Few battlegrounds on the Internet Gaming Zone ladder are as beloved as Lost Temple, the four-player showpiece from Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos. Its clean, symmetrical design has made it a staple of free-for-all brawls, two-on-two team games, and the odd grudge match between friends over Battle.net or LAN.

The layout is simple to read and brutal to master. Each of the four armies opens in its own quarter of the map, with a starting gold mine and thick stands of lumber close at hand. From there the field opens up:

• A defensible home base with room to wall in against early rushes.
• A natural expansion mine a short march away, guarded by a creep camp.
• A Fountain of Health at dead center, guarded by a fierce pack and prized for the healing it lends whoever holds the middle.
• Neutral shops scattered along the routes between bases.

Creep camps are the heart of the map. These neutral monsters will not hunt you, but they jealously guard every expansion, shop, and prize on the field. Clear them and your Hero earns experience toward fresh levels and abilities, a purse of gold, and often a dropped item worth carrying. As always, the camps are color-coded by menace:

1. Green camps hold light packs, safe to pull with an early Hero.
2. Orange camps put up stiffer resistance, best cleared with a small force.
3. Red camps field dangerous defenders hoarding the finest loot.

Merchants and tinkers make Lost Temple a shopper's map. A pair of Goblin Merchants stock staples such as Healing Salves, Clarity Potions, and a Scroll of Town Portal, while two Goblin Laboratories rent out Goblin Zeppelins to ferry troops and scout the enemy start.

Owners of The Frozen Throne will find Lost Temple still in rotation, now sharing the ladder with newer haunts like Turtle Rock, Echo Isles, and Twisted Meadows. The expansion also seeded maps with fresh neutral buildings such as the Tavern, where a fallen Hero can be revived or a neutral Hero hired outright. Whether you march as the Human Alliance, Orc Horde, Undead Scourge, or Night Elf Sentinels, learn its creep routes and the center is yours.