Test Realm Patch Notes: 2.4.3

[oldmandennis]

Dunno about how you played War3, but I generally just massed grunts and demolishers and finished up with raiders before they ever got to tier 3. Not much strategy involved - kinda like WoW, huh?

A mix of archers and huntresses would be the end of you. When you react is when the fun would start.

[Artega]

A mix of archers and huntresses would be the end of you. When you react is when the fun would start.

Meh, a TC with Shockwave took down Archers pretty quickly, and the Raiders can either be used to lock down the Huntresses or you can use them to sneak around and quickly destroy buildings like moon wells before the enemy can react. Then you can put that money from pillage into tier 3. Either way, it puts you ahead of the game.

[Swiss Mercenary]

Meh, a TC with Shockwave took down Archers pretty quickly,

Demon hunter first hero.

Demon hunter ALWAYS first hero.

Mana burn makes Shockwave less scary.

Scroll of Healing is a critical item for the elf to purchase when facing an AoE hero. It makes level 1 shockwaves irrelevant.

And with the harass that you can pull off against a Tauren Chieftain first hero (No spirit wolves, no way to pick off weakened units, no way to harass the elf), the elf must be pretty bad to let him reach level 3 before end-game.

and the Raiders can either be used to lock down the Huntresses or you can use them to sneak around and quickly destroy buildings like moon wells before the enemy can react.

Huntresses are tier 1 - raiders are tier 2. They are used to harass the orc, and slow his tech down. You'd be surprised to see how long it's possible to prevent an orc from putting down Beastiaries when an elf has the humerical advantage - which he will, if he's facing a Tauren Chieftain. And if the orc built his base such that the Beastiaries are in the back, say bye-bye to your burrows... Or bye-bye to your economy.


The elf's goal is to reach tier 3 before the orc amasses sufficient tier 2 units. Once that's done, master level bears + dryads + a high level demon hunter will destroy the orc's army on the ground, or mass archers + druids of the talon will keep most of it cycloned. Even at tier 3, (Upgraded) archers put out the most DPS per unit of food (Not counting splash damage units).

With the way elf upgrades work, they get a full army of tier 3 units as soon as they reach it, and complete the research (Assuming they managed to keep their unupgraded druids alive). This is why as soon as raiders start joining the fight, the elf usually retreats to his base, and tries to pick off harassing orc units. If the orc creeped enough, and won't fail in his offense, he might win the game by expanding. Otherwise, he has to be very good at picking off the elf's units - he is literally on a timer, while the upgrade to tier 3 is building.

Then you can put that money from pillage into tier 3. Either way, it puts you ahead of the game.

You'll have a hard time pillaging an elf in tier 2, when your beastiaries were up late, and he already has 1 or 2 dryads, and, optionally, an adept druids of the claw. He would either pressure you with a unit advantage, or, as a rule of thumb, an unharassed elf can tech much faster. And with TC first, harassment isn't an option.

Good ensnare micro, with demolisher support will make the fight much more interesting, though.

Ahem.

At medium-high levels of play, this matchup isn't decided by massing units. It is almost completely decided on how much damage the orc's initial harassment (Of he is smart, and gets a farseer) goes, how well the elf can keep up harassment in the rest of tier 1, and the vital tier 1->2 transition for the orc, and then, how well the elf can survive in his base until tier 3. All of that is completely up to the player's micro.

At which point, the game's mostly in the bag for the elf, barring the orc expansion in t2, or having no more units left.

[Pantalaimon]

*is struggling to find a Warcraft III subforum*

:lol: