Total War: Warhammer 3 dev hints at Monkey King and Dogs of War DLC

A “Hotpot” of hints

There has been a flurry of Total War news recently with Creative Assembly refocusing resources on its most successful franchise, beginning with the long term support of Total War: Warhammer 3. One of those announcements contained quite a lot of hints about potential future DLC with the Monkey King and some Dogs of War being name-dropped.

While detailing the new Cathay content featured in the upcoming free Shadows of Change DLC update, game director Richard Aldridge wrote that Grand Cathay fans should not be disappointed by the lack of elite infantry among the additions. “There is a very good reason for this and trust me we aren’t monkeying about,” he stated, adding that the Celestial Courts controlled by the dragons simply didn’t offer additional units of that sort.

More exciting Cathay content seems to be in the pipeline / Creative Assembly

Aldridge concluded this section by assuring that a lot more content would be coming in the future: “We’ve only just scratched the surface of the possible content we can create for Grand Cathay and as I mentioned earlier, we have plans to support the game with lots of new content for the foreseeable future.” Putting two and two together here, this all but confirms that DLC revolving around the Monkey King, an established character in the setting’s lore, is on the table.

Recent listings on IMDB contained mentions of a Tigermen unit, which may be associated with this particular expansion pack, as there is a known population of Tigermen in the south of Grand Cathay where the Monkey King is believed to operate. Among these IMDB additions also was a mention of The Golden Knight, very likely a Legendary Hero for Kislev, who Aldridge referenced as well.

That specific section contained another very interesting mention: “Looking to the future, the team and I love the Warhammer universe and want to make as much content for it as possible. Whether that be to add further exciting characters like the Golden Knight, spectacular units and creatures (Yes, I’m looking at you mighty ‘Hotpot’) or other unexplored lore.”

The “Hotpot” likely refers to the Halfling Hot Pot, one of the wilder units available in Warhammer Fantasy Battles, the miniature war game this video game series is based on. It’s an artillery unit consisting of a group of halfling chefs, who shoot pots of boiling soup via an oversized sling. Though the halflings are formally part of the Empire and can be fielded by that faction, they were also available to the mercenary faction called the Dogs of War – yes, the same Dogs of War for which some assets have been found in the game last year.

Considering that Creative Assembly is recycling previously cut content like the Cathayan Gate Master to pad out its DLC, this could be an indication that the mercenaries are considered as an addition as well – though we don’t know which form that may take. It could simply be that a more robust mercenary system featuring some Dogs of War units is on the table as opposed to a full faction, or that single units like the Halfling Hot Pot will be added to existing rosters if there’s an opportunity. Only time will be able to tell.

Total War: Warhammer 3 factions that are still missing