MP Traits

Creative Assembly has added Total War's single-player Traits to the multiplayer mix. These are assigned to players by the game depending on their habits (their traits, strangely enough) which will assist in your war room planning.

While Traits won't reveal exactly where your opponents XP points have been spent, they will give a rough indication of the approach he or she is likely to take.

They don't just revolve around the upgrade tree either; one trait, for example, calculates roughly what kind of make-up a person's army is likely to take (cavalry heavy, for example) while another identifies quitters so that you can pick out the dishonourable cowards among the bunch.

Add Retainers to your men - perks which might give plus one armour to all infantry, for example - and you can weave a pretty nuanced tactical plan before you've even left the barracks. Study your opponent well, get your approach right and winning the fight before the battle's even begun looks entirely possible.