Dark Elves: they’re not very nice. Whether interpreted as teleporting anti-Asgardians or egotistical hedonists, you just do not want to meet one down a dark alley. Total War: Warhammer II’s are no exception, and to prove a point, they won’t be using gold or other trinkets as their primary currency – for them, it’s all about the warm bodies.
Here’s what we know about Total War: Warhammer 2.
“Each race will have… their primary currency will be flavoured,” explains Andy Hall, lead writer. “So the Empire, for instance, was just gold, but Vampires were Dark Magic. So you can imagine the Dark Elves not having much use for gold, to them it’s trinkets. But what they do, especially with each other, their currency is slaves. So I think we’re going to go that route.”
That’s not the only type of loot you’ll need in Warhammer II, however. The new, Vortex-based campaign will have its own. “Alongside that we have the ritual currency, for the Vortex campaign, which is a really important secondary currency that you’ll need to use to cast your rituals. Again, that’s flavoured and defined by the race you’re playing. So for the Lizardmen it’s sacred plaques… And again the Dark Elves will have their own.”
Whatever that turns out to be it won’t be nice. It sounds like the Dark Elves will also have a few unique wrinkles when it comes to taking to the seas, which you’ll be doing a lot more this time around. “Two of our races, the Dark Elves and High Elves, are really seagoing races – the Dark Elves especially,” Hall says.
In Warhammer lore, the Dark Elves are notorious raiders and pirates. They take to the seas in Black Arks, vast floating fortresses built on the backs of summoned sea monsters, to abduct slaves. Perhaps this is what Hall means when he later says: “there’s a cool bit of seagoing IP with the Dark Elves that’d be weird if we didn’t have it.”
We know naval battles will be auto-resolved, but since you’ll be spending much more time on the sea in Warhammer II, Creative Assembly have thrown in hazards such as storms and reefs to keep it interesting. Expect the Dark Elves and High Elves to have their own unique mechanics.