If you want a strong start as the Vampire Counts, this guide will show you how to secure your Sylvania heartland, handle Blood Kiss unlocks, optimize lord and hero leveling, build armies that work, keep your troops healed, and exploit your early campaign advantages. Every step is practical, actionable, and tailored for Vlad or Isabella as the backbone of your first Sylvania campaign.
Updated for Update 9.0 and Patch 9.0.4 (October 15, 2026): Update 9.0 reworked the Vampire Counts, with new skill trees and traits, corpse and blood resources, and changes to wounds, bloodlines and healing.
Quick answer
| What | Answer |
|---|---|
| First target | Zufbar |
| First Blood Kiss pick | Lahmian Gifts |
| Lord type | Vampire Lord |
| Early infantry | Zombies |
| Key healing spell | Invocation of Nehek |
| Best early advantage | Raise Dead from turn one |
Secure your opening and remove Zhufbar
Opening moves are critical for Vampire Counts. Defeating your initial enemies, especially Zufbar and Castle Templehof, sets the campaign tempo and prevents dangerous neighbors from threatening your capital.
- They're your starting enemy; use Vlad, Isabella, and a vampire hero for superior melee power. This opening fight is usually straightforward 2:36.
- Stack all your units where there are no towers. Vlad batters the gate while flying units cycle-charge defenders on the walls for devastating results 2:56.
- Zufbar threatens Drakenhof and can be confederated by Karak Kadrin, so it's important to remove them before they consolidate or trade their territory 3:22.
- Hire a bait lord and position them outside Zhufbar's reinforcement range. Place Vlad in ambush nearby; this draws their army out for an isolated fight 4:19.
- Fast movers like Black Coach, Blood Knights, and Dire Wolves are key for isolating and destroying dwarf fire support 4:49.
- Unless you want to settle in poor climate, sack the city for gold—then invest back in Sylvania 5:18.
Spend Blood Kisses on the right unlocks
Blood Kisses are a major progression mechanic for Vampire Counts, providing access to unique lords and factionwide bonuses.
- Earn them by defeating faction leaders, wounding or assassinating characters (especially with heroes), completing certain technologies, vassalizing factions, and some quests 7:02.
- The first unlock comes quickly and is game-changing, so plan your actions to hit that threshold early 7:42.
- This is the recommended first pick for a 20% experience gain increase across all characters 9:42.
- Queen Bee increases agent action success chance by 50%, making hero actions far more effective 8:10.
- Necromancers, Wight Kings, Vampires all trigger Blood Kisses reliably through wounding and assassination. These actions are the best farm source since they occur often 8:39.
Level lords and heroes in the right order
Vampire Counts rely on their Lords and heroes for their power much more than most factions. Your lord's skill path and how you build your hero team determines both your battle effectiveness and your campaign momentum.
Start every lord on the blue skill line, focusing especially on Children of the Night (which boosts character experience gain for all heroes in the army) and Lightning Strike for tactical flexibility. The Uncanny Prowess capstone increases Winds of Magic reserves by 15—a bonus that's practically required, since Vampire Counts depend greatly on spells for both damage and utility. After blue-line skills, invest in replenishment and growth, then progress to spells, prioritizing Invocation of Nehek and summoning skills.
Necromancers are your mainstay spellcaster heroes, available early from Charnel Pit buildings (tier 2). Their role is to stack passive buffs and provide core healing, especially since Vampire heroes are locked behind a tier 4 building. When you unlock vampire heroes, add them for stronger spellcasting and flying.
Traits matter: look for Master of the Black Arts (free Spirit Leech casts, reduced miscast chance), Dread Incarnate (reduces enemy leadership), and Loremaster Keeper (boosts Winds of Magic turns). Use White Kings and Banshees to supplement melee presence and generate extra Blood Kisses through wound and assassination actions.
Every army should carry multiple spellcasters for both damage and healing. For emergency defense, a Master Necromancer can work thanks to cheaper recruitment and buffs to zombies. However, a Vampire Lord is superior when affordable due to melee power, resilience, and earlier flying access.
Build armies around an anvil and a hammer
Vampire Counts armies work best when organized around tanks (anvils) and damage dealers (hammers), with strong support from Lords and heroes.
| Role | Recommended Units | Purpose | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Early Anvil (frontline) | Zombies | Durable, cheap, absorb damage | Skeletons cost more and are less durable; use only if needed |
| Mid/Late Anvil | Grave Guard (swords, great weapons, polearms) | Durable, moderate damage | Upgrade into these as soon as possible |
| Early Hammer | Dire Wolves, Fell Bats | Flank, attack ranged/siege teams | Cheap and fast; ideal against Empire/other gunlines |
| Mid-Late Hammer | Black Knights, Crypt Horrors, Blood Knights, Hex Wraiths | Flank, cycle-charge, armor piercing | Available as you unlock higher-tier buildings and tech |
| Support | Necromancers (Corpse Cart), Mortis Engine | Healing, debuff, aura stacking | Blob infantry for maximum benefit |
| Filler/Chaff | Skeletons (occasional), Regiments of Renown | Emergency reinforcements | Only raise in emergencies |
| Avoid Late | Varghulfs | Poor durability/leadership late game | Dies quickly, skip for late-game compositions |
Units now cost corpses or blood to recruit, and unit caps matter. One creator's tier list, recorded after Update 9.0, is a single opinion, but it disagrees with parts of the table above:
- Zombies: C tier. Very cheap and durable, and Helman Ghorst's lord skill line buffs them, but the creator finds many armies that are much better and sees zombies mainly as a shambling horde that follows the main army.
- Skeleton Warriors and Skeleton Spearmen: the creator rates Skeleton Warriors F tier and prefers Skeleton Spearmen, which have an anti-large benefit and no unit capacity limits, as early-game mass and later filler.
- Corpse Carts and Mortis Engines: the creator calls regular Corpse Carts not very useful, with Unholy Lodestone the one worth using, and says carts get overshadowed by Mortis Engines later. The Mortis Engine is rated a good support unit, not quite S tier.
- Black Knights: regular Black Knights are F tier because the upgraded Black Knights of Barding are better and share unit capacity. Black Knights of Barding are S tier because they are widely available and recruited for corpses.
- Blood Knights: A tier, because they cost blood, which the creator treats as a limited strategic resource also used for instant construction and research. The creator would rather spend blood on Lahmian Handmaidens.
- Varghulfs: S tier as a fast, durable line breaker, so the "avoid late" advice above is not shared by this creator. Vargheists are also S tier as flying harassers of ranged lines.
- Dire Wolves and Fell Bats: Dire Wolves are not worth it next to Black Knights, and Fell Bats are D tier, useful only as a cheap aerial blob.
- Grave Guard: A tier for the shielded version, and the creator calls Grave Guard with great weapons more durable than Lahmian Handmaidens in a line. Lahmian Handmaidens are S tier and among the best infantry in the game.
- Hex Wraiths: C tier, because recruiting them is awkward. Crypt Horrors: B tier, the Vampire Counts equivalent of trolls. Zombie Dragon: preferred over the Terrorgheist because it is easier to acquire, including through the new landmarks.
- Regiments of Renown: Update 9.0 limits how many fit in one army. Every Lord starts with a capacity of 2, rising to 3, 4 and 5 as they rank up, and Legendary Lords go 4, 6 and 8.
Use healing and blob fights correctly
Keeping your troops healed over multiple battles is a fundamental advantage for the Vampire Counts. There are two healing types: regular healing (restores health to living models) and monstrous healing (can restore dead models and bring them back).
- Invocation of Nehek and Curse of Undeath both restore lost models in infantry/cavalry units; passives (corpse cart, Mortis Engine, The Hunger) do not 29:18.
- Stand monsters and Lords near corpse carts, Mortis Engines, and necromancers to regenerate health between and during battles 29:46.
- Group multi-entity units near healing sources before casting Invocation of Nehek for maximum resurrection and healing 30:15.
- Undercasting is usually more efficient: overcasting increases cooldown and miscast risk 31:43.
- Multiple spellcasters trigger multiple Curse of Undeath passives, enabling greater healing across blobs 31:47.
Know when to fight aggressively
Your greatest power as Vampire Counts comes early, with the Raise Dead mechanic enabling instant army replenishment. Aggressive moves let you steamroll fragile neighbors before they can build up defenses or technologies.
- Recruit units from any marked battlefield on turn one; don't wait for perfect armies 32:39.
- Keep up momentum—merge injured units, raise replacements, and move on to the next target without delay 33:07.
- Early aggression and rapid expansion can collapse major Empire factions by turn 30 and complete campaign objectives by turn 40 33:34.
Also worth knowing
- A Blood Kiss farm can be created with respawning enemy lords: Trap a faction leader in a small settlement and let them respawn by intentionally losing a battle; fight them each turn for infinite Blood Kisses and rapid leveling. Update 9.0 makes this slower: with the new Escalating Wounds feature (a campaign setting that can be toggled), a character who keeps getting wounded gains a "Recently Wounded" trait that worsens through 3 levels and increases their future wound recovery time, and Update 9.0 also reduced wound recovery time effects in many places across the game.
- Trading Zhufbar secures your eastern flank with little risk: Rather than fighting dwarfs directly, offer the settlement to Karak Kadrin or another ally for vassalization and cash, creating a buffer zone.
- Isabella and one Vampire Lord can create an unstoppable early doomstack: Focus Isabella's buffs, supplement with flying or bat units, and you can steamroll the Empire in the first 10–15 turns. Patch 9.0.2 changed Isabella's The Countess' Brood skill: it no longer provides armour-piercing damage for Dire Wolves and Fell Bats, but the charge and speed bonuses are now factionwide.
- Vampire Counts favor wide settlement play: Early income from settlement buildings is unusually strong even at low tiers, so expanding rapidly is often the best economic strategy.
- Monster-heavy armies can outperform infantry blobs: Mortis Engines, Varghulfs, and single-entity healing are exceptionally effective if monsters are concentrated and supported by healing and corpse carts. Update 9.0 adds the Zombie Dragon landmarks, and Patch 9.0.3 adjusted the stats of all Vampire Lords mounted on Zombie Dragon to be in line with the standalone Zombie Dragon unit.
- Confederation works differently now: Update 9.0 lets any Vampire Counts faction confederate the Red Duke through the technology tree, and one creator notes that legendary lords such as Helman Ghorst can now be confederated from a distance, requiring zombies leveled to rank seven or above in his case. Patch 9.0.4 also fixed the Vampire Counts confederation requirement for the target faction to have no more than 5 regions not being displayed.
- Vanhel's Danse Macabre and Purple Sun are standout spells: Consider Shadow magic for morale manipulation, and use strong spell combos to supplement the damage and morale collapse caused by your heroes.
Frequently asked
What should I do first as Vampire Counts?
Take the nearby opening war seriously and remove Zhufbar early so a dangerous mountain neighbor does not sit next to your capital. After that, trade or vassalize where it helps secure your flank, then use the breathing room to build economy and hero capacity.
Are zombies or skeletons better early on?
Zombies are the better early frontline because they are cheap and work as disposable anvil units. Skeletons do more damage, but they cost more and are described as less durable for the same role.
Which lord should I recruit?
A Vampire Lord is the strongest default choice because it combines melee strength with good spellcasting and earlier flying access than some alternatives. Master Necromancers are better as emergency defensive lords when money is tight.
How do I heal Vampire Counts armies efficiently?
Use passive healing from corpse carts, Mortis Engines, and similar effects to keep single-entity units alive, and use Invocation of Nehek to restore lost models in multi-entity units. Undercasting is usually more efficient than overcasting, and multiple casters can stack healing more safely.
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