Twenty years after the last additions to the Tavern, Warcraft III finally has a new neutral hero: the Forsaken Paladin.
And, naturally, much of the early discussion has revolved around the obvious question: is he overpowered? Maybe. Maybe not. But that is not what I want to discuss here. This is not a balance article. Numbers can always be changed. Maybe Sacred Aura needs different values. Maybe Consecration needs some tuning. Maybe Cleansing Fire turns out to be completely ridiculous once professional players discover how to abuse it. In fact, considering what usually happens when such a big change is introduced, I would be surprised if somebody does not find some completely broken strategy during the next few weeks.
Time will tell. What interests me much more is the design of the Forsaken Paladin and, in particular, the doors that Sacred Aura may open. I think Blizzard has given us something Warcraft III did not know it needed.
The Undead dominance in the Dolphin Warcraft Super League reignited the community’s ever-beloved balance debate. Inspired by this event, and taking advantage of the fact that the latest patch is already live, I decided to share some thoughts on how we might approach balance whine discussions in Warcraft III.
This opinion piece delves into the powerful yet controversial "Pala-Rifle" strategy in Warcraft III. We explore its origins, strengths, and weaknesses (yes, it has some), while also discussing potential balance changes and its future in the competitive meta.
To many creative souls - which I believe most of us are to some extend -, the idea of making whacky, off-meta strategies work is the epitome of strategy games. Surprising others with our home-made concoction or trying your hand at mimicking some obscure build, you saw an old replay of; taking the opponent to unknown territory and out of their comfort zone.
However, many players I talk to seem to have an mental block from deviating from their own comfort-zone. We are creatures of habit and we like to play how we always play and how we see the pro players play. I think this one of the main hindrances for improvement among intermediate players.
A few years ago, I wrote an article complaining about the lazy design of Orb of Fire (OoF) . My main point of the article was, that unlike the other three race Orbs, OoF was in no shape or form aligned with its race's identity.
Since that article, the Orb has gotten a complete overhaul. This, I believe, warrants a new article on the topic.
Math is a great science; the hardest science and pure as no other. That is why many people go to the numbers when arguing about something. However, the challenge arises when we attempt to interpret these numbers -an inherently complex task- resulting in a potential compromise of the pristine nature of mathematics due to subjective interpretations.
With another year having passed that we can look back at, Helpstone has decided to do exactly that. Specifically by looking at the matchups' statistical bias, calculated with the data from W3Champions' season 12 and 13.
The entirety of the article below - including tables/plots - are created by Helpstone. It is a delightful read!
I hope y'all had a pleasant take-off to 2023. Happy reading!
This article is for everybody struggling with motivation to play in their limited time due to work, studies, family etc. Warcraft 3 is fun, at least it should be, right? But in reality it’s stressful and exhausting to play. Let me introduce you to my problem and maybe you recognize what I mean.
A couple of weeks ago, Back2Warcraft received the sad news that the legendary Nightelf player HoT was diagnosed with cancer and started expensive treatment. To support him on his way, ToD organized a showmatch evening tomorrow, the 11th of August!
