Total War: WARHAMMER III - Malakai – Thrones of Decay (DLC)

Malakai Makaisson is one of three Legendary Lords bundled across the Thrones of Decay pack, and if you are coming in purely for the Dwarfs, he is the reason to buy. He commands the Spirit of Grungni, a massive airship that functions as a mobile base of operations, and his campaign revolves around the Book of Grudges in a more mechanical, objective-driven way than the base Dwarf roster. You are not just ticking boxes for diplomatic bonuses - each settled grudge unlocks tangible rewards and pushes a campaign-specific narrative forward. It is a tighter, more directed experience than the open-ended Dwarf campaigns of Thorgrim or Ungrim, which will either feel refreshing or constrictive depending on how you approach grand strategy. On the battlefield, Malakai brings Goblin-hunting Rangers, updated Slayer units, and access to experimental Dwarf war machines that lean harder into the faction's engineering identity than most Dwarf rosters do. The airship mechanic bleeds into the strategic layer too, giving you mobility options that feel genuinely alien for a faction usually defined by sitting on mountains and waiting. It rewards aggressive, mobile play, which is a meaningful design choice rather than a cosmetic one. If you have ever looked at Dwarf campaigns and thought they felt too passive, this is the answer. For newcomers to the Warhammer III ecosystem, the honest picture is this: Thrones of Decay is DLC, not a standalone product, and Malakai specifically sits inside a large, mechanically dense game. Total War at this scale takes time to absorb - the UI is cluttered, the campaign map is enormous, and the Realm of Chaos versus Immortal Empires split still confuses people a year-plus after launch. That said, Malakai's campaign structure, with its clear objectives and story beats, is actually one of the more guided entry points in the game. If a friend is willing to walk you through the first ten turns, the grudge loop does a reasonable job of telling you what to do next. Approach it as a structured campaign rather than a sandbox and it clicks faster than you might expect. The Mixed Steam rating deserves context. The bulk of negative sentiment targets the base game's ongoing performance and AI issues, and some of the criticism at launch pointed at Thrones of Decay's price-per-content ratio relative to earlier DLC packs. Malakai's campaign is genuinely solid, but it is shorter and less sprawling than something like Shadows of Change at its best. The mod ecosystem around Total War: WARHAMMER III is robust and active, and community fixes address several of the rough edges, particularly around late-game AI passivity. If you are already in the ecosystem and playing Immortal Empires regularly, the Malakai content integrates cleanly and adds meaningful replayability to the Dwarf faction pool. If you are buying in fresh, factor in the base game cost and the learning curve before adding DLC to the cart.

Diego · Scout Team

Strategy & simulation

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