Rituals
Main motif of the “Occhio del Vortice” campaigns, i Rituals are important magical functions that playable factions can generally perform to influence the Great Vortex.
There are two types of rituals, the Vortex Rituals, that is, those useful for the victory conditions of the campaign, and the Faction Rituals, those that the factions perform freely to get bonuses of different kinds. Let's start by talking about the Vortex rituals.
The cost of the Rituals
There are five Vortex rituals for each faction, indicated in a horizontal bar at the top edge of the screen. These rituals have a cost in "ritual currency", a particular resource that is different only on the card for each faction but available for all through the possession of settlements and the fulfillment of special missions generated randomly.
Each settlement produces a minimum amount of that currency each turn. Some settlements (marked on the map) may house particular buildings capable of producing extra amounts of this currency for whichever faction controls it. Still other settlements have unique buildings that produce, among other effects, a small amount of that currency.
The goal of the campaign is in fact to complete all the rituals before the other races and win the final battle at the Vortex before another faction does the same. If an opposing faction gets to the final battle before you, and if they win it or you don't play it within four turns, you would lose the campaign.
Perform a Ritual
Upon reaching the amount of currency necessary for the completion of the first available ritual, it can be started and its key will light up. By pressing on this, a panel will open in which three of your cities will be indicated that must be under your control when, after a few turns, the ritual will be completed. If this is not the case, the ritual will be considered void, and can be retried later (failure does not entail the loss of the accumulated currency).
The same turn you start the ritual, some armies of Chaos and / or Skaven will spawn near the settlements that have been designated to host it, and will attempt to raze your territories to obstruct you. Before starting a ritual, it is possible to check its probability of success by means of a sword icon placed to the left of the ritual name, on its panel.
The quantity and quality of enemy armies generated as well as the duration and currency cost of the rituals gradually becomes greater after each ritual performed. Each ritual will have the effect of active bonuses for its entire duration and for a handful of turns following its conclusion.
After each ritual, more and more important diplomatic penalties will be suffered towards all races other than one's own, accompanied by an equivalent bonus towards the latter.
When a faction has completed the penultimate ritual, a state of war will be declared against the factions that still should be in the running for victory, regardless of the treaties in place with them. This status will not be modifiable until the end of the campaign.
When one of the competing factions were to be annihilated, its place would be taken by another playable faction of the same race; when this is not possible, that race would be out of the running, ceasing to hinder the others.
Oppose other factions
Each faction can obstruct the other factions through armed conflict, that is the conquest of the settlements in use for the opposing rituals, or through the subsidization of intervention armies, AI-led mercenary armies that can be hired in a panel next to the ritual panel to raze opposing territories. These armies will be generated near one of the cities of the ritual and will be all the stronger the more they have been paid. Note that the opposing factions will also use this system to hinder you. Get ready.
The Final Battle
When a faction finishes the last ritual it will activate as an assignment battle there Final Battle at the Great Vortex site. This grueling fight will see on one side the faction that initiated the fight, and on the other an army for each competing race (even if it had previously been eliminated from the race) led by a legendary lord.
When facing the battle triggered by an opposing faction, it is advisable to wait for all the allied troops of the other factions to arrive on the front line, so as not to risk losing the campaign.
If you face the battle alone, instead, against all the other factions (in case you have chosen to start the battle ourselves, winning which would also win the campaign), the opponents will be deployed and faced one at a time, and a unique ability provided by the Vortex will come to our aid.
The Rituals of the Factions
Each faction of the New World (that is, those playable in the Eye of the Vortex campaign) has four different rituals available that are not related to the Vortex and the victory of the campaign. These rituals differ from faction to faction and can be viewed in a special panel at the bottom right.
They can have a cost in gold or particular resources, and become available once particular conditions are met. The bonuses they offer are of the most varied nature and vary from faction to faction.
Each faction ritual can be performed any number of times. After a use (be it instant or active for several turns, depending on the effect of the ritual) it will be necessary to wait a certain number of turns before being able to use it again.
Continue reading with the next article Focus 1: High Elves
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