So you want to play TWW multiplayer but you have no idea where to start?

Here's a rundown of the current lords and heroes:


Empire

General of the empire=B+ (any mount gryphon in particular, potion of health) Very solid melee lord, can bring potions and is a strong fighter on the gryphon, which unlocks the bloodroar passive(if you pay for it)

Boris Todbringer=C+ slightly better than the general statwise, he loses the potion for an overpriced runefang and cannot get a flying mount, still a solid fighter

Arch Lector=C His buffs cannot make up for his shoddy offensive skills, he is tanky thanks to his armor, buffs and melee defense but can't hurt a fly.

Balthasar Gelt=Trash Avoid like plague, magic is pretty shit currently and lore of metal even more so, having your general slot occupied by a squishy general that cannot contribute much to the battle is suicide

Karl Franz=A Dah emprah, Franz, the elector count summoner and Prince and Emperor of the empire is an amazing fighter especially on deathclaw, very few can go toe to toe with Franz and survive, a great choice, don't get his weapons, waste of money.

Volkmar the Grim=C An offensive arch lector, he loses tankiness for fire and magic attacks and a lot more melee attack, he can get his magic chariot that literally turns him into a giant target with shit stats for just 450 gold, why get it you may ask? Well it unlocks banishment, vortex spell from the lore of light for no winds of magic cost, you just have to pay 200 gold more and the way vortex spells are now, it's just not worth it

Witch hunter=B- Used to be a top tier choice thanks to the accusation ability, after the nerf the damage has been severely lowered, but it's still effective, recommended to take only if you really need a way to kill single targets without getting close. Health potion.

Empire captain=B+ Get three of them them on pegasi and give them an attack order towards the enemy flying lord, watch as the lord scrambles to avoid death by 3 bearded men on top of ponies chasing him. Get the health potion.

Warrior priest=C- Shittier Arch lector that doesn't occupy a general slot, for some reason only has 30 armour despite being completely covered and no shield, making him actually quite vulnerable. H potion.

Bright wizard=B- Offensive spellcaster, Cascading flame cloak is a cheap and good buff for a short duration, fireball is excellent against large targets and almost one shots corpse carts when overcast, piercing bolts of burning are one of the very few bombardment spells that actually deals great damage, avoid the rest.

Light wizard=A- First of all the -4 leadership map wide vs undead is a big deal, that said he has great buffs with Light of battle and Birona's timewarp, but the reason he is an A rank is the net of amyntok that when overcast lasts a whooping 42 seconds and works on flying units! 42 seconds of interrupted crossbowmen/handgunners/artillery shooting at the enemy general or incoming units, simply amazing

Celestial wizard=B An often overlooked caster, he has the only breath spell in the game that causes damage (I've gotten more than 300 kills with a single overcast once) in wind blast, Curse of midnight wind is a solid debuff, Urannon's thunderbolt and Comet of Casandora are both solid bombardment spells.

Amber wizard=A You get: The most cost effective offensive aoe spell in flock of doom, a strong and overlooked magic projectile in amber spear to sniper heroes, an amazing buff in Pann's impenetrable pel that grants 22% dmg reduction and speed for 50 seconds and just 8 mana, the curse of Anraheir which turns enemy ranged units in useless wastes of space for 40 seconds and transformation of Kadon which grants a 1000 gold unit for free, oh and he also has access to a fucking gryphon, what else do you want?


Bretonnia

Lord=B+ Basically same as general of the empire with the only differences being the fact he has blessing of the lady instead of hold the line and the bretonnian hippogryphs don't unlock bloodroar for purchase, although they cost 50 gold less. Get H potion.

Louen Leoncoeur=A++ Probably the strongest general in the game right now, this guy has some ridiculous statslike Franz when mounted on Beacquis, not only that, but also has a passive that grants him health regen and a ridiculous map wide buff called Beloved son of Bretonnia that grants massive buffs to his whole army, this shit is so broken most tournaments ban it. Oh and his unique item? Despite being "green" it's much better than most "purple" items in the game, lowering nearby enemy melee defence by 36 for 32 seconds, retarded good.

Paladin=A+ Remember the Empire captain? This guy is an Empire captain just cheaper, he just doesn't have hold the line but goddamn for just 700 gold you get a solid melee hero like few other who are usually placed at 900+. Get H potion.

Damsel=B Basically a celestial wizard although slightly better


Greenskins

Night Goblin Warboss=C+ The greenskins lords are very important because of the brittle morale of Greenskin units, to have such a squishy general is a gamble, you might bait enemy hero killers into reckless charges but more often than not your ambush won't work and you'll wind up death. ONLY get with his squig mount which adds armour piercing attacks, bonus vs infantry, poison attack and a shitton of health, plus he's unknockable and fast. Get H potion

Warboss=B The Warboss is a solid choice, can get a wyvern wich allows him to beat standard lords on gryphons/hippogryphs and even go toe to toe with franz and beat him if you burn WAAAGH! on a 1v1 fight, so why is he not ranked higher? Well it's because of the armies he will be facing, first of all he has 70 armor, making him more vulnerable than other flying lords to ranged, also Wyverns don't have the leap attack animations of Gryphons/Manticores/dragons which allows them to get out of tarpits, meaning if you get bogged down in a melee you're most likely fucked, also you want your Warboss next to your army for the aura and to cast WAAAGH! and other buffs which severely limits the usefulness of being on a mount. Get an H potion

Goblin great shaman=C- Imagine having an even squishier night goblin warboss as leader of your greenskin army, avoid, you can't afford to lose your general at the start of the battle

Skarsnik=B- Skarsnik is an odd one, he doesn't really have a place, he's like a Warboss, but he can't get mounts, although he has better stats, he has some weird items and abilities of dubious usefulness and sacrifices an health potion for it.

Grimgor=B  Grimgor will fuck you up, he fucks people up in melee, that's his job, the downside? He's stuck on foot, and as every lord stuck on foot he's subscetible to monstrous mounts and generals knocking him around with no chance to retaliate, your best bet is keeping him in the melee so to make the blob a deterrent to enemy monsters from moving in.

Azhag the slaughterer=B+ Often overlooked he is actually a very good lord, he beats Franz in a 1v1 with no magic, he has access to one of the best lores (lore of death) he can WAAAGH! and has an unique item that gives him the very useful poison attacks, the downsides? He has a solid 70 armour with NO shield, meaning ranged will fuck him up and despite having very good melee attack he just has 20 melee defence, remember the wyvern getting stuck in melee argument? it's much worse if it happens to Azhag

Wurrzag=B Wurrzag is awesome, he has tons of unique abilities, items and an unique mount, all worth it but goddamn is he expensive and he's not great in a melee, despite not being shit either. He sufffers from the greenskin curse of needing a general that can hold his own since they can't afford to gamble with it, a shame, if you get him get 'Ere we go and Foot of gork, a spell that makes short work of enemy cav and heavy infantry.

Goblin Big boss=B The goblin big boss is basically a nuisance for your enemy, you get him on top of his spider, he will damage and poison heroes, ranged units and lords and will be a pain to get rid of, just don't expect him to be an effective fighter against actual units. Get H potion.

Night goblin Shaman=B Why is the goblin great shaman C- and this one B? Simply because this guy isn't a general so you can actually bring him, lore of the little waagh has some pretty good buffs and debuffs, get Itchy nuisance and night shroud, some like to get sneaky stabbing too, depends on your army composition and who you're facing, vindictive glare is a pretty mediocre magic missile, big downside compared to his great counterpart is the complete lack of mounts, if this guy gets in melee he's basically dead.

Orc Shaman=B Same as Wurrzag, get him 'Ere we go and foot of gork, he also has access to a warboar, although it's pretty expensive.


Dwarfs

Dwarf lords and heroes all suffer from the fact they are all stuck on foot except the Runelord on his anvil and Thorgrim, forcing them at a below A rank.

Dwarf Lord=C A basic general with no access to mounts and health potions (he gets a ruby ring instead that allows him to cast fireball), a pretty sub par choice if not for his melee stats.

Runelord=B- This guy has some pretty serious buffs, his anvil is basically mandatory, grants him more health, an important 25% physical damage reduction passive and the immunity to knockback, also unlocks a mapwide passive 15% magic resist you can pay for, what are the downsides? This guy hits like a fairy, 280 weapon damage, one of the lowest in the game, he's basically a support lord through and through.

Ungrim=B He's a slightly lesser Grimgor, just more subsceptible to knockback, with no WAAAGH! but unbreakable

High king Thorgrim=A- This dude might not have buffs as good as a runelord, but his passive buffs to his allies and himself are still damn good and more importantly, he can fight, not only he has magic attacks but he's also one of two dwarf lords immune to knockback, one of the best lord choices.

Belegar ironhammer=B+ a beast in melee, this guy suffers from being stuck on foot, but goddamn is he a good melee fighter, basically impervious to ranged fire, he'll fuck up most enemies that get stuck in melee with him, unless they are monsters, which would fuck him up pretty badly by slapping him around with knockbacks, get his unique item.

Grombrindal, the white dwarf=A- Long story short he's like Belegar, a very strong melee fighter stuck on foot, he's Grimgor on steroids (although 1v1s with him are still close), unlike belegar he doesn't have a shield, so he can't just shrug off focus fire, he has a whooping 500 weapon damage, armour piercing, magic attacks, strong unique items, a one time map wide UNBREAKABLE for 33 seconds, a flashbang that is retarded good, at the end of the day though, he's still a dwarf stuck on foot and easily played around with if he has no support, just stick him in the melee and don't move him from there.

Thane=B- A dwarf lord that does not suck, pretty strong in melee, he's pretty slow and stuck on foot limiting his impact on the fast moving battlefield. Get H potion.

Runesmith=B+ Basically a mandatory dwarf hero, every army should have one, remember to spam his abilities whenever they're off cooldwon, get his master rune of Stromni redbeard and of Groth One-Eye as items.

Master Engineer=C+ Only bring if you have lots of artillery/ranged units since his ability buffs are centered around them, he has some pretty good passives as items but he won't be in melee most of the time so he won't be able to buff his allies with them.

Beastmen

Beastlord=B- The beastlord is basically a better warboss, more armor, better stats, slightly more expensive, betters passives, no WAAAGH! equivalent, so why is he B-? Well he's a basic lord with no potion access, and his unique item is kinda hit and miss, has acces to a chariot which is actually quite good, but requires babysitting to not get him bogged down by enemies.

Khazrak=B+ This dude is a pretty strong melee lord, he's a beastlord on steroids but like the beastlord his item is hit and miss, certainly the best Beastmen lord choice.

Malagor=C+ Malagor on paper sounds awesome, I can have a 1600 gold unit for free by casting Savage dominion? Awesome! Then you realize that like most casters Malagor is a bitch in melee and beastmen suffer from the same brittle morale of greenskins, his unique items and abilities are good.

Gorebull=A These guys are among the best heroes in the game and before the health regen cap patch, they were a huge pain in the ass to deal with, a murder machine with 3 health bars? Thank god for the cap. Anyway they're awesome, they almost cost quite as much as paladins, but they have a shitton of health, frenzy, bloodgreed(these guys don't need mounts, they have a shitload of speed and charge and are more resistant to knockbacks than other foot heroes) and have access to health potions, oh they also cause fear, an headache for your enemy and at least one mandatory for each beastmen army.

Bray Shaman (death)=B Get spirit leech, doom and darkness and if you have spare cash fate of bjuna, although both Spirit leech and FoB were nerfed they are still effective spells, can get a chariot.

Bray Shaman (beasts)=A- He's like the amber wizard, instead of a gryphon he can get a chariot

Bray Shaman (wild)=B+ Remember what I said about Malagor and the unit summoning? Same applies here, getting one of these guys guarantees you a cygor, a 1600 gold unit, get Savage dominion, Mantle of Ghorok and Devolve (used to be batshit OP, got nerfed pretty hard).


Vampire counts

Remember what I said about Greenskins and needing their generals alive? Well that's all the more true for Vampire counts.

Master Necromancer=Trash Avoid like plague, used to be a viable choice before health regeneration cap was implemented in the undead deathball tactic, now he's no longer an option.

Heinnrich Kemmler=Trash Look, these guys are not viable choices, if Vampire lords are squishy this guys are even more so, you need your lords alive not as magnets for enemy lord assassins.

Helman Ghorst=C- The only reason he's not trash is that he can summon a unit of grave guard OR a Wight king if overcast, don't get his fucking cart, he becomes a huge target.

Vlad Von Carnstein=B+ Grandaddy Carnstein is a pain in the ass to deal with thanks to his regen ring and passives, has access to lore of vampires which is all around a good lore with no weak spells, every spell is worth it, just choose the ones you like most, oh he's also stuck on foot, but thanks to his regen he doesn't get a B- for being a vulnerable lord in a faction that needs it alive.

Strigoi Ghoul King=B Often overlooked, has access to a terrorgheist mount, a lot of health, a mix of the best spells from the lore of death and vampires and the regeneration passive (careful of fire attacks) and poison attacks, he has an unique spell that allows him to summon a unit of crypt ghouls(or horrors when overcast) so why isn't he higher? He has FUCK ALL LEADERSHIP, meaning if he gets stuck in a melee alone he crumbles like a bitch, also has no acces to any items, the terrorgheist is pretty much mandatory, without it he basically has no armor.

Vampire lord=B+ Damn expensive but worth it, has access to a zombie dragon (when bought make sure to also buy the swarm of flies ability) and no items, just don't suicide bomb him and he will be a strong presence for the whole battle.

Mannfred Von Carstein=A- This guy is expensive as fuck mainly because he already has all spells of the lore of death and vampires, he has 5 more melee defense on his dragon compared to a vampire lord (but the dragon also costs 50 gold more) has access to an unique item and ability to regenerate mana faster, but his prohibitive cost will forse you to drop some abilities and spell, scroll up to see the worthwhile spells from the lores I mentioned, also I would remove The hunger, undead resurgent and red fury.

Banshee=B Basically has the same role of a Goblin big boss, being a pain in the ass, her ethereal status makes her pretty much impervious to physical attacks, give her an attack order on the enemy lord or hero and forget about her. Get the health potion.

Wight king=B+ Basically an empire captain/paladin with better melee stats but no access to flying mounts, still a very solid choice. Get health potion.

Necromancer=C- No Vampire count lord choice doesn't have access to lore of vampires, unless you want to bring a backup avoid, has access to corpse cart mounts...but why not just bring a corpse cart? Its melee stats are trash but it's not worth spending 1000 more gold just to have the stats when you buy it for the passive buffs.

Vampire-Chan=A- Solid fighter wizard and a fucking expensive hero at that, it's your only access to lore of death beside Mannfred, has access to an hellsteed bring the bare minimum of spells you need for her to not make her too expensive.


Warriors of Chaos

Chaos Lord=B+ This guy is basically a General of the empire, just with better stats, although he lacks hold the line. Has access to a manticore or Chaos dragon (which grants him fire attacks). Get health potion.

Prince Sigvald the Magnificent=C+ Sigvald is a chaos lord stuck on foot with better stats and no potion (although his unique item grants passive regen), he also has charge defence, something rare for Chaos. Unless you're hellbent on not getting a mounted general Sigvald is not for you.

Chaos sorcerer lords (fire, death, metal)=C None of these guys are worth it as a general, also their stats on top of their flying mounts are much lower than a Chaos lord's, so don't be misled unless you're on a very strict budget and can't afford a sorcerer hero, avoid.

Kholek Suneater=A- Probably the best chaos general, Kholek east alive every other general in the game, even the ones on monstrous mounts, the ones on foot can't even damage him because they will be too busy kissing the ground from being knocked back all the time. He has a massive 520 weapon damage, 80 speed (more than most heavy cav) great melee stats, this guy is just the best melee lord in the game, also has access to lord of the storm, a variant of Urannon's thunderbolt for no mana. The downsides? His item is not worth it and he's very vulnerable to cannons and other ranged since they can hit him from behind their lines because of his huge frame, also, being huge he is vulnerable to anti large, meaning taking him against bretonnia or empire is a bad idea.

Sarthoreal the everwatcher=B- This guy would be amazing if he had not the lore of metal, he has a ton of health, magic attacks, hard to knockback and deals a good amount of knockback, also has a leap attack animationthat often gets him out of blobs, the downsides? Well the lore, also he counts as large, so same problems as kholek.

Archaon the Everchosen=B Archaon is just too damn expensive, he is a solid general, meaning he will always perform well thanks to his crazy stats, but that's to be expected for his price, has magic attacks, access to his unique horse, Dorghar which grants him strider and a pretty big charge bonus (he loses the silver missile parry from the shield and 20 armor) and lore of fire meaning you don't need a secondary sorcerer, but then he becomes the sole hero on the map and an incredibly appetible target for enemy sniping spells., his crown of domination is a good item, the slayer of kings, not so much, too expensive for a faction starved for money, would be worth it if he had magic resistance.

Exalted hero=C- Imagine a slightly better paladin for twice the price and not health potion, that's the exalted hero.

Chaos sorcerers=B (fire, death, metal) They are basically the same as previous wizards just with beefier melee stats and a higher price tag.