Footmen frenzy heroes: Bloodmage

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The Bloodmage is a very powerful hero but requires much more micro to get the job done than heroes like the Archmage. My style of play for the Bloodmage is to alternate between Flamestrike and Siphon Mana as primary spells, then put 3 points each in Banish and Phoenix. The increase in duration for Banish is not really worthwhile at high levels unless you need to immobilize an army rather than a hero.

Flame Strike

Flame Strike is a partial channeling spell, so you must stand still until you see the pillar of fire descend from the sky. If you move beforehand, the spell will be interrupted, but once it begins, you can safely run away. Flame Strike is the most powerful Area of Effect (AoE) spell in the game (and the Frenzy version has no maximum damage cap), but its initial casting delay means you have to anticipate the movement of troops and heroes when you cast it. The spell will do immense damage every 0.4 seconds during the first 4.0 seconds (a total of 10 ticks), and then it will do negligible damage to units who remain in its radius for 5.0 seconds afterwards. Flame Strike always has a 1.5 second casting time, 12 second cooldown, and costs 150 mana. It only has a 10% effectiveness against buildings. Counter this with Scrolls of Speed or old-fashioned interrupting spells on the Bloodmage.

Level	DMG	Mana	Area	Range
1	10 dmg per tick / 20 minor dmg	150	200 AoE	800
2	17 dmg per tick / 30 minor dmg	150	220 AoE	825
3	25 dmg per tick / 40 minor dmg	150	240 AoE	850
4	40 dmg per tick / 50 minor dmg	150	260 AoE	874
5	55 dmg per tick / 60 minor dmg	150	280 AoE	900
6	70 dmg per tick / 75 minor dmg	150	300 AoE	925

Banish

Banish makes a unit ethereal -- immune to physical attacks but 66% more susceptible to negative spells and magic. A quick Banish followed by an ally's Death Coil can kill any hero in just a few seconds. It's also helpful to cast on enemy heroes who rely on physical damage to be a nuisance, like Jaood and the Blademaster. Unlike the regular game, Banish does not slow units down and cannot be cast on friendly units. Banish always costs 125 mana.

Level	Effect hero/unit	Cooldown	Range
1	4 sec hero / 12 sec unit	4	800
2	5 sec hero / 15 sec unit	4	825
3	6 sec hero / 18 sec unit	4	850
4	7 sec hero / 48 sec unit	4	875
5	8 sec hero / 60 sec unit	4	900
6	9 sec hero / 120 sec unit	3	925

Siphon Mana

Mana Siphon drains mana and a small amount of life from enemy heroes. This spell is effective at shutting down Strength-based heroes early in the game, and is a direct counter to Bill K's Call of the Gods (he can't cast it if he has no mana!). Use this to keep your Bloodmage active early game, and use it to preemptively drain any deadly heroes late game. Siphon Mana always costs 10 mana and has a 15 second cooldown.

Level	Effect hero/unit	Duration	Range
1	15 mana & 1 hp/seconds	6 seconds	650
2	30 mana & 2 hp/seconds	6.5 seconds	675
3	45 mana & 3 hp/seconds	7 seconds	700
4	60 mana & 4 hp/seconds	7.5 seconds	725
5	75 mana & 5 hp/seconds	8 seconds	750
6	150 mana & 6 hp/seconds	8.5 seconds	800

Phoenix

This spell summons a phoenix with a flaming attack. For levels 1 and 2 of this skill, the life of the phoenix drains over time and when the phoenix reaches 0 life, it turns into an egg for several seconds before respawning with full health. The egg has no armor and a meager 120 hitpoints, making it extremely vulnerable. At lvl 3, the phoenix does not drain its life, meaning you can essentially destroy an entire army of melee units with it (they can't hurt you if they can't hit you!). Phoenix grants a 200 gold bounty on death.

In addition to the Phoenix's primary attack, nearby units and heroes will be affected by phoenix fire, which does 240 fire damage over 20 seconds.

Level	Damage	Hitpoints	Life Regeneration	Armor	Cooldown
1	46-60 dmg	1000 hp	-40/s	1	180
2	66-80 dmg	1100 hp	-20/s	3	160
3	81-95 dmg	1250 hp	0/s	4	140

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Footmen frenzy heroes: Crypt Lord

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The Crypt Lord does pretty well as a solo hero and is beefy enough to last for quite some time. If you want to play him as a mean killing machine, max everything but beetles. If you'd rather use the beetles of doom, max it instead of Spiked Carapace and keep the Crypt Lord on the sidelines. Summoning beetles while on the front line can be deadly to you, because they'll probably appear around you and block your retreat.

Spells

Impale

Impale damage and stuns a line of enemy units. The stun on this spell is better than the damage it does. It's great when used in tandem with another AoE spell like Carrion Swarm. It's also useful for stopping retreating heroes. Impale always costs 100 mana and has a 9 second cooldown.

Level	DMG/(Impale length)	Range	Stun (Hero/Units)
1	50 dmg / 625 length	700	1 sec hero / 2 sec units
2	90 dmg / 650 length	725	2 sec hero / 3.5 sec units
3	120 dmg / 675 length	750	3 sec hero / 5 sec units
4	150 dmg / 700 length	775	4 sec hero / 6.5 sec units
5	180 dmg / 725 length	800	4 sec hero / 7 sec units
6	360 dmg / 800 length	825	4 sec hero / 10 sec units

Carrion Beetles

Carrion Beetles are a different kind of summons than you're probably used to. These fat beetles don't do much damage, but they have fortified armor and are magic immune. They were designed to be more of a moving Bone Wall than a scary attacking squad. Beetles make a good meat shield for ranged units and also do wonders at messing up the pathing of Tier 4 units. To increase the survival of your beetles, combine them with Vampiric Aura or some Scourge Bone Chimes. A fun strategy to try: Impale a hero and then surround him with beetles. Beetles always last for 60 seconds or until killed. The mana cost is 100 and the cooldown is always 15 seconds for levels up to 6, and level 6's mana cost is 300 and cooldown is 30.

Level	Units	Hitpoints	Danage	Armor
1	3 Beetles	350 hp	16-19 dmg	0
2	4 Beetles	400 hp	16-19 dmg	2
3	5 Beetles	450 hp	21-24 dmg	4
4	6 Beetles	500 hp	21-24 dmg	6
5	7 Beetles	550 hp	24-27 dmg	10
6	20 Beetles	550 hp	24-27 dmg	10

Spiked Carapace

Spiked Carapace is like a local version of Thorns Aura, and also provides additional armor to the Crypt Lord. It is very useful when your opponents tech melee units or when you are facing a Blademaster or Jaood.

Level	Armor	DMG returned %
1	+3	25% dmg returned
2	+6	50% dmg returned
3	+9	75% dmg returned
4	+12	100% dmg returned
5	+15	125% dmg returned
6	+20	225% dmg returned

Locust Swarm

At Level 1, Locust Swarm is a healing spell which takes hit points from enemy units and feeds them to the Crypt Lord. At higher levels, it's an AOE killing spell, because the locusts take much more HP than your Crypt Lord could ever want. Locust Swarm always costs 150 mana.

Level	Life Regeneration	Area	Cooldown
1	20 swarms returning 25 hp each	800 AoE	180 seconds
2	30 swarms returning 50 hp each	850 AoE	150 seconds
3	50 swarms returning 80 hp each	900 AoE	120 seconds

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The heroes: Warden

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The Warden is incredibly powerful if you keep her alive and is also lots of fun to play. Micro is essential to playing a Warden, since your weak Warden must be on the front lines to do much damage.

Spells

Fan of Knives

This is a very underappreciated skill -- it's one of the few AoE spells that cannot be dodged. Though the damage output is low, the cooldown decreases so you are doing damage more often than other spells. When using Fan of Knives, try to be decently surrounded by enemies so that no knives go to waste. Late game, you can Blink into an enemy base filled with lower level units, Fan, and Blink out before the enemy can even react (this is sometimes called Farming). This is especially fun when combined with Level 6 Blink. Note that Fan of Knives is classified as a physical spell so it won't hurt Halpmeh.

Level	DMG/Total DMG	Cooldown	Range
1	75 dmg / max 400 dmg total	9	400 AoE
2	125 dmg / max 900 dmg total	8	450 AoE
3	190 dmg / max 1400 dmg total	7	500 AoE
4	240 dmg / max 1900 dmg total	7	550 AoE
5	300 dmg / max 6000 dmg total	6	600 AoE
6	350 dmg / 9999 max damage	5	700 AoE

Blink

Most people see Blink as their escape path, but it is also superb for diving into danger. Once you have Blink you should walk around as little as possible. You should have Blink at level 3 to be decently useful, and Level 6 Blink is a must-have for hit and runs. With Shadow Strike, Fan of Knives, and Blink maxed, you can kill any hero with no danger to yourself. Notice the range on Level 6 Blink -- you can Blink between adjacent bases which makes it very easy to farm late game footmen, archers, and ghouls, for cash.

Level	Range	Cooldown	Mana
1	1000	10	50
2	1250	9	50
3	1500	7	50
4	1750	5	50
5	2000	4	50
6	3500	3	50

Shadow Strike

Shadow Strike is a very cost-effective hero kill which does a small initial damage and then more damage over time. Because this is a draining spell rather than a single damage spell, people don't realize how great it is. It always costs 65 mana, slows the target by 50% for the entire duration, and has an 8 second cooldown. The draining damage drains heroes for 7 seconds at every level, but the times for units are much higher. As its initial Damage is classified as physical, Halpmeh will no longer take damage from the initial, but still from the over-time damage. So use it on him to clear off the kill before someone else does it.

Level	DMG Hero	DMG Units
1	75 dmg / 30 dmg over 9 secs hero	50 dmg over 15 sec units
2	150 dmg / 60 dmg over 9 secs hero	100 dmg over 17.5 sec units
3	225 dmg / 90 dmg over 9 secs hero	200 dmg over 20 sec units
4	300 dmg / 120 dmg over 9 secs hero	280 dmg over 22.5 sec units
5	375 dmg / 150 dmg over 9 secs hero	400 dmg over 25 sec units
6	450 dmg / 160 dmg over 9 secs hero	600 dmg over 30 sec units

Vengeance

Vengeance creates a giant undispellable Avatar which creates invulnerable, but dispellable, Spirits from nearby dead bodies. Killing the Avatar kills all the Spirits, or you can dispel them all with several casts of Dispel Magic. This spell got a bad rap in older versions, but as of 3.3, the Spirits will survive much longer in battle. The Avatars last for 180 seconds, or until killed.

Level	Unit(s)	Mana	Cooldown
1	1 Level 1 Avatar which can summon 7 Spirits at a time	150	180
2	2 Level 2 Avatars which can summon 7 Spirits at a time	140	170
3	3 Level 3 Avatars which can summon 7 Spirits at a time	130	160

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Footmen frenzy heroes: Mountain King

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The Mountain King is the master tanker. He can easily wade into the fray and survive, especially later in the game with Avatar. His weakest point is his extremely small mana pool. If you aren't on a skilled team which can control the middle shop with its mana regeneration aura, you're going to need mana items very desperately. Even with the middle advantage, you won't go wrong by giving the Mountain King a Precept or two.

Strategy

The usual Mountain King strategy is to buy mana items and rush quickly to a Cloak of Immolation, and then farm Footmen and other weak melee units early on. Later, Stormbolt and Thunder Clap is chained to easily eliminate heroes.

Advanced Micro

• The Mountain King benefits well from animation canceling.

• When using Thunder Clap before you get your Cloak, Clap and quickly move away from enemy units to minimize damage. After Cloak, this only slows down your farming.

Spells

Storm Bolt

Storm Bolt is the definitive hero killer spell. Even if the Bolt doesn't kill a hero, the stun allows you time to surround the hero and pick it off with your army. Late game you should be going bolt-happy, bolting any hero that shows its face in the middle. The goal is not necessarily to kill heros all the time -- the goal is to make them afraid to enter the middle.

Level	DMG	Stun (hero/unit)	Mana	Range
1	100 dmg	3 sec / 5 sec	160	600
2	200 dmg	3.5 sec / 5 sec	160	625
3	300 dmg	4 sec / 10 sec	160	650
4	400 dmg	4.5 sec / 12 sec	160	675
5	500 dmg	5 sec / 14 sec	160	700
6	700 dmg	6 sec / 20 sec	160	750

Thunder Clap

Thunder Clap is a very effective unit killer, and should be the first skill you get. Like the Tauren Chieftain's stomping skills, you will need some practice to determine the most practical locations for a Clap. Early game, make sure you have an escape route to run away through after the stomp, so you don't get surrounded. Late game, combine Thunder Clap with Storm Bolt to quickly eliminate heroes. Use Clap just after Stormbolt's stun wears off to take advantage of its slow. Thunder Clap always lasts for 3 seconds on heroes and has a 6 second cooldown.

Level	DMG	Speed/Slow Effect	Mana	Area
1	60 dmg	-50% atk & move speed / 4 sec unit	125	250 AoE
2	100 dmg	-55% atk & move speed / 5 sec unit	125	300 AoE
3	150 dmg	-60% atk & move speed / 6 sec unit	125	350 AoE
4	200 dmg	-65% atk & move speed / 7 sec unit	125	400 AoE
5	250 dmg	-70% atk & move speed / 8 sec unit	125	450 AoE
6	350 dmg	-75% atk & -80% move speed / 9 sec unit	125	500 AoE

Bash

This is a latent skill which gives you a chance to stun and do bonus damage. It's a nice bonus to have, but maximizing this skill does not give you as visible a benefit as other skills. One zany strategy you can try is to stack agility items on your MK and then max bash. It won't be as effective as the old Falcon, but it'll be fun for about five minutes.

Level	Probability %	DMG	Stun hero/units
1	20% chance	+25 dmg	1 sec hero / 2 sec unit
2	30% chance	+35 dmg	1.25 sec hero / 3 sec unit
3	40% chance	+45 dmg	1.5 sec hero / 4 sec unit
4	40% chance	+55 dmg	1.75 sec hero / 4 sec unit
5	45% chance	+65 dmg	2 sec hero / 4 sec unit
6	50% chance	+80 dmg	2 sec hero / 5 sec unit

Avatar

Avatar turns your Mountain King into a magic-immune fighting machine. When fighting a high level Avatar, the only counter is to focus fire with ranged units, far enough away from the MK to survive. If this is not an option, the best counter is to hide and let him destroy someone else. Try having him chase you into someone else's base and hope the two forces collide to the detriment of both. Avatar always costs 250 mana and has a cooldown of 200 seconds.

Level	DMG	Armor	Extra HP	Duration
1	+30 dmg	+5	+500 hp	60 seconds
2	+40 dmg	+10	+750 hp	65 seconds
3	+50 dmg	+15	+1000 hp	70 seconds

Countering the Mountain King

• The Mountain King is a very difficult hero to counter once he has become powerful. The key is to stop him from getting that far. Always move your units out of Immolation and try to not give him many hero kills.

• The best way to kill a Mountain King is with a strong Night Elf tech.

• If he chains Stormbolt and Thunder Clap, use a Speed Scroll to counter Thunder Clap's effects.

• When he uses Avatar, hide.

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Footmen frenzy heroes: Avalanche

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Avalanche is among that elite group of heroes that everyone hates. This group also includes the Blademaster, Jaood, and the Paladin when you're Undead. When new players encounter Avalanche for the first time, they come running to the NoHunters forum to cry about imbalance. However, Avalanche is really not a big deal once you know how to deal with him. When playing as Avalanche, get a Scroll of Speed and a Scroll of the Beast and focus on low-hp-heros for some early herokills. Don't chase full health strength-heroes because you won't be able to kill them and someone else will probably jack the bounty. Getting an Infernal Cloak is critical to playing with Avalanche, because it provides you with a source of income in mid game. Once you have the cloak, find bases full of unused melee units and just stand in the middle of them. With Thorns and Immolation, you will kill the vast majority of units very quickly. Use this money to upgrade your troops, because Avalanche will not win alone late game. Make good use of the 50 gold Speed Scroll to catch heroes and get away from AOE spells.

When Avalanche is on the other team, there are plenty of fun ways to counter him. Spend the early game killing him and use his 400 gold bounty to get a tier or two. Buy demolishers, which do extra damage to his fortified armor. Get a feel for the duration between attacks and the cooldown on Blink so you can taunt him with your running hero whenever he tries to snipe you. Tell your unused melee troops to Hold Position so they don't run to attack him. Move melee units away if he tries to Blink closer. The simplest way to defeat Avalanche is to suicide his base early on.

Avalanche costs 2000 gold as of 5.3, and is classified as a special hero, which means he is removed from the tavern and the Random pool after two minutes.

Spells

Lard of Layers

This skill provides bonus armor and hurts melee attackers -- it's like a personal combination of Devotion and Thorns (it stacks with them too). Since the skill set of Avalanche was replaced, many players now maximize this skill.

Thorns

Thorns hurts melee enemies who attack Avalanche and his army. This is a must-have skill when your army is being used because no one can "turn it off" unless they kill Avalanche. It's much easier to kill a Keeper with Thorns than an Ava with Thorns.

Devotion

Devotion provides additional armor to Avalanche and units around him. Avalanche doesnt benefit that much from armor at early levels. However, your units will be grateful if you provide them with some defense.

Critical Strike

Avalanche reincarnation was replaced with Critical strike as of v5.0. This makes avalanche a much better hero killer late game because you have a chance to kill the hero with one hit.

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