Basic Strategy:
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The following is basic strategy that applies to most RTS games:

Many of the acient Sun Tzu Art of War tactics apply to modern day battle. This is a good read for those players who really want to take their strategy to the next level.

Micro Management - By Willie C winner of our first tournament
Warcraft III is a game that is all about micro management. Usually the deciding factor in games is not how many units you can make or what type you choose, (although that can change the game) but how well you can micro. First of all, you need to know what micro is. Second, you must know how the games A.I behaves before you can proceed to the third step. The third step is to learn how to best micro your units based on what you know from the first and second step. The fourth and final step is to practice and learn from your mistakes. This article will cover how to improve all of these things and become a better Warcraft III player.

Micro stands for micro management. Micro management is the skill to use and control your units individually to the best of their abilities. Once you realize that to beat your enemies you need to use strategy, you need to be able to pull it off. You must know each of your units skills and capabilities and be prepared to use them quickly. That is why to be able to micro well, you need to understand how the game works.

Warcraft III has an A.I that is unlike that of Starcraft. The units are programmed to attack the closest and easiest to kill unit. In Starcraft, units would blindly follow one until the user changed the target. The ranged creeps like to attack the units that they hurt the most, for example units with heavy armor. High level melee creeps will usually go after your hero. Before, you might have thought that gargoyles would kill your air units with ease because of their high damage. If you are battling somebody who doesn’t micro their gargoyles well, you will realize that gargoyles will shoot wimpy piercing damage attacks at ground instead of chase after your air units unless the air units are closer or the other player micros them to attack you. It will take a lot of time and practice to learn how units work in this game, but once you understand you will be able to micro manage your units more effectively.

Microing requires the ability to SEE clearly what is happening in the game. If you can’t see what you can do, you can’t do it. If you don’t notice a hero being surrounded and focused on, you need to work on your awareness. Try to concentrate and be aware of what is happening, and then you can react and counter. The problem with some people is that they know what to do, but they are not paying attention. Every battle is like a detailed chess game. You need to be aware of each and every units capabilitites, you need to be thinking 2 or 3 moves ahead of your opponent, you need to be focused, and you need to manage your units to their utmost efficiency. Players who micro well, even if they are at a disadvantage with units will usually come out the victors.

It is important to know how to move your units around and focus on key targets as they become available. To do this to the best of your ability, you need to make sure you know what everything does. For example, a kodo beast may seem harmless, but he is increasing the damage of his army by 20% when upgraded. Taking him out could save you a lot of trouble. If you see a hero in the middle of your army, you should surround him or stun him and finish him off. If you see an enemy hero trying to run away, try to BLOCK him with your units. If you know that when a faster unit runs behind a slower unit, he will stagger the slower unit, you can pick off units that before seemed impossible to get. If there is an annoying hero in your base bugging you, why not surround him with your peons so he can’t run away anymore? Knowing how to move your units will increase their life dramatically.

Items are an important part of Warcraft III, and microing also involves your ability to use these at the best time. It is hard to remember to use your Scroll of Protection or Healing in a battle when you have better things to do, but if you remember it’ll save many units that might have died without the extra armor/health. A potion of healing used when your hero is hurt can save its life.

Skill management is just as important as moving your units around in Warcraft III. A well-aimed and continuous stream of Blizzard on enemy units will decimate their ranks, and being able to guide an invisible MK into the middle of the enemy army increases the damage his Thunder Clap ability does immensely. A well-timed storm bolt will take down enemy heroes before they know it, and a lightning-quick manual cast of Slow, Purge or Ensnare can pull down an enemy hero for the killing. Undead Nuking of heroes is a well-known and an effective strategy. To execute it perfectly, you need to be able to select each hero whether using the tab key, numbers, or the F1-F3 keys, and memorize the hotkeys to cast it quickly. Using your units skills and abilities well can easily change the outcome of a game. Memorize each and every hero/units hotkeys/abilities so that you can use them faster and more efficiently than your opponent.

Basically, to micro well requires that you see what’s going on. If you see an enemy doing something, you better do something to keep him from doing it. You have to be one step ahead of his every move and from the beginning dictate the battles outcome. If you see an opportunity to damage your enemy, you might as well take it. Since you can see what is going on, you can use your knowledge of the game and check your options so that you can micro to the best of your ability. Warcraft 3 is a highly detailed and intricate game, understanding and mastering these details will improve your micro management dramatically.

So if you didn’t bother to read the whole article, here’s a summary.

1. Know what micro is.
2. Learn how the game works.
3. Practice seeing what is happening, practice remembering what to do, and practice doing it.

P.S. I’ve just read this article over and it looks crazy. Sorry for my inability to express everything for you to better understand, but if you want to clarify things email me at williec_00@hotmail.com. If you have trouble with micro, tell me what’s wrong and I’ll see if I can help out in anyway.

Replays:
We list this as one of the top items on this page for a simple reason. You can learn so much from watching replays. Yes you need to practice too so dont forget that. Learn how the best do it and exactly what they do, when they do it, and how they react to diff races and situations. Ever wonder what you are doing wrong? Well if you play what you think to be a very experienced player then by all means save the replay at the end of the game. You can always go back and watch play by play what your enemy did to beat you. Many people say this is the best way to learn. For a list of good replay sites click here.

Rush
Some things never change do they? If your going to play a game like WarCraft 3 then you know as in WarCraft 2 the tactic of rushing comes with the territory. Now there is a time and place for everything but there are some key factors to take into account before rushing.

1. Size of map
2. Type of terrain
3. Opponent race
4. Location of opponent
5. Will your teamates be down with rushing?
6. Do you team know what the word rush means?
7. Do your team mates suck more than your date on prom night?

Counter Strategy To Rush:
First off you should be the one attacking. I dont mean rush everytime but I do mean keep pushing your enemy back. Take the battle to him instead of he to you. The more time he spends defending the less time he has to expand or attack you. Catch my drift?

Ah yes to every attack there is a counter attack. If you opponent is looking for that quick and dirty win then why not sit back and let him waste his time. You see if you know your opponent is rushing then you can do things like bunker down to absorb the hit while maintaining your base and getting ahead in production. Of course make sure to protect your key buildings and your peons/workers but if your opponent is doing something silly like attacking your farms/food then I would not get too upset. Their attack comes in and you get ahead with base building so later in the game you have higher attack and armor levels putting your opponent at a disadvantage. You could have scouts up and some advanced units to give your self a clear tactical advantage when you stage a counter attack. If your enemy comes in early go right for his hero. He wont want to lose the hero and will end up teleporting out hence wasting it or losing his his hero which makes him lose time and money and gives you a great opportunity to attack. Once he loses his army going for you he is weak so why not hit him back.

Protect your miners at all costs because thats what they will probably go for. If you get rushed by more than one person dont be stuborn and not ask for help. Hit control enter and type "help my base". Dont waste time typing all sorts of shit intead focus on preserving as much of your base as possible.

Peon/Worker Kills:
Taking out peons/workers especially early in the game really hurts. Take away their money and wood and what can the enemy do? They die a horrible death. Four Key factors when you wipe out peons/workers.

1. The enemy losing his income
2. The enemy loses wood production
3. The enemy has less peons/workers to build up the base
4. The enemy loses even more time and money to build up more peons/workers taking their attention away from the game.
5. Its a win win win win situation for the attacker. Get those peons/workers!

Time is crucial! Its like when a bank robbery goes down. You have so much time before the initial cops roll up on the scene and a little more time before the swat team rolls up. Ever play grand theft auto? Quick and dirty is always good in any game. Once your enemies partner(s) show up its a different ball game and your most likely going to have to move out before you take to much damage. Do as much damage as possible in the least amount of time.

Defense:
Having a great defense is key. Be smart in the way you place your buildings and towers. When you put down towers surround them with farms/burrows/wells/etc so they are not easily taken out. Force your enemy to have to walk longer distances to make it to your peons. This will be great early game but once your enemy gets seige you cant sit and home and wait for their attacks. Don't be like a turtle and hideout waiting to get pounded as your enemy amasses around you. Sometimes the best defense is indeed a great offense. If you keep pushing your enemy back and on his heels your going to gain the upper hand and not have to worry less about the battle being at home since instead you take it to him. I cant stress this enough. Take the battle to your enemy try not to sit back and take it up the ...

Building Placement
How you place your buildings is key for many reasons:

1. Ease of unit of movement
2. defense
3. Ease of use
4. Place offensive buildings towards the front

Towers:
Especially to help ward off early attacks towers are key. Many times its all you have left. If you guard your towers well you gain something called self preservation. Leave a tower exposed and your straight outta luck it can be taken down easy. So which is the right tower to build early game well it all depends on your race for one and what your strat is for the game.

Tower Rush:
A really jacked up tactic is to rush your enemy and tower them in. Basically take a few peons/workers and back them up with some troops early in the game. Build up some towers and slowly advance in on your enemy just outside their base. Then lure his troops out. Surprise surprise as they seen what nasty little trick you did. If the enemy is smart he will build up enough troops to take the towers but its not always that easy if you build up even more towers and slowly advance on his base. Great fun really low blow thing to do but it works at times. Of course you need to be humans/elfs/orc for this. Sorry Undead can only do defensive towers on their land. Orcs just love to do this tactic. Creep Hunt:
Clear some creeps, get some experience so you can level up, get a cleared mine, get some gold, and get some hero items. This will help in any battle. Team up with your partners to take down the tougher creeps although you have to share the experience so if you can creep on your own for the weaker creeps. Be nice and share the booty you come across when teaming up to creep.

Get ahead fast:
Some people like to expand fast which may or may not make them more open to early attacks. If your partner can back you up this may just work. Other players like to tech fast to try and get casters way before the enemy there are pro's and con's to this as well. We suggest trying various strats going with what works for you. No matter what you do at the higher levels you better be ready to have micro management down.

Teamwork:
Teamwork is so damn important. If your going to attack go in together especially early game! Whipe the hero first then kill off the rest. If they are not there when you walk in go for the workers on the mine, the mine itself, or for the town hall. Communicate at all times to your partner to let him/her know what your doing! If he has incoming let him know so at least he can prepare. If you just did some major damage to a guy let your partner know. If you find an enemy expansion let your partner know. Use ALT - G to pinpoint areas your going to attack so you guys can coordinate. Teams that always attack together and stick together are more likely to win. In many cases two different races such as Orcs and Night Elves can compliment eachother so keep in mind who is going to be doing what before the game starts.

Scouting:
Having good resonances on your enemy as soon as possible is a great idea. See what your up against before you go in. Pinpoint weaknesses around the base and plot your attack. You need eyes to scout ahead to use em! Dont sit there all day waiting for the perfect attack. Find a weakness and hit it hard then exploit that weakness. Teamwork is key so get your parters in on it. You may want to scout out early game and attack with a few units to test your enemies micro ability and if that opponent is at or above your level.

Who is that at my back door?:
Yes the element of surprise is awesome if you can time it right. Hit em low and hit em hard when they least expect it and right where it hurts. Just like the special forces and the army rangers did in Afghanistan you want to come in quick and hard and take out as much as possible as quick as possible before your enemy has time to react. More bang for your buck I like to say. One thing I love to do is wait until the enemy is about to tag an allies expansion or base. As soon as he does I go in and rape his base. Sometimes he comes back to late and his base is left in ashes or he is forced to halt his attack and teleport back to base. Then I just teleport out and really piss him off because the damage is already done. The more time an enemy spends defending the less time he has to do anything to your base. Keep that in mind. A nasty strat is to just knock down the tree's and create a back door entrance into an enemy base or in some cases use a zeplin and drop ship in cata's.

Hit and Run:
The theory is simple. When your enemy is away tending to other duties such as expanding or attacking across the map and you know it then why not do a drive by on his base or expansion. You get the idea. You incur maximum damage while taking little damage yourself in most cases.

Create a diversion:
Attack an enemies expansion with a small force and wait for him to come running to save it. Then when he arrives to save the expansion hit his main base with your main force once again forcing him to panic and try and save his main base. Keep this up and your enemy will be really frustrated and pissed and eventually worn down.

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