Total War: Warhammer 3 - Best Daemon Prince Upgrades

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Daemonic Gifts

The Best Early Daemonic Gifts

Pre-Dedication Daemonic Gifts

After Dedication Ruinous Powers

One of the many new Legendary Lords featured in Total War: Warhammer 3 is the mighty Daemon Prince. Like his tabletop counterpart, this servant of the Chaos Gods is highly customizable, mutating new features to gain advantages in combat. There are dozens of Daemonic Gifts available to the fearsome creature, so choosing the right combination can be a daunting task.

We'll take a look at the best builds for specific situations, as well as ways to maximize your benefits when the time comes for the Prince to dedicate himself to a specific god.

Daemonic Gifts

Throughout the Daemon Prince's campaign, you can earn Glory for each of the four Chaos Gods, as well as for the unified power of Chaos Undivided. Reaching new thresholds on each Glory track will unlock new Daemonic Gifts that can be equipped and swapped at will from the Daemon Prince's character screen.

There are several categories of Gifts, and you can have one of each category equipped at a time. Some Gifts lock out others - for example, if the Prince uses a Slaaneshi Gift to turn his arm into a razor-sharp scything blade, he can no longer carry a weapon, but he can always mutate back as the situation demands.

The only real limitations to Daemonic Gifts are that you can't swap them during combat, and they replace the normal items and ancillaries usually available to characters. If you find any gear, followers, or banners, they can still be equipped to your other Lords and Heroes, however.

The Best Early Daemonic Gifts

At the start of the campaign, your primary foes will include meddlesome Empire and Wood Elf armies, rebellious Norscan tribes, and the occasional Kislev force that wanders too far north. For the most part, these armies will be lightly armoured, so you don't need to worry too much about piercing damage. As such, your priorities for Daemonic Gifts should focus first on Melee Attack and Armour so that you can easily smite the foolish mortals and shrug off their pitiful attacks.

With a few hundred Glory for each god, you can maximize these stats with the following build:

Slot	Gift	Glory Requirement	Effect
Head	Bestial Charging Horns	330 Khorne	Melee Attack +10. Armour Piercing +10 percent. Gain ability Fuelled By Rage, which increases damage dealt if HP is below half. Gain ability Gorefeast, which regenerates HP while in melee.
Torso	Spiked Collar	110 Khorne	Melee Attack +10. Spell Resistance +40 percent. Gain ability Tempered Rage, which increases damage resistance while in melee. Gain ability Burning Rage, which causes AoE explosions up to three times per battle.
Wings	Wings Of Pestilence	110 Nurgle	Charge Bonus +20 percent. Hit Points +5 percent. Gain ability Pestilent Decay, which deals damage over time to units in combat with the Daemon Prince.
Left Arm	Heavy Armoured Gauntlet	440 Khorne	Armour +20. Melee defence +7. Base weapon damage +10 percent.
Right Arm	Heavy Bracers	Tzeentch 220	Armour +15. Gain ability Plague of Rust which reduces the Armour of an enemy unit. Gain spell Gate of Chaos which summons a unit of Blue Horrors in battle.
Legs	Trophied Legs	Undivided 440	Melee attack +5. Melee defence +5. Gain ability Daemonic Onslaught which increases the Daemon Prince's Speed and Charge Bonus if enemies are nearby.
Tail	Armoured Sentient Tail	Khorne 220	Armour +10. Melee attack +5. Gain ability Serpentine Tail, which deals damage over time to units in combat with the Daemon Prince.
Hand Weapon	Chaos Sword	Undivided 330	Base weapon damage +20 percent. Amour-piercing +15 percent.

Alternatives

Featherless Beak (Head, Tzeentch 330) gives a small melee attack bonus and a Barrier, as well as hastening the Daemon Prince's cooldowns when he isn't in melee. It also grants access to the Tzeentch's Firestorm spell.
Heavy Bracers (Left Arm, Tzeentch 440) provides only slightly less defense than the Heavy Armoured Gauntlet but grants access to the Transmutation of Lead spell, which significantly debuffs an enemy unit's melee capabilities.
Ravaged Wings (Wings, Slaanesh 330) grant access to the Purge The Weak ability, which grants a friendly unit a significant Speed and Leadership boost, and also recovers their Vigour over time.

Pre-Dedication Daemonic Gifts

total war warhammer 3 daemonic gift colossal maul

Once your Glory ratings approach 3,000, you'll have to make a choice regarding which Chaos God to dedicate the Daemon Prince to for eternity. Doing so locks the Gifts of the other gods. Before that happens, you'll have a wide array of Gifts as all four seek to tempt the Prince into their service. This is a great time to make a powerful Daemon Prince capable of slaughtering hundreds per battle and crushing any Lord foolish enough to challenge him.

Unless you're trying to build one of the available sets or get a specific spell, your priorities largely remain the same save that you'll need options for battling heavily-armoured Lords. This is especially important if you encounter a rival Legendary Lord in the Realm of Chaos.

Slot	Gift	Glory Requirement	Effect
Head	Ornate Helm	Khorne 2,310	Armour +10. Melee attack +10. Gain ability Fuelled By Rage, which increases damage dealt if HP is below half. Gain ability Frenzy, which increases melee attack, damage dealt, Charge Bonus, and makes the Daemon Prince immune to psychology.
Torso	Armoured Cosmic Body	Undivided 2,860	Barrier +200. Armour +40. Gain ability Foreboding Ignition, which allows you to cause a massive explosion once per battle when the Daemon Prince's HP drops below ten percent. Reflects 28 damage of each melee attack taken back on the attacker. Missile Block Chance +20.
Wings	Eroded Wings	Nurgle 2,420	Missile resistance +5 percent Hit Points +5 percent Gain ability Cloud of Flies, which increases the Daemon Prince's melee defence.
Left Arm	Spiked Arms	Tzeentch 1,430	Armour piercing +5 percent. Gain ability Gate of Chaos, which summons a unit of Blue Horrors to the battlefield. Gain spell Blue Fire of Tzeentch, which fires burning explosives at a target.
Right Arm	Spiked Gauntlets	Khorne 1,650	Armour +20. Melee defence +7. Armour piercing +10 percent.
Legs	Pestilent Thorned Chausses	Nurgle 1,760	Armour +20. Armour piercing +5 percent. Mass +25 percent.
Tail	Fiendish Tail	Slaanesh 1760	Melee attack +5. Melee defence +5. Speed +7 percent.
Two-Handed Weapon	Colossal Axe	Nurgle 2530	Bonus vs. Large +20. Base weapon damage +40 percent. Armour piercing +40 percent.

Alternatives

Heavily Armoured Gauntlets (Left Arm, Khorne 2,200) provides strong Armour and melee attack, and grants For the Slaughter, an ability that confers an increasing combat bonus on a Lord or Hero.

After Dedication Ruinous Powers

total war warhammer 3 daemon prince closeup

Once you've chosen to dedicate yourself to a specific god or to Chaos Undivided, you'll gain access to powerful new gifts. At this point in the game, your loadout will be determined by your needs, and as always you can change your Gifts on the fly. It's recommended that you build one or both of the sets available to your chosen god, as this will significantly enhance the units in the Prince's army.

If you're not sure which dedication to make, here is a rundown of what each of the Ruinous Powers has to offer:

Dedication	Focus	Sets
Chaos Undivided	Versatility Armour Balanced stats	Armaments of Chaos Doom Shield Doom Sword Trophied Legs The Fanged Prince Fanged Wings Spiked Tail Spiked Torso
Khorne	Melee damage-dealing Charging Flaming attacks	Armaments of War Cloven Greaves Heavy Armoured Gauntlets (Right) Heavy Armoured Gauntlets (Left) The Fierce Prince Battle-Worn Tail Jagged Bestial Horns Ravaged Bestial Wings
Nurgle	Debuffs Damage over time Healing and regeneration	Armaments of Blight Colossal Morningstar Oversized Medium Armour (Right) Oversized Medium Armour (Left) The Foul Prince Belled Horns Pestilent Thorned Chausses Plagued Body
Slaanesh	Speed Flank charging Armour piercing	Armaments of Desire Alluring Body Desirable Greaves Masquerading Helm The Sensuous Prince Ashen Wings Fiendish Tail Scythed Arms (Left)
Tzeentch	Barriers Spellcasting Area damage	Armaments of Change Cosmic Body Heavy Bracers (Left) Staff of Deceit The Withered Prince Plucked Shattered Beak Spiked Aged Wings Taloned Legs

Next: Total War: Warhammer 3 - All Nurgle Units, Ranked