Hero (Warcraft)
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In Blizzard Entertainment's real-time strategy game Warcraft III, a Hero is a special kind of unit which embodies some of the properties normally found in role-playing games, such as levelling and skill selection. Heroes were considered one of the most innovative features of Warcraft III, due to the large changes to traditional RTS concepts and strategies brought about by their introduction.
Each race has three different classes of heroes in the original game, with a fourth type added to each race in the . Eight neutral heroes are also available to all players on certain maps in the expansion set.
Like RPG characters, Heroes gain experience points from kills made by the player, and "level-up" at certain intervals. In regular games and campaigns, the maximum level a Hero can achieve is level 10.
Special properties
Heroes differ from ordinary units in the following respects:- Heroes have much more health and do much more damage than normal units - they are physically much more powerful.
- Heroes appear slightly larger than units and have a glow around their feet and weapon to identify them.
- Each Hero has a unique proper name, so that even two heroes of the same type can be distinguished.
- Like RPG characters, Heroes gain experience points from kills made by the player, and "level-up".
- Like RPG characters, the player can select a new ability or upgrade an existing one each time the Hero levels up.
- Like RPG characters, Heroes can carry and use inventory items.
- There is a hard limit of three heroes per player. In addition, the player must have upgraded to tier-two before purchasing a second hero, and tier-three before purchasing a third. Finally, there is a limit of one hero per type (so each hero must be unique).
- The first hero costs no gold or lumber (only food). This is to encourage players to get one, and ensure that players who do not use a hero are at a significant disadvantage.
- When they are killed, they can be revived back in the player's base for a price, retaining all of their experience, items and abilities. As such, Heroes are a permanent addition to the player's army.
- Heroes are given special significance in the interface design. For example, the player can view all of their heroes (living and dead) in the top-left corner at all times, and select them with the F1-F3 keys. Also, special audio notifications are given when a player or allied player's hero is killed.
- All Heroes share a magic resistance, which reduces the duration and/or severity of all negative spells cast upon them.
- All Heroes are immune to several spells, either for balance or logistics reasons (for example, it is impossible for a Banshee to cast Possession on a hero).
Effect on gameplay
The sum of all of these properties makes Heroes effectively mandatory for all players. The advantage of having a Hero in combat is so great that players typically keep their units with their Heroes at all times, and will flee a battle if their heroes are killed.Thus, the Heroes system changed both the way the game is played, and the way it was designed. For instance, in previous Blizzard games, Heroes were used sparingly in the campaigns, and never in custom or multiplayer battles. In Warcraft III, every campaign level has at least one player-controlled hero.
This not only changes gameplay, but the story as well. Warcraft III's campaign is driven by the characters themselves (as Heroes). In previous Blizzard strategy games, the player was briefed before the mission, with the characters or narrator speaking directly to the player (who was usually given a title such as "commander"). In Warcraft III, for the first time, there is no narrator or "player character". The missions are introduced by the characters themselves, who address only each other and never the player directly.
The choice of Hero in a custom or multiplayer game adds another interesting twist to the game. Since Heroes are so influential on the gameplay, the Hero chosen greatly affects strategies and chances in battle. While some Heroes are better in certain situations than others (eg. The Paladin has "Holy Light" which can only damage units in the Undead race), generally all heroes are designed to be evenly balanced, and the choice merely comes down to strategy.
Most of the other innovations in Warcraft III are related to Heroes in some way. Inventory items, for example, are only usable by heroes. Creeps, the other major innovation, serve their primary purpose as providing heroes with experience and items early on in a match.
Hero abilities
All Heroes have four abilities (usually magic spells) which can be earned through level-ups. Heroes begin at level 1, and are allowed to choose one ability when created. Each level-up allows the Hero to add one ability, or upgrade an existing one. All Heroes have three "normal" abilities, and one "ultimate". The normal abilities can be assigned from level 1 onwards (giving spell-level 1), and can be upgraded twice (to a maximum spell-level of 3). The first upgrade may only be done from Hero-level 3, and the second, from Hero-level 5. Once the Hero reaches level 6, the ultimate is unlocked. The ultimate has only one level, and is generally much more powerful, but costly, than the other abilities.
Once the Hero reaches level 10 (the maximum), 10 ability points will have been assigned, so each normal ability will be on spell-level 3 (also the maximum), and the ultimate will be available.
Hero abilities can turn the tide of a battle if used correctly. Once a Hero obtains an ultimate, the game can quickly tip in their favour. Certain Heroes have a stronger ultimate and weaker normal abilities (such as the Night Elf Priestess of the Moon), making those heroes relatively much stronger from level 6 onwards.
Campaign Heroes
In custom and multiplayer games ("meleé matches"), heroes are purchased from the player's altar. The player can choose any hero, and can continue buying a hero for each tier they develop. Such "bought Heroes" are randomly assigned proper names, as outlined above, and serve no other purpose than leading the player's army.In the single-player campaigns (or story-mode), Heroes are treated somewhat differently. Like in previous Blizzard games, Heroes are major characters in the story, assigned automatically to the player in each mission. As such, the player has no control over what Heroes they can purchase, or how many there are. The altar serves only to allow dead Hero revival.
Each campaign typically has a single main character who is the player's first Hero in most, if not all, of the missions. Usually, several other heroes come and go during various missions in the campaign. This generally gives the player an opportunity to try all three Hero classes for that race. The expansion campaigns all include the new Hero class as the primary or secondary character. If a Hero is killed in the course of battle, they can be revived at the altar as usual. However, if the Hero is killed in a cinematic sequence (as part of the game's fixed storyline), then they will be permanently removed from the game.
Unlike custom and multiplayer games, the campaigns let each Hero keep their levels and items throughout a campaign. Level progression is much slower, and usually limited to one level per mission (once the Hero levels up, they receive no more experience until the next mission). The campaigns also tend to control the selection of abilities by providing only one or two options in earlier missions, and unlocking more later on.
Strategy
The presence of Heroes in Warcraft III mean that traditional strategies are useless or need heavy modification. For instance, in StarCraft, units would generally wait in the player's base until ready to attack. In Warcraft III, it is considered wasteful if an army is not constantly moving or fighting either the enemy or creeps. This is because, with Heroes, killing creeps has become an important gameplay activity, to ensure the Hero is of a high enough level when combat with the enemy occurs.Combat strategies vary based on the Hero, but use of Hero abilities is one of the most important actions in battle. Heroes are often also used as a tank, to absorb damage.
The number of heroes chosen by the player is important in their overall strategy, though there is some debate as to what is the optimal number of heroes. Purchasing only a single hero is called "soloing", and has the advantages of the extra resources from not buying a second hero, and also usually a higher-level hero from not having to share experience. However, the lack of the extra firepower, abilities and backup that a second hero usually provides makes having two heroes a more popular option. Having three heroes is seen very rarely unless the game is long - the third hero is usually underdeveloped and too weak to fight the very powerful opposition faced at tier three (when the option of buying a third hero becomes available).
Development
Heroes have always been present in Blizzard's real-time strategy games. In Warcraft: Orcs and Humans, Warcraft II and StarCraft, "heroes" were only seen in campaign (story) mode, where they were simply regular units with special names, portraits and speech who served as the major characters in the games' storylines. Most missions with heroes would automatically fail if the player's hero was killed. Alternatively, some missions had the objective of killing an enemy hero. Each Blizzard RTS game and expansion gave heroes a larger role than the previous one, leading up to Warcraft III.Heroes were always a large part of the gameplay during Warcraft III's development, but did not always serve the same role as they do in the released version. When the game was announced in 1999, Heroes were to serve an even bigger role in the game. The game was lauded as a "Role-Playing Strategy" game - a melding of the two genres. In the original design, units had to be attached to a Hero at all times (and could not go wandering by themselves). Also, instead of having the traditional fog of war (as the game now has), originally the camera was bound to Heroes as well, and the player's vision was simply limited to that of their Heroes.
Heroes were originally to be called "Legends", according to the book The Art of Warcraft.
See also
- Warcraft III
- Warcraft III units and structures (including Heroes)
External links
| Warcraft Universe |
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