I'm just going to come out and say it: I think Sea Lord Aislinn's campaign is the weakest of all three in the new Tides of Torment expansion. I know, I know, I was expecting the High Elves finally getting their naval treatment to appeal to the sea-faring sicko in me, after all, I did once sail 25 Black Arks across the world to sack Altdorf for 470k gold. And I consider Lokhir Fellhart's ocean-going campaign the best in Immortal Empires.
The High Elves maiden voyage should've been made for me. Don't get me wrong; Sea Lord Aislinn's campaign is a fun concept, as you focus on supporting Asur supremacy as a whole. It's a somewhat complex campaign to get your head around at first, similar to the Chaos Dwarfs, but the fundamentals are:
- You capture and gift settlements to High Elf factions and build outposts in them.
- Your outposts produce Dedication and Elven Trade.
- You set up a super-settlement called an Elven Colony. You can establish more via spending Dedication in Asur Domination, or placing your Elven Colony in an Ancient Elven Colony site and upgrading it to level three.
- You spend Elven Trade to construct buildings in the Elven Colony producing Dragonship Supplies
- You use Dragonship Supplies to construct buildings in your Dragonships.
- When you've spent enough Dedication unlocking bonuses in Asur Domination, you'll get another Dragonship.
Still with me? It's fairly fun, as most High Elf campaigns are, and the Dragonships are definitely stronger than Black Arks (which is why you only get six of them), with more abilities and building slots.
But there's also a lot of needless complication to it, like how most outpost buildings are locked behind earning Dedication and if you don't grab the right ones early (which is likely), it throttles your Elven Trade, your ability to upgrade outposts and colonies, and so earn Dragonship Supplies. It's a bit suffocating for a campaign which should be all about sailing the high seas and going where the wind takes you. Perhaps players bored of the same old elves might enjoy the added complexity, but it felt kind of restrictive to me.
Dechala, the new snakey Slaaneshi lord, has a much better campaign I feel. She harvests thralls from minor settlements and then uses them to construct huge Pleasure Palaces, where she produces Decadence, a resource that lets her unlock special items and campaign buffs—it's far more streamlined. She can also equip two weapons since she has many-arms, starts in a fun position above Khuresh (she's likely the closest we'll ever get to snakemen), and her slithering Champions of Slaanesh might be the most powerful anti-infantry monsters I've ever seen.
For my money, though, the winner of the Tides of Torment DLC is Sayl the Faithless and the entire faction of Norsca, thanks to its long-awaited rework. Sayl has a fantastically spicy campaign start position, sandwiched between Vilitch the Curseling, Zhatan the Black, plus Miao Ying and the Great Bastion of Cathay. Depending on which direction you expand, you're close to Kholek, Grimgor, and Tamurkhan, which makes for some great early battles.
Norsca also made out particularly well unit-wise in this expansion. Sayl gets a new infantry type called Bearmen, finally some proper melee cavalry for Norsca with dual axe and great weapon Kurgan Horsemen, and he gets three new monsters: the Curs'd Ettin, the Chimera, and the Dreadmaw—just in time for reworked monster hunts.
The Curs'd Ettin is a two-headed spellcasting giant, which is as fun as it sounds, while the Chimera is a three-headed flying monster that deals fire, poison, and magic with each of its heads. My favorite, though, is the Dreadmaw, because it's one of the most unique monsters ever. This burrowing serpent hides underground until you activate its ability to emerge, where it'll start spitting acid at whatever unwary foe is nearby. It can even dig through terrain obstacles with its other ability, making it very unique and soon to be a terror in PvP I'm sure.
Norsca's other legendary lords got a lot of love, too. Throgg's campaign is now all about gathering 'Trollkind' via units and using it to recruit trolls from outside the Norscan roster. He can also 'Call the Monstrous Horde!', effectively creating a troll waaagh that accompanies his army, and grows stronger as he constructs his unique building chain. It's an extremely fun campaign, especially with the Troll King's buffs and the new Fimir Noble hero buffing those monsters, too.
Wulfrik is no longer the world walker in name alone, using Seafang to teleport to any visible port across the world every few turns in search of worthy foes. He can even bring other armies along for the ride, making him a bit of a terror, but he's now the best lord in the game if you enjoy world-spanning campaigns. I feel like he's perfect if you want a thematic way to gather those 20 Legendary Lord traits to level up The Cabal unique location, for example.
The Norscan roster has also expanded thanks to borrowing more units from Chaos and daemon factions, too, which didn't exist back when they launched in the first game. Sayl can recruit a limited number of Chaos Warriors and even greater daemons using his Manipulations, while other Norscan factions can grab Chaos Warriors aligned to whichever god they raise an altar to, as long as they construct the right building.
Rather than just running around razing everything in sight, Norscans now operate on spoils, a new resource they can use to enact provincial effects, settle provinces that aren't Norscan regions, or construct special buildings that provide additional benefits and expanded recruitment one tier earlier.
The best bit, though, is that when you pillage a settlement for spoils, it has a chance to provide a unique Raider Reward item or ancillary. It also produces a mini army that you have to return to one of your settlements or Chaos altars to actually earn the spoils. It's like a little loot caravan and is a nice touch that makes Norsca feel a bit different from other Chaos factions.
If you're going to grab any lord pack from the Tides of Torment expansion, I 100% recommend going with Sayl the Faithless. You can enjoy his campaign and then the expanded Norscan roster as you raise a troll waaagh with Throgg, and hop around the world as Wulfrik.
Still, if you'd prefer High Elves, our Jody MacGregor had a much better time with Aislinn than I did, so be sure to check out his impressions for more words about the Sea Patrol. You can play Tides of Torment for yourself on December 4.
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