Warcraft 3 New Update Brings Widescreen Support, Hero Balance Changes, and More

There have been rumors for quite awhile now that a Warcraft III remaster is on the way, and it's [...]

By Liana 'LiLi' Ruppert - April 12, 2018 09:58 am EDT

There have been rumors for quite awhile now that a Warcraft III remaster is on the way, and it's pretty easy to see how many fans have come to that conclusion. Though the nature of the game itself would see minor updates, Blizzard has been doing massive overhauls to the entire game in the most recent past. New pools, total hero changes, and tons more has been evolved in a game that came out back in 2002. Now the real-time strategy game just got another update and that speculation continues.

The latest patch to hit Warcraft III sees the addition of widescreen support, lobby expansions, a ton of bug fixes, and a fair amount of hero balance changes. Courtesy of Blizzard, here's what's new:

Specific Changes & Improvements

Widescreen support added. To prevent stretching there have been changes to the interfaces:

Added bookends to the in-game interface
Added black pillars in menus

Game lobbies expanded to support 24 players. We've added 12 new team colors. Thanks to Erkan and others for contributing to the new palette:

Player 13 – Maroon
Player 14 – Navy
Player 15 – Turquoise
Player 16 – Violet
Player 17 – Wheat
Player 18 – Peach
Player 19 – Mint
Player 20 – Lavender
Player 21 – Coal
Player 22 – Snow
Player 23 – Emerald
Player 24 – Peanut

Notes

Ladder standings have been reset; good luck and have fun on the climb
Replays are incompatible between major game versions
This will be the last version to support Windows XP
Automated tournaments will resume next week

Bug Fixes

Clans can be created
Mac launches
Korean locale launches
Various missing textures located (Thanks to TriggerHappy for the test map)
Default resolution no longer resembles Felwood
Ladder maps cleansed of sneaky tower locations near starting mines

Known Issues

Temporarily disabled Fixed Aspect Ratio in Video Options
Chaos Kodo Beasts are showing as idle workers in campaign missions
Unable to input text while keyboard settings are under different languages in zhCN and koKR locales
Certain elements in World Editor overlap
Set/GetAbilityOnXXXX functions are renamed to Set/GetAbilityActivatedXXXX
SetUnitNameAll is disabled for now
PlaySpecialEffect is disabled for now
PlaySpecialEffectWithTimeScale is disabled for now
Crash: With an ability that has "Disabled"=false, attempting to set "Disabled" to false again will crash the World Editor
UnitDisableAbility does not hide an ability with Hide=true and Disabled=false
Default map directory is for from maps when creating custom games
Resolution does not change properly when switching between windowed and full screen
Tooltips for hero abilities may not be updated

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Hero Balance Changes

Mountain King
Movement Speed

Increased base speed from 270 to 290

Stormbolt

Level 2: Reduce damage from 225 to 210
Level 3: Reduce damage from 350 to 325

Thunder Clap

Level 1: Increased damage from 60 to 65; Increased area of effect from 25 to 30
Level 2: Increased damage from 100 to 125; Increased area of effect from 30 to 35
Level 3: Increased damage from 140 to 175; Increased area of effect from 35 to 40

Paladin
Attack Speed

Reduced cooldown from 2.2 to 2.0 seconds

Movement Speed

Increased base speed from 270 to 290

Divine Shield

Level 2: Reduced duration from 30 to 25
Level 3: Reduced duration from 45 to 35

Blademaster
Mirror Image

Reduced Mana cost from 115 to 100 for all levels

Critical Strike

Removed + damage item interaction from multiplier calculation: (Avg Damage + Item Damage)*Critical Multiplier = Total Damage
Prior calculation: (Avg Damage *Critical Multiplier) + Item Damage = Total Damage

Far Seer
Feral Spirit

Level 1: Increased unit healths from 200 to 250
Level 2: Increased unit healths from 300 to 350; Reduced unit level from 4 to 3 to reduce enemy experience reward
Level 3: Reduced unit level from 5 to 4 to reduce enemy experience reward

Chain Lightning

Reduced damage reduction from 15% to 10% per jump for all levels

Far Sight

Level 1: Removed mana cost; Added a cooldown of 60 seconds
Level 2: Removed mana cost; Added a cooldown of 45 seconds
Level 3: Removed mana cost; Added a cooldown of 30 seconds

Shadow Hunter
Serpent Wards

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

Tauren Chieftain
Movement Speed

Increased base speed from 270 to 290

War Stomp

Level 1: Increased damage from 25 to 30
Level 2: Increased damage from 50 to 60
Level 3: Increased damage from 75 to 90

Reincarnation

Reduced spellcast from 7 seconds to 5 seconds

Crypt Lord
Movement Speed

Increased base speed from 270 to 290

Carrion Beetles

Level 1: Increased health from 140 to 170; Increase movement speed from 270 to 290
Level 2: Increased health from 275 to 330; Increase movement speed from 270 to 290
Level 3: Increased health from 410 to 490; Increase movement speed from 270 to 290

Impale

Level 1: Increased damage from 50 to 75
Level 2: Increased damage from 80 to 120
Level 3: Increased damage from 110 to 165

Dread Lord
Movement Speed

Increased base speed from 270 to 290

Carrion Swarm

Level 1: Increased maximum damage from 300 to 400
Level 2: Increased maximum damage from 600 to 700
Level 3: Increased maximum damage from 1000 to 1200
Mana Cost reduced from 110 to 100 for all levels
Now damages mechanical units

Sleep

Cooldown reduced from 6 seconds to 4 seconds for all levels
Level 1: Reduced duration from 20 (5) sec to 15 (4) sec; Reduced mana cost from 100 to 80
Level 2: Reduced duration from 40 (10) sec to 35 (8) sec; Reduced mana cost from 75 to 65
Level 3: Reduced duration from 60 (15) sec to 55 (12) sec

Vampiric Aura

Level 1: Increased life steal from 15% to 20%
Level 2: Increased life steal from 30% to 35%
Level 3: Increased life steal from 45% to 50%

Lich
Movement Speed

Increased base speed from 270 to 290

Demon Hunter
Mana Burn

Increased mana cost from 50 to 60 for all levels

Keeper of the Grove
Intelligence

Increased default value from 18 to 19

Tranquility

Added 3 seconds of invulnerability on spellcast
Reduced duration from 30 seconds to 15 seconds
Increased healing per second from 20 to 40

Entangling Roots

Level 2: Reduced duration on units from 24 seconds to 18 seconds; Increased duration on heroes from 3 seconds to 5 seconds; Increased damage per second from 15 damage to 20 damage
Level 3: Reduced duration on units from 36 seconds to 30 seconds; Increased duration on heroes from 5 seconds to 7 seconds; Increased damage per second from 25 Damage to 30 Damage

Force of Nature

Increased Treant attack damage from 14 to 16

Priestess of the Moon
Attack Speed

Reduced cooldown from 2.46 to 2.33 seconds

Scout

Increased speed from 270 to 300
Level 1: Reduced mana cost from 100 to 50
Level 2: Reduced mana cost from 75 to 50

Warden
Blink

Level 2: Reduced cooldown from 10 seconds to 7 seconds
Level 3: Increased cooldown from 1 second to 4 seconds

Dark Ranger
Life Drain

Increase damage done per second and lower mana cost
Level 1: Increase damage per second from 25 to 30; Reduce Mana cost from 75 to 50
Level 2: Increase damage per second from 40 to 45, Reduce Mana cost from 75 to 50
Level 3: Increase damage per second from 55 to 60, Reduce Mana cost from 75 to 50

Firelord
Incinerate

Level 1: Increased bonus damage multiplier per stack from 1 to 2; Increased death by incineration damage full area from 90 to 120; Increased death by incineration damage half area from 180 to 240; Increased duration from 2 to 4
Level 2: Increased bonus damage multiplier per stack from 2 to 3; Increased death by incineration damage full area from 90 to 120; Increased death by incineration damage half area from 180 to 240; Increased duration from 2 to 4
Level 3: Increased bonus damage multiplier per stack from 3 to 4; Increased death by incineration damage full area from 100 to 120; Increased death by incineration damage half area from 180 to 240; Increased duration from 2 to 4

Soul Burn

Level 1: Increased duration on units from 14 seconds to 16 seconds; Increased duration on heroes from 6 seconds to 7 seconds; Increased damage from 100 to 125
Level 2: Increased duration on units from 16 seconds to 18 seconds; Increased duration on heroes from 7 seconds to 8 seconds; Increased damage from 225 to 270
Level 3: Increased duration on units from 18 seconds to 20 seconds; Increased duration on heroes from 8 seconds to 9 seconds; Increased damage from 375 to 450

Goblin Alchemist
Movement Speed

Increased base speed from 270 to 290

Healing Spray

No longer heals enemy units
Heals Alchemist

Acid Bomb

Level 1: Increased Damage from 5 to 8 (total damage 75 to 120; Secondary damage 3 to 5)
Level 2: Increased Damage from 10 to 13 (total damage 150 to 195; Secondary damage 6.5 to 8.5)
Level 3: Increased Damage from 15 to 18 (total damage 225 to 270; Secondary damage 10 to 12)

Goblin Tinker
Movement Speed

Increased base speed from 270 to 290

Cluster Rockets

Now targets air units
Level 1: Increased damage from 35 to 45 damage per second
Level 2: Increased damage from 65 to 75 damage per second
Level 3: Increased damage from 100 to 110 damage per second

Naga Sea Witch
Movement Speed

Increased base speed from 270 to 290

Pandaren Brewmaster
Movement Speed

Increased base speed from 270 to 290

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Map Pool

Map Pool

1v1

(2)TerenasStand_LV
(2)Plunderisle_LV
(2)TheTwoRivers_LV
(2)RoadToStratholme_LV
(2)EchoIsle
(2)TirisfalGlades_LV
(2)Amazonia(COMMUNITY)
(2)LastRefuge-1.3(COMMUNITY)
(4)Floodplains1v1_LV
(4)TwistedMeadows
(4)TurtleRock

2v2

(4)PhantomGrove_LV
(4)Avalanche_LV
(4)TurtleRock
(4)Duskwood_LV
(4)BridgeTooNear_LV
(4)FrozenClover_LV
(4)TidewaterGlades_LV
(4)LostTemple
(4)TwistedMeadows
(6)Duststorm_LV
(6)GnollWood

3v3

(6)ThunderLake_LV
(6)GnollWood
(6)Monsoon_LV
(6)DarkForest
(6)UpperKingdom
(6)RuinsOfStratholme
(8)Mur'gulOasis_LV
(6)RollingHills
(6)TimbermawHold
(6)StranglethornVale
(8)Battleground_LV

4v4

(8)Feralas_LV
(8)Northshire_LV
(8)Sanctuary_LV
(8)TwilightRuins_LV
(8)Battleground_LV
(8)Deadlock_LV
(8)GolemsInTheMist_LV
(8)Mur'gulOasis_LV
(8)MarketSquare
(8)GoldRush
(8)Friends
(8)BlastedLands

FFA

(4)Deathrose
(6)Duststorm_LV
(6)EmeraldShores
(6)StranglethornVale
(6)Monsoon_LV
(6)ThunderLake_LV
(8)Deadlock_LV
(8)Mur'gulOasis_LV
(8)TwilightRuins_LV
(8)Battleground_LV

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World Editor Upgrades

Object Limit: 30,000
Neutral Units: 2,048
Neutral Buildings: 384
Player Units: 4,320
Player Buildings: 2,400
Items: 1,024
Map Size Limit: 480 x 480
Tile Slot Limit: 16
Max Execution Limit: 3,000,000
Max Food Limit: 999
Max Resource Limit: 9,999,999
Array Size Limit: 32,768
"Always show Health Bars" now shows Mana Bars as well

There was also a huge list of Native changes implemented as well, which can be seen right here. It's got us wondering though ... would you want to see a Warcraft III remaster? What about a Nintendo Switch port? Obviously a World of Warcraft wouldn't work for the hybrid console, but Warcraft might! Sound off with your thoughts in the comment section below and tell us what you want to see happen!

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