If you’ve ever played a Dark Elf campaign in Total War: Warhammer 2, you’ve probably heard other players rave about Black Arks, and for good reason. They’re one of the most overpowered unique units in the entire game, acting as mobile coastal bases that let you raid, siege, and recruit units thousands of miles from your home settlements. A lot of new players struggle to figure out how to get a black ark total war 2 when they first pick up the faction, especially if they’re used to playing land-focused groups like the Dwarfs or Greenskins. I wasted almost 10 turns early on in my first Dark Elf campaign waiting for a port to upgrade because I picked the wrong building line, so I know how frustrating this process can be if you don’t know the rules upfront.
How to Get a Black Ark Total War 2: Core Requirements First
Before you can recruit or capture a Black Ark, you have to meet a few non-negotiable requirements that the game doesn’t explain very well in its tutorial popups. None of these are particularly hard to hit, but missing even one will leave you staring at an empty recruitment menu for dozens of turns. If you’re playing a custom campaign with adjusted rules, some of these might change, but these apply to all standard vanilla and Mortal Empires campaigns.
- You must be playing as any Dark Elf faction (no other Total War: Warhammer 2 faction has access to Black Arks, not even other naval-focused groups like the High Elves or Vampire Coast)
- You have either unlocked the Black Ark Construction technology in the Dark Elf military tech tree, or defeated an enemy Black Ark in naval combat for a 50% chance to capture it intact
- You control a coastal Dark Elf settlement with a level 3 Cothique port building to recruit your new Black Ark from (generic trade ports don’t count, even if they’re level 3)
There’s one easy shortcut to skip all these requirements, too. If you pick Lokhir Fellheart as your starting legendary lord, you get a free, pre-leveled Black Ark immediately at the start of your campaign, no extra work needed. That’s why he’s such a popular pick for players who want to lean into naval gameplay right away.
The Fastest Path to Unlocking Your First Black Ark
If you’re not playing as Lokhir, you can still get your first Black Ark in as little as 15 to 20 turns if you plan your early campaign correctly. The biggest mistake players make is spreading their resources too thin between land expansion, army recruitment, and research, so you’ll want to prioritize a few key goals first. If you’re rushing to figure out how to get a black ark total war 2 as fast as possible, this is the exact path I use for every non-Lokhir Dark Elf run.
First, assign all your early research to the naval military tech line that leads to Black Ark Construction. You’ll need to unlock two preceding naval techs first, but you can cut research time by almost 30% if you use a Lore of Death hero to boost research speed in your capital. You don’t need to research any land military techs early on, as long as you keep a small army of spearmen and crossbowmen to defend your starting settlements from nearby raiders.
Next, focus on upgrading one coastal settlement’s port to level 3 as soon as you can. You don’t need to build any other high-level buildings in that settlement, just pour all extra construction resources into the port. You don't need to expand your territory a lot to get your first Black Ark, either. I’ve done it with just two settlements in past runs, as long as I kept my income steady from small coastal raids on nearby minor factions.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Trying to Get a Black Ark
Even if you meet all the core requirements, it’s easy to run into avoidable delays that set your Black Ark recruitment back by 10 turns or more. One of the most frustrating mistakes new players make when learning how to get a black ark total war 2 is wasting their first recruitment chance by not having an open lord slot. Black Arks count as a Lord unit, so you’ll need to have one unused Lord slot available when your recruitment finishes, otherwise you’ll lose the unit and have to wait for the cooldown to end to recruit another.
Another common mistake is underestimating how much a Black Ark costs to recruit and maintain. A base-level Black Ark costs 10,000 gold to recruit, plus 500 gold per turn in upkeep. Setting aside 10k gold as soon as you start researching the Black Ark tech saves you a lot of waiting time later, so you don’t have to sell off buildings or disband army units to afford it when the tech unlocks.
Don’t try to capture an enemy Black Ark too early, either. Rival Dark Elf factions will often send Black Arks to raid your coasts as early as turn 10, but even a low-level enemy Black Ark can wipe a full stack of basic naval units without taking much damage. Wait until you have at least six mid-tier Dark Elf frigates to attack an enemy Black Ark, otherwise you’ll just lose most of your navy for no reward.
Making the Most of Your Black Ark After You Get It
Getting your first Black Ark is only half the battle, you’ll need to use it correctly to get the most value out of it, especially early on when your economy is still tight. The best use for a new Black Ark is coastal raiding for the first 20 turns you own it. You can park it off the coast of weak minor factions or undefended High Elf settlements, and it will generate thousands of gold and hundreds of slaves per turn without you having to move your land armies anywhere near those regions. The slaves you get from raids will boost your entire faction’s income, so you can fund more land armies to expand your territory faster.
As your Black Ark levels up, prioritize upgrading its bombardment and recruitment cost reduction perks first. The bombardment ability lets you deal massive damage to coastal settlement walls during sieges, so you can capture even heavily defended ports without waiting multiple turns for siege equipment. The recruitment cost reduction perk lets you recruit elite Dark Elf units from the Black Ark for 20% less gold than you’d pay at a home settlement, which is perfect for building raid armies far from your territory.
You don’t have to limit your Black Ark to raiding, either. Later in the campaign, you can use it as a mobile forward base to launch full invasions of continents across the map. I’ve used Black Arks to invade Lustria and the Southlands in past runs, and I never had to worry about running out of reinforcements or paying extra to transport armies across the ocean.
Once you know how to get a black ark total war 2, it completely changes how you play Dark Elves, turning a faction that feels limited to cold northern lands into a global powerhouse that can strike any coast on the map. Don’t rush the process of unlocking it, and make sure you have the gold and support to use it properly once you get it, and you’ll be dominating your campaign in no time. It’s still the first unit I prioritize unlocking every time I start a new Dark Elf run, and I’ve never been disappointed with the results.