Dark Elves tech tree (Total War: Warhammer III)

For the previous version of the tech tree, see Dark Elves tech tree (Total War: Warhammer II).

The Dark Elves tech tree available to Dark Elves factions consists of technologies that unlock new advantages throughout the game. Research takes place constantly, but the rate at which discoveries occur can be increased by using heroes to spy or building additional research buildings at your settlements.

In comparison with the previous version of the tech three, this tech tree mainly differs for the Cult of Pleasure, who now spreads Slaanesh corruption instead of Chaos corruption.

Technologies

Tech	Prerequisite	Cost	Effects	Description
Choose or Die!			Income from slaves: +3%	Some choices require next to no thought whatsoever.
Driven by Vengeance	Choose or Die!		Recruitment cost: -5% for Dreadspears, Darkshards and Bleakswords units Melee attack: +4 for Dreadspears, Bleakswords, Black Ark Corsairs and Darkshards units	The deep-seated, profoundly-ingrained desire for revenge consumes and drives one forward.
Marching to War	Driven by Vengeance		Speed: +10% for Dreadspears, Darkshards, Bleakswords and Black Ark Corsairs units	Ever onwards the Druchii armies march, conflict's breakneck rhythm dictating the pace.
Martial Society	Driven by Vengeance		Recruit rank: +2 for Dreadspears, Darkshards and Bleakswords units	Every aspect of the Druchii world is directed to warfare, as it should be when war is a permanent state of affairs.
Ascension Through Battle	Driven by Vengeance		Leadership: +5 for Dreadspears, Bleakswords, Darkshards, Black Ark Corsairs and Dark Riders units	Through glorious warfare we may become worthy of Khaine's favour.
Battle as Business	Choose or Die!		Income from post-battle loot: +10% Income from raiding: +15%	For the Dark Elves, war is transactional - for Druchii blood to be spilled there must be payment, in the form of loot, preferably.
Chartered Piracy	Battle as Business		Upkeep: -5% for Black Ark Corsairs units Income from sacking settlements: +20%	Letters of Marque may be issued to those who pursue the Witch King's aims as their own.
Naval Training	Battle as Business		Recruit rank: +2 for Black Ark Corsairs, Shades and Dark Riders units Melee attack: +4 when fighting at sea (all armies)	You start with not drowning; once that has been achieved, the rest will swiftly follow - unless a watery grave appeals of course.
Bloodthirsty Companions	Battle as Business		Melee attack: +5 for Harpies units Armour-piercing weapon damage: +2 for Harpies units	Definitely not backwards in coming forwards, or indeed when getting stuck in.
Founded on Tyranny	Choose or Die!		Growth: +10	Start as you mean to go on and your population will never know what they may be missing.
Revel in Suffering	Founded on Tyranny		Growth: +15	Ah, the suffering. The sweet, sweet suffering.
Continuous Slave Supply	Founded on Tyranny		Casualties captured post-battle: +15% Income from Ports: +5%	Ah, the suffering. The sweet, sweet suffering.
Exploit Feuds	Founded on Tyranny		Control: +1	A whisper here, a murmur there; winning is often most satisfying when others don't know you're playing.
Upgrade I	Battle as Business Founded on Tyranny Driven by Vengeance	2000	Black Ark growth: +3 (cumulative)	Research the following items to take the Dark Elves' vicious military machine to another level of cruelty alltogether.
Forged to Kill	Upgrade I		Weapon strength: +10% for Dreadspears, Darkshards, Bleakswords and Black Ark Corsairs units Missile strength: +10% for Darkshards and Black Ark Corsairs units	Steel is only as strong as the hand that wields it.
Bolt Cartridges	Forged to Kill		Ammunition: +25% for Reaper Bolt Thrower units Missile strength: +10% for Reaper Bolt Thrower units Reload time reduction: +10% for Reaper Bolt Thrower units	You'll like this, it's got a fast-action reload; you can kill the Asur all day long without pausing for more than a second.
Hit & Run	Forged to Kill		Speed: +10% for Shades, Dark Riders and Doomfire Warlock units Weapon strength: +10% for Shades, Dark Riders and Doomfire Warlock units Reload time reduction: +10% for Shades and Dark Riders units	To strike like lightning and then melt away - that is the way of the irregular warrior.
Reworked Crossbows	Forged to Kill		Ammunition: +20% for Darkshards, Black Ark Corsairs, Shades and Dark Riders units Range: +15% for Darkshards, Black Ark Corsairs, Shades and Dark Riders units	Who could have imagined that the fingers of slaves would have so many uses?
Broken by the Lash	Upgrade I		Speed: +10% for Cold One Knights, Cold One Dread Knights, and Cold One Chariot units	The merest swish of leather is enough to make them alert and simply dying to obey.
Sadistic Handlers	Broken by the Lash		Speed: +10% for Harpies, War Hydra and Kharibdyss units	It does one's temperament good to channel aggression via the appropriate outlet.
Dominating the Beasts	Broken by the Lash		Recruit rank: +2 for Harpies, War Hydra and Kharibdyss units	They *will* obey, their own will buried deep beneath an overwhelming urge to comply.
Daylight Denied	Broken by the Lash		Income from slaves: +3% Income from Iron Mines, Gold Mines and Stone Quarries: +15%	Being beaten, half-starved and kept perpetually in darkness coaxes the very best work from the enslaved.
Tempered in Blood	Upgrade I		Income from slaves: +3%	It is often necessary to execute a few - publicly of course - to quench the fires of revolt in all the others.
Temple Training Grounds	Tempered in Blood		Recruit rank: +2 for Witch Elves and Sisters of Slaughter units	Where better to become proficient in the arts of war? Where the very soil is stained with the blood of failure!
Purge the Weak	Tempered in Blood		Income from settlement buildings: +10%	There is no place in the Druchii's empire of cruelty for those of a mild disposition.
Upgrade II		5000	Black Ark growth: +5 (cumulative)	Research the following items to take the Dark Elves' vicious military machine to another level of cruelty altogether.
An Instrument of War	Upgrade II		Recruit rank: +2 for Black Guard of Naggarond units Recruit rank: +2 for Har Ganeth Executioners units	Muscle, flesh, and the skeleton that binds them can be finely tuned for maximum violence.
Black Iron Armour	An Instrument of War		Armour: +10 for Dreadspears, Darkshards and Bleaksword units	The hardest of substances, when heated to the optimum temperature, may be drawn into mail, plate or scale.
Exotic Beast Hide Armour	An Instrument of War		Armour: +10 for Black Ark Corsairs, Shades, Dark Riders and Doomfire Warlock units	Some creatures have a natural outer carapace, so hard that it may double as armour once removed from its original owner.
Walking in Darkness	An Instrument of War		Campaign movement range: +10% Speed: +10% for Witch Elves, Black Guard, Har Ganeth Executioners and Sisters of Slaughter units	To reach certain destinations, one does not always need to see the way.
Pressed into Servitude	Upgrade II		Local recruitment capacity: +1 (all provinces)	Society's detritus may yet find gainful employment in the service of the state.
Recruit Convicts	Pressed into Servitude		Upkeep: -5% for Dreadspears, Darkshards and Bleakswords units Recruitment cost: -5% for Dreadspears, Darkshards and Bleakswords units	Criminals make surprisingly good guards once it is made abundantly clear that the alternative is death.
Hunt Outlaws	Pressed into Servitude		Upkeep: -5% for Shades, Dark Riders and Doomfire Warlock units Recruitment cost: -5% for Shades, Dark Riders and Doomfire Warlock units	They live apart from the rest of Dark Elf society, waging an endless war against the enemies of Malekith.
Spoils of War	Pressed into Servitude		Upkeep: -5% for Harpies, War Hydra, Kharibdyss and Black Dragon units Recruitment cost: -5% for Harpies, War Hydra, Kharibdyss and Black Dragon units	To the victor go the spoils - be they coin or place or the lives of the defeated.
Consumed by Rivalry	Upgrade II	Broken by the Lash Tempered in Blood Forged to Kill	Loyalty: +2 for new recruits Control: +1	When hatred consumes the soul, what other reason can there be to carry on living?
Hardship & Cruelty	Consumed by Rivalry		Hero recuit rank: +2 for Death Hags Hero recruit rank: +2 for Khainite Assassins Melee defence: +5 for Doomfire Warlocks units Melee defence: +5 for Lords and embedded Heroes	Austerity, and the absence of any kind of warmth, can produce unexpectedly-positive results.
Divide & Conquer	Consumed by Rivalry		Diplomatic relations: +10 with Dark Elves Diplomatic relations: +10 with High Elves	This aeons-old maxim never stops being true, and a most effective stratagem.
Masters of Murder	Consumed by Rivalry		Assassinate action: Additional 5% success chance (all Heroes) Melee attack: +5 for Doomfire Warlocks units Melee attack: +5 for Lords and embedded Heroes	In the Elven world, there are none more adept in the ignoble art of stealthy killing.
Upgrade III	Pressed into Servitude An Instrument of War Consumed by Rivalry	12500	Black Ark growth: +8 (cumulative) Income from slaves: +10% (all provinces)	Research the following items to take the Dark Elves' vicious military machine to another level of cruelty altogether.
No Signs of Weakness	Upgrade III		Leadership: +5 for Shades, Witch Elves, Har Ganeth Executioners, Black Guard of Naggarond and Sisters of Slaughter units	Used to slaying their own kin at the first sign of fragility or compassion, Naggarothi armies constantly prune their own ranks.
Bloodforged Platemail	No Signs of Weakness		Armour: +5 for Cold One Knights, Cold One Dread Knights and Cold One Chariot units Armour: +10 for Har Ganeth Executioners and Black Guard of Naggarond units	Black steel, mixed with sacrificial blood and etched with powerful runes, makes the best armour produced in Naggarond.
Ceremonial Weapons	No Signs of Weakness		Melee attack: +5 for Witch Elves, Har Ganeth Executioners and Sisters of Slaughter units Weapon strength: +5% for Witch Elves, Har Ganeth Executioners and Sisters of Slaughter units	The ornate, ceremonial weapons used in Khainite rituals give power to subsequent acts of murder carried out in his bloody name.
Serrated Blades	No Signs of Weakness		Melee defence: +5 for Black Guard of Naggarond units Melee defence: +5 for Cold One Knights, Cold One Dread Knights and Cold One Chariot units Weapon strength: +5% for Black Guard of Naggarond units Weapon strength: +5% for Cold One Knights, Cold One Dread Knights and Cold One Chariot units	The many razor-sharp barbs and hooks may catch an opponent's blade, or rend their flesh.
Under the Yoke	Upgrade III		Leadership: +5 for Harpies, War Hydra, Kharibdyss and Black Dragon units Leadership: +5 for Cold One Knights, Cold One Dread Knights and Cold One Chariot units	The dark, feral Cold Ones must be broken to the will of their new masters.
Bewitch Dragon Eggs	Under the Yoke		Armour: +5 for Black Dragon units Weapon strength: +10% for Black Dragon units	A source of great power, Black Dragon Eggs must be nurtured correctly so their potential is exploited to the fullest extent.
Harnessed Fury	Under the Yoke		Melee attack: +5 for War Hydra and Kharibdyss units Melee defence: +5 for War Hydra and Kharibdyss units	So ferocious is the Hydra that their ravenous nature has proven the doom of many.
Bred in Captivity	Under the Yoke		Recruit rank: +2 for Cold One Knights, Cold One Dread Knights and Cold One Chariot units	An even more vicious breed of Cold Ones is now being born in captivity, raised on a strict diet of live flesh and warm blood.
A Life of Dread	Upgrade III		Ambush success chance: +5% Income from slaves: +3%	Everyone, be they of high or low birth, have good cause to be fearful of who is watching and what they might tell the authorities.
Deadly Accountability	A Life of Dread		Lord recruit rank: +2 Leadership: +10 for Lords and embedded Heroes	There is no tolerance for failure in Naggarond, no matter how trivial the error.
Study the Chaos Wastes	A Life of Dread		Hero recruit rank: +2 for Sorceresses Recruit rank: +2 for Doomfire Warlock units Ward save: 10% for Doomfire Warlocks units	Where daylight hangs by a lunar noose. And the horned, hidden one is re-invoked.
All factions except Cult of Pleasure
Festivals of Khaine	Tempered in Blood		Corruption: -1 (all provinces) Ward save: 5% for Witch Elves and Sisters of Slaughter units	Praise him, for he is the God of Murder and the Lord of War. Khaela Mensha Khaine, the Bloody-handed, above all others!
Blood & Death	A Life of Dread		Corruption: -1 (all provinces) Income from settlement buildings: +15%	For what would the interminable millennia mean, if not for savage cruelty, blood and death?
Cult of Pleasure only
Festivals of Ruin	Tempered in Blood		Slaanesh Corruption: +1 (all provinces) Ward save: 5% for Witch Elves and Sisters of Slaughter units	A gathering of those perversely in thrall to the Dark Prince, in the hope that his fickle eye be turned - and, thusly, his favour secured.
Endless Debauchery	A Life of Dread		Slaanesh Corruption: +1 (all provinces) Income from settlement buildings: +15%	Every depraved, degenerate, impure licentiousness; everything to excess, for that is the Dark Prince's wish.