Total War: Warhammer 3 – Thrones of Decay will bring a free Legendary Lord

Is it finally time for Toddy?

The mood around Total War has been getting a lot better lately thanks to Creative Assembly’s commitment to make up for past mistakes – and as part of that charm offensive, the studio is going to bring back a traditional and beloved DLC feature for Thrones of Decay, the next Total War: Warhammer 3 expansion. Thrones of Decay will come with a free Legendary Lord for all players of the game, according to game director Richard Aldridge.

Free Legendary Lords have been a staple feature of DLC in the previous two entries into the Total War: Warhammer series, but have taken a backseat in the third iteration, which instead delivers free Legendary Heroes as a Free-LC goodie. Many players think of this change as a downgrade, since Legendary Lords bring an entire playable faction with unique mechanics to the table, while Legendary Heroes are just a single unique character. Naturally, the decision to revive the old practice for Thrones of Decay has proven itself widely popular.

Boris Todbringer is the community's favored candidate for the Free-LC slot / Creative Assembly

However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that Free-LC Legendary Lords are permanently back on the menu – this has only been confirmed specifically for Thrones of Decay.

Content-wise, the upcoming DLC will provide a similar amount as Shadows of Change after its free booster update:

• Three Legendary Lords for Realms of Chaos and Immortal Empires with unique faction mechanics, one per race
• Three Legendary Heroes, one per race
• Three generic Lord types, one per race
• Three generic Hero types, one per race
• Five units per race
• Three Regiments of Renown per race
• One Free-LC character

In addition, Aldridge wrote, each DLC may or may not contain additional content, depending on what would be applicable for the given expansion pack. He named additional Lores of Magic, mounts, and Free-LC items as examples of what this might entail. Overall, Creative Assembly hopes that this blueprint will satisfy the community and justify the higher price point it’s selling Total War: Warhammer 3 DLC for compared to expansions in past titles.

Thrones of Decay was originally scheduled to be released towards the end of 2023, but has been pushed back in favor of padding out Shadows of Change. Instead, the DLC focusing on Nurgle, the Empire, and the Dwarfs will be launched in 2024. Aldridge has soft-confirmed Tamurkhan as a character for the DLC in an interview with me last year, so you can probably count on the demonic maggot to make an appearance. 

As for the Free-LC character coming alongside the expansion, the people have a very clear favorite: Boris Todbringer alias Toddy, the Elector Count of Middenland. Players have been clamoring for a playable Todbringer for ages and with the DLC partly focusing on the Empire anyways, he’d be a perfect candidate.

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