Kislev in Total War: Warhammer III is a fractured nation where its two legendary lords can’t even see eye to eye. However, through shrewd diplomacy and the use of various systems, you’ll gain a lot of bonuses and even a way to bring your rival into the fold. Here’s our Total War: Warhammer III Tzarina Katarin and Kislev guide to help you with Motherland Invocation, Devotion, general diplomacy, and confederation with Kostaltyn.
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 Tzarina Katarin and Kislev guide – Motherland Invocations, Devotion, Diplomacy, and Confederation
Diplomacy: Boosting trade and making new friends
Simply put, now that you’re controlling Kislev, you’ll be offering trade deals instead of rejecting them. Because of how often you’ll fight Chaos, Norscans, and the occasional Skaven, the rest of the Order factions will see you in a positive light.
At the start, Empire Elector Counts from Ostland, Ostermark, and Stirland will be amenable to trade agreements and non-aggression pacts (NAPs). You’ll also receive missions or events that let you buddy up with the Druzhina Enclave and Brotherhood of the Bear to move you closer to confederation.
However, there’s one fella who doesn’t seem too happy, and that’s Kostaltyn of the Great Orthodoxy. His faction wants to wrest control of Kislev from Katarin’s Ice Court. Funnily enough, he’ll mellow out once the Chaos invasions happen (creating relationship boosts). But, the only way to fully integrate him into your faction is through the use of The Motherland and gaining supporters.
The Motherland Invocations
The Motherland is an integral feature that represents the pantheon and political climate of Kislev in Total War: Warhammer III. There are four kinds of Motherland Invocations with factionwide effects lasting 10 turns. However, you can select a different one if you have enough Devotion to spare, and that will replace what’s active. You can also see how many turns are left for the Invocation by mousing over a small icon next to the Devotion amount at the top of your screen.
- Salyak – +1 supporters when gaining a character rank, +20 growth, and +8% casualty replenishment rate.
- Dazh – +1 supporters when constructing a building, +15% income from trade, and +8% income from all buildings.
- Ursun – +5 supporters when you occupy/conquer a settlement, attrition to enemy units in your territories, and “The Bitterness of Winter” army ability (leadership, vigor, and speed debuff).
- Tor – +2 supporters when fighting a battle, +5% melee attack, and the “Wrath of the Bear” army ability (base weapon damage and armor-piercing weapon damage).
The Ursun Invocation is the most rewarding, but it’s extremely unlikely that you’ll conquer lands often. As such, you’re better off with Dazh and Tor. Use Dazh when you have several building constructions that are about to be completed. Then, when the Realms of Chaos/Chaos Rifts appear, switch to Tor since you’re guaranteed a lot of fights.
Note: Four techs will improve the effects of Invocations. These are Ursunite Cult Customs, Festival of Urtza, Salyak Cult Customs, and Dazh Cult Customs. However, you still need to wait a few turns and spend 200 Devotion.
Increasing Motherland Devotion for Kislev in Total War: Warhammer III
I’ve talked about Kislev’s Devotion mechanic for a bit, so how exactly do you increase it? Well, there are a few ways:
- The Bokha Palace, a unique building in Kislev.
- Orthodoxy District buildings in the three great cities. These also allow for Patriarch recruitment, while improving control and corruption reduction.
- Hallowed Wood Forest buildings in minor settlements. These also improve casualty replenishment rate, ambush success chance, income from farms, and corruption reduction.
- Religion branch buildings in minor settlements. These buildings require Devotion to be constructed, but they’ll add Devotion per turn. They also allow for Patriarch recruitment, as well as add supporters per turn, control, and corruption reduction.
- If playing as Tzarina Katarin in Total War: Warhammer III, her faction bonus gives +10 Devotion whenever Frost Maiden heroes perform successful hostile actions.
- Katarin also has the Khan-Queen skill that adds Devotion.
- Some events and decisions will add Devotion.
- The most rewarding means of gaining Devotion are battle victories against Chaos forces. Once you enter the Realms of Chaos or see Chaos Rifts popping up, there will be countless daemons to eliminate. Defeating them nets you Devotion, and there’s also a post-battle option to acquire some more.
Note: If Devotion gets too low, it may cause Chaos rebels to start appearing in any region that you own.
Supporters and Confederation with Kostaltyn
One of your key goals as Tzarina Katarin is to make sure that Kostaltyn is no longer a threat. By spending Devotion on Invocations and subsequently gaining more supporters through your actions, you should increase your Motherland progress bar. For the four earlier segments, you’ll mostly gain control, leadership, speed, and diplomatic bonuses with all Kislevite factions. But, once you hit 600 supporters, you’ll get a chance to confederate with Kostaltyn. This will merge The Great Orthodoxy’s faction with Katarin’s Ice Court (or vice versa if he’s way ahead of you).
You’ve also got a couple of supporter actions that can hinder your rival’s progress. You can either spend 5,000 gold or 200 Devotion to cause your rival to lose 50 supporters. Using either of these actions will cause a 20-turn cooldown before they can be activated again.
All right, let’s talk about additional mechanics for Tzarina Katarin and Kislev in Total War: Warhammer III. We’ll discuss Ice Court hero recruitment, the Crystal Cloak quest battle, and how we can unlock Boris Ursus.
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.
