Total War: Warhammer III Faction Tier List: Khorne and the Legion of Chaos Lead Immortal Empires
Immortal Empires has settled into a stable meta after several balance passes, and the gap between the strongest and weakest playable factions in Total War: Warhammer III is still wide enough to matter, especially for anyone picking a faction for the first time. This tier list breaks down all eight race groups by raw campaign and battlefield strength, from the hammer-and-anvil simplicity of Khorne down to the fragile, high-skill-ceiling Cathay.
S-Tier: Khorne and the Legion of Chaos
S-Tier: Khorne and the Legion of Chaos. Khorne plays like a faction that “traded everything for strength”: it has some of the highest raw damage output in the game, kill streaks charge up devastating special abilities, and its monstrous units can wipe out entire enemy battalions in a single clash. There’s almost no economic or diplomatic layer to manage, which makes it brutally effective and very easy to pick up. The Legion of Chaos sits alongside it for a different reason, flexibility. It can recruit units from every other Chaos faction, so instead of being locked into one roster, you build an army around whatever the campaign throws at you, and its main hero can be fully customized down to individual body parts, armor, and weapons.
A-Tier: Ogre Kingdoms and Nurgle
A-Tier: Ogre Kingdoms and Nurgle. The Ogre Kingdoms field huge beasts and monsters that shred through defensive units and buildings, though the early game is rough since their core infantry, the Gnoblars, are too weak in large numbers to hold a line on their own. Nurgle takes the opposite approach, leaning on poison and damage-over-time effects that let you win fights with fewer, cheaper units by applying attrition and holding a defensive stance. The tradeoff is speed: Nurgle armies are slow and have effectively no ranged options, so they struggle to force fights on their own terms.
B-Tier: Kislev and Slaanesh
B-Tier: Kislev and Slaanesh. Kislev is the definition of a jack-of-all-trades, with workable melee, missile, and magic options and a story that puts it at the center of Immortal Empires’ main campaign arc. That balance comes at a cost: Kislev struggles against factions that specialize hard in one area, and diplomacy matters more here than almost anywhere else. Slaanesh units hit fast and hit often, but their armor and health pools are thin, so they perform best when backed by sturdier allies, which is part of why Slaanesh armies are often built around Legion of Chaos support.
C-Tier: Tzeentch and Cathay
C-Tier: Tzeentch and Cathay. Tzeentch is the dedicated magic-and-missile faction, with long-range spellcasters and flying units that can pick fights from a distance, but its infantry is some of the weakest in the game and folds instantly in melee if your ranged advantage slips. Cathay’s gimmick is its Yin and Yang “Harmony” system, where paired units buff each other, but that synergy falls apart quickly once units start dying, leaving you with an army that’s only as strong as its weakest pairing.
Which Faction Should You Start With?
If you’re new to Immortal Empires, start with Khorne or the Ogre Kingdoms: both let you win fights through raw force without needing to juggle economy, diplomacy, or magic. Once you’re comfortable with the basics, Kislev is a good second campaign since its balanced roster forces you to actually learn every unit type instead of leaning on one trick.
Where to Get It
Total War: WARHAMMER III and its Immortal Empires campaign are available now on Steam. Grab a Steam Wallet Code (Global) to pick up the game or its DLC Race Packs, and browse our full Strategy category for more grand strategy and 4X picks.
