Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos/Cult of the Damned

Chapter Introduction

The next day, on the outskirts of Andorhal.

Mission Objectives

• Main Quest: Investigate Andorhal
  • Explore Andorhal
• Main Quest: Confront Kel'Thuzad
  • Find Kel'Thuzad

Strategy

In order to get into Andorhal, you'll need to run through an Undead base. You can either rush the base, or follow the more traditional route of building up your army and defending against the Undead attacks in the meantime. You start with enough of a party to take out the Undead base in the immediate beginning of the game, before it has had a chance to upgrade itself and start producing units. Details will be focuses on the rushing approach.

Rush the Undead

Immediately grab all of your units. Put your Heroes, the Priest, and the three Footmen in one group, and the Mortar Team in another. Send them North-West to the Undead base. You can use Arthas to draw fire while the rest of your party gangs up on any units. The base should start with only one Necromancer, who will be able to raise two skeletons from the Graveyard. It should be relatively easy to take out the first Ziggurats (the Undead equivalent of a Farm) and Graveyard, along with the units. Watch out for the Halls of the Dead (the "Keep") and another Ziggurat further North that act as defensive structures (actually called a "Spirit Tower"). Your first goal, after leveling the Southern part of the base, is to take out the Temple of the Damned (which produces Necromancers). It will be in range of the Halls of the Dead, so use your Mortar Team and if you like, Jaina and the Priest to attack from a safe distance. Keep any other unit available to defend against Necromancers produced before the Temple falls.

The next target should be the Crypt, which produces Ghouls. This one will be a little trickier in terms of avoiding fire from the defensive structures. Stay to the East of the base area and try to attack with the Mortar Team from as far East as possible. You should be able to attack from a safe distance, but when a Ghoul is produced and comes your way, your other units may find themselves within range of the Halls of the Dead. Keep a tight leash on them and pull them back as soon as the Ghoul is killed. You can use Hold Position to keep them from running in to attach the Halls of the Dead.

Once the unit-producing buildings are out of the way, you won't have to worry about any Undead units attacking your party or your base. At this point, use your Mortar Teams to take out the Necropolis and the Spirit Tower from a safe distance, and after that let your party loose to bring the entire base to the ground.

While all of that is going on, you can be upgrading your base. You'll at least want a Blacksmith and probably a Workshop, which requires a Keep upgrade. With the Blacksmith research all of the upgrades, and if you plan to use Priests, build an Arcane Sanctum and upgrade to Priest Adept Training.

Build an Army

This will be typical base-building game play. Focus on getting a strong defense at the West end of your base, as the Undead will attack from there. The East end will be left alone.

Assemble a decent party; you'll need some Mortar Teams to take out the defensive structures, some Priests to heal your party as you go, and a fair number of Footmen, optionally supported by Riflemen. You can also try using Arthas with Divine Shield to hit-and-run the Undead base.

Clear the Gold Mine

At some point, your gold mine will collapse, and you'll be tipped to go find the additional gold mine and use it. The way is dangerous, so send your party in first. However, it's worth noting that with the rushing of the Undead base, you'll have just as much if not more gold available to you from their old Gold Mine as the other one East of your base. In fact, establishing a secondary base there might prove useful as a closer starting point for new units.

Either way, it's worth exploring the woods East of your base and some useful treasures can be found.

Head East out of your base, and enter the stream. Head South, and there are two Level 2 Murloc Hunsten.

Continue East, and there will be another stream. There are three Forest Trolls in this area, one Level 2 Troll standing guard in the stream, another one patrolling between the stream and their camp to the South-East, and one Level 4 Berserker standing in the camp. Attack without getting too close so as to draw the Level 2 Trolls out without alerting the Level 4 Berserker to your presence. Divided like this, they will fall easily. The Berserker will drop Claws of Attack +6 when killed. The log hut also hides a Scroll of Protection.

Head West then North, and a Level 1 Gnoll Poacher hiding behind a tree will taunt you, then run North. Do not follow him without your whole party, as he's leading you back to an ambush at his camp where two more Poachers and one Level 3 Gnoll are waiting. Again, it's easier on you to divide and conquer. The one Gnoll will eventually come back, where you can engage him again. When he's dead, head North to the Gnoll camp and take them out, using the usual method of focusing on the most powerful enemy first, and using Arthas to draw fire and/or heal units that get seriously wounded. The hut hides a Potion of Healing.

If you go a little further North you'll find a Goblin Merchant.

West of that is another Level 4 Forest Troll Berserker, who is patrolling. Wait for him to come to you, as at the other end of his patrol route are more Trolls, and, again, dividing them up makes it easier on you.

Before heading North where the Troll was patrolling, head West into the stream and take on three Level 3 Murloc Nightcrawlers. One will drop a Potion of Mana

Head East again and North, and you'll come to a bridge (which is broken) and two Level 2 Forest Trolls.

Make sure you're well healed after that encounter, as to the East (and slightly South) are four Golems: two level 2 Mud Golems and two Level 6 Rock Golems. Use Jaina to attack the first Mud Golem you see, and retreat back to the party. The Golem will chase you, as will the other Mud Golem, but this will keep you from also drawing the attention of the other two (much more powerful) Golems. You can try a similar tactic on the remaining Golems, but both will probably attack you if you attack just one. The Rock Golems are tough. They're immune to magic, have a lot of hit points, and pack a strong punch. As always, you're best off focusing your fire. Make sure everyone is healed up and see if you can Arthas to take the heat up front, having Divine Shield ready for when his Hit Points fall too low (you decide when that is). Also use Jaina's Water Elemental for a free extra unit, and even Blizzard if you've got it, but be careful not to cause damage to your own men.

South of here is the other Gold Mine, but as noted earlier, it may be just as well to use the Gold Mine the Undead were using.

Clear the Bandits

In the stretch between your base and the Undead base, there are two branches to the trail that head South-West. The one closest to your base has three Level 5 Enforcers, which can take their toll on your party. One of them carries a Potion of Mana. This battle may be worth it for the experience points but probably not much else.

In the branch that's closer to the Undead base is a female villager who gets killed by two Ghouls as you approach. The Ghouls will be easy for your party to take out, but don't carry much value.

Explore Andorhal

Refresh your troops if needed, and bolster them as well. At the minimum, give yourself two Mortar Teams, two Priests, and five Footmen. Consider an extra Priest and some supporting Riflemen. Also get every available upgrade at the Blacksmith, the Arcane Sanctum, and Barracks, if not done so already. The good news is that at this point you face a finite number of Undead enemies, as there are no unit-producing structures available to them anymore.

When ready, head back to the old Undead base, and from there go North-East into Andorhal. You'll meet Kel'Thuzad. After the cut-scene, you are charged with finding him. But first, take out the Ghouls that he left for you.

Head East and a little South, and there will be a cage. Attack it and "Timmy" will come out, who is actually a Ghoul. Kill this Ghoul and he'll drop a Ring of Superiority. Head North and there will be a few more Ghouls.

Continue North out of town, and follow the path to the East. Two Ghouls guard the way.

At the end of the path is a mini base with four Abominations and a lone Ghoul. Your safest bet is to divide and conquer again. Use Mortar Teams to attack from afar, and lure the Abominations to your party, hopefully only one or two at a time.

You can optionally send in Water Elemental after Water Elemental to attack the Abominations, and while this will save your party any damage, it will take a long time, besides which there is little to do after this point.

Once the Abominations (and single Ghoul) are cleared, you get to go after Kel'Thuzad. He should be no match for you...even Arthas alone can easily take him out. Killing him finishes the mission.

Treasures

One of the three Enforcers to the West of your base carries a Potion of Mana

The Forest Troll Berserker in the South-East corner of the map will drop a Claws of Attack +6 when killed

The Forest Troll's log hut hides a Scroll of Protection

There is a Potion of Healing inside the Gnoll's hut

One of the three Murloc Nightcrawlers in the stream North-East of your base carries a Potion of Mana

One of the Rock Golems will drop a Ring of Protection +2

"Timmy," the Ghoul held captive in the cage in Andorhal, carries a Ring of Superiority