Total War Saga: Troy – Mythos — Cerberus expedition and recruitment guide

Cerberus hero/monster unit: Skills, buildings, units, and more

Cerberus has some devastating capabilities. Let’s discuss these in detail.

Unique resource: Souls

• Souls are gained via the Offering Pit/Altar of Oblations building chain, as well as the “Spirits for the Pyre” and “The Cold Judgment” post-battle options.
• It’s used when you want to recruit Shade units or when enacting the Shade Labor commandment.

Special skills

Cerberus in Total War Saga: Troy – Mythos has the following special skills that can be selected when it levels up. Almost all of these are either faction-wide or direct buffs to Cerberus:

• Level 2:
  • Slaves Beyond Death – -20% construction cost of Cerberus buildings, +30% Souls from Cerberus post-battle options, and +30% income from sacking (faction-wide); -1 to the construction time of all buildings (only in the region where Cerberus is located).
  • Blessing of the Underworld – “Shade Battlefield Healing” ability to restore some of the dead Shade units.
  • Shade’s Wrath – “Shade’s Wrath” attribute which makes all Shades explode when they die and -10% recruitment cost for Shade units.
• Level 3:
  • Summon Marksmen of Elysium – Cerberus can summon Marksmen of Elysium units; +25% ammunition and reload speed for all Marksmen of Elysium units.
  • Summon Giant Shades – Cerberus can summon Giant Shade units; +25% battle speed, charge bonus, and melee attack for all Giant Shades units.
  • Summon Spearmasters of Elysium – Cerberus can summon Spearmasters of Elysium units; +25% armor and melee defense for all Spearmasters of Elysium units.
• Level 4:
  • Hell on Earth – -50% cooldown for all of Cerberus’ abilities.
  • Work in Death, Death in Work – +50% resources from Shade Labor commandment; -40% Souls cost for Shade Labor; +50% Souls from all gathering actions.
  • Bound to Suffer – Grants the “Bound to Suffer” trait where all damage taken by Cerberus and Shade units are distributed evenly across all Shade units in the army.
• Level 5:
  • Ease of Passage – +20% battle speed, +25% health, and +15% melee damage for Cerberus.
  • Omnipresent Currents – “Fires of Phlegethon” becomes a global ability that can be used by all armies once per battle.
  • Blessings of the Immaterium – +25% damage resistance for Shade units, “Sharpshooter” trait for Marksmen of Elysium, and replenishment of Cerberus units (only in the army where Cerberus is embedded in).

Campaign actions

• “The Cold Judgment” post-battle option vs. field armies (if Cerberus is embedded) – Gain Souls.
• “Spirits for the Pyre” post-battle option vs. settlements (if Cerberus is embedded) – Gain Souls.
• “Shade Labor” commandment (any province that you fully control) – Lose 50 Souls per turn; +20% to all resources produced by the province and the province becomes immune to happiness-related bonuses or penalties (i.e., rebellions).

Battle skills

Cerberus can use the following skills during battles:

• Howl of the Underworld – -15 morale to all units around Cerberus; this will also affect friendlies, so watch out.
• Fires of Phlegethon – An AoE eruption that scorches all units in its radius; can also affect friendlies.
• Summon Shades – Cerberus will be able to summon Wretched Shades that degrade over time. Unlocking some special skills will improve the quality of the units that can be summoned.

Unique units and buildings

Cerberus only has two buildings in the same chain:

• Offering Pit (settlement tier 2) – +20 Souls per turn; unlocks the recruitment of Wretched Shades, Spearmasters of Elysium, Marksmen of Elysium, and Giant Shades.
• Altar of Oblations (settlement tier 4) – +50 Souls per turn; enables the Shade Labor commandment to be used in this province; -20% Cerberus Shade unit recruitment costs for this province.

Note 1: Shade units from buildings cost Souls to recruit. They’ll take one turn and they don’t have a cap.

Note 2: Meanwhile, you also have a “Call to the Underworld” button on the army panel. This lets you recruit Shade units instantly (by using the same amount of Souls). However, these units do have a cap.

Anyway, picking Cerberus won’t be a hassle for either Odysseus or Penthesilea. Compared to the Lernaean Hydra which has several buildings, Cerberus only has a single building chain. Having land-locked settlements or horde army slots shouldn’t present major issues for either of these two faction leaders.

Overall, Cerberus and its units in Total War Saga: Troy – Mythos are quite devastating on the battlefield. Since the Shades are already goners, they simply won’t break, allowing them to tie up a lot of hostiles for longer periods. Likewise, your Marksmen of Elysium have the special Arrows of Phobos ammunition which saps morale from living troops. Cerberus can then rampage all over the battlefield, debuffing your foes, summoning more spirit, and calling on the Fires of Phlegethon.

Total War Saga: Troy – Mythos is available via Steam and the Epic Games Store. For more information, check out our guides and features hub.