Orc Hero: Blademaster

Orc Hero
BLADEMASTER

Primary stat: Agility
"My-a Blade Seeks Vengeance!" Behold, the Blademaster (BM). This Warcraft 3 Hero has been making people cry on forums since the game's release. He is arguably the most overpowered hero in the game. Why? It is because the Blademaster can move extremely fast, while invisible, and can kill units in about two hits. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending how you look at it) the Blademaster is a gear dependant hero. His power amplifies by what kind of drops he gets from creeps.

Choosing the Blademaster as a first hero is good when you know you are on a map that drops a lot of good Blademaster items (Echo Isles is the best). Claws of Attack and Gloves of Haste are what you are looking for. Also, don't be afraid to shadow the enemy's creeping party. Know which creep drops the loot, and wait until your enemy brings the creep down to very low health and pop out of invisibility on the unit, killing it. Then take the loot before the player can react and return to invisibility. Be wary though, the enemy could have Dust of Appearance on them, which reveals stealthy units in a nearby radius to the hero using it.

Abilities (Hotkey):

Wind Walk (W):
Allows the Blademaster to become invisible, and move faster for a set amount of time. When the Blademaster attacks a unit to break invisibility, he will deal bonus damage.
Rank 1: +10% movement speed, invisibility, and 40 extra damage on opening attack
Rank 2: +40% movement speed, invisibility, and 70 extra damage on opening attack
Rank 3: +40% movement speed (same as rank 2), invisibility, and 100 extra damage on opening attack

*Let it be noted that rank 3 Wind Walk does not make you go any faster while invisible. Rank 2 hits the speed cap on Heroes, so you will be haulin' at rank 2. Only get rank 3 if you want the extra 30 damage opening attack. Rank 3 Critical Strike is a better choice for level 5 though.

Wind Walk is your core ability as a BM. It gives you supreme map awareness, allows you to steal creep kills & items, and the extra damage boost can almost one-shot weaker units. Be wary of where you go when you are invisible, you're not always safe! Undead have shades that are invisible themselves but can reveal you to them. Night Elves have Huntress Sentinels and Dust of Appearance. Humans have stealth detection towers and Flying Machines. Use your Wind Walk to kill workers, weaklings, and certain creeps that drop fatty lootz.




Mirror Image (R)
Rank 1: Creates 1 illusion.
Rank 2: Creates 2 illusions.
Rank 3: Creates 3 illusions.

Less proficient Blademaster users typically go for Mirror Image at level 1 to tank creeps because Orcs have limited healing options. The only good source of healing comes from Healing Salves purchased at the Voodoo Lounge (which you made, right?) at tier 1. It can be used to dupe your enemy into returning to their base to ward off a false Blademaster attack. More experienced players can always tell when it is an illusion or not unfortunately, which degrades the usefulness of the ability. Using the spell also clears the Blademaster of snares. Illusions are useful for scouting the map, confusing the enemy, and taking the damage away from your main units when creeping.



Critical Strike (Passive)
Gives a 15% chance that the Blademaster will do more damage on his attacks.
Rank 1: 2 times normal damage
Rank 2: 3 times normal damage
Rank 3: 4 times normal damage

Critical Strike is the Blademaster's 'other' ability, much like Brilliance Aura for the Archmage. This causes his auto-attack to have a chance to hit much much harder. If the Blademaster gets a string of critical strikes in a row, he can take out the strongest of units on his own. Unfortunately, the BM simply does not have the mana capacity to be using both Mirror Image and Wind Walk in combat. With the limited effectiveness of Mirror Image, the typical ability choices for the Blademaster are:
Level 1 - Wind Walk
Level 2 - Critical Strike
Level 3 - Wind Walk (Rank 2)
Level 4 - Critical Strike (Rank 2)
Level 5 - Critical Strike (Rank 3)
Level 6 - Bladestorm
Level 7 - Whatever you want from here




Bladestorm (B) (Ultimate):
Causes a bladestorm of destructive force around the Blademaster, rendering him immune to magic and dealing 110 damage per second to nearby enemy land units.

Again, Ultimates can decide games. The BM's Ultimate, Bladestorm, is a powerful whirlwind that can devastate an entire army or base should the BM choose to use it. You cannot stop a Blademaster when he is using Bladestorm other than by killing him. He will probably be killing you though. Armies must move away from a Bladestorm or they will get decimated. Too many times have I seen this ability win a game by wiping the enemy clean with a well positioned storm.

Happy reading!
-Kibble