__________________________ o0O_START_OF_TEXT_FILE_O0o This is a unit strategy guide for: WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne - PC & MAC This document was authored by: GetJesse - http://getjesse.blip.tv/ Document Version 1.03 - May 5, 2011 Originally written: Summer 2004 _____________________________________________________________________________ |TABLE OF CONTENTS: | |[1!].................. | Introduction | ....................................| |[2!].................. | Humans | ....................................| |[3!].................. | Orcs | ....................................| |[4!].................. | Night Elves | ....................................| |[5!].................. | Undead | ....................................| |[6!].................. | Neutral | ....................................| |[7!].................. | Misc. & Legal | ....................................| |_____________________________________________________________________________| _______________________________________________________________________________ [1!]Introduction[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][ WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne is an expansion released in 2003 for WarCraft III: Reign of Chaos. Not only did The Frozen Throne include a brand new single player campaign, but it also introduced new units and new heroes which were present in both the single player campaign and multiplayer. These new units add a new layer of options and strategy to the game. This unit guide was originally written in 2004; since then, a lot of patches have dropped and a lot of new multiplayer strategies have become popular (and even more than that have fallen out of popularity). In general though, there are some key aspects to each unit that don't change. In this 2011 version of the unit guide, I have made a few small updates and changed some things, but most it remains the same (largely because the basics of the game are still the same). If you are a top ten ladder player, this guide will not help you :-). However, average players and below average players will find some useful advice regarding the roles of each of the units and some basic strategies to employ, which are equally useful for both single player and multiplayer (although there are some over-specialized single player missions that only work with one specific strategy, but we won't get into that). A good site for unit stats and such can be found here: http://classic.battle.net/war3/ _______________________________________________________________________________ [2!]Humans[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][ -=-=-=- Paladin The Paladin is a support hero, not a battle hero. In other words, the Paladin doesn't take damage as well as other heroes and he doesn't dish out damage as well as other heroes. Holy Light is useful to the extreme once you get it to level three. Six hundred hit points healed in an instant is crazy. Devotion aura is less helpful, although its worthiness multiplies every time you add an ally to your team; Devotion aura in a solo match is kinda okay and somewhat effective with the right units, but Devotion aura in an eight player game with 3 other allies is great since it is now being used by the armies of 3 additional players. The Paladin is prone to focus fire attacks, which is one of his main drawbacks. However, there is a remedy in the form of Divine Shield. Divine Shield couldn't have been placed on a more suited hero. Overall, the Paladin is good to have around when using multiple heroes or while playing a team game. -=-=-=- Archmage The Archmage is by far the most popular human hero. Also the one human hero that takes a lot of skill to master properly. The Brilliance aura is most likely a given when using this hero. You either go for Water Elementals or Blizzard. If you are new or aren't very good at micro management, then stick with those Water Elementals. If you are a fairly advanced player, then go with the more deadly and precise Blizzard. Truly good players should be able to target enemy units with Blizzard within a minimum of a two second time frame, without hitting your units or allied units. The simple act of keeping your Archmage alive takes just as much skill as well. If your Archmage dies an average of one or more times per game, then you aren't using him correctly. -=-=-=- Water Elemental A fairly decent unit, but nothing terribly special. These are good to have around as tanks for your non-free units and also for added anti-air damage. Especially if you don't plan on having that much anti-air anyway. They are good at luring the attack-move AI away from your Archmage, but a sound human at the other end will not be distracted so easily. Overall, Water Elementals are good early to mid game, but once your opponent has access to summon damaging spells like purge or dispel magic, you better consider the redistribution of those skill points. -=-=-=- Mountain King The Mountain King, although short, will be a human player's first choice when it comes to having a hero on the front lines. The Mountain King can take punishment and dish out just as much. The enemy likes to run his hero away when the going gets tough? No problem, just use the Mountain King's Storm Bolt and your problems with that run away hero are all solved (just surround the enemy hero with melee units after you stun them). Your front line troops can't take the heat? No worries, send the Mountain King up there and give the enemy a Thunder Clap where it hurts most. Don't just walk up to the front line and hit the hotkey though. Run the Mountain King around so that the area of effect circle manages to hit as much enemy units as possible. -=-=-=- Blood Mage He's a Blood Mage. Yeah, that's what he is. Flame Strike is one of my favorite spells. As with Blizzard, please don't wield it if you aren't that adept of a player. Your allies will regret it, if you have allies. No allies? Your units will regret it. And die. Banish is an unusual spell, not in what it is, but unusual in its applications on the field of battle. Definitely less useful later on, but in the early to middle portions of the game this skill is good at eliminating (practically) enemy units from play. Siphon Mana, if chosen as a skill, should be used as much as possible. Use up all your mana with your other skills, then immediately begin siphoning mana away from your enemy's hero. It helps out, and is especially annoying to the enemy. If you really want to get nasty, use Banish in conjunction with the Mountain King's Storm Bolt. Banish increases Storm Bolt's damage greatly. This becomes even more nasty if you face an undead opponent, as Banish also works with Holy Light. This is how the humans nuke enemy undead heroes. -=-=-=- Phoenix An excellent addition to anyone's army. This thing really dishes out the hurt on the enemy. At the same time though, it is easy to defeat, so keeping it behind the front lines would be the most prudent thing to do. Upon its "death" try your best to keep its egg alive (generally it is fairly easy to do so). If you have the definite edge in a game, reaching level six and pulling out the Phoenix is usually enough to make your opponent lose all hope. -=-=-=- Human Hero Solo Creeping The Arch Mage is the only human hero capable of solo creeping. This is because he has the water elemental to soak up the damage (ha, unintentional pun there). The Paladin could use Divine Shield, but it really doesn't help that much. The Mountain King is more capable of solo creeping than the Paladin is (with any of his skills), but still falls short of being a complete powerhouse at it. Blood Mage? Flamestrike or Banish might help, but like the others, he's just not powerful enough. -=-=-=- Peasant Use multiple peasants to speed build the town hall and a few towers at an expansion. For me, this usually consists of five peasants, four building four towers, and the other one working on the town hall. When the four finish the four towers, have them help finish the town hall. -=-=-=- Militia Before scouting with a peasant, turn him into a militiaman, for the added speed. If your base falls under attack, immediately turn your peasants into militia and have them support your main army. If you wait until your main army falls, you aren't using the militia to their full effectiveness. Using Militia to help will end the battle faster. The more devastating a victory, the less money your opponent will have. It costs a lot to rebuild an army. You can tell a smart opponent if he refuses to fight the militia plus your army inside of your base. -=-=-=- Footman If a player decides to produce these, you can be sure that there will be many of them. Footmen are cheap in resources, they build fast, and they aren't bad in large numbers. As dictated by top players, it is good to use many footmen in conjunction with the Arch Mage while creeping. With the exception of anything in the air and anything that can slow movement speed (Dryads come to mind), Footmen are effective at countering piercing damage units with their Defend ability. In more recent times, this effectiveness has been further exemplified with the big buff to Defend in a certain unnamed patch. This addition can be troublesome in team games, but you should find it much easier to deal with when in a solo match. After all, despite this somewhat major buff, the Footman is still as weak as he was before. -=-=-=- Rifleman Not much to say about these guys. Riflemen are good at focus firing an enemy hero or unit. Mixing a few Riflemen in with your spell casters makes for a good combination of units. Riflemen are probably the best unit to start out with for human players new to the game or to Battle.net. -=-=-=- Knight If the enemy is without any major source of magic damage, these guys make great front line troops. Add the priest's Inner Fire to this unit and you've got a fearsome damage sponge. Add the Paladin's Devotion aura to the mix and you've got a fearsomely fearsome damage sponge. Add in a Protection Scroll to the mix and you've got a... well, you get the idea. These are probably one of the hardest Tier 3 melee units to down without using any of their weaknesses. -=-=-=- Priest The priest is a good all-purpose spell caster to have around. Start all battles by having all your priests cast Inner Fire on your units. When all of your units appear to have the Inner Fire symbol over their heads (and you no longer hear the Inner Fire casting sound), switch your priests' auto cast to heal. Since they have already cast Inner Fire on everyone, the only thing they would be doing afterwards is using their weak attack. So making them auto cast the more beneficial Heal would be in your good interests. The priests Dispel Magic is the most useful dispel spell out of all the races. This is because it is an area of effect spell. Watch in great wonderment as the enemy summons fall to your superior magic. If you happen to notice an enemy hero with a Book of the Dead, smile to yourself, because if he is foolish enough to use it you will be rolling in free experience. Dispel Magic is also good against enemy buffs. -=-=-=- Sorceress If your enemy is using an army made up of mostly melee units (or entirely of) then the Slow ability is very helpful. Having a bunch of slowed melee troops that cannot catch up to anything is very irritating to an opponent. Equally so is a bunch of tier three melee units that are sheep (from the ever powerful polymorph spell). Polymorph immediately loses its use when the enemy has any dispel spells on hand. Invisibility is an invaluable spell that with skillful use will allow you to save numerous units from dying. This is especially useful when heroes are near death. At the very least, it can also be a great tool for scouting or used in conjunction with the Arch Mage's Mass Teleport. -=-=-=- Spell Breaker The human anti-caster unit. Obvious uses include anti-caster, front line trooper, and magic immune unit. That last one, magic immune, is probably the most over used purpose of this unit in higher levels of play. And those in the knowing will hopefully have a few certain area of effect spells pop into mind. Oh, a less-used strategy for the Spell Breaker is that of the anti-Troll Witchdoctor killer machine. You see, the Spell Breaker has a nice little spell known as Control Magic. And when you use Control Magic on the witchdoctor's wards, they become the human player's wards. Which pretty much screws the Orc player and his team (if he has one). This strategy however is only seen at higher levels of play, as less skillful players generally don't have the much needed micro management skills to perform this task effectively. -=-=-=- Flying Machine The flying machine makes for an interesting unit. Without upgrading anything, you can employ the skills of this dwarf as an effective scout. Spying on the enemy from the water, mountains, trees, or any other inaccessible piece of terrain makes for a beneficial use. Placing a couple of these at key routes of travel will warn you of an oncoming attack, allowing just enough time to divert defensive forces in that direction. Less useful applications include air to air or air to land attacks. It's okay as an anti-air unit by itself. If you absolutely must use it for one reason or another, go ahead. Otherwise, you should probably stick to using Riflemen for anti-air. As an air unit with a purpose of attacking land units, stay away. The Gyrocopter does barely any damage at all to opposing land forces, due to its low damage. However, at the same time, it may be useful if used against the right targets. The siege damage can be helpful at times. Then again, that's what Mortar Teams are for, right? -=-=-=- Mortar Team Great for use in conjunction with your army when attacking an enemy base. Having these units pound the enemy base and draw his army away from his static defenses will cause your opponent to lose his home turf advantage. However, be prepared to dance back and forth. Oh yes, and the Mortar Team's Flare is more useful than you would think. The price of researching Flare is more than worth it for the intelligence you get on the enemy's base and army position on the map. And if you build lots of Mortar Teams, stocking enough flares shouldn't be a problem. -=-=-=- Siege Engine Certainly not the most novel unit to use, as seen by the large number of average players who build these things over and over again on Battle.net. When used correctly, these can be effective. Surprise is your greatest ally when attempting to wield the might of these machines. Don't let the enemy catch sight of your Siege Engine production, or your plan will be thwarted by the proper counters and tactics. After buying the upgrade, it should be noted that these things are excellent anti-air units. -=-=-=- Gryphon Rider Gryphon Riders are decent. I personally don't use them that much. If you are going to use them, get them fast, and be sneaky about it. Surprise is a must. If the other player discovers that you are building them, they are easily countered. Probably best wielded when combined with a mixture of other units. One particularly devastating technique is to use these along with the Blood Mage's Banish spell. Pick a unit, Banish it, then tell all of your gryphon riders to hammer it into submission. Works wonders against Tauren. -=-=-=- Dragonhawk Rider Not a very good unit, at least, not directly. This unit's true strength lies in its ability to lasso an enemy air unit with its Aerial Shackles skill. I can't begin to stress how critical this skill is when dealing with air units. Especially the Troll Bat Riders when they start their suicide skill. This will stop them dead in their tracks... if they had tracks. Cloud, to a lesser extent, is also a useful skill. Have one of those annoying, tower mongering, baby-doodle heads in the game? Cloud is the answer. _______________________________________________________________________________ [3!]Orcs[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][ -=-=-=- Blademaster A good front line hero. Equally well suited to the area behind enemy lines as well. Although lacking in hit points, you would be surprised to see how long this guy can last. This is due mainly to his high armor rating. The skills that the Blademaster has at his disposal are excellently made for a large number of different situations. Creativity and aggressiveness are requirements if you are to wield the Blademaster to his full potential. -=-=-=- Blademaster Harassment The Blademaster is probably the best hero to use for harassing the enemy, due to his Wind Walk ability. A level 6+ Blademaster can be even more troublesome with the addition of Bladestorm. Just run in to an enemy town, slash some workers (or use Bladestorm on them), and when the enemy comes in to defend himself, use Wind Walk to get out safely. Depending on what race you try this against, and how much time has elapsed in the game, using this tactic can be difficult. It is more than worth it though, because doing this will divert the enemy's attention away from more important matters. Just make sure you don't get your Blademaster killed... that would be stupid. Also keep in mind that your enemy might buy a Dust of Appearance, which would nullify the use of Wind Walk. That's okay though, because you still get the speed bonus from Wind Walk which can help you escape. -=-=-=- Far Seer The first choice for many Orc players. The Far Seer is a good hero, and is probably so popular due to his versatile and general purpose nature. His spells are simple to use, and he's safe with a ranged attack. Don't know which hero to choose? Just get the Far Seer. -=-=-=- The Wolves Decent units, overall. Probably the most critical time of their use is during the early minutes of the game. Micro management is essential during this time. Don't let a Night Elf player Detonate on them with a Wisp! If you see a Wisp heading right for your wolves, Re-summon them just before it detonates. Otherwise, you are just giving the opponent's hero free experience. -=-=-=- Tauren Chieftain Savior for some, roving idiot for others. The Tauren Chieftain is very weak and prone to dying during his early levels, but his strengths begin to show once he reaches level five. Although weak in the beginning, the chieftain is a tyrant at later levels. Level three Shockwave is scary. Level six is probably the biggest turning point. That is, as you should know, when he acquires his resurrection skill. -=-=-=- Shadow Hunter Finally, the Orcs get a true support hero. Besides the item shop, the Shadow Hunter is really the only option for the Orcs to use as far as healing goes. Hex can be a gruesome spell if the enemy hasn't any counters for it. The Serpent Wards are easy to lay down, and likewise easy to create a great number of them; however, they are also equally easy to get rid of. Therefore, place Serpent Wards behind your front lines, so as not to put them in any easily compromised position. -=-=-=- Orc Hero Solo Creeping Depending on the map being used, all Orc heroes are capable of solo creeping (though some more limited than others). The Blademaster can easily accomplish this with Mirror Image. Obviously, the Mirror Image is used to distract the creeps while the Blademaster cuts away. The Far Seer can accomplish this with Feral Spirit. It is a simple matter of summoning the wolves, having them attack, and allow the Far Seer to safely fire at the creeps from behind his wolves. The Tauren Chieftain will probably have a harder time with this (depending on the map), but he can accomplish this by using War Stomp. Try to get in a position that will allow the War Stomp to stun as many creeps as possible. Stunning them with War Stomp allows the chieftain to survive longer. The best way to solo creep with the chieftain is at night. At night you can approach the creeps without taking damage and have enough time to position your chieftain to maximize the effect of the War Stomp. Generally though, I would advise you to have a couple of other units along with the chieftain. The Shadow Hunter wouldn't be a wise choice, due to his limited damage output and hit points, but you might be able to pull something off with smart positioning of Serpent Wards. -=-=-=- Orc Hero Creeping with Troll Headhunters Sure, solo creeping is great. However, creeping with one or two Troll Headhunters is even better. Even if you aren't investing into any part of the tech tree that benefits headhunters, it doesn't matter. You are just going to build one or two to take along with your hero. Plus, they are cheap, so it isn't going to put a dent in your economy. Having a single headhunter come along with your hero will make it faster and easier. That's right, a single headhunter can make a big difference. Having two headhunters is even more effective. Headhunters dish out a good amount of damage. This extra damage helping out your hero makes creeping easier and faster. Sure, they have low HP, but that doesn't matter, because headhunters will never be in any danger due to the fact that they have a ranged attack (unless you position them horribly). Creeps will be attacking the Blademaster and his Mirror Image, the Farseer's wolves, and the Tauren Chieftain. Give it a try. -=-=-=- Peon The lowly worker... the sad, pathetic, little Peon. When under attack, be sure to micro manage these guys. Have a couple repair while all the others enter the burrows. If a repair Peon comes under attack, have him enter a burrow or run away momentarily. Other than micro management while under attack, there's not much else that can be done with these weaklings. -=-=-=- Grunt The Grunts will make fine grunts in your army (do you see that?). They are the strongest Tier 1 melee unit out of all the races. Likewise, they are also the most expensive out of all the races, at 200 gold and 3 food supply. Nevertheless, you can't go wrong with these guys. Grunts are extremely vulnerable to units that slow movement, so you might want to throw in Bloodlust to offset that threat. Also beware of the Sorceress, as Grunts are good targets for Polymorph. If you plan on using Grunts in the long run, research the Berserker upgrade and Pillage. Pillage will net you some free cash if you should ever attack an enemy building. -=-=-=- Troll Headhunter If you plan on using these in the long run, you must have Bloodlust. Troll Headhunters have a horrendously slow attack and need Bloodlust to help smooth things out. The Tauren Chieftain's Endurance aura will help as well. Researching Troll Regeneration will help to make sure that your trolls are always at full health when a battle is due to come. Without Bloodlust, these trolls will not stand a chance against air units, even though they are technically anti-air. -=-=-=- Troll Berserker A much needed upgrade to the headhunters, the Berserkers improve upon their weaker brothers in every conceivable way. Besides the obvious statistical improvements, the new ability to increase attack speed is helpful, although dangerous if used carelessly. -=-=-=- Demolisher Oh, these things are bloody annoying, aggravating, irritating, etc. if you are on the receiving end of these. It has now become customary for Orc players to use these bad butt machines as focus fire death bringers. Don't be surprised when your level seven hero falls in less than five seconds during a battle. That flaming the ground stuff doesn't add much to the fun either. However, this threat mainly exists in team games. Demolishers are less bothersome in solo games, where their slow movement and large collision size play a bigger part in their vulnerability. With no allied armies in the way, they are much easier to flank and kill. -=-=-=- Raider If you can't effectively deal with the micromanagement, you will find Raiders mostly useless. Raiders can be amazing in solo games if used to their full potential. Ensnare is probably their main selling point. Having a bunch of Raiders means you can net a bunch of units in a short amount of time. This is a great way to bite the enemy in the butt when they attempt to flee. Using Ensnare over and over again on an enemy hero will guarantee their demise as your units pound away at them. Their ability to Pillage will net you some free cash; the problem is finding a good opportunity. Look for undefended towns and expansions. When fleeing, use Ensnare to help you get away unscathed. An interesting application for the Raiders is to use them versus Human Steam Tanks. They will junk them and send them to the salvage yard in no time with the Raider's Siege damage versus the Steam Tank's Fortified armor. If you feel your Human ally is up to the challenge, have him use invisible with your raiders. If no Human ally is around, try playing around with a Goblin Zeppelin. -=-=-=- Tauren The strongest purchasable melee unit in the game (out of all the playable races anyway). Tauren are guaranteed to tear through the enemy front lines. Unless of course they have been possessed, had their movement speed slowed, been blown into the air by a whirlwind, or turned into a sheep. But, other than those few instances, Tauren are a force to be reckoned with. Watch as the massive amount of Tier 1 melee units fall by your hoof. -=-=-=- Shaman Ah, the Orc Shaman. The primary Orc spell caster. Let's start out by going over his Purge spell. This spell has three uses. The first, removing beneficial spells from an enemy unit (while at the same time slowing their movement speed). The second is removing negative spells from your units. This is less useful, given that you could also remove Bloodlust from your units and the fact that their movement speed will be slowed. So only use it on your own units if the advantages outweigh the disadvantages (for example, the Undead spell Cripple was placed on one of your units). It seems like they might have removed the slow effect on allied units on one of the patches, but I can't remember for sure. So either take what I just said to heart, or ignore it. The third is probably the most useful, and that is using Purge to catch enemy units attempting to run away. The Shaman's second spell, Lightning Shield, is a difficult spell to use. Only use this spell if the damage on enemy units outweighs the damage received by your units. You have three choices when casting Lightning Shield. The first choice you have is to cast it on your front line troops. Generally, it is better to cast Lightning Shield on Tauren or the Tauren Chieftain (as opposed to the smaller units). You could also do this with Raiders I suppose, but they usually aren't the front line troops. The reason you want to cast Lightning Shield on large units is so that the damage from the shield is spread out on the most enemy units possible (given that most of the time large sized units will be attacked by multiple enemy melee units). This of course will be less effective if your opponent chooses to use large sized units as well (or chooses to use many ranged units). The second option you have when using Lightning Shield is to cast it on the enemy's front line troops. This is normally less effective than casting it on your own front line troops, but it has its moments. Again, do this only if you are using large sized units (like Tauren), so that the damage taken by your units will be far less than the damage the enemy takes (assuming they have small sized units). A good time to cast Lightning Shield on the enemy front line troops is before their troops make contact with your troops (examples include: they are sitting idle, they are charging you). Doing this will allow you to do damage to their troops with the shield before their troops can get close enough to damage your troops (with the shield). Basically this means that during the short time the Lightning Shield lasts, it will do more damage to the enemy troops. The third, and less hazardous option, is to cast it on the enemy's ranged units (behind the front lines). Doing this will damage his ranged troops (obviously), but allow your troops to not take friendly damage from the shield. This is probably the easiest way to use the shield. The last, and most famous, spell the Orc Shaman wields is Bloodlust. The fact that this is an auto cast spell makes it pointless to elaborate on the uses of this spell, so I will not bother. However, now that I think about it, turn the auto cast feature for Bloodlust on only when you are engaged in a large-scale battle. Leave it off the rest of the time. Doing this will prevent you from wasting mana if your army comes upon an enemy scout. Your mana pool is needed in a large-scale battle; it is not needed to take out a lone unit. -=-=-=- Witch Doctor The secondary Orc spell caster. Place sentry wards at key enemy paths. Good opportunities to do this arise when your army is creeping, clearing an expansion, attacking the enemy, or is simply on the move. Before engaging an enemy in battle (in other words, you are about to fight the enemy in a few seconds), place a sentry ward on the ground behind your army. If you lose, this will allow you to see what his army does (if he retreats or attacks). If you win, it will act as a precautionary measure and allow you to see anything that heads in the general direction of your base. Stasis wards are extremely useful. With the 1.03 patch making them not have an effect on allied units, you can now place them in the middle of battle. However, the amount of time that they last in the battle before successfully activating is dependent upon the position they are placed on. Putting them in the middle of enemy troops sounds like a good idea, but they will quickly die off. A better place to put them would be behind the front lines. Although the stasis ward's area of effect range makes it so that a ranged unit will almost always be able to attack them, this is okay. Cast your wards so that it places them in awkward positions next to your units, making it harder for the enemy to target or recognize them. If your opponent doesn't have any ranged units, you are very privileged and will prosper. Healing wards, having a mere 5 HP, are frail devices. Do not fret though, placement is key. Healing wards have a rather large area of effect, so they can generally be set up in safer positions than a stasis ward. Set down a healing ward so that it just barely is in range to heal your front line troops. There is no need to place it any further, as that will just make it more vulnerable. After battle healing is also a good application for the use of the healing ward. -=-=-=- Spirit Walker I find these to be a mixed bag. I don't really like their ability to shift in and out of ethereal form, simply because when they aren't solid, they can't attack and do damage. They can't take damage either, but I find it more beneficial to have as much damage as possible being done in a battle. Linking units together to share damage is helpful, especially in allied games, where hopefully other spells will be in effect. Raising Tauren is a giant bonus, given that Tauren cost so much. Just make sure to keep track of the corpses. Disenchant is basically the same as the Human Priest's Dispel, so use it in the same way. As always, the area of effect advantage this spell gives is always helpful. -=-=-=- Kodo Beast I think that these beasts are mandatory in battle. More so when allies are present. Their aura will help immensely. While a little damage added to each unit might not sound like much, if you add it all up it comes out to be quite an impressive amount of extra damage being dealt to the enemy. If you are worried about losing your precious Kodo Beast, you can build two of them, but two of these beasts take up 8 food, which isn't practical. That 4 food would be better fed to someone else. Besides, it should be easy to micro manage your Kodo Beast a bit to keep him alive. Disregard what I just said if multiple allies are present, because you will need two beasts to make sure the aura is spread out among your units and your friendly allied units. If any enemy units get close enough or try to attack your beast, then order him to gobble them up with Devour. Using multiple Kodo Beasts just for Devour can make for interesting battles. It can be a bit cumbersome though and only works in limited circumstances. -=-=-=- Wind Rider Wind Riders die fast. That's okay though, because this is balanced out with the high amount of damage they dish out to enemies. If the enemy sees that you are on your way to making Wind Riders, he will either stop you immediately with massive amounts of Tier 1 units, or he will pre-plan and build units that counter Wind Riders. In either situation, you need to keep up with scouting the enemy's tech tree and base to determine what course of action is being taken. It's always possible to counter a counter with a mix of units. -=-=-=- Troll Batrider Although having siege damage might seem quite limiting on this unit, it isn't, given his other abilities. Knocking out casters is one choice of action, but this function would probably be better handled by demolishers. Another function is building destruction, which is further optimized by the Liquid Fire upgrade. Lastly, is anti-air. Now, the way in which this is used my be helpful for you, or it may not. It depends a lot on your playing style (although some would argue that sticking to your playing style shows weakness). _______________________________________________________________________________ [4!]Night Elves[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] -=-=-=- Demon Hunter Easily one of the most powerful heroes in the game. This darned blind man can dish out lots of damage, especially once he reaches the second half of his level ascension. Mana Burn will rip through and pacify any magic based hero. Immolation will secure the Demon Hunter's place on the front line. Evasion will ensure his survival during battle. If allowed to reach level six, it is fairly safe to say that the game is over, especially in solo games. -=-=-=- Keeper of the Grove Dangerous, if used right. Negligible, if used wrong. Entangling Roots is an excellent tool for isolating enemy units from their battle groups. Equally useful is its ability to trap fleeing units after a battle. That's money out of the enemy's pocket. Force of Nature is a great asset during the heat of battle, e specially later in the game when many Treants can be summoned at a time. The Thorns aura is essentially the opposite of the Dread Lord's aura. So if you see an Undead player with a Dread Lord using an aura, you can cancel out the effects of that aura. -=-=-=- Treant Weak, at best. Even so, their assistance during battle is helpful. They deal a small amount of damage to the enemy, but they also serve as a damage taker. It might seem insignificant, but it is better to have damage be done to units that cost nothing, as opposed to units that do cost resources. -=-=-=- Priestess of the Moon Deceiving in appearance, as well as attributes. Some tout her as weak and feeble, while others swear by her prowess. Depends on what you do as a player, and the circumstances of the game being played. If you have allies, the Priestess is wonderful to have around. Her aura is of great help. If you are in a solo or free for all game, her usefulness is dependent on what you build. More often than not, you will be helped by her aura. As for her skills, Owl Scout provides great intelligence on the enemy, and Searing Arrows can build up to very significant damage when combined with certain items. -=-=-=- Owl Scout Recast often when you don't have any idea what the enemy is up to. That is the worst case scenario, when you don't know what the enemy is doing. -=-=-=- Warden I like the warden for the simple reason that she allows an acceptable alternative to the Demon Hunter. Fan of Knives is a very nice crowd control skill, and can eliminate certain enemies instantly at later levels. Blink provides a nice and easy way to escape from danger, and is practically unlimited in its use at level three. Shadow Strike is an excellent hero killing skill, especially during the course of a battle. Comes in handy when the enemy is fleeing too, as it slows a unit down to a crawl. -=-=-=- Avatar of Vengeance Not terribly powerful, its real power lies not in its statistics, but rather its powerful skill. Let it do its work to create... -=-=-=- Spirit of Vengeance ...the Spirit of Vengeance. Certainly not powerful, but due to the rapid appearance of these spirits on the field of war, they more than make up for it in numbers. -=-=-=- Night Elf Hero Solo Creeping The Keeper of the Grove is probably the best hero to solo creep with the elves. His ability to call forth Treants will provide a shield to his HP. So long as there are trees nearby. The Demon Hunter would be your second choice. Immolation and Evasion are great against creeps. The Warden is also well suited for this purpose. The priestess will not fare well, as is evident. -=-=-=- Wisp Nothing much to say about these. If an enemy hero rushes you, and the hero targets your wisps, have the wisps use Detonate before they die. At least then you won't give him free experience. If it's still fairly early in the game, when no one has access to any dispel spells yet, you can use wisps to substitute while waiting. For example, this becomes absolutely essential when in an eight player team game and the opposing team decides to rush an allied player with four farseers with wolves. Without the Wisps' detonate ability, this type of situation would be much more difficult. -=-=-=- Archer I believe Archers to be the best anti-air unit. In massive numbers these women warriors can tear through any amount of air units. With the benefit of the Priestess of the Moon's Trueshot aura, you can make the archers even more effective at anti-air. If the enemy employs the use of melee troops, it would be wise to have some sort of damage sponge handy, or be adept at pulling back hurt units. -=-=-=- Huntress Huntresses are exceptional units. They fair especially well against massive amounts of weak units, due to their bouncing attack. Be wary of enemy Tier 3 melee units though, because they will easily tear through Huntresses. Research their owl ability as quickly as possible. Intelligence based around enemy movements or expansions is quite easy using Huntress owls. They have gone through a lot of degrading in the update patches, but they still prove to be useful time and time again... to a lesser extent. -=-=-=- Glaive Thrower Not particularly useful in skirmishes (being a siege unit), but its handy to bring a couple along to support an attack. Use Glaive Throwers to take out the enemy's static defenses. Glaive Throwers are probably the least effective of all the racial siege units. Although this unit does give the night elves a slight advantage, just because you can build this siege unit at Tier 1. -=-=-=- Dryads Dryads are okay as a piercing damage unit, but that is not their sole purpose. Their ability to slow enemy units is probably the most beneficial reason to have them around. With this, melee units will approach slowly, and you can be sure that enemy units will have a hard time escaping your grasp. The Abolish Magic spell is novel, however it falls short in effectiveness. In a quick battle, it is most useful assuming your units can do more damage than your opponent's units without their magic in the balance. In a long battle this ability will prove to be ineffective, as most of the time the enemy's spell casters will have more mana, which allows them to cast their magic more than the Dryad can cast Abolish Magic. The poison damage the Dryad does is just an extra flare. It shouldn't make a significant difference, but it is good to have. -=-=-=- Druid of the Wind Faerie Fire is a good spell. Negative five defense on enemy units is great. It can also be used as a way of spying on the enemy. Running a druid up and having him cast it a few times (then run away) will allow you to see what the enemy sees for a good two minutes. Whirlwind is another good spell. Taking an enemy unit completely out of play for ten seconds is wonderful. Removing crucial support units or buffed expensive units can win a battle. The ability to transform into a raven is an effective means of destroying air units, spying, and escaping. If you combine the use of the raven ability and Faerie Fire, you can perform an interesting method of spying. Turn a druid into a raven and fly it to an area you wish to spy on. Make him turn back into a druid form and turn Faerie Fire on auto cast. If any enemy units are nearby, you will be able to see through their eyes for a good two minutes. Not the most useful method of gathering information on the enemy's status and position, but it does have its moments. Inaccessible areas or areas blocked off by the enemy are good examples. -=-=-=- Druid of the Claw When not in bear form, this guy requires a little micro management due to his lack of an auto cast spell. In large numbers, have all of them in bear form except for two or three (maybe more if you have allies). This way you can cast spells easily. Always use Roar before a battle begins. When the Roar spell wears off, cast it again. Rejuvenation is a very powerful spell. Cast it on near dead units such as your heroes, allied heroes, and any expensive units. In bear form he makes a good Tier 3 melee unit too. Things that come attached to any Tier 3 unit, are the vulnerabilities. So watch out for spells like polymorph and cripple. -=-=-=- Mountain Giant Obvious uses include tank and damage sponge. Don't build Mountain Giants because of their damage (as it is pretty much negligible to their cost), but build them for their ability to take damage. The Taunt ability will lend strength to their goal of taking damage, as it will draw enemy units away from your more vulnerable units. Do keep in mind that an enemy may choose to focus fire the giant and leave your other units vulnerable. -=-=-=- Hippogryph The Hippogryph is an all-out, pure anti-air unit, being that he can't attack the ground. If you see an enemy air unit attack coming, build some of these along with Archers or Dryads. Hippogryphs are also a most valuable escort for your Chimaeras. -=-=-=- Hippogryph Rider Certainly not the best air unit, but useful nonetheless. If you happen to not upgrade anything in the creature side of the tech tree, Hippogryph Riders make a good alternative to the other Night Elf air units. Mixing a few in with Huntresses and Archers will make for a decent combination if your opponent is not expecting it. -=-=-=- Faerie Dragon A deceiving unit at first, but powerful in the end. To really understand how powerful this unit can be, you'd have to see it in action. Basically, all you need to do with these things is put them over enemy casters, then activate Mana Flare. After that, watch as the enemy casters fall as their hit points are rapidly depleted (this has the same effect on enemy heroes as well). -=-=-=- Chimaera All ground units quiver at the sight of the Chimaera. All air units delight at the sight of the Chimaera. Knowing this, you should know how to counter Chimaeras and how to protect your Chimaeras from those counters. If you plan on attacking an enemy base, research the Corrosive Breath upgrade. If you feel daring, you should have a lone Chimaera attack an enemy's expansion or main base while your army fights his. With his focus on the battle, there should be enough time to do some behind-the-scenes damage to his structures. _______________________________________________________________________________ [5!]Undead[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][ -=-=-=- Death Knight When unsure of which hero to choose, get the Death Knight. His versatile skills can help out in most any situation. Death Coil, while obviously being able to hit the enemy, can also heal one of your units for a whopping six hundred hit points. The Death Knight can also become a speed demon with his aura. This makes him a highly deadly scout when combined with Death Coil, as you can quickly eliminate enemy workers. Death Pact is his less used skill, mainly due to ignorance, and the fact that it is less versatile and helpful than his other two skills. Death Pact is probably only good when used to deter the enemy from focus firing on the Death Knight. This has the potential to be very counter productive if you don't have any skeletons available from Necromancers or Rods of Necromancy. -=-=-=- Dread Lord The melee troop supplement. His aura will help, but keep in mind it is percentage based, so it will help Abominations more than it will Ghouls. Carrion Swarm is a good spell, just make sure you line it up correctly when you activate it. Sleep is a situation dependent spell, so take that into consideration when deciding if you should use it or not. You may vie to use a less dependent spell if the game calls for it. One very good plus to Sleep though is that you can pop a bunch Sleeps out one after another by the time you get it to level three. -=-=-=- Infernal What can I say? These guys are tough. REALLY tough. Because they damage and stun enemy units when they land, it is a very good idea to target them right in the middle of an enemy army. Not only that, but Infernals also have a permanent immolation ability, so having them pop up as close to enemy units as possible will maximize their damage output. -=-=-=- Lich It is advisable to stay away from the Lich if you can't win games with other heroes. He requires a fair amount of prowess with WarCraft III to wield him effectively. Especially if you choose him as a first hero. With that said, the Lich can be a good hero. Frost Nova is definitely the Lich's bread and butter spell. Target a group of enemy units for the most desirable results. Frost Armor can be effective with the right units. If your army is mainly composed of Ghouls, don't bother. On the other hand, if it's Abominations you have, go for it. Dark Ritual, like Death Pact for the Death Knight, is rarely seen. And like Death Pact, it is advisable to only make use of it if you plan of having skeletons during the course of the game. -=-=-=- Crypt Lord A tank, to say the least. Impale offers an excellent stun skill, equally useful in the middle of battle and after a battle, to catch fleeing enemy units. Carrion Beetles will provide invaluable support, especially in the early game. A lot of units can be acquired quickly with the addition of these beetles. Spiked Carapace is definitely a useful skill, especially for this hero, as it allows him to be in the most dangerous of places during a battle. -=-=-=- Carrion Beetle Weak individually, but they do provide fairly significant assistance once you acquire five of them. Taking damage away from your costly units is always helpful. -=-=-=- Undead Hero Solo Creeping Obviously, the only Undead hero capable of performing this task would be the Crypt Lord. All other heroes require help from other units. Which defeats the purpose of solo creeping. -=-=-=- Acolyte The undead worker... actually, I believe he isn't really undead, he is just serving his master, the lich king. But anyway... if it looks like a building is sure to die during a battle, don't try to repair it, just de-summon it so that you can attempt to salvage some resources. Unless it's a particularly important building, then you should try to repair it. Interesting tidbit to note is that the acolyte is the strongest worker out of all the races in terms of pure stats and how they fare in battle (not that you would want them in battle). -=-=-=- Ghoul The cheap little undead Ghoul is probably the most efficient unit out of all the races, if you factor in its low gold cost and all the upgrades it has available to it. Great units for creeping, because you can eat the creeps' corpses after you defeat them to regain health. Ghouls can hold their own in the long run, but it is advised that they have some other unit types backing them up. -=-=-=- Crypt Fiend Even if you don't plan on researching any of the creature upgrades, it would be a good idea to bring about two or three of these spider things along for their Web ability, just in case you run into some air units (creeps or otherwise). The piercing damage might come in handy anyway. It won't falter your path of ascension for your build order that much. -=-=-=- Gargoyle The Gargoyle is a wonderful anti-air unit. At the first sign of mass air units, begin making Gargoyles. Its stone form ability makes for a good damage sponge as well. Just pay attention to the details, and when one Gargoyle appears to be focus fired, turn him into stone. -=-=-=- Abomination These monstrous undead corpse men are good at making corpses for the Necromancers. Have a Dread Lord provide his aura during battle. Then have your Necromancers cast Unholy Frenzy on your Abominations. Works wonders. -=-=-=- Meat Wagon I don't know, Meat Wagons are okay I suppose. The whole corpse picking up thing is interesting, but in reality is difficult to utilize to its full potential. The disease cloud upgrade is okay, it helps a little bit. A very little bit though. -=-=-=- Obsidian Statue At this point, Obsidian Statue have probably become a given part of any undead army. They add much capability to your forces, as well as your allies, if you have any. -=-=-=- Destroyer A powerful anti-caster unit. Can be a powerful general destruction unit too, if used correctly. Use its ability to eat up magical buffs and debuffs and watch as his damage output increases substantially. Without this added damage, he most likely wouldn't be that useful. One thing to note is that he is magic immune. -=-=-=- Necromancer The Raise Skeleton spell will most likely be the spell you see come out of this guy the most (depending on your level of play). It is also the most easily countered, especially for human players. Dispel type spells will obliterate skeletons in no time. Even Abolish Magic and Purge can keep up with the skeletons at a rate almost comparable to the Priest's Dispel Magic, all it takes is a little micro management. Just make sure you cast fast enough so that the skeletons never grow to the point where the situation gets out of hand. If you choose to go for skeletons, make sure to research the proper upgrades. One obvious and needed upgrade would be the addition of skeletal mages. Unholy Frenzy and Cripple are the most powerful of the buff and de-buff spells. Cast Unholy Frenzy on heroes, allied heroes, and high damage units. Does a wonder on the enemy forces. Likewise, cast Cripple on the enemy's most powerful units. You can cast Cripple on enemy heroes, but I wouldn't suggest it because it only lasts for 10 seconds on heroes (as opposed to the 60-second normal duration). If the enemy hero happens to be at level 7 or higher, then I would suggest casting Cripple on that hero. Heroes can become quite powerful at those levels. Unholy Frenzy and Cripple, being spells that aren't auto cast and are only effective on certain specific units, means that you won't see many of these spells in effect at any one given time during battle. Which means that it will be a simple matter to dispel these spells. Keep that in mind. -=-=-=- Banshee Curse is great. It pretty much eliminates 33% of all the enemy's attacks. A good spell to have during battle. Anti-Magic Shell is a unique spell. If you don't plan on using any buffs on your units (example: you are just using the Banshee) and your enemy is using de-buffs on your units, Anti-Magic Shell is for you. Possession is an interesting spell. Summed up, it basically subtracts one unit from the enemy. Not effective in the long run (since there is no research available, if it's not an Undead unit), but effective in battle and immediately after battle (attacking the enemy base). When choosing a unit to possess, make sure the costs of that unit are more than the Banshee costs. Possessing a Footman, for example, is not economical, as the opponent only losses a measly amount of gold while you lose more gold and some lumber. -=-=-=- Frost Wyrm I don't have much to say about these dead lizards. However, I would like to notify some and remind others the application of its Freezing Breath. When attacking an enemy's base (an Undead base especially), spread out your Frost Wyrms' attacks so that they are firing at each defensive structure separately. Don't make them focus fire on a single defensive structure at a time. If you are able to fire at all the defensive structures at the same time: you have managed to cut off all the damage potential that those structures have. If you concentrate on one defensive structure at a time, you are allowing your dragons to take damage from the surrounding structures. Plan ahead. -=-=-=- Shade If you want a reliable and regular source of scouting, then the Shade unit is possibly the best option available. One of the greatest advantages of the Shade is to allow you to freely scout the enemy without the enemy knowing you are scouting. Sometimes if an enemy is aware that you know what he is doing, it can lead that enemy to countering your counter. Shades circumvent this possiblity by not allowing the enemy to know you are scouting them. _______________________________________________________________________________ [6!]Neutral[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] -=-=-=- Naga Sea Witch Definitely a key unit if you plan on specifically concentrating on enemy heroes, or particularly expensive units. This is primarily due to the Frost Arrows skill possessed by the sea witch, which allows her to snag an enemy unit trying to run away from any harm. Forked Lighting proves to be a good multiple target spell, nice on large inexpensive groups as well as small gold heavy forces. Mana Shield would undoubtedly be the sea witch's less useful spell. Its uses are limited to a very narrow margin of opportunity, but can save her from focus fire. -=-=-=- Dark Ranger An unusual array of varied skills for one unit. Versatile hero for sure. Silence is easily useful in battles of any size, as taking away a unit's ability to cast spells is invaluable. A good substitute if you don't wish to build any anti-caster units. The Black Arrow skill, while more limited and specialized, is a wonderful skill to have at work during a battle. Having skeletal minions appear in the enemy ranks will sway a battle in your favor. Life Drain is definitely the most general purpose of all the Dark Ranger's skills, and as such should be used as often as possible in battle. Keep in mind a skilled enemy will micro manage an affected unit out of the Life Drain's range, so compensate for this ahead of time by properly positioning the hero. -=-=-=- Dark Minion Basically a regular front line melee trooper. Can become quite powerful at level three, not in an individual aspect, but in terms of numbers along with the individual aspect. -=-=-=- Pandaren Brewmaster Suited for melee combat, although he is weak at early levels. Obviously, don't spend points in Breath of Fire and Drunken Haze at the same time. It just doesn't work. Do one or the other along with Drunken Brawler. Breath of Fire is a pretty basic attack that just does damage. As a stand-alone spell, it is most likely one of the weaker hero damage spells. Drunken Haze is an invaluable skill to have at hand, as it becomes very powerful at level three. This spell is best applied to units that do a large amount of damage, as opposed to support units or units that rely on spells. Breath of Fire and Drunken Haze can be used together, but you won't see favorable results until you reach higher levels. -=-=-=- Storm Panda A very interesting combination of spells, this unit can be used in many different ways. Take advantage of Wind Walk, as that can allow you a superior position on the battle field from which to cast spells from. The spell caster of the three panda ultimates. -=-=-=- Earth Panda Basically a tank. Nothing special to this guy, just stick him up at the front lines and let him go to work on the enemy. Funny looking dude too. -=-=-=- Fire Panda The damage inflicting guru of the panda ultimates. Put him up at the front lines as well, just don't put him in as vulnerable a spot as you would put the Earth Panda in. He's only got 900 hit points. -=-=-=- Beastmaster The Beastmaster is a summoner warrior. All of his skills are related to summoning something, aside from his ultimate which is a large area of effect skill. Besides all that, the Beastmaster could be considered an off-tank for your army, since he is afterall a strength-based hero. Once his skills start to get leveled up, he becomes quite the beast at creeping by himself with the help of his summons. For his ultimate, a good situation to use it is when your enemy has fully committed to a battle and won't be likely to immediately leave. Casting the ultimate in such a situation presents a difficult choice to your enemy: should he run away and take extra damage while fleeing, or should he stay and fight while taking extra damage from the ultimate? -=-=-=- Bear Obviously the Bear is just a simple tank, but do note that at level three he gains the ability to teleport, which has some interesting potential. -=-=-=- Quilbeast Your basic ranged unit. Damage potential is increased at level three, with the introduction of the Frenzy skill, which is basically Bloodlust on self. -=-=-=- Hawk Like the other Beastmaster summons, the Hawk is a pretty straightforward unit. Just an air unit. Only notable thing to mention is that at level three it gains the ability to turn invisible when not attacking. Excellent for sneaking up on that enemy Undead's Obsidian Statue and knocking it out. -=-=-=- Pit Lord The Pit Lord is my favorite neutral hero, no question about it. I tend to lean toward area of effect spells, so naturally I'm going to favor the Pit Lord's Rain of Fire spell. If accuracy isn't your best attribute, then go for the Pit Lord's Howl of Terror. Very useful if used in conjunction with the Brewmaster's Drunken Haze. As with Drunken Haze, try to target heavy damage units as opposed to weaklings. His passive skill, Cleaving Attack, will probably end up being your second skill, due to the Pit Lord's low mana pool. -=-=-=- Doom Guard What can I say? An awesome unit. Right when you can click on this mammoth unit, immediately start casting each of his spells. Stomp, Cripple, and... what's that... Rain of Fire! Woo-hoo! Go to town with this guy... but, don't be surprised if he gets focus fired on and dies soon after his birth. -=-=-=- Goblin Tinker The new hero. I never thought they'd actually make a patch that introduced a completely new unit... or hero for that matter. Needless to say, this guy brings an interesting new twist to the game. Overall, he has average stats. Not particularly adept in any one area. His skills are strange. Strange compared to what the other heroes have. Pocket Factory is useful if you are good with its positioning, otherwise it will go out of business faster than you'd like. Don't put it right at the front lines, but also be careful not to place it so far away that it loses its effectiveness. Place it so that the little mechanical goblins have free reign on the enemy, but also in a position that makes the enemy have to put effort into getting rid of it. Cluster Rockets is a more straightforward spell, and is an adept way of starting out a battle. The stun time is short, but it's enough to get your army into that much of a better position to target specific units and get your fingers to certain spell hotkeys. Choose one or the other, because you won't be able to afford both. Why? Because of Engineering Upgrade. It improves both spells and slightly increases the Goblin Tinker's melee damage. This is especially helpful when combined with Cluster Rockets, as the added area of effect makes that spell way more destructive. It also allows more units to be inflicted with stun. The ultimate, Robo-Goblin, is unique. Obviously not in the "transform into mr. big butt mode" sense, but because it makes the hero turn mechanical, which is odd. The bonus to buildings you receive from Demolish is not to be taken lightly. You can do a quick hit and run on the enemy's base with your army. Robo-Goblin combined with other siege units can make quick work of any building. Another use is if you face an undead opponent. If you have a fear of the undead hero nuke, change into Robo-Goblin to neutralize their spells with the added mechanical type body. -=-=-=- The Firelord Just when I thought introducing one new hero in a patch was completely cool and off the wall, Blizzard goes and introduces two new heroes in a patch! Crazy stuff. So, a Firelord huh? One of those guys that reigned before the Titans ruled. Interesting. So anyways, this guy is powerful. His summons multiply like crazy if kept alive during battles. His passive ability can be powerful against inattentive opponents. It makes focus fire kill units with hardly any effort at all. Soul Burn is useful against units you know you will eventually want taken out of a battle. Volcano is a so-so ultimate. It's kind of a hybrid between earthquake and blizzard, with a touch of Cluster Rockets. -=-=-=- Goblin Alchemist This guy is a pretty cool hero. Fat, but cool. Well... possibly skinny, depending on who you look at. I love healing spray. It's basically the opposite of blizzard. I'm a big fan of area of effect spells. Acid Bomb is an amazing unit killer. Not directly of course, but in conjunction with focus fire, very deadly. Taking away that armor is just not nice. Then there's Chemical Rage. Lots of people don't like it, but I don't know. It's good because it really saves your mana. It doesn't wipe it out immediately. In fact, it's nearly impossible to use up all of your mana just using this skill. It's also an excellent creeping skill. Transmute will net you some free cash. As well as one less unit in the enemy's ranks. Useful in long, drawn out games. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Neutral Units ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The following section on neutral units includes an evaluation of each unit based on the skills available to them and the skills available to a particular race. For example, the Satyr Shadowdancer below has "T" for Human, Orc, and Night Elf because all three of those races do not have access to the Curse spell. The Undead however do have access to Curse at tier 2 and tier 3, so "F" is given for those tiers in the Undead row. - The Key - T = True F = False -=-=-=- Ashenvale Camp * Satyr Shadowdancer * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | T | T | Orc | T | T | T | Night Elf| T | T | T | Undead | T | F | F | + Curse makes the Satyr Shadowdancer useful throughout the span of a game. The Undead have Curse available at Tier 2, so this creep is less useful to them. * Furbolg Shaman * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | T | T | Orc | T | T | F | Night Elf| T | F | F | Undead | T | T | T | + Rejuvenation makes the Furbolg Shaman useful throughout the span of a game. The Night Elves receive Rejuvenation at Tier 2, so this creep is no longer needed. The Orcs acquire Healing Ward at Tier 3, which is a better healing spell, due to its area of effect nature. * Thunder Lizard * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | F | F | Orc | T | T | T | Night Elf| T | T | F | Undead | T | T | F | + The Orcs will find this dinosaur to be a welcome addition. Although it costs a hearty 5 food, it makes up for that by being useful in its ability to dish out damage and take damage. An Orc player going completely for melee units and upgrades will be in need of a source of piercing damage. -=-=-=- Barrens Camp * Centaur Outrunner * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | T | F | Orc | T | F | F | Night Elf| T | F | F | Undead | T | T | F | + This melee unit is useful in the early stages of the game, but will lose its effectiveness as time goes on and enemy units begin to have more upgrades. * Harpy Rogue * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | T | F | Orc | T | T | F | Night Elf| T | F | F | Undead | T | F | F | + Certainly not the best air unit, but it should make for a decent purchase if you are looking to have a more diverse mixture of units. * Harpy Windwitch * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | T | T | Orc | T | T | T | Night Elf| T | F | F | Undead | T | T | T | + A flying unit that casts Faerie Fire. Weird enough to be useful. * Razormane Medicine Man * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | T | T | Orc | T | T | T | Night Elf| T | T | T | Undead | T | T | T | + Healing Ward and Feral Spirit make the Razormane Medicine Man a worthy ally. Casting Feral Spirit from multiple medicine men and unleashing a few little Spirit Pigs will stack the odds in your favor. -=-=-=- Black Citadel/Outland Camp * Fel Beast * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | T | T | Orc | T | F | F | Night Elf| T | T | T | Undead | T | T | T | + Useful unit throughout the course of a game, due to its status as basically a beefier Ghoul. The Chaos damage is helpful against a wide variety of targets. Orcs will find it less useful due to their many melee based units. * Draenei Disciple * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | T | F | Orc | T | T | T | Night Elf| T | T | T | Undead | T | T | T | + Although weak, this unit does have a relatively high damage output for its size. For this reason it could be a good alternative to the Human's priest. * Voidwalker * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | T | T | Orc | T | T | T | Night Elf| T | T | T | Undead | T | T | T | + Cold Arrows are useful any day. Catching fleeing enemies are great. * Draenei Darkslayer * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | T | T | Orc | T | T | T | Night Elf| T | T | T | Undead | T | T | T | + These guys are great crowd control units. The enemy like mass ghouls? Bring these guys out and turn on Immolation. -=-=-=- Cityscape/Dalaran/Dalaran Ruins Camp * Rogue * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | F | F | Orc | T | F | F | Night Elf| T | F | F | Undead | T | F | F | + Not a bad unit, considering its price tag of only 150 gold. Your ghouls and footmen will quickly surpass it in effectiveness though with the addition of upgrades. * Assassin * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | T | F | Orc | T | T | T | Night Elf| T | F | F | Undead | T | T | F | + A pretty good piercing damage unit. Night Elf players will quickly find them useless, while the Humans and the Undead will find them useful until Tier 3 technologies. Orc players will discover the assassin to be an effective addition regardless of what stage in the game. * Kobold Geomancer * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | T | F | Orc | T | T | T | Night Elf| T | T | T | Undead | T | T | T | + Slow justifies the purchase of this creep. At Tier 3, the Humans are no longer in need of him due to the Sorceress surpassing him in usefulness. * Forest Troll High Priest * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | T | T | Orc | T | T | T | Night Elf| T | T | T | Undead | T | T | T | + Excellent support unit. Heal, Abolish Magic, and Inner Fire. -=-=-=- Dragon Roost * Dragon Whelp * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | F | F | Orc | T | F | F | Night Elf| T | F | F | Undead | T | F | F | + Besides the very beginning, this unit isn't worth hiring. If you are buying dragons just for the sake of having air units, then I suppose it may be worth it if you are about to enter battle and have some food supply to spare. * Drake * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | T | F | Orc | T | T | T | Night Elf| T | T | F | Undead | T | T | F | + Overall, a good solid purchase. A race's natural air unit will surpass these quickly with upgrades however. * Dragon * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | T | T | Orc | T | T | T | Night Elf| T | T | T | Undead | T | T | T | + Dragons are the ultimate unit. Don't get too overly cocky however. Brute force in the air doesn't beat massed anti-air. -=-=-=- Dungeon Camp * Burning Archer * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | T | F | Orc | T | T | T | Night Elf| T | T | T | Undead | T | T | F | + With Searing Arrows on, this unit dishes out a good amount of damage for a 2 food supply cost. Throw in a buff and a helpful aura and this unit will greatly aid your forces in battle. * Kobold Geomancer * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | T | F | Orc | T | T | T | Night Elf| T | T | T | Undead | T | T | T | + See above note for Kobold Geomancer in Cityscape/Dalaran Camp. * Owlbear * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | T | F | Orc | T | F | F | Night Elf| T | F | F | Undead | T | T | F | + A decent unit... works well in the beginning of the game. -=-=-=- Felwood Camp * Murloc Flesheater * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | T | F | Orc | T | T | F | Night Elf| T | T | F | Undead | T | T | F | + Eat corpses without having to be undead. Not a particularly strong unit, but healing in between battle makes him last a while. * Sludge Flinger * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | T | F | Orc | T | T | T | Night Elf| T | T | T | Undead | T | T | T | + Slow. Human players will find the Sorceress more suitable at Tier 3. * Satyr Soulstealer * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | T | T | Orc | T | T | T | Night Elf| T | T | T | Undead | T | T | T | + Animate Dead and Mana Burn are welcome additions to an arsenal. -=-=-=- Icecrown Glacier Camp * Blue Dragonspawn Meddler * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | T | F | Orc | T | F | F | Night Elf| T | T | F | Undead | T | T | F | + It's an okay unit. Not particularly powerful in any specific way. * Polar Furbolg Shaman * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | T | T | Orc | T | T | T | Night Elf| T | T | T | Undead | T | T | T | + Having Frost Armor at your disposal is helpful. Units last much longer. * Barbed Arachnathid * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | T | T | Orc | T | T | T | Night Elf| T | T | F | Undead | T | T | T | + Helpful little guy. Best used in bulk. Only one food cost. * Magnataur Warrior * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | T | T | Orc | T | T | F | Night Elf| T | T | T | Undead | T | T | T | + A big tank. Orcs will find him less useful as upgrades progress. -=-=-=- Goblin Laboratory * Goblin Sapper * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | T | T | Orc | T | T | T | Night Elf| T | T | T | Undead | T | T | T | + Blow up stuff. Useful unit when trying to take out an expansion quickly. * Goblin Zeppelin * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | T | T | Orc | T | T | T | Night Elf| T | T | T | Undead | T | T | T | + Transport to inaccessible places. Necessary for those sneaky attacks. * Goblin Shredder * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | T | T | Orc | T | T | T | Night Elf| T | T | T | Undead | T | T | T | + The shredder of lumber. Also makes a great melee unit. -=-=-=- Lordaeron Fall Camp * Gnoll Brute * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | F | F | F | Orc | F | F | F | Night Elf| F | F | F | Undead | F | F | F | + Not worth the cost. * Gnoll Warden * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | F | F | Orc | T | F | F | Night Elf| T | F | F | Undead | T | T | T | + Purge will provide the Undead army with a means to slow opponents and quickly damage summoned units. * Ogre Magi * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | T | T | Orc | T | T | F | Night Elf| T | T | T | Undead | T | T | T | + Bloodlust. The reasoning behind this should be quite obvious. * Mud Golem * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | F | F | Orc | T | T | T | Night Elf| T | T | T | Undead | T | T | T | + Weak unit, good spell, strong in numbers. -=-=-=- Lordaeron Summer Camp * Forest Troll Shadow Priest * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | F | F | Orc | T | T | F | Night Elf| T | T | T | Undead | T | T | T | + Even with the Shadow Priest's low mana pool, Heal will prove to be useful in and out of battle. The Priest and Healing Ward will provide the Humans and Orcs with a more efficient means of healing. * Forest Troll Berserker * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | T | F | Orc | T | T | T | Night Elf| T | F | F | Undead | T | T | F | + Not a bad unit. If you happen to be a melee heavy Orc player, it would be wise to purchase these whenever the chance appears. * Mud Golem * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | F | F | Orc | T | T | T | Night Elf| T | T | T | Undead | T | T | T | + Weak unit, good spell, strong in numbers. * Ogre Mauler * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | T | F | Orc | T | T | F | Night Elf| T | T | F | Undead | T | T | F | + Ogre Maulers are great melee units. Buy them every time the opportunity arises, especially if you lack melee troops. -=-=-=- Lordaeron Winter Camp * Ice Troll Trapper * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | T | T | Orc | T | T | T | Night Elf| T | T | T | Undead | T | T | T | + Ensnare makes having the Troll Trapper justifiable, especially for the Orcs. * Ice Troll Berserker * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | T | F | Orc | T | T | T | Night Elf| T | F | F | Undead | T | T | F | + Not a bad unit. If you happen to be a melee heavy Orc player, it would be wise to purchase these whenever the chance appears (same as Forest Troll Berserker). * Mud Golem * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | F | F | Orc | T | T | T | Night Elf| T | T | T | Undead | T | T | T | + Weak unit, good spell, strong in numbers. * Gnoll Overseer * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | T | T | Orc | T | T | T | Night Elf| T | T | T | Undead | T | T | T | + Not a very good unit, but the Command aura more than makes up for that. -=-=-=- Northrend Camp * Nerubian Warrior * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | T | F | Orc | T | T | F | Night Elf| T | T | T | Undead | T | T | T | + At first glance, 200 gold is very expensive for such a terrible unit. At first glance, mind you. Bring it into battle and you will soon find out that you are actually paying 200 gold for three units. Once the Nerubian Warrior dies in battle, it unleashes two smaller Nerubians that continue to fight. So that's why the description mentioned them carrying their young into battle! * Ice Troll Berserker * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | T | F | Orc | T | T | T | Night Elf| T | F | F | Undead | T | T | F | + See above description in Lordaeron Winter Camp. * Nerubian Webspinner * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | T | T | Orc | T | T | T | Night Elf| T | T | T | Undead | T | T | T | + One of the most over used mercenaries I have ever seen. Useful at all levels. * Frost Revenant * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | T | T | Orc | T | T | T | Night Elf| T | T | T | Undead | T | T | T | + Blizzard? He has Blizzard? Awesome! -=-=-=- Sunken Ruins Camp * Giant Sea Turtle * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | T | T | Orc | T | T | T | Night Elf| T | T | T | Undead | T | T | T | + Excellent unit. High damage output, but easy to kill. * Makrura Snapper * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | T | T | Orc | T | T | F | Night Elf| T | T | T | Undead | T | T | T | + An okay unit. There probably are better racial alternatives. * Mur'gul Snarecaster * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | F | F | Orc | T | T | T | Night Elf| T | T | T | Undead | T | T | T | + Good little spellcaster. Except for the humans, access to Slow is nice. * Makrura Deepseer * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | T | T | Orc | T | T | T | Night Elf| T | T | T | Undead | T | T | T | + Access to two hero spells. Two good spells at that. -=-=-=- Underground Camp * Skeletal Marksman * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | T | T | Orc | T | T | T | Night Elf| T | F | F | Undead | T | T | T | + Great unit. Think of it as a "Dryad" that's available to everyone. * Kobold Geomancer * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | T | F | Orc | T | T | T | Night Elf| T | T | T | Undead | T | T | T | + See above note for Kobold Geomancer in Cityscape/Dalaran Camp. * Owlbear * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | T | F | Orc | T | F | F | Night Elf| T | F | F | Undead | T | T | F | + See description in Dungeon Camp. -=-=-=- Village/Village Fall Camp * Assassin * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | T | F | Orc | T | T | T | Night Elf| T | F | F | Undead | T | T | F | + See description in Cityscape/Dalaran Camp. * Kobold * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | T | T | Orc | T | T | T | Night Elf| T | T | T | Undead | T | T | T | + The Kobold is a good unit, taking into consideration its 1 food supply cost and mere 75 gold cost. Kobolds are effective en masse, if that's even possible. * Kobold Geomancer * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | T | F | Orc | T | T | T | Night Elf| T | T | T | Undead | T | T | T | + See above note for Kobold Geomancer in Cityscape/Dalaran Camp. * Murloc Huntsman * Tier 1? Tier 2? Tier 3? Human | T | T | T | Orc | T | T | T | Night Elf| T | T | T | Undead | T | T | T | + Definitely a weak unit, however, ensnare is useful. _______________________________________________________________________________ [7!]Misc. & Legal[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] GetJesse can be found on the web at: blip.tv: http://getjesse.blip.tv/ YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/GetJesse GameFAQs: http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/recognition/11250.html If you'd like to make a gift or donation for my work, you can do so through PayPal. Just send it through PayPal to thisisgetjesse@gmail.com and I would be very grateful. Note that it is "ThisIsGetJesse", not just "GetJesse"; someone has already taken that name. Also please note that I am NOT asking you to send me anything, I am only putting it on the table for those that want the option. You can contact me at thisisgetjesse@gmail.com or alternatively through private message on YouTube to GetJesse. I am a busy person, so please be patient with replies and also please only contact me if you really need to. I do not give gaming advice through these means of contact, sorry. :-) This document is copyright 2004-2011 Jesse Elliott, otherwise known as "GetJesse" on the web. Do not steal or alter my work. All rights reserved. ________________________ o0O_END_OF_TEXT_FILE_O0o