Achilles’ unique mechanics
Hot-blooded Achilles
In Total War Saga: Troy, you’ll bear witness to Achilles’ erratic, moody, and temperamental nature. At first, “Proud” Achilles, as cool and calm as Brad Pitt in Inglorious Basterds, won’t have any pros or cons.
Indeed, the game even tells you that he “leads his armies with a rational mind.” Then, due to various events, epic missions, or occurrences throughout your campaign, you’ll see major changes that will severely affect your playthrough for good or ill.
Your actions and different occurrences during your Total War Saga: Troy campaign will have a gradual effect until a particular mood reaches 100%. Events and epic missions, however, will often lead to a 100% mood swing instantly and can last several turns.
Note: You’ll sometimes be presented with a decision to give Achilles gifts to placate and soothe his emotions. This will reset his mood back to the “Proud” status.
| Mood | Changes due to… | Effect | Sustained via… | Achilles is like… |
| Proud | The default mood. Achilles will revert to this if you select the decision to give him gifts (using up some of your resources). | None | None | Aldo Raine from Inglorious Basterds. |
| Indignant | Low motivation for heroes. Lost ancillaries. Spending time garrisoned. Broken diplomatic treaties. Winning duels via the Living Legend mechanic. Refusing duels. | +30% to all resources (factionwide) +10 happiness (local province) -10 influence (factionwide) -50 diplomatic evaluation for all deals | Spending time garrisoned. | Tyler Durden from Fight Club. |
| Grieving | Unit in Achilles’ army gets destroyed. Razed settlements. Killing captives. Losing favor with gods. Wounded or killed heroes and allies. Winning duels via the Living Legend mechanic. | +20% favor from temples (factionwide) +20% favor from priestess rituals (factionwide) +200 XP per turn to all units (Achilles’ army) -7 happiness (factionwide) | Having a priestess tag along with Achilles’ army. | Louis from Interview with the Vampire. |
| Outraged | War with neighboring factions. Regions getting raided. Losing any battle with any army or garrison. Agent actions against Achilles. Achilles getting ambushed. Winning duels via the Living Legend mechanic. Warriors refusing a duel. | +40% melee attack for all units (Achilles’ army) +25% damage for all units (Achilles’ army) +100% post-battle loot (factionwide) +10% casualty replenishment rate (factionwide) +100% income from raiding, looting, and sacking (factionwide) -30% resources (factionwide) -50 growth (factionwide) | Keep battling opponents every turn. | David Mills from Se7en after seeing what’s in the box. |
Living Legend
Achilles seeks to prove that he is the greatest warrior the world has ever known. That’s why he challenges other champions to test his mettle. As mentioned earlier, this is akin to Lu Bu’s mechanic from A World Betrayed with a few key differences.
First, champions often come from a pool of existing generals from other nearby factions. Likewise, you can challenge them directly via the Living Legend panel:
When a champion accepts a duel, Achilles must go on a journey for three turns and another general will have to lead his army:
A champion may also automatically lose the challenge the moment you click on that button. I’m guessing that this might be due to the level disparity:
If someone refuses a duel, Achilles will need to defeat their army in battle:
There will always be three champions per set and, once you’ve bested all of them, Achilles will have reduced unit upkeep and increased influence factionwide for 10 turns. After these turns elapse, you’ll be told that the people are doubting Achilles’ prowess and a new pool of challengers will eventually pop up.
Lastly, defeating a set of champions lets Achilles obtain extra Myrmidon-type troops for recruitment. They still have recruitment and upkeep costs, but you can immediately recruit them without waiting for a turn and without having the pre-requisite buildings.
Anyway, we’re done with Achilles’ unique mechanics. Let’s check out his campaign progression and epic missions.
