A
hero available to the
Undead Scourge in the 2002 hit computer game
Warcraft III.
Background: Like all heroes in WC3, the Dreadlord (DL) serves as the focus for any keen Scourge player's armies. With a fast attack and small stature, and some abilities that are extremely useful, the Dreadlord is definitely one of the most popular heroes for Undead players.
Physical Description: A winged, demon like humanoid, the pale-skinned Dreadlord has an unearthly glow behind his wings. With talons projecting from (over?) his hands, and sprouting long, curved horns from his forehead, he is an imposing individual on the battlefield.
Spells and Abilities:
- Carrion Swarm: Contracting in to himself and then unfolding his wings, the Dreadlord spews forth a devastating, yellow lit cloud of bats and other nefarious creatures to ravage opponents and buildings alike in a straight line. Causing massive damage (100-300/150-550/200-800) to multiple units, it can be one of the most disheartening experiences to be on the receiving end of one of these!
- Sleep: The UBER spell for a starting Undead player. Sends a single unit to sleep for a period of time (20/40/60 seconds). Heroes get off slightly better (10/20/30 seconds) but are quite vulnerable in the mean time. Whilst sleeping, friendly units will NOT attack the sleeping victim, allowing the target to be safely ignored. However, the unit CAN be woken up by one of it's team members attacking it, or (wasitng) a dispel. With good micromanagement, a player can a) sleep an entire army, b) wake up any slept units. However, the time wasted waking up a unit (and the damage caused by the attacks ;0) means that the Undead army is that much more efficient.
- Vampiric Aura: As with the Death Knight, another reason to get only this hero for only this skill. Passively enables a deep red circular glow, allowing nearby friendly units to heal a percentage (15/30/45%) of total damage with each attack. Works best with fast attacking melee creatures, but unfortunately does NOT work with ranged attackers. Think of the possibilities!
- Ultimate: Inferno. (sic) Summons a massive, green-fire-enchanted stone juggernaut of an Infernal to come crashing down on the battlefield, stunning those near it's landing site and causing fear in all but the best players. After the initial mayhem of stunned troops, it also has permanent immolation, scorching enemies for a considerable number (10) of HP per second and causing chaos damage to all it touches. However, this unit IS summoned and is actually quite susceptable to dispels. Despite this, you should use the Infernal on massed spellcasters/ranged troops ASAP!
Gameplay: The Dreadlord requires a different style of playing to both the
Death Knight and
Lich - much more "battle focused", his sleep ability makes
creeping that much easier (one less opponent for 20 seconds ;0) and can stop heroes and powerful units in their tracks. Particularly useful for his aura, the oft-overlooked Carrion Swarm is one of the most damaging spells in the game and CANNOT be stopped and does massive damage for those who concentrate on it. Coupled with the (sometimes quite vulnerable) Inferno, the Dreadlord, once levelled up a few times, is almost unstoppable on his own!
Warcraft III Undead Guide
<<< Death Knight -- Dreadlord -- Lich >>>
Information gleaned from:
- My own lovingly played copy of Warcraft III
- www.battle.net/war3
- www.warcraftiii.net
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