Total War: Warhammer III Patch 5.0 Adds New Free Content

Are you a fan of Total War: Warhammer III? If you are, then there’s some great news today, as both Creative Assembly and Feral Interactive announced the release of Title Update 5.0, which brings plenty of updates, but will also add some new free content to their popular game

The Update 5.0 patch will add a new Lord to Immortal Empires called Epidemius. Furthermore, there is a new hero type, the Gold Wizards, which is going to be great for long-range support of your armies, and when up close they can “bonk people on the head with their massive metal staff” which sounds like plenty of fun.

What the Developers Had to Say

Hello, Total War: WARHAMMER community! Welcome to the final instalment of the Thrones of Decay blog series. Much like Grandfather Nurgle, we come bearing gifts, but thankfully not ones of a pestilent nature. Instead, we have some exciting free content to dive into detail about, all of which you’ll get to experience for free when Patch 5.0 arrives alongside Thrones of Decay’s launch on April 30th.

But before we get to that; If you’ve been with us these past few weeks, you’ll no doubt know that our next DLC is shaping up to be a showdown of mohawks, maggots and machines as we welcome exciting new content to the rosters of the Empire, Dwarfs and Nurgle. Click on the links below in case you missed it to get a detailed look at the new paid content, as well as details on the free race updates.

Campaign Details

As Nurgle’s Tallyman, Epidemius must oversee his master’s domination of the world through the spreading and cataloguing of plagues. As these plagues spread far and wide between non-Nurgle victims, they contribute to his Tally of Pestilence, greatly increasing his power.

The Tally of Pestilence system counts the number of non-Nurgle armies and settlements currently infected by Epidemius’ plagues. The greater the number of infected targets, the greater the gifts Epidemius has access to, including campaign bonuses and unique abilities. However, the Tally of Pestilence can both increase and decrease as plagues heighten and wane, so you’ll want to ensure some degree of momentum.

Within the Immortal Empires campaign, Epidemius ventures forth from the Forest of Decay.

Faction Effects

• Gains powerful rewards based on the number of plagues active on non-Nurgle factions
• +25% plague cultist campaign movement range
• Recruitment rank: +2 for Plaguebearers of Nurgle and Exalted Plaguebearers of Nurgle
• Cycle time: -1 for Plagueflesh Poppies buildings

Lord Effects

• Ability: Tallyman’s Blades
• Passive ability: “Regeneration” when fighting against an enemy with a Plague
• Melee attack: +5 when fighting against an enemy with a plague

Battle Details:

Epidemius is the epicentre of his army, and excels at being a support specialist, blessing the grotesque gifts of the Urfather upon his troops to enhance their combat prowess. Should he wish to examine potential experimental candidates up close, his Nurgling-hoisted Palanquin will transport him into battle, whilst his disease-imbued rusty sword will rip the enemy ranks limb from limb.

New Abilities:

• Tally of Pestilence:
• Intensity based passive ability that improves as friendlies continue to kill.
• Increases melee attack.
• Increases weapon strength.
• Epidemic Outburst:
• Active explosion that damages and knocks-back enemies.
• Increases his mass.
• Increases his acceleration.
• The Tallyman’s Blades:
• Summons Exalted Plaguebearers that degrade over time.
• Upgraded version summons Exalted Plaguebearers that do not degrade.
• Sands of Sickness:
• Chain augment that can spread buffs to allies, and de-buff foes.
• Improved melee damage reflection.
• Improved vigour per second.
• Reduced enemy melee defence.
• Reduced enemy speed.

New Campaign-Only Battle Abilities:

• The Urfather’s Blessing:
• Passive ability that activates when enemy hit points are low, causing damage to the enemy.
• Summons one unit of Nurglings when nearby enemies die.
• The Urfather’s Gift:
• Passive ability that activates when hit points are low, causing damage to the enemy.
• Summons one units of Spawn of Nurgle when nearby enemies die.
• The Urfather’s Boon:
• Passive ability that activates when hit points are low, causing damage to the enemy.
• Summons two units of Spawn of Nurgle when nearby enemies die.
• The Urfather’s Benevolence:
• Passive ability that activates when hit points are low, causing damage to the enemy.
• Summons a Great Unclean One when nearby enemies die.
• Epidemic Outbreak:
• Upgrade for Epidemic Outburst.
• Active explosion that damages and knocks-back enemies.
• Increases mass.
• Increases acceleration.
• Spreads the Lethargy Contagion on nearby enemy troops.
• Reduced cooldown.

How To Unlock

Epidemius can be unlocked by linking your CA Account to your playing platform of choice. More details on how to do this can be found here.

Release Date

The update is planned to be released on the 30th of April, and while some information has been revealed on their official blog post, some of which I’ve listed above, you can continue reading it here. There will be a full changelog released over the next few days too.