RTS games are in no way easy to pick up, and Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin justifies that statement. If you’re thinking about jumping into the fray and testing out your tactical skills, the first big hurdle you’re going to face is understanding factions. All the Realms of Ruin factions have their own strengths and weaknesses and require a certain playstyle. To help you understand Realms of Ruin factions better, we’ve written this comprehensive guide.
What Are Realms of Ruin Factions and How Many Are There?
The first topic to cover is going to be what exactly factions are and how many are there in the game. Realms of Ruin factions are basically groups of warriors you can choose to fight as, similar to characters you select in action role-playing games. The faction you select will be the one that represents you in battle against other players and their respective factions.
Now, Realms of Ruin factions has distinct characteristics. While some are adept in melee combat and strategic advancements, others rely on overwhelming the enemy with their sheer numbers. There are a total of 4 factions within the game, namely the Stormcast Eternals, Orruk Kruleboyz, Nighthaunt, and the Disciples of Tzeentch. All of them are available to choose from when you start out the game, and you’ll have access to all their abilities and troops once you select one.
At the time of this article, two of the factions, Stormcast Eternals and Orruk Kruleboyz, have already had hero troops named for their factions in the DLC packs. As time progresses, we’re bound to see DLC hero packs for the other two factions as well, so that is something to keep an eye out for.
Also Read: The 6 Best Split-Screen Racing Games | We Want to Play Them with Family
Understanding the Realms of Ruin Factions
You now have a basic rundown on what are Realms of Ruin factions and their names. Time to move on to what they do and how each one is special. Remember that each faction has a different playstyle, hence leading to different troop compositions and abilities. However, it doesn’t stop there. To make things interesting, Frontier Developments actually built lore around each faction, meaning each faction has a different motivation to wage a war.
Stormcast Eternals
Starting off with the Stormcast Eternals, they are the most basic and beginner-friendly Realms of Ruin factions. They’re celestial warriors who take inspiration from angels and are the closest thing you’ll find to humans in this game. They rely on versatility within their forces, meaning utilising both melee and ranged units.
Troops of the Stormcast Eternal faction are more expensive compared to some of the other factions, so don’t try to overload your army because if it dies, you’re in trouble. Mix and match their abilities to find the perfect harmony and bolster your attacking power. You need to use their buffs to combo together stats and keep your units alive. You’ll have troops like Annihilator, Stormdrake Guard, Knight-Vexillor, and Lord Celestant.
The Stormcast Eternals faction does have some elite flying units as well. Use these aerial devastation machines carefully to wreak havoc on your enemies. If you buy the Ultimate Edition of the game, you can get the hero DLC pack for Yndrasta, the Celestial Spear. It should also be noted that this Realms of Ruin faction is the one you’ll be using in your single-player campaign for the most part.
Also Read: Differences Between Remake vs Remaster vs Reboot
Orruk Kruleboyz
The Orruk Kruleboyz is the second faction we’ll be talking about today. These menacing orc-like monsters rely much more on numbers than individual power. They are experts at setting up traps for their unsuspecting enemies and prefer to have the enemy come to them rather than face them head-on.
This Realms of Ruin faction is more melee-based, and the playstyle is quite aggressive. Once their opponents have been lured into their ambush, the orcs will spawn from everywhere to overwhelm the enemy before they can escape. The Orruk Kruleboyz also use debuffs to lower your attack power while simultaneously increasing their own.
With the ability to sacrifice weaker units to enrage their stronger beasts, the Orruk Kruleboyz are definitely formidable foes and a fun faction to play with. The troops you’ll have access to are Beast-Skewer Killbow, Breaka-Boss on Mirebrute Troggoth, Killaboss, and Gutrippaz. They are also receiving a new hero via DLC hero packs called Gobsprakk, the Mouth of Mork.
Nighthaunt
The undead Realms of Ruin faction, Nighthaunt, brings in that supernatural aspect every game needs. Not only is the idea behind them quite interesting, but their playstyle is definitely niche for most players. The Nighthaunt utilises weak units to keep up a constant barrage of attacks on the enemy, not letting them regroup properly. Since this Realms of Ruin faction has the largest army size, you can keep your units at the enemy’s gate to dissuade them from moving.
However, having more units comes at a cost since your units are also some of the weakest of the batch. The Nighthaunt utilises a hit-and-run strategy where you constantly bombard your opponent with a flurry of attacks, but your units will die at a moment’s notice. Their heroes are specifically tailored to bring their servants back to life as well as help them recover from any lost health during battle. This makes them essentially unkillable if played correctly.
The Nighthaunt are a difficult faction compared to the previous two, especially if you’re a beginner. They require a lot of strategy and timely decisions to work properly. Still, if this is the strategy that interests you, give it a try.
Also Read: Dead by Daylight Split-Screen: Can You Play It?
Disciples of Tzeentch
Our final faction is the Disciples of Tzeentch, the most recently released Realms of Ruin faction. This faction is unique because it focuses more on ranged combat than melee combat. But just because they don’t step into the field doesn’t mean they’re weak. Using powerful magic, they can wipe out entire chunks of your army if you’re not careful.
Their playstyle is mainly ranged combat, with them hurling spells at the enemy. They have some overpowered backline damage that helps them overpower their enemy, as well as the ability to sniff out invisible units using Tzaangor Skyfire troops. To top it all off, their special troop, the Lord of Change, is imbued with tons of raw magical power and can open an all-consuming gateway to Chaos.
While the Disciples of Tzeentch are quite adept at ranged combat, even having the ability to make new terrain to suit their needs better, this faction is terrible when it comes to melee combat. Once another army enters their ranks, getting them out might prove to be a real challenge.
The Bottom Line
That’s all we had to say about the four Realms of Ruin factions. With covering all their abilities and attributes, you might be thinking which one is the strongest. To be fair, each faction has its own strengths and weaknesses; It depends more on what play style you prefer and what you are good at. Other than that, trying out new things is always encouraged.