Chanting Conquest

UPDATE NOTE AS OF OCTOBER 14TH 2024 THIS IS THE OUTDATED VERSION. PLEASE REFER TO THE UPDATED GUIDE FOR CURRENT INFORMATION

TLAoK v2 brought about a number of changes to the W’adrhun chant mechanic.  In addition to revamping much of the cult benefits changes were made to token generation, when you are able to chant, and the fanatic special rule.

On the surface token generation only underwent a minor change.  Previously as long as the card drawn was on the table a token could be generated.  In V2 this was changed to specify that a card must have started the round on the battle field to contribute a token.  This means that you can no longer generate sneaky tokens on turn one by bringing on regiments with characters and then drawing the character card after.  The net result is slowing down early game chanting and making the first draw on turn 2 less likely to chant. 

Maintenance of tokens changed very little.  You may still only have 3 tokens in your pool at any given time and adding a fourth forces you to discard.  You also must still chant if there are 3 tokens in your pool when drawing a card that can chant.  There was a small change to when you are able to opt to chant – previously you could only chant if you had 2 tokens in your pool – now you may chant with a single token in your pool.  This is of benefit to regiments with the fanatic rule.

Where we start to see larger changes is in the requirements to chant each tier.  Previously tier 1 required 2 tokens, tier 2 needed 3 tokens, and tier 3 required 4 tokens.  The only way to acquire the 4th token for tier 3 was through the fanatic rule which did, and still does, let you count one additional token when chanting with a unit with the special rule.  The new requirements are still 2 tokens for tier 1 and 3 for tier 2 but instead of a 4th token tier 3 simply requires 3 tokens and the fanatic rule.  

There were also some slight changes to using the cult of conquest chants.  Previously you need each token to be from a different cult to chant conquest.  This has been changed to just needing tokens from 2 or more cults.  Conquest tokens themselves have not changed and are still a wild card of sorts.  When you opt to chant the battle cry with Conquest tokens in your pool you replace those tokens with any of the other three cults of your choosing.

The fanatic rule still provides its own “bonus” token if you will.  Combined with the change of only requiring 1 token to chant at all a regiment with the fanatic rule can basically always chant tier 1 and will be able to chant tier 3 with 1 token in the pool prior to its activation.  A regiment with the fanatic special rule will probably never chant tier 2 because it now has the same token requirement as tier 3. 

Lets get into some examples –

You have one DEATH token in your pool and you draw Cult of Death unit of Blooded.  You add a second DEATH token to your pool.  With 2 DEATH tokens in your pool you opt to chant the battle cry.  Because you have 2 DEATH tokens you will be able to gain the tier 1 benefit from the cult of death.  For the remainder of the round your Blooded gain +1 clash making them Clash 3.  Both tokens are spent and your pool is now empty.

You have one DEATH token and one WAR token in your pool and you draw Cult of Death unit of Blooded.  You add a second DEATH token to your pool.  With 3 tokens in your pool you must chant.  With 2 DEATH and 1 WAR token you may either chant for the tier 1 benefit of Cult of Death or because you have tokens from two different cults you may chant for the tier 2 benefit of Cult of Conquest.  Remember these benefits are cumulative so if you opt for Cult of Conquest you get both the tier 1 and tier 2 benefit.  Either choice will empty your pool as you always discard remaining tokens.

You have NO tokens! However, your first activation this round is a regiment of Raptor Riders with the fanatic special rule.  You place one Famine token into your pool.  You may opt to chant for the benefits of tier 1 for the Cult of Famine as the fanatic special rule will count as your second Token. 

You have 2 WAR tokens in your pool.  You draw a Scion of Conquest adding a CONQUEST token to your pool.  Because Character stands can’t chant you are not required to chant and instead cast Crescendo.  Crescendo adds another CONQUEST token to your pool, because you have 4 tokens in your pool you must now choose to discard one.  Crescendo causes you to activate a unit which now must chant as you have three tokens in your pool.

Hopefully those examples help explain the system.  Many of the special rules and bonuses from chants are extremely powerful and it isn’t always the best choice to try to save for a tier 2 or tier 3 benefit.  A well timed +1 clash or removing broken on a key stand are just as capable of turning a game as getting off that perfect tier 3 famine super charge.  

BELLOWING ROAR

The June 2023 update added the Bellowing Roar rule to most of the W’adrhun monsters.  This rule allows limited interaction with monsters and chanting.  Monsters, such as the Apex Predator, now use the war chant special rules and are considered to follow the cult of conquest.  They are also limited to only ever being able to chant from the cult of conquest.

FAQs

• Only fanatic regiments are required to chant the same battle cry as their listed cult.  Other units may benefit from any of the cult chants
• While a unit entering the battle field does not contribute a token they may chant the battle cry (both war and conquest can be beneficial on entry)
• The fanatic rule counts as adding an additional token but because that token isn’t a part of the pool fanatic units are not required to chant with 2 tokens in the pool.
• Conquest tokens are exchanged individually.  If you have more than one conquest token in your pool you may replace them with tokens from different cults.
• While Characters don’t contribute tokens the round the regiment they are attached to enters the battlefield you can cast crescendo that round with a Scion to add a sneaky token.

Sources of Conquest Tokens

• Scion of Conquest
• The Crescendo Spell (see Scion of Conquest)
• Chosen of Conquest regiment
• Any regiment and the attached character if the character has the Voices of Conquest upgrade
• Any character with the Touched by the Goddess artifact (note this does not effect the regiment)
• Monster Regiments with the Bellowing Roar Special rule (Apex Predator, Drum Beast, Quatl, and Tontorr)