Best Races to choose in Warhammer Total War 2

Total War: Warhammer II has an almost overwhelming amount of races and factions to play. While long-term fans of the series may already have favorites, new players might need help to pick the best race to play. If that's the case, or if you're just looking for a new race to play, check out our guide to the best races in Total War: Warhammer II below.

Eye of the Vortex

The base campaign for Total War: Warhammer II is Eye of the Vortex. It focuses on the fight between the High Elves, Dark Elves, Chaos forces, and Lizardmen, who battle over control of the Vortex.

Dark Elves

Dark Elves are the primary antagonist of the Eye of the Vortex and, as a result, are one of the best races to play in this campaign. With excellent starting positions, easy early conquests of High Elf minors, and a fantastic chance for confederation, Dark Elves are great for early game growth. 

Later, the established Dark Elves can attempt, once and for all, to eliminate the High Elves—their enemies. Their missions should make this an easy task. It’s always fun to play the bad guys, and Dark Elves are some of the best of the bad in Warhammer.

Lizardmen 

The Lizardmen are one of the strongest races in the game and have some very comfortable starting positions. If you’re Hexoatl, you have plenty of quick expansion options and a few allies for confederation.

With both a solid early game and a broken dinosaur-based endgame, Lizardmen are fun throughout your campaign. They’re also one of the few races that benefit from an overabundance of heroes in your army. So stack your army with dinosaur-mounted lizards and have a blast!

Related: Best Lore Friendly Mods in Warhammer Total War 2

Mortal Empires

To play the Mortal Empires, you’ll need to own the original Total War: Warhammer. Once that’s installed, you’ll have a free download of this campaign. It widens the map and gives you a host of new races to play.

Dwarves

Dwarves start with significant defensive positions, strong basic units, and easy ways to make money. Being miners and crafters, the dwarves’ buildings generate vast amounts of wealth, meaning you can build huge amounts of units. However, your upkeep is expensive, and Dwarves hate paying taxes—which often leads to public order issues.

However, you can quickly expand with lots of puny greenskins to conquer close by and missions that are trivial to complete. Couple this with units like gyrocopters and some solid artillery, and you can see why Dwarves are one of the best races in Total War: Warhammer II.

Humans/Reikland

Picking an Empire faction mires you in the interesting internal politics of the realm. Keeping elector counts happy, and crushing those who oppose you, adds an extra dimension to the game. What’s more, humans are the best.  

DLC Factions

Dozens of DLC Factions can be played in the two different campaigns.

Dreadfleet

Starting on a tiny island between Ulthuan (the donut) and the New World, the Dreadfleet is one of the most open starting positions in the game. Fortunately, it’s also one of the easiest to defend. From your start, you can take on and fight almost anyone you want. 

There’s lots of potential for exciting play styles with the Dreadfleet. Being able to land, fight with their massive variety of ranged weapons, and then leave means you can play a true raider style. Or just take over settlements and become a vast empire. The choice is yours!

Tomb Kings

Tomb Kings have no upkeep, no real resources needed, and free units, working completely differently from the rest of the factions. Simply build up your bases, and you’re ready to go!

Tomb Kings’ late-game consists of seeking out the books of Nagash. After each book, you’ll become even more powerful and able to control more units. Eventually, you’ll sweep across the world, able to defeat any foe. Your very own undead apocalypse!

For more Total War: Warhammer II Guides, check out Best Factions for Beginners in Warhammer Total War 2.