Total War: Warhammer 3 Update 5.2 – Dwarfs get new settlement feature

You can dig deeper… if you dare

Creative Assembly / Sega

Update 5.2 is next on the agenda for Total War: Warhammer 3 and developer Creative Assembly has already detailed some of the highlights of the patch ahead of its release in the near future. In addition to more traditional items like balance adjustments and technical fixes, Update 5.2 will be bringing some smaller – but incredibly neat – content additions and reworks into the game free of charge.

Among these is a new mechanic for the Dwarfs, which have already been blessed with a wider rework as part of the Thrones of Decay DLC. The brand-new feature is called “The Deeps” and allows players to employ a “tall” playstyle that’s more defensively oriented, which in turn is a little more friendly to role-playing. How does it work? Instead of expanding outwards, you can unlock another layer in your settlements, which allows you to construct lots of special buildings, which simulates the fact that the Dwarfs like to dig deeply and greedily to enlarge their holds.

This will allow you to grow your economy and unit production without having to be aggressive – however, there are some drawbacks to balance things out: Expanding into the depths is very expensive and – if you’re not playing as Thorgrim or Belegar – you’ll need to get permission from the High King for such projects first. There will also be some new events you can encounter as you build your underground empire.

Fans have been asking for something like this for a while, so that’s one from the wishlist we can put a checkmark behind.

This is already quite a nice feature, but CA is really going all-out for this patch, so there’s more: Chaos Cults are getting a desperately needed rework. All Chaos factions will use Cultist agents in order to spread their corrupt tendrils across the world and a new, campaign map-only agent, the Cult Magus, will be able to create special versions of the Cult, which have access to some different buildings and start with better benefits. Cults will work more akin to Skaven Undercities in the future when it comes to discovering and removing them.

The forces of Chaos will be very happy with those improved Cults. / HoYoverse

To make them more useful, Cults will come with two (or even three, if established by a Magus) building slots instead of one and the amount of buildings available has more than doubled to 36. All Cults will have access to the useful Teleportation Ritual as well.

Available for all factions will be a “new mini feature,” as CA called it: Unusual Locations. These are buildings that can randomly appear on empty building slots in your settlements and have a vast variety of effects, providing bonuses (and maluses), items, events, and opportunities for your characters to gain special traits. The developers stated that there are 20 of these so far and that they’d like to add more as time goes on.

“My hope with this content is that as you're going about your business playing your campaigns, every now and then you'll come across something unique or interesting to deal with and to distract you if only for a moment from your more traditional gameplay. I think the more we can have that happen the better, as it will provide more variety to your experiences”, design director Mitch Heastie wrote.

Finally, Update 5.2 will come with a rework for the caravans of Grand Cathay, which will make them more similar to the Chaos Dwarfs’ convoys – yet another thing players have been asking for. The Cathayan factions will be able to send out more than one caravan in the future and will be able to add units to their trade convoys whenever they get to their destination.

Greenskin players can be happy as well: CA added two new units to their rosters in the form of a Goblin unit with swords and shields as well as an Orc Boyz unit armed with spears.

Find the full patch notes on the official website.