The Undead Legions don't have a tech tree. Instead, Nagash—the first and most powerful necromancer with the biggest hat and a goatee made of bones—has a personal web of enhancements called the Black Pyramid. When I saw this in the preview build I sent a screenshot to my coworkers who also had access to the preview and said, "This looks like Path of Exile."

They said the same, and so has everyone playing Nagash while streaming the Lords of the End Times DLC ahead of release. It's an unavoidable comparison when you see this multipath maze of upgrades so twisted it has its own search bar. It really does look like it came from the kind of action RPG you put 500 hours into then leave a negative review of on Steam.

While some branches are dedicated to improving specific troops and characters as well as your economy, plenty are direct buffs for Nagash himself. The nodes that connect those branches are also buffs for Nagash, so even if you dedicate yourself to activating nodes that let you summon every troop type in his expansive roster—he's got access to all three of Total War: Warhammer's undead flavors, the Tomb Kings, the Vampire Counts, and the piratical Vampire Coast—you'll inevitably be Nagashmaxxing as you go.

In no time at all Nagash becomes an absolute beast on the battlefield, casting Abyssal Swarms that create a vortex of bats, which don't harm his own troops but absolutely mince everyone else, then floating in to slice up the survivors with a sword the size of a train while his armor reflects projectiles back on whoever made the mistake of firing them.

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