Post by Over-Admire. on Jan 30, 2014 9:29:58 GMT -5
Humans
As a Human player, you are typically vulnerable in the early game and the chances of you suffering some harass are quite high. On the other hand, you get stronger as the game goes on, especially if you've established your economy with an early expansion, as the typical trio of Human Heroes (Archmage/Mountain King/Paladin) is VERY powerful and the late game Human units are overall very potent. Militia is key to your defense, attack and creeping. Humans are notorious for easily clearing relatively hard creep camps with the help of Militia. It can also be useful later in the game as it provides what one might call cannon fodder in large fights, and it is always a resourceful way of fending off an attack. T2 units are also powerful, notably casters. Mass casters is a very common strategy but it does require a great deal of micro to be successful, as these units are all very low on HP and do not have great armor. Humans tend to creep and reach for a fast level 3 before they do any kind of real aggression, although early harass is definitely an option if you have excellent control. Humans are very effective at cancelling buildings and killing workers, as they don't really need more than their Archmage and two Elementals to do damage, or even their Mountain King with a few units, provided they are level 3. Any player who chooses to harass a Human will almost always go for Peasants, as they are very vulnerable and killing them can provide you with a real advantage. The Archmage is almost always the choice of any player, mostly because of the Water Elementals (which are incredibly strong after level 2) and the Brillance Aura, which makes the Archmage a walking mana fountain. He is however fairly fragile, so good control is required. The Mountain King is also incredibly powerful, definitely amongst the strongest Heroes in the game. He has a very nasty stun and is very beefy, so he should never be underestimated.
Orcs
As an Orc player, you are very vulnerable during your tech and during the T2 phase of the game. As Orc players tend to have less army, especially in the beginning, losing any unit early on is a huge deal for them. Delaying the T2 infrastructures of an Orc is very easy and does wonders, and destroying their burrows goes a long way to giving you an advantage as they are easy to kill, thus supply blocking the Orc easily. The T3 of Orcs is extremely powerful, but as they have a lot of very good T2 units as well, they rarely go for it. Orcish units are expensive and they have to know what to do. Raiders are typically the way to go, as Ensnare is a completely free disable that costs no mana at all and isn't magic, and therefore can be cast on anything and everything. It allows for an easy shut down of any unit or Hero and makes focusing a breeze. Orcs typically do a lot of physical damage and lack casters and magic, as their most powerful units and heroes are on the physical side. They also have tons of disables when you add Heroes like Shadow Hunter or Tauren Chieftain to Raiders. Orc players tend to harass a lot, although they can also creep. It generally depends on the match-up and the map. They have excellent map control as they can scout easily with the BM, who is very fast, and with the Far Seer who can summon Wolves for an easy scout. Due to the nature of the BM (invisibility), one can expect to be creep jacked when playing against an Orc.
Night Elves
As a Night Elf player, your weaknesses shift depending on the time of the day. Naturally, a NE player is stronger at night, not only because most of their units will be able to hide but also because their Moon Wells will regenerate, giving them extra HP and mana regeneration. As a consequence they are more vulnerable during the day, whereas losing their Moon Wells is horrible because it not only deprives them of food supply but also of heals. Night Elf players are typically extremely versatile, they are the race that arguably benefits the most from the Tavern because a lot of Neutral Heroes fit very well within their strategies. I would say that they are quite wood dependent, and killing their Wisps to shut down their resources is a very viable move that pays off if you don't lose too many units in the process. I believe that positioning is primordial when fighting a Night Elf, as the fights tend to require you to properly contain their army and do good damage across the board while protecting your units to the maximum. Night Elves players can harass or creep very well, and excellent players tend to do both at the same time. A key component to Nigh Elf early game is what we call AoW creeping: using your Ancient of War (the first building they have to produce military units) to tank damage from the creeps and leave their units unharmed. As a result, they can easily creep with their AoW and a couple of units and run off with their Hero to harass the opponent if the situation allows it. Keep in mind any unit killed by a building (be it a tower of any race or a Night Elf Ancient) does not give any experience, so they do have to be careful as to who or what gives the last hit. It always depends on the situation and on the choices made by each player, but in most games, Night Elf players will benefit more from harassing as it helps them a lot in shutting down the leveling of their opponent - it directly affects any aggression they might suffer.
Undead
As an Undead player, your weakness lies with your economy. Undead players tend to be the race which expands the less, quite simply because their expansions are very costly and often require a lot of commitment to defend. They also take a lot from their T3, which means that a fast tech is very often an advantage for them. Undead players rely a whole lot on Heroes, mostly because their nuking potential allows them to kill or severely damage units and Heroes in a matter of seconds, which can often be a game changer. As previously stated, their T3 units are very strong (mostly the Destroyer, the Frost Wyrm and perhaps the Abomination) and their T3 items are also incredible. They have the best orb in the game (-5 defense) and the nuking potential of the Death Knight + Lich combo is not to be trifled with. I would say they are most vulnerable when they are teching, as their Acolytes are quite easy to access and kill and since they use different workers for gold and wood, killing any Acolyte can prove to be horribly crippling. On the other hand, an Undead base is a real fortress and it is extremely hard to enter a base without being harmed, let alone win a fight in it. Undead players have a higher regeneration on the Blight their buildings create (similar to Zergs' creep) and their main and towers can slow you down, making any assault or battle in their base very challenging. Undead players direly need map control, as most races will choose to expand against them. Undead players tend to harass against Night Elves and Humans, and creep in the other two match-ups. In almost all cases, Undead players will put heavy pressure on any opponent who expands, as having a greater economy than the Undead often turns out to be a game winner. Their nuking potential allows them to be very aggressive and they become real scary with each level their Heroes gain. It is not unheard of to have your Hero two-shot by Undead nukes.
As a Human player, you are typically vulnerable in the early game and the chances of you suffering some harass are quite high. On the other hand, you get stronger as the game goes on, especially if you've established your economy with an early expansion, as the typical trio of Human Heroes (Archmage/Mountain King/Paladin) is VERY powerful and the late game Human units are overall very potent. Militia is key to your defense, attack and creeping. Humans are notorious for easily clearing relatively hard creep camps with the help of Militia. It can also be useful later in the game as it provides what one might call cannon fodder in large fights, and it is always a resourceful way of fending off an attack. T2 units are also powerful, notably casters. Mass casters is a very common strategy but it does require a great deal of micro to be successful, as these units are all very low on HP and do not have great armor. Humans tend to creep and reach for a fast level 3 before they do any kind of real aggression, although early harass is definitely an option if you have excellent control. Humans are very effective at cancelling buildings and killing workers, as they don't really need more than their Archmage and two Elementals to do damage, or even their Mountain King with a few units, provided they are level 3. Any player who chooses to harass a Human will almost always go for Peasants, as they are very vulnerable and killing them can provide you with a real advantage. The Archmage is almost always the choice of any player, mostly because of the Water Elementals (which are incredibly strong after level 2) and the Brillance Aura, which makes the Archmage a walking mana fountain. He is however fairly fragile, so good control is required. The Mountain King is also incredibly powerful, definitely amongst the strongest Heroes in the game. He has a very nasty stun and is very beefy, so he should never be underestimated.
Orcs
As an Orc player, you are very vulnerable during your tech and during the T2 phase of the game. As Orc players tend to have less army, especially in the beginning, losing any unit early on is a huge deal for them. Delaying the T2 infrastructures of an Orc is very easy and does wonders, and destroying their burrows goes a long way to giving you an advantage as they are easy to kill, thus supply blocking the Orc easily. The T3 of Orcs is extremely powerful, but as they have a lot of very good T2 units as well, they rarely go for it. Orcish units are expensive and they have to know what to do. Raiders are typically the way to go, as Ensnare is a completely free disable that costs no mana at all and isn't magic, and therefore can be cast on anything and everything. It allows for an easy shut down of any unit or Hero and makes focusing a breeze. Orcs typically do a lot of physical damage and lack casters and magic, as their most powerful units and heroes are on the physical side. They also have tons of disables when you add Heroes like Shadow Hunter or Tauren Chieftain to Raiders. Orc players tend to harass a lot, although they can also creep. It generally depends on the match-up and the map. They have excellent map control as they can scout easily with the BM, who is very fast, and with the Far Seer who can summon Wolves for an easy scout. Due to the nature of the BM (invisibility), one can expect to be creep jacked when playing against an Orc.
Night Elves
As a Night Elf player, your weaknesses shift depending on the time of the day. Naturally, a NE player is stronger at night, not only because most of their units will be able to hide but also because their Moon Wells will regenerate, giving them extra HP and mana regeneration. As a consequence they are more vulnerable during the day, whereas losing their Moon Wells is horrible because it not only deprives them of food supply but also of heals. Night Elf players are typically extremely versatile, they are the race that arguably benefits the most from the Tavern because a lot of Neutral Heroes fit very well within their strategies. I would say that they are quite wood dependent, and killing their Wisps to shut down their resources is a very viable move that pays off if you don't lose too many units in the process. I believe that positioning is primordial when fighting a Night Elf, as the fights tend to require you to properly contain their army and do good damage across the board while protecting your units to the maximum. Night Elves players can harass or creep very well, and excellent players tend to do both at the same time. A key component to Nigh Elf early game is what we call AoW creeping: using your Ancient of War (the first building they have to produce military units) to tank damage from the creeps and leave their units unharmed. As a result, they can easily creep with their AoW and a couple of units and run off with their Hero to harass the opponent if the situation allows it. Keep in mind any unit killed by a building (be it a tower of any race or a Night Elf Ancient) does not give any experience, so they do have to be careful as to who or what gives the last hit. It always depends on the situation and on the choices made by each player, but in most games, Night Elf players will benefit more from harassing as it helps them a lot in shutting down the leveling of their opponent - it directly affects any aggression they might suffer.
Undead
As an Undead player, your weakness lies with your economy. Undead players tend to be the race which expands the less, quite simply because their expansions are very costly and often require a lot of commitment to defend. They also take a lot from their T3, which means that a fast tech is very often an advantage for them. Undead players rely a whole lot on Heroes, mostly because their nuking potential allows them to kill or severely damage units and Heroes in a matter of seconds, which can often be a game changer. As previously stated, their T3 units are very strong (mostly the Destroyer, the Frost Wyrm and perhaps the Abomination) and their T3 items are also incredible. They have the best orb in the game (-5 defense) and the nuking potential of the Death Knight + Lich combo is not to be trifled with. I would say they are most vulnerable when they are teching, as their Acolytes are quite easy to access and kill and since they use different workers for gold and wood, killing any Acolyte can prove to be horribly crippling. On the other hand, an Undead base is a real fortress and it is extremely hard to enter a base without being harmed, let alone win a fight in it. Undead players have a higher regeneration on the Blight their buildings create (similar to Zergs' creep) and their main and towers can slow you down, making any assault or battle in their base very challenging. Undead players direly need map control, as most races will choose to expand against them. Undead players tend to harass against Night Elves and Humans, and creep in the other two match-ups. In almost all cases, Undead players will put heavy pressure on any opponent who expands, as having a greater economy than the Undead often turns out to be a game winner. Their nuking potential allows them to be very aggressive and they become real scary with each level their Heroes gain. It is not unheard of to have your Hero two-shot by Undead nukes.
