09-07-2004, 10:17 PM
Ugh. Rifle/caster is the way to go if you're up against mass grunts; I've lost a number of games to that strategy, thinking that the human was gonna mass footies or something similar.
For Orc strategy:
You almost always want to start with a Far Seer; FS is quite possibly the best caster-type hero in the game. He has a very effective nuke (Chain Lightning), very efficient summons (two wolves with a very good damage-to-life ratio), and his ultimate just decimates bases. Far Sight is great at Level 2 and Level 3, but it just can't compare to Chain Lightning or Feral Spirit. Make your FS, get Feral Spirit, and zip in and take some cracks at gold miners. If you can find a Wand of Illusion, this is pure gold. Bring a Grunt or two along to really mess em up.
The Blademaster is probably one of the best hero-killers in the game when used properly, up there with Demon Hunter and Mountain King. Nip on over to the enemy base and start slaughtering gold miners. When resistance shows up, Wind Walk away, and go hide. When they leave to go creep, return and keep pestering them. If they try to build towers, zip over and destroy them. Tech madly while you're doing this.
The Tauren Chieftain is a great melee hero, though I honestly see him more as a second hero than as a first, simply because he's such a huge target. In 1v1's, War Stomp and Endurance Aura are the way to go; in team games, I tend to find Shockwave to be more useful than War Stomp (because it keeps the Big Cow out of the center of the hordes of melee enemies, and Shockwave decimates low-HP units like Footies, Ghouls, and Archers.) He's a viable first hero choice if it's a team game; especially if you can get an Archmage to give him Brilliance (can we say spammed Shockwave?)
The Shadow Hunter is another great second hero choice. If your enemies have channeling heroes like Far Seer (Earthquake), PotM (Starfall), or AM (Blizzard), you would do well to place at least a dummy point into Hex to stop that. If they're using expensive tier-3 units like Tauren and Knights, Hexing them can really put a hurt on the enemy. Healing Wave is useful to topping off your units after a battle or keeping that near-dead unit alive to take another couple of whacks. Serpent Ward is useful if you're going up against lots of casters or Unarmored units (such as Huntresses and Dryads), or you have more than one Orc player on your team. Ever hear of a Ward Rush? Tons of fun :)
Unit Combos:
Grunt/Headhunter/Demolisher: If you can get the ratio down right (usually 2:1:0.5), this is gold. Headhunters have lousy attack speed, but they do a TON of damage, and Grunts with the Berserker Strength upgrade are more than a match for tier-1 melee, and can hold their own against tier-3 melee with some upgrades and superior numbers. Switch over to Tauren if your enemy manages to reach tier-3 melee.
Grunt/Raider/Casters: Another lovely combo. Make sure you research Pillage early and continually harass the enemy (focus on buildings when possible to leech some extra gold and lumber.) Research Ensnare early (before your first Raider) and Ensnare melee units closing in, and injured units attempting to flee. Start with Spirit Walkers (upgrades are not necessary, but the increased mana pool is lovely), then go for Witch Doctors (you'll need Master for Healing Ward), and then eventually Shaman (for Bloodlust, of course.) You'll want at least two Spirit Lodges, and three if you can afford it. Use Spirit Link to negate the effects of focus-fire on your units (particularly your Raiders), Healing Ward to heal them (picking a Shadow Hunter for a second hero works well), and Bloodlust just because Bloodlust owns. If they're human, you might want to ditch Bloodlust, since they'll get Breakers as soon as they see your Shaman wandering about. Also keep an eye on your Healing Wards, since Breakers can steal them with Control Magic. Have your Grunts and heroes keep the enemy army busy, while your Raiders rush in and devastate their base. In most cases, you'll want to aim for food buildings first (particularly against Night Elves) as they're quickest to kill and lack of food will prevent the enemy from training (or buying) reinforcements. If you have the time, have EVERYONE focus on their town hall - if you can bring it down, it's game over. Since you'll be swimming in money from Pillage, you should be able to continually pump Raiders without issues. Switch over to Tauren if you're having trouble with the enemy army.
If you're playing a team game:
Try going all-siege. Make a Far Seer and a small troop of Grunts (2-5, depending on enemies) and help your ally harass the enemies. In order to make this work, you MUST keep your enemies under constant pressure; if you're able to attack both at once, this is gold. Have your ally mass at the start (mass Footies with Defend or mass Grunts works very well) and rush off to harass someone. You should, meanwhile, be waiting just outside the other enemy's base, waiting for him to either TP or rush over to help his ally defend. The second he TPs (or engages your ally's army), rush in and lay waste to his town. If he didn't use his TP, run away as soon as he does. As long as your ally's able to hold his ground, the other enemy will be unable to help and be crying for help the whole time. When your target leaves, return and attack again. Continually do this (staying just inside of their vision range does wonders), while madly teching to tier-2 for Demolishers, Raiders, and Kodo Beasts. Immediately pump out two Beastiaries, another Barracks (if you hadn't already), and a War Mill (if you hadn't before.) Depending on how many Grunts you have left, and your enemies' tech, you may wish to add a few more Grunts to your force before going for Demolishers; if not, pump out two Demolishers and two Raiders. Continually pump Raiders (Ensnare isn't necessary, but it's useful), and get 4-5 Demolishers. Have them join your existing force (preferably out of sight), and wait for your target to rush to his ally's aid. When he does, attack full force. Unlike in 1v1's, you should aim directly for his Town Hall; even with a number of peasants repairing it (assuming you aren't killing them), you should be able to destroy it. If they don't give up then, destroy their Altar and any Barracks, kill any Peasants, and then rush over to assist your ally in destroying the other enemy. I have a lovely replay of this somewhere; I'll get around to posting it some day.
For Orc strategy:
You almost always want to start with a Far Seer; FS is quite possibly the best caster-type hero in the game. He has a very effective nuke (Chain Lightning), very efficient summons (two wolves with a very good damage-to-life ratio), and his ultimate just decimates bases. Far Sight is great at Level 2 and Level 3, but it just can't compare to Chain Lightning or Feral Spirit. Make your FS, get Feral Spirit, and zip in and take some cracks at gold miners. If you can find a Wand of Illusion, this is pure gold. Bring a Grunt or two along to really mess em up.
The Blademaster is probably one of the best hero-killers in the game when used properly, up there with Demon Hunter and Mountain King. Nip on over to the enemy base and start slaughtering gold miners. When resistance shows up, Wind Walk away, and go hide. When they leave to go creep, return and keep pestering them. If they try to build towers, zip over and destroy them. Tech madly while you're doing this.
The Tauren Chieftain is a great melee hero, though I honestly see him more as a second hero than as a first, simply because he's such a huge target. In 1v1's, War Stomp and Endurance Aura are the way to go; in team games, I tend to find Shockwave to be more useful than War Stomp (because it keeps the Big Cow out of the center of the hordes of melee enemies, and Shockwave decimates low-HP units like Footies, Ghouls, and Archers.) He's a viable first hero choice if it's a team game; especially if you can get an Archmage to give him Brilliance (can we say spammed Shockwave?)
The Shadow Hunter is another great second hero choice. If your enemies have channeling heroes like Far Seer (Earthquake), PotM (Starfall), or AM (Blizzard), you would do well to place at least a dummy point into Hex to stop that. If they're using expensive tier-3 units like Tauren and Knights, Hexing them can really put a hurt on the enemy. Healing Wave is useful to topping off your units after a battle or keeping that near-dead unit alive to take another couple of whacks. Serpent Ward is useful if you're going up against lots of casters or Unarmored units (such as Huntresses and Dryads), or you have more than one Orc player on your team. Ever hear of a Ward Rush? Tons of fun :)
Unit Combos:
Grunt/Headhunter/Demolisher: If you can get the ratio down right (usually 2:1:0.5), this is gold. Headhunters have lousy attack speed, but they do a TON of damage, and Grunts with the Berserker Strength upgrade are more than a match for tier-1 melee, and can hold their own against tier-3 melee with some upgrades and superior numbers. Switch over to Tauren if your enemy manages to reach tier-3 melee.
Grunt/Raider/Casters: Another lovely combo. Make sure you research Pillage early and continually harass the enemy (focus on buildings when possible to leech some extra gold and lumber.) Research Ensnare early (before your first Raider) and Ensnare melee units closing in, and injured units attempting to flee. Start with Spirit Walkers (upgrades are not necessary, but the increased mana pool is lovely), then go for Witch Doctors (you'll need Master for Healing Ward), and then eventually Shaman (for Bloodlust, of course.) You'll want at least two Spirit Lodges, and three if you can afford it. Use Spirit Link to negate the effects of focus-fire on your units (particularly your Raiders), Healing Ward to heal them (picking a Shadow Hunter for a second hero works well), and Bloodlust just because Bloodlust owns. If they're human, you might want to ditch Bloodlust, since they'll get Breakers as soon as they see your Shaman wandering about. Also keep an eye on your Healing Wards, since Breakers can steal them with Control Magic. Have your Grunts and heroes keep the enemy army busy, while your Raiders rush in and devastate their base. In most cases, you'll want to aim for food buildings first (particularly against Night Elves) as they're quickest to kill and lack of food will prevent the enemy from training (or buying) reinforcements. If you have the time, have EVERYONE focus on their town hall - if you can bring it down, it's game over. Since you'll be swimming in money from Pillage, you should be able to continually pump Raiders without issues. Switch over to Tauren if you're having trouble with the enemy army.
If you're playing a team game:
Try going all-siege. Make a Far Seer and a small troop of Grunts (2-5, depending on enemies) and help your ally harass the enemies. In order to make this work, you MUST keep your enemies under constant pressure; if you're able to attack both at once, this is gold. Have your ally mass at the start (mass Footies with Defend or mass Grunts works very well) and rush off to harass someone. You should, meanwhile, be waiting just outside the other enemy's base, waiting for him to either TP or rush over to help his ally defend. The second he TPs (or engages your ally's army), rush in and lay waste to his town. If he didn't use his TP, run away as soon as he does. As long as your ally's able to hold his ground, the other enemy will be unable to help and be crying for help the whole time. When your target leaves, return and attack again. Continually do this (staying just inside of their vision range does wonders), while madly teching to tier-2 for Demolishers, Raiders, and Kodo Beasts. Immediately pump out two Beastiaries, another Barracks (if you hadn't already), and a War Mill (if you hadn't before.) Depending on how many Grunts you have left, and your enemies' tech, you may wish to add a few more Grunts to your force before going for Demolishers; if not, pump out two Demolishers and two Raiders. Continually pump Raiders (Ensnare isn't necessary, but it's useful), and get 4-5 Demolishers. Have them join your existing force (preferably out of sight), and wait for your target to rush to his ally's aid. When he does, attack full force. Unlike in 1v1's, you should aim directly for his Town Hall; even with a number of peasants repairing it (assuming you aren't killing them), you should be able to destroy it. If they don't give up then, destroy their Altar and any Barracks, kill any Peasants, and then rush over to assist your ally in destroying the other enemy. I have a lovely replay of this somewhere; I'll get around to posting it some day.
ArrayPaladins were not meant to sit in the back of the raid staring at health bars all day, spamming heals and listening to eight different classes whine about buffs.[/quote]
The original Heavy Metal Cowâ¢. USDA inspected, FDA approved.
The original Heavy Metal Cowâ¢. USDA inspected, FDA approved.