14 DAY TRIAL // The Vampire Counts are one of the more exotic choices for players of the upcoming Total War: Warhammer, and the development team at The Creative Assembly is ready to deliver more information about the way they can use a new Vampiric Corruption mechanic to undermine and take out other factions.
Because the race is characterized by the use of undead and necromancy, the Dark magic that they use affects the provinces they occupy, with the studio explaining that "the land itself becomes blighted and accursed. Trees wither and a miasma of balefire smoke rolls across the landscape. Skies darken and the spirits of the dead stir, shrieking and clawing at any living trespassers that dare venture into these wretched lands."
The heroes that the Vampire Counts use in Total War: Warhammer will be able to spread the Vampiric corruption to other areas, with necromancers and banshees especially effective when it comes to performing rituals that expand it.
All affected provinces will see public order decline as villagers go missing, crops fail, and various powerful beings tend to make an appearance in all the dark corners of the land.
The influence of the Vampire Counts can make a living army turn to their side, given enough time, and a necromancer can appear to lead it against their former masters.
Other factions will need to limit the impact of Vampiric corruption
The faction needs to make sure that it keeps corruption as high as possible in its provinces to gain public order and the Empire, and other races can deploy their own heroes, including the feared Witch Hunter, to try and affect it.
The Vampires can use both incantations and special balefire buildings to spread their influence as far as they can before launching attacks while their enemies will deploy shrines, temples, and shamans to limit its effects.
The Creative Assembly also says the Counts will not harm their diplomatic relations by using corruption, which means they can deploy it against neutrals and even friends while using their armies on the more important frontlines.
Chaos has a similar power in Total War: Warhammer, but all the factions that oppose it, even the Vampire Counts, will have a harder time dealing with it as the powerful gods that lead that faction seek to conquer the entire Old World.
The video game will be launched on the PC on May 24, and gamers who place a pre-order will also be able to control a Chaos warriors faction.
