Undead

• Build Order
• Race Notes
  • Race Influence
    • tomb of relics*
  • Human
  • Night Elf
  • Orc
  • Undead
• Unit Combinations
• Unit Notes
  • Abomination
  • aColyte
  • Banshee
  • Carrion beetle*
  • crypt Fiend
  • desTroyer*
  • Frost wyrm
  • gArgoyle
  • Ghoul
  • iNfernal
  • Meat wagon
  • Necromancer
  • Obsidian statue*
  • shade
  • skeletal mage*
  • skeleton warrior
• Hero Notes
  • Crypt lord*
  • Death knight
  • drEad lord
  • Lich
• Well Known Undead Players

* = The Frozen Throne

280 gold, 70 wood, 4 food, 1080 hp, large armor type, 2-8 ac,  140-80 sight, 270 speed, 45 build, normal attack type,  normal weapon type, 36-48 ground attack, 0 air attack, 1.9 cool down, melee range, 0 mana, 0 mana regeneration, made via slaughterHouse, 1/8 of Zeppelin.

• Abominations have the hp's of 3.27 Ghouls. Even factoring in piercing damage, an Abomination still has more hp's than 2 Ghouls.
• Because of their high hp's, Abominations are resistant to Area of Effect spells (thunder Clap, Chain lightning, etc.).
• If a near Death knight casts even a level 1 dEath pact on a full health Abomination, it will usually bring the Death knight back to full health.

Disease cloud aura (passive)

• This ability is available at the slaughterHouse for 225 gold and 125 wood in 45 sec.
• Damages non-undead enemies by 1hp/sec over 120 sec.

Cannibalize

• Ability stats:
  • Duration: 33 sec.
  • Cool down: 0 sec.
  • Mana cost: 0.
  • Range: N/A.
  • Area of effect: N/A.
  • Allowed targets: dead, organic.
  • Effect: heals 15 hp/sec with a max of 495 hp.
• This ability is available at the Crypt for 75 gold in 30 sec.
• The stats of the Abomination's Cannibalize ability differs from the stats of the Ghoul's Cannibalize ability.
• When multiple units with the Cannibalize ability are told to Cannibalize, then the most injured units do so first.

90 [75] gold, 0 wood, 1 food, 220 hp, med armor type, 0 ac, 80-60 sight, 220 speed, 15 build, normal attack type, normal weapon type, 9.5 ground attack, 0 air attack, 2.5 cool down, melee range, 0 mana, 0 mana regeneration, made via Necropolis,  1/8 of Zeppelin.

• To help counter a hero harass, at the start of the game have ctrl #3 for the workers and the Death knight so you can move or heal aColytes quickly in case of a hero rush. This control group is usually. not needed later.
• One trick with aColytes that help to survive a hero rush is to move the targeted aColyte to the other side of the mine and then back in, resulting in a "mini-teleport" to his old location.
• Of all the workers, aColytes do the most damage per hit at 9.5.
• Bug: A mining acolyte that get entangled and then healed does not automatically go back to mining! You must manually tell him to resume mining.

Restore (autocast)

Gather

summon Building

• Necropolis, Crypt, haunted Goldmine, graVeyard, Ziggurat, Altar of darkness, Temple of the damned, slaughterHouse, Sacrificial pit, Boneyard.

Unsummon

• Returns 50% of the resources spent on summoning the building.
• haunted Goldmines are automatically Unsommoned when the gold runs out.
• If gold is low and you can Unsummon some of your buildings for more money, esp. if the enemy will surely destroy them.

saCrifice

• Makes a shade out of an aColyte at the Sacrificial pit.

180 [155] gold, 30 wood, 2 food, 210-360 [285-365] hp, light [unarm] armor type, 0 ac, 140-80 sight, 270 speed, 35 build, pierce [magic] attack type, missle weapon type, 13-19 [11] ground attack, 13-19 [11] air attack, 1.5 cool down, 50 range, 200-400 mana, .5-1 [.667-1.167] mana regeneration, made via Temple of the damned, 1/8 of Zeppelin.

• Banshees do [did] relatively good damage for a caster.

Curse (autocast)

• Spell stats:
  • Duration: 120 sec.
  • Cool down: 1 sec.
  • Mana cost: 40 [50].
  • Range: 40.
  • Area of effect: N/A.
  • Allowed targets: air, ground, organic.
  • Effect: -33% chance to miss.
• You may want to set 1-2 of your Banshees in your group to autocast Curse, while the others are saving up mana for pOssession.
• Curse is underrated. Think of it as giving your troops 25% more hit points. It is half the mana cost of the Sorceresses's Slow spell.
• Don't make lots of Banshees against Dryads because Curse will not work on Dryads.
• The mana cost is so cheap that 1 Banshee with her full 400 mana will be able to Curse 8 units, especially since there is only 1 sec cool down.

aNti-magic shell

• Spell stats:
  • Duration: 90 sec.
  • Cool down: 0 sec.
  • Mana cost: 50.
  • Range 50.
  • Area of effect: unit.
  • Allowed targets: air, ground.
  • Effect: target immune to magic but does not damage summoned units.
• This spell available with bAnshee adept training at the Temple of the damned for 150 gold in 60 sec.
• You may want to cast aNti-magic shell on your heroes and big units before a major engagement, esp. if your enemy is good at using spells such as the druid of the Talon's Cyclone, the Sorceress's pOlymorph, and the Banshee's pOssession.
• Casting aNti-magic "offensively" on a non-paLadin hero so the paLadin cannot heal them with holy lighT.
• Cast aNti-magic shell so your enemy will use up their wands of negation or the mana for whatever dispel-capable casters they have.
• Don't forget to use aNti-magic shell to dispel bad spells such as sloW and pOlymorph.
• aNti-magic shell has a cool down of zero seconds and a mana cost of only 50 so you can very easily cast it repeatedly on a large portion of your army.
• You may want to consider casting aNti-magic shell on enemy heroes so they can't get healed by a paLadin or a Death knight.
• Consider casting aNti-magic shield on your units so they can attack in the AoE of your Lich's Death and decay spell. You could even cast AMS on the Lich and have him cast D&D over himself.
• Although aNti-magic shell can be dispelled, it is usually cheaper than the dispel used against it.

pOsession

• Spell stats:
  • Duration: unlimited.
  • Cool down: 0 sec.
  • Mana cost: 250.
  • Range 25.
  • Area of effect: unit.
  • Allowed targets: ground, organic, neutral, enemy.
  • Effect: converts unit to your side.
• This spell available with bAnshee master training at the Temple of the damned for 250 gold and 100 wood in 75 sec.
• This spell takes 1 sec to cast. The Banshee may be killed in that 1 sec.
• pOsession is one of the most powerful spells in the game because not only does your opponent lose a unit but you've exchanged a 180 gold unit for either a more expensive unit and/or a unit with special abilities.
• These die so quickly that if I make any, then I keep them off the battlefield until they are ready to use pOsession.
• On the other hand, it can be argued that if you bring them with you, your opponents may become wary of utilizing tier 3 units lest the Banshees pOsess them.
• Set the Banshees in a separate control group and pOsess multiple units very quickly by hitting shift+o, shift+o, etc.
• It may be worthwhile to pOssess creeps with abilities like healing or auras instead of killing them.
• pOssession can take you over the 90 supply limit.
• pOsession will not work on Dryads.
• It may be worth it to pOssess workers of other races in long games like FFA. You could then make towers and such.
• If you have a crypt Fiend Web an enemy flying unit, then you can pOssess it.
• If you pOssess a Wisp:
  • You can immediately expand with a Tree of life. The Tree of life can also make more Wisps for you.
  • You can immediately make a Moonwell for healing and mana.
  • You can immediately make an ancient of War.

0 gold, 0 wood, -1/-2/-3 food, 140/275/410 hp, heavy armor type, 2 ac, 120-80 sight, 270 speed, 0 build, normal attack type, normal weapon type, 8.5/16.5/24.5 ground attack, 0 air attack, 1.5 cool down, melee range, 0 mana, 0 mana regeneration, made via Crypt lord, 1/8 of Zeppelin.

Burrow

• When Burrowed, a level 2 or 3 Carrion beetle is unable to attack but it becomes invisible.

250 [215] gold, 40 wood, 3 food, 550 hp, small armor type, 0-6 ac, 140-80 sight, 270 speed, 30 build, pierce attack type, missile weapon type, 30.5-41 [28.5-39] ground attack, 0 air attack, 2 cool down, 55 range, 0 mana, 0 mana regeneration, made via Crypt, 1/8 of Zeppelin.

• Of the basic ranged units for all the races, the crypt Fiend has the most health with 500 hp.

Burrow

• This ability is available at the graVeyard for 100 gold and 50 wood in 45 sec.
• When Burrowed, a crypt Fiend is unable to attack but it becomes invisible and regenerates at 5 hp/sec.

Web (autocast)

• Ability stats:
  • Duration: 12 (7) sec.
  • Cool down: 12 sec.
  • Mana cost: 0.
  • Range 40.
  • Area of effect: unit.
  • Allowed targets: air, enemy.
  • Effect: traps unit in a web.
• This ability is available at the graVeyard for 100 gold and 50 wood in 30 sec.
• Usually you do not mix gArgoyles with crypt Fiends who have the Web spell on autocast because gArgoyles do more damage to units in the air than units on the ground.
• Webbed air units can be pOssessed by Banshees.
• NOT dispellable, CAN affect magic immune units, CANNOT affect units with resistant skin, CANNOT affect ethereal units.

0 gold, 0 wood, 5 food, 900 hp, light armor type, 4-7 ac, 140-100 sight, 320 speed, 0 build, magic attack type, msplash weapon type, 22.5-30 ground attack, 22.5-30 air attack, 1.35 cool down, 45 range, 400 mana, -3/sec mana regeneration, via Obsidian statue, 0 fit in Zeppelin.

• The desTroyer is the anti-caster unit for the undead. It flies and has 1000 hp.
• The desTroyer is created by morphing from an Obsidian statue.
• Loses 3 mana per sec.
• Starts out with 0 mana.

aBsorb mana

• Ability stats:
  • Duration: instant.
  • Cool down: 0.
  • Mana cost: 0.
  • Range 90.
  • Area of effect: N/A.
  • Allowed targets: player.
  • Effect: Transfers all mana from target unit to the desTroyer.

Devour magic

• Spell stats:
  • Duration: instant.
  • Cool down: 8 sec.
  • Mana cost: 0.
  • Range 60.
  • Area of effect: 20.
  • Allowed targets: air, ground, ward.
  • Effect:
    • Removes all buffs and de-buffs in an area.
    • Gives self 50 hp and 75 mana for each unit that had magic devoured.
    • Damages summoned units by 180 hp.
• Sadly Devour magic will damage your own summoned units like skeletons although it won't kill them if they are at full health.

Orb of annihilation (autocast)

• Spell stats:
  • Duration: instant.
  • Cool down: 0 sec.
  • Mana cost: 25.
  • Range N/A.
  • Area of effect: unit.
  • Allowed targets: self.
  • Effect: Adds 20 damage to self's attack and makes the attack an AoE. As of now the size of the AoE is not specified.

spell immunity (passive)

• Renders this unit immune to negative spells.

450 gold, 120 wood, 7 food, 1100 [1350] hp, heavy [light] armor type, 0-6 [1-7] ac, 160-80 sight, 220 speed, 60 build, pierce attack type, msplash weapon type, 95-113 ground attack, 95-113 air attack, 3 cool down, 30 range, 0 mana, 0 mana regeneration, made via Boneyard, 0 fit in Zeppelin.

• These are expensive and take a lot of supply, so usually make just a few.
• Either make a few (1-2) or a lot (7+).
• If you are going to make a lot, and have lots of money, then consider making 2-3 Boneyards in order to get the Frost wyrms out more quickly.
• The Frost wyrm does splash damage and slow. Use it to hit different sections of your enemy's army.

freezing Breath (passive)

• This ability is available at the Boneyard for 250 gold and 175 wood in 60 sec.
• Make sure you research the freezing Breath ability. It stops buildings from whatever they are doing, i.e. towers won't attack and barracks won't make units.

220 [185] gold, 30 wood, 2 food, 400 [410] hp, medium [unarmored] armor type, 3-9 (+10) ac, 160-80 sight, 270 speed, 35 build, pierce/normal attack type, missile/normal weapon type, 22.5-30 [19.5-27] ground attack, 57-78 [65.5-82] air attack, 2.2/1.4 cool down, 30/melee range, 0 mana, 0 mana regeneration, made via Crypt, 0 fit in Zeppelin.

• These are a good air unit because of their low cost, low supply, high anti-air damage, and decent anti-ground damage. However because their anti-air attack is melee, air units with ranged attacks can fairly easily out-micro gargoyles.
• gArgoyles require a graVeyard and black citadel. In TFT, a graVeyard and just a halls of the dead is required.
• The AI will make them target the first unit they encounter that can hit them, so if you want to target the air units, you may have to do it manually. For this reason it is often worth forming a Ctrl group just for your gArgoyles.
• Do not focus fire with your gArgoyles on enemy air unit if they are good at dancing their units around. Instead just move the gArgoyles into the midst of the enemy air and let them do their thing. In TFT, when "attack-moving", air units now prefer to attack other air units more often than previously.
• gArgoyles benefit from the drEad lord's Vampiric aura when they are attacking air units.
• Usually you do not mix gArgoyles with crypt Fiends who have the Web spell on autocast because gArgoyles do more damage to units in the air than units on the ground. However, if you're facing 12 air with 6 crypt Fiends and 6 gArgoyles, then it is more like 6 air v 6 gArgoyles because of Web.

stone Form

• Ability stats:
  • Duration: Unlimited.
  • Cool down: 30 sec.
  • Mana cost: 0.
  • Range: N/A.
  • Area of effect: N/A.
  • Allowed targets: self.
  • Effect: regenerates: 8 hp/sec; armor: +12; spell immunity; gArgoyle cannot attack.
• This ability is available at the Crypt for 150 gold and 75 wood in 45 sec.
• If your gArgoyle is webbed or ensnared, that might be a good time to assume stone Form since it's injured and can't do much anyway.
• If one of your gArgoyle's is being focused fire on, then that might be a good time to assume stone Form since otherwise it might die. If you're lucky they won't notice.
• If you are going to assume stone Form at your base, you might as well from barricades with the gArgoyles.
• A gArgoyle can leave stone Form at anytime but the earliest that it can return to stone Form is 30 sec.

spell immunity (passive)

• Renders this unit immune to negative spells. Only applies when in stone Form.

140 gold, 0 wood, 2 food, 330 [340] hp, med armor type, 0-6 ac, 140-80 sight, 270-350 speed, 18 build, normal attack type, normal weapon type, 13-17.5 ground attack, 0 air attack, 1.3-1.05 cool down, melee range, 0 mana, 0 mana regeneration, made via Crypt, 1/8 of Zeppelin.

• Of the tier 1 melee units, Ghouls are the only ones that can heal themselves with Cannibalize.
• Ghouls can collect wood. Each hit on a tree collects 2 wood. The Ghoul will automatically return the wood to the nearest Necropolis, graVeyard, etc. when he has 20 wood.

Cannibalize

• Ability stats:
  • Duration: 33 sec.
  • Cool down: 0 sec.
  • Mana cost: 0.
  • Range: N/A.
  • Area of effect: N/A.
  • Allowed targets: dead, organic.
  • Effect: heals 10 hp/sec.
• This ability is available at the Crypt for 75 gold in 30 sec.
• The stats of the Abomination's Cannibalize ability differs from the stats of the Ghoul's Cannibalze ability.
• When multiple units with the Cannibalize ability are told to Cannibalize, then the most injured units do so first.

ghoul frenZy

• This ability is available at the Crypt for 150 gold, 100 wood in 60 sec.
• Increases the Ghoul attack rate by 0.25 and the movement speed by 80, i.e. 270+80=350, the game max.

0 gold, 0 wood, -8 food, 1500 hp, large armor type, 6 ac,  140-80 sight,  320 speed, 0 build, chaos attack type, normal weapon type, 54.5 ground attack, 0 air attack, 1.35 cool, melee range, 0 mana, 0 mana regen, made via drEad lord, 1/8 of Zeppelin.

• Lasts for 180 sec, i.e. the same as the cool down for the drEad lord's spell.

permanent immolation (passive)

• Spell stats:
  • Duration: Unlimited.
  • Cool down: NA.
  • Mana cost: 0.
  • Range: NA.
  • Area of effect: 22.
  • Allowed targets: ground,enemy,neutral.
  • Effect: regenerates: 8 hp/sec; armor: 10 damag/sec.

spell immunity (passive)

• Renders this unit immune to negative spells.

resistant skin (passive)

• Reduces the duration of negative spells and renders the unit immune to certain spells. EG: Cannot be Devoured.

270 gold, 65 wood, 4 food, 380 hp, med armor type, 2 ac, 140-80 [140-120] sight, 180 [220] speed, 45 build, siege attack type, artillery weapon type, 79.5-108 ground attack, 0 air attack, 4 cool down, 25-100 [25-115] range, 0 mana, 0 mana regeneration, made via slaughterHouse, 1/4 of Zeppelin.

• It is nice to attack one place with your main army while 1-3 Meat wagons attack elsewhere. If you attack with your army first, then they might not even notice the Meat wagon attack. If you attack with the Meat wagons first, then they might TP there, leaving your army to attack a town without an enemy army there.
• It may also be worthwhile to bring Necromancers along with a Meat wagon loaded with corpses. That's a quick 8 corpses or 16 skeletons via Raise dead. This will work particularly well as a Zeppelin drop.
• Use units like shades to sight for Meat wagons, esp. since Meat wagons have longer range than towers.
• Use attack Ground to hit targets that are within range but beyond the Meat wagon's sight.
• Meat wagons can be used to knock down trees.
• Don't forget that the Meat wagon has an area of effect attack with a minimum range.
• Meat wagons get healed by the Death knight's Unholy aura. With Unholy Aura at level 3, Meat wagons go faster than regular Dryads.
• Have some Meat wagons attack a base from a far and put your army on hold. This can draw the enemy army out from the protection of their towers. Or this will prevent your army from being in a position where you are between the enemy towers and the enemy army who had to walk back to the base.
• Corpses held by a Meat wagon do not need to be dropped in order to be Cannibalized or turned into skeletons.

Disease cloud aura (passive)

• This ability is available at the slaughterHouse for 225 gold and 125 wood in 45 sec.
• Damages non-undead enemies by 1 hp/sec over 120 sec.

get Corpse (autocast)

• If possible, have your Meat wagon load up on corpses at a nearby graVeyard before moving out.

Drop all corpses

Exhume corpses

• This ability is available at the slaughterHouse for 150 gold and 75 wood in 20 sec.
• Gives the Meat wagon the ability to generate corpses.

170 [145] gold, 20 wood, 2 food, 230-380 [305-385] hp, light [unarm] armor type, 0 ac, 140-80 sight, 270 speed, 30 build, pierce [magic] attack type, missile weapon type, 10.5-15.5 [8.5] ground attack, 10.5-15.5 [8.5] air attack, 1.8 cool down, 60 range, 200-400 mana, .5-1 [.667-1.167] mana regeneration, made via Temple of the damned, 1/8 of Zeppelin.

• Even just 1-2 of these can be extremely helpful.

Raise dead (autocast)

• Spell stats:
  • Duration: 40-55 sec.
  • Cool down: 8 sec.
  • Mana cost: 75.
  • Range 60.
  • Area of effect: N/A.
  • Allowed targets: dead.
  • Effect: raises 2 skeletal warriors. Or raises 1 skeletal warrior and 1 skeletal mage when skeletal Mastery has been researched.
• I don't set Raise dead spell on autocast against humans because the Priest's Dispel magic is an area affect spell that kills skeletons instantly and merely serves to provide your enemy with hero experience.
• If you use a wand of negation, it will not injure your own summoned units.
• Against non-humans races the Raise dead spell can be worthwhile in quantity especially on maps without goblin merchants and thus no wands of negation. These ladder maps do not have goblin merchants:
  • Blasted Lands
  • Golems in the Mist
  • Moonglade
  • Petrified Forest
  • Plains of Snow
  • (Swamp of Sorrows) (4 of the buildings are random)
• If the map has goblin merchants, then use Raise dead when they have no heroes or Priests.
• It may also be worthwhile to bring along a Meat wagon loaded with corpses. That's a quick 8 corpses or 16 skeletons.
• It may be worthwhile to keep one Necromancer by your Crypt or with your arm to cast Raise dead so your Death knight can rejuvenate his health with his dEath pact spell and your Lich can rejuvenate his mana with his dark Ritual spell.
• Don't forget to make skeletons for scouting!
• Necromancers are the only non-hero standard unit that can summon other units.
• Skeletons can only be raised from the corpses at the graVeyard or ground corpses from the battlefield. So one counter to an enemy who likes to make skeletons is to make mostly air units.

Unholy frenzy

• Spell stats:
  • Duration: 45 sec.
  • Cool down: 1 sec.
  • Mana cost: 50.
  • Range: 50.
  • Area of effect: unit.
  • Allowed targets: air, ground, organic.
  • Effect: Damage: 4 hp/sec (x 45 sec = 180 hp); attack speed: +75%.
• This spell is available with nEcromancer adept training at the Temple of the damned for 150 gold in 60 sec.
• Don't forget to Unholy frenzy your heroes and big units before a major engagement.
• Unholy frenzy has a cool down of only 1 second and a mana cost of only 50 so you can very easily cast it repeatedly on a large portion of your army.
• Unholy frenzy's buff is of a greater magnitude than the usu., i.e. 75% instead of roughly 35%.
• One way to think of Unholy frenzy is that if used on 4 Frost wyrms, then they hit with the power of 7 Frost wyrms!
• The mana cost is so cheap that 1 Necromancer with his full 400 mana will be able to Unholy frenzy 8 units, especially since there is only 1 sec cool down.

Cripple

• Spell stats:
  • Duration: 60 (10) sec.
  • Cool down: 10 sec.
  • Mana cost: 175.
  • Range: 60.
  • Area of effect: Unit.
  • Allowed targets: air, ground, enemy, organic.
  • Effect: -75% movement rate, -50% attack rate, -50% damage.
• This spell is available with nEcromancer master training at the Temple of the damned for 250 gold and 100 wood in 75 sec.
• Don't forget to Cripple your opponents, especially if they are trying to run away.
• Cripple is especially good against big slow air units (hint: Frost wyrms).
• Cripple will not work against Dryads.
• Cripple's buff is of a greater magnitude than the usual, i.e. 75% instead of roughly 35%.

Skeletal longevity

• This upgrade is available at the Temple of the damned for 100 gold and 75 wood in 60 sec.
• Increases the duration of raised skeleton warriors and skeletal mages by 15 sec.

skeletal Mastery

• This upgrade is available at the Temple of the damned for 200 gold and 100 wood in 60 sec.
• Requires a black citadel.
• Enables the Necromancer to make 1 of the 2 skeletons made via Raise dead be a skeletal mage.

200 gold, 35 wood, 3 food, 700 hp, med armor type, 1 ac, 120-80 sight, 270 speed, 45 build, magic attack type, missile weapon type, 7.5 ground attack, 7.5 air attack, 2.1 cool down, 57.5 range, 600 mana, 1.5 mana regeneration, made via slaughterHouse, 1/8 of Zeppelin.

• The Obsidian statue is strictly a support unit (to replenish the mana of friendly units) or a stepping stone to make a desTroyer.
• The Obsidian statue has fortified armor and 500 hp so it is fairly tough. Plus since it has no attack, it will not be automatically targeted.
• Even without using aBsorb mana, the Obsidian can provide your casters with tons of mana because it regenerates mana at a high rate (4 mana/sec) all by itself.

essence of Blight (autocast)

• Spell stats:
  • Duration: 2 sec.
  • Cool down: 2 sec.
  • Mana cost: 10 if 5+ targets, 8 if 4 targets, 6 if 3- targets.
  • Range: N/A.
  • Area of effect: 60.
  • Allowed targets: air, ground, friend, self, organic.
  • Effect: restores 10 hp.
• This spell does not stack, i.e. 2 Obsidian statues casting this spell on 1 unit will not double its affect.
• Can affect up to 6 units.

spirit Touch (autocast)

• Spell stats:
  • Duration: 2 sec.
  • Cool down: 2 sec.
  • Mana cost: 10 if 5+ targets, 8 if 4 targets, 6 if 3- targets.
  • Range: N/A.
  • Area of effect: 60.
  • Allowed targets: air, ground, friend, self, organic.
  • Effect: restores 4 mana.
• This spell does not stack, i.e. 2 Obsidian statues casting this spell on 1 unit will not double its affect.
• Can affect up to 6 units.

morph into desTroyer

• Spell stats:
  • Duration: NA.
  • Cool down: 0 sec.
  • Mana cost: 0.
  • Range: NA.
  • Area of effect: self.
  • Allowed targets: self.
  • Effect: transforms self into a desTroyer.
• This ability is available at the slaughterHouse for 150 gold and 75 wood in 60 sec.

0 gold, 0 wood, 1 food, 250 [125] hp, small armor type, 0 ac, 190-80 sight, 270 [350] speed, 15 build, 0 attack type, 0 weapon type, 0 ground attack, 0 air attack, 0 cool down, 0 range, 0 mana, 0 mana regeneration, made via Sacrificial pit, 1/8 of Zeppelin.

• Shades are invisible.
• Shades are great for scouting of course.
  • Have them on patrol so they can cover multiple expos, doorways, and neutral buildings. Keeping shades on the move will also make them harder to target if they are revealed.
  • If they happen to run into the enemy army while on patrol, have that shade follow the army.
• Shades can form an invisible barrier, whether partial or total. Such a barrier is great on ramps.
• Shades can sight for long range units like Meat wagons.
• You may want to have shades following your heroes.
  • Con: It takes up supply.
  • Pro: It does not occupy an item slot, whereas a gem of true seeing would.
  • Pro: The shades can be consumed by your Lich (dark Ritual) or Death knight (dEath pact). The shades are very cheap and also are not likely to be targeted by the enemy.
• In games where your enemy is doing a lot of scouting (like FFA), it may be worth it to have a shade patrolling your base and just outside of it.

true sight (passive)

• Reveals invisible units.

0 gold, 0 wood, -1 food, 230 hp, light armor type, 0-6 ac, 140-90 sight, 300 speed, 0 build, pierce attack type, missile weapon type, 11.5-16 ground attack, 11.5-16 air attack, 1.5 cool down, 70 range, 0 mana, 0 mana regeneration, made via Necromancer, 1/8 of Zeppelin.

• In comparison to their skeleton warrior brothers, these guys are not as vulnerable to the various spells that damage summoned units because they have 230 hp instead of 180 hp.
• The duration is 40-55 sec.
• If you use a wand of negation, it will not injure your own summoned units.

Skeletal longevity

• This upgrade is available at the Temple of the damned for 100 gold and 75 wood in 60 sec.
• Increases the life of the skeletal mage and skeleton warrior by 15 sec.

Skeletal mastery

• This upgrade is available at the Temple of the damned for 200 gold and 100 wood in 60 sec.
• Enables the Necromancer to make 1 of the 2 skeletons made via Raise dead be a skeletal mage.

0 gold, 0 wood, -1 food, 180 hp, med armor type, 1-7 ac, 80-60 sight, 270 speed, 0 build, normal attack type, normal weapon type, 14.5-19 ground attack, 0 air attack, 2 cool down, melee range, 0 mana, 0 mana regeneration, made via Necromancer, 1/8 of Zeppelin.

• At only 180 hp, these guys are vulnerable to the various dispel magics that damage summoned units.
• The duration is 40-55 sec.
• If you use a wand of negation, it will not injure your own summoned units.

Skeletal longevity

• This upgrade is available at the Temple of the damned for 100 gold and 75 wood in 60 sec.
• Increases the life of the skeletal mage and skeleton warrior by 15 sec.

• Usually the Lich is not the first hero because he is slow.
• Some argue that the first hero should be the drEad lord because of his great ultimate.
• Some argue that the first hero should be the Death knight because he enables the fastest creeping with death Coil healing and Unholy aura speed.
• In team games the Death knight and drEad lord both offer awesome no maintenance auras for your whole team.
• If you are using frost Nova in conjunction with Carrion swarm, then use the frost Nova first to weaken the units, that way Carrion swarm can affect more units.
• Hero combos:
  • Death knight + drEad lord. The infamous dual aura. Great for Ghouls and/or gArgoyles.
  • Death knight + Lich. Good if your army has no melee. Good at hero sniping esp. if used with ranged units.
  • drEad lord + Lich. Good for AoE attacks. Good against lots of little units.
  • Death knight + drEad lord + Lich.

425 gold, 100 wood, 5 food, 675-1375 hp, hero armor type, 2-5 ac, 180-80 sight, avg speed, 55-150 build, normal attack type, normal weapon type, 31-59 ground attack, 31-59 air attack, 1.9 cool down, melee range, 210-490 mana, .01 mana regeneration, made via Altar, 1/8 of Zeppelin.

• 26-54 strength, 14-24 agility, 4-28 intelligence.

impalE

• All levels
  • Cool down: 9 sec.
  • Mana cost: 100.
  • Range: 70.
  • Area of effect: 25.
  • Allowed targets: ground, enemy, neutral, organic.
• By level
  1. Duration: 2 (1) sec. Effect: 50 damage. 2 (1) sec stun.
  2. Duration: 3 (2) sec. Effect: 80 damage. 3 (2) sec stun.
  3. Duration: 4 (3) sec. Effect: 110 damage. 4 (3) sec stun.
• Also bring targets immediately in front of the Crypt lord.
• This spell will break channeled spells.

Spiked carapace (passive)

• All levels
  • Duration: N/A.
  • Cool down: N/A.
  • Mana cost: 0.
  • Range: N/A.
  • Area of effect: personal.
  • Allowed targets: self.
• By level
  1. Effect: 15% damage to melee, +3AC.
  2. Effect: 25% damage to melee, +5AC.
  3. Effect: 35% damage to melee, +7AC.

Carrion beetles (autocast)

• All levels
  • Duration: N/A.
  • Cool down: 6 sec.
  • Mana cost: 30.
  • Range: 90.
  • Area of effect: unit.
  • Allowed targets: dead.
• By level
  1. Effect: 140 hp, 7-8 damage.
  2. Effect: 275 hp, 13-16 damage.
  3. Effect: 410 hp, 19-24 damage.
• Only 5 beetles can controlled at a time.

Locust swarm (ultimate)

• All levels
  • Duration: 30 sec.
  • Cool down: 30 sec.
  • Mana cost: 180.
  • Range: 150.
  • Area of effect: 80.
  • Allowed targets: air, ground, building, neutral, enemy.
  • Effect: creates Locust swarm.
• The swarm created bites at targets and returns hp's to the Crypt lord.
• 20 locusts are released every 0.2 sec. Up to 7 locusts can target a unit at a time. 75% of the damage done is given to the Crypt lord. Each locust must collect 20 hp before returning to the Crypt lord.

500[425] gold, 100 wood, 5 food, 675-1275 hp, hero armor type, 4-8 ac, 180-80 sight, fast speed, 55-150 build, normal attack type, normal weapon type, 30-54 ground attack, 0 air attack, 2.33 cool down, melee range, 255-495 mana, .01 mana regeneration, made via Altar, 1/8 of Zeppelin.

• 23-47 strength,12-25 agility,17-33 intelligence.
• Skill allocation
  • 1:C, 2:U, 3:C, 4:U, 5:U, 6:D. Common.
  • 1:C, 2:U, 3:C, 4:E, 5:C, 6:U, 7:D. If Dk is targeted.

death Coil

• All levels
  • Duration: N/A.
  • Cool down: 5  sec.
  • Mana cost: 75.
  • Range: 80.
  • Area of effect: Unit.
  • Allowed targets: air, ground, enemy, organic, not self.
  • Effect: movement: -75%; attack speed: -50%; damage: -50%.
• By level
  1. Effect: 100 damage to non-undead or 200 heal to undead
  2. Effect: 200 damage to non-undead or 400 heal to undead
  3. Effect: 300 damage to non-undead or 600 heal to undead
• Don't bother to use the Death knight's death Coil on your undead enemies.
• If you have a drEad lord and a Death knight, the enemy will often go for the Death knight first since it can't death Coil itself, whereas the Death knight can death Coil the drEad lord.
• It is cheaper to by a potion of mana and death Coil (level 2-3) your other hero than it is to buy a potion of healing.
• I usually include my Death knight in my control groups so he can death Coil anyone in that control group quickly.
• death Coil heals so much at high levels that it is more efficient to use it on high hp units instead of low hp units.
• Good for hero sniping except against undead heroes.

Unholy aura

• All levels
  • Duration: Unlimited.
  • Cool down: N/A.
  • Mana cost: 0.
  • Range: N/A.
  • Area of effect: 90.
  • Allowed targets: air, ground, friend, self.
• By level. Normal regeneration for undead: 1.0hp/s on blight, 0.0hp/s off blight.
  1. Effect: faster movement: +10%, hp regeneration: +50%. (1.5hp/s on blight, 0.5hp/s off.)
  2. Effect: faster movement: +20%, hp regeneration: +100%. (2.0hp/s on blight, 1.0hp/s off.)
  3. Effect: faster movement: +30%, hp regeneration: +150%. (2.5hp/s on blight, 1.5hp/s off.)
• If your teammate has a Death knight too, make sure that only one of you invests in Unholy aura since auras don't stack.
• The Death knight's Unholy aura affects non-mechanical units too.
• Barring other magic, your troops do not heal themselves when they are not over blight without Unholy aura.
• Don't forget that the Unholy aura will also benefit your partners in team games.
• With a level 3 Unholy aura, even Abominations and Meat wagons are faster than Dryads.

dEath pact

• All levels
  • Duration: N/A.
  • Cool down: 15  sec.
  • Mana cost: 50.
  • Range: 80.
  • Area of effect: Unit.
  • Allowed targets: air, ground, player, non-hero.
• By level
  1. Effect: conversion to hp: 100%
  2. Effect: conversion to hp: 200%
  3. Effect: conversion to hp: 300%

• With dEath pact, the Death knight can really tank (absorb damage) while your army kill the enemy.
• Done on the right unit, dEath pact can be a lot cheaper than one or more potions of healing.
• With dEath pact, the cost of the sacrificed unit can be cheaper than a potion of healing.
• Especially good on your own summoned units like skeletons or units acquired via animate Dead.
• Use dEath pact on your own units that are about to die. This also denies giving experience to your enemy.
• dEath pact can be used on invulnerable units.

animate Dead (ultimate)

• All levels:
  • Duration: 120 [40] sec.
  • Cool down: 240 [180] sec.
  • Mana cost: 250.
  • Range: 40.
  • Area of effect: 90.
  • Allowed targets: ground, dead.
  • Effect: raises 6 most powerful nearby dead units without any of their special abilities.
• Save it until some good units have died.
• Don't forget to use this at a graVeyard in long games when you've got nothing else.
• Units created are invulnerable.

500 [425] gold, 100 wood, 5 food, 600-1150 hp, hero armor type, 3-6 ac, 180-80 sight, avg speed, 55-150 build, normal attack type,  normal weapon type, 27-49 ground attack, 0 air attack, 1.8 cool down, melee range, 270-600 mana, .01 mana regeneration, made via Altar, 1/8 of Zeppelin.

• 20-42 strength,16-25 agility,18-40 intelligence.
• Skill allocation
  • 1:E, 2:V, 3:V, 4:E, 5:V, 6:N. If using melee.
  • 1:C, 2:E, 3:C, 4:E, 5:C, 6:N. If using ranged.
  • 1:C, 2,V, 3:V, 4:C, 5:V, 6:N. If facing human casters.
  • 1:E, 2,V, 3:E, 4:V, 5:E, 6:N. If spamming slEep (do not use against Dryads).
• If your teammate has a drEad lord too, make sure that only one of you invests in Vampiric aura since auras don't stack.
• The drEad lord is the only way that the undead can break channeled spell other than killing the channeler. In TFT, the Crypt lord's impalE is also a channeled spell breaker.

Carrion swarm

• All levels
  • Duration: N/A.
  • Cool down: 10 sec.
  • Mana cost: 110.
  • Range: 70.
  • Area of effect: 15.
  • Allowed targets: air, ground.
• By level
  1. Effect: damage max per unit: 100 [75] hp; max total: 375 [300] hp.
  2. Effect: damage max per unit: 150 [125] hp; max total: 700 [600] hp.
  3. Effect: damage max per unit: 200 hp; max total: 1000 hp.
• Good for hero sniping and hitting multiple units... like massed casters!
• Does not hit wards.

slEep

• All levels
  • Cool down: 6 sec.
  • Range: 80.
  • Area of effect: unit.
  • Allowed targets: air, ground, enemy, organic.
  • Effect: unit put to sleep, breaks channeled spell.
• By level
  1. Duration: 20 (5) sec. Mana: 100.
  2. Duration: 40 (10) sec. Mana: 75.
  3. Duration: 60 (15) sec. Mana: 50.
• When attacking a group of creeps with a drEad lord, the first thing you usually do is cast slEep on the highest level creep.
• A unit who has been put to slEep can be awoken by an attack, most advanced players do this. However it still takes your enemy time to wake up the sleeping unit.
• The slEep spell gets very cheap as it levels up and it has a quick cool down.If you are waking up your own unit, make sure your attacker (preferably a ranged unit) stops attacking after the first hit.
• Avoid slEeping creeps level 6 and up: the duration for those levels is the same as hero duration.
• If a group of creeps has a caster with aBolish magic, then the caster will wake up the other creeps that have been put to slEep, therefore put that caster to slEep first.
• Supposedly you can buy items from shops even while slEeping.

Vampiric aura

• All levels
  • Duration: Unlimited.
  • Cool down: N/A.
  • Mana cost: none.
  • Range: N/A.
  • Area of effect: 90.
  • Allowed targets: air, ground, friend, self, organic
• By level
  1. Effect: gained by doing melee damage: 15%.
  2. Effect: gained by doing melee damage: 30%.
  3. Effect: gained by doing melee damage: 45%.
• Don't forget that the Vampiric aura will also benefit your partners in team games.
• Vampiric aura will also benefit your gArgoyles when they are attacking air units.
• Vampiric aura works against night elf ancients.

iNferno (ultimate)

• All levels
  • Duration: 180 sec.
  • Cool down: 180 sec.
  • Mana cost: 175.
  • Range: 90.
  • Area of effect: 25.
  • Allowed targets: ground, structure, debris, enemy, trees.
  • Effect: creates an iNfernal; stuns: 4 (2) sec; damage: 50 hp; breaks channeled spells.

500[425] gold, 100 wood, 5 food, 475-925 hp, hero armor type, 2-5 ac, 180-80 sight, avg speed, 55-150 build, normal attack type, missile weapon type, 25-55 ground attack, 22-55 air attack, 1.9 cool down, 60 range, 300-750 mana, .01 mana regeneration, made via Altar, 1/8 of Zeppelin.

• 15-33 strength,14-23 agility, 20-50 intelligence. The highest natural intelligence of all the races.
• Skill allocation
  • 1:N, 2:R, 3:N, 4:R, 5:N, 6:D.
  • 1:N, 2:A, 3:N, 4:A, 5:N, 6:D.

frost Nova

• All levels
  • Cool down: 8 sec.
  • Mana cost: 125.
  • Range: 80.
  • Area of effect: 20.
  • Allowed targets: air, ground, enemy.
• By level
  1. Duration slow: 4 sec. Effect: target damage: 150; non-target in AOE nova damage: 50.
  2. Duration slow: 6 sec. Effect: target damage: 200; non-target in AOE nova damage: 100.
  3. Duration slow: 8 sec. Effect: target damage: 250; non-target in AOE nova damage: 150.
• Good for hero sniping and hitting multiple units... like massed casters!
• Especially good at catching enemy heroes who are trying to run away.
• One of the best AoE spells in the game.
• Magic immune units like Dryads cannot be targeted by frost Nova but they will still receive the nova splash damage.

Frost armor

• All levels
  • Duration: 45 sec.
  • Cool down: 2 sec.
  • Mana cost: 40.
  • Range: 80.
  • Area of effect: unit.
  • Allowed targets: air, ground, friend, self.
  • Effect: melee attackers on the unit are slowed for 5 sec.
• By level
  1. Effect: armor: +3. A DK with AC4 (80.65% damage done) becomes AC7 (70.42%) or 49.42% from slowed melee units.
  2. Effect: armor: +5. A DK with AC6 (73.53%) becomes AC11 (60.24%) or 35.24%.
  3. Effect: armor: +7. A DK with AC8 (67.57%) becomes AC15 (52.63%) or 27.63%.
• If set on auto-cast, this is almost like an aura.
• Manually place this on your primary units, esp. heroes, before engagements.
• If Frost armor is on autocast, then it targets the Lich first, then on the lowest hp unit that is getting hit.
• I usually include my Lich in my control groups so he can Frost armor anyone in that control group quickly.
• Consider using Frost armor on goblin Sappers.

dark Ritual

• All levels
  • Duration: N/A.
  • Cool down: 15 sec.
  • Mana cost: 25.
  • Range: 80.
  • Area of effect: unit.
  • Allowed targets: air, ground, player, non-hero.
• By level
  1. Effect: hp conversion to mana: 33%
  2. Effect: hp conversion to mana: 66%
  3. Effect: hp conversion to mana: 100%
• Especially good on your own summoned units like skeletons.
• Use dark Ritual on your own units that are about to die. This also denies giving experience to your enemy.
• If you are focusing on frost Nova, then continuous usage of dark Ritual will allow you to cast frost Nova continuously as well.
• Use properly, dark Ritual is much cheaper than mana potions.

Death and decay (ultimate) (channeled)

• All levels
  • Duration: 35 sec.
  • Cool down: 150 sec.
  • Mana cost: 250.
  • Range: 100.
  • Area of effect: 30.
  • Allowed targets: air, ground, wards, buildings, trees.
• Death and decay is the only natural spell for the undead that is channeled.
• Death and decay will destroy anything that stays in its area of affect for 25 sec, even though the spell lasts for 35 sec.
• You can take down tons of towers quickly with this provided that you keep healing with potions or your Death knight's death Coil spell, etc..
• The range is longer than that of all towers.
• Don't forget to use Death and decay against units and not just buildings. Preferably focus on the rear of the enemy army so you don't hit your own army.
• Make sure that Frost armor is not on autocast when using Death and decay, otherwise the Lich will interrupt himself.