Lore of Yin

The Lore of Yin is a lore of magic introduced in Total War: Warhammer III. It is unique to the Grand Cathay race.

Lore Attribute[ | ]

Power of Yin[ \| ]
The crushing power of the Lore of Yin reduces enemy armour strength whenever a spell is cast.
	Passive Ability Lore of Yin
Type	Hex (Area)
Target	Enemies
Armour	-15
Speed	-10%
Effect range	55 metres
Duration	18 seconds
Affected units	Affects enemies in range(all)
Enabled if	Casting
Triggers when casting

Spells[ | ]

Storm of Shadows[ \| ]
Ghostly shadows spring from the caster’s outstretched arms, enveloping the foe in dancing shades that make their footing uncertain and their vision confounded by the gloom.
	Spell Lore of Yin
Cost	4 Winds 8 Winds (Overcast)
Type	Hex Hex (Area) (Overcast)
Target	Enemy Enemies (Overcast)
Speed	-45%
Range	200 metres
Effect range (Overcast)	35 metres (Overcast)
Duration	29 seconds
Cooldown	28 seconds
Miscast chance	50% (Overcast)
Affected units	Affects enemies in range(max: 1) Affects enemies in range(all) (Overcast)
Added effect area

Cloak of Jet[ \| ]
This shadowy barrier of dark Yin energy turns aside enemy sorceries, protecting those within its midnight embrace from the elemental winds.
	Spell Lore of Yin
Cost	4 Winds 6 Winds (Overcast)
Type	Hiding
Target	Self, Ally
Snipe
Stalk
Unspottable
Range	200 metres
Duration	29 seconds 58 seconds (Overcast)
Cooldown	28 seconds
Miscast chance	50% (Overcast)
Affected units	Affects allies in range(max: 1)
Extended effect duration

Blossom Wind[ \| ]
A wind of leaves and blossoms rolls across the battlefield, cutting into the enemy with supernatural power and blinding them with its fury.
	Spell Lore of Yin
Cost	9 Winds 14 Winds (Overcast)
Type	Wind
Target	Ground, All
Damage Per Second	18 (100%) 24 (100%) (Overcast)
Duration	10 seconds
Radius	6 metres
Movement Speed	20m/s
Contact	Blinded!
Range	200 metres
Duration	13 seconds
Cooldown	45 seconds
Miscast chance	50% (Overcast)
Affected units	Affects enemies in range(max: 1)
Increased armour-piercing damage
Medium, foward-moving area of effect
Blinded! (10s) Melee Defence: -24 Melee Attack: -24 Accuracy: -30

Missile Mirror[ \| ]
A magical of shifting darkness and howling wind snatches the enemy’s missiles from the air, even as they are fired, and hurls them back at their owners.
	Spell Lore of Yin
Cost	10 Winds 15 Winds (Overcast)
Type	Hex
Target	Enemy
Redirects projectiles back towards the firing unit.
Range	200 metres 400 metres (Overcast)
Duration	18 seconds 36 seconds (Overcast)
Cooldown	44 seconds
Miscast chance	50% (Overcast)
Affected units	Affects enemies in range(max: 1)
Affects units if	Missile unit
Extended cast range Extended effect duration
Redirects projectiles back towards the firing unit

Talons of Night[ \| ]
An icy wind rolls out across the battlefield, filling those who enter its coiling gloom with panic and fear.
	Spell Lore of Yin
Cost	18 Winds 25 Winds (Overcast)
Type	Vortex
Target	Ground, All
Damage Per Second	5 (100%) 8 (100%) (Overcast)
Duration	11 seconds
Radius	15 metres
Range	200 metres
Duration	13 seconds
Cooldown	50 seconds
Miscast chance	50% (Overcast)
Affected units	Affects enemies in range(max: 1)
Increased armour-piercing damage
Huge, stationary area of effect

Ancestral Warriors[ \| ]
The warriors' ancestors are summoned from the underworld, rising up to strike at the enemy with a furious assault before vanishing into the earth once more.
	Spell Lore of Yin
Cost	16 Winds 22 Winds (Overcast)
Type	Summon unit
Uses	2
Target	Ground
Range	50 metres 150 metres (Overcast)
Cooldown	52 seconds
Miscast chance	50% (Overcast)
Affected units	Affects allies in range(max: 1)
Extended cast range
Summons a unit of Ancestral Warriors Summoned units degrade over time

Units[ | ]

Daemons of Chaos[ | ]

Unit
The Blue Scribes	🗙	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔

Grand Cathay[ | ]

Unit
Miao Ying, the Storm Dragon	✔	✔	🗙	🗙	✔	✔	🗙
Yuan Bo, the Jade Dragon	✔	🗙	🗙	✔	🗙	✔	🗙
Dragon-Blooded Shugengan Lord (Yin)	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔

Tzeentch[ | ]

Unit
The Changeling (Formless Horror: Miao Ying, the Storm Dragon)	✔	✔	🗙	🗙	✔	✔	🗙
The Changeling (Formless Horror: The Blue Scribes)	🗙	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
The Changeling (Formless Horror: Yuan Bo, the Jade Dragon)	✔	🗙	🗙	✔	🗙	✔	🗙
The Blue Scribes	🗙	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔

Warriors of Chaos[ | ]

Unit
The Blue Scribes	🗙	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔

Strategy[ | ]

Yin is aimed more at supporting a missile-based army, Yang is for the more melee focused. Because Cathay armies usually rely heavily on their missile troops, this makes Yin overall the more useful. So if you're conflicted about which Shugengan Lord to recruit, erring towards the Yin variant is rarely the wrong decision.

Storm of Shadows is a cheap way of slowing down dangerous units, which is very useful for focus firing.
Missile Mirror is an amusing if expensive way of countering the enemy's own missile troops - use it on your local Dark Elf today.
Ancestral Warriors is an incredibly useful copy of the Xu Wing Compass ability that can be used defensively to plug a gap in your line, or offensively to put a bunch of effective infantry somewhere the enemy really doesn't want.
Blossom Wind, although it has a weird and finicky animation, is one of those spells that can bounce off obstacles and wreak absolute havoc. Aim it correctly in a street during a siege battle and it will pinball and kill an ungodly number of enemies. The fact it causes blind is just gravy.