History GameBreaker / TotalWar

* Kislev gets Boris Ursus. Boris reduces the upkeep for war bear riders, one of Kislev's best units, by 50% in his army and he gets multiple boosts that make them hit harder. Throw in a Patriarch or two for Salyak's Lullaby (to heal them) and Tor's Battle Hymn (for that '''''+40 melee attack''''') and maybe a Frost Maiden (put them all on bears, of course) and you get a nigh-indestructible doomstack of bears that can simply run over anything in its way. [[https://youtu.be/hxLBqMqqNWI Here is just a sample]] of what doomstacking War Bear Riders with Boris can get you in the late game.

* Kislev gets Boris Ursus. Boris reduces the upkeep for war bear riders, one of Kislev's best units, by 50% in his army and he gets multiple boosts that make them hit harder. Throw in a Patriarch or two for Salyak's Lullaby (to heal them) and Tor's Battle Hymn (for that '''''+40 melee attack''''') and maybe a Frost Maiden (put them all on bears, of course) and you get a nigh-indestructible doomstack of bears that can simply run over anything in its way.

** The Exiles of Khorne is one of the strongest factions ever put into the the ''Total War: Warhammer'' trilogy, only maybe rivalled by Tzeentch and the TWII High Elves. Their faction leader Skarbrand is a one-unit doomstack on his own, literally capable of solo-ing ''entire full-stack armies'' by himself (once he gets enough upgrades, though he is still extremely strong early game) and two-shotting enemy generals. Bloodletters are anti-infantry powerhouses who can hold their own against Monstrous units, and that's before they get veterancy upgrades - and that's ''before'' getting into how auto-resolve massively favors them when calculating battles. Bloodletters are the ''basic'' Khorne unit, by the way; the faction gets even more ridiculous once the Exalted Bloodletters (let alone Bloodthirsters) get involved. Combined with the ability to create a Blood Host (basically a completely free new army) at will whenever they raze a sttlement and automatically colonizing ruined settlements with enough Khorne corruption, Khorne is essentially the post-rework Beastmen on every single drug imaginable, and is pretty much the ultimate snowball faction that will take over the Realms of Chaos in short order if allowed.

** Nurgle is probably the most "balanced" of the four, and plays a lot like the tabletop version of Nurgle daemons - they are slow, they are tanky, and they can hold large armies in place like nobody's business. That is, until you find out how to get [[ThePlague The Crumbling Ague]]. This disease alone not only massively increase your Plague spread and Nurgle corruption, but also gives Vanguard deployment to your entire army AND gives you a whopping '''35% casualty replenishment rate''', essentially allowing you to regenerate your army as fast as you take causalties. For free. Oh, and as an added bonus, its causes all enemy armies to suffer Attrition and severely reduces their movement range on the campaign map.

** Slaanesh takes a very close third among the game-breaking Chaos Daemon factions, and that is only because of certain bugs involving cavalry charges that drastically affects Charge damage. Slaanesh is essentially an unholy fusion of the Wood Elves, Tomb Kings, and Dark Elves; Slaanesh is all about cavalry. A '''lot''' of cavalry. Essentially THE GlassCannon army of of the ''Total War: Warhammer'' trilogy, all Slaaneshi daemons are extreme FragileSpeedster units that move fast and hit hard, at the expense of utterly disintegrating if an enemey sneezes at them. This makes them very, very micro-intensive and DifficultButAwesome, severaly punishing poor gameplay but also immensely rewarding skilled players who know how to trap and encircle enemy armies. Oh, and let's not even get into the Lore of Slaanesh magic tree, which is could be an entire folder on this page by itself. That's all just on the battlefield, because Slaanesh also has some hilariously strong diplomacy and treaty bonuses as well even with enemy factions with the Seduction mechanic, to the point that getting enough Seduction lets you literally steal enemy units and deploy them as yours.
** Nurgle is probably the most "balanced" of the four, and plays a lot like the tabletop version of Nurgle daemons - they are slow, they are tanky, and they can hold large armies in place like nobody's business. That is, until you find out how to get [[ThePlague The Crumbling Ague]]. This disease not only massively increase your Plague spread and Nurgle corruption, but also gives Vanguard deployment to your entire army AND gives you a whopping '''35% casualty replenishment rate''', essentially allowing you to regenerate your army as fast as you normally take causalties. For free. Oh, and as an added bonus, its causes all enemy armies to suffer Attrition and severely reduces their movement range on the campaign map.

** Slaanesh takes a very close third among the game-breaking Chaos Daemon factions, and that is only because of certain bugs involving cavalry charges that drastically affects Charge damage. Slaanesh is essentially an unholy fusion of the Wood Elves, Tomb Kings, and Dark Elves; Slaanesh is all about cavalry. A '''lot''' of cavalry. Essentially THE GlassCannon army of of the ''Total War: Warhammer'' trilogy, all Slaaneshi daemons are extreme FragileSpeedster units that move fast and hit hard, at the expense of utterly disintegrating if an enemey sneezes at them. This makes them very, very micro-intensive and DifficultButAwesome, severaly punishing poor gameplay but also immensely rewarding skilled players who know how to trap and encircle enemy armies. Oh, and let's not even get into the Lore of Slaanesh magic tree, which is could be an entire folder on this page by itself.

** The Exiles of Khorne is one of the strongest factions ever put into the the ''Total War: Warhammer'' trilogy, only maybe rivalled by Tzeentch and the TWII High Elves. Their faction leader Skarbrand is a one-unit doomstack on his own, literally capable of solo-ing ''entire full-stack armies'' by himself (once he gets enough upgrades, though he is still extremely strong early game) and two-shotting enemy generals. Bloodletters are anti-infantry powerhouses who can hold their own against Monstrous units, and that's before they get veterancy upgrades - and that's ''before'' getting into how the auto-resolve massively favors them when calculating battles. Bloodletters are the ''basic'' Khrone unit, by the way; the faction gets even more ridiculous once the Exalted Bloodletters (and Bloodthirsters) get involved Combined with the ability to create a Blood Host (basically a completely free new army) at will whenever they raze a sttlement and automatically colonize ruined settlements with enough Khorne corruption, Khorne is essentially the post-rework Beastmen on every single drug imaginable, and is pretty much the ultimate snowball faction that will take over the Realms of Chaos in short order if allowed.

** The Exiles of Khorne is one of the strongest factions ever put into the the ''Total War: Warhammer'' trilogy, only maybe rivalled by Tzeentch and the TWII High Elves. Their faction leader Skarbrand is a one-unit doomstack on his own, literally capable of solo-ing ''entire full-stack armies'' by himself (once he gets enough upgrades, though he is still extremely strong early game) and two-shotting enemy generals. Bloodletters are anti-infantry powerhouses who can hold their own against Monstrous units, and that's before they get veterancy upgrades - and that's ''before'' getting into how the auto-resolve massively favors them when calculating battles. Combined with the ability to create a Blood Host (basically a completely free new army) at will whenever they raze a sttlement and automatically colonize ruined settlements with enough Khorne corruption, Khorne is essentially the post-rework Beastman on every single drug imaginable.

** Slaanesh takes a very close third among the game-breaking Chaos Daemon factions, and that is only because of certain bugs involving cavalry charges that drastically affects Charge damage. Slaanesh is essentially an unholy fusion of the Wood Elves, Tomb Kings, and Dark Elves; Slaanesh is all about cavalry. A '''lot''' of cavalry. Essentially THE GlassCannon army of of the ''Total War: Warhammer'' trilogy, all Slaaneshi daemons are extreme FragileSpeedster units that move fast and hit hard, at the expense of utterly disintegrating if an enemey sneezes at them. This makes them very, very micro-intensive and DifficultButAwesome, severaly punishing poor gameplay but also immensely rewarding skilled players who know how to trap and encircle enemy armies.

* Pretty much ''all'' of the Chaos Daemon armies are this compared to anything that has been put in the game before, at least at release.

** Rivalling the Exiles of Khorne is Tzeentch, who in some cases flat-out surpasses Khorne daemon units in many ways at the most broken faction in the game. This is primarily because of Barrier, which that ''all Tzeentch units'' have by default. Essentially a magical shield, this gives Tzeentch units way more durability than they would have on paper, allowing them to shrug off melee attacks that would otherwise obliterate them. That's before getting the main reason into why they are so broken; Tzeentch daemons are ''almost all ranged units'', a type that has been historically overpowered since the first game was released. This allows Tzeentch daemons to effortlessly kite any other faction to death while spamming powerful magic spells at them, and even if the enemy gets into close combat, they can tank some damage while waiting for the rest of the Chaotic magical bombardment to take out enemy forces.

** Any Beastmen faction having the Sword of Khaine after this update, for the simple reason that they can completely ignore all penalties associated with the weapon. The primary drawbacks of the Sword are that the wielder's faction gets widespread Public Order issues as it possesses the wielder, Unit Upkeep costs go up to a 10% increase faction-wide, and diplomatic penalties with all factions. After this update, the Beastmen have no upkeep, they don't deal with Public Order in any Herdstone Settlement they raise at all, and all Order factions hate them anyway. This leaves any Beastmen faction in possession of the Sword with an incredibly powerful Lord that can eventually solo armies and no real repercussions for claiming it, unlike every other faction in the game.

** Morghur the Shadowgave gets a lesser version of Malagor's infinite Flock of Doom in the form of his Aura of Transmutation, but unlike Malagor he doesn't have to be in melee to activate it, he starts the game with it, and it's always on. This, combined with the AI's problems with sieges, makes Morghur a one-man settlement-taker since he can simply stand under the gates of an enemy settlement where the enemy can't hit him and let his aura damage the infantry on top of the walls and behind the gate until they all die, since it will just send more units to guard said walls and gate until it runs out. He also gets a special stance that lets him cause Chaos attrition to any army in the same region as him regardless of the region's corruption.

** Both Brood Horrors and Cellular Instability were heavily nerfed in the Rakarth update. Now the explosion not only deals about half the damage it used to, but it also causes more damage to the Brood Horrors, which are now slower, easier to bog down, and die quicker. They are still pretty powerfull in single-player, though.

* The Rite of Primeval Glory earns a place for being one of the few game-busting tactics the AI will use on the player. The Lizardmen factions can spend 12000 gold to get an half-army of feral dinosaurs and the ability to summon feral Cold Ones in battle. What breaks it? This ritual is unlocked at the start of the game and has no prerquisite other than its price. This can lead to AI-controlled Lizardmen attacking the player with one of these armies as early as ''Turn 10'' and completely dominating any early-game army they've managed to throw together by then. It's one of the leading causes of death of Clan Pestilens, since they start adjacent to and at war with Itza.

** Morghur the Shadowgave gets a lesser version of Malagor's infinite Flock of Doom in the form of his Aura of Transmutation, but unlike Malagor he doesn't have to be in melee to activate it, he starts the game with it, and it's always on. This, combined with the AI's problems with sieges, makes Morghur a one-man settlement-taker since he can simply stand under the gates of an enemy settlement where the enemy can't hit him and let his aura damage the infantry on top of the walls and behind the gate until they all die. He also gets a special stance that lets him cause Chaos attrition to any army in the same region as him regardless of the region's corruption.

* In vanilla ''Shogun 2'', it's possible to build a Monastery (or Jodo Shinshu Temple), a Naginata Dojo, and an Armorer (Encampment upgrade) in a province with a Master Armorer (Smithing); in fact, the Ikko-Ikki start with Kaga Province, which has master smiths and comes with a temple. The one weakness of standard Naginata Warrior Monks is that they're vulnerable to arrow fire due to their lack of armor, but this combination makes them more heavily armored than vanilla Katana Samurai, negating their usual weakness. Particularly for the Uesugi and Ikko-Ikki clans, this allows them to become the "nuke" in the the TacticalRockPaperScissors.

* Any and all Phalanx units are truly ridiculous if used properly, and can make you all but invulnerable in sieges. The very basic infantry of many factions, the Militia Hoplites, can be used effectively at any stage of the game, because short of overwhelming numbers or missile troops, there is no way to power through the wall of spears. And if you double or even triple stack up they can stand firm against Urban cohorts, Cataphracts and Generals Bodyguards. In fact, Phalanx's are also hard counters to just about every other game breaker from Rome. Chariots? Literally die on contact with the spears. Elephants? See last. Bezerkers? Don't even get close. A properly used Phalanx is an immense balancing force, with their only weakness being speed, and in return making their user all but invincible in defence.

* The entire Tomb King faction campaign becomes this if you can survive the EarlyGameHell with weak starting position/economy - especially with Settra the Imperishable - and overcome their general DifficultButAwesome playstyle. Tomb Kings have no upkeep cost whatsoever and can raise up 20-stack armies right from the start of the game with only gold investment - although they can only initially make one army at a time and can only get more through researching Dynasties. Once you start raiding and pillaging local areas for enough gold to keep your armies at full strength all the time, the faction quickly snowballs as they can raise more and more armies. While their regular skeleton soldiers are very weak compared to other starting unit, the Tomb Kings have quite strong and quick blob-killer units like Ushabti and Tomb Scorpions. Their end-game Monstrous units are some of the most powerful in the entire game, with the Necrosphynx laughing at other equivalent end-game units and commanders, while Warsphinyxes and Hierotitans devour regular infantry and can even hold their own against Anti-Large infantry. Combined with the Legions of Legend - essentially the prenerf Regiments of Reknown from the first game - which can be summoned as extra upgraded armies anywhere for absolutely free once you get enough Canopic Jars to unlock them (very easy if you know what you're doing), it doesn't take long for the Tomb Kings to start utterly steamrolling other factions in short order. This is actually a bit of FridgeBrilliance too, since their campaign and their lore revolves around the Tomb Kings slowly reawakening from undeath and recapturing their empire's former glory.

** Morghur the Shadowgave gets a lesser version of Malagor's infinite Flock of Doom in the form of his Aura of Transmutation, but unlike Malagor he doesn't have to be in melee to activate it, he starts the game with it, and it's always on. This, combined with the AI's problems with sieges, makes Morghur a one-man settlement-taker since he can simply stand under the gates of an enemy settlement where the enemy can't hit him and let his aura damage the infantry on top of the walls and behind the gate until they all die.

** The humble Ungor Raider. They're bad at everything, deal pathetic damage, rout if looked at funny, and have a range only slightly greater than a thrown rock. What really breaks them, though? They're ranged units, and they're ''free.'' Being free, ranged, and having no unit cap means Beastmen can simply fill any spare armies with these little bastards and go around taking down lower-tier settlements with ease because most garrisons are weak to ranged enemies no matter how bad. They come with Stalk and Vanguard Deployment to help them get into position to shoot and are also Expendable so it doesn't matter if they die! And if you lose one, two, or a whole army of them, so what? It didn't cost you anything and wasn't using any valuable unit cap.

** The Slaughterhorn Tribe gains a unique mechanic called Rampage. As they win battles and kill enemies they gain Rampage Tokens and Momentum, with the Rampage ending once Momentum is depleted. There are three tiers of Rampages - Harsh, Savage, and Cataclysmic - with each tier giving a bonus. Another important thing to know is that Taurox, the Slaughterhorn Tribe Legendary Lord, has access to the unique Juggernaut Raiding stance, which combines the best aspects of both Raiding and March, giving him 150% movement but also keeping his ability to attack, though his units start Winded. The game starts to wobble upon achieving a Harsh Rampage, since Taurox can now replenish his full movement by spending 2 Momentum, exactly the amount he gains from winning a battle. As long as there's another battle in range Taurox can refresh his movement and attack again. Where the game breaks completely is upon achieving a Savage Rampage, since one of the rewards you can pick reduces the Momentum cost of refreshing Taurox's movement to 1. Now Taurox effectively has 300% movement that he can refresh indefinitely as long as he can find something to fight, allowing him to fight dozens of battles, capture whole provinces, or even ''wipe out entire factions'' in the span of a single turn as long as the player is good at avoiding casualties. One streamer, [=LegendOfTotalWar=], managed to fight around two dozen battles in one turn... ''on Turn 14.'' He'd later top this a few turns later with '''''43'''''.
** Malagor the Dark Omen received a significant buff as well. Most notably, he gains an ability , Mantle of Crows, around Rank 15 that lets him cast Flock of Doom centered on himself whenever he's in melee. Automatically. For free. Indefinitely. Add in other items that grant Ward save and resistances, and the Sword of Khaine if you can get ahold of it, and Malagor becomes capable of getting thousands of kills by himself. He's no slouch on the campaign map either as his unique movement stance combines March and Beast-Paths, letting him teleport long distances across the map.

** Both Brood Horrors and Cellular Instability were heavily nerfed in the Rakarth update. Now the explosion not only deals about half the damage it used to, but it also causes more damage to the Brood Horrors, which are now slower, easier to bog down, and die quicker.

* The Wood Elves' answer to the above-mentioned doom-stack is a doom-stack of their own. The Twisted and the Twilight DLC not only upgraded Hawk Riders so that they are no longer [[TierInducedScrappy borderline useless]], but they become absolutely devastating with the Twins, as they grant all of them the Volley of Kuronos ability. As the name implies, it's a volley of magic missiles that doesn't cost any Winds of Magic, can be used twice in a battle (three times with one of the Twins' upgrades), and it deals tremendous damage to both infantry, monstrous infantry, and cavalry, easily capable of erasing between a half to two-thirds of most units with a single cast. Furthermore, they can be vanguard-deployed right on top of the enemy lines, allowing them to instantly delete all of their ranged units right at the beginning of the battle. If that doesn't break the enemy's morale right away, they can still easily whittle down remaining units with their arrows and bide their time until they can cast their ability again, as melee units can't hit them while they're airborne. Their only weakness is armies with a lot of single entity units or heroes, as Volley of Kuronos is not very effective against those, but everything else is fair game.