CA clarifies how to unlock Ulrika in Total War: Warhammer 3

Total War: Warhammer 3 has a new DLC, Forge of the Chaos Dwarfs, and with that paid DLC's release comes a "free-LC" for everyone. This time, it's a legendary hero for Kislev and Empire factions named Ulrika Magdova.

Unlocking Ulrika works differently to the way it has for previous free-LCs, and Creative Assembly explained how via a post on the Steam forum and an FAQ. Where earlier freebies would either show up in the storefront or need to be added to your account from the Total War Access Dashboard, it's a different process this time.

You'll need to register a CA account, which is a new system Creative Assembly has for keeping track of players across all its games. If you had an account with Total War Access you'll already have a CA account with the same login and password, but you'll still need to update it and give it the OK to connect to either Steam or Epic, wherever you own Total War: Warhammer 3. If you have trouble logging in like I did, hit the profile icon at the top right, log out, and try again. Accessing it from an incognito tab seems to work as well.

Once you've filled out your details, you won't need to tick any boxes to claim Ulrika, or download anything extra. If you want to make sure it worked, start a custom battle as either The Empire or Kislev and see if you can add her to your army. If you want to have Ulrika on your side in a campaign game, that's going to take a little more explaining.

Ulrika can be earned by Kislev or Empire factions in either a Realm of Chaos or Immortal Empires campaign. First you'll need to get your lord to rank 11, and after that a quest called Slaughter on the Steppes will appear. If you're already partway through a campaign, don't worry, you don't need to start a new one. I had the quest pop on a save where I was already around 100 turns into a Kislev campaign, with one lord at level 39. 

The first quest will demand you either construct a Frozen Outpost if you're Kislevite, or Tall Walls if you're Imperial. That's a tier-three building in the minor settlement defense category, so start working toward that while you're ranking up your lord to level 11. If you've already built one, no worries. That quest will auto-complete and the second will appear.

The second quest is Bait the Bloodborn, for which you'll need to save up 15,000 gold in your treasury. Once that's done, a dilemma will appear on the next turn called Ulrika the Vampire. That's right, Ulrika is one of the undead, and you'll have the option to either recruit her or execute her for a 10-turn boost to growth and control. Of course you want to choose "recruit" to finally unlock Ulrika, at which point she'll appear beside your lord on the campaign map.

It's worth all that hassle. Ulrika is a hybrid ranged/melee combatant who also casts spells, boosts recruit ranks, and has two unique items, a unique ancillary, and a unique skill line. While you could use her as an independent agent outside an army, that's not where she shines. Her unique skills come with buffs that apply to everyone in the army she joins, decreasing attrition, increasing fire resistance, spell resistance, and so on. 

She's a powerful fighter too, with one of her items, the Silver Dagger, adding magic attacks, and 25% base and armor-piercing weapon damage for 32 seconds. She's also got access to spells from the lore of shadows, which are enhanced by her Blood Shard, which boosts her spell mastery with every kill she makes. Her ancillary, Gabriella von Nachthafen, increases the Winds of Magic power reserve by five each turn.

Still, Ulrika's better used as a warrior than a spellcaster, even if she only gets a horse as a mount rather than the war bear other Kislevites fight with. Previous legendary heroes have been all over the chart in terms of power level, with Ariel and Lord Kroak being particularly tough, but after testing Ulrika out in a campaign I'd put her right up there alongside them—especially with those army-wide buffs.