taurox The Brass Bull (Beastmen)

Sub-faction: Slaughterhorn Tribe Starting position: Obsidian Peaks (west)

Poor Malekith just can’t catch a break. His faction is surrounded by Khorne fanatics, to the north, there’s Valkia, and to the south, there’s Taurox and he’s angry. Taurox leads a faction that’s notorious for not stopping. He just doesn’t care about buildings or territory, most of his faction’s playstyle involves razing settlements.

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So the Total War: Warhammer 3 world is his litterbox. Since he’s also a minotaur unit, no normal-sized unit can stand in his way. Taurox also has a lot of combat tricks to aid in dealing with blobs of infantry, and he can easily stop a whole army dead in its tracks while the Cygors crush everyone with rocks.

6 Durthu (Wood Elves)

Sub-faction: Argwylon Starting position: Waterfall Palace, Argwylon

Durthu, like Taurox, offers plenty of synergy for his accompanying army. It just so happens that Wood Elves are famed for their overpowered archers, and Durthu is there to hold the enemy in place while the Wood Elf arrows turn the enemy army into swiss cheese.

And even without an army, Durthu is still capable of being a one-man doomstack. He gives plenty of bonuses to other tree monsters on the Wood Elf roster and of course, he’s a large unit capable of taking down squads of units in just one swing. He’s thus a good candidate for the Sword of Khaine.

5 Kholek Suneater (Warriors Of Chaos)

Sub-faction: Heralds of the Tempest Starting position: Path to the East (Eastern-center)

Sharing a starting spot with Grimgor Ironhide, players have two choices as Kholek Suneater, to stomp out Grand Cathay and nip them in the bud, or neuter the Grimgor early before he gets too powerful. Since he’s one of the biggest Legendary Lords in the game, either choice is easy.

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This way Kholek gets to decide how the mid to late-game world map will look simply based on his starting aggression options. Besides, there’s no better cavalry charge than having 20 Dragon Ogre Shaggoth doom stack too early in the campaign. And once players get his Starcrusher hammer, they can even send Kholek off as a one-man (or one dragon ogre) demolition team.

4 Archaon The Everchosen (Warriors Of Chaos)

Sub-faction: Warhost of the Apocalypse Starting position: The Blood Marshes (north)

Of course, it wouldn’t be a chaos-focused game without Archaon the Everchosen and his death metal band entourage. He’s still mostly the same as his Warhammer 2 variant, and can quickly snowball into several doom stacks unopposed. His northernmost starting point helps a lot here.

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Meanwhile, he’s still one of the best candidates available for the Sword of Khaine. Give that widowmaker and he won’t need an army anymore; he’s on his way to chop heads and take names, and he’s all out of names. He’s even more powerful now as a spellcaster since he now has access to Death and Metal lore (fitting enough).

3 Be’lakor, The Dark Master (Daemons Of Chaos)

Sub-faction: Shadow Legion Starting position: Albion (northwest)

After finishing the campaign, players can choose to be rewarded with possibly the strongest faction leader at the beginning of a new campaign, Be’lakor. If left to the AI, he’ll probably dominate the northern half of the map in less than 100 turns.

In the player’s hands, he makes conquering the world too easy. He has one of the most overpowered movement options on the campaign map and his rifts can be devastating and unfair as spying devices. In battle? He’s about as good as both Skarbrand and Archaon. His only weakness is the low armor, making him vulnerable against ranged attacks.

2 Skarbrand (Khorne)

Sub-faction: Exiles of Khorne Starting position: The Barrier Idols (south)

Skarbrand has a similar conundrum to Kholek. Does he beeline straight for the human factions or take burn the southern continent to prevent Settra or Mannfred from becoming too annoying? The difference is that he’s an even mightier powerhouse than Kholek.

While he’s not that great as a spellcaster, spells are for chumps anyway, according to him. Skarbrand mostly relies on his passive abilities and active buffs to further solidify his status as a one-man doom stack who probably doesn’t even need the Sword of Khaine.

1 Imrik (High Elves)

Sub-faction: Knights of Caledor Starting position: Fortress of Vorag, The Plain of Bones (east, surrounded by enemies)

Imrik is often regarded in Total War: Warhammer 2 as a tough lord and faction due to his abysmal starting position. It’s still the same in Total War: Warhammer 3. The Dragon Prince is still surrounded by too many zombies, vampires, man-sized rats, Greenskins, Papa Nurgle, ogres, and cantankerous dwarfs — away from the comfort of the donut, Ulthuan. But it’s more balanced that way.

Because once Imrik gets all his dragons (which is easy), he’s invincible. Even Skarbrand cannot kill him due to all the fire resistance. He can wipe out full units with the dragon breath and other dragon spells. With the Sword of Khaine? He becomes the good side’s version of the End Times. Who needs Sigmar when you have this guy?

Total War: Warhammer 3 is available on macOS, Microsoft Windows, and Linux.

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