Total War: Warhammer 2 – Malus Darkblade and Hag Graef campaign guide

Fun with Black Arks

Unlike most other Dark Elf lords apart from Lokhir Felheart of the Dreadfleet, Malus starts with a Black Ark fleet admiral under his command. Black Arks, the Druchii’s floating fortresses, have undergone several reworks since Total War: Warhammer 2 released, and we’re seeing the fruits of Creative Assembly’s labors (and the community’s feedback).

Black Arks/admirals function as a mobile base or horde army. Think of them as akin to the commanders of the Vampire Coast faction since they have their separate growth stats and building chains. Naturally, you’d want to focus first on buildings and techs that increase growth, allowing you to construct more add-ons to your vessels.

Here’s the building browser page for Black Arks:

Compare this to the ones for the entirety of Malus Darkblade’s sub-faction:

Black Ark admirals can’t die (they’re only wounded), and they also have their own skill trees. Since they’re hybrid fighters, their perks allow them to specialize in both melee and ranged combat.

They also have a sphere of influence denoted by a ring that surrounds them. All armies within this zone will be able to recruit directly from their pool. You could be roaming next to mountains or exploring a desert and, if you’re still within a Black Ark’s sphere of influence, you can get some necessary troop upgrades.

Ideally, once you’ve gotten your growth buildings, you should be focusing on recruitment buildings for upgraded units. Combine this with admiral perks (ie. Draftmaster for an extra slot or those with unit rank-ups on recruitment) and you can have a steady stream of reinforcements. This frees up your inland settlements to focus more on gold-generation or public order. Here’s an example of picking a generic lord and then using multiple recruitment slots from Black Arks to quickly fill up their army:

Black Arks cannot attack inland, obviously, but they’re able to blockade and capture coastal settlements. They can be used as a backup for Malus in the early game since the nearby factions (Tor Elasor and Zlatlan) have cities on the coast. Should one of your armies further inland be within its sphere of influence, they can offer bombardment support via three upgradable abilities. Here’s what a battlefield would look like once you start casting these:

You can also have them investigate sunken ruins. If there’s a friendly army nearby, a random encounter against defenders lets you have them as reinforcements. That’s an easy auto-resolve and extra gold rewards.

Black Ark maps have also been added to the campaign and multiplayer. If a Black Ark gets attacked at sea, you might have a specific map depicting these floating fortresses as the battleground.

Use your Black Arks to plunder the high seas and raid coastal settlements. Of course, you’ll need to move further inland with Malus Darkblade and any additional armies you have, with Black Arks offering support as mobile reinforcement bases. While you’re doing that, you should take note of his campaign’s core mechanics — being possessed by Tz’arkan and collecting Scrolls of Hekarti.

Total War: Warhammer 2‘s The Shadow & The Blade DLC is available on Steam. For more information, check out our guides and features hub.