A Total War Saga: TROY is expanding with the massive MYTHOS DLC on September 2. It’s the largest update for the game, bringing entire new game modes, systems reworks, and much more. In this ever-evolving FAQ as we lead up to launch, we’ll give you all the knowledge you need to proceed.
THE BASICS
WHAT IS MYTHOS?
The Lernean Hydra, the Griffin Patriarch, and the mighty Cerberus await heroes and leaders brave – or foolhardy – enough to seek their assistance. With enough guile, wit, and battle skill, you can bring them into your service, and with them will come their legions of followers, special abilities, and new gameplay opportunities.
In addition, units and concepts previously depicted with their real-world equivalents – such as harpies, centaurs, the cyclops, and more – have been reimagined as their mythical counterparts. The Divine Will system is expanded, allowing you to take control of the thunderbolts of Zeus himself, or the epic tides of Poseidon.
Learn more over on the official site. You can also pre-order it right here.
WHOA, WHOA, WHOA, SO THIS ISN’T A HISTORICAL GAME ANYMORE?
On the contrary! As part of the free update that will launch alongside TROY: MYTHOS, we are introducing a dedicated historically authentic mode called, no prizes for guessing, Historical mode. This will not only not have access to the creatures and features of the new Mythological mode, but also replace powerful single-entity units and make other changes from the Truth Behind The Myth mode that sits between the two (and will also still be available for play). We’ll talk more about this in the near future.
WHEN IS IT COMING OUT?
TROY: MYTHOS and the associated free update will launch Thursday, September 2 at 3pm BST / 7am PST.
HOW MUCH WILL IT COST? CAN I BUY IT NOW? IS THERE A PRE-ORDER BONUS?
MYTHOS is available for pre-order on the Epic Games Store for £19.99 / €24.99 / $24.99 right now. No pre-order bonuses.
HAVEN’T YOU BEEN ON THE EPIC GAME STORE FOR A YEAR NOW?
That’s correct, so we’re also launching TROY on Steam at the same time, along with all its DLC. You can read all about that in the TROY on Steam FAQ. The short version is that the two versions will be in complete parity with each other, now and forever.
GAMEPLAY
WHAT ARE THE MYTHOS MYTHICAL MONSTERS?
The three mythical monsters that will be available in TROY: MYTHOS are the Lernean Hydra, the Griffin Patriarch, and Cerberus. Each has their own set of associated units, buildings, in-battle and on-map special abilities, and other bits and pieces depending on which you recruit.
That is a task in itself. Each beast requires a great quest on your part, dispatching a hero and his troops to find evidence of, track down, and eventually fight and recruit the great beast. This is a Mythic Expedition and only one can be attempted per campaign, so choose wisely.
As part of this Mythic Expedition your troops will face five dilemmas you will need to resolve, preparing your army for the final confrontation. When you eventually track down and begin the final phase of the hunt, a mighty battle will take place, with you taking control of the monster if you win.
The cost is that this army is otherwise occupied for its entire journey and will not be able to help in the defense of your lands or your conquests. When you can afford to do so is up to you.
Once you have finished a Mythic Expedition, your monster of choice will act as an agent on the map, capable of carrying out various special actions, as well as joining armies to fight as a powerful unit. Your campaign Antagonist will also be able to obtain their own Mythic Monster – and they will do so before you if you leave it too long. Make your choices carefully.
WHAT ELSE HAS CHANGED IN MYTHOLOGICAL MODE?
Mythological mode has a large number of other changes, gameplay and visual. We’ve updated battle maps and the campaign map to bring the Gods of Ancient Greece closer – quite literally, their faces now appearing in the skies above your engagements. They can also have a much stronger presence on the battlefield, lending you their aid if you have managed to suitably impress them in the form of unique abilities to destroy your enemies or make your troops into colossi (figuratively speaking).
Units you may be familiar with such as centaurs, minotaurs, and harpies, among others, have also been redesigned and upgraded into their actual monstrous counterparts – expect flight and other special abilities.
FREE UPDATE
WHAT’S INCLUDED IN THE FREE UPDATE ALONGSIDE TROY: MYTHOS?
Alongside the aforementioned Historical mode, we’re also reworking the supply lines system into an Administration system for all three modes. This involves a new pooled resource – Administration Burden. Each Hero, unit and settlement has a defined amount of Administration Burden. Units have different amounts based on their tier (the stronger a unit is, the more Administration Burden they ‘cost’), and the same is true of settlements. Heroes also have a cost, while Epic Heroes are ‘cheaper’.
The more Administration Burden a player has, the more negative effects are unlocked, but in return, royal decrees and influence will be gained faster. The costs for recruitment and upkeep go higher and are broken down by resource – food costs are the first to go up, followed by bronze and gold. We didn’t want it to purely feel bad that you were growing your armies, hence the benefits to royal decrees and influence from being a large and powerful empire.
Our general goals here were to allow for different variations of play – smaller armies don’t punish you any harder than a few massive ones – as well as lower the impact of hiring heroes so it doesn’t lead to immediate massive spikes in prices. It should feel fairer and less impactful overall, while still being something you feel the need to manage or make decisions based on. We’re looking forward to feedback on it.
The free update will also be adding achievements to both the Epic and Steam versions of the game, as well as the usual pass of bug fixing and balance tweaks. Full details on all of these will be in the patch notes, due the week of launch.
WHAT DOES HISTORICAL MODE CHANGE?
We’ll have the full details in a dedicated blog post closer to release, but the intent is to strip back on mythical elements – such as single-entity units, battlefield-defining special abilities, and the like. The game should and will still be fun, but also a more accurate representation of Bronze Age warfare between armies of the time. Known names are heroic figures, but not titans of endless strength and endurance.
Naturally, it will be a completely optional mode and the classic Troy ‘Truth Behind the Myth’ mode will still be available.