- Corruption works differently in the other games in the series. See Total War: Warhammer corruption and Total War: Warhammer III corruption.
In Total War: Warhammer II, corruption is a feature in campaign mode. Certain evil races spread corruption, while others spread untainted. This changes the appearance of the campaign map and has other major effects.
General information[]
- Corruption is a zero-sum game. Increasing Chaos corruption in a province will reduce Vampiric, Skaven corruption and untainted.
- For example: A province cannot have both 100% Vampiric Corruption AND 100% Chaos Corruption. And it cannot be both 100% Skaven corrupted and 100% untainted.
- Most factions are harmed by the type of corruption which they don't spread.
- Spreading corruption does not, by itself, affect diplomacy with other factions. However races who spread corruption tend to not get along well with others.
- If
public order gets too low in a corrupted province, then either a 
Vampiric or 
Chaos uprising will occur, instead of a standard rebellion. This means a Warriors of Chaos or Vampire Counts rebel army will spawn there.
Untainted[]
Untainted is anti-corruption, or the absence of corruption. Factions which do not spread corruption tend to have buildings, commandments and character abilities that increase untainted.
- The Empire, Dwarfs, Bretonnia, Greenskins, High Elves, Wood Elves, Tomb Kings and Lizardmen do not spread corruption, instead spreading untainted.
- Skaven spread both Untainted and their own Skaven Corruption (see below).
- Most Dark Elves factions do not spread corruption and instead spread Untainted. The exception is Morathi's Cult of Pleasure who spread
Chaos corruption. - Factions which do not spread corruption are harmed by all Vampiric and Chaos corruption (not Skaven corruption), taking attrition damage in provinces with over 50% total corruption.
- Spreading Untainted reduces all kinds of corruption.
Chaos corruption[]
Chaos corruption is spread by Warriors of Chaos, Beastmen and Norsca factions, as well as Cult of Pleasure (a Dark Elves faction). It represents the corrupting, mutating power of raw magic - Chaos - upon the world, and the influence of the Chaos Gods.
- Chaos corruption creating a grey volcanic land, with lava pits and dead forests.
- The presence of armies, heroes, settlements and certain buildings can all spread corruption.
- When there is a lot of Chaos corruption in a province, armies (except for Warriors of Chaos, Beastmen and Norsca) will take attrition damage there.
- Provinces with the Chaos Wasteland climate have naturally high Chaos corruption, however this can be reduced with buildings, research and effects.
- Warriors of Chaos horde armies take attrition damage in areas with low Chaos corruption.
- When an area has high Chaos corruption, the battle maps for the area will take on a reddish lighting and have ash fall from the sky.
Vampiric corruption[]
Vampiric corruption spread by Vampire Counts and Vampire Coast factions. It represents the influence of dark magic - necromancy - upon the land, rousing the spirits of the dead from their rest. It also represents vampires posing as humans and infiltrating society to gain power.
- Vampiric corruption creates a dark land with dying trees, and howling ghosts flying about.
- The presence of armies, heroes, settlements, certain buildings (eg: Balefire Brazier) can all spread corruption.
- When there is a lot of Vampiric corruption in a province, non-Vampire Counts armies take attrition there.
- Vampire Counts armies take attrition damage in areas with low Vampiric corruption.
Skaven Corruption[]
Skaven corruption is spread by all Skaven factions.
- Skaven corruption does not cause attrition when it reaches 50%.
- Skaven corruption only subtly affects the appearance of the campaign map, with a few Skaven burrows and chunks of warpstone appearing. Chunks of wood will dot the ground in several regions and structures such as Skaven task master towers will appear along with warpstone meteorites. In Total War: Wahammer 3 cracks of warpstone will appear in the ground making it more noticeable.
- Skaven corruption represents the Skaven amongst the populace of the settlement along with warpstone being used. Should it get too high, too many Skaven will be competing for dominance, along with the skaven over consuming food. This is why Skaven corruption harms Skaven. Untainted represents Skaven being worked to death in brutal jobs, and things keeping them backed into submission.
- It is the only type of corruption which has negative effects on the race spreading it: Skaven corruption lowers Public Order for the Skaven. Capped at -5.
- The damage to public order (for self) is capped at -5, allowing it to be controlled with public order buildings rather than untainted on lower difficulties.
- Higher levels of Skaven corruption in a province, allow extra uses of The Menace Below at no food cost (up to a maximum of 6).
- Due to the public order downsides of Skaven corruption, Skaven are encouraged to not compound public order penalties from a lack of food as well. However, it is still possible to colonize at higher tiers if food production is high, and losses can be recouped quickly.
- High corruption generates the negative trait, Skaven Denial, in non-Skaven lords. This trait grants the lord a public order bonus of +1 (local province), and a massive -15 leadership penalty when fighting Skaven (self). This debuff effectively renders any leadership skills taken by the enemy lord useless, unless they total more than +15 or the trait is removed by wasting several turns in an uncorrupted location.
Traits[]
If an army spends too much time in an area with a high level of opposing corruption, the lord can gain character traits:
- Skaven corruption trait:
- Skaven denial: Public order +1, -15 leadership when fighting against Skaven.
- Chaos corruption trait:
- Insane: Melee Defence -15, Public order -5, Weapon Damage +20
- Vampiric corruption trait:
- Bloodlust: Growth -10 (Local Province), Casualty replenishment rate: +5%, Leadership -2 (Lord's Army)