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In Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, the player who controls the map controls the game. One gold mine and a lone Hero can carry the opening minutes, but ladder wins on the Internet Gaming Zone belong to commanders who push out, seize a second mine, and drain the map of experience, gold, and items.
The Upkeep Problem
Upkeep is why one mine is never enough for a real army. Up to 50 food you keep every coin. From 51 to 80 food you pay Low Upkeep and lose 30 percent of your gold income; at 81 to 100 food High Upkeep takes a punishing 60 percent. A single mine trickles gold slowly, so a taxed army starves. A second mine roughly doubles income and lets a bigger force pay for itself.
Taking an Expansion
- Human Alliance: raise a new Town Hall on the mine, wall it with Scout Towers, and keep peasants ready to Call to Arms as Militia.
- Orc Horde: plant a Great Hall ringed by Watch Towers and Burrows your peons can garrison.
- Undead Scourge: send an Acolyte to haunt a Gold Mine, raising a Haunted Gold Mine guarded by Ziggurats and Spirit Towers.
- Night Elf Sentinels: uproot a Tree of Life, walk it over, and Entangle Gold Mine; Ancient Protectors and Moon Wells hold the line.
Creep Camps for XP, Gold, and Items
Neutral creep camps are the fastest path to a strong Hero. Killing them grants experience, gold, and dropped items. The map marks camps by threat: green is easy, orange moderate, red deadly. Level your Paladin, Blademaster, Death Knight, or Demon Hunter on green and orange camps first, then risk a red camp once you hold a level and an item or two.
- Pull one camp at a time so two groups do not gang your Hero at once.
- Grab item drops right away; a Ring of Protection or Claws of Attack changes fights.
- Carry a Scroll of Town Portal to escape when a creep or an enemy raid turns on you.
Shops and Fountains
Neutral buildings are worth fighting over:
- Goblin Merchant: stocks Healing Salves, Clarity Potions, and Scrolls of Town Portal.
- Marketplace: rotates charged and permanent items for your Heroes.
- Mercenary Camp: hires neutral creeps to swell your ranks fast.
- Goblin Laboratory: sells a Zeppelin for transport and Goblin Sappers to level buildings.
- Fountain of Health and Fountain of Mana: park wounded units nearby to recover for free, and deny the spot to the enemy.
A Simple Plan
- Creep the safe camps near base to reach Hero level 2 or 3.
- Expand to the nearest mine the moment you can defend it.
- Camp the Goblin Merchant and Fountains so your foe cannot use them.
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