Warcraft III Gets Even More Balance Changes Pointing Towards a Remaster

Though Warcraft III has been out for over 16 years, that hasn't stopped Blizzard from dropping a pretty impressive-sized patch for the online game. It's not common for games to receive solid updates so long after launch, and with Blizzard stating multiple times that they are exploring the world of bringing older titles into this generation ... well, it's not hard to see where a fan's line of thought could go.

The latest update to hit Warcraft III's PTR (Public Test Realm) brings with it quite a few improvements, including color revision, a camera reset, and hero balances. Seeing the changes made to Demon Hunters, Shadow Hunters, Dread Lords, and more is just fueling that rumor fire pointing towards a remaster. Check out the full patch notes below:

Specific Changes & Improvements

• Team colors revision v2 (Props to Erkan for setting us on the path)
• Camera reset to 1.28 height

Bug Fixes

• Korean client crash resolved
• Custom hotkeys no longer unbind Esc
• Matchmaking now starts when using community maps
• Alchemist's Healing Spray now self-heals
• Various missing textures located (Thanks to TriggerHappy for the test map)
• Default resolution no longer resembles Felwood
• World Editor limits raised for reals:
  • Neutral Units - 2,048
  • Neutral Buildings - 384
  • Player Units - 4,320
  • Player Buildings - 2,400
  • Items - 1,024
• Queuing actions behaves correctly
• Ladder maps cleansed of sneaky tower locations near starting mines

Hero Balance Updates

• Blademaster
• Mirror Image
• Decreased Mana cost (all levels) from 115 to 100

Shadow Hunter
Serpent Wards

• Level 1: Increase damage from 11-13 to 14 to 16; Increase HP from 75 to 90
• Level 2: Increase damage from 23-26 to 27-30; Increase HP from 135 to 165
• Level 3: Increase damage from 41-45 to 48 to 52; Increase HP from 135 to 200

Dread Lord
Carrion Swarm

• (Buff) Mana Cost (all levels) 110 → 100
• Level 1: 300 Dmg to 400 Dmg
• Level 2: 600 Dmg to 700 Dmg
• Level 3: 1000 Dmg 1200 Dmg

Demon Hunter
Mana Burn

• (Nerf) Mana cost increase from 50 to 60

Priestess of the Moon

• Attack Speed
• (Buff) change default from 2.46 to 2.33

Scout

• Increase movement speed from 270 to 300
• Level 1: Reduce mana cost from 100 to 50
• Level 2: Reduce mana cost from 75 to 50

Known Issues

• Selecting LAN in Asian locales crashes the client
• Esc on Mac has a chance to close the client
• Opening a scoreboard will temporarily freeze the game during a multiplayer match
• TriggerAddCondition() now requires you to add (Condition()) around the "function funcname"
• Constant native DecPlayerTechResearched not working
• The GUI equivalent for SetAbilityOnIcon and GetAbilityOnIcon have invalid parameters causing the editor to throw errors
• World Editor crashes with bad IF statement syntax
• Cannot set research to a lower level using SetPlayerTechResearched
• DecPlayerTechResearched causes SetPlayerTechResearched to set level at a lower value
• PlaySpecialEffect and PlaySpecialEffectWithTimeScale are not working correctly
• The Italian client is missing menus

Notes

• Replays are incompatible between major game versions
• This will be the last version to support Windows XP

Are you hoping to see a Warcraft III remaster on the horizon? Sound off with your thoughts in the comment section below and tell us all about it!