A guide and ranking of all the marks of chaos for each unit

A guide and ranking of all the marks of chaos for each unit

Generic Infantry


A guide and ranking of all the marks of chaos for each unit image 1
MaraudersWarriorsForsakenChosen

1.Khorne

Immune to psych (frenzy), increased damage and 35 instead of 15 armor are basically all perfect to compensate for marauder weaknesses.

2.Slaneesh

Immune to psych, you can actually get in melee before they get shot to bits with their speed, phys resist ain't gonna save them, but it helps.

3.Tzeentch

The barrier really does nothing for them, they eat too much damage, also their melee attack is bad so no real point in magic attacks.

4.Nurgle

Just awful, still 15 armor but now even slower, a unit with 0 protection moving as slow as dwarf warriors, poison ain't gonna help them get the job done.

1.Slaneesh

Covers warriors biggest weakness, namely speed and leadership in one package, also they get 10% phys resist, just a lot of value on this unit.

2.Tzeentch

These guys rock, their melee is good enough to make great use of their magical attacks and the barrier is a nice touch to help them tank.

3.Khorne

Frenzy is just great, the extra armor isn't that great here but so what? You get everything you want from frenzy.

4.Nurgle

Not nearly as bad as marauders but their measly 31 melee attack makes them an hard sell, not to mention their godawful speed, it would be fine if nurgle had an easy access to ranged or artillery to let the enemy come to them, but they don't.

1.Tzeentch

exist to deal damage, they're infamous for having a ton of weapon strength but comparatively low armor piercing, so they want to hit low armor units.

The problem is low armor units in Warhammer TW are usually either low tier chaff or high tier units that rely on other form of protection, that is high melee defense or physical resistance, ususally it's both.

Well, Mark of tzeentch turn forsaken from an okunit to fight things sisters of slaughter and the like to a great unit, the magic attacks and barrier make that fight much more one sided for forsaken.

2.Slaneesh

MoS actually makes forsake a decent flanking unit, I have no idea why you would want that if you're running slaneesh armies but if you're running undivided and want to give a mark to your forsaken MoS is an excellent choice.

3.Khorne

It gets..fire attacks, which is good but that's about it, I guess also some extra armor and spell res, usually MoK gives frenzy but all forsaken have it baseline so it's wasted here.

4.Nurgle

They only reason to run MoN forsaken is if you're actually playing a nurgle army and don't have access to drones or knights so you want something to chase skirmishers with, other than that, avoid.

1.Khorne

Oh baby, the reason Khorne is first here is because frenzy scales incredibly well with standard chosen, that massive weapon damage, not to mention charge for a S&B unit just murders, not to mention MoK on gives them flaming attacks unlike on other units, 130 armor and spell resist are just the cherry on top.

MoK are an extremely tanky unit that will deal more damage than dedicated damage dealers.

2.Tzeentch

MoK may make Tzeentch obsolete, but the biggest hurdle chosen face are physical resistances and armor which are all abundant lategame by the time chosen show up, though they do have good AP for a non AP unit.

Anyway, you don't want your very expensive unit waste its damage because of some stupid physical res (or fire if you're facing high tier Helves) and MoT helps overcome that so it gets second place.

3.Nurgle

of nurgle just translate better than on other infantry, even with the lowered melee attack from MoN they still have a base of 41, which is really good, you add the poison and extra health and you have a pretty formidable anvil.

Sadly they still suffer from the same drawbacks as MoN warriors but they're not nearly as bad.

4.Slaneesh

With 85 baseline leadership, immune to psychology loses a lot of its appeal, also chosen are a lategame unit and lategame you'll be facing a lot of flaming and magic attacks so phys resist also loses a lot of appeal, still in those rare occasions where a chosen would befenit from terror immunity or extra speed they might still be worth it.

Generic Monsters


A guide and ranking of all the marks of chaos for each unit image 44Chaos SpawnChaos FuriesChaos Warshrines

1.Tzeentch

MoT gives spawn sunder armor and magic attacks, that helps the MoT spawn deliver their tremendous 160 weapon damage much more effectively, considering their low comparative armor piercing value, also spawns have some pretty good speed baseline, they won't get shot much on the approach and the barrier will usually be enough to protect them from some of the ranged fire that would otherwise hit their abysmal 10 armor.

2.Slaneesh

This was really hard to rank because MoS spawn actually have 47 speed and can be used as a flanking unit but..why would you? They do have devastating flanker but they also just have 25 charge, ultimately what helps them is strider making them immune to forest, mud etc. penalties for large units, soporific musk is just the cherry on top.

3.Nurgle

Extra health, poison and a lot more melee defense compared to other spawn, 37 speed is also respectable, if you're going to face something like vampire counts these guys are actually good.

4.Khorne

Flaming attacks and frenzy really pumps up their damage, they are glass cannons though, they'll go down to everything and that extra 10 armor ain't gonna help.

When it comes to chaos furies it really depends what you're going to do with them, are you going to rear charge or harass skirmishers? I would say most people will use them to harass so that's the basis which I'm going to use to rate them.

1.Nurgle

The main problem I've always found with furies isn't that they can't kill skirmishers, it's that they also get killed in return in the process, nurgle massively mitigates that, it has poison and cloud of flies, that is more than enough to substantially reduce any retalation damage, khorne might deal more damage, slaneesh is better against armor, but none of that are usually an issue when you're facing archers and, taking damage, will make the awful 35 leadership of furies go very quick.

2.Tzeentch

Again, I'm prioritizing survivability, what use is an harassment unit if it routs immediately? The barrier helps with that, shame they didn't give something to compensate for magic attacks (furies are demons, they get magic attacks by default) but I reckon the barrier is enough to land them the second spot, it's particularly good on a hit and run unit, giving time for shields to recharge.

3.Slaneesh

Slaneesh gets AP unlike all the other furies, you might think it should be your go to mark if you're facing something like Helves or dwarves but the truth is they're so squishy they'll get messed up, AP or not going, against the likes of quarrelers.

4.Khorne

Same as above, I guess they annihilate ungors and the like but still, just get mark of nurgle.

The problem I have with chaos warshrines is that I strongly suspect they were created as mounts first and units second, because they really suffer from corpse cart syndrome, meaning you really have no reason to waste a unit slot instead of just mounting your champion/sorcerer, anyway, I'm going to rate them as units for the purpose of this guide, but if you want my advice just use agents.

1.Slaneesh

Strider, soporific musk, immune to psych (warshrines have an awful 60 leadership baseline, yes, they self buff with +10 but it's still not great) phys resist and a mortis engine effect, just throw it into the action, bonus points if in a forest, that said, it actually doesn't fit a slaneeshi army at all, but it's the best mark if you have a warshrine in an undivided army and want to mark it.

2.Khorne

This one can actually kinda fight, with frenzy and fire attacks, the passive is bad though, with 35 range you'll often just be buffing the warshrine itself, it's hard to make it work in the middle of battle, still, you can actually hit and hurt stuff, congrats you got a worse chaos giant.

3.Nurgle

Same as above, it's hard to keep it close to the units you want considering the erratic nature of Warhammer combat, with wild animations and units routing constantly, that said, if you can manage to start the heal it's not terrible (it's still bad tho).

4.Tzeentch

This was obviously meant as a mount, don't bother, your caster will never be close to this slow ass thing just to make use of 10% extra spell damage, it would be another matter he was riding it.

Avoid.

Generic Cavalry


A guide and ranking of all the marks of chaos for each unit image 76Chaos KnightsChaos Knights (Lances)Chaos Chariots

1.Khorne/Slaneesh

It's really a difficult choice between Khorne and Slaneesh, but frenzy and flaming attacks are just too good, particularly on a charging unit, yes Slaneesh knights do get strider and devastating flanker on top of the usual so IMO it's a toss up.

3.Tzeentch

Cavalry tends to eat a lot of "stray shots" or artillery shots on the approach and that's where the barrier shines the most, the nature of cavalry getting in and out of combat means that the barrier will be an extra mini lifebar that constatnly refills, it's good. Also, the usual magic attacks to make short work of those pesky hexwraiths/wild riders/hellstriders etc.

4.Nurgle

What do you know? Giving an horse to nurgle units fixes a lot of their problems, it may be ranked last but it's by no means a bad mark on chaos knights, if you're expecting to fight a lot of greenskins, ogres and other hard hitting fellas this might be for you.

(Lances)1.Nurgle

I bet you're surprised to see nurgle here, but MoN makes up for a lot of weaknesses of lance knights, namely poor defense, lance knights are a cycle charging unit, meaning they're not supposed to stay in melee, their melee attack is almost irrelevant (they get +80 from their charge) but they can still be countercharged or eat some retalation damage, that's where MoN poison and increased health and melee defense shines, lances hit so hard on the charge that you can get away with no fire or magic damage, it's just an amazing mark on lances.

2.Slaneesh

The reason why MoS is above MoK for lances is because lances really need to get that charge off and strider certainly helps with that, also, lances with MoS have probably the most devastating charge in the game when on a flanked unit, although personally I find it overkill, if knights with lances can get a flanking charge what they're charging will likely die, devastating flanker or not.

3.Khorne

You already know the reason, frenzy frenzy frenzy (also fire attacks), extra armor and spell resist (not that important on cav though).

4.Tzeentch

As with nurgle for the standard variant of knights, it's not that MoT on lances is bad, it's actually quite good, it's just that the alternatives are slightly better, not much to say here.

They're all pretty bad but if you really must use one you should use MoT or MoS

Special Infantry


A guide and ranking of all the marks of chaos for each unit image 96This Section Covers Units That Have Only 1 Or 2 Mark Selections Instead Of The Usual 4Marauders Of Nurgle (Great Weapons)Marauders Of Tzeentch (Spears)Marauders Of Slaneesh (Hellscourges)Marauders Of Khorne (Dual Weapons)Chaos Warriors Of Nurgle (Great Weapons)Chaos Warriors Of Slaneesh (Hellscourges)
Chaos Warriors Of Khorne (Dual Weapons)Chosen Of Tzeentch (Halberds)Chosen Of Nurgle (Great Weapons)Chosen Of Khorne (Dual Weapons)Chosen Of Slaneesh (Hellscourges)

This unit has really no applications, it has lower melee attack and speed, but it wants to get to the fight as soon as possible and deal damage as fast as possible, so what is it for? A brawl? It can't flank, it can't chase, the only thing that comes to mind is against dwarf early game but dwarfs shred them given their awful speed and armor.

Maybe a cost effective way to "counter" (they still lose, but at least they punch up) grave guards, white lions, greatswords etc but that's such a specific scenario and those factions (other than VC) feature extensive ranged and cav.

A cheap early game unit with magic attacks, anti largeand barrier, you can't get much more than that, it's good.

They are great early game when armor is rare, but the fact that hellscources are the only weapon in the game with ZERO armor piercing damage makes their scalability into mid game very dubious. What I'm saying is disband them and replace them as soon as possible.

They're a cheaper version of marauder berserkes Norsca gets and their stats reflect that, they also lack rage, for 575 gold you can just get warriors.

If you can get these guys in melee, they're decent, given that they have 100 armor and more health than standard variants, they might make it to the melee.

Is it amazing? Not really, but it can work, that said, 23 speed is the lowest speed in the game, so they are really easy to hard counter, particularly since they lack the silver shield of their S&B brethren, personally I don't like them, but they're not irredeemable.

Look, no amount of charge reflect is going to change the fact hellscourges have 0 AP, avoid.

At 1000 gold they're the most expensive variant of warrior and honestly.. they're pretty one dimensional, yes they will shred infantry but is it worth losing the extra tactical options a shield gives you on a pretty big gold premium at that?

Consider them as a support unit to your frontline when fighting infantry heavy armies.

Magic attacks, barrier, most likely the most powerful halberd unit in the game (although Phoenix Guard is a strong contender), of course it comes at a price, is it worth it? Depends on who you're fighting, but more often than not, it is.

This unit is the strongest melee unit in the game, even when facing dedicated elite anti infantry units like khorne chosen or High elf Swordmasters they completely dumpster them, the good news is, they're just dominating through raw stats, meaning they'll do the same to any unit they face, not just infantry.

The problem are the usual for Nurgle, 23 speed on a unit that doesn't even have a shield, the massive health pool and armor can mitigate that, also being a lategame unit your nurgle armies will usually have powerful heals, but at that point you're just kind of convincing yourself to use them, the truth is unless you find a way to make the enemy come to you they'll rarely see combat, and for that price it might not be worth it.

The second strongest melee unit in the game, it can beat anything except the one above, if it's infantry, it dies, fast. It's less of a generalist unit than Nurgle chosen with GW, doesn't mean that you should underestimate them just because you're using a large unit to fight them.

In case you didn't get the message yet, hellscourges don't deal any AP damage, a lategame unit with no AP is suicide, avoid.

Special Cavalry


A guide and ranking of all the marks of chaos for each unit image 125Marauder HorsemenMarauder Horsemen (Throwing Axes)Gorebeast Chariot Of Khorne

1.Tzeentch

Just beautiful, warpflame debuff, all magic and fire attacks, barrier on a very fast skirmish unit, one of the best early game units in the game.

2.Slaneesh

Also really good, strider so they'll always go fast, immune to psych, devastating flanker and phys res, cherry on top, magic ranged attacks (no melee unlike MoT), like MoT also a really good choice.

(Throwing axes)1.Khorne

Flaming axes (ranged, AP, frenzy (so immune to psych), they have BASELINE (before frenzy) much higher weapon strength and charge bonus, 35 armor instead of 15, they only lose a bit of melee defense and shield but who cares? By the time you need them in melee it will be the later stages of the battle and things will be on the verge of death.

A true hybrid cav and one of the best units in the early game, hell you can use them lategame too.

2.Nurgle

A worst version of goblin spider rider archers, they compensate with being a throwing axe unit tho, meaning AP, still, it's not really worth it imo but it's one of the few ranged (and fast) choices for a Nurgle army, making them almost a must.

Look, it's a chariot with frenzy, it makes it killier, as far as chariots go it's actually pretty good, but that's it.

About Lords And Heroes

When it comes to lords and heroes, it's really hard to rate them because they are so dependant on items, campaign choices, skills etc.

The only way to rate them would be purely from a multiplayer standpoint and this guide is not meant to be a multiplayer guide.

Source: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2856936034					

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