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Warcraft III Expansion - The Frozen Throne
Hard Mode Guide (Part 2/4)
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- written by Wirewyrm on 14 July 2003
- version 2.0 (19 July 2003)
(C) Copyright 2003
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| DISCLAIMER: Warcraft III - The Frozen Throne is property of Blizzard |
| and all names mentioned herein, unless stated otherwise, are |
| trademarked by Blizzard. This document and its copyright in no way |
| suggest that the author claims any ownership to the game, characters,|
| or any other trademarks that may be involved. |
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# Contents #
==============
0. Version History
1. Author's Note
2. The Basics
3. Sentinels Campaign - Terror of the Tides
Chapter One - Rise of the Naga
Chapter Two - The Broken Isles
Chapter Three - The Tomb of Sargeras
Chapter Four - Wrath of the Betrayer
Chapter Five - Balancing the Scales
Chapter Six - Shards of the Alliance
Chapter Seven - The Ruins of Dalaran
Chapter Eight - The Brothers Stormrage
4. Alliance Campaign - Curse of the Blood Elves
Chapter One - Misconceptions
Chapter Two - A Dark Covenant
Chapter Three - The Dungeons of Dalaran
Secret Level - The Crossing
Chapter Four - The Search for Illidan
Chapter Five - Gates of the Abyss
Chapter Six - Lord of Outland
This FAQ is originally written for GAMEFAQS. Do not copy, in whole or in
part, using any medium, this document without first obtaining express
permission from me. As of now, only the sites listed at the end of this FAQ
have permission to publish this guide on the www; if seen anywhere else,
please notify me.
This FAQ is written for players of novice and intermediate skill level, so if
you don't agree with it or think you can do better, then just don't read it.
If you like it and want to tell me so, email me at .
Also, it is a guide, not a walkthrough. I started off writing a walkthrough,
but when i finished i decided it was too long, so i edited it. If you are
stuck and have questions, feel free to email me.
This FAQ may or may not contain spoilers. If you're reading this, I assume
you've already beaten the game once on "Normal", or you're stuck at a certain
stage on "Hard". I'll try to keep the guide as spoiler-free as possible, but
if you're really spoiler-averse, then stay away from this guide until you've
beat the game once.
This FAQ may contain disagreeable language. Although there is no instance of
reproductive body parts or actions, i personally think all other words are
fair game for a guide like this. And if you think "ass" is a reproductive
body part, then the one who needs help is you, not me. And if you found that
last sentence offensive, don't read the rest of this guide.
This FAQ is written specifically for "Hard" mode only. I have not played the
game on "Normal", so i do not know if the same strategies will work under
"Normal" difficulty. Please do not email me with questions regarding any
difficulty setting other than "Hard".
Sorry for the delay between campaigns. The writing part is easy enough, but
i don't want to put up 100+ kb of un-navigable and senseless trash, so i edit
my work very carefully before i submit it. Thank you for your patience.
So, you think this game is a cakewalk? Beat the game in less than a day on
"Normal"? Well, playing it on "Hard" is a completely different matter.
You'll have to use every dirty trick in the book (short of hacking; if you
cheat, you don't need this guide anyway), and even then success is not
guaranteed.
I'll get straight to the point. No matter how good of a strategist you are,
there's no way you're going to beat this without some degree of "micro"
skills. "Micro" is short for "micromanagement", or controlling your units
individually in the heat of battle. The most basic form of "micro" in this
game is casting a hero spell, for example. When your army is engaged by the
enemy, you click on your hero, click on a spell, and then target an enemy.
Bam! That's micro.
However, it's going to take a lot more than that to beat the campaign on
"Hard". For example, both instances of the words "click on" in the previous
paragraph should be replaced by "hotkey". I don't think it's possible to
beat "Hard" using only your mouse. Here are some short tips on basic "micro"
skills, and they should help to improve your game, not just in the campaign,
but also in multiplayer. If you're already proficient at controlling your
armies, then just skip on to the next section.
Tip #1 - Using the keyboard
You need to. There's no way around this. Here are some basic keys that are
useful to know:
F10 This brings up the game menu where you can decide to save, load,
change game settings, whatever. Point is, it's also a way to
pause the game. Very useful when you absolutely need to go
somewhere else QUICK.
Spacebar This centers the screen on the last announced event. An
announced event is something like "We're under attack!" or
"Upgrade complete". Pressing it quickly will allow you to cycle
through older events. You can cycle through the last 5 or so
events. Very useful when you're short on cash and can't afford
to queue your builds or upgrades. When you hear that a unit is
completed, Spacebar, build another one. Also very important for
when you get attacked where you're not looking. Spacebar to
check out what's happening, and if you're going to lose,
reinforce or retreat quickly.
Alt Holding this down brings up on-screen HP displays of all allied
units. Good for when you need to target a Healing Wave or Holy
Light.
` This weird key above Tab allows you to select and center on idle
workers. Pressing it repeatedly will cycle through all idle
workers. For clarity's sake, an idle worker is a lazy bum who is
sitting on his/its ass after having built a building or exhausted
a mine. But sometimes they just like to sit on their asses for
no apparent reason.
Bckspace Centers view on your highest tier town hall. I seldom use this,
but maybe you can find a use for it.
F1 - F4 Quick hero selection keys, in descending order of how their icons
appear on the main display. Useful for chugging potions, town
portal, etc. Press twice quickly to center the view on the hero.
*NOTE*
Make sure never to press Alt and F4 at the same time. Unless you
want to quit the game quickly.
There are others, but these are the more basic ones.
Tip #2 - Using control groups
Control groups allow you to manage your forces much more efficiently than you
can ever accomplish with the mouse alone. Here is a quick lowdown on how to
group units.
While any of your own units are selected, holding Ctrl and pressing
a number key will assign the selected unit to that number. Thereafter,
pressing that number key will cause you to select the group, and pressing it
quickly twice will center the view on that group. Practice doing this to get
the hang of it. Much of this guide will involve making groups, and assumes
you are proficient at it. Here are some keys that will help you along.
Ctrl + left click This will select all units of the same type that you
clicked on. Works on buildings too.
Shift + left click This will add whatever you click on to the units
selected. If you click on a unit that that is
already selected, then it will remove that unit from
selection. When deselecting, clicking on the unit's
mini-portrait works as well. Sounds confusing? Just
try it out.
Tab This will cycle the control palette to the next unit
type in a selected group. If you don't understand,
just select a whole bunch of different units that can
all cast spells, and you'll see what it does
immediately. And that is exactly what it is meant to
do: help you cast spells.
Ctrl + Shft + click Adds all units of the same type to selection.
Unfortunately you cannot use this to deselect units
from a group more quickly.
Practice these until you master grouping and selecting at least 2 groups.
In general, melee units should be grouped together, and ranged units placed
in a separate group. It is alright to have heroes in the same group as
regular units. However, avoid putting more than 2 different types of casters
in the same group, as it will force you to overuse Tab and possibly slow you
down or cause mistakes.
Conversely, avoid making too many different groups, unless you are good at
typing and have no problem pressing the right number from 1 to 0 without
having to look at the keyboard. Too many groups will also slow you down, and
additionally, it will increase the chances of your units clashing into each
other and getting stuck.
Usually, i use 2 or 3 control groups, but never less than 2, and seldom more
than 4. Practice to find out how many groups, and what kind of groups you
are most comfortable with. One thing to note though is that you should be
flexible about grouping and not have to stick to the same order throughout
the whole stage. Sometimes different situations require different ways of
grouping, like when you spot an enemy ahead and you want to do a pincer
attack. Don't be afraid to rearrange your units on the fly. Again, practice
makes perfect.
Tip #3 - Rally point
If you don't already know this, all buildings that produce units can set
rally points, where the units produced from the building will go once they
are... produced. What you might not know is that buildings can set rally
points even before they are completed. Also, a rally point can be set onto
a unit. This is extremely useful for getting fresh troops to the frontline.
Note though that if you set a rally point on a unit, and the unit dies, the
rally point will be reset, and all units previously moving to that rally
point will stop dead in their tracks. Usually i set rally points on a hero.
A useful trick to know is when you are expecting reinforcements to a control
group (eg. your group #2 has 4 archers and you are building another 3
archers), but you are fighting a messy battle, select the group every now and
then and hold Ctrl + Shft and click on one of the units that you are
expecting. This will add all your fresh troops to your selection, and if you
hold Ctrl and press the group number again, you would have successfully added
the reinforcements to your control group.
Tip #4 - Queuing actions
By holding Shft when you issue an order to a unit, you can queue the actions
that the unit will perform AFTER its current action. Workers can queue what
buildings to build, casters can queue who to cast spell on, etc.
When a series of movements are queued, this is also referred to as setting
"waypoints". Waypoints are useful when you are navigating units to avoid
creep, or when you are scouting, or simply because you don't like things to
move in straight lines. Hard to explain what exactly this is, so just try it
out.
Note that the rally points in buildings can be waypoint-ed too. So instead
of setting the rally point on a unit, you can set waypoints to direct new
units to where you want them to go.
Tip #5 - Using hotkeys
Hotkeys are the letter keys that substitute clicking on a command. For most
units, for example, pressing "m" and then clicking on the map will make them
move to that spot. Hotkeys are there for a reason. The reason is speed.
You can fire spells faster and aim with much greater accuracy by using the
hotkeys. You don't have to memorize the hotkey for every ability in the
game, but at least be familiar with the ones that you use most often,
especially those that require good aim. Blink and Flamestrike are good
examples of abilities you should use the hotkeys for.
Tip #6 - Formation and "micro"
Simple logic dictates that in every fight, the stronger direct-combat (melee)
units should go in front, and the weaker ranged units should go behind, and
the casters even further back (or sometimes in the middle). The thing to
note though is that when you get caught off guard, or flanked, always move
your troops to face the right way before you fight, even if it means you are
slower to attack the enemy. The reason is that unit counters are very strong
in this game, which means that all it takes is a few seconds for enemy melee
units to chew up your ranged units. So if an enemy surprises you from the
side, quickly move your ranged units so that your melee units stand between
them and the enemy. If you're very skilled at the mouse, you can attempt to
move the exposed ranged units individually, but i would recommend just moving
the whole group(s) out of the way before you try to engage.
Once you are caught in a skirmish, check your units' health constantly to see
who is taking damage. If a unit is losing health very rapidly compared to
the others, it is likely that that unit is being focus-fired (FF'ed). That
is to say, the enemy is concentrating all its attack on that one unit.
Quickly move that unit back out of range of the enemy to save it. This is
what most Battlenet folks call "micro". Don't wait until the unit's health
is in the red before you pull him/her out, usually that will be too late.
The best way to judge when to pull a unit out, however, is experience.
There's no substitute for that. In any case, don't just let your army duke
it out with the enemy on its own; you will always sustain casualties if you
do, unless you outnumber the enemy 4 to 1. Resources are scarce, especially
on "Hard" mode, so don't lose any units you don't have to.
Tip #7 - Save
Although i think saving and reloading constantly is a form of cheating, it
does reduce the tedium of having to do a whole stage over from the start
several times, and it protects you from accidents. Personally, i don't
save a whole lot. But you should save if you pulled off a miracle attack, or
after you've completely leveled one of several enemy bases and have a lot
more resources to deal with the remaining enemies. Have at least 2 save
files so that in case your judgment is wrong and you get stuck in an
impossible situation, you have an earlier save to start from.
NOTES
@ In this stage, the time is always set at 1900h, which means it is always
night, so your units will always regenerate. Also, make use of the fact
that you can Shadowmeld instead of retreat, should the need arise.
@ This stage is easy, but you should get all the secret items to help you
survive later stages. Therefore i will focus mainly on the "secrets".
@ It doesn't matter if Naisha dies at any point in time, she will be
resurrected in the next stage.
GOOD ITEMS
- Tome of Int.
- Ring of Prot.+1
- Jade Ring (Agl.+1)
- Tome of Agl.
- Tome on Int.+2
- Claws of Attack (Claws) +3
- Spider Ring (Agl.+1)
- Scroll of Prot.
- Healing Wards
Move forward, engage mur'gul. Watch for ambushers from the back. Use Rune
of Lesser Healing after fight. Blink to island on the east of 2nd pier
northernmost pier before entering open gate to the west). Open crate to get
Rune of Mana. Go south of island, open crate for Tome of Int. Go to
southernmost tip of island. See rune further south across water, Blink to
it. Don't get rune. Go south of small islet, see more land southeast, Blink
there. Open crate, get ambushed by more mur'gul. Prize is 1 Rune of Mana, 1
Ring of Prot.+1, 1 Rune of Greater Healing. Blink back to tiny islet, get
Rune of Mana, Blink back to main land. Continue on.
-Cut scene-
Fight furbolgs, break northernmost hut, get Rune of Mana. Go back north to
the burning statue of a Keeper of the Grove, and break the crate behind the
statue for a Jade Ring. Go through west, fight satyrs. Raise level, pick
Fan of Knives (FoK) or Shadow Strike.
-Cut scene-
OPTIONAL QUEST - Enraged Beast
Go north, open crate for Rune of Mana. Go northeast, see and follow wildkin
until you see that there's more of them. To complete this quest with minimal
effort, move the Warden, Naisha and huntress one by one to block the passage,
and have them Hide. Use archers and dryads to attack from behind your wall.
Sometimes your archers will not be able to reach from behind your wall. To
remedy this, move a huntress a tiny step forward and quickly press 'i' to
hide again. The wildkin should come stumbling into your rain of arrows.
Keep wall hidden until the big mutha comes and does warstomp. Quickly FoK
and finish off the weaker guys by focus fire (FF), then slay the enraged
beast. Prize is a Tome of Agl. Move in and break 2 northern dens for a Rune
of Lesser Healing and a Rune of Mana.
Continue north, and inch your way forward through the arch. Don't rush
through. This is important. Keep inching forward until...
-Cut scene-
Hold position and wait for the naga to return to their posts. Fight
northern camp first, then fight southern camp. Open barrel in southern camp
to get Tome of Int.+2.
Looking to the northeast, there is an island with 3 sirens. If Maiev has
full health, she should be able to take them on solo. Blink over and attack
the lone siren further inland first to get a Tome of Str. and Rune of Mana.
Use rune, kill remaining sirens, and Blink back to mainland.
Move on west and rest at the fountain if necessary. You should see Rune of
Mana on southwest cliff of waterfalls at the fountain. Look to the southeast
cliff, and there should be a spider there. Blink to it and kill the spiders.
The prize: Claws+3. Now Blink to the Rune of Mana on the southwest cliff.
Move north along the cliff, through the trees and attack another group of
spiders. You'll get a Spider Ring.
About one screen-width to the east of the fountain, you will see some rocks
to the north. Blink across the rocks and you will see a burning ship. Break
all the crates here for a Scroll of Prot. and a Rune of Mana.
Going north, you will encounter some satyrs attacking your scouts. Save the
scouts to begin a new optional quest. The satyrs will drop a useful Rune of
Mana here.
To the east is the sea. Move Maiev north along the water's edge, and as you
near the trees you should spot some land to the east blocked by trees and
water. Blink over there and Blink east again to fight a furbolg hermit. He
yields a set of Healing Wards, VERY useful in the next stage. Sometimes the
deer there will block you from Blinking to the hermit. Just wait for the
deer to move away so you can get there.
OPTIONAL QUEST - Search and Rescue
Moving north you will soon see a gate to your west, guarded by satyrs.
Breaking through should be a piece of cake. Open the north gate to free your
scouts. Add those to your group, and attack southwest. A hellcaller will
Animate Dead, and it will be a big fight. Use the Scroll of Prot. if
you feel that you need it. Save the rest of the scouts in the clearing and
the quest is complete. The satyr boss drops a Potion of Healing. If you did
not use the Scroll of Protection, your item list should be full. In that
case just leave the potion and go.
Before breaking open the next gate, make sure all units are in top condition.
Go back to the fountain to heal injured units. The next fight is tough, but
it doesn't matter to lose a few units, as long as Maiev survives. Charge
through the door...
-Cut scene-
NEW QUEST - Save the ships.
To do this, dispatch the first wall of enemies quickly, and then focus on the
ones attacking the ships. If you need, a crate among the burning buildings
to the southwest of the ships contains a Rune of Mana. One thing to note:
when you have so many archers, they tend to get stuck behind each other. To
avoid this, move them closer to the target before commanding them to attack.
=== Chapter Two - The Broken Isles ===
Difficulty - **
Start with: Maiev, Naisha, 4 archers, 2 transport ships and a base with every
kind of Night Elf building you can make in this stage, except for the
Ancient of Lore (AoL).
NOTES
@ Night Elves have a very serious lumber shortage problem in early game, so
be sure to set more wisps on lumber at the start.
@ Once again, it doesn't matter if Naisha dies, she will be resurrected in
the next stage.
GOOD ITEMS
- Pendant of Energy (max. Mana +150)
- Healing Wards
- Scroll of Healing
- Claws+6
- Periapt of Vitality (max. HP +150)
- Robe of the Magi (Int.+6)
- Scroll of Prot.
- Lesser Scroll of Replenishment
- Mana Stone
In every stage that you can build things, you will always need to put more
wisps on lumber, so build wisps before you upgrade your Tree of Life (ToL).
Expect attacks from the west, then the north, in an alternating pattern.
Northern attackers are primarily air units. Build defense as necessary.
As for upgrades, you cannot go beyond tier 2 in this stage, which means you
can make druids but not bears. Therefore, concentrate your upgrades on the
Moon series.
There are 4 lines of creeps on your main island: sea giants to the northeast,
lobsters to the south, mur'gul to the west and southwest, and more sea giants
in the northeast. They give the following treasure, respectively: Pendant of
Energy, Scroll of Healing, Maul of Strength (Str.+1), and Healing Wards. You
have time to creep 2 camps before the first wave of naga attacks. After
that, you can split your forces in half in order to defend your base and
creep at the same time, assuming you are constantly building units.
When you level up, get Blink level 2. You will need it in the next stage.
The Naga Strike Force camp to the west should be a priority target. Taking
them out relaxes the pace of the game considerably, and allows you to build
up your numbers much faster. To eliminate them, you will need about 2 glaive
throwers (new ballistae), 7 archers, 5 huntresses and 3 druids of the claw
(DotC). With a Scroll of Prot. and Healing Wards, the battle should be easy.
Don't forget to Roar near your glaive throwers: they can destroy buildings
much faster that way. Also keep some archers and Ancient Protectors (APs) at
home to defend in case attacks come from the north.
It is imperative to begin your assault as soon as possible, right after you
repel a wave of enemies. You don't want to be intercepted as you are
crossing the water. Make sure your units are at least partially upgraded.
To the north of the naga base are some wildkins. Use caution when you see
more than one. The terrain favors them heavily, so don't pass them off for
target practice. Kill them and you will be rewarded with a Claws+6.
Now you can explore more freely. You only need a small force to clean up the
islands to the west and south of your base. One transport ship's worth
should be more than enough. To the north are some mean clans of sea giants,
who are really not worth the trouble. Just avoid them. There are some gold
coins in the west (for you to start a new ToL on one of the islands if your
own mine runs out), and a hydra will yield a Periapt of Vitality. At the
very northwest of the map, there are some lobsters. Kill them to get a
Scroll of Prot., a Lesser Scroll of Replenishment, and a Mana Stone.
OPTIONAL QUEST - Silence the Ghosts
Now that things are a little less tight, you can also go on the quest that
the orc gives you. Using a small strike force with Maiev, go to the island
indicated by the orc and destroy the summoning pits. Don't bother with the
skeletons, they will fight themselves and leave you alone if you leave them
alone. It is wise not to bring ranged units here, because they tend to shoot
wildly and attract unnecessary attention. Just destroy the summoning pits,
grab the artifact as proof of your bargain and return it to the orc. Quest
done. The reward: a Robe of the Magi.
Once the sidequest is done, you can concentrate on breaking through the last
naga base to the north that has harassed you to no end. It will take about
5 glaive throwers, 3 DotC, 6 huntresses, 8 archers and 2 dryads. They should
fit snugly into 3 transports. Once you repel the next wave of naga, travel
north quickly until you find their base. Again, avoid the sea giants, they
will only slow you down. West of the naga base is a very good beaching
point. You can sneak your transports all the way up north and drop your
troops in a pocket of shallow water where they will go largely unnoticed.
You should have an abundance of disposable items now, so just use them. This
battle should be easy.
-Cut scene-
Now you don't have to worry about defense anymore. Finish the optional quest
if you have not already done so. Bring these items with you to the next
stage: Healing wards, Mana Stone, Periapt of Vitality, Pendant of Energy,
Claws+6, and the Robe of the Magi.
=== Chapter Three - The Tomb of Sargeras ===
Difficulty - **
Start with: Maiev, Naisha, 1 huntress and 3 archers.
NOTES
@ Similar to the 1st stage, the time in this stage is set permanently to
2300h. Again, use this to your advantage by hiding to block passageways
and kill enemies with your archers whenever you need.
@ Get used to pressing the hotkeys 'b' and 'f' for Blink and FoK
respectively, at least for this stage. You will find the skill most
useful.
@ Take your time to look around in this stage. It is a classic dungeon crawl
filled with many enemies, as well as treasure. Use any item at your
disposal to keep your troops alive.
@ Remember that runes affect all nearby units. Use mana runes to power the
DotCs' Rejuvenation and dryads' Abolish Magic.
@ To complete all sidequests, you need to keep Naisha alive. Watch her
health.
GOOD ITEMS
- Tome of Int.+2
- Manual of Health (max. HP +50)
- Shadow Orb (special item)
- Tome of Int.
- Tome of Agl.
- Stone Token x2
At the first fork where demons are guarding the door, go west first for a
Manual of Health. Beware of the skeleton champion, he can cast Death Coil.
When you come back out and go south of the fork, you will enter a courtyard
with a statue in the middle. To the east are some stairs. When you're
halfway up the stairs, look to the south and you should see a rune on the
wall. Blink to it and follow the path all the way west. After you defeat
the 2 big red skeletons, go to the north of the room and look north to see
another rune. Blink to it and you will find a Shadow Orb, or rather, a piece
of it. This will start a new optional quest.
OPTIONAL QUEST - The Shadow Orb
So you have the first orb. If you don't have room in your inventory, you
don't have to pick the orb up. Each time you pick up a new piece of the orb,
the old one disappears and fuses with the new one. In other words, as long
as you find the orbs and try to pick them up, you don't have to carry them
with you. Of course, by the time you find 6 or 7 you should swap one of your
items for it, because it will have abilities other than damage increase.
Continue on your journey through the tomb. When you hear something about
breaking rocks, look to the south wall and hit the rock chunks. You will get
reinforcements, and start an optional quest. Turn the DotC into bears, they
are much stronger that way.
OPTIONAL QUEST - Barriers
This quest is simple and needs no explanation. Just break rock walls
whenever you see them, and your army should be a healthy size by the end.
At the mouth of the tunnel where the DotC emerged from, on the west side, you
should see some boulders blocking a rune. Blink to it, follow the narrow
weed-choked path all the way around to get the 2nd Shadow Orb piece.
To the east of the bear tunnel there are some glowing tiles. Stepping on
them will open a sliding door. Go to the glowing spot on your minimap, fight
some slime, Blink over to kill the big slime, and to the west of that big
slime, there is another rune. Blink to that throne room to get Shadow Orb
piece 3.
In the next fight against skeletons and stormreavers, watch out for the dual
combo of death coil and chain lightning. By now you should raise another
level. I strongly suggest getting level 3 Blink, because you will be using
it A LOT before this stage is over. Still, the choice is yours, as long as
you have Blink 2 you should do fine.
If you've been alert, you'll have noticed another rune across the water to
the west of the bridge where you fought the stormreavers and skeletons.
Blink to it, and to the west of it you'll see some sea elementals and a
stormreaver. To the south of the gang, in a small recess lies the 4th piece
of the Shadow Orb. Just grab the orb and run. The elementals are hardly
worth the effort of fighting.
-Cut scene-
A fight with some mur'gul will yield a Tome of Int., and a hydra will give a
Tome of Agl. Going west, you will eventually reach another breakable wall.
Break it, and dryads will come out to dispel all the faerie fires. Neat.
Avoid the mana rune to the south, it is not worth the trouble.
Go north, fight some hydras, and then look east. There should be a lone palm
tree next to a rock pillar. Use Naisha to set an owl on it. See the rune
that the owl reveals? It's the guide rune to Shadow Orb piece number 5.
Come back down and go up the north slope. At the west-most part of the
platform there are some crates. Break them, and you should see another rune
to the west. Blink to it, break more crates, and get Shadow Orb piece 6.
As you move east along the passage, you will see another suspicious palm on
the north wall of the passage, where you fought some hydras. If you hadn't
noticed, Naisha has unlimited owls, so set another one on the tree, and Blink
into the little turtle cave that the owl reveals. In the stomach of one of
the turtles lies another shard of the Shadow Orb. Grab it and break the eggs
in the northwest of the cave. Who woulda thought it, a Stone Token in a
turtle egg.
-Cut scene-
Watch out for Naga Royal Guards. They pack a whole slew of surprises.
The rocks at the east-most wall after you slay the first royal guard will
reveal some druids of the talon (DotT). Releasing them will complete the
Barriers optional quest. Search the northern room Shadow Orb piece 8. It is
in a crate.
-Cut scene-
Moving on, break the door and have only Maiev go through. There's a rune on
the wall north of the doorway. Blink to it, go north along the wall until
you reach the very end of the wall. Looking up north as far as Maiev can
see, you should be able to see another rune. Blink to it, follow the passage
west to find Shadow Orb piece 9.
Retrace your steps until you're back at the doorway. South of the doorway
you should see a ditch filled with water. The end of the ditch closest to
the door is blocked with rocks. On the other side of the rocks is another
rune. Blink to it, follow the ditch south then east to complete the Shadow
Orb. If you read the description, it has gradually become a pretty kickass
item.
Blink back to the doorway. Staying in the room, go north until you hit a
wall, and follow the path east. Among the crates is a Rune of the Wild.
Handy for killing the Naga blocking the last door. You may as well use your
Stone Token too if you haven't already, there's another one in the south of
this room, across the ditch on the balcony, in a crate.
-Cut scene-
Don't you just love these self-destruct sequences? 2 minutes and 30 seconds
to blow this joint, not a whole lot of time if you're gonna walk the whole
way. But Maiev is a Warden, so she doesn't have to walk. If you have Blink
level 3, this should be easy. Maiev can teleport a considerable distance, so
don't be afraid to try even if it looks too far. Also, she can even Blink to
places she cannot see, as long as she has explored there previously. If you
don't stop to fight anything, you should be able to get out in under 30
seconds.
=== Chapter Four - Wrath of the Betrayer ===
Difficulty ***
Start with: Maiev, 2 DotC, 4 archers and a Night Elf Runner (a slow-moving
unit that cannot attack, but has heal). At the home base, from which you are
separated, you have 2 DotC, 2 dryads, 5 huntresses, 2 archers, 8 APs, 1 Tree
of Eternity, 1 Ancient of War (AoW), 1 AoL, and 7 Moonwells. There's also an
Ancient of Wonders, but its only use is to clutter your base.
NOTES
@ This stage takes considerable skill and reflexes, even with the right
strategy. Be prepared to try more than once.
@ All DotC should be turned into bears at all times. You will not have time
to use Rejuvenation, especially at the home base, and the runner is a
good enough substitute healer.
@ The first wave of naga that attacks your base comes from the south. You
have exactly 80 seconds to prepare for it.
@ The stage starts at night, and although time moves in this stage, you can
use Shadowmeld to your advantage to repel the first attack.
@ The runner's team is in no immediate danger, so take time to set up your
base defense first.
@ The APs in the home base start at horrible positions. Rearrange them
between waves of enemy attacks so that your defense is more concentrated at
the core of your base.
@ Upgrades improve the units in your runner's team too, so it's not a bad
idea to upgrade before you start moving them out.
@ The Moonwell upgrade is VERY useful. Get it ASAP.
@ The naga's bases are blocked by water and rocks, so don't bother trying to
launch a counter-offensive.
@ There is a graphical bug where all the tooltips will disappear just before
lightning strikes, and you cannot see where buildings are going to be
placed. This will make building Moonwells and repositioning APs next to
impossible, so if it happens just go and do something else first. Once
lightning strikes everything will return to normal, until the next
lightning comes. I can't be sure if this applies to every system, but i
thought i'd mention it here. I'm running this on a GeForce Pro II with
64mb onboard RAM, just for clarification.
GOOD ITEMS
- Orb of Slow
- Mana Stone
- Talisman of Evasion
Once you've set up your base defense to a manageable extent, focus on Maiev
and the runner. After you fight the first group of enemies, you'll get an
optional quest. Move quickly with Maiev, because your gold mine will run out
soon, and picking up gold coins will be your main source of income.
OPTIONAL QUEST - Naga Excavators
The first excavator yields a crap item: Staff of Teleportation. Keep going
with your runner's group, Maiev should level up soon. Vengeance, her
ultimate skill, is not very useful this stage, but it will help you in the
next.
When you reach the first fork, go up the slope to the south. Kill the
guards, then follow the path east. You will find the next excavator there,
and some very handy gold coins. The item is again pretty useless: a Staff of
Negation.
The next excavator gives a very useful item: the Orb of Slow. Use your Stone
Token here if you have no room in your inventory, the golem will be very
helpful against the royal guard.
Further on, there's a glyph in the water. After you get this your protectors
at home will survive longer.
After you get the runner to the ship, you should focus primarily on the
runner's group. Look back to base only when you're under attack, or to
finish upgrading. Make sure your base defenders don't run too far out from
your base.
When you reach the point where you can unload your ships, you will be at a
crossroads. Going up the south slope is a waste of time. 2 royal guards and
a siren guard some gold coins. Not worth the time nor effort. Attack the
north slope instead to find the last excavator and he will give you a Mana
Stone. There are also gold coins here.
From here on, use the hippos to scout around and the glaive throwers to lure
enemies to you. There are no more useful items to get, so just Blink in to
enemy camps to steal gold coins and Blink out, if you need the money. Keep
the glaive throwers alive, you will need them until the very end.
After you fight another group of Couatl (blue flying naga) guarding a massive
gate and kill the royal guards beyond the gate, you're almost home free.
Destroy the remaining 2 tidal guardians (naga turrets) with your glaive
throwers, and you can finish the stage. But if you want to complete my
secret optional quest, don't beat the stage just yet.
WIREWYRM'S SECRET OPTIONAL QUEST - Grank the Rat in the Magical Garden of
Eternal Blossoms
So you think you've seen it all? Well have you seen Grank the Rat? To the
north of the platform where your glaives took out the last guardians, across
the water, is a sealed-off garden, complete with decorative fountain. The
path to it lies to the east. Have your forces take out the pesky sirens
guarding the garden, and let Maiev blink into the magic garden. What so
magic about this place? Nothing. There's absolutely nothing in this
sealed-off room.
That's what i thought at first, until i spotted something moving in amongst
the flowers. Clicking on it, i found Grank the Rat. 15 hp critter with 0
armor of the light variety. It makes an irritating squeak when you try to
touch it. So what did i do? Try to kill it, of course. What's this?
Maiev missed! So i stood there for 15 minutes trying to kill Grank the Rat.
Apparently the guy has a 99% - 100% evasion rate. Ok, so i reload the game,
choose Shadow Strike instead of FoK, and i try to kill it again. What the
hell?! It's immune to magic too! What an amazing rat!
Then it occurred to me: the age-old way of killing a critter for sure. I
start to click on it repeatedly. More irritating squeaks. After about 10
or so squeaks, Grank will give up and follow the path of all of his kind: he
explodes.
Haha, that was fun, wasn't it? But for your cruelty, you are rewarded with
no less than a Talisman of Evasion! Too bad it's not 99% or 100% evade like
what Mr. Grank had. But it'll still come in handy in the later stages.
=== Chapter Five - Balancing the Scales ===
Difficulty - ****
Start with: 3 heroes and a crapload of different units, all in the wrong
places.
NOTES
@ The hardest part about this stage is Maiev is under siege constantly, so
it's hard to get Malfurion's team to move at all. Even quicker reflexes
than the previous stage are needed.
@ As usual, your APs are poorly positioned at the start. Move them inside
your base.
@ Which side the first group of enemies comes from is quite random. From
experience, they tend to prefer coming from the west first. But don't
count on it.
@ With the Talisman of Evasion and full Shadow Orb, Maiev can take a lot more
punishment than before, so put her in front to take the brunt of the
assaults. Be careful not to let her die though.
@ Vengeance can raise spirits from all corpses, but the sirens' parasite will
reduce the corpses available. Let Maiev Blink behind enemy lines to kill
the sirens first.
@ Malfurion's Tranquility recharges VERY fast, so use it often. It makes
your bears almost invincible.
@ Make sure Tyrande's Searing Arrows are on autocast. Starfall does not
recharge anywhere as quickly as Tranquility, but it will speed up your
journey considerably. Use it every time you see more than 3 enemies.
@ Once they start their ultimates, Tyrande and Malfurion will ignore any
commands you give to the group they are in, although the rest of the group
will still follow the commands. When you want them to stop their ultimates
and start moving again you'll have to give them the command personally.
@ The lightning graphics bug occurs in this stage as well. It shouldn't
affect you as badly as in the last stage though, because there's not much
rearranging of buildings to be done.
GOOD ITEMS
- Tome of Int.+2
- Tome of Str.+2
- Tome of Agl.+2 x2
- Amulet of Spell Shield x2
Once you are done organizing Maiev's defenses and building whatever you can
from her pitiful cash reserves, quickly move Malfurion's team up north, then
east through the temple, where naga will attack. At the north part of the
temple is a room hidden by trees. Inside are 3 tomes of +2, and some small
items. The east part of the temple has some useful gold coins. Both rooms
are trapped.
-Cut scene-
OPTIONAL QUEST - Night Elf Fleet
Don't worry about the quest for now, getting to Maiev is priority. Attack
the crates where the cut scene takes place for a Moonstone and Ring of
Prot.+3. Use the Moonstone, it will help the Moonwells recharge a little.
Using Malfurion's group, press on east, then follow the passage south. 2
nasty royal guards. Don't worry about losing units here, there are not many
more fights to go. Pick up gold coins in the room east, and move south to
get even more coins. Continue south. You will come to a crossroads, with 2
suspicious looking statues to the east. The statues themselves are not hard
to defeat, but the naga base that lies just beyond will not be something your
small party is prepared to deal with (even though the instructions tell you
Tyrande and Malfurion are "fully prepared to challenge all who stand against
them").
Take the south of this fork, you will meet the first ship in the Night Elf
Fleet and get some reinforcements. To the east of this landing point is a
camp of stormreavers. They are blocking a shortcut to Maiev's base, so
obliterate them. Have Malfurion use Force of Nature (FoN) on the trees east
of the encampment to clear a path through. If you need more mana, the
northeast tent in the stormreaver camp has a rune of mana in it. Once you
get through this bush Maiev will be saved.
-Cut scene-
Don't slow down until you've got a gold mine. Attack the naga base to the
northwest as soon as you can. Get one or 2 glaive throwers if you feel you
need them, but assault the base quickly. The longer you wait the thinner
your forces will become. For some reason the naga base is much weaker after
you rescue Maiev. It should be a fun battle now that you have 3 ultimates to
use simultaneously.
Just north of the naga base is the 2nd ship from the Night Elf Fleet. Meet
up with it soon, it contains "special allies" that will help you defend your
base. Concentrate on defense as you upgrade your base, there are not many
items nearby of much interest for now anyway.
The easiest solution for this stage is to build air units. Chimeras make
much better siege weapons than glaive throwers. Use Tyrande's scout to
ascertain the naga's position constantly. When you are ready to attack, i
suggest taking on the naga base one section at a time. The southern flank is
easier to penetrate, from my experience. When attacking the northern
section, entering from the west side seems to be easier.
Don't destroy all the buildings yet, just break all the Coral Beds (farms) to
stop the naga from building more units. There are many good items to get in
this stage. If you try do the reverse of this (ie. destroy everything else
but leave the farms), the computer will consider that you have won and end
the stage prematurely for you, so just kill all the farms instead.
The optional quest is a breeze to finish, since you already know where the
ship is to begin with. Do it anytime you like.
The dragon turtle at the mine north of your base will give an Amulet of Spell
Shield. There are some barrels between the lower section of the naga base
and the upper section. The barrels are up on the ledge on the easternmost
edge of the map. In the middle barrel is a Tome of Agl.+2, tailor-made for
Maiev to get. On the northeastern-most corner of the screen is another set
of barrels on a ledge surrounded by water. Breaking them will reveal another
Amulet of Spell Shield, again made just for Maiev.
You will be playing as Tyrande and Maiev in the next stage, so suit them up
as necessary.
NOTES
@ This stage is fairly straightforward. Just keep the caravan moving, stop
only to repel attackers from the back or to complete the side quest. Once
you get a sizeable number of mercenaries, however, you can slow down and
explore more thoroughly.
@ The caravan advances only if Tyrande moves forward, so you can use Maiev to
scout ahead while Tyrande stays back to defend. Alternatively, you can
have Tyrande lead the caravan while Maiev brings up the rear.
@ Conserve your troops. You will need every last one at the end. Use the
DotCs' Rejuvenation as often as you can, even though they should in bear
form whenever you fight.
@ Watch out for Banshees: they will Possess.
@ MGs should always hold clubs. The added range helps them a lot.
GOOD ITEMS
- Scroll of Animate Dead
OPTIONAL QUEST - Retrieve Supplies
This quest is convenient to do, and helps you a lot. When you are attacking
the outposts where the gold is hidden, kill the Dreadlord before you use
Starfall.
When you get to it, choose the long route instead of the short one, but have
Maiev bring some troops with her up the short route to get the last stash of
gold and finish the side quest.
The easiest way to finish is to take your time. At the end, there is an item
shop. Sell low level items that you don't need, and use the cash to buy more
mercenaries.
=== Chapter Seven - The Ruins of Dalaran ===
Difficulty - ***
Time Limit - 30 minutes
Start with: Maiev, Malfurion, 1 chimera, 2 faerie dragons, 2 DotC, 2 DotT,
2 huntresses, 1 archer, all not upgraded.
NOTES
@ You will need a good balance between defense and attack in this stage.
@ Mana flare is very effective against necromancers and banshees.
@ You will need about 6 minutes to fight from your base up to the altar to
stop the ritual, so pace yourself.
@ Chimeras do splash damage, and their damage type is very strong against
bears, so don't mix the 2 types of units, you will end up killing your own
guys by the truckload. Mountain giants, on the other hand, have light
armor AND damage reduction...
@ You will need to help Kael'thas defend his base occasionally, otherwise
you risk having his entire base razed to the ground and the undead on that
side coming at you instead.
GOOD ITEMS
- Tome of Agl.
- Helm of Valor
- Tome of Int.
From where you start, go south to kill a creep camp and in one of the barrels
is a Tome of Agl. West from here is an undead base that you can and should
take out very early. The base is defended mostly by necromancers, banshees
and a Lich. Faerie dragons are key. Once you get the gold mine here, you
can start cranking out units and upgrading very quickly, so it's a good
strategy.
OPTIONAL QUEST - Save the Paladin
You should do this quest even though you have limited time, because the
Paladin's aura and Resurrection really help. It is not a hard quest anyway.
The only problem is you might get lost in the maze. Just have Maiev attack-
move to the Paladin, and everyone else follow her. The enemies on the way
are not hard if you have chimeras, mountain giants and archers.
On the way to the paladin, if you killed all the creep, there is a Helm of
Valor and a Tome of Int. for Malfurion to pick up.
The naga altar is to the northwest of your base. The quickest way in is to
go west, then north through the mess of guardians. Use chimeras, giants,
archers, and have faerie dragons follow Malfurion. While you are breaking
through to the temple, be sure to constantly build units and rally to
Malfurion.
If Maiev is out of mana in the final attack, let her consume the Mana Stone.
There is no use for it after this stage. With any luck you should be able to
stop the naga before your army is completely decimated.
=== Chapter Eight - The Brothers Stormrage ===
Difficulty - ****
Start with: Malfurion, Illidan, and many units.
NOTES
@ There's no question about it, this stage is a real bitch even if you know
what you're doing.
@ The undead attack erratically, in large numbers, and from all sides. To be
honest, this stage is what inspired me to write a guide.
@ There is no way for Illidan to get to Malfurion, and vice versa.
GOOD ITEMS
- Pendant of Mana
- Mask of Death
- Crown of Kings
- Healing Wards x2
- Inferno Stone
- Claws+15
On Malfurion's side, you will be relying mostly on archers, mountain giants,
and glaive throwers (yes, that's right, glaive throwers) to defend your base,
because only glaive throwers have the range to effectively counter meat
wagons, and also because they will help to take out the undead base southeast
of Malfurion's camp.
You will need about 5 MGs, 8 archers and 5 glaive throwers to destroy the
base fast enough. Once you do that, you'll only have to defend from the
north. A fun thing to do is to riddle the cliff with APs so that the undead
'zeppelins' get destroyed before they can land. If you place APs on the east
cliff too, you can lift some pressure off Tyrande and give Illidan ample time
to complete his mission. A band of trolls guard the east cliff though, and
killing them will yield... er, Healing Wards, which Malfurion really doesn't
need.
On Illidan's side, have fun checking out the new units. The creep camp
southeast of his base gives a Rune of Shielding and a Ring of Prot.+5. Use
the item shop to the west of his base to suit Illidan up temporarily until he
can find better items.
OPTIONAL QUEST - Dam Trolls
This quest will take some time to do, but it is very useful for several
reasons: it gives you a much better position to attack the red base from, and
it yields mad items.
With 3 myrmidons, 3 sirens and 3 turtles, you should be more than a match for
the dam trolls. Remember that turtles can Devour enemies, so abuse that
whenever possible. Sirens have Parasite which gives you free units, so
remember to use the parasites as shields. Somewhere along the way you should
find a Pendant of Mana. Kill the troll boss, and for your efforts, you get a
Mask of Death.
South of the trolls, previously blocked by the dam, is a Fountain of Health
guarded by some sasquatches. Finish them off for a Rune of Restoration. You
should save this for later unless you're in really bad shape. The slope to
the east has more sasquatches for you to slaughter, and as your reward,
you'll get a Crown of Kings.
The undead base west of the fountain is relatively weak and comprises of
mostly necromancers and banshees. Use Devour and Mana Burn to stop banshees
from Possessing your units. You'll need about 4 myrmidons, 6 dragon turtles
and 5 sirens to level this base quickly. Your sirens' Parasite will prevent
the necros from raising too many skellies, and with Illidan's help your
parasites should soon overrun the base.
Turtles have siege damage, so use them to take out the towers as quickly as
possible. One thing to note: don't let your forces stray too far north,
otherwise you will incur the wrath of the red army before you are ready to
face it. To the west of this base, there is a small band of mur'gul who
will give you a set of Healing Wards. Quite useful for Illidan.
It is not advisable to try to tackle the green undead base directly west of
Illidan's base. They have superior position and numbers. If you like the
extra challenge, you can go ahead and try, but before doing that i would
recommend first taking out the small section of the green base that is
directly north of the red base.
Between the 2 northern sections of the green undead base, there is a small
tributary. If you have Illidan follow the tributary all the way west, then
north, you will find an Inferno Stone just lying on the riverbank. If you
follow the stream to the northernmost end, you will find a river golem. With
the Crown of Kings and the Mask of Death, Illidan alone can handle the golem.
Upon defeat, it will give you a Claws+15! The items don't get better than
that in this stage, so go ahead with the main mission now.
The red base is harder to beat than it looks. The Lich and Dreadlord combo
there is deadly, and the frost wyrms will almost neutralize Illidan. Take
the initiative by Mana Burning the Lich. If you bring a maximum supply army
here with some of each kind of unit, and you use sirens' Cyclone and turtles'
Devour a lot, the battle should be manageable.
Congratulations, you have finished the Night Elf Campaign!
NOTES
@ This stage is easy, just don't rush. Runes are scarce though, so use the
priests to keep your forces alive until you have a base.
@ Remember to have the footmen defend when you fight ranged units.
@ Observatories seem to be made up completely of lumber, and as such they
phenomenal amounts of wood to repair. Be prepared to have lots of peasants
assigned to lumber.
GOOD ITEMS
- Manual of Health
- Tome of Int. x2
- Tome of Str.
- Periapt of Vitality
- Tome of Agl.
- Healing Wards
Once you start, break the crate near the slope to your west for a scroll of
the beast. Start moving. Don't attack-move your priests, you need them to
be healing at all times.
OPTIONAL QUEST - Hidden Caches
I always knew Kael was a sneaky guy. He has gold hidden everywhere! The
first 2 caches are on the way, so just grab them as you go. The other 2 are
quite far flung, but have very nice items. At the southwestern cache, there
is a crate hidden under some trees that has a Tome of Agl. The northwestern
cache has Healing Wards.
-Cut scene-
You have no choice but to accept the ships provided by the naga. Once you
sail across and build your Town Hall, upgrade it as soon as possible. You
need to build and Arcane Sanctum and start making more breakers and priests
to defend your base. Attacks will start coming from the west soon,
comprising of either ghouls and necros, or banshees and crypt fiends. After
one or two waves meat wagons will start coming too. Get mortar teams to
counter them, since accumulating mortar teams will help you to flatten the
undead base eventually anyway.
It will take no more than 8 mortar teams, 7 breakers and 6 priests to purge
the undead base. Take them out once you have enough firepower, they can be a
nuisance if you let them stick around.
The group of mur'gul to the north of the first observatory will give a Maul
of Str. In other words, they're a waste of time.
NOTES
@ You cannot save the north and south parts of your base. However, all the
units that survive the undead onslaught will be teleported to your main
base when after the first cut scene. I recommend making all the fighters
in the condemned bases run to the eastern-most part of their respective
"islands" to escape the attack. They can help to defend your base later.
@ Workers should continue mining to get you more gold. When they are under
attack, have them run to the further gold mine to harvest.
@ While you watch your bases get destroyed, it is wise to start cranking out
hawks and building farms on your main island. That way you can start the
counterattack as soon as the cut scene ends.
@ The observatory is still active in this stage, which means you get advance
intel on where and when the enemy will strike. Keep an eye on the minimap,
and advance or retreat your hawks as is necessary.
@ The naga units are irreplaceable once lost, except for Lady Vashj, so do
not be careless with them.
GOOD ITEMS
- Tome of Int.
- Claws+6
- Tome of Agl.+2
- Ring of Regeneration (Regen)
- Mana Stone
- Ring of Superiority (+1 to str. agl. int.)
- Potion of Greater Healing
- Pendant of Energy
If you had been building hawks right from the start, you should have about 6
or 7 in total by the time the stage proper starts. Immediately attack the
purple base to the south with all the naga and all the hawks. Don't attempt
to cross the bridge to the west, just destroy the section closer to your
base. In the crates near the mine here, you will find all you need to start
an expansion (expo) here. Don't worry about defending this place, as long as
Kael stays at home the undead will leave your expos alone. In the middle of
the fight to recover this mine, however, it is quite likely that your base
will be attacked. Retreat just your hawks, and have the naga finish up.
You start with all the buildings you can build, and full upgrades, except for
the Altar of Kings (altar) and Arcane Sanctuary (sanc). It is a good idea to
build a sanc when you have the money. You will need to replace the priests
that die.
The northern base should be your next target. Again, just take the section
closer to your main base first. You do not want to overstretch your army
until you have vastly superior numbers. To the west of that mine are some
crates that will again, yield all that you need to start an expo here.
Now with 2 mines, you can afford to have more Gryphon Aviaries (aviaries)
producing hawks simultaneously. Use them and the naga to retake your lost
bases one at a time. You should be able to do it with no losses.
Once you are done, all you need to do is have the hawks intercept any
incoming "dropships" or air squadrons, and you can accumulate troops in
peace.
To destroy the last undead base, i recommend taking out the Ziggaruts (zigs)
one by one using hit and run tactics with 2 full groups of hawks. Once the
last zig is destroyed you can launch an all out assault. Unfortunately,
even destroying all the zigs will not halt their production, because the
Black Citadel itself produces 90 food. However, if you destroy the Black
Citadel and all the acolytes, the undead will not be able to produce any
more units, so try to make that a priority if you can.
Leave some Boneyards alive so that you can go off to hunt some creep. The
creep to the west of your main base will yield a Tome of Int. and a Claws+6.
There is a hidden hydra in the southwestern-most corner of the map. It will
be folly not to hunt it: it yields a Tome of Agl.+2, a Mana Stone and a Ring
of Regen. The gnolls at the northwest corner of the map give a Ring of
Superiority and a Scroll of Prot. The gnolls and ogres to the east of the
last undead base will give a Scroll of Healing and Replenishment Potion
respectively. The trolls in the northeast of the map give a Scroll of Lesser
Replenishment, and breaking in one of the crates there is a Potion of Greater
Healing. To the east of this camp are some lightning lizards. If you
approach their cave, a big lizard will emerge, and killing it will get you a
Pendant of Energy.
OPTIONAL QUEST - Acquire Gold Mine
This quest is strange, because putting down the instant town halls doesn't
seem to trigger it. In fact, i've tried everything i can think of, but the
computer just doesn't seem to register that you completed this sidequest. If
you know something i don't about this, please write to me.
=== Chapter Three - The Dungeons of Dalaran ===
Difficulty - *
Start with: Kael and Lady Vashj.
NOTES
@ This stage is easy if you take your time. There are lots of runes to get.
@ When you have an opportunity to stop a guard, simply Banish him. Or you
can just let him raise the alarm, the elite guards are not too hard to
fight.
@ Iron doors cannot be broken. You'll have to find a switch or solve a
puzzle to open them.
GOOD ITEMS
- Medallion of Courage (str. & int. +4)
- Stone Token
- Tome of Knowledge (str. int. agl. +1)
- Tome of Str.
- Ring of the Archmagi (special item)
- Tome of Agl.
- Scroll of Mana
- Tome of Int.
- Boots of Speed
- Frost Wyrm Skull Shield
- Essence of Aszune
- Shamanic Totem
Go westward to free your lieutenant and other elves, and continue west to
fight some spiders. The mother spider has a Medallion of Courage. There is
a Rune of Restoration in an egg sack behind the mother spider, but otherwise
there is nothing of interest in the eggs, except a Ring of Prot.+1. Remember
to free your elves before you leave here.
To the east of where you start, across shallow water, is a golem guarding a
large crate. Inside is a Tome of Knowledge. Flamestrike the mushrooms to
clear the way for Lady Vashj to get the Stone Token in the Water.
OPTIONAL QUEST - Ghosts of Dalaran.
As per the cut scene, step on like-colored runes to open doors or reveal
items. Normal units can step on runes too, so make use of that fact. The
Gem Fragments that you can get are like the Shadow Orb pieces in the Night
Elf quest: they will accumulate at the latest fragment that you touched, so
you don't have to actually pick them up until you find the last piece. Just
make sure to right-click on every fragment to activate it.
One of the pair of runes opening the door to the third ghost is blocked by
some crates and the other is in the water further down the passage.
After you walk in on a big battle between the undead and the human guards, in
a room with lots of wagons loaded with gold, slay the undead and look to the
southeast of the room. Near some mushrooms you will see a hole in the wall
that seems to have light blue bubbles near it. Have someone walk into that
hole, and you will find the solution to a previously unusable rune. This
will open the door to the last ghost. If you read the item description,
you'll find that the Ring is perfect for Kael, who typically depends on
breakers and priests as the mainstay of his army.
To the south of the gold room there is a room with 3 sheep. Step on the
square in front of the blue, then red, then gold sheep to open the door.
Pick up the ? for a special surprise later.
To the east of this room, a big battle awaits. After you win, Flamestrike
the mushrooms to the north to reveal a Rune of Restoration, and underneath
that is the solution to open the Demonic Gate you passed by earlier. Go back
and enter the gate to get some neat items.
The fight against Kassan is marginally hard. Kassan himself is immune to
magic, so be careful.
### Secret Level - The Crossing ###
Difficulty: ?
Start with: Kael, Lady Vashj, 2 workers and 2 towers.
NOTES
@ TOWER D!!! JOIN NOWW!!!11!
@ This stage is hilarious. I couldn't stop laughing when i first saw it.
@ Anyway, the key here is to upgrade your towers.
@ You can only build on places with grass, or in other words, along the sides
of the circuit.
@ Don't build too many boulder towers. If you do, you'll get screwed when
the flying enemies come.
@ You can sell unwanted items at the goblin merchant in the west to boost
your economy. Use runes of speed to help your hero move along to the shop.
@ There is a reward for beating all the rounds in this stage, but i won't say
what. Just try it out for yourself!
GOOD ITEMS
- Claws+9
- Tome of Agl.
- Gloves of Haste
- Ice Shard
- Mana Stone
- Orb of Slow
- Ring of Regen
- Periapt of Vitality +300 (???)
If you've played any kind of tower defense before, you should know what to do
here. The trick to getting a high score is to build your towers on the
inside of the curves instead of the outside. Concentrate the towers first
where there are a lot of kinks in the path.
It is a good idea to leave some spaces between your towers to put better
towers that your engineers invent later. Once you develop a better tower,
build nothing but that. Except the cold tower, which cannot hit magic-
immune units. Build those sparingly, and spread them out.
As if the madness wasn't enough, the designers have sprinkled a myriad of
cool items throughout the map in crates and barrels. The crates near your
starting position hold a Claws+9, the wyvern cage (big crate) to the
southeast has an Ice Shard. The barrel in the water to the west of the
portal holds a Tome of Agl. The magic vault south of this barrel has a
Gloves of Haste. The magic vault to the northeast holds a Mana Stone. The
vault to the north of your starting point has an Orb of Slow. In the crates
in the northeastern-most part of the map is a Ring of Regen.
Err... yeah, the Pandaren Brewmaster drops a Periapt of Vitality +300. Well,
he doesn't exactly drop it, but once you kill him, it appears in the middle
of the map where you start. Hmm, testing has shown that it is a bogus item,
and once you pick it up, you can't drop it! Although it appears to add 300
to your max HP, the item will disappear in the next stage, and it doesn't
come back the stage after that either. It seems to be a trick item to make
you waste a slot to pick it up.
=== Chapter Four - The Search for Illidan ===
Difficulty ** or ****
Start with: Kael, Lady Vashj, and possibly Jinta Reedwine
NOTES
@ This stage is similar to many customs maps out there such as defense of the
ancients (DotA) or 10 hero siege. You cannot control the forces on either
side. Only your heroes are available to you. You do, however, get the
gold that is being mined.
GOOD ITEMS
- Sobi Mask
Use your gold to buy mercenaries to bolster your forces. The Sobi Mask is
available at the goblin merchant, and it is a good item to buy.
The only thing to note about this stage is that you should have your heroes
stay with the main front of your allied forces at all times. You don't need
to "escort" the cage personally; once it is under your control it will
automatically move towards your base on its own. Staying with the front of
your army will ensure that the enemy doesn’t break through, and give the
cage enough time to get to your base.
If you find that your army is losing, however, it is a good idea to retreat
and wait for the next wave of your allies to come to battle.
NOTES
@ This is kinda like the custom maps of the "protect the (insert name here)"
series. You got to protect Illidan for 3 minutes every time he tries to
close a portal.
@ Once the timer reaches 0, all the demons that came out from the portal will
die instantly.
@ You can build couatl in this stage, and they are very good against dragons.
@ I suggest destroying all the orcs before attempting to close any other
gate. Their bases are not hard to penetrate with some help from your ally,
and they will prove to be a constant pain in the ass if you don't kill them
first.
@ To maximize battle potential, build up to your supply limit before rescuing
prisoners.
GOOD ITEMS
- Scroll of Resurrection
- Belt of Giant Str. (+6 str.)
- Runed Bracers
- Manual of Health
- Hood of Cunning
- Khadgar's Gem of Health
- Greater Scroll of Replenishment
- Claws+12
One thing to note is not to let your troops run too far away towards the
portal. They have a bad habit of doing that. If your defenses are failing,
fall back and let Illidan take some hits. He's a real behemoth and can take
at least 10 seconds of punishment all by himself.
After you seal the first gate, orcs will attack you soon, usually from the
south. There are some crates around your base, one of which contains a
Potion of Greater Healing. A crate near the first portal you sealed has a
Scroll of Resurrection.
OPTIONAL QUEST - Draenei Village
South of your base, a Draenei village is under attack. It is easy to help
them. With the right items, just your 3 heroes alone are enough to crush the
orcs that are bothering the Draenei.
In the Draenei village are many crates filled with goodies. There is a Belt
of Giant Str., a Pendant of Energy, a Runed Bracers, and some Goblin Land
Mines.
Once you help the Draenei, they will start to suicide charge another orc base
every now and then. If you launch a joint attack with them using your heroes
and dragon turtles, you should be able to destroy that orc base too.
There are lots of Draenei held captive in cages all around the map. If you
break the cages they are held in, they will join you. The crates near their
prisons usually have good items too. Just east of your base, some infernal
contraptions one such prison. The crates there will give a Manual of Health.
To the north of the east-most orc base is another prison, and the crates
there hold a Hood of Cunning. There is another prison to the north of your
original base, and the crates there hold a Khadgar's Gem of Health.
The last group of orcs will cycle between sending dragons, raiders, and
grunts together with a Blademaster to harass you. Have some troops at home
to defend if you are out raiding bases or closing gates.
When attacking the last orc base, be prepared to fight lots of dragons.
Couatl are the best bet against dragons; hawks just don't do enough damage.
With fully upgraded troops you should have no trouble beating them.
The dimensional gates are not too hard to close, but don't underestimate
them. The demons that emerge are generally the same type as those that were
guarding the gate. For example, the gate in the south will release mostly
flying units. Watch out for maidens, they can Charm your units.
The crates around the gates usually have useful items in them, so check them
out. There is one in the northwest corner of the map holding a Claws+12.
=== Chapter Six - Lord of Outland ===
Difficulty - ***
Start with: Kael, Illidan, 5 breakers, 3 priests, 2 sorceresses (sorcs).
Team 2 has Lady Vashj, 2 royal guards, 2 dragon turtles, 3 snap dragons.
Team 3 has some interesting characters, used mostly for assassination and
sabotage.
NOTES
@ All your units start off fully upgraded.
@ Remember that Illidan can walk on water.
@ Even if you don't set your assassins to hide, they won't attack unless
their allies nearby are attacked. You can sneak around with them with
ease. Take note that casting spells and using items will cause them to
be revealed temporarily.
@ You cannot rebuild any of the assassins, so take care of them! You can,
however, revive their leader at your altar, so don't worry too much about
him.
@ On Illidan's side, the orcs will keep sending waves of attackers to slow
you down, and they will always track the location of your visible party.
I've never known them to try to attack your base though, so don't worry
about defense. Lady Vashj's side does not experience this. Most of the
enemies she has to fight are static.
@ There are too many Tomes and other good items in this stage, so i will
only indicate those that are exceptional, or hard to find.
@ To maximize battle potential, build up to your supply limit before rescuing
prisoners or siege machines. You will have over 100 supply in units, which
is, of course, a good thing.
@ The Master of Pain and Mistress of Torment have Truesight, so they can see
invisible units. Don't try to sneak past them.
@ This is the last stage of the campaign, so don't hesitate to use all your
consumable items.
GOOD ITEMS
- Helm of Valor
- Mask of Death
- Ankh of Reincarnation
- Claws+12 x2
- Robe of The Magi
- Demonic Figurine
OPTIONAL QUEST - Disable Defenses
Huh? How is this an optional quest? You will suffer ridiculous losses if
you don't do it, so there's really no other way about it. The generators are
marked on the minimap, so it's only a matter of getting to them to destroy
them.
If you find that your forward scouts ever have any trouble, remember that
your sorcs have Invisibility, which works just fine on Illidan and Kael
(although Illidan still leaves ridiculously conspicuous footprints when he's
invisible).
To the west of the first generator (that the computer destroyed for you in
the cut scene), there is a room with a lot of tomes and some prisoners to
rescue. Go in for a special surprise!
OPTIONAL QUEST - Siege Bastion
After destroying the first orc base, there is a room to the west that holds
some siege weapons. It is a good idea to get them. The guards are easy to
kill. But maybe that's because my Illidan was doing 69 - 91 dmg at "very
fast" speed, and draining half of that life with the Mask of Death.
Just before the north-most orc base on Illidan's side, to the west, there is
a waterway down which Illidan can go. Follow it south then east to get a
Manual of Health, and up a southern slope for a Helm of Valor, 2 Tomes of
Agl. and some gold coins. It's a good idea to do this after you destroy the
north orc base, because they have a habit of coming out to attack your forces
while Illidan is away.
The easiest way to play this stage is to control only Illidan's side first,
all the way up to the Master of Pain, and then use Illidan to meet up with
Lady Vashj, and bring all 4 heroes to fight the Mistress of Torment together,
followed by the Master of Pain.
To get to Lady Vashj before defeating the Master of Pain, destroy the
mushrooms to the northeast corner of the first orc base you destroy. It will
lead you to a Fountain of Mana. Illidan can go down the south slope here and
cross to the other side, which eventually leads to Vashj.
WIREWYRM'S IMPOSSIBLE OPTIONAL QUEST - Melt the Mysterious Stay-Frost Snowmen
In the southwest corner of the same orc base, there is another clump of
mushrooms. Burning these away will reveal some gold coins, and 3 Mysterious
Stay-Frost Snowmen. No matter how hard i tried, i couldn't melt them away.
Can you?
In the southeast corner of this orc base, behind more mushrooms, are some
more gold coins. There is nothing in the northwest corner of the base.
To get to Lady Vashj, Illidan has to go through an orc base. Go through it?
Why not just lay waste to the whole base with Illidan? If you have the Mask
of Death and Crown of Kings, as well as the Claws+15 left over from the Night
Elf campaign, you should be more than able to take them on. Kill the
warlocks first, they have irritating magic. Then kill the grunts next. When
the catapults start attacking you, stand right next to a building as you
fight so that the splash dmg from the enemy catapults will hit the building.
Destroy the catapults last: they take up precious supply so that the enemy
cannot build more of other units, and also because they will help you to
demolish their own buildings.
When you are playing as Lady Vashj, if you check to the west of the main
waterway, you will find some hydras. After killing them, break the rocks to
reveal and Ankh of Reincarnation and a Claws+12.
If you go north, then west again, you will fight some ships. A small recess
to the north of those ships has some gold coins and a Robe of the Magi in it.
Go east from here, past the Fountain of Health, and then south down a passage
to find 2 of each kind of tome (str. int. & agl.) as well as some gold coins.
You should be pretty loaded by now.
Go north past the ex-orc base and you will find some explosives by the
mushrooms. Blow them up! They will reveal a path, and if you blow up even
more mushrooms, you will find some coins and a rune called a Shard of
Summoning. It summons a very large flesh golem for a limited time.
To the west of this is the hydraulic bridge. Step on the glowing squares on
either side to complete the bridge. Once you trigger the bridge, you can
form up your entire party to attack the Mistress of Torment. I think her
side is easier because her guards cannot charm your units. Defeat her and
claim her Mask of Death.
The Master of Pain should be easier now. One thing to note is that you
should try to save either at least one catapult or some of the invisible
units. You still have one last generator to destroy.
Once he is done for, destroy the last generator. It is invulnerable until
you kill both the Master and Mistress. A glowing tile behind the Master's
throne reveals his treasure room to the west, but there is nothing of much
value there.
Before you fight the final battle, look to the east side of the passage for
a small room that is sort of like a warehouse: it has many crates. One of
the crates has a Demonic Figurine.
You can either fight Magtheridon directly, or lure his guards away first.
Either way, the fight should not be too difficult.
Congratulations, you have finished the Human Campaign!
This is a glossary of terms used and common abbreviations, in no particular
order.
Str. = Strength
Agl. = Agility
Int. = Intelligence
Prot. = Protection
Claws = Claws of Attack
Dmg = Damage
Focus fire (FF) = using all your units to attack one enemy. Quite simply put,
it means concentrating your firepower.
Expo = Expansion, or a satellite base, usually for the sole purpose of
harvesting gold.
FoK = Fan of Knives
FoN = Force of Nature
ToL = Tree of Life, Night Elf town hall
ToE = Tree of Eternity, Night Elf town hall level 3
AoW = Ancient of War
AoL = Ancient of Lore
AP = Ancient Protector
Hall = Town Hall
Aviary = Gryphon Aviary
Sanc = Arcane Sanctum
Zigs = Ziggaruts
MG = Mountain Giant
DotC = Druid of the Claw
DotT = Druid of the Talon
Breakers = Spell Breakers
Hawks = Dragonhawk Riders
Sorc = Sorceress
Necros = Necromancers
Skellies = Skeletons
