Total War: Warhammer 3 - Everything You Need To Know About Diplomacy

The Old World is a dangerous place. Marauding Ogres, imperialist Humans, and monstrous Daemons all have ambitions as grand as yours and won't let anything get in their way. Sometimes, though, your goals can align; that's where diplomacy comes in.

Diplomacy is the primary way of interacting with other factions in Total War: Warhammer 3 – outside the battlefield, of course. Securing treaties, trade, and tribute is important for furthering your goals. The game sports a few new functions that weren't in previous titles, so whether you're brand new or a seasoned veteran, here's how to make diplomacy work for you.

Relations and Reliability

How the other factions in the game perceive you directly affect how they will interact with you. This is determined by two factors – Relations and Reliability.

Relations

Your Relation score with a faction is a raw indication of how much they like or dislike you. A score of zero indicates full neutrality, and a larger positive or negative score indicates greater like or dislike respectively. Many factions have inherent Relation modifiers with one another. Daemons, for example, have a massive Relations penalty with Human nations and vice versa; it's hard to like someone who's been trying to destroy you and everything you care about since the dawn of time, after all.

Relations are ultimately pretty simple to understand. If you do things another empire likes, such as trading with them or fighting their enemies, they will tend to like you more. Conversely, raiding their lands or negotiating treaties with their rivals will cause an empire to like you less. Needless to say, declaring war on an empire is a slight they won't forget for a long time, even after a peace treaty is signed.

The higher your Relations with a faction, the more likely they are to accept diplomatic proposals and the less they will demand in return. Conversely, a nation that dislikes you will be unwilling to negotiate without major concessions and may even go so far as to declare war on you.

Reliability

Under your leader's portrait on the diplomacy screen is your Reliability rating. This is a global indicator of your reputation and trustworthiness. Combined with strong Relations, a high Reliability will make other empires more likely to accept your proposals. The only way to increase Reliability is to enter long-term agreements with other empires and stick to them. Breaking an agreement with another empire for any reason will reduce your Reliability for a time. The amount of Reliability lost is inversely proportional to the length of the deal – declaring war on a faction the turn after you signed a Non-Aggression Pact is the fastest way to see your reputation tank.

As the game goes on and interactions between factions get more complex, you'll likely find yourself in a situation where your Reliability will take a hit no matter what you do. This usually happens when two of your allies go to war with one another; helping one will be seen as betraying the other, but staying out of the conflict means dishonoring your alliance with both. When negotiating alliances, try to foster relations with factions who also like one another to lessen the chance that this will happen.

Diplomatic Negotiations

When you negotiate with another faction through the diplomacy screen, your available options are represented through buttons at the bottom of the interface. On the left are potential agreements, the center represents agreements that can be canceled, and on the right are options for making offers or demands.

When you make a diplomatic proposal, a score in the lower-right corner of the interface shows whether it will be accepted. As long as the number is above zero by any amount the agreement is considered fair. Otherwise, you'll need to offer concessions to sweeten the deal. This acceptance score is determined by how beneficial the deal is to you versus the other party, and modified by your Relations and Reliability.

If you are more powerful than the faction you're negotiating with, you can choose to threaten them into accepting your proposal. Doing so causes a large penalty to your Reliability, but it can allow you to get more than you would through normal diplomacy. If the threatened faction refuses your demand, you will be forced to declare war upon them.

Outposts

Allies can build Outposts in one another's settlements. These allow you to recruit basic units from the ally's faction. For example, the Daemon Prince can ally the Norscan tribes and build Outposts in their territory, recruiting Marauders where he otherwise wouldn't be able to.

Units recruited from an ally will automatically disband if the alliance is ever broken or the ally ceases to exist.

Agreements

Agreement	Effect
Non-Aggression Pact	The two parties agree not to declare war on one another. Declaring war in violation of a Non-Aggression Pact results in a larger reduction in the aggressor's Reliability than normal. If you intend to declare war on a neighbor with whom you have a Non-Aggression Pact, cancel the agreement first to minimize your penalty.
Trade Agreement	Establishes formal trade routes between the two parties. Each faction will receive a small amount of additional income each turn. Factions producing Trade Goods will receive more income from Trade Agreements.
Military Access	Both parties allow the other's armies to freely pass through their territory. Without formal Military Access, having armies in another faction's territory will reduce your Relations with them.
Defensive Alliance	Each party may call on the other to join their war as long as they are the Defender. Refusing a call-to-arms will break the Defensive Alliance and reduce your Reliability. Both parties can build Outposts in the other's territory.
Military Alliance	Each party may call on the other to join their wars regardless of who is the Attacker. Refusing a call-to-arms will break the Military Alliance and reduce your Reliability. Provinces held by your Military Allies count toward the requirements for Quests and Domination Victory. Both parties can build Outposts in the other's territory.
Become Vassal	One party agrees to become a vassal to the other. The vassal maintains their settlements, army, research, and economy but must join all their overlord's wars. Declaring war on a vassal is automatically considered a declaration of war against their overlord. The vassal gives a portion of their income to their overlord each turn. Provinces held by your vassals count toward the requirements for Quests and Domination Victory. Both parties can build Outposts in the other's territory.
Join Confederation	Only available if both factions belong to the same nation. For example, Kislev factions can confederate one another but cannot confederate or be confederated by Grand Cathay. One faction is entirely annexed by the other, who gains control of all the confederated faction's settlements, Heroes, and armies. Usually requires a significant difference in power between the two factions, maximized relations, and occasionally a monetary incentive. The two major Kislev factions, the Ice Court and the Grand Orthodoxy can forcibly confederate one another through the Devotion mechanic.

Offers And Demands

Line Item	Effect
Payment	One party gives money to the other, either in a lump sum or on a per-turn basis. Currencies are converted on a one-to-one basis – mortal Gold and infernal Favour are interchangeable in this regard.
Join War	Only available between allies. One party declares war on a faction currently at war with the other.
Declare War	All existing agreements between the two factions are canceled and they enter a state of war. The declaring faction is considered the Attacker.
Trade Settlement	Permanently transfers the control of a settlement from one party to another. Useful for consolidating provinces between allies to allow for Commandments. Selling land to a friendly neighbor can be a way to raise money quickly in desperate times.

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