Warcraft 3: Reforged - How To Human Guide

This is your comprehensive how-to-play Humans in Warcraft 3: Reforged guide. 

So you have decided to main Humans in Warcraft 3: Reforged.  Good choice!   Humans are a flexible race that can adapt to anything that an opponent throws at them. 

How To Decide If Humans Are the WC3 Race For You

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Flexibility
  • You can counter anything that your opponent throws at you.  
• Militia Creeping
  • Being able to turn your Peasants into hard-hitting militia is a bonus that no other race has.   Not only is this useful in defense of your town, but sending 4-5 Militia with your Archmage allows you to creep tough camps early.  
• Speed Building
  • If you need a building built in a hurry you can have additional Peasants speed up the process.   
• Quick Expansion
  • Not only can your Peasants be turned into Militia to help your Hero, but they can then speed build the Town Hall enabling you to expand faster than any other race.
• Staff of Sanctuary
  • Being able to save an expensive unit or Hero is huge.  Having them then healed to full is incredible.  

Cons

• Challenging to Learn
  • With flexibility comes complexity.  Humans can pivot to deal with just about anything, but learning when to pivot and what that new strategy should be can take time and be complex to learn.   New players can become frustrated by other races who seem to always use similar units and strategies. 
• Weak to Early Harass
  • Human early units are not as strong as the ones that other races have available.   An aggressive opponent can be challenging to deal with.  
• Low HP Units
  • Humans have many low HP and glass cannon type units.   The Priest unit helps lessen the effects of this weakness, but opponents who can burst you down can decimate Human armies in a hurry. 

Heroes

Archmage: A ranged Hero who is often a Human player's first choice.   The Archmage can creep quickly using his Water Elemental which tanks camps well.   Human armies rely on their Priests (see below) to counter their lack of HP.   The Archmage has an aura that ups the mana regeneration of Human units near him.  This synergizes incredibly well with many Human units, but especially Priests. 

Blizzard, another Archmage ability can decimate enemy armies.

The biggest advantage of using an Archmage though is his ability to teleport his army any friendly ground unit.    Opponents must always be on guard for attacks or to flanks when they attack Human holdings. 

Bloodmage: This Hero synergizes well with the Archmage, but works even better with Moutain King.   Bloodmage abilities amplify just about everything that the Mountain King does.  The ability to transfer mana to the Mountain King and steal it from your opponent is an incredible boon. Bloodmage can also deal out substantial damage, but his low HP make him a juicy target for your opponent. 

Mountain King: This Hero is usually taken 2nd behind the Archmage, but some players prefer the Mountain as their first choice Hero.  The key to the Mountain King is Storm Bolt which not only deals high damage but stuns an enemy.   He is good at creeping and expanding, but not quite as good as Archmage.  

Paladin: Most often taken as a third hero, Paladin is a support hero that can heal your units.  Paladin benefits from Archmage's aura, allowing him to heal more.  Rarely, if ever taken as a first choice Hero.  

Unit Explanations

Peasant: Your builder, repair unit and when you use Call to Arms they become Militia which hit as hard as Footmen without the extra HP.  They can build co-operatively, which speeds up building time and they help you creep early.   An amazing base unit.  

Footman: Inexpensive, but relatively weak compared to the units of other races.   

Rifleman: Great DPS which can attack air and ground units.  They are a unit that loses some of its punch when your opponent hits Tier 3, so plan accordingly.  

Knight: Mobile, armored units that are simply fantastic.  They can be challenging to tech up. 

Priest: The anvil that makes the Human hammer work.  Low HP units with a Priest at their back become potent enemies that seem to stay alive forever.   Not only do Priests keep your forces in the fight they can dispel summoned units and buffs/debuffs. 

Sorceress: This is a love it or hate it type of unit.   Where the Priest heals your units the Sorceress stops the damage from every happening.  Their slow ability affects both attack speed and movement speed of your opponent's units. 

Spell Breaker: This unit is spell immune and built to tear your opponent's magic-users apart.  Once you are comfortable using them they are a formidable unit because they can also swap buffs and debuffs on other units. 

Mortar Team: The glass cannons of your arsenal.  Big damage at long range comes with a price.  They are quick to die if you let the enemy get to them. 

Flying Machine: A highly mobile, flying unit with good vision.  The Human army is fragile, so scouting is important.  These are great scouts.  En masse they are also formidable, but you rarely want to mass them. 

Siege Engine: Great at taking down buildings they are especially potent against Night Elves and to some extent Undead.  

Gryphon Rider: A very strong unit with a very high resource price.  They can demolish ground troops they find unaccompanied by anti-air support. 

Dragonhawk Rider: This is one of your anti-air options.  They are especially useful against your opponent's high-cost air units. 

Matchups Explained

Mirror (Human)

Humans are the most flexible race in Warcraft 3: Reforged, so scouting is paramount.  Not only can you change strategies quickly, but so can your opponent. 

You have options.  Your weak early army isn't a big a disadvantage against a Human opponent as it is against other races.   This means that you can early expand with less risk or can play off one-base and tech to Tier 2 for Priests and Spellbreakers.  

Human vs Human games can go just about any direction.  Scouting is absolutely key as the player who hard counters their opponent will snowball to victory.  

There is no best strategy in this matchup making it one of the most fun matchups to play in the game. 

Orc

Tauren Chieftain can ruin your day.  If your opponent has him (and usually they will) then make TC a priority target.  

You want to avoid early fights as the Orc army is considerably more durable than yours in the early-game.  

Mountain King is a good Hero choice versus Orcs.   

Your biggest advantage over Orcs is at Tier 2, so getting there should be a priority.   There are timings within Tier 2 where your Archmage / Mountain King combination, plus footmen, militia and priests should be able to take on the Orc base.  When your militia time out, build towers.   This is a quick game (<18 minutes) strategy.  

Alternatively, Tech up and level your Archmage so that you have teleport.   You will be able to hit and run or defend and counter immediately. 

Night Elves

Expand if you can.  Night Elves often try to harass.   

If you can get your Hero to level 3 then this should be a priority, but be wary of the Night Elf player harass.  

Tech up to Tier 2.  This is your sweet spot.   With Riflemen and Priests  OR a caster heavy (2 Sanctum) army you may be able to take the game here.  If not, scout until you see what they are up to and use your flexibility to hard counter their plan.  Scout. Scout. Scout. 

You really, really want this game to be over before the Night Elf player can get to Tier 3.  

Undead

Fast expand.  This is a relatively safe strategy versus Undead that will let you get to Tier 2 with a strong economy.  

Most Undead players will try to harass, probably with a Death Knight.  Keep your Peasants behind your Hero which protects them from the DK.   A good Archmage beats an equally skilled Undead player on DK.

Once your Archmage is level 3 go for the Undead base.  This is your Tier 2 super timing.  Make sure you have Level 2 Elemental and upgraded Footmen.  Having Defend on your Footmen is important.  Your main goal at this point is to cripple his economy.   As always, micro to keep as many units alive as possible.   

This poke and prod into the UD base should give you an idea of what direction they are taking. If you weren't able to cripple their economy then prepare to counter the inevitable attack that is coming.   Get to Tier 3 as fast as you can.   You are likely going to want Knights or Gryphons depending on your read of his strategy. 

Alternatively, mass Riflemen / Casters when you hit Tier 2 can often simply run over the UD player.   

If the game makes it to late-game, which is not what you want, you can still pull it out.  The Archmage / Mountain King / Paladin combination is very strong.   Buy invincibility potions for your Archmage.  The UD player will make him a priority.  

You have a mobility advantage, so use it.   Do whatever you can to keep the UD player running around the map.   Harass every expansion relentlessly.  

Build Orders

• Human Fast Expansion Build Order
• Human One-Base Build Order
• Human Shop Tech Build Order
• Human Fast Altar Build Order - Great vs Harass

Base, Creeping and Expansions

• Human Building, Creeping and Expansion Guide - Beginners

Looking for more Warcraft 3: Reforged Guides and Build Orders?  Visit the Warcraft 3: Reforged Portal.