- The Awakened requires Curse of the Vampire Coast to play.
Overview
The Awakened is a playable subfaction of the Vampire Coast introduced in Total War: Warhammer II, led by Luthor Harkon. They were added as part of The Curse of the Vampire Coast DLC.
They are playable in campaign, custom battles and multiplayer.
The Awakened is a faction of undead who ply the coastline of Lustria in search of plunder. The armies of the Vampire Coast consist of zombified pirates armed with cutlasses, muskets and cannons, backed up by giant crabs and other undead horrors.
The faction has only one legendary lord: Luthor Harkon.
In the Potion of Speed Update for Total War: Warhammer II the faction received a name change. Previously, they had the generic name "Vampire Coast", sharing the name of their race.
Playstyle
- Units: Large focus on large masses of lightly armed and armored undead troops, supported by midling artillery units, flying units, and strong monster units. Advanced armies will consist of regiments much fewer in number but many times greater in strength and utility.
- Upgradeable Ships: Legendary Lords may build up their flagship to give great boons both in battle and on the campaign map.
- Pirate Coves: Successfully besiege a settlement or use a Hero to establish a Cove that will generate Income and Infamy.
- Infamy: Starting at the bottom of the list, win battles, draw out rivals, and kill those Rivals to recover the Lost Sea Shanty
- Verses of the Ancient Sea Shanty: An ancient song that has not been sung as a whole in countless years. Combine all three Verses to Summon a practical Ocean God.
- Loyalty: Manage the Loyalty of your Lords by giving them Plunder and letting them do what pirates do, lest they see you as the more profitable target.
- Treasure Maps: Search for Gold, Treasure, and Infamy by solving Riddles found in abandoned Settlements and buried in the sands.
- Pieces of Eight: Defeat Pirate crews who have been possessed by cursed gold, take their piece from them to summon Regiments of Renown to plunder the seas with little resistance.
Background
| “ | Fortune favours the infamous! | „ |
Night falls on Lustria. As you stand on the dock and peer seawards through the gathering mists, strain your ears. The jungle sounds behind you fade, and in their place comes a wet thudding, as of rotten rigging against a mouldy mast. The sound multiplies, and with it, the groan of a thousand breathless voices, joined in something part-shanty, part-dirge. Dread prows pierce the gloom ahead, and the ghastly truth is laid bare: upon the ghoul-winds come the swollen hulks and decaying vessels of the Vampire Coast! Run now – run hard and fast. For it is all you can do.
It was the undying lord Luthor Harkon that laid claim to a stretch of Lustria’s east coast. Ever since, it has been a domain where the dead stir, leading expeditions into the jungle interior or setting sail across the Great Ocean to commit wanton acts of piracy. But the insane Arch-Commodore Harkon is not the only unliving admiral who takes to the seas with pistol-armed crews of zombies, vampiric depth guard, syreens and mournguls… there are other pirate lords who command dreadfleets of their own, packed to the gunwales with crews press-ganged into eternal service.
These tyrants ply the seas seeking plunder of blood and gold. However, now that the vortex of Ulthuan weakens, the captains search for more than mere treasure… for the Star-Metal Harpoon lies in the deeps, a weapon powerful enough to bring the greatest Merwyrm of them all to heel!
In Battle
Unit Roster
- Main article: Vampire Coast unit roster
The armies of the Awakened consist of zombified pirates armed with cutlasses, muskets and cannons, backed up by giant crabs and other undead horrors.
Vampire Coast spellcasters can use the Lore of the Deep.
Regiments of Renown
There are eight Regiments of Renown available to the Vampire Coast factions. Instead of unlocking them by leveling up your lords, you must instead collect Pieces of Eight to unlock each of them.
In the Campaign
Luthor Harkon flanked by Vampire Coast units.
The Vampires Coast factions are non-horde races who occupy settlements and control provinces. However they also have the added benefit of pirate ships, which work somewhat like a horde army.
Legendary Lord choices
As a faction, the Awakened has the following Legendary Lord choices:
- Luthor Harkon - a melee/ranged lord who is affected by random personality changes that impact gameplay. He cannot cast magic until his mind is whole again.
NPCs
- Cymbals the Monkey
Objectives
The great Merwyrm Amanar has been awoken from its slumber by the vacillations of the Great Vortex. It terrorizes the sea lanes, summoning vast storms and attacking coastal ports on a whim. Only one who wields the Star-Metal Harpoon will tame the beast and become immune to its ravenous hungers. However, the Harpoon must first be found, and invigorated using the three verses of a secret, ancient sea-shanty.
Each playable Legendary Lord must grow their dread reputation to become the most Infamous pirate on the seas. Certain opposing Pirate Captains know the three verses of the ancient shanty and, as your Infamy rivals theirs, they will seek you out in attempt to destroy you. If you best each in battle, you’ll learn each of these verses, all three of which are required to magically charge the Star-Metal Harpoon.
Only with the fully-powered Star-Metal Harpoon in hand can you embark on the final, fateful battle, bend Amanar to your will, and become the greatest sea-scourge the world has ever seen!
Infamy
- Main article: Infamy
As your faction wins battles, takes territory and establishes Pirate Coves (see Pirate Coves below), your Legendary Lord’s Infamy grows amongst the ranks of pirate lords and ladies. This is the route by which you reach ultimate victory in a Vampire Coast campaign.
Players begin at Rank 14 and work there way towards Rank 1 as they best other pirate factions. As your rank improves, a pirate army will spawn for you to defeat and earn one of the three verses of the Sea Shanty.
Pirate Coves
- Main article: Pirate Coves.
After a victorious port-settlement battle, Vampire Coast factions may choose a new post-battle option. Instead of taking, sacking or razing the port, the faction may choose to establish a Pirate Cove in the vicinity. These secret sub-settlements can siphon a steady flow of income from the main settlement, and bring other benefits related to any upgrades the player chooses to build in the Cove. Hero's can also establish Coves, with no limitation on whether or not the Player is at war with the target. The Cove can only be destroyed if the settlement itself is razed. In addition, a competing Vampire Coast faction which conquers the settlement may commandeer the Cove for itself.
Upgradeable Ships and Building Trees
- Main article: Flagships.
Legendary Lords sail in their own unique ships. Details of these ship are accessed via the Lord in the same fashion as Horde Buildings for Horde Factions, and contain many powerful upgrades for the Lord and his army. This does not make them a standard Horde faction however. Vampire Coast lords may also occupy settlement like any other non-horde faction, and may develop it using the unique new Vampire Coast building tree. In short, they benefit from the best features of both Horde factions and Settled factions.
Fleet Office Roles
- Main article: Fleet Offices
Similar to the Wood Elves you can assign your lords to offices for various bonuses.
Loyalty
- Main article: Loyalty
Loyalty affects whether Vampire Coast lords are likely to rebel against you in campaign mode. Lords placed in a Fleet Office Role does not lose Loyalty, Lords acquired from the Technology Tree are not affected by Loyalty. This mechanic is shared with the Dark Elves and Skaven.
Pieces of Eight
- Main article: Pieces of Eight
Carefully hidden around the world are eight unique golden tokens. Locating each and defeating its powerful guardian army will grant access to the Vampire Coast Regiments of Renown, powerful elite variants of units in the terrifying Vampire Coast roster.
Raise Dead
- Main article: Raise Dead
Like the Vampire Counts, the Awakened also has access to the Raise Dead mechanic so they can replenish their troops with freshly risen ones. Despite this, they do still have access to Global Recruitment, unlike the Vampire Counts.
Treasure Maps
- Main article: Treasure maps
Pirates of folklore buried great treasures around the world. As you win battles at land and sea, you may find the treasure maps marking their rough location. Solve the riddles that shroud them, and they can be yours for the taking...
Vampiric Corruption
- Main article: Vampiric corruption
Vampire Coast factions spread vampiric corruption with their armies, heroes, settlements, buildings and commandments.
Inventory
Rites
- Main article: Vampire Coast rites.
Vampire Coast factions have 4 unique rites, and can even add a giant cannon to their recruitment pool.
- Curse of the Bountiful Treasure
- Curse of the Sea Mist
- Curse of the Queen's Cannon
- Curse of the Eternal Service
Technologies
- Main article: Vampire Coast tech tree.
The Vampire Coast also has access to four Legendary Admirals, accessible through their Technology tree, similar to how the Tomb Kings could unlock some Dynasty Lords. Each will cost you 2,000 Infamy to unlock.
- Disreputable Admiral: Trusty Montford
- Infamous Admiral: O'Bones Macdonald
- Notorious Admiral: Burke Black
- Dreadful Admiral: Two-Toes Adley
Unlike regular Vampire Coast lords, these Legendary Admirals are able to have their own upgradeable ship like a Legendary Lord.
Buildings
- Main article: Vampire Coast buildings.
Stances
Post-Battle Options
Settlement Options
Commandments
Climate Preferences
- Habitable: Temperate, Frozen, Ocean, Savannah, Desert, Jungle, Island
- Unpleasant: Mountain, Wasteland
- Uninhabitable: Chaotic Wasteland, Magical Forest
Diplomacy
Diplomatic traits as an AI faction:
Mortal Empires:
- ?
Eye of the Vortex:
- Unreliable
- Hates Lizardmen
- Schemer
Starts at war with Vampire Coast Mutineers.
Start positions
Eye of the Vortex
Starts in The Vampire Coast province.
Mortal Empires
Starts in the Vampire Coast province.
Victory conditions
Eye of the Vortex
Campaign Victory
- Acquire the Star-Metal Harpoon.
- Gain all 3 verses of the Lost Sea Shanty.
- Construct the Harpoon Launcher ship building.
- Win the following battle:
Battle of the Eternal Tides
Domination Victory
- Destroy the following faction(s)
Lothern, Naggarond, Hexoatl, Clan Mors, Khemri, The Dreadfleet - Maintain control of 50 province(s), either by direct ownership or through vassals and military allies.
Mortal Empires
Short campaign
- At the start of your turn, have at least 6000 Infamy
- Maintain control of 12 province(s), including the following, either by direct ownership or through vassals and military allies
Vampire Coast, Northern Great Jungle, Southern Great Jungle, Headhunter's Jungle, The Creeping Jungle, Jungles of Green Mist, Volcanic Islands - Destroy the following faction(s):
Order of Loremasters, The Blessed Dread, Clan Pestilens, Itza, Tlaxtlan, Xlanhuapec - Control any 6 of the following settlements either by direct ownership or through vassal and military allies
Couronne, Altdorf, Castle Drakenhof, Oak of Ages, Miragliano, Skavenblight, Kislev, Hell Pit, Karaz-a-Karak, Karak Eight Peaks, Black Crag, Lahmia, Khemri, Itza, Hexoatl, Naggarond, Lothern Khemri, Gaen Vale, The Awakening, The Galleon's Graveyard, Sartosa - Ensure that 2 of the following building(s) have been constructed:
Anicent Vault, The Black Coffin - Maintain 80 units in total.
- Restore Harkon's mind
Long campaign
- At the start of your turn, have at least 10000 Infamy
- Maintain control of 25 province(s), including the following, either by direct ownership or through vassals and military allies
Vampire Coast, Northern Great Jungle, Southern Great Jungle, Headhunter's Jungle, The Creeping Jungle, Jungles of Green Mist, Volcanic Islands, Spine of Sotek, Huahuan Desert, Northern Jungles of Pahualaxa, Southern Jungles of Pahualaxa, Isthmus of Lustria, Volcanic Islands - Destroy the following faction(s):
The Blessed Dread, Order of Loremasters, Clan Pestilens, Hexoatl, Itza, Last Defenders, Sentinels of Xeti, Teotiqua, Tlaxtlan, Xlanhuapec - Control any 10 of the following settlements either by direct ownership or through vassals and military allies:
Couronne, Altdorf, Castle Drakenhof, Oak of Ages, Miragliano, Skavenblight, Kislev, Hell Pit, Karaz-a-Karak, Karak Eight Peaks, Black Crag, Lahmia, Khemri, Itza, Hexoatl, Naggarond, Lothern Khemri, Gaen Vale, The Awakening, The Galleon's Graveyard, Sartosa - Ensure that 2 of the following building(s) have been constructed:
Anicent Vault, The Black Coffin - Maintain 160 units in total.
- Restore Harkon's mind
Minor Factions
In addition to regular minor factions, there are also new types of pirate-themed Rogue Armies (which use a blue stripe in their crest instead of red) whom you will be competing against on the Infamy leaderboard, as well as for Pieces of Eight:
- Bleak Coast Buccaneers
- Freebooters of Port Royale
- Grey Point Scuttlers
- The Boyz of the Forbidden Coast
- The Churning Gulf Raiders
- The Terrors of the Dark Straits
- The Tyrants of the Black Ocean
In addition to one more who holds the Star-Metal Harpoon:
Additionally, as your Infamy Rank improves, you will be challenged by three addition Rogue Pirate armies (which have a teal stripe instead of blue or red):
- Middle Sea Brigands: Spawn when you reach Rank 7
- Dragon Spine Privateers: Spawn when you reach Rank 4
- Shark Strait Seadogs: Spawn when you reach Rank 1
The old crest.
Trivia
- The design for their crest comes from the reverse side of the Wind Gauge (also referred to as the Vortex Marker) in the Games Workshop game Dreadfleet. In most scenarios, the Wind Gauge was used to determine the direction of the wind. However, in the final scenario (called "The Maelstrom", which was set in the heart of Galleon's Graveyard) you would flip the Wind Gauge over and place it in the center of the map to mark the location of the vortex.
- Prior to the release of Curse of the Vampire Coast, the faction used Vampire Counts units and was led by a generic lord named Waldakir Helsnicht. They controlled the entire Vampire Coast province in both Eye of the Vortex and Mortal Empires.
- As noted in the introduction, the Awakened used to have the generic name "Vampire Coast" until it was changed in the Potion of Speed Update for Total War: Warhammer II.
Images
NOTE: This promotional artwork possibly revealed Aranessa Saltspite prior to her official reveal, though this version appears to be a vampire.
Videos
Curse of the Vampire Coast Trailer
Curse of the Vampire Coast Sea Shanty
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