Rituals

Rituals are a game mechanic in the Eye of the Vortex campaign, introduced in Total War: Warhammer II.

How they work
In the campaign, each of the 4 main races (divided into playable factions) has a set of rituals they can perform to influence the Great Vortex. High Elves' rituals use blue magic trails; Dark Elves' rituals use purple trails; Skaven rituals' magic use green trails; and Lizardmen rituals' magic use orange trails. The Vortex Victory is one method of winning the campaign.

Note: The Tomb Kings and Vampire Coast are playable in Eye of the Vortex, but don't use rituals. Instead they search for the Books of Nagash and to be the most infamous pirate respectively. Certain DLC factions for the 4 races have their own campaign objectives separate from controlling the Great Vortex, and thus do not participate in rituals or attain Vortex Victory.

Rituals progress in a linear fashion, one after the other. During a ritual, three of your settlements funnel magic across the map to the Great Vortex. A successful attack on any of these settlements will cause the ritual to fail if the settlement is not retaken before it ends. Rituals take up to 10-20 turns to finish, so the settlements must be protected from Warriors of Chaos, Unknown Skaven Clan, and Norscan Tribes factions who will spawn nearby, and from enemy faction armies.

Each completed ritual will cause an animated cutscene to play, and provide some story mission/content.

Diplomatic relations will permanently be increased between the ritual faction and the other factions of their race, while it will permanently be decreased between all factions of the rival races. After completing the fourth ritual, the ritual faction will be locked into war with their rival ritual factions. Diplomacy will no longer be available between these factions.

Eventually, players will have to complete The Final Battle. The first faction to complete their final ritual must defend The Vortex from the rival factions.

Ritual currency
Each ritual has an increasing cost of ritual currency, and has different effects. Ritual currency is generated through settlements, treasure hunts and other dilemmas, winning battles and also through ritual resource sites. The ritual currency is different for each race:


 * Skaven - Icon ritual currency skv.png Warpstone
 * Lizardmen - Icon ritual currency lzd.png Ancient Plaques
 * Dark Elves - Icon ritual currency def.png Scrolls of Hekarti
 * High Elves - Icon ritual currency hef.png Way-fragments

Interventions
Intervention armies can be summoned while another faction is in the middle of performing a ritual. These armies are AI controlled and generally attack the enemy settlements involved in their ritual. Interventions come in 3 levels, which cost different amounts.

See below for faction pages:


 * High Elf Intervention
 * Dark Elf Intervention
 * Lizardmen Intervention
 * Skaven Intervention

List of rituals

 * = AI default ritual faction

Enemy faction spawns
These factions will spawn when a faction begins a ritual, and attack that faction:

Norscan Tribes:
 * Warband of the Crow (Will spawn vs. Skaven)
 * Warband of the Eagle (Will spawn vs. High Elves)
 * Warband of the Hound (Will spawn vs. Dark Elves)
 * Warband of the Serpent (Will spawn vs. Lizardmen)

Warriors of Chaos:
 * Followers of Chaos (Will spawn vs. Skaven)
 * Puppets of Chaos (Will spawn vs. High Elves)
 * Servants to Chaos (Will spawn vs. Dark Elves)
 * Vessels of Chaos (Will spawn vs. Lizardmen)

Skaven:
 * Unknown Skaven Clan

Cutscenes
Warning: SPOILERS.

YouTube links:


 * All Lizardmen campaign cutscenes
 * All High Elves campaign cutscenes