Old friends. New characters. Yes, Gotrek Gurnisson & Felix Jaeger have finally made it to Total War: Warhammer 2. The adventurous duo joins the ever-expanding Total War: Warhammer 2 roster as part of a promotion between Creative Assembly and Games Workshop’s White Dwarf magazine. Gotrek & Felix can pop up during the campaign for the Empire, Bretonnia, or the Dwarfs. In this feature/guide, we’ll take a look at what they bring to the table.

Note: Gotrek & Felix will be made available around September 20 once White Dwarf’s latest issue arrives in stores. Retail (non-digital) copies will contain a code for Gotrek & Felix to be made available in Total War: Warhammer 2. All you need to do is sign up and use the code in Creative Assembly’s Total War Access website. If you’re unable to purchase the latest White Dwarf magazine, don’t fret because Gotrek & Felix will be available for free on October 17 if you’ve got a Total War Access website account. You can also check out the official FAQ for the free DLC.

Gotrek & Felix

Total War: Warhammer 2‘s The Hunter & The Beast‘s DLC and the Mortal Empires campaign provide new opportunities for the duo. Gotrek Gurnission (a Dwarf slayer seeking to atone for his failures) and Felix Jaeger (a poet and swordsman, and also Gotrek’s “rememberer” or chronicler) join your merry band.

An event will notify you that Gotrek & Felix have made it to your lands. A marker will pop up so just send a character to that spot. You’ll have the option to recruit them.

Gotrek functions as a legendary lord that leads the army and Felix is a legendary hero. You can attach or recruit more units to bolster their force. You can detach Felix from Gotrek’s army if you want to, although he does not have any hero actions to speak of such as assassinating characters, destroying walls, and the like. The only action he’ll have in Total War: Warhammer 2‘s campaign map is to join one of your armies and that’s it.

Note: In my experience, they joined at around turn 10 while I was playing as Balthasar Gelt. It’s possible for the two to pop up earlier when you’re playing as another faction that cannot recruit them/you don’t have them unlocked via the White Dwarf code, and the AI ends up having them instead.

Gotrek’s & Felix’s Skills

Neither Gotrek nor Felix will have skills that you can level up. They’ll already come pre-built and pre-leveled with a number of skills. Both characters have an additional 15% missile resistance and encourage (leadership aura). Gotrek, specifically, has an additional 25% magic resistance, charge bonus versus large foes, and is unbreakable (will never lose leadership or rout).

You can also see their respective stats below:

Gotrek’s unique skills and abilities:

Heroic Fortitude – regenerates HP; automatically cast by Gotrek (though there’s a miscast chance) if he’s below 10% health

Gotrek’s Doom – adds 44 melee defense and 44% damage resistance, allowing Gotrek to withstand punishing attacks; lasts 22 seconds and has a two-minute cooldown

Rune Axe of Gotrek – a unique weapon which has a 36-second buff providing Gotrek with 40% armor-piercing damage; has a two-minute cooldown; causes dampen/reduces magic resistance for a short time

Felix’s unique skills:

Blood Oath – regenerates Felix’s HP and those within 30 meters; constant passive effect

Helping Hand – adds 44 melee attack and 44% damage resistance; can be cast on a friendly ally and it has a small radius effect as well; lasts 22 seconds and has a two-minute cooldown

Karaghul – Felix Jaeger’s unique weapon adds 44 melee attack at 32 bonus damage versus infantry for 28 seconds; two-minute cooldown

Note: For multiplayer, both Gotrek & Felix are considered as heroes. You’ll want to use a lord that can complement and enhance their capabilities.

Gotrek & Felix Playstyle

Given the above stats and skills, you’ll notice that the AoE range of their abilities is somewhat small. You’d want to keep the two close to each other. Lore-wise, this is fairly accurate given the number of stories detailing their adventures. The two always fought side by side, and their capabilities in Total War: Warhammer 2 will reflect that.

Still, Gotrek is unbreakable, but he’s not immortal. Felix, meanwhile, can rout in case his morale drops heavily during battle. Your best bet is to have support heroes or caster lords (like Balthasar Gelt) who can throw additional buffs and spells. Complement the two with a decent army composition of shielded infantry, competent ranged units, and artillery. Have a few Empire/Demigryph Knights or Reiksguard ready to swoop in on the flanks while the two besties are engaged.

Gotrek & Felix have left the chat

One caveat is that they’ll only stick around for 20 turns. After that, the duo would leave. This is because Gotrek still seeks to meet his death to atone for his mistakes. He’s nigh unbeatable in battle, but, as a slayer, he’s quite terrible since he just can’t die. You’ll be told that the two have left your forces, and you’d be prompted to replace Gotrek with another lord to keep any units that are attached to his army.

Will they ever return? Why, yes, they definitely will. Wait for a few turns or so and you’ll be notified of their reemergence. They may also end up in another faction — still part of the Empire, Bretonnia, or Dwarf groupings — and they’d be arrayed against you if you’re at war with them.

One particular annoyance you may have is that there’s no clear indicator of when two would return or when they’d be leaving. Ideally, they should have a counter on their unit cards (or army) denoting when they’d depart your faction. That’s not the case and you’d need to remember when they’ll head out. So, if they joined on turn 10, they’d leave at turn 30. They may rejoin at turn 50, which means they’d leave once more come turn 70, and so on.

Note: If you’re playing as the Empire, do not make Gotrek an Elector Count. If he leaves, as intended, you can lose access to the Runefang. There are also a number of bugs related to the two as posted in Total War‘s official subreddit such as crashes when they are rehired. However, these instances happened prior to the DLC actually going live. We’ll find out if everything works out well once the DLC launches as scheduled.

Final Thoughts

I’ll be honest in saying that Gotrek & Felix don’t really offer your faction much except having two really amazing special units that pop up from time to time. There’s a bit of fluff as you continue to progress, true enough.

But, given that we’re talking about Total War: Warhammer 2‘s Mortal Empires campaign, the biggest challenge you’d face wouldn’t be the Skaven, Vampire Counts, Lizardmen, or Chaos. No, the biggest challenge would be the tediousness and boredom of waiting for all those turns just so the two champions could make their way back to you.

If for anything else, Gotrek & Felix might be a means for Creative Assembly to introduce the concept of recruitable lords and heroes that will eventually leave your employ — aka. mercenaries. And, there’s one particular mercenary faction in Warhammer Fantasy Battles that fans have been craving for. Do you know what that means? As Brian Blessed (who voiced Gotrek in this DLC) had said, “Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war.”

Perhaps we may see similar mechanics in due time once the Dogs of War faction arrives in Total War: Warhammer 2, or maybe even for the third game. For now, though, Gotrek & Felix are just a small taste and there may be bigger possibilities down the road.

That does it for our Gotrek & Felix guide for Total War: Warhammer 2. We hope this guide has helped you out in helping Gotrek survive (and be forever known as a terrible slayer). Although Gotrek & Felix aren’t part of Total War: Warhammer 2‘s The Hunter & The Beast DLC, we do have a guides and features hub that has everything you need to know. You can check that out right over here.