I used to play WC3 when I was a kid, mainly campaign and then custom games with friends. With Reforged coming out, I’ve been wanting to get back to the game, and start playing 1v1 online, however, I’ve realised me and my friends were terrible at the game after looking at a few videos/guides :p. Back then I used to play mostly NE and a bit of HU, so I’m tempted to learn NE properly. However, having played Starcraft 2 I know that picking the right race could be important for your game experience.
I started as Zerg in HoTS and then switched to Terran in LoTV, and Terran felt a lot more at home for me (even managed to get to Plat which is massive for me giving the limited time I spend gaming nowadays). Having played a bunch of RTS, Terran macro feels a lot easier, and what I most enjoy about the race is that is very heavy on the mechanics and micro, but not so much on the strategy (Zerg requires you to know when to do certain things, otherwise you are dead), and as Terran you get to dictate the game (as Zerg you react). I know SC2 and WC3 are very different games, but is there a WC3 race that aligns with what I’ve described? I’ve been reading a bunch of guides and watched some videos, played a few custom games with different races against the AI, 1v1 online (got super owned), and still I’m not decided on which to pick.
I think human probably plays the most similar to what you described. You can expand early or tech. Go for mech (flying machines + tank) or bio with priests for healing, and have various unit compositions and strong air units and the best siege units. I mean, Terran = Human, right? Use farms like supply depots to wall off your base, strong towers and defenses, and you really can dictate the game and have strategic options. Orc is also a good choice and strong at controlling the map, but they don’t control the game in the sense of setting up early expansions and deciding whether to be offensive or defensive. Human also generally requires a bit more micro and have bigger armies of various small units. Undead and Orc are good at harassing but are more reactionary and dependant on timings in pretty rigid builds. Night Elf likes to play sneaky with expansions and amazing vision, but they don’t have very diverse options for heroes and units.
I haven’t played SC2 since the Wings of Liberty, but compared to that game I’d say Terran was most similar to Human, Protoss was most similar to Undead, and Zerg was sort of like NE.
Do not start the game by picking 1 race because in a few months from now you will realize which one you like best after playing them all more. You can decide later if you want to stick with 1 but try to play random for a little while, especially if you already know elf and human. You also dont exactly want to play a specific race with the intention of pretending its Starcraft, healing units is much more important in Wc3 so you should learn the best forms of healing for each race, then decide which race is easiest to keep units alive with.
its not so much about Race, but more to do with your Hero preference. if you like Elf you have a decent variety of heroes but Kotg seems popular lately. Und usually goes Dk Lich sometimes dl. Orcs are best with Bm Sh or sometimes Tc. Human used to rely on am the most but Mk is stronger than he used to be and bloodmage is great but can be difficult to use for beginners. playing Random helps get you comfortable with all heroes, which is better than getting stuck in 1 race if you want to take the game seriously. Obviously everybody has their best race, but you should still be comfortable with all 4
people will tell you Human is best at expanding, but Hum are also very difficult because you have to know exactly how many Militia to bring along with timing your lumber supply, so your tech isnt delayed. while Hum have the advantage of speed-building, its not the easiest strat to play and other races can expo too. Its more a factor of who’s better at scouting and finding the weak-points in their opponents build. So another factor to note is how good each race is at scouting. if your not scouting properly then you might as well be playing blind
since you already know Hum and Elf, you might want to try out Und. they can be tricky at first for a beginner, but once you get the knack for them they can be a good way to improve your skill because they have a very standard cookie cutter strat. Basically, you just go DK Lich fiends destroyers like every game, maybe with some casters or gargs if needed. Sometimes you can go Dreadlord fast expo but that requires a bit of luck. Undead isnt the best but they can be very effective if you are able to hit tier 2 very quickly. Once you get comfortable with Und you will be able to play decent with 3of4 races (hu,ud,ne) meaning only 1of4 games will be Orc if you play Random, and so thats how you should practice to be good with all 4!
heres some guides and tips:
this^ guide is the best available hotkey setup
heres some tutorial videos:
if you want more help let me know, I suggest being comfortable winning a 1v1 against computers on insane, although the AI is pretty crappy so dont take it too seriously
Hey mate, thanks for the detailed reply! I have watched Grubby’s bloody beginner tutorials, they are actually great! In terms of taking the game “seriously”, I wanna learn so I can play 1v1 online and not get smashed most games (but I only have the time to put in 1-2 games per day at most). I can definitely give random a go, I just felt like I would get a bit more success if I take it one race at the time (e.g. after playing a few NE games if I get UD I sometimes forget to get the Rod of Nec, which doesn’t happen if I’ve been on a few games with UD). I can definitely beat the AI in Normal comfortably, haven’t tried Insane yet.
thats a lot more than 1-2 per week what im saying is if you play 10-15 games in a week, just dont play them as all the same race. if you rarely play und you will keep forgetting the rod (as example) but if you play 3-4 und games a week youll stop forgetting those strats
lets say (hypothetically) that you keep losing to orc players, no matter what race you play as, and everytime you play as orc you get your ass kicked… well the more you play as orcs the better you will get at beating other orc players cause you learn their weaknesses
trust me its better to not do the same thing everygame cuz you get in a rut where you dont improve because you just stay comfortable doing the same thing every game. each race is really not that different, like I said it comes down more to your hero preference
Well, WC3 is a game (emphasis on that word) and I think part of the fun of an RTS is to talk about strategies, races, gameplay, etc. I made this post just for fun (which is the main purpose of a game, even tho it is weird that people need reminding of this), nothing else. Having these discussions is one of the main purposes of this forum anyways.
You do realise that race preference is completely subjective ? it really doesn’t matter what anyone tells you… you need to test them yourself and see which one you like most.
This discussion will get you nowhere. It’s like asking what tastes better, orange, apples, bananas or strawberries ? This isn’t SC, this is WC3. A race that seems unappealing to you could turn out to be your favorite. This is why YOU NEED TO test them yourself and not ask for subjective opinions on an internet forum.
given the fact you say you want to play a mechanic heavy race and not so much knowledge based:
i would recommend to play UD as they can go for basically the same BO vs every race and go for very similar army compositions. Also, UD got a very strong base so cheesy strats occur less often in my experience
I think the best option for you is to play the story mode when the game is out. This will give you time to really check all the options for all the races and learn the buildings, units, hot keys and everything in a pretty unstressed environment. Then you can decide which race you like the most that’s also what I plan to do, right now, I don’t know the races well enough to play them all in multiplayer, so I stick to UD as I know them best.
True. I did play the campaign when the game was originally released, and played some custom games with friends. I guess what I’m struggling with is to find what is the “style” of each race. But it might be that the styles between races are not as distinct as they are in Starcraft. I actually just played as UD and got my first win online. Fiends/Statue/Destroyers are a pretty easy strat to execute (at least against opponents in my level). And the DK plus Lich nuke is pretty fun too. Having the peace of mind of a few towers back at your base is also a plus.
This remembers me on a Magic the Gathering beginner hint.
Start by picking few cards you like, be it there cool artwork, interessting flavour text or because there effect interesst you. Do not go asking yourself if it is usefull or not because soon you will loose that glamour. Start just with combining your favourite card with other cards you find the fit to it.
I think this is true for Strategy Games too. I for example will start with Orcs in Reforged because I am sucker for orcs. Mayby undead or Human will fit more my playstyle but on release I start with orcs to get a hang of the game.
what im saying is if you play 10-15 games in a week, just dont play them as all the same race. if you rarely play und you will keep forgetting the rod (as example) but if you play 3-4 und games a week youll stop forgetting those strats
that’s also what I plan to do, right now, I don’t know the races well enough to play them all in multiplayer, so I stick to UD as I know them best.