It didn’t take too long of progressing through my first campaign as a vampire that I found myself watching my entire army gain morale buffs from getting absolutely pummeled by enemy archers. They were actively enjoying the pain, a unique mechanic in almost any genre of gameplay. Meanwhile, my vampire lord was siphoning blood from a dying knight to heal herself while spreading darkness across the battlefield. Pure vampire goodness. The latest Age of Wonders 4 DLC, Thrones of Blood commits to the vampire bit so hard it’s genuinely uncomfortable at times which is a breath of fresh air, espcially from a DLC.
The Night Calls
The Elder Vampire ruler type isn’t just a reskin of existing mechanics, but it’s a completely different way to play Age of Wonders 4. You trade your standard Wizard’s Tower for a Vampire’s Castle, harvesting thralls instead of managing regular citizens, and your entire skill tree revolves around blood magic that would make Count Orlok himself jealous.
More impressively, the new mechanics force you to think differently about how you actually play Age of Wonders 4. Your vampire ruler thrives in Sunless terrain (a new biome that spreads darkness across the map), but being undead means you’re vulnerable to holy damage and specific counter-units. I learned this the hard way when by marching my vampire lord into battle against some paladins and got absolutely wrecked in early on. There’s a learning curve, but you’ll quickly learn if you play recklessly, you’ll get a stake through the heart.
The Three Tomes
The three new magic tomes (Blood Rite, Torment, and Crimson Reign) are expectedly vampire-themed, but they also fundamentally change how combat works. The Tome of Blood lets you damage your own units to inflict bleeding on enemies, which sounds terrible until you unlock Blood Drinking Blades that heal your troops when they attack bleeding targets. It’s a beautiful cycle of self-harm and vampiric regeneration that adds a whole new level of strategic gameplay.
Tome of Torment makes things even weirder. Your units gain morale boosts when they take damage, which means you actually want enemies to hit you sometimes. Combine this with Blood Rite’s self-damage mechanics and you’ve got an army that essentially feeds on pain, both giving and receiving it. It’s deliciously twisted.
I found myself often leaning full mage vampire, and over my playthroughs, it seems like the optimal build. The warrior vampire path works, but the spell synergies are just too good to pass up paired with all the changes and additions accompanying Thrones of Blood.
The (Brutal) Story Realm
The story realm drops you into the birthplace of vampires, and you immediately have to pick sides between vampire hunters and two feuding Elder Vampire lords. I chose to ally with the hunters on my first run because I wanted to take a more “neutral” vampire route as I learned the DLC. Big mistake.
It didn’t take long until I was getting pummeled by multiple factions on many fronts simultaneously. My capital was razed, my ruler destroyed, and a swift restart was in order. This is one of the hardest story realms in Age of Wonders 4 to date, if not the hardest. You’ll really need to understand the game’s old and new systems and with it execute on some serious planning to find success in the latest one.
In my subsequent playthrough I allied with one of the vampire lords, which gave me breathing room but still kept the pressure on. The branching narrative here is a legitimate one. There are Lost Souls quests that flesh out the lore behind the DLC, multiple paths to victory, and decisions that actually matter across the campaign. In total it took me close to 20+ hours, and I still feel like I’ve only scratched the surface of what’s actually there. It’s a magnificent addition all around in Thrones of Blood.
An Immersive Atmosphere
Triumph Studios went all-in on the gothic vampire aesthetic. The Sunless Lands look appropriately gloomy, the new Ancient Wonders (Crimson Fane and Rose-Choked Castle) are gorgeously creepy, and the interface skin reinforces the theme without being too overwhelming. Michiel van den Bos composed new music tracks that hit that perfect vampire-movie vibe; dramatic orchestral stuff that makes you feel appropriately villainous as you lurk in the shadows.
The new wildlife units are grotesque in the best way. This includes Blood Maggots which are crawling monstrosities that are legitimately unsettling, and all-new Doom Bats that swarm the sky like something out of a nightmare. Even the Thorned Skeletons and Rose Knights have a corrupted fairy-tale quality that works way better than it should. All of this adds up to an impressively immersive vampire setting that rivals entirely vampire-focused games, let alone as an accompanying DLC.
The Red Juice
Thrones of Blood is the most fun I’ve had with Age of Wonders 4 DLC since it launched, which is an impressive feat as I’m typically tired of the vampire aesthetic. It’s challenging enough to feel rewarding, thematically cohesive in a way that shows real care, and offers genuinely new strategic options rather than just more of the same. The story realm alone justifies the purchase to me as it’s just that good.
As with any deeply intricate 4X game, new players should certainly get comfortable with the base game first. This DLC doesn’t hold your hand, as it shouldn’t, and the Elder Vampire mechanics have a real learning curve although it’s extremely rewarding to learn. On the flip side, veterans are sure to welcome the added challenge as they build their vampire empire.
