For instance Germanicus of the Romans, has “Heavy Infantry Charge”, “Testudo Formation” and “Vengence” as abilities, so obviously this commander has no use really for cavalry or artillery as those abilities can’t even be used on those units.
These can range from small buffs for each unit, to buildable defences such as stakes or barricades.Ĭhoosing the right commander to match a unit type will push that unit to its full potential. They also have their own selection of consumables, items you take into battle and can use. Units themselves possess their own abilities, such as charges for cavalry, formation fighting for romans, phalanx for greeks, focused fire for missiles etc. The Barbarians are glass cannon high damage dealers with low defense, fielding units such as “Naked Warriors”, “Falxmen” and “Warhounds”. The Greeks have an extremely strong defensive line with the use of hoplites, long range slingers and devastating shock cavalry. The Romans boast strong heavy infantry, strong late tier cavalry and powerful artillery. Units in ARENA come in all different shapes and sizes and encourage different playstyles to get the most out of them. The variations don’t actually increase beyond tier 5 (sometimes they do a little), but the units themselves have greater tools at their disposal to create a more nuanced battlefield. For example, a battle at Tier 1 will only ever have a maximum of six unit variations on it, while a battle at Tier five has a maximum of eighteen unit variations. Commanders will get access to more complex and difficult to execute abilities and units will become more diverse and complex in their own right. As the Tiers progress you’ll have access to greater gameplay depth. Units and commanders will start at Tier One and as you play and gain more XP you’ll start to unlock access to more Tiers. You’ll need to progress and rank up to gain access to the other two, and you can also improve your current abilities by levelling them up also.ĪRENA’s progression is divided into a ten Tier grouping system. There’s also specific charges, timed effects, special formations and deception tactics that your commanders can employ.Įach commander has three abilities at their disposal, but only starts with one. You can have wide area of effect buffs and de-buffs to enhance or hinder those around you. Commanders belong to different factions, of which there are three The Romans, The Greeks and The Barbarians.Ĭommanders have access to unique abilities, and each commander plays very different because of the effects of those abilities. Upon starting the game you’ll have a choice of three commanders out of a total of 10 that you can eventually unlock. To begin a battle, you’ll need to select a commander to lead your forces.
So let’s see what exactly you’d be paying for. Though the game is in Closed Beta right now, Open beta is only a few weeks away, and you can purchase access along with some other additions for prices ranging from $10 to $100.
In Total War: ARENA you select three units from a wide variety of unit types and take them into 10v10 battles, this creates large scale 30v30 unit battles, played out on a series of bespoke maps.
You won’t find the game on steam, as it’s currently being developed by Creative Assembly and is published by Wargaming utilising the “Wargaming Command Centre” to launch and update the game. Total War: ARENA is a free to play, multiplayer battle game on Windows PC.