NOTE: This page was current as of 2004-01, but I haven't bothered to update it since.
Notes on the Undead race in WarCraft.
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The early build order for the undead is the easiest of the four races in WarCraft because once an aColyte has initiated summoning a building, it can immediately go back to work.
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Leave gaps for your your units to get through. Having units stuck when you town portal in sucks.
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For early game rushes I set the aColytes to a control group so I can run them around quickly in case the enemy harasses. Only run the whole group away for channeled AoE spells like the Archmage's Blizzard spell. Most other rushes can be defended by moving individual aColytes around or using hero spells. Consider having your Death knight in this aColyte control group so he can quickly death Coil your aColytes if necessary, esp. when a night elf Keeper of the grove uses Entangling roots.
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Place the Crypt and graVeyard close to the wood so that the Ghouls do not have to waste as much time walking.
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For building placement the undead have several schools:
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Place the initial buildings so they form a wall in front of (or along side of) the Necropolis with Ziggurats behind this wall.
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Place the initial buildings as close to the mine so that the aColytes do not have to walk around as much.
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Place the initial buildings further out so you see tower attacks more easily. Then build other buildings closer to the mine.
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If you want to do an early expansion, then delay Upgrading to the halls of the dead so you can make 5 aColytes.
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Especially in team games, place some of the initial Ziggurats right next to the mine in case someone decides to do an air raid on your aColytes.
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Undead aColytes are the most vulnerable workers of all the races. It is important to get an initial tower early. It is also worthwhile to place buildings around the mine so that melee attackers cannot approach the aColytes as easily.
Standard BO
This is tighter than the Lazy Standard BO. You just have to be disciplined and remember to make that 5th aColyte.
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Put aColytes on gold, Ghoul on wood.
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Make 4th aColyte.
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Make Crypt, Altar, Ziggurat.
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Make 5th aColyte.
Hero BO
This is the quickest way to get your hero, which is very important on maps like Timbermaw Hold. There is also no delay in the initial Ghoul production with this build.
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Make Altar, Ziggurat.
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Put aColytes on gold, Ghoul on wood.
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Make 4th aColyte
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Make Crypt.
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Make 5th aColyte.
Lazy Standard BO
This BO is a little easier than the first and you'll have more Ghouls by the time your hero comes out. After this build, you can decide whether to you want to make a graVeyard (for spirit Towers or crypt Fiends) or Upgrade to a halls of the dead or make a 2nd Crypt or expand, etc.
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Put aColytes on gold, Ghoul on wood.
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Make 4th & 5th aColytes
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Make Altar, Crypt, Ziggurat.
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Make Ghouls.
Quick Tech BO
This BO is a quick Upgrade to a halls of the dead so that you have a super tower ASAP (often before your enemy can hero harass). This BO provides such an easy path to tier 3 that you might as well go to tier 3, even before expanding or getting 2nd hero. The delayed altar is "tolerable" because undead heroes can't solo creep anyway. This is good for large maps with large creeps at your natural expansion, EG: The Crucible.
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Put aColytes on gold.
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Make 4th & 5th aColytes, put Ghoul on wood.
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Make Crypt, Ziggurat.
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Upgrade to halls of the dead. Note if you Upgrade then make that first Ziggurat, you will get a halls of the dead sooner (3/4 day instead of 1 day) but you will have fewer Ghouls around when your hero arrives.
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Make Ghouls until you hit 15 supply. You'll need the 5 extra supply for your hero.
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Make Altar.
Creature BO
This BO gets crypt Fiends quickly but delays your Altar and assumes that you have fewer Ghouls.
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Put aColytes on gold.
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Make 4th aColyte.
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Make Crypt, graVeyard
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Make 5th aColyte
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Make Altar, Ziggurat.
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Make 2nd Ghoul. Have just the 2 Ghouls are before switching to crypt Fiend production.
Undead strategies are of course based on the strategies that all the other races build their strategies. I have written about that elsewhere. Race specific strategies are often influenced by the following nodes:
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Units
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Regeneration. Undead units do not regenerate when they are off the blight unless they have a friendly Death knight with Unholy aura nearby or some other magic to heal them.
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Wood collection. The undead are the only race where the wood collecting unit is also a major combat unit, hence the undead are required to make Ghouls to collect wood. The choice is whether to focus on Ghouls or to diversify and how much to diversify.
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Siege. All the other races have 2+ ways to siege, whereas the undead have only the Meat wagon.
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Heroes. Which ones and how many.
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Direct damage. The undead have the most direct damage capable heroes, i.e. hero sniping capable heroes.
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Solo creeping. All the other races have at least one hero that can solo creep easily at the start of the game. This will probably change with the expansion pack.
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Miscellany.
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The dark Ranger and pIt lord are considered of the undead race as far as the affect of holy lighT, blight, death Coil, and Disease cloud aura.
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Buildings.
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Towers.
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Nice thing about undead towers is that many are already half built because Ziggurats are needed to provide supply.
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The town hall if upgraded makes a really nice tower (often called a cannon).
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The undead usu. cannot tower attack non-undead because blight is required and that can be initiated only be a new Goldmine or a new Necropolis.
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The undead are not good at offensive towering but if there is a money available, then a Necropolis can be set up almost anywhere. Once upgraded, it acts as a super tower.
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Unsummon. In long games when gold is running out it may be worth it to Unsummon buildings to get more money.
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Expanding.
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Defending.
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The undead expansion defense costs more and take longer than the other races.
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If you're going to bother defending an undead expansion, then consider making an upgraded town hall.
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Pros:
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Can it be used to town portal
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Cost per hp (2000 hp) v (550 hp).**************** Add TFT costs here
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Cons:
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Time (120 sec + 120 sec) v (50 sec + 35 sec).
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Total cost (350 gold + 310 gold/150 wood) v @(150 gold/50 wood +s 160 gold/40 wood).
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Damage (45.5 damage) v @(29.5 damage).
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Cost. The undead have the cheapest and quickest to build non-defended expansion.
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Timing.
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If you are doing an early expansion, make sure you bring an aColyte with you. The aColyte can even summon a Goldmine while you are still killing the creeps. While the new Goldmine is summoning, make the new aColytes at your home base then send them all at once; This is usually better than having them rallY to the new mine because the latter provides more time for the enemy to spot them.
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Expand just before you attack.
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Expand right after you've had a successful battle.
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. Items shown with (gold cost, regeneration in sec, available initially).
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Available at start
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rod of necromancy (150, 60, 2). 4 charges, raises 2 skeletons, 22 sec cool down.
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sacrificial skull (50, 60, 2). Creates an area of Blight. Use in battle for healing or to create Ziggurats or other buildings anywhere. You can now tower, build unit buildings closer to the battle, have some secret building, etc.
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dust of appearance (75, 60, 2). Reveals enemy invisible units in a 100 area for 20 sec.
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Available with halls of the dead
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potion of healing (150, 120, 3). Heals 250 hp .
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potion of mana (200, 120, 2). Restores 150 mana .
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scroll of town portal (350, 120, 2).
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Available with black citadel
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orb corruption (375, 120, 1). +5 damage to the attack of a Hero when carried. The Hero's attacks also become ranged when attacking air and it is -5 to the armor of enemy units for 5 sec.
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scroll of healing (250, 120,2). Heals 150 hit points to all friendly non-mechanical units for and area of 60.
Short version: Use a mix of Ghouls, crypt Fiends, and Banshees. Use Abominations and some crypt Fiends if you can cast aNti-magic shell on them with Banshees prior to engagements. Use gArgoyles if they go Gryphon riders.
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Humans have the most siege attacks for any with their Cannon towers, Gyrocopters, Mortar teams, and steam Tanks. Watch out.
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The Paladin's holy lighT spell can kill lower level units in one blow. Combine that with the Divine shield spell and the Paladin can walk in and kill your aColytes. Thus block his way with buildings.
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The Mountain king's thunder Clap spell can slow and injure multiple smaller melee units such as Ghouls.
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Go for ranged or flying units instead.
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SlEep him to keep him distant.
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Usually the Mountain king only has enough mana to do this twice.
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Go for larger melee units like Abominations.
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The Priest's Dispel magic spell is an area affect that kills skeletons instantly and merely serves to provide your enemy with hero experience.
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Do not set the Necromancer's Raise dead spell on autocast if they utilize Dispel magic or wands of negation.
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Use Raise dead manually in small increments to sacrifice for your Death knight or Lich.
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If their Sorcerssess are casting pOlymorph then:
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Use the Banshee's aNti-magic shell spell prior to engagements.
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Go for quantities of smaller units.
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If they are making Knights, then make Banshees for pOssession.
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Ghouls with the Death knight's Unholy aura on level 3 are hardly slowed.
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Use wands of negation to counter pOlymorph, summoned Water elementals, etc.
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Human will frequently mass casters.
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For heroes use dual aura heroes or drEad lord with a Lich while aiming for the drEad lord's iNferno spell.
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For units use fully upgraded and ghoul frenZied ghouls who first move right into the casters, or lots of Banshees who cast aNti-magis spell on you units before engagements.
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Try to take out the Archmage first so the casters won't have as much mana.
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Mass Gryphon riders are easily countered with gArgoyles. Or use crypt Fiends to Web them, then pOssess them with your Banshees.
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Humans frequently fast expand so it is worthwhile to rush them with all your ghouls and hero as soon as your hero arrives.
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Humans frequently fast tech to casters so it is worthwhile to fast tech to ghoul frenZy, get scrolls, utilize area of effect spells like Carion swarm and frost Nova, and then hit them as soon as you can.
Short version: Use crypt Fiends + Goblin shredders + just a few Necromancers and/or Banshees if facing Dryads or Chimaeras. Use gArgoyles if facing mass Huntresses.
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The night elves are known for their great speed.
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The Necromancer's Cripple spell can slow down.
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The Lich's frost Nova and Frost armor spells can slow non-Dryads down.
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The Frost wyrm's freezing Breath attacks can slow non-Dryads down.
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Ghouls with level 3 Unholy aura and ghoul frenZy are hardly slowed down by the Dryad's slow poison.
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The Keeper of the grove has some annoying spells
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thorns aura. This is negated with Vampiric aura for melee, or just used ranged units.
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Entangling roots.
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Use death Coil on any units that have been hit by Entangling roots, esp. aColytes when hero harassed.
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Use ranged units such as crypt Fiends because they have the hp to absorb the damage and they can still hit even though they are rooted.
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Don't forget that wands of negation or aNti-magic shell can free an Entangled unit.
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Sacrifice an Entangled unit with dEath pact or dark Ritual instead of letting it die and give the enemy hero experience.
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Get the drEad lord as one of your heroes:
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The Priestess of the moon's starFall spell and the Keeper of the grove's Tranquility spell are both channeled spells. The drEad lord's slEep and iNferno spells are the only means for the undead to break channeled spell other than killing the channeler.
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The drEad lord's Vampiric aura will regenerate your Ghouls while they are attacking the often used ancients attack.
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Use the Banshee's aNti-magic shell spell prior to engagements if their druids of the Talon are casting Cyclone.
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Use wands of negation to counter Roar, Entangling roots, etc.
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Night elves have better tier 1 units then the undead so usually you avoid them initially while you tech.
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Dryads are annoying because of their passive spell immunity, passive slow poison, and autocast aBolish magic.
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The Lich's frost Nova won't work against them and Frost armor will increase armor but won't slow Dryads. However the Lich's frost Nova will still work against the enemy heroes.
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The Death knight's Unholy aura will be essential to counter the Dryad's Slow poison. Ghouls with the Death knight's Unholy aura on level 3 are hardly slowed.
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The drEad lord's Vampiric aura won't work against Dryads.
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The Banshee's Curse and pOssession won't work against Dryads but you can still use Unholy frenzy as usual and Curse can still work on enemy heroes. The Dryad will however aBolish magic those spells and other spells like slEep.
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Do use fully upgraded and ghoul frenZied ghouls with dual aura heroes.
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Do use crypt Fiends because they have more hp, armor, range, and damage than Dryads. Long ranged attacks are hardly affected by Slow poison.
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Meat wagons are also great against massed Dryads.
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Do hire goblin shredders at the goblin laboratory because they are immune to Slow.
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If you use a scroll of protection against Dryads, they will automatically dispel them. The only good thing about this is if you use multiple scrolls of protection, they will waste their mana and they will be casting aBolish magic instead of attacking.
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The Huntresses' bouncing moon Glaives can tear Ghouls apart so go for large units like Abominations (protected by aNti-magic shield because of Cyclone) or air units like gArgoyles.
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It is effective to pOssess non-Dryad units.
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Night elf players sometimes use their ancients to attack.
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In solo games against night elves, it is worth it to find the player's base and then to continue to do scouting in case they are massing ancients. If the enemy is massing ancients, then let you'll have time to mass some siege yourself.
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If you find yourself under attack by an ancient of war follow these steps:
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Ignore it.
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When you have 10+ Ghouls then look nearby for any ancients under construction, kill those.
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Destroy the first ancient.
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Attack the main base of the night elf.
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If facing a Demon hunter, consider getting just 1 hero, the drEad lord. Keep the Demon hunter asleep.
Short version: Use mostly crypt Fiends + some Necromancers and/or Banshees + focus on Carrion swarm and frost Nova.
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Orc units tend to be large, which are susceptible to being surrounded by multiple smaller units such as Ghouls. However a similar affect is possible with ranged focus fire.
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Kodo beasts and Tauren have heavy armor type and thus are susceptible to piercing attacks such as those by crypt Fiends, Gargoyles, and Frost wyrms.
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The spiked barricades on orc buildings hurts melee units but ranged units aren't affected.
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The Banshee's pOssession spell is always good against orcs.
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When orc heroes are high level they can quickly kill low hp unit, like Ghouls, with Chain lightning, war sTomp, and critical strike. Thus opt for high hp units like crypt Fiends, Abominations or Frost wyrms.
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The Tauren chieftain's war sTomp can stun and injure multiple melee units such as Ghouls but it's not that damaging.
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Go for ranged or flying units instead.
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SlEep him to keep him distant.
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Usually the Tauren chieftain only has enough mana to do this twice.
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Use wands of negation to counter mirroR image, summoned feral spiriTs, Bloodlust, hEaling wards, sentry Wards, etc.
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Mass Wyvern riders are easily countered with gArgoyles. Or use crypt Fiends to Web them, then pOssess them with your Banshees.
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Orcs supposedly have the weakest air.
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The main spell of the orc Witch doctor is his hEaling ward.
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It is worthwhile to destroy these 5 hp items during a battle (preferably with ranged units) especially since they cost a whopping 200 mana.
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Move the battle away from the hEaling wards.
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Wands of negation are especially effective against the hEaling wards.
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Use area of effect spells (frost Nova and Carrion swarm) against all those orc spell casters.
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It is worth attacking orcs early and keeping pressure on them because they have no healing early in the game and they frequently tech to casters.
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Watch for the orc Watch tower rush. Have 1-2 aColytes patrolling your periphery.
Short version: Use Ghouls + gArgoyles + wands of negation if available. Otherwise Ghouls + Necromancers + some Banshees.
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The Banshee's pOsession spell can steal your big units such as Abominations and Frost wyrms, so go for quantities of smaller units.
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Ghouls are great in quantity.
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The Necromancer's Raise dead spell can also make quantity.
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Don't bother to research Disease cloud aura.
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Don't bother to use the Death knight's death Coil on your undead enemies.
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If you are going to use Necromancers for Raise dead, then try to do so near a graVeyard.
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If they are making big units such as Abominations or Frost wyrms:
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Use your Banshee's pOssession spell on them.
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Use your Necromancer's Cripple spell on them or Unholy frenzy spell on your own units.
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Use the Banshee's aNti-magic shell spell prior to engagements if their Banshees are casting pOssession.
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If they have the Death knight plus one or more heroes, kill the Death knight first because he can heal the other hero(es). Unless their Death knight is making good use of dEath pact.
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If you are going to slEep with your drEad lord, then slEep your opponent's drEad lord first.
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to counter the Raise dead, etc.
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Countering the Necromancer's Raise dead spell.
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Use wands of negation if available.
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Skeletons can only be raised from the corpses at the graVeyard or ground corpses from the battlefield. So make mostly air units as a counter.
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Big food units such as Abominations do not leave as many corpses, so Abominations are a good counter provided that the enemy does not then make Banshees to pOssess your Abominations.
The mix of units depends on multiple factors:
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Overall strategic plans and playing style.
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Your hero choices.
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The map.
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Your opponent's race, strategy, mix, playing style.
A game may involve just one combination but in more advanced games you may adjust your mix during play. Usually you want a mix of melee and ranged; Some games may never involve air or magic units at all.
Here are the most common undead combinations. My favorites are in bold.
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Emphasis on AoE.
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Ctrl #1: drEad lord [+Death knight] +Ghouls [+Abominations]
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Ctrl #2: Lich [+Death knight] +(crypt Fiends | gArgoyles) [+Meat wagon] [+Frost wyrm]
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Emphasis on auras
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Ctrl #1: Death knight +drEad lord +Ghouls [+Abominations]
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Ctrl #2 if 1 Temple: Death knight [+Lich] +crypt Fiends +Necromancers [+Meat wagon]
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Ctrl #2 if 2 Temples: Death knight [+Lich] +Necromancers [+2 Banshees]
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Ctrl #2 if 2-3 Crypts: Death knight [+Lich] +(crypt Fiends | gArgoyles)
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Sniper combo
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Ctrl #1: Death knight +drEad lord +Lich +(Ghouls | crypt Fiends)
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Ghoul |
Fiend |
gArg |
Necro |
Bansh |
Meat |
Abom |
Frosty |
hero |
good vs.
(H,N,O,U) |
notes |
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VA,UA |
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scrolls and scrolls. No wood needed. Very fast later. Resists focus fire. Bad v AoE. Run past melee and hit casters. Keep a Zeppelin with your army for a quick getaway. Stay in no upkeep as long as possible while upgrading ghouls and saving money, then quickly get many ghouls. |
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CS,FN |
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pots. Use AoE vs casters/low hp units. |
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UF heroes. Cripple enemy, esp. air. |
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pOssess tier 3 melee. AMS vs spell and AoE. |
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VA,UA |
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WoN the skellies. |
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VA,UA |
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N,O |
scrolls |
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FN,DC,CS |
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Hero sniping. Web not on autocast. |
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pOssess air too with Web. |
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H |
AMS the Aboms. |
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UF heroes and Frosties. |
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Get rid of all your Ghouls to maximize # of Frosties. |
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Single Ctrl group, 40 supply combos. Assumes 6 aColytes, 3 Ghouls on wood, 2 heroes.
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9 Ghoul, 0 Fiend. 9:40
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6 Ghoul, 2 Fiend. 8:40.
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3 Ghoul, 4 Fiend. 7:40.
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0 Ghoul, 6 Fiend. 6:40. Fits in Zepellin!
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Dual Ctrl group, 70 supply combo. Assumes 12 aColytes, 3 Ghouls on wood.
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Ctrl #1: 3 heroes, 9 Ghouls.
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Ctrl #2: Death knight and Lich, 2 Fiends, 2-3 Necros, 2-3 Banshees, (2 neutral units).
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Single Ctrl group, ~70 supply combos. Assumes 12 aColytes, 3 Ghouls on wood, 3 heroes.
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0 Ghoul, 5 Fiend, 0 gArg, 0 Necro, 0 Bansh, 0 Abom, 3 Frosty. 8:69.
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0 Ghoul, 3 Fiend, 1 gArg, 1 Necro, 1 Bansh, 0 Abom, 3 Frosty. 9:69.
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0 Ghoul, 2 Fiend, 0 gArg, 2 Necro, 1 Bansh, 1 Abom, 3 Frosty. 9:70.
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0 Ghoul, 0 Fiend, 5 gArg, 0 Necro, 0 Bansh, 0 Abom, 4 Frosty. 9:71.
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0 Ghoul, 0 Fiend, 4 gArg, 0 Necro, 0 Bansh, 0 Abom, 4 Frosty. 8:69.
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0 Ghoul, 0 Fiend, 3 gArg, 1 Necro, 1 Bansh, 1 Abom, 3 Frosty. 9:68.
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0 Ghoul, 0 Fiend, 2 gArg, 1 Necro, 1 Bansh, 0 Abom, 4 Frosty. 8:69.
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Dual Ctrl group, 90 supply combos. Assumes 5 aColytes, 0 Ghouls on wood, 3 heroes.
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0 Ghoul, 0 Fiend, 7 gArg, 1 Necro, 1 Bansh, 0 Abom, 7 Frosty.16:89.
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0 Ghoul, 0 Fiend, 0 gArg, 2 Necro, 1 Bansh, 0 Abom, 9 Frosty.12:89.
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0 Ghoul, 0 Fiend, 0 gArg, 0 Necro, 0 Bansh, 0 Abom,10 Frosty.10:90.
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Single Ctrl group, 90 supply combos. Assumes 5 aColytes, 0 Ghouls on wood, 3 heroes.
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0 Ghoul, 0 Fiend, 2 gArg, 1 Necro, 1 Bansh, 0 Abom, 9 Frosty. 8:69.
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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.
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Abominations have the hp's of 3.27 Ghouls. Even factoring in piercing damage, an Abomination still has more hp's than 2 Ghouls.
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Because of their high hp's, Abominations are resistant to Area of Effect spells (thunder Clap, Chain lightning, etc.).
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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)
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This ability is available at the slaughterHouse for 225 gold and 125 wood in 45 sec.
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Damages non-undead enemies by 1hp/sec over 120 sec.
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Ability stats:
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Duration: 33 sec.
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Cool down: 0 sec.
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Mana cost: 0.
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Range: N/A.
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Area of effect: N/A.
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Allowed targets: dead, organic.
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Effect: heals 15 hp/sec with a max of 495 hp.
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This ability is available at the Crypt for 75 gold in 30 sec.
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The stats of the Abomination's Cannibalize ability differs from the stats of the Ghoul's Cannibalize ability.
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When multiple units with the Cannibalize ability are told to Cannibalize, then the most injured units do so first.
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90 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.
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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.
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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.
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Of all the workers, aColytes do the most damage per hit at 9.5.
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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
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Necropolis, Crypt, haunted Goldmine, graVeyard, Ziggurat, Altar of darkness, Temple of the damned, slaughterHouse, Sacrificial pit, Boneyard.
Unsummon
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Returns 50% of the resources spent on summoning the building.
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haunted Goldmines are automatically Unsommoned when the gold runs out.
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If gold is low and you can Unsummon some of your buildings for more money, esp. if the enemy will surely destroy them.
saCrifice
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Makes a shade out of an aColyte at the Sacrificial pit.
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180 gold, 30 wood, 2 food, 210-360 hp, light armor type, 0 ac, 140-80 sight, 270 speed, 35 build, pierce attack type, missle weapon type, 13-19 ground attack, 13-19 air attack, 1.5 cool down, 50 range, 200-400 mana, .5-1 mana regeneration, made via Temple of the damned, 1/8 of Zeppelin.
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Banshees do relatively good damage for a caster.
Curse (autocast)
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Spell stats:
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Duration: 120 sec.
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Cool down: 1 sec.
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Mana cost: 40 .
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Range: 40.
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Area of effect: N/A.
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Allowed targets: air, ground, organic.
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Effect: -33% chance to miss.
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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.
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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.
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Don't make lots of Banshees against Dryads because Curse will not work on Dryads.
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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
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Spell stats:
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Duration: 90 sec.
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Cool down: 0 sec.
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Mana cost: 50.
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Range 50.
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Area of effect: unit.
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Allowed targets: air, ground.
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Effect: target immune to magic but does not damage summoned units.
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This spell available with bAnshee adept training at the Temple of the damned for 150 gold in 60 sec.
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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.
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Casting aNti-magic "offensively" on a non-paLadin hero so the paLadin cannot heal them with holy lighT.
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Cast aNti-magic shell so your enemy will use up their wands of negation or the mana for whatever dispel-capable casters they have.
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Don't forget to use aNti-magic shell to dispel bad spells such as sloW and pOlymorph.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Although aNti-magic shell can be dispelled, it is usually cheaper than the dispel used against it.
pOsession
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Spell stats:
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Duration: unlimited.
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Cool down: 0 sec.
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Mana cost: 250.
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Range 25.
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Area of effect: unit.
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Allowed targets: ground, organic, neutral, enemy.
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Effect: converts unit to your side.
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This spell available with bAnshee master training at the Temple of the damned for 250 gold and 100 wood in 75 sec.
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This spell takes 1 sec to cast. The Banshee may be killed in that 1 sec.
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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.
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These die so quickly that if I make any, then I keep them off the battlefield until they are ready to use pOsession.
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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.
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Set the Banshees in a separate control group and pOsess multiple units very quickly by hitting shift+o, shift+o, etc.
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It may be worthwhile to pOssess creeps with abilities like healing or auras instead of killing them.
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pOssession can take you over the 90 supply limit.
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pOsession will not work on Dryads.
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It may be worth it to pOssess workers of other races in long games like FFA. You could then make towers and such.
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If you have a crypt Fiend Web an enemy flying unit, then you can pOssess it.
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If you pOssess a Wisp:
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You can immediately expand with a Tree of life. The Tree of life can also make more Wisps for you.
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You can immediately make a Moonwell for healing and mana.
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You can immediately make an ancient of War.
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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
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When Burrowed, a level 2 or 3 Carrion beetle is unable to attack but it becomes invisible.
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250 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 ground attack, 0 air attack, 2 cool down, 55 range, 0 mana, 0 mana regeneration, made via Crypt, 1/8 of Zeppelin.
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Of the basic ranged units for all the races, the crypt Fiend has the most health with 500 hp.
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This ability is available at the graVeyard for 100 gold and 50 wood in 45 sec.
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When Burrowed, a crypt Fiend is unable to attack but it becomes invisible and regenerates at 5 hp/sec.
Web (autocast)
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Ability stats:
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Duration: 12 (7) sec.
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Cool down: 12 sec.
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Mana cost: 0.
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Range 40.
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Area of effect: unit.
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Allowed targets: air, enemy.
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Effect: traps unit in a web.
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This ability is available at the graVeyard for 100 gold and 50 wood in 30 sec.
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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.
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Webbed air units can be pOssessed by Banshees.
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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.
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The desTroyer is the anti-caster unit for the undead. It flies and has 1000 hp.
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The desTroyer is created by morphing from an Obsidian statue.
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Loses 3 mana per sec.
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Starts out with 0 mana.
aBsorb mana
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Ability stats:
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Duration: instant.
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Cool down: 0.
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Mana cost: 0.
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Range 90.
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Area of effect: N/A.
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Allowed targets: player.
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Effect: Transfers all mana from target unit to the desTroyer.
Devour magic
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Spell stats:
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Duration: instant.
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Cool down: 8 sec.
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Mana cost: 0.
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Range 60.
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Area of effect: 20.
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Allowed targets: air, ground, ward.
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Effect:
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Removes all buffs and de-buffs in an area.
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Gives self 50 hp and 75 mana for each unit that had magic devoured.
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Damages summoned units by 180 hp.
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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)
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Spell stats:
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Duration: instant.
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Cool down: 0 sec.
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Mana cost: 25.
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Range N/A.
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Area of effect: unit.
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Allowed targets: self.
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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)
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Renders this unit immune to negative spells.
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450 gold, 120 wood, 7 food, 1100 hp, heavy armor type, 0-6 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.
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These are expensive and take a lot of supply, so usually make just a few.
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Either make a few (1-2) or a lot (7+).
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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.
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The Frost wyrm does splash damage and slow. Use it to hit different sections of your enemy's army.
freezing Breath (passive)
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This ability is available at the Boneyard for 250 gold and 175 wood in 60 sec.
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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.
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220 gold, 30 wood, 2 food, 400 hp, medium armor type, 3-9 (+10) ac, 160-80 sight, 270 speed, 35 build, pierce/normal attack type, missile/normal weapon type, 22.5-30 ground attack, 57-78 air attack, 2.2/1.4 cool down, 30/melee range, 0 mana, 0 mana regeneration, made via Crypt, 0 fit in Zeppelin.
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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.
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gArgoyles require a graVeyard and black citadel.
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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.
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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.
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gArgoyles benefit from the drEad lord's Vampiric aura when they are attacking air units.
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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
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Ability stats:
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Duration: Unlimited.
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Cool down: 30 sec.
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Mana cost: 0.
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Range: N/A.
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Area of effect: N/A.
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Allowed targets: self.
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Effect: regenerates: 8 hp/sec; armor: +12; spell immunity; gArgoyle cannot attack.
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This ability is available at the Crypt for 150 gold and 75 wood in 45 sec.
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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.
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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.
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If you are going to assume stone Form at your base, you might as well from barricades with the gArgoyles.
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spell immunity (passive)
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Renders this unit immune to negative spells. Only applies when in stone Form.
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140 gold, 0 wood, 2 food, 330 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.
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Of the tier 1 melee units, Ghouls are the only ones that can heal themselves with Cannibalize.
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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
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Ability stats:
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Duration: 33 sec.
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Cool down: 0 sec.
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Mana cost: 0.
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Range: N/A.
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Area of effect: N/A.
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Allowed targets: dead, organic.
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Effect: heals 10 hp/sec.
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This ability is available at the Crypt for 75 gold in 30 sec.
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The stats of the Abomination's Cannibalize ability differs from the stats of the Ghoul's Cannibalze ability.
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ghoul frenZy
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This ability is available at the Crypt for 150 gold, 100 wood in 60 sec.
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Increases the Ghoul attack rate by 0.25 and the movement speed by 80, i.e. 270+80=350, the game max.
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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.
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Lasts for 180 sec, i.e. the same as the cool down for the drEad lord's spell.
permanent immolation (passive)
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Spell stats:
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Duration: Unlimited.
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Cool down: NA.
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Mana cost: 0.
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Range: NA.
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Area of effect: 22.
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Allowed targets: ground,enemy,neutral.
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Effect: regenerates: 8 hp/sec; armor: 10 damag/sec.
spell immunity (passive)
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Renders this unit immune to negative spells.
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Reduces the duration of negative spells and renders the unit immune to certain spells. EG: Cannot be Devoured.
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270 gold, 65 wood, 4 food, 380 hp, med armor type, 2 ac, 140-80 sight, 180 speed, 45 build, siege attack type, artillery weapon type, 79.5-108 ground attack, 0 air attack, 4 cool down, 25-100 range, 0 mana, 0 mana regeneration, made via slaughterHouse, 1/4 of Zeppelin.
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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.
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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.
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Use units like shades to sight for Meat wagons, esp. since Meat wagons have longer range than towers.
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Use attack Ground to hit targets that are within range but beyond the Meat wagon's sight.
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Meat wagons can be used to knock down trees.
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Don't forget that the Meat wagon has an area of effect attack with a minimum range.
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Meat wagons get healed by the Death knight's Unholy aura. With Unholy Aura at level 3, Meat wagons go faster than regular Dryads.
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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.
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Disease cloud aura (passive)
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This ability is available at the slaughterHouse for 225 gold and 125 wood in 45 sec.
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Damages non-undead enemies by 1 hp/sec over 120 sec.
get Corpse (autocast)
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If possible, have your Meat wagon load up on corpses at a nearby graVeyard before moving out.
Drop all corpses
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This ability is available at the slaughterHouse for 150 gold and 75 wood in 20 sec.
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Gives the Meat wagon the ability to generate corpses.
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170 gold, 20 wood, 2 food, 230-380 hp, light armor type, 0 ac, 140-80 sight, 270 speed, 30 build, pierce attack type, missile weapon type, 10.5-15.5 ground attack, 10.5-15.5 air attack, 1.8 cool down, 60 range, 200-400 mana, .5-1 mana regeneration, made via Temple of the damned, 1/8 of Zeppelin.
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Even just 1-2 of these can be extremely helpful.
Raise dead (autocast)
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Spell stats:
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Duration: 40-55 sec.
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Cool down: 8 sec.
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Mana cost: 75.
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Range 60.
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Area of effect: N/A.
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Allowed targets: dead.
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Effect: raises 2 skeletal warriors.
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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.
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If you use a wand of negation, it will not injure your own summoned units.
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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:
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Blasted Lands
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Golems in the Mist
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Moonglade
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Petrified Forest
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Plains of Snow
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(Swamp of Sorrows) (4 of the buildings are random)
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If the map has goblin merchants, then use Raise dead when they have no heroes or Priests.
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It may also be worthwhile to bring along a Meat wagon loaded with corpses. That's a quick 8 corpses or 16 skeletons.
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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.
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Don't forget to make skeletons for scouting!
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Necromancers are the only non-hero standard unit that can summon other units.
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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
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Spell stats:
-
Duration: 45 sec.
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Cool down: 1 sec.
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Mana cost: 50.
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Range: 50.
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Area of effect: unit.
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Allowed targets: air, ground, organic.
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