G’day Goonhammer readers, Urr and Cytoplasm are back and this time with opinions! The latest Clash of Kings 2025 (the book, not the event) has introduced a plethora of new rules in the form of both command orders and tweaks to existing units, but none is more prevalent nor more useless as those bestowing Lifeleech. In this article, we hope to convince you, the reader, that any upgrade involving Lifeleech is not worth the paper it’s printed on in the latest book, let alone the points.
What is Lifeleech?
Lifeleech (occasionally misprinted as Life Leech in Clash of Kings 2025) is a special rule in Kings of War that allows units to remove damage from a unit that deals damage in melee combat up to a total amount specified by the rule (e.g. Lifeelech (2)). This allows close combat units to slightly heal themselves across the game, and generally is considered useful in the grind, allowing units to live longer than they otherwise might.
Where this rule excels is among the Undead and Empire of Dust units. The majority of units only have Lifeleech (1), but with their generally high defence and Fearless Nerve, they last long enough to get value out of it. Combined with other means of removing damage (such as Heal, Drain Life and Iron Resolve), the Undead and Empire of Dust are capable of grinding it out with the best.
Is Lifeleech actually bad?
There are clearly uses for Lifeleech, so why are we complaining at all? The last few updates (Clash of Kings 2024 and 2025) have seen the addition of Lifeleech to a whole swathe of units, with some armies gaining access to the special rule for the first time. It’s in these cases that the limitations of Lifeleech become starkly apparent.
The problem with Lifeleech is that it is extremely conditional, it requires a whole series of conditions to be met before it even starts to work. For Lifeleech to work, a unit needs the following:
- Have already taken damage.
- Have survived that damage.
- Be able to engage in combat after taking that damage (not be Wavering).
- Successfully hit in combat.
- Successfully apply damage in combat.
Finally after all of these boxes are ticked, the unit gets one damage removed for each point of Lifeleech. Hurray and huzzah!
The above conditions are most often met by the best units of the Undead and Empire of Dust, for example Wights and Enslaved Guardians. These are tough enough to withstand a little damage, Fearless so they can always hit back in combat, and they hit hard enough that Lifeleech will always work.
So what about units that aren’t tough, or are generally terrible in combat? What about whole armies that can waver? Read on for our ultra specific examples of where Lifeleech just doesn’t work, and if anything, is a trap, tempting players to spend points or build armies around a mechanic that will rarely pay-off.
All Hail the Trident King’s Lifeleech Aura
The Trident King has been constantly improving since the first wave (hah) of Trident Realms updates earlier this year. First, his Melee stats went from middling to considerably lethal. Now, with Clash of Kings 2025, he can choose one of three realms to be ruler of, each granting an Aura to a specific keyword. These Auras are powerful ways to bring the whole army together, and really gives the Trident King a reason to be included in nearly any force.
The King of Medu’Syth has an Aura that gives out Elite to Placoderms and Gigas; an exceptionally powerful aura for already powerful units. The King of Myrrhimm has Rallying (2) (which is like an aura?) for Dambuster units; turning those frogs on frogs into frogs on veritable juggernauts.
With such incredible options, what could the King of Ilythish be? What unit type will be pushed to new heights? Perhaps some unpopular unit will finally get its time to shine!
Well, it’s an Aura of Lifeleech (2) for Naiads. Oh. My poor Naiads.
The problem is Naiad units don’t need another way of removing damage, they have Regeneration (4+)! What they do need are ways to deal more damage or to avoid taking it in the first place. The only two units that can really benefit from this Aura are the Naiad Wyrmriders and the Naiad Ensnarers. The Wyrmriders are quite a formidable unit, and could actually get some value out of Lifeleech, but it’s not the Wyrmriders we lament.
The Naiad Ensnarers, the unit Trident Realms players want to love, inevitably falls out of lists during the construction phase. They’re not particularly cheap, nor are they tough, yet they can be a tarpit in the right situation. What won’t help in those situations is the Trident King sitting 6” away giving out Lifeleech (2) to a unit that hits literally with wet noodles. Especially when the other auras are so much better.
The real struggle Naiad Ensnarers have is with shooting; at Defense 3+ they attract arrows like dung attracts flies, and it’s not uncommon for entire hordes of Ensnarers to be shot off the table. Unfortunately, Lifeleech doesn’t help when you’re being shot. It also doesn’t help if you’re Wavered or Routed.
Ultimately, it doesn’t matter too much. Everyone will just take the other two options for the Trident King because they are just that good. Even if it is just to give the Trident King Elite himself, it’s better than Lifeleech (2).
Drunk on Souls
The heroes of the Nightstalker army list are in a difficult situation; they don’t offer Inspiring because the whole army just uses Mindthirst instead, and few of them actually offer any utility. Occasionally someone might bring a Horror for their Aura (Vicious) for infantry, but usually the only hero to see any use is Esenyshra, and that’s because she hits like a truck.
In this context sits the least popular hero, the Reaper Souldrinker. It is meant to be the hero-level Reaper, and has a middling assassin profile: Crushing Strength (1), Duelist, and 5 attacks at Melee 3+. As of Clash of Kings 2025, it now has Lifeleech (+3 – Reaper only) as an upgrade from only +1. That’s a whole lot of Lifeleech for those Reapers! Surely that’s worth something?
Well, apparently it’s worth 80 points, which is the cost of the Reaper Souldrinker. For this price, regiments of Reapers will be able to heal back 3 damage given they are not Wavered or Routed from being damaged earlier. Considering most Reaper regiments will have just one chance to do this in any given game, this is more than 25 points per damage removed. Unfortunately this means the Souldrinker remains on the shelf, if people have even modelled one up at all.
Fighting Tooth and Nail for Better Orders
As we have discussed already, the Faction Orders introduced as part of the overall Command Dice rules add a lot of flavour. They add in certain special rules at key moments to evoke the feeling of the army, like the Hardened Shells of the Gigas or the or the Perfect Flight of Elven arrows. The fact that these are also powerful effects is a bonus!
Tooth and Nail, available to the Ratkin Slaves and Goblins, falls somewhat short. It provides (you guessed it!) Lifeleech (+2) to a single unit for a turn. For Ratkin, one can at least imagine chittering masses stripping flesh from bones for sustenance… but what are the Goblins doing? Groany, are you OK?
Fluff aside, this Faction Order costs 3 Command Points for the chance to heal a unit, according to all the initially described conditions. The only upside is that Command Orders can be applied situationally, so if there is a damaged unit with sufficient combat capabilities, it can use this to get 2 damage removed.
Unfortunately, at 3 Command Points it’s just too expensive. For 2 Command Points everyone can use the generic Command Order Endurance to heal 1 point of damage. A guaranteed heal, no need for combat. This is nearly always a better choice, unless you’re putting Lifeleech (2) on some Mincers, yet even then, it is not guaranteed healing.
Finally, there are plenty of Faction Orders that cost 3 Command Points with far better effects. Perfect Flight (extra 6” for ranged attack), Show of Strength (Brutal +1), Hidden Paths (Pathfinder) are all enviably good. One would say these are not suited to Goblins, but we would argue neither is Tooth and Nail.
At least we can make some Goblins Stealthy for a turn with the other Faction Order. That’s good, right?
The Dumpster Inferno
This is two complaints mixed into one. In Clash of Kings 2024, the Inferno keyword was added to Fire Elementals and the Fire Drake in Salamanders, and other Salamander units gained the Fireborn special rule, granting Lifeleech (+1) for each Inferno unit within 6”. The idea was to entice Salamanders players to spice up their armies with some Fire Elementals. Unfortunately, Lifeleech (+1) is hardly alluring, especially when the whole Inferno-Fireborn interaction adds yet another condition to the long list required to make Lifeleech work.
Here’s the new list of conditions for Salamanders players to make this whole setup function:
- Have already taken damage.
- Have survived that damage.
- Be able to engage in combat after taking that damage (not be Wavering).
- Have the Fireborn special rule.
- Be within 6” of one of three units in the army list that has the Inferno keyword.
- Successfully hit in combat.
- Successfully apply damage in combat.
For those players already happily including Fire Elementals in their Salamanders armies, this is just a bonus. It certainly isn’t worth building an army around, especially when one of the most popular units that is literally made of fire does not have the Inferno keyword, the Phoenix. Some might say this would be too good considering the Phoenix is already great, but would it really? It’s just Lifeleech (+1) after all.
In Clash of Kings 2025, one of the new Faction Orders introduced to the Salamanders is Stoke the Fires, granting a unit the Inferno keyword for 2 Command Points. This is OK, in that it can at least bring the Inferno keyword into an army that doesn’t have it (which are most Salamanders armies), but is that now the only use of the Fireborn special rule? To pay 2 Command Points for Lifeleech (+1)? Perhaps it is, and perhaps that’s good enough. But you could instead just use Endurance and heal that unit for 1 damage for the same price.
We think that there is something exciting about Inferno units firing up Salamanders, and just wish it resulted in something more spicy than a little Lifeleech.
What in the World is a Screamshard?
If you’re not familiar with Nightstalkers, you might think their army-wide rule is Stealthy and Mindthirst, the two rules that are actually on almost all of their units. But no, the humble Screamshard is the Nightstalker’s special rule.
What does a Screamshard do, I hear you ask? Well, I also had to look it up again. It is a once a game item that gives Lifeleech (+2) until the end of the turn for 5 points. Seems somewhat useful, but which units can actually take it?
- Reapers
- Reaper Souldrinker
- Scarecrows
- Phantoms
- Shade
- … and that’s it.
If one considers the above list of 5 conditions for Lifeleech to work, one will notice that these units fall short when it comes to meeting these conditions. Nearly all are low Defense, so are likely to be taking more damage than they can heal with Lifeleech (if they survive). Reapers at least have the combat capabilities to get wounds back, but generally cannot handle taking much damage before getting Wavered or Routed. Units such as Scarecrows and Phantoms exist only to get in the way of the enemy, and while Lifeleech might help them stick around, it’s not worth the points.
Finally, there’s the heroes, which as discussed above already struggle to be included in a Nightstalker army list (unless their name is Esenyshra). Save the points of the Screamshard and get a Planar Apparition instead if you want to heal some Nightstalkers.
The Portal of Absolute Despair
The Portal of Despair used to be a cheap block of Defense 5+ Nerve that gave out Inspiring to Nightstalker units. It is still most of those things, but no longer is it as cheap. The latest Clash of Kings gave it Radiance of Life, which used to be an optional upgrade but is now essentially mandatory.
In addition, the Portal of Despair has gained Lifeleech (3), on a unit that has 5 attacks with Melee 4+ and no Crushing Strength. In combat against a Defense 4+ enemy, the Portal of Despair is likely to do only 1 damage. The likelihood that the Portal of Despair can actually activate all of its Lifeleech (3) is about 12.5% against Defense 4+. Hopefully this special rule is not included in the increased cost of the Portal, but the upgrade just seems odd. It is also another example of the strange injection of Lifeleech into the Nightstalker army list.
Lifeleech is fine, just not at a cost
To be clear, Lifeleech is a perfectly fine rule with occasional impact on the game. We are not advocating for any changes to Lifeleech as it perfectly encapsulates the self-replenishing ranks of the undead or the thirst of the vampire. As can be seen, however, the special rule can be found on many more units in recent years, and in very few cases will it have any use.
The bestowment of Lifeleech to units recently feels tokenistic, and chances are it is. Giving any unit Lifeleech won’t break the beautiful game balance that Kings of War enjoys. There are no rampaging armies of Salamanders filled with Fire Elementals, nor are there scores of Nightstalkers filled with Reaper Souldrinkers and Screamshards. That’s because ultimately Lifeleech is a little rule that adds a little bit of flavour, and that’s all.
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