| “ | The daughter of Manann himself is the most feared captain in Sartosa, as merciless as an ocean tempest. | „ |
Aranessa Saltspite is a 
Vampire Coast Legendary Lord unit introduced in Total War: Warhammer II with Curse of the Vampire Coast. In the campaign, she leads the 
Pirates of Sartosa.
Description[ | ]
Amongst the most feared of all the pirate captains of Sartosa is the Queen of Tides, Aranessa Anja Saltspite. Rumour has it that she is the daughter of the Sea-God Manann himself; that she rose fully grown out of the waves in a froth of gore, with seawater flowing through her veins instead of blood. To others, she is simply a mutant who cut off her own fishtail after being cast out of her Norscan tribe as a child. Whatever her origins may be, her skill at a ship’s helm or with a weapon in hand is such that none can dispute her lethality in a sea battle. Having absorbed all there is to know about the art of sailing over her lifetime, she now leads the crew of her mighty square-rigged galleon known as the Swordfysh, hunting down the wolf-ships of the Norscan fleets with a cold vengeance that makes even her own crew invoke the sign of Manann for protection.
Attributes[ | ]
Halberd Infantry- ▲ Armour-Piercing: The damage of armour-piercing weapons mostly ignores the armour of the target, making them the ideal choice against heavily-armoured enemies. They are often heavier and attack at a slower rate though, making them less efficient against poorly-armoured targets.
- ▲ Anti-Large: Anti-Large: Anti-large units have an advantage against targets that are at least as large as a horse. This advantage can be a damage bonus against large targets or an attack that focuses on a very small area. However, some units are simply better against large targets because their attacks are slow and easy to dodge by skilled melee combatants.
- ▲ Melee Expert: Melee Experts might have a very strong melee attack or melee defence, or high values in both. Some also have melee-focused skills like Charge Defence. Use them to counter other strong melee units. When facing them, it is best to take them out before they can enter melee.
- ▲ Aquatic: Where other units of small stature struggle to fight and move in shallow water, Aquatic units excel.
armour-piercing weapons mostly ignores the armour of the target, making them the ideal choice against heavily-armoured enemies. They are often heavier and attack at a slower rate though, making them less efficient against poorly-armoured targets.
Unit Abilities[ | ]
Active Abilities[ | ]
Campaign only[ | ]
Passive Abilities[ | ]
Item Abilities[ | ]
Unique Item[ | ]
Mounts[ | ]
Campaign starting units[ | ]
Eye of the Vortex[ | ]
Mortal Empires[ | ]
Immortal Empires[ | ]
Lord effects[ | ]
- Character's aura leadership effect: +12
- Melee attack: +8 for Sartosan units (Lord's army)
- Weapon strength: +20% for Sartosan units (Lord's army)
Character traits[ | ]
Personal trait[ | ]
Queen of Tides: Aranessa Saltspite is the most feared pirate in all of Sartosa, but none fear her more than the Norscan curs she hunts.
- Character's aura leadership effect: +12
- Melee attack: +8 for Sartosan units (Lord's army)
- Weapon strength: +20% for Sartosan units (Lord's army)
Defeat trait[ | ]
Consigned to the Drink: Once again, the Norscans can raid and rob and plunder in peace. For now, at least.
- Income from sacking settlements: +15%
- Passive ability: "Regeneration" when fighting at sea
Talent Tree[ | ]
- Aranessa's skill tree on TWWH Characters
- Skill Tree on TotalWarhammerPlanner
Strategy[ | ]
WHIII:
Aranessa Saltspite’s “Your Worst Nightmare” skill grants a flat 8,000 gold bonus to all events at sea, even those which would normally yield only an army buff or item. This one perk creates a unique pirate economy based on constant ocean exploration exclusive to Sartosa. Apart from this transformative perk, Aranessa is the pirate Karl Franz. She isn’t insane in battle but she has great supporting abilities, she shines on the campaign map with an array of thematic economic buffs, and she’s surrounded by powerful enemies who can make her campaign brutally difficult. Unlike Franz, Aranessa should always be kept unmounted in battle to capitalize on her small profile and physical resistance. True to her Norscan heritage, she is an unparalleled monster hunter best sent after dangerous large single entities. She also perpetuates the Norscan tradition of fighting in a tattered shirt and shorts, the low armor of which leaves her very vulnerable to focus fire or high-DPS melee infantry like Depthguard. On paper she’s a strong duelist with very high melee stats, but her acrobatic attack animations are a double-edged sword against small targets. Her flying kicks and swinging harpoon will overshoot her duel target as often as the enemy swings at the empty air she just flipped out of. Aranessa is alive and thus cannot be healed by lore of Vampires. (though she can still benefit from Danse Macabre). This can be worked around by giving her a “War Standard of the Corpse Surgeon” banner for constant regeneration. While Aranessa might not always be able to solo fierce melee combatants like Tyrion, she can at least make herself extremely difficult to remove as it will take them ages to pry through her high melee defense, resistances, and constant flipping.
Aranessa has two unique abilities, one unique item, and one unique landmark. Her first bound ability “Spearfisher’s Net” is a three-use net spell with a long cooldown able to target any unit so long as they’re on the ground, with the secondary effect of lowering their Melee Defense by 27. Unfortunately, if used on a small single entity like a lord, Aranessa will continue to use her moving-target leap attack animations almost always overshooting the stationary foe until the net wears off. A fleet captain or other melee unit can better capitalize on the reduced Melee Defense, but it’s usually better spent netting a foe in the open and unloading into the bastard. Her secondary bound ability, “Manann’s Luck”, grants +27 Melee Defense and +22% Ward Save for 15 seconds. This ability has unlimited uses so there’s no bad time to use it, but it comes in particular handy when taking ranged fire on the approach when her low armor leaves her otherwise vulnerable to focus fire. Her unique weapon, the “Krakens’ Bane” harpoon, gives +5 Melee Attack and +8 Bonus vs Large to all allies within 40 meters as well as herself, plus an additional +10 Melee Attack, +25% Weapon Strength, and +25% Raiding income for her personally. Even when holding Aranessa in reserve it’s smart to keep her near melee combat where her allies can benefit from this constant aura. She can also unlock the remaining abilities available to all Vampire Coast lords, like “Hornswaggle”. Her unique landmark, “The Saw-Shark’s Blade”, can be built in her horde building once her flagship reaches Level V. It enables lightning strike battles when reinforcements are present (potentially saving her three perk points) and grants her army +30% bonus from Raiding, +20% bonus from Sacking, and +10% casualty replenishment.
Many of Aranessa’s perks have the secondary or tertiary effect of buffing her two unique human pirate units when in her army, the Sartosa Militia and Sartosa Free Company. Both units follow the human pirate motif set by their legendary captain, rejecting armor in favor of speed and skill with a blade. Both are also quite cheap for their stats and can be recruited from any province with a port. These units can be very important early in a campaign due to Aranessa’s aforementioned brutal neighbors, Namely Belegar, Ikit, and Orion, whose rosters will disintegrate an early-game Coast gunline on most difficulties. Instead Ikit and Belegar will flounder awash in a sea of cheap but capable swashbucklers like the Sartosa Free Company, and Orion’s lightly armored elves die in droves before the rapid pistol fire of the speedy Sartosa Militia. (though look out for Dryads) These unique units become less viable as a campaign moves on but retain gnoblar-esque relevancy due to their low cost and availability. For reasons yet unknown and possibly unintentional, at some point in a campaign both units gain 1 turn Global Recruitment. Once this happens, and paired with a liberal application of the “Even More Powder” commandment, it becomes possible to 1-turn recruit as many of these buccaneers as you can afford wherever you need them. They will always remain relevant in Aranessa’s army where the compounded buffs will elevate them ludicrously to Bladesinger status, particularly the Sartosa Free Company whose dedicated melee focus benefits more heavily. A stack consisting of Aranessa, a fleet captain, and 18 Sartosa Free Company once fully buffed will be a match for most end-game armies.
WHII:
- In combat, Aranessa is a somewhat plain melee fighter with a defensive focus; she can be used well to tarpit enemy infantry far in front of your lines while your mortars and cannons blast the melee blob around her to bits. She doesn't get any exciting mounts or spells (the promethian mount makes her worse), but she does come with a net ability (ground only) which can be used to root enemy cavalry or monsters so your gun lines can eradicate them safety. Her starting army is potent and fun however, including 2 deck gunners which can bully early game enemies ferociously.
- In the Vortex Campaign: Aranessa currently begins at war with Yvresse and has missions that encourage her to conquer this faction. This is a viable option, however it commits the player to protecting their portion of Ulthuan against hordes of High Elves, against Eltharion and Tyrion close by and Alarielle not very far, this will be a hard and time consuming fight.
- Another option is to sack/raze Yvresse to end that war before returning to Sartosa and sailing the high seas, or attacking the Bretonnians/Tomb Kings close by (note Tomb Kings are poor and will make very little money from sacking/razing).
- Through the combination of skills and traits, Aranessa can gain boatloads of money from raiding as well as sacking. Given the public order bonuses she can stack as well as the Vampiric Corruption her faction spreads, she can incite rebellions in enemy provinces relatively easily. This can lead to Aranessa farming a province for raiding income, waiting for the rebels to attack, and regardless if they win or lose the victor will be easy pickings for her to sack/conquer.
- Notably, Aranessa has a base 20% physical resistance on foot which she loses when mounted on her rotting promethean.
Gallery[ | ]
Silhouette of Aranessa Saltspite (Prior to reveal)
Aranessa Saltspite's ship, the Swordfysh
Concept Art
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