Earlier this week, Creative Assembly announced their long-awaited next expansion for Total War: Warhammer 2. Following the format of previous Lord packs in the series, this new DLC will introduce two new rival Legendary Lords; “The Prophet and The Warlock“. In this case, those titles refer to the Lizardmen prophet Tehenhauin, a Skink and leader of the Cult of Sotek, and the mad Skaven Warlock-Engineer Ikit Claw. Just a few days before the announcement, I had the opportunity to visit Creative Assembly and interview Mitchell Heastie and Gary Deans, two members of the development team who worked on The Prophet and The Warlock.

The Prophet and The Warlock: Developer Interview

Right, so before we get started, could you please introduce yourselves and explain what your roles here at Creative Assembly have been?

Mitchell Heastie: “Yes, so my name is Mitchell Heastie, I’m a Designer on the New Content Team. So yeah, I’m responsible primarily for the campaign design for all of the DLCs that we make.”

Gary Deans: “My name’s Gary Deans, and I’m a Designer on the DLC team; I focus primarily on battles, so everything from units to abilities to animation and stuff, so that’s sort of my area of speciality.”

Great. So, to get started, how long has The Prophet and The Warlock been in development? Obviously, you’ve been keeping it quiet leading up to the now-delayed-launch of Three Kingdoms, so how long has this been in the works?

GD: “Sort of a moderate amount of time, I would guess. I mean, it’s not one that’s been going on for too long, I’d say.”

MH: “Yeah, I mean generally we start kind of… as soon as we finish a DLC we start another DLC. So, I think we started just after Christmas. Yes, when we all got back from Christmas, that’s when we started on the project.”

OK. So, when it comes to a DLC like this, what kind of factors influence how you decide which two factions to expand? Obviously, you’ve done this kind of format a few times now.

GD: “I think it’s… well from my perspective at least, it’s a case of looking at what the main content team have done; what they have released and what I feel that the roster’s lacking in terms of units. For example, in this one in particular we were focusing on Clan Skryre because for Skaven we felt like getting those weapon teams in there and getting those extra war machines in there was beneficial – and would enhance gameplay.”

MH: “I think I was… in terms of like what you mentioned; we like to do sort of a head-to-head style for all of our Lord packs. So that always determines which Lords we choose; we try to find ones that match up really well together. So yeah, we have Ikit Claw, who matches up perfectly with Tehenhauin because it’s the age-old Skaven versus Lizardmen match-up. So, these two guys work perfectly. We also have the aspect that Tehenhauin is a very religious character, and then on the other hand, you have Ikit Claw who’s very scientific, mechanical… so again, that’s like a perfect match-up.”

Does the map placement play a role? Like, if you’ve got a bit of the map that you think isn’t getting enough use, do you then look for things that could easily fit when you’re adding new content?

MH: “Yeah, map placement is an interesting topic and it becomes more and more interesting the more DLCs we do, because you run out of areas to use, right? So, you’ve got to try and find somewhere that A) isn’t already occupied, and B) makes sense for the character. And then yeah, because we do this sort of head-to-head match-ups with the characters, you want to make that they’re within range of each other as well. So yeah, for this one we’ve found some space in Lustria which works perfectly for these guys, so that’s where they’re going to be fighting over.”

How has the addition of these new Lords changed the shape of Lustria, in the campaign?

MH: “Yeah, like I touched on before, we’ve added so many Lords now that it does feel that there’s a lot of people in a lot of locations. I think… it’s difficult. One of the things that we try to do, like I said, is kind of make each location interesting, and we do run into the issue that maybe we want Skaven to fight Lizardmen, but there just so happens to now be a Vampire Coast guy who’s kind of there hovering about. That is always something that we focus a lot of time on balancing the campaign to make sure that you fight the people that we want you to fight. A lot of our effort goes into that.”

When you’re choosing which factions are going to be in the DLC, is what the community’s asking for another factor that you keep in mind, or does it ultimately just come down to what fits into the game best?

GD: “I think it’s a case of… it’s a bit of both, really. It’s a case of what we feel works for the game, but also obviously taking into account the views of the community is very important, because, you know, they support us and we’re here to serve them so if we’re not pleasing them then we’re not doing our job, basically. So, I think it’s a nice balance between the two.”

No doubt some of this will be apparent once the DLC is announced, but before we get to specifics, can you give me kind of an overview of what fans will be getting in The Prophet and The Warlock?

GD: “From a battle perspective, what the Skaven will be getting is a hefty buff to their ranged potential. So, their ability to deal damage at range is hugely increased. You’ve got units such as the Ratling Gun, which is obviously the sort of Skaven’s take on the Gatling gun; it’s a medium-range suppressive machine gun. Basically, this thing has got a high rate of fire and it actually suppresses targets as they approach, so it slows them down. Besides that, we have the Warplock Jezails, who are the Skaven sniper teams with the big shields protecting them. They’re at extreme range, so they’re kind of the opposite of the Ratling Guns, where they’re very few shots but each one is deadly accurate and also negates their target’s ability to block projectiles as well. So, they work quite well with other missile units like the Ratling Guns; you’ll reduce their chance to block and then you’ll hit them with a fusillade of fire. You’ve got units like the Doom-Flayers, which is the Skaven’s take on a chariot. It’s almost like a biker gang!

“For the Lizardmen’s perspective, they’re all focused around Tehenhauin and his Cult of Sotek. You’ve got the Red-Crested Skinks; they’re basically the blessed Skinks of this religion. We’ve equipped them with Great Weapons, so giant hammers, so they’re very… not solid, obviously they’re still Skinks, but they have the ability to move fast and get around the flanks with these armour-piercing weapons. So, they’re quite useful in that capacity. You’ve also got units such as the Ark of Sotek, which is the big, armoured Bastiladon which will sort of spew snakes from the top of it and deal damage around it. You’ve got the Engine of the Gods, which is a Stegadon with this… basically a relay which brings down a giant laser beam in front of it and wipes out an entire line of troops.

“There’s a whole host of other units as well in there, so they’re getting a huge plethora of different options that they can choose from. From a campaign perspective, there’s a lot more to go into.”

MH: “Yeah, I mean, do you want the details, or do you just want the top line for now?”

No, no, no, please go ahead!

MH: “OK, so yeah, for all the features for these guys we’ve looked at their lore and their storylines, and we’ve tried to create features essentially centred around that. So, for Tehenhauin, because his storyline is all centred around fighting the Skaven quite often, and he’s, again, the religious character and his thing is sort of sacrifices – he believes in the god Sotek – so that’s the feature we’ve created for him; the sacrifices to Sotek. So, throughout your campaign, as you’re defeating people, fighting battles, you’ll be collecting sacrificial offerings which are essentially the captives from battles. And then, with that, you have this kind of brand-new UI which is essentially this giant pyramid, which is your sacrificial pyramid. With that, you have a lot of different sacrifices that you can make to Sotek and that’ll give you a range of things; campaign buffs, for example, and you’ll also be able to unlock units and different things like that. And then at the top of the pyramid you have this kind of crazy ability which is the manifestation of the god Sotek himself, which is a massive giant serpent, and you’ll get that as a battle ability and that’s extremely powerful. You can use that in battle, and it’ll wipe out multiple units – it’s really cool.

“Then, for Ikit Claw, he’s like I said before – a mad scientist. He’s all about technology, so for him we have a Forbidden Workshop and what that does is it allows you to… well, throughout your campaign you’ll fight battles and collect a resource called Warp Fuel. He’s all about Warpstone, as the Skaven are, and with this Warp Fuel then you’ll be able to spend that in your Workshop to unlock buffs for the weapons team units that Ikit focuses on. So yeah, you’ll get different things like ammo types for different units, you can get your Ratling Guns to have unlimited ammo… kind of really crazy buffs for the Doomwheels and Doom-Flayers as well.

“Then, on top of that, the other thing the Workshop does is it allows you to craft Warpstone Doomrockets. What these are… well, they’re crazy, for a start! They are extremely powerful, essentially if you want to call them ‘nuclear’ missiles. So yeah, they’re quite rare, they’re expensive to buy, and you can stockpile these in your campaign. You essentially want to save them up for these battles you might get into where you’re really up against it and you think you might not win, and then what have you got left? You call in a Warpstone Doomrocket and then you get the quintessential mushroom cloud, except obviously it’s got the green tinge on it because it’s warpstone-fuelled. So yeah, that’s his Workshop, and then another thing to mention is that essentially all Skaven will get now a new feature called the Under-Empire.

“I think one of the things we felt was probably missing from the Skaven at release was something that you see a lot of in the lore, which is their Under-Empire, their tunnelling; their kind of habitants beneath other peoples’ regions. So, we’ve kind of mirrored that now in the campaign, so you’ll be able to, either with your armies or your agents, you can set up what are essentially ‘Under-cities’ below enemy cities. With those you get a choice of buildings – It’s a brand-new building tree – as well as their above-ground regions. You get a range of different things, ranging from food and money and all things like that, and then for Ikit specifically; he’s, again, the mad scientist so he can build something called a Doomsphere.

“The Doomsphere is from his lore. There’re these really good stories about how he would construct these sort-of nuclear devices below Dwarven Karaks and then he would try to essentially blow up their settlements. In the lore he never succeeded, but we’re giving the players the chance to do this now. So yeah, if you establish an Under-Empire then Ikit Claw can go there, and he can build a Doomsphere and you can detonate it with a massive explosion on the campaign map and wipe off settlements.”

GD: “If you’re sneaky enough.”

MH: “If you’re sneaky enough. So that’s a thing with the Under-Empire; there’s a secondary feature on top of that called ‘Discoverability.’ So as a base, you’re kind of hidden, but the more you build and the faster you build, you become more visible, essentially, to the people above you. So, you’ve got this kind of balancing act where you want to build more but then you’ve also got to be a little bit careful, because if you build too much, they’ll spot you and then they have a chance to destroy your under-cities.”

GD: “To just add to that, to actually build the Doomsphere, what you need to do is build ‘Deeper Tunnels’ – like, that’s an actual building – and it’s an interesting choice because yes, your weapon is hidden, but you also lose line of sight on that region because you’re so far beneath the ground at that point. So, it’s making the choice between line of sight and keeping this weapon hidden from prying eyes, essentially.”

Although the role is a bit unusual, we’re also seeing Venerable Lord Kroak come to the game at last! So, is he going to be playable at all, or is he just an NPC sort of factor?

GD: “Oh no, he’s going to be playable. Yeah, he’s definitely going to be playable. He’s not a Lord. We’ve made him a Hero, because we basically want him to complement the existing Legendary Lords. So, we want the existing Legendary Lords to basically call upon him as their own superweapon. He is somebody who is typically asleep, he’s in contemplation, so it’s only in the direst of circumstances that they would awaken this sort of revered ancestor spirit, essentially. So, they bring him forth because things are so drastically wrong; you know, Clan Pestilens causing plagues and destruction, and you’ve got Ikit Claw, obviously, with his Doomspheres. So, Kroak is the answer to this.

“In battle, he is a damage-dealer, he’s pure damage-dealing. So that marries well with him being a support character rather than a main Lord, because he’s got a very specific purpose. So, if you put him with the likes of Mazdamundi, he’s got a whole plethora of very different spells which can buff, can debuff, that can damage, things like that. Whereas Lord Kroak, he has three varieties of the Ruination of Itza, which is essentially… he summons sort of a star and collapses it on the enemy, and it basically causes an explosion and deals damage on three different scales. They’re all on timers as well, so it’s a case of having to avoid them if you’re playing against him. You unlock him through a Quest Battle that happens midway through the campaign. So, you’ve got to awaken him, basically, and hold off waves of Skaven to do that.”

MH: “It’s a very difficult Quest Battle. As soon as one of your Lords reaches – and this is available to all of the Lizardmen, no matter who you play as – as soon as one of your Lords reaches Rank 8, this Quest Battle will become available in your campaign. It’s an extremely difficult Quest Battle and at some point, in this Quest Battle, when you’re kind-of really up against it – you’re going to be struggling against a lot of waves of Skaven – then Kroak himself will show up and he’ll help you out. If you manage to win the Quest Battle, then he’ll join you for the rest of your campaign.”

Obviously, in the original tabletop wargame, Kroak has always been portrayed as this enormously powerful figure. Was it a challenge to find a balance between staying true to the lore and making sure that he wasn’t essentially invincible?

GD: “Yeah, it definitely was. Another interesting challenge is actually how we brought him to life in the animation. Obviously, he is supposed to be this colossal powerful figure, but when you look at the model, it’s a case of, well, he’s a mummy. He’s a wretched sort-of corpse, essentially! So, we had meetings and discussed how we would actually make him feel powerful and make him feel big. What we settled on was whenever he’s casting a spell, whenever he’s engaging in a melee attack, his spirit form will manifest and sort of soar above the throne, and will actually animate so that it looks like he’s casting spells. That’s how we made him appear powerful, but in-game itself, yeah, it’s definitely been a challenge to keep him balanced and keep him within reason because he is a pure damage-dealer. Like he’s just there to destroy crowds. But I feel like we accomplished that just through a mixture of fine-tuning the mana cost for each of his spells and also the cost that he will have in multiplayer.”

MH: “Yeah, I think in his lore, right, it was sort of that the Chaos invasion was happening, and then he was the one that just…”

It got a bit ridiculous.

MH: “He did! He did get a bit ridiculous.”

GD: “I think it’s because he’s dead, though. Right? He’s not as powerful as he was in his heyday, but this is him as his sort of spirit form.”

MH: “We do kind of touch on that a little bit. So, in campaign, obviously he’s very powerful in battle, and in campaign he does also have the ability to destroy a city with the same kind of collapsing-star magic, if you want to call it that. So yeah, we do touch on that, the fact that he does have immense world-wide power.”

So, is that the Lizardmen equivalent to what the Skaven have with the Doomsphere?

MH: “Exactly, yeah. I think with this Lord pack, one of the things our fans really like when we do DLC is to kind of up the challenge a little bit, because generally the people who play have already played some and they want to go to that next level. So, I think for this one we’ve really tried to make the campaigns a little bit difficult, but then give you the tools you need to survive. So yeah, you obviously have crazy powerful things on both sides.”

GD: “On that point, during Tehenhauin’s campaigns, there is a limited roster. We’re trying to basically simulate the effects of Clan Pestilens’ plague, so you basically start the campaign after his exodus, so from the start of the campaign you’re quite limited to your Skinks; your Cult of Sotek units. Throughout the campaign you sort of slowly earn things like Saurus and Kroxigors and things like that. It’s definitely a challenge, so you kind of do need the likes of Kroak and the likes of the Cult of Sotek to really keep you going and keep you alive.

Just as a closing question, personally speaking, what do you think are some of your favourite features coming in The Prophet and The Warlock, and what do you think fans are really going to enjoy in this new DLC?

GD: “From a battle perspective, I think it’s definitely the combination of different weapon teams and how they can control the battlefield for the Skaven, because at this point, they’ve been kind of restricted to a few powerful war machines, like Siege Engines, and slings. So, the scale is quite different. I’m really looking forward to adding these new more competitive weapons to the roster.”

MH: “Yeah. For me, I think one of the things we’ve really done in this DLC is tie the mechanics into the storyline much more than we have for previous Lords. So, if you take Queen and The Crone, for example, although we gave them features, they didn’t really tie into any kind of storyline. Especially for Lords like Tehenhauin, his whole mechanics; all of them tie in to his storyline. So, he has the Prophecy of Sotek and that is not only guiding him throughout the campaign in terms of what you’re going to be doing, but then the mechanics that you also have that tie neatly into that. It’s a very cohesive experience which I really think is good.”