Warhammer: Mark of Chaos - Prince / Commander

Here are general tips for playing the Chaos Champaign in Warhammer: Mark of Chaos, on HARD Difficulty. A list of all our Warhammer: Mark of Chaos articles can be found here.

Prince Skills

• You get every skill at rank 0 as long as you fulfill the prerequisites.
• Any skill with no skill prerequisite deserves special attention because you can bank your points and get 5 ranks of it immediately when you reach the necessary level, instead of spending your points on low-level skills you may not want.
• Look for passive skills that require no mana, because one or two really good skills on a hero will monopolize use of the mana pool anyway.

Combat Skills

Armoured (Level 0)

• Increases the hero's armour by 0.4 per rank.

Armoured > Blademaster (Level 5)

• Increases chance to hit by 3% per rank.

Armoured > Blademaster > Bladestorm (Level 15)

• Each attack has a 4% (+4% per rank) chance to increase the next attack's speed by 50%.

Armoured > Blademaster > Knight of Khaine (Level 25)

• The hero gains +2 Armour (+1 per rank), +10 Magic Resistance (+2 per rank), and +15% chance to hit (+5% per rank). Lasts 20 seconds.
• Work toward getting this at least at rank 0 because it is incredible for tanking.
• Supposedly grants very high Magic Resistance even at the basic level, but this is not apparent in the stats and the Magic Resistance value actually went DOWN when this skill was activated. Could be bugged, so don't rely on it.

Phoenix Shot (Level 0)

• Target has a 30% (+10% per rank) chance of suffering 2 damage. Units within close range of target have a 10% (+2% per rank) chance of suffering 1 damage.
• Presumably the percentiles replace normal weapon attack to-hit percentages and are not affected by skills that modify that.
• In the Empire Campaign, this will actually be very useful, and after Armoured and Tenacity, I would maximize this -- even before Blademaster. The reason is that the Elven Commander does not get a ranged attack unless he is attached to a ranged attack regiment. And since the Elven Archmage cannot really stand up front to take hits, you are putting the Commander up front, which means he will be melee only. This is his only ranged attack, and it is a fairly good one.
• Range is shorter than the Wrath of Khaine. Casting time is a couple of seconds as it uses a bow animation.
• Like the Wrath of Khaine, it does not appear that you can really choose a specific model in a regiment.

Phoenix Shot > Eye of the Hawk (Level 5)

• Gives +5% per rank chance to hit for ranged attacks.

(no prerequisite) > Implacable Heart

• +3% per rank of stamina, or +3% per rank of move speed if mounted on a Dragon.

Duel Skills

These skills are only available during a duel. All other skills that need to be activated are disabled. Therefore, any points put here may be unavailable most of the time, and specializes your hero into an anti-hero build. Even so, it is hard to say whether you will get enough mileage out of a duelist hero because after a bout, he may have low health and no be able to handle a second bout. Damage is typically done by attrition unless you have invested a lot of points.

Taunting Blade (Level 0)

• The hero inflicts 1 damage with 50% chance to hit (+10% per rank), and the attacked opponent incurs extra morale loss.

Taunting Blade > Vaul's Mantle (Level 5)

• The hero gains +15 Armour (+3 per rank), +15 Magic Resistance (+3 per rank). Lasts 10 seconds.
• Obscene bonuses of +30/+30 at 5/5 ranks.

Taunting Blade > Vaul's Mantle > Precision Strike (Level 15)

• Interrupts casting and lowers the opponent's armour by 50% (+10% per rank) for 10 seconds. Increases chance to hit by 15% (+5% per rank).

Deadly Strike (Level 0)

• Gives 5% chance per rank to do 1 extra damage with melee attacks.

Deadly Strike >, Taunting Blade > Vaul's Mantle > Precision Strike > Dragonwrath (Level 25)

• 8 second casting time.
• The hero delivers 5 successive attacks. Each causes 2 damage with 50% chance (+10% per rank) chance to hit.
• Takes all 25 skill points to get this to maximum rank at level 25. A huge investment for a low-level hero to get a duel-only skill that gives you a maximum of 10 damage whereas other heroes have ultimate duel skills that inflict about 50% more

(no prerequisite) > Brief Respite (Level 5)

• After leaving a duel, the hero gains +1 HP per level.

Brief Respite > Champion of Champions (Level 15)

• When entering a duel, the hero gains 10% of his maximum morale per rank.

Command Skills

Passive Command skills work on the hero if they are not attached to a regiment.

Spirit of Battle (Level 0)

• Increases the attack speed of the hero and its attached regiment by 20% for 15 seconds (+3 seconds per rank).

Spirit of Battle > Battle Senses (Level 5)

• Attached regiment defence against behind attacks is increased by 10% per rank.

Spirit of Battle > Battle Senses > Battle-Cry (Level 15)Increases the hero and the attached regiment's chance to hit while charging by 5% per rank.
Spirit of Battle > Pure of Heart (Level 25)

• Refills targeted friendly unit's morale to 100% (+3% per rank) and gives them morale immunity for 5 seconds.

Tenacity (Level 0)

• Increases the armour of the hero and the attached regiment by 0.4 per level.

(no prerequisite) > Call of the Chase (Level 5)

• Increases the movement speed of the hero and its attached regiment by +2% per rank.

Call of the Chase > Dragonslayer (Level 15)

• The hero's and the attached regiment's chance to hit against large units increases by 2% per rank.