Total War: Warhammer III Faction Tier List: The Best Immortal Empires Picks Right Now
Immortal Empires, the mega-campaign for Total War: Warhammer III, spans dozens of playable Legendary Lords across a single merged map. Picking a starting position still matters enormously for how forgiving your first fifty turns are, and the current balance of power (reflecting the faction reworks through Update 9.0) still clearly favors a handful of factions for solo Very Hard and Legendary campaigns. Here’s where the roster stands right now.
S-Tier: the strongest starts in Immortal Empires
Clan Skryre (Ikit Claw) sits at the top of most current rankings. Warlock Engineers, Jezzail sniper teams, and Doomwheels give Skryre some of the best ranged and anti-large damage in the game, and the Under-Empires mechanic lets you build a second, defensible underground economy beneath Skavenblight that’s hard for AI factions to meaningfully threaten.
Warriors of Chaos (Archaon) gets one of the most forgiving starting positions in the Northern Wastes, far from the early-game pressure other factions face. Archaon can field the full Chaos Undivided roster across all four Marks, and the faction’s Chaos Gifts mechanic lets you tailor your Legendary Lord’s loadout as the campaign develops. Kholek Suneater makes a strong secondary pick in the same corner of the map.
Clan Eshin‘s assassin playstyle revolves around extreme mobility, a stalking mechanic that lets armies move unseen, and access to Death Globes and Gutter Runners for harassment-heavy campaigns from a Lahmia start. High Elves under Alarielle or Tyrion lean on Sisters of Avelorn, Silver Helms, Dragon Princes, and High Magic, but the faction is genuinely weak before roughly turn 100 — once the Influence Court diplomacy mechanic and economy come online, though, it becomes a steamroller. Chaos Dwarfs round out the top tier with demon summoning, Taurus-mounted units, Hellcannons, K’daai Destroyers, and the Tower of Zharr; most current guides call them one of the best-balanced factions in the game.
A-Tier: strong but a step behind
Greenskins (Grimgor or Azhag) got a meaningful lift from their rework, with Black Orcs and the Waaagh mechanic pushing them close to S-tier for aggressive players. Kislev under Tzarina Katarin brings a diversified roster and ice magic with the reliable Ice Guard as a backbone. Dwarfs remain a long but very safe campaign thanks to strong artillery, Gyrocopters, and Ironbreakers. Vampire Counts (Vlad) still field Zombie Dragons and strong necromancy, though they’re less overtly broken than before recent nerfs. Empire under Karl Franz has a genuinely difficult central map position to defend, but Reiksguard cavalry and Demigryph Knights make the payoff worth it once the early turns are survived.
Where the rest of the roster lands
Below that, Lizardmen, Wood Elves, Khorne Bloodbound, Nurgle, and Tomb Kings generally land in B-tier — all viable, none especially forgiving for a first campaign. Norsca, Vampire Coast (heavily nerfed in recent balance passes), and Bretonnia round out the lower end of most current community tier lists. Keep in mind this snapshot predates the Grand Cathay rework from Update 8.0 and may shift further as Creative Assembly continues to patch the game, so treat it as a strong starting point rather than gospel.
Whichever faction you pick, a long Immortal Empires campaign means plenty of DLC race packs and Steam Wallet funds to plan for down the line. Stock up with a Steam Wallet Code (Global) or Steam Wallet Code (EU) code, and check back on our Strategy Guides for more Total War breakdowns as new patches land.
