Attack Type: Normal
Armor Type: Hero
Hotkey: A
Favorite Quote: "Don't you have a strategy?"

Abilities:

Blizzard: This ability is for damaging all units in an area. Unfortunately, this spell has 'friendly fire', meaning ALL units are damaged, not just the enemy's. Try to cast this only on enemy units, or make sure to keep your own units out of it. To move units out of it while keeping the Mage casting it, tab over to the units you want to move and hold control, right clicking where you want the units to move, or the unit you want them to attack. That way, (if you hold control) the order is not issued to the mage, who can keep casting. (You can also click on the attack button and a location to perform an attack-move with only those units, but hotkeys do not work when holding shift or control.) Blizzard is useful for killing enemies with l ow hit points that are huddled together (usually archers). Blizzard will do less damage to Heroes, and (if I'm correct) equal damage to buildings & fortified units. I personally do not use Blizzard because I like to run away too much (and keep my hero alive). However, if you have some way of preventing your hero from being killed (better unit control, potions, etc.) then feel free to Blizzard away. Blizzard requires an Archmage's full attention, so he cannot move, be killed, sleep, or be stunned for it to continue working. Practical uses of Blizzard: Dealing damage to an area, usually to kill armies near death or with low hit points.
75 mana / cool down time : extremly short
Level 1: 6 waves at 30 damage each
Level 2: 8 waves at 40 damage each
Level 3: 10 waves at 50 damage each
Hotkey: B

Summon Water Elemental: This ability is useful for an extra unit (or more) on the battlefield. This unit is a summoned unit, so it will not cost food, gold, or wood (only mana) so feel free to make as many of them as you wish as often as you like. A new WE (Water Elemental) will not replace older ones, nor will an upgrade to the ability upgrade any existing ones. If you just leveled, and are going to put a point in water Elemental anyway, be sure to put a point in the ability /first/ before casting. (This is true with all abilities and especially true of Passive/Autocast/aura abilities!) Water Elementals do 'splash' damage (haha) and most people might not realize this. This causes them to do damage to units that it isn't directly targeting (always useful). Water Elementals are my choice for a Mage because they can either cause attention to turn away from the mage (for creeps or lesser players) or make them pay for chasing the mage (for better players). WE's will still survive after the Mage's death Practical uses of Summon Water Elemental: Scouting. They give good XP so try to make sure the timer runs out or they die to creeps, not to enemy forces. They deal splash damage and are ranged units, so they are good 'backups' to not interfere with your front line of footmen or knights.
125 mana / cool down speed : long
Level 1: 450 hit points; 21-29 damage; Armour 0
Level 2: 675 hit points; 31-39 damage; Armour 1
Level 3: 900 hit points; 41-49 damage; Armour 2
Hotkey: W

Brilliance Aura: The only reason NOT to get this is if there is another player on your team who gives you the okay not to (because he will be getting it, and auras do not overlap). I am an aura fan myself, (especially in team games) and this is one of the better ones, as well. This will allow your spell casters (including Heroes, which are all spellcasters of some sort or another) to be able to do what they do more often. The only reason you would NOT get this (other than the first reason) is if for some strange reason Mana Burn scared you to death. But really, if that's the case, just kill the Demon Hunter. Practical uses of Brilliance Aura: All your and your ally's spellcasters are now extremely powerful.
Passive Aura
Level 1: Adds 0.75 mana regeneration per second.
Level 2: Adds 1.5 mana regeneration per second.
Level 3: Adds 2.25 mana regeneration per second.
Hotkey: R

Mass Teleport (Ultimate): Like all ultimate spells, this one rocks. This is basically 'go anywhere that you can see'. The only exception to that is if you're not using a unit or building to see with. But you can teleport to your allies as well. You can teleport to an invisible unit. You can teleport any type of unit or building, immediately, no matter what the size of the units you're bringing with you (unlike a zeppelin). The cool down is one of the fastest for any ultimate spell, allowing you to teleport pretty much any time you want. The Brilliance Aura essentially removes any need to save up mana (by that level anyway you should have 3 points in it). So Teleport away! Practical uses of Mass Teleport: Never have to walk again, save to send out a (preferably invisible) unit to teleport to.
100 mana / cool down time : fast
Hotkey: T

Practical uses of the Archmage: A great scouter, solo-creeper, annoyer, and a great hero to have around for any spellcasting purposes. Mass Teleporting in with a group of siege (using an invisible unit), killing off 3 or 4 (or more) unprotected buildings (with tanks are the best, yet with any form of siege) and then Mass Teleporting out again (bringing the invisible unit with you) can really, really annoy the enemy. If you've got a high hit point unit, you can send that in quickly (on 'move') if the enemy has invisibility detection. In team games, teleporting to a Shade and back rocks (because the ally's Shade will stay there when you leave, enabling you to do this when the guard units leave). If you notice a hero has invisibility detection (because he's carrying a Gem of True Seeing) and is about to kill a Shade, you can protect that shade easily with Mass Teleport, especially when that Hero is alone. Using scouting units, invisible units spread out everywhere, and even building a farm in key locations can make Mass Teleport really annoying to your enemies, and Brilliance Aura will help everyone (because everyone at LEAST has heroes, and should have spellcasters for every race on the team, even if individual players don't have spellcasters). The Archmage (commonly called Mage) requires a level of concentration. This is not a hero to take damage, so you should always flee (not just run in circles) if attacked.

Hero Combos

• Mountain King. The mountain king is a nasty little buzzard who likes to immobilize enemys, so make sure he’s fully capable of doing so. A mountain king coupled with an Archmage should get Storm Bolt and Thunderclap, ignoring Bash until a later time. Use him on night elves and mass casters, and make sure your mage gets Blizzard. The mountain king should run in, storm bolt the enemy hero, thunderclap as many units as he can get close to, and then run out while the Archmage begins the real destruction. Now that his units are all slowed and his hero not ready to go after the mage, the mage begins raining ice on the major groups. The small units, having already taken damage and having large problems moving, get sucked into the icy grave. The mountain king, hyped on brilliance aura, may even be able to repeat the combo sans storm bolt. This gets to be a better combo the stronger the four abilities are, mainly Thunderclap and Blizzard.
• Tauren Chieftan. This works exactly the same as the king. Run in, stun all the enemy units, blizzard, and throw a shockwave in for good measure.
• Death Knight. This isn’t such a great combo, but it’s really kind of fun for mass casters when they have bonus mana and health regeneration.
• Paladin. The paladin uses his astounding new brilliance to holy light the Archmage as much as possible, while using Divine Shield to redirect damage to the Archmage. The Archmage redirects even more damage by summoning elementals.
• Lich: Don’t bother. You need some muscle on a team.
• Blademaster. Another redirecting nightmare, the Blademaster mirror images and takes up the lead while the Archmage summons. Any time the Bman gets in trouble, he either remirrors, no problem thanks to his added smarts, or windwalks away. Also, Bladestorm gets easier to cast with this.
• Demon Hunter. The Demon Hunter gets one major bonus off of brilliance, if I remember correctly: almost completely unlimited immolation. Also, he can Mana Burn at just about any time, keeping the opponent Manaless while your allies gain. You can use a demon hunter to keep another demon hunter off the Archmages back.
• Dreadlord. Keep combat down to as small a level as you can, sleeping anything major and swarming anything minor. Cast blizzard or WE, whichever you prefer, though blizzard has the chance of hitting a sleeping unit. (Yes, that’s right, I’m going through all of them in no particular order)
• Priestess of the Moon. The priestess gains unlimited flaming arrows from a good aura, and really decent scouting, but that’s really not that much. Keeping ultimates down to manageable levels is still nice.
• Keeper of the Grove. Do whatever you want. Entangle heros, summon treants, it doesn’t get much more complicated.
• Far Seer. Lots of lightning and wolves and stuff. I’m bored now. The more important ones are at the top anyways. Archmage. Bet you thought I wouldn’t put this one up. While one archmage is just nutty, two can be devastating. Double the elementals, Double the Ice. Also, one archmage can quite successfully Dead Fish, allowing him the choice of Elemental or Blizzard without the problems of decreased mana regen. Double up on Mass tel, transporting two armies at once, for the ultimate techniques in Bounce (see below) Basically, the archmage requires a great deal more care than other heros, but it's worth it all the way. To prove it: a few of the Archmages many magical tricks, summarized here.

Attack Type: Normal
Armor Type: Hero
CANNOT ATTACK AIR
Hotkey: M
Favorite Quote: "Couldja put some Bonus Points in ma drinkin' skills?"
Quotes from Muradin (the Single Player MK) that most people might not know:
"I'll take the Rapist for 500."
"I'm on to you Trebec!"
"You wanna get the Undead? I'll tell you how to get the Undead. One of their men pulls a knife; your man pulls a gun. They send your man to the hospital, you send their man to the morgue. THAT'S how you get the Undead."

Abilities:

Storm Bolt: This is a handy little spell that most MK's (Mountain King's) usually don't go without. This is the main 'stunner' for the Humans, as this spell is what stops any spells that require the hero to stand still. It also deals a fair amount of damage as well. Stunners are useful for stunning a hero and surrounding it while it is trying to flee (or even if it isn't). Also any other unit as well. You can use Storm Bolt on flying units, as it is a ranged attack. Practical uses: Stunning. Attacking air if you're limited in that area. After the enemy hero is already dead, you can alternate between this and Thunder Clap (especially if you have an Archmage to give you mana).
75 mana / cool down speed : normal
Level 1: 100 damage; 5 seconds stun.
Level 2: 200 damage; 7 seconds stun.
Level 3: 300 damage; 9 seconds stun.
Hotkey: T

Thunder Clap: Slam the ground, dealing damage while only slowing the enemy. Since they get 'dizzy' (the same kind of dizzy you get from falling from a zeppelin that was destroyed) they will be exceedingly slow, yet not 'stunned'. This is like casting slow on (and damaging) every unit around you. However, it will quickly help the enemy find where your MK is (one of the benefits of the MK is his being small and hard to spot, especially if there's another hero nearby and the enemy doesn't know you have an MK yet). This is a great secondary skill to cast when you're not casting Storm Bolt, especially if you're surrounded. Practical uses: No hero should ever be surrounded by melee, giving him no chance to flee. This can either kill off some units that are surrounding you (ones that are nearly dead anyway, and/or at higher levels) or you can use it to get /nearly/ surrounded and dish out a lot of damage. Be sure to get back into a more open area if you decide to stop casting this or your hero gets low on health. In a melee battle, it's best to keep doing this over and over (your hero will get close to enemies by himself) if he is your second or third hero and you don't have enough time to pick a target for his Storm Bolt.
90 mana / cool down time : fast
Level 1: 70 damage; -25% movement speed; -25% attack rate.
Level 2: 110 damage; -50% movement speed; -50% attack rate.
Level 3: 150 damage; -70% movement speed; -70% attack rate.
Hotkey: C

Bash (passive): This, while useful in and of itself, is normally not as useful as the other two spells. If you are using the MK without the Archmage's mana support from Brilliance Aura, this may be a place to put your spare points, as without Brilliance Aura you will never have enough mana (without gulping down potions) to cast the other two enough to deal enough damage per skill point. This is however a useful skill to have at all, if you've already put enough points in all the others and your hero is high enough level. Practical uses of Bash: If you don't have Storm Bolt, you can assign the MK to attack the other hero and just hope it gets stunned from Bash. Otherwise, Bash is just pretty much a 'bonus' that helps the MK kill whatever it's trying to kill.
Passive
Level 1: 15% chance to deal 25 damage and stun an opponent for 2 seconds.
Level 2: 25% chance to deal 25 damage and stun an opponent for 2 seconds.
Level 3: 35% chance to deal 25 damage and stun an opponent for 2 seconds.
Hotkey: B

Avatar (Ultimate): With a great cry of 'For Khaz'Modan!' (the Dwarven homelands) your MK will get bigger, harder to deal damage to, tougher, stronger, and immune to spells, for a whole minute. The cool down is two minutes, so once you get this spell, you should be spending about half your time as an Avatar (especially if you can regenerate 150 mana in 2 minutes). Practical uses of Avatar: Kick some butt. I guess you could use it to run but since you're so strong and tough you might as well be dealing damage, not fleeing.
150 mana / cool down time : extremly long
(5 bonus armour; 500 bonus hit points; 20 bonus damage)
Hotkey: ?

Practical uses of the Mountain King: Commonly abbreviated to MK, this hero is the main hero when it comes to dishing out damage and weakening the enemy. While the Pally supports everyone with damage reduction and healing, the Archmage supports spellcasters (and everyone with Mass Teleport) the MK is the one that comes in and kicks butt, especially against both individual units (with all skills except Thunder Clap) and against groups (Thunder Clap). He is the only 'Stunner' that I know of for the Human race, making him a required hero in most cases. Some people can play with all 3 heroes (while lowering your experience, they really do compliment each other, and if the enemy kills off one, you still have two (who will get more experience) and if the enemy kills of another, the third (which is probably the one you're playing best anyway) will get the most experience) Consider one the healer, the other the spellcaster, and the third the damage dealer. Choose & use wisely.

Attack Type: Normal
Armor Type: Hero
CANNOT ATTACK AIR
Hotkey: L
Favorite Quote: "Is that a sword? Luxury! Is that a horse? Sloth! Is that a helmet? Vanity!"

Abilities:

Holy Light: This ability is for healing units, or damaging undead. Cannot be ies it will not hurt, allies it will not heal, any form of mechanical unit, or the Paladin himself. Practical uses of Holy Light: Group select your army, tab to your Paladin (if not there already), and heal any unit you see go into the yellow, orange, or red. Also use this on enemy undead heroes (any other unit is a waste, better to heal your own). Can attack air units, a know, so if there's a single Gargoyle annoying your knights, Holy Light it. Another good use, should you choose to only heal one type of unit (Priests will rather heal others than themselves, so usually need healing the most) you can have a hotkey group of only your paladin and the units you wish to heal. Perhaps, if your ally is sharing units, you can hotkey your paladin and any heroes wishing to benefit from Holy Light.
75 mana / cool down extremly fast
Level 1: Heals 200; 100 damage to undead
Level 2: Heals 400; 200 damage to undead
Level 3: Heals 600; 300 damage to undead
Hotkey: T

Divine Shield: This is a great spell for the Paladin. It's pretty much "Don't touch me." Spells (beneficial and harmful) will not affect you, and you cannot be targeted, attacked, or dealt with in most normal ways. You CAN however, be surrounded, and as the enemy suffers losses from your Paladin (and any other units around) he can wait for your spell to wear off, and then kill you when it does. Practical uses of Divine Shield: Running away without the enemy able to do anything about it. If you're in the red but still want to hang around to keep Devotion Aura around as well, Divine Shield is useful for getting out of the melee (where the Paladin usually winds up) and into the background, maybe even out of sight.
90 mana / cool down slow
Level 1: Lasts 10 seconds
Level 2: Lasts 20 seconds
Level 3: Lasts 30 seconds
Hotkey: D

Devotion Aura: I'm a big fan of auras, especially in team games. If you can keep your hero alive (and for all the time up until he dies if you can't), EVERY unit on the battlefield will benefit from this (your team only of course). Devotion can benefit every single unit, flying or not. I also think a Paladin looks silly running around without at least one point in this. The enemy can tell you have this skill even with a glance, so he'll know a level 1 Paladin e either of the other two skills. In return, he'll know if you /don't/ have this as well. Practical uses of Devotion Aura: Team games, plain and simple. Higher Armor values result in less damage given to your units (a high armor value, with the correct armor type, leaves you pretty much invincible to a specific type of attack, resulting in good counters, and will also strengthen you slightly against the type of attack you're weak against).
25 mana / cool down normal
Level 1 : Increases base armor by 1
Level 2 : Increases base armor by 2
Level 3: Increases base armor by 3
Hotkey: V

Resurrection (Ultimate): This is a great skill (most Ultimate ones are). Use this when there are at least six corpses and especially when you're not fighting Undead (they'll steal your corpses with Necromancers, usually). This will revive ONLY your units and ally's units, so you cannot just kill six of the enemy and resurrect them. However, you will get this unit back COMPLETELY with NO TIMER and are essentially healing them back to full health, after they died. The spell will automatically select the 'strongest' of the corpses should there be more than six. If you resurrect your ally's corpses, be sure to tell him (if you don't have shared units) because they are still his units and his to command, not yours. An ally might think all his units are dead (and they were) but you just brought them back. Practical uses of Resurrection: Against any player except Undead (and against them too, if they aren't using up the corpses) just group select your army, and when six or more die, cast it. You can tell when six or more die easily (if you have a large army) by selecting a group at random, so you have 12 units, and waiting until the group is down to one row again. You can also cast this after any battle, period, even if you won, because if it was a big enough battle, there will be some corpses to resurrect, and that way you are not wasting the spell by inactivity (you can cast it again fairly soon, or you can not battle again until it's ready). Like all Ultimate spells, this spell by itself can turn the tide of battles, and even the war.
200 mana / cool down time : extremly long
Hotkey: R

Practical uses of the Paladin:Healing, avoiding damage, reducing damage in nearby units, and resurrecting slain friendly units. There really isn't any 'tricks' with the Paladin, just use his skills well. Like any unit, he can be put on invisible and you can scout with him. An invisible unit, as far as I know, will NOT provide aura benefits to others (this would allow you to know where that unit is, I guess is the reasoning) but the moment he's visible again it will. Auras are useful in team games if you're semi-good with the Paladin (Pally for short).