Malus Control?

[igor140]

So I'm trying out Malus (my first DE), and I think I like how they play... but all of my cities have a MASSIVE control penalty due to Slannesh corruption... but don't I SPREAD Slannesh corruption?

Is that just a thing with this faction, that I harm my own troops by simply existing...? Am I missing something here?

[igor140]

Yeah, I've got a province rebelling every 2 or 3 turns... surely this isn't how this faction is supposed to be played...

[Zeek]

You will spread Slaanesh corruption the more you allow Malus to be possessed. Hover over the meter at the top middle to see what each level does.

Generally, the more possessed he is the more bad-ass he becomes in battle (and some other bonuses) but you will spread corruption and reduce public order.

Drinking the potion reduces possession levels and gives you campaign buffs. It's a back and forth battle until you get the potion recipe that makes it free.

[Reaver79]

As Zeek said, it is a balance thing, you gotta figure it out.. Plenty of boons in going all in either way.

[Holden Bloodfeast]

Originally posted by igor140:

Yeah, I've got a province rebelling every 2 or 3 turns... surely this isn't how this faction is supposed to be played...

Embrace the chaos. Use the rebel armies to level your lords.

[Balkoth]

Malus is not a demon nor does his faction worship demons (like Morathi...sort of).

Instead he's possessed by a demon. So corruption is bad for him.

Higher levels of possession give him bonuses in battle but cause corruption on the map.

Lower levels of possession give campaign map bonuses but you lose the battle bonuses.

You can also mitigate some/all of the corruption problems with Shrines of Khaine and other buildings/effects that remove corruption.

[igor140]

So early game, I likely want to bite the bullet and pay for the potions to keep him un-possessed? At least until I can secure enough territory to stabilize my economy and control?

Does anyone have a quick rundown of "priority targets" in terms of who I should conquer and who I should ally with?

I notice that I start off really friendly with the Slaanesh faction to my west. It seems like a good idea to have an ally, but it seems like a better idea to take all of her land and start to unify the north. That would also help IMMENSELY in controlling the Slaanesh corruption spread. Is that a bad idea?

I also notice that early game, I've got serious money issues. Is it worth building up the troops on the Ark? Seems like a lot of upkeep for an army that isn't immediately useful... To which, what are the best buildings for the ark? Should I have it primarily support buildings, or a troop factory?

Also, any advice on taking the Sword of Khaine? I assume that's a mid-campaign kind of thing... that I'd get my ass kicked if I tried to rush it. I've only ever gotten it as a HE before, and even then only used it for a couple dozen turns until it started corrupting me and I sent it back.

Any other tricks or anything I should know about this faction and/ or start? For example, "As the VCounts, make allies with the Empire and betray them later", "As the HE, pay attention to internal politics, pick a side, and expect Yvresse to betray you"; "As Cathay, control and build up the wall ASAP". Any similar axioms for Malus?

[Zeek]

Originally posted by igor140:

So early game, I likely want to bite the bullet and pay for the potions to keep him un-possessed? At least until I can secure enough territory to stabilize my economy and control?

Does anyone have a quick rundown of "priority targets" in terms of who I should conquer and who I should ally with?

I notice that I start off really friendly with the Slaanesh faction to my west. It seems like a good idea to have an ally, but it seems like a better idea to take all of her land and start to unify the north. That would also help IMMENSELY in controlling the Slaanesh corruption spread. Is that a bad idea?

I also notice that early game, I've got serious money issues. Is it worth building up the troops on the Ark? Seems like a lot of upkeep for an army that isn't immediately useful... To which, what are the best buildings for the ark? Should I have it primarily support buildings, or a troop factory?

Also, any advice on taking the Sword of Khaine? I assume that's a mid-campaign kind of thing... that I'd get my ass kicked if I tried to rush it. I've only ever gotten it as a HE before, and even then only used it for a couple dozen turns until it started corrupting me and I sent it back.

Any other tricks or anything I should know about this faction and/ or start? For example, "As the VCounts, make allies with the Empire and betray them later", "As the HE, pay attention to internal politics, pick a side, and expect Yvresse to betray you"; "As Cathay, control and build up the wall ASAP". Any similar axioms for Malus?

I just did a Malus campaign a few weeks ago, it was my first time playing him but I'm familiar with Dark Elves.

What I did early game was defeat the initial army, capture the settlment. Then, go East to the Nurgle faction. Defeat them and gift the town closest to you to Daemon Prince. That will give you good relations with him and secures your East flank so you can push West.

Then I drank the potion to give me full control and growth and kept pushing west. You want to gobble up all the land between you and Hellebron/Malekith. Then, you can go south and take out the High Elves and mess around with Sword of Khaine.

Regarding economy, you basically want to dedicate all land provinces to be money makers with growth, slave decline prevention, and control buildings. Your black arks to have the recruitment buildings. This is because you get insane gold per turn if you remain aggressive (which you should be doing as Dark Elves) and take all the slaves you can get.

[cubby]

Originally posted by igor140:

I also notice that early game, I've got serious money issues. Is it worth building up the troops on the Ark? Seems like a lot of upkeep for an army that isn't immediately useful... To which, what are the best buildings for the ark? Should I have it primarily support buildings, or a troop factory?

Also, any advice on taking the Sword of Khaine? I assume that's a mid-campaign kind of thing... that I'd get my ass kicked if I tried to rush it. I've only ever gotten it as a HE before, and even then only used it for a couple dozen turns until it started corrupting me and I sent it back.

First, don't take the sword of khaine, Malus is super strong already and it will just make your control issues worse.

Black Arks are critical, especially once you start invading outside of the chaos wastes. Dark Elves don't have a global recruitment option so getting a couple military buildings is necessary for the front lines. And, you definitely want to build all the infrastructure buildings in there, the +3 recruit rank one is phenomenally useful.

[sentry]

Originally posted by igor140:

Yeah, I've got a province rebelling every 2 or 3 turns... surely this isn't how this faction is supposed to be played...

I actually would love this; pure chaos. Is this how malus actually plays now on campaign? I haven't tried him since WH2