If you’ve ever played a Dark Elf campaign in Total War: Warhammer 2, you know the Black Ark is one of the most overpowered, game-changing units you can get your hands on. I remember my first run as Malekith, I spent 20 hours fumbling around trying to figure out how to summon black ark Total War 2 before I realized I was missing a key prerequisite of controlling a high-level coastal settlement. A lot of new players make the same mistake, skipping over small campaign tasks or wasting resources on unnecessary upgrades that lock you out of this floating fortress far longer than necessary. This guide breaks down every step you need to follow, plus common pitfalls to avoid, and tips to use your Black Ark effectively once you have it summoned.
Core Prerequisites to Summon Black Ark Total War 2
Before you even see the option to summon a Black Ark pop up in your menu, you need to check off four non-negotiable requirements. A lot of players skip checking these first, then waste hours wondering why the summon button is nowhere to be found. First, you have to be playing as a Dark Elf faction, full stop. No other faction in the game has access to Black Arks, no matter how many coastal settlements you control or how much gold you have. You can play as any Dark Elf subfaction, from Malekith’s Naggarond to Lokhir Fellheart’s Blessed Dread, all have access to the summon feature.
Next, you need to control at least one level 3 or higher coastal Dark Elf settlement. Inland settlements won’t work, even if they are level 5, because the Black Ark spawns in the ocean tile adjacent to the settlement. You can upgrade a lower level coastal settlement by investing in port and core building upgrades, which usually takes 3-4 turns if you start from a level 1 settlement.
You also need to have at least 1500 slaves and 5000 gold in your campaign treasury before you can summon. Dark Elf campaigns run on slaves, so if you’ve been spending all your slaves on public order or unit buffs, you might need to raid a few nearby settlements first to build up your stockpile. The gold cost is relatively low compared to other endgame units, but it’s still easy to come up short if you’ve been spending heavily on army recruitment.
The final prerequisite is completing your faction’s first two core storyline objectives. These are the missions that pop up in the top left of your screen when you start a campaign, usually asking you to capture a nearby settlement or defeat a small enemy army. Completing these unlocks the special unit menu that includes the Black Ark summon option.
- Active Dark Elf campaign playthrough (no other faction can access Black Arks)
- Control of a level 3+ coastal settlement in your home region or conquered territory
- Minimum 1500 slaves and 5000 gold in your campaign stockpile
- Completion of your faction’s first two core storyline objectives
If you have all four of these checked off and still don’t see the summon option, try saving and reloading your game. Sometimes the menu glitches if you’ve been playing for several hours straight, and a quick reload fixes the issue immediately.
Step-by-Step Process to Summon Your Black Ark
Once you meet all the prerequisites, the process to summon black ark Total War 2 is far simpler than most players assume. You don’t have to complete any special quests or beat a legendary army to unlock it, just follow these four quick steps.
First, navigate to your level 3+ coastal settlement and open the full settlement menu. Don’t use the quick menu from the campaign map, you’ll need the full interface to find the special units tab. Next, click on the “Special Units” tab in the top right of the settlement menu, right next to the standard recruitment tab. The Black Ark summon button will be at the top of this list, as long as you meet all the prerequisites.
Third, click the summon button and confirm the resource cost. The game will ask you to select which adjacent ocean tile you want the Black Ark to spawn on, pick the one closest to your nearest active war zone or highest production coastal region if you don’t have an active invasion planned. You can only summon one Black Ark per 10 conquered coastal settlements, so don’t waste your first one on a remote part of the map with no nearby targets.
Finally, wait one full turn for the summoning process to complete. You’ll get a pop-up notification at the start of your next turn letting you know the Black Ark is ready to use. You can rename it, assign an admiral, and start adding upgrades or units to it immediately after it spawns.
Top Mistakes to Avoid When Summoning Your Black Ark
I’ve made almost every possible mistake with Black Ark summons over 100+ hours of Dark Elf playthroughs, so you don’t have to. These are the three most common errors that cost players dozens of turns of progress.
First, spawning it in a remote ocean tile with no nearby ports or enemy targets. I made this mistake my first Malekith run, spawned my first Black Ark on the far east side of the map near Lustria when all my settlements were on the west coast near Naggaroth. It took 12 full turns to sail it back to where I needed it, and I missed out on all the early economic and combat buffs it could have given me during my war with the High Elves.
Second, spending all your slaves right after summoning. The Black Ark needs a steady supply of slaves to keep its combat and economic buffs active, and if your slave count drops below 100, all those buffs disappear until you build your stockpile back up. Keep at least 200 slaves in reserve per Black Ark you own to avoid it losing bonuses mid-campaign, especially if you’re planning a long invasion far from your home territories.
Third, using it as a regular naval unit first. The Black Ark has strong combat stats, but it’s way more useful as a mobile support base than a frontline combat ship early on. Sending it to fight enemy fleets right after you summon it risks getting it destroyed, and you’ll lose all the resources you spent to summon it. Wait until you’ve upgraded its combat defenses and added a supporting fleet before you send it into direct naval combat.
One extra note: if you lose your last coastal settlement, your existing Black Arks will become unrepairable, so always keep at least one coastal port controlled when you summon one. It’s easy to get caught up in land invasions and forget to defend your coastal territories, but losing them means you can’t fix any damage your Black Arks take during battles.
How to Get the Most Value From Your Newly Summoned Black Ark
Summoning your Black Ark is only the first step, using it correctly can turn a tough campaign into a cakewalk. These are my go-to tips for getting maximum value out of every Black Ark I summon.
First, use it as a mobile recruitment center. You can recruit any Dark Elf land and naval units directly from the Black Ark, as long as you’ve unlocked the required upgrades for it. That means you don’t have to march units from your home settlements all the way across the map to invade far-off regions, you can recruit full 20-stack armies right next to your target. I used this trick during my last Lokhir Fellheart run to invade Ulthuan in less than 10 turns, without having to ship any units from my home base in the Southlands.
Second, use its economic buffs to boost your most productive settlements. Any coastal settlement within 4 tiles of the Black Ark gets a 20% boost to slave production and gold income, plus a 10% boost to public order. When you’re not using it for invasions, park it near your highest gold producing coastal regions to get extra resources you can spend on more armies or upgrades.
You can upgrade the Black Ark's cabins and armories to unlock higher tier units and bigger buffs, so don’t forget to spend gold on those upgrades as you accumulate more resources. The top tier upgrades let you recruit endgame units like Black Guards and Cold One Knights directly from the Black Ark, and boost the economic buffs to 35% for nearby settlements. The upgrade costs are well worth the investment, even if you’re short on gold early on.
Another underrated feature is its use as a mobile retreat point. If your land army is losing a battle near the coast, you can retreat them to the Black Ark instead of losing them entirely, which saves you thousands of gold in recruitment costs and dozens of turns of unit experience. I used this to save a 20-stack of elite units from being wiped out by a High Elf ambush during my last invasion of Ulthuan, and I was able to counterattack just two turns later once I’d healed the units on the Black Ark.
Summoning a Black Ark can completely shift the tide of any Dark Elf campaign, giving you access to economic and combat benefits no other faction in the game can match. You don’t have to grind for dozens of turns or complete overly complicated quests to unlock it, just follow the simple steps and avoid the common mistakes outlined in this guide. Now that you know how to summon black ark Total War 2, you can skip the frustrating trial and error most new players go through, and unlock this game-changing fortress early in your next run. Don’t be afraid to experiment with its placement and upgrades, once you get the hang of using it, you’ll never play a Dark Elf campaign without summoning one first.