Dark Iron Pit is a building in the Vampire Counts iron resource chain in Total War Warhammer 3: Lords of the End Times, which you can construct only in settlements that have the Iron resource node. This guide will provide you with tips and tricks on how to unlock and manage Dark Iron Pit in the game, taking into account all the Vampire Counts reworks.
How to Unlock & Build the Full Iron Chain
Iron is one of the more useful resources for Vampire Counts in Lords of the End Times because of the unit discounts it provides. For example, Neferata, the only free Legendary Lord in Update 9.0, benefits from strong cavalry and infantry options that come from building the full iron chain. While Nagash can convert settlements into specialized undead recruitment centers, where iron buildings remain useful for cost efficiency when fielding those units.
Note that you have to always build Iron Dark Iron Pit and its upgrades in the settlements with the iron resource nodes. Here’s how to build the full iron chain:
| Buildings | Features |
|---|---|
| Dark Iron Pit (cost: 600) | Income +100 Iron production: +16 ingots Recruitment cost: −20% for Grave Guard, Black Knights, and Blood Knights (local province). |
| Zombie-Infested Iron Mine (cost: 1,200) | Income +150 Iron: +24 Recruitment cost: −25% Recruit rank +1 for the same three units. |
| Scoured Iron Mine (cost: 2,200) | Income +200 Iron: +32 Recruitment cost: −30% Recruit rank +2 Upkeep −3% for all armies. Hero recruit rank +1 for Wight Kings (all provinces). |
How to Manage Dark Iron Pit in Vampire Faction
It’s very important to build at least the Tier 1 of Dark Iron Pit, even without any further upgrades, as the −20% recruitment cost is extremely useful. Here’s how to quickly identify the best spots for building Dark Iron Pit:
- Identify iron nodes in mountains or mining regions, such as parts of the Empire, Border Princes, World’s Edge Mountains, etc.
- Prioritize conquering or holding these provinces if you plan for heavy Grave Guard and knight armies.
- If you play as Nagash, when you start converting settlements, keep iron resource buildings active if you plan to recruit from the Vampire Counts roster.
Note that Blood Knights are very expensive but very effective, and that’s why the cumulative discounts from the full iron chain make them far more spammable. This is one of the main reasons why iron is generally higher priority than many other resources for Vampire Counts, because it directly improves the quality and affordability of your best mid-to-late game infantry and cavalry. Gold and some other resources can be better for pure income, but Iron wins for military efficiency.
