Experience and ranks (rank is also known as veterancy or level) are gained by units in campaign mode.
Experience is gained by fighting in battles (including autoresolve), and from many other sources. Once a unit gains enough experience, it will go up in rank and become stronger.
Ranking up affects characters and regular units differently.
Characters[ | ]
Characters such as legendary lords, lords and heroes gain experience and rank up. Ranking up will give the character 1 skill point with which to purchase a new skill from their skill tree. Ranking up will also unlock new skills in the skill tree, as well as quests (sometimes culminating in a set piece battle), mounts, items, spells, other abilities and more.
- In Total War: Warhammer the max rank of characters is 30.
- In Total War: Warhammer II, the max rank of characters is 40.
- In Total War: Warhammer III, the max rank of characters is 50.
A few unique characters do not gain experience or rank up.
Recruitment rank[ | ]
Recruitment rank causes lords and heroes to start with additional experience levels and skill points. This is gained by constructing certain buildings and having some traits.
For example, the Vikti Temple for Norsca gives a lord recruit rank for newly-recruited lords, so a lord will start off with Level 2 and one skill point.
Regular units[ | ]
The regular units in an army gain ranks which are depicted with bronze, silver, or gold chevrons on their unit card.
Ranks increase the leadership, melee attack, melee defense, and missile damage stats of a unit.
Regiments of Renown, Blessed Spawnings and Legions of Legend are always at max rank (3 gold chevrons).
| Rank | Chevrons | XP Required | Cumulative XP | Leadership Bonus | Melee Attack | Melee Defence | Reload Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Rank 1
|
1 Bronze | 1100 | 1100 | +1 | +1 | +1 | -0.2 |
 Rank 2
|
2 Bronze | 600 | 1700 | +2 | +2 | +2 | -0.4 |
 Rank 3
|
3 Bronze | 800 | 2500 | +3 | +3 | +3 | -0.6 |
 Rank 4
|
1 Silver | 1100 | 3600 | +4 | +4 | +4 | -0.8 |
 Rank 5
|
2 Silver | 1400 | 5000 | +5 | +5 | +4 | -1 |
 Rank 6
|
3 Silver | 2000 | 7000 | +6 | +6 | +5 | -1.2 |
 Rank 7
|
1 Gold | 3600 | 10600 | +7 | +7 | +6 | -1.4 |
 Rank 8
|
2 Gold | 4900 | 15500 | +8 | +8 | +7 | -1.6 |
 Rank 9
|
3 Gold | 6500 | 22000 | +10 | +9 | +8 | -1.8 |
Ranged units also become more accurate and have shorter reload times with each chevron.