Boris Bokha, also known as Boris Ursus, is one of the playable lords in Total War: Warhammer III. He’s not available when you’ve just started the game. However, you can rescue him by playing as either of the two Kislevite leaders: his daughter, Tzarina Katarin, or the enigmatic patriarch, Kostaltyn. Here’s our Total War: Warhammer III guide to help you unlock Boris Ursus as a legendary lord for Kislev.
Note: For more information, check out our Total War: Warhammer III guides and features hub. You can also take a look at our main guide for Tzarina Katarin’s and Kislev’s mechanics.
Total War: Warhammer III Kislev guide – How to unlock Boris Ursus
The Frozen Falls quest battle
Boris Ursus was presumed dead at the start of Total War: Warhammer III‘s campaign. But, he’s actually just sleeping on the job. If you play as either Tzarina Katarin or Kostaltyn, you’ll need to control the three great cities of Kislev, Praag, and Erengrad for 10 consecutive turns. If you manage to do this, a quest battle called The Frozen Falls will appear. You can teleport to it anytime when you’re ready.
The cutscene shows that Boris is hibernating while encased in ice, and Tzeentchian forces have begun to surround him. Your goal here is to eliminate all three sorcerers. There’s one immediately to your left down the cliffs, another to your right, and the third one is all the way at the opposite side of the map.
Since you’ve progressed a bit already in the campaign, then you should be good to go. Just watch out for a few surprises. For instance, attacking the Iridescent Horror to your left will make Screamers of Tzeentch, Chaos Furies, and a Soul Grinder appear at your flanks.
If you head to the right, you can pick off most of your foes with Little Grom artillery as you advance. But, once you attack the Iridescent Horror there, Flamers of Tzeentch will also appear from the corners.
Strangely enough, after I had killed all the enemies guarding the two sorcerers, alongside the sorcerers themselves, the main baddie, a Herald, retreated. The Advisor then spoke up saying that Boris has been freed.
What to do with Boris as you continue your campaign
Your victory in this quest battle nets you the “Battle for Boris” achievement. It should also unlock Boris Ursus for Kislev in Total War: Warhammer III.
In the very campaign that you’re playing, you’re presented a dilemma on what to do with Boris. You can either give him any of the three great cities, or you can have him join your forces. I think it’s pretty obvious that we want the latter so we have another legendary lord to lead our armies.
Boris as the leader of the Ursun Revivalists
Now, you can select Boris Ursus as one of Kislev’s leaders in custom battles, as well as a starting lord in Total War: Warhammer III‘s campaign. He leads the Ursun Revivalists faction, and he’s got the following bonuses:
- +30 diplomatic relations with the Ice Court
- -50% construction cost for garrison and religious buildings
- -1 turn to construction time
- +2 recruit rank for War Bear Riders
- -50% upkeep for War Bear Riders (lord’s army)
- +7 leadership and +9 melee attack when fighting against Warriors/Daemons of Chaos and Norsca (lord’s army)
Likewise, if you check his skill tree, you’ll see that he has a unique bear mount, Urskin. His perks include construction time reduction and the removal of colonization costs for the entire faction (this also works if you recruit him as either Katarin or Kostaltyn).
Boris’ starting location is the province of Zorn Uzkul. He’s surrounded by Greenskins and Skaven, and quite far away from potential Kislevite allies. However, you should be able to befriend Zhao Ming of Grand Cathay once his caravans pass through.
Boris also retains the same faction mechanics that the other Kislevite lords have (i.e., Ice Court, Atamans, Motherland, and Devotion), but there’s a key difference. Katarin and Katarin use Devotion and the Motherland to gain supporters. Boris still amasses supporters. However, this feature lets him add his supporters to either Katarin’s or Kostaltyn’s faction. Essentially, it’s a faster means to get one to confederate the other, which might be helpful if you’re playing a co-op campaign.
Total War: Warhammer III is available via Steam, Epic Games, and the Xbox Game Pass for PC. For more information, check out our guides and features hub.
