"Finally, Jpaikman is left with one solitary outpost, much like Berlin at the close of the Second World War. Sadly, Berlin gets hopelessly raped by Guardians from the South and white cruisers from the North."
-|]agomar
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| Level Up! | | | Author: | | | IP: | CPE34383XXXX | | Date: | 08/16/02 12:08 | | Game Type: | Warcraft 3 | | Labels: | none | | Report Rating: , # of Ratings: 2, Max: 9, Min: 7
Lifetime Rating for C_Time: 5.4000 |   |
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Its crunchtime
It was a slow week, my nE game was just good enough to beat all the other race matchups except nE vs. uD. My experience level was close to the next plateau, yet everytime I was dissapointed by a slip of concentration; bad micro, neglecting my hero. However, earlier that afternoon, I overcame my cold streak by playing a uD who disconnected. Had fortune smiled upon me at last? Level nine had never felt closer. I clicked the Play Game button, selected nE and triggered the blinking eye, the ultimate challenge awaited. Sweat dripped down my brow, if B.net ladder was ranked by frustration level, I was already level 16. I knew if I lost I was going to quit this f@#$-ing game. Suddenly, the blinking eye and the music stopped as the eye stared at me. Its gaze penetrated my mind. It seemed to say, Cee, today destiny awaits you.
All I can say is, its time to level up at last.
Pre-Game Strategy
All right, this is the plan. Page twenty-six in the Book of C_Time states, if you ever find yourself in a nE vs nE matchup remember the following ...
1) In a Huntress Vs. Huntress matchup, he who stops building Huntresses first loses.
2) Let He who builds only Huntresses lose the game as well. Don't forget to tech, my friend.
3) Two Heroes are better than One. Especially if your opponent only has One.
4) When using Huntresses, containment is the name of the game. You are in for a long battle.
Calm Before The Storm
Shojo4 started out with 5 Wisps. Three went to mine Gold, 4th morphed into an Ancient of War (AoW), and the 5th built a Moon Well. 6th and 7th went and gathered Wood. 8th Wisp was selected to mine, bringing the total up to 4 Wisps mining Gold. 9th built an Altar as the first Moon Well was finished. The Wisp which finished the Moon Well once again goes on his task of building a second one. There are now 5 Wisps mining Gold and on the 15th supply, the first archer appeared from the AoW. My analysis on this build at first glance would tell me that this guy is a newbie, however being level 8, skills give you room to be eccentric at times. The Altar is built later than I find comfortable. Shojo4 has a habit of building a lot of Moon Wells set up as walls on both sides of his main. This will give him a very efficient healing station and the Moon Wells make his base very hard to attack without massive attrition. The only reason why I think he built Archers is to aid in creeping, since he chose to go with Oghma, Keeper of the Grove instead of a Demon Hunter.
ElvenNEwt put three Wisps to mine Gold, 4th to Altar, 5th to Moon Well. ElvenNEwt then waited until he had enough Gold to make two Ancients of War (AoW) simultaneouly. A perfect ten for style ^^. While waiting, he kept pumping Wisps until the 18th supply, and then realized that he had forgotten to build a Hunter's Hall! A Moon Well and Hall are built hastily. ElvenNEwt was obviously trying to go double AoW Huntresses. Terrorblade, the Demon Hunter exited his Altar, being the stereotypical nE player that he was. However, his Moon Well deployment was horrible, Moon Well deployment can sometimes change the course of a game.
Epic Battleground
Frostsabre is a cool map (pun INTENDED, so LAUGH!). Four starting positions, the two players start out as far from each other as possible, North and South positions repectively. A lot of easy creeps and a lot of tough creeps, a very good mix. Leveling up early is not a problem, Gnolls located closeby to the main as well as a gang of trolls that can be taken on with a Hero and limited support. There are sparse bunches of easy creeps in the middle of the map, most level 3. The real kicker is that the Mercenary Camps and Goblin Merchants are pretty heavily guarded by a level 6 Ice Troll and his cronies.
Centrius and Terrorblade's Quest
When facing the same race, with the same units, a single level differential can make the difference in a battle. That is why turbo creeping is of paramount importance.
1. Terrorblade strikes at the group of gnolls nearby, hoping for some easy experience. Three level 1 Gnolls and one level 3 Gnoll brute. Gnolls give 20 exp points each while Gnoll Brutes give 40. After a rest stop at the local Moon Well, Terrorblade manages to finish the Gnoll group off, gaining a total of 100 exp and a pair of Boots of Speed.
2. The next creep is a little tougher. One level 4 Forest Troll Berserker, two level 2 Forest Troll Shadow Priests and two level 2 Forest Trolls. Terrorblade meditates, regaining health while waiting for two Huntresses to aid him. The Huntresses arrive and Terrorblade charges forth into the fray. Mana burning the two Shadow Priest, easily killing them. Thirty experience points from each of the trolls and 60 exp points off the berserker. Terrorblade is now level 2, learning evasion. The demon hunter looks around, one casualty; a dead Huntress as a result of careless micro. Terrorblade now has a Circlet of Nobility (+2 to Strength, Agility and Intelligence).
3. Around 6 minutes into the game, the scouting wisp spots archers in the North. Terrorblade's company now consists of 4 fellow Huntresses. The Huntresses have 1/0 upgrades and the Tree of Ages has awakened. No time to rest, they move towards the SouthWest expansion. Waiting for them are two level 6 Rock Golems (100 exp points each) and two level 2 Mud Golems (30 exp points each). The battle is short, no casualties. Terrorblade picks up a Tome of Intelligence and a Tome of Strength +2). Centrius, the Keeper of the Grove has come to aid him. There are now six 2/0 Huntresses as well.
4. Terrorblade, Centrius travel to the Southeast expansion, identical to the previous one. There Terrorblade gives Centrius the Tome of Intelligence as the Demon Hunter powers up to level 5 using a Tome of Greater Experience and a Tome of Experience.
5. Again, the tireless creeping ensues. This time to the Northeast expansion. Centrius gains a Tome of Intelligence and Terrorblade gains a Tome of Agility +2. Both ponder at what the enemy is up too, things being quite peaceful so far...
Oghma and Hellbourne's Rampage
1. Oghma and 4 archers quickly mop up these creeps with ease. Boots of Speed are attained.
2. Calling upon the *mighty* Treants, Oghma again finishes these creeps with ease. However, by not focusing on the Shadow Priest, an Archer is lost. Oghma attains a level and a Pendant of Energy. Entangle is researched as Oghma notices an enemy wisp in the shadows. The wisp quickly scurries away.
3. Six minutes into the game, Oghma rallies 5 archers and 1 Huntress as they travel towards the Northwest expansion. Shojo4 opts for only one AoW and decides to upgrade his Tree into a Tree of Ages.
Once again using his Treants to shield his troops, Oghma and Co. take those Golems to school. Old School, yo! Ahem. The golems drop a Manual of Health and a Tome of Greater Experience. Oghma is now level 4 with both level 2 Entangle and level 2 Force of Nature. Shojo4 then expands to this spot.
4. Oghma then takes on three level 3 Ogres, right next to his expansion. Gaining 40 exp points off each Ogre and a Potion of Greater Mana.
5. A little farther South, three level 3 Trolls are ambushed by Oghma's treants. Gaining 30 exp points off each troll and a pair of Slippers of Agility.
6. A small group of low-level Gnolls don't know what hit them. Oghma gains a valuable item, the Mantle of Intelligence +3.
7. The Demon Hunter, Hellbourne meets up with Oghma. Together they set out to claim the Western Main. Guarded by one level 5 Gnoll Overseer, two level 3 Gnoll Wardens and three level 3 Gnoll Assassins. Oghma ensnares the Overseer as the rest of the army makes short work of the other Gnolls. Treants taking the most damage, there are no casualties. A Slipper of Agility and Tome of Strength are taken from these Gnolls. Oghma is now level 5.
8. The Rampage continues, moving further south, Shojo4 is still unaware of elvenNEwt's location. One level 4 Forest Troll Berserker, two level 2 Forest Troll Shadow Priests and two Forest Trolls later ... Hellbourne powers up to level 2. Oghma picks up a Periapt of Vitality, his bloodlust still churning inside him. Oghma signals for the Rampage to start once more, but is interrupted by a sudden attack ...
Breaking the Ice
elvenNEwt had been wary all this time, not knowing that Shojo4 had been creeping like a whore. elvenNEwt expanded to the SouthWest expansion around the same time Shojo4 did. However, Shojo4 neglected to put his wisps onto the entangled mine, while elvenNEwt didn't. Therefore a slight advantage went to elvenNEwt. elvenNEwt discovered what his opponent was up to at last, spotting Shojo4's expansion at the NorthWest corner. Seeing that the attacker had the upper hand (mainly because elvenNEwt had two AoW compared to his one), Shojo4 town portalled home to heal and defend his main from the imminent attack.
However, the attack never came. Remembering the key to using Huntresses was containment and not a frontal assault, elvenNEwt decided to play it safe. Need I remind you how badly elvenNEwt wanted this win and what was at stake (throwing the WC3 cd in the trash if he lost).
elvenNEwt started being suspicious of what Shojo4 had being doing all this time. So he decided to check the Eastern Main. So far, elvenNEwt had left a Sentry Owl at each expansion he passed by, carefully monitoring his opponent's every move. Terrorblade and Centrius arrived at the Eastern Main seeing nothing but a group of Gnolls defending it. After clearing the main and punishing the creeps for looking ugly, elvenNEwt decided to expand there. Terrorblade was now a level 6 badass after picking up a Tome of Greater Experience dropped by the Gnolls.Terrorblade, Centrius and Co. then decided to return to the SouthWest expansion.
Shojo4 has been devilishly biding his time, twiddling his fingers and teching to Bears and Dryads with two Ancients of Lore (AoL). elvenNEwt would usually go for an Ancient of Lore too, but on this occassion he decided to tech to (drum roll, please)... CYCLONE! Stay tuned to see how elvenNEwt gets raped since he doesn't know how Abolish owns Cyclone. t.t
The Sentry Owl watching the Northern passage to the Eastern expansion spotted Shojo4's troops of Bears, dryads and Huntressess approach his unfinished expansion at the Eastern Main. elvenNEwt cancels his building expansion as Shojo4 uses Force of Nature to destroy elvenNEwt's sentry in that area. Gathering his troops, elvenNEwt decided it was time for confrontation at last. Guessing that his opponent was about to expand to the Eastern Main, he prepared for battle.
The Cry of War
Terrorblade and Company arrived at the Eastern Main, once again expecting battle. No one was there ... or was there? Out of the corner of his eyes, Terrorblade spotted a small mixed group of Dryads and Druids of the Claw. The chase was on as the Company was led to the NorthEastern expansion. Knowing that this must be where Shojo4 must had expanded, Terrorblade waited for his troops to rally, and then they charged.
Shojo4's army consisted of 3 Druid of the Claw Masters, two 1/1 Dryads, four 1/2 archers, and five 1/2 Huntresses along with Oghma and Hellbourne.
elvenNEwt's army consisted of ten 2/2 Huntresses and four Druid of the Talon Masters along with Terrorblade and Centrius. Their armies were dead even, 16 units each. elvenNEwt, however he felt his superior amount of Huntresses and *ahem* Cyclone could micro his way to a victory. If only he knew.
Shojo4 uses his Treants as a demi-human shield. By doing this, he sneaked a few shots at elvenNEwt's units as they hacked away at the Treants. elvenNEwt's Huntresses try to come around the Treants and engage the enemy Huntressess. Terrorblade spots Hellbourne as they clash ignoring everything around them. Hellbourne mana burns Terrorblade and Terrorblade smiles, the dance begins.
Hellbourne's death is quick, being overmatched by 4 levels. However, Terrorblade had been taking lots of hits while he dueled his archnemesis. Terrorblade had no choice but to run for it. Meanwhile, confusion set in on elvenNEwt, his Cyclones kept missing and Fairie Fire was not working.
 The tide of the battle was turning suddenly, the bears were absorbing the damage like a sponge and still were not dying. Shojo4's dryads and archers focused fired every Huntress behind a wall of heavy melee until nothing was left. Terrorblade was entangled and died easily because of his already low HP. Centrius and Company now ran for their lives, but once again Oghma the Merciless entangled Centrius and the Bears beat him to a bloody pulp.
Aftermath of the First Battle
So the result was not pretty for all those hardcore elvenNEwt fans out there. He came out with virtually nothing while Shojo4 still had an army. Terrorblade and Centrius were both in the afterlife and Oghma was probably already in the Bahamas with Dryad babes serving him cocktails.
Shojo4 currently had 4 Druid of the Claw Masters (1 more than he started the battle with), 4 dryads, 3 archers, and 1 huntress along with Oghma!
Meanwhile elvenNEwt had exactly 4 huntresses and 4 Druids of the Talon Masters remaining.
Slowly, elvenNEwt started to rebuild his army once again. Huntresses were amassed pretty quickly as he waited for Terrorblade to be reincarnated. Don't tell me why, but he still continued to build Druids of the Talon. However, elvenNEwt compensated by building an Ancient of Lore and expanding to the Western Main.
Redemption
elvenNEwt knew he suffered a humiliating defeat, above that he felt he had lost his l33tness when his cyclones failed to work. The momentum was shifting away from him, so he decided to tempt the fates once again. It is said that fortune favors the bold. With nine 2/3 Huntresses, four Druids of the Talons and level 6 Terrorblade, he decides to finish what he started.
Waiting for elvenNEwt at the NorthEast expansion was Oghma along with eight Druids of the Claw, 5 dryads, 3 archers and 1 huntress. Shojo4 is caught off guard as his archers and dryads are in the front. elvenNEwt manages to take down a couple of ranged units before Shojo4 realized what was going on.
It looked like this was going to be a bloody battle once again, where no one was going home in one piece. But then, somehow, a miracle happened. Oghma, cocky and arms crossed was suddenly lifted into the air and twirled like a leaf caught in a breeze. Cyclone!
elvenNEwt knew he had put up a worthy fight, but getting slaughtered was not going to prove anything. There were still at least five bears left and level 6 Oghma was too powerful to defeat without a least some more support. It was time to run for it. At least, thought Terrorblade, those damn bears are eating some Fairie Fire!
Shojo4 expanded again as he took control of the Eastern Main. elvenNEwt had placed another Sentry Owl at the Eastern Main after Shojo4 took out his last Owl. Seeing that Shojo4's entire army was defending the Eastern Main, the NorthEastern expansion was completely defenseless. Terrorblade rose from the grave to lead his army of Huntresses and Druids of the Talon to raze the Tree of Life situated there. Even Centrius reincarnated in time for the attack. The entire army focused fire on the Tree, destroying it with no resistance and then turned their attention to the purple army approaching from the East ...
The Eye of the Storm
elvenNEwt had a mighty army, 12 Huntresses, 2 dryads and 3 Druids of the Talon. However, Shojo4's had 7 bears and an assortment of ranged units. Cyclone stopped working again, making the Druids of the Talon absolutely useless. Shojo4's ranged units picked off Huntresses one by one as well as the dryads and Druids until elvenNEwt was squeezed into a corner.
This time, elvenNEwt knew he could not afford not to deal at least some damage to Shojo4's mighty Bear army. So elvenNEwt focused fired on each Bear and slowly, one by one they were toppled. However, the Huntresses were dying fast as well. After taking down only 2 to 3 Bears, elvenNEwt decided that it was enough and town portalled back home to heal. Out of the many Huntresses that went, only three returned along with a very injured Terrorblade, Centrius and one dryad.
Even though, the battle was lost,elvenNEwt now had one more expansion than Shojo4's for the time being. Shojo4 was quickly preparing his counter-attack, hoping to catch elvenNEwt off guard. Shojo4's Eastern expansion had now finished building as he slowly maynards some wisps there. At that same time, pooling resources from two expansions (btw, both mains have been mined out), elvenNEwt prepared another strike; this time targeting the Eastern Main expansion.
Mojo-Shojo Strikes Back
Little did elvenNEwt know that the NorthEastern expansion that he just took down was back up and running once again. elvenNEwt also didn't see all of Shojo4's remaining units make their way to his main. At the same time Shojo4 reached the Eastern passage of elvenNEwt's main, elvenNEwt's army was heading for the Eastern Main enemy expansion. Terrorblade and Centrius were once again the first people to catch sight of the incoming attack. Terrorblade looked back, his Huntressess still had no idea and where still headed for the Eastern enemy expansion! This was going to be ugly ...
Lets stop for a moment and see where all the pieces are, in case you are confused. elvenNEwt has had the SW expansion for a long time and the Western Main expansion for a while now. Shojo4 is about to get the Eastern Main expansion going and his purple blob of an army is waiting outside the Southern passage. You can see a line of purple dots leaving Shojo4's base, those are his maynarding wisps. His NE expansion is currently entangling the mine.
elvenNEwt's Last Stand
Things looked grim for Terrorblade and Centrius, seconds seemed to last hours as they engaged Oghma's troops on their own. Oghma stands back and watches his troops engage the doomed heroes. The Huntressess finally clue in and come back to help, seeing this Oghma summons 4 Treants to aid his own troops. The momentum shifted towards elvenNEwt for a while as two Huntressess came out of his dual AoW. elvenNEwt's army that was currently in battle consisted of six Huntresses, one Druid of the Talon, two Dryads, Centrius and Terrorblade with reinforcements still on their way. Shojo4's army consisted of three bears, five huntresses, four dryads and Oghma the Omnipotent. Terrorblade's health was failing, he tried to run away but was entangled. "Where are you going," Oghma jeered,"the party has just started! Mwahahaha!" Something inside Terrorblade snapped, right then and there powerful Chaotic energies coursed through his body transforming him into an awesome Demon. Inspired by the sight, elvenNEwt's army concentrated on a Bear and took it down. Oghma's Treants were flanking elvenNEwt from behind, killing a dryad and a huntress. In a maddening wave of emotion, Terrorblade shot down another Bear with his newfound strength. The lone Druid of the Talon tried to help but his magical attack was futile, no Fairie Fire nor Cyclone; Oghma's Dryads were charged full of mana.
Centrius was hurting, Oghma sensed this and all the Huntresses and Dryads focused their attack on him. With a heavy heart, Terrorblade and Company focused on the last remaining bear and ran away, watching Centrius collapse in a heap on the battlegrounds. Away they ran, back to the base where elvenNEwt had erected a Protector for such an emergency. elvenNEwt's troops ran hard but saw that their hero, Terrorblade had been entangled behind. "Go on without me!" Terrorblade unselfishly yelled to no one in particular since everyone had already left. t.t
Oghma: Impressive, most impressive ...
Terrorblade: You'll find I'm full of surprises ... (chops off Oghma's hand)
Oghma: You son of a @#$$! That was my only one! (beats Terrorblade into a bloody pulp)
Alright! Unit count; Shojo4 now had four Huntresses, four dryads, two treants and Oghma. While elvenNEwt had four Huntresses, one dryads defending his base. Lucky for elvenNEwt, the enemy Huntresses are weakened as he manages to take out all but one Huntress with his newly made units. Oghma summons four more Treants to aid after his batch of Treants collapsed. elvenNEwt had two Huntresses, one Druid of the Talon and one Dryad remaining with more building in his AoW and AoL. Running his troops back, elvenNEwt's Ancient Protector gets one good shot at the last weakened Huntress and crushes it! This leaves Shojo4 with four treants, three dryads and Oghma.
Two more Huntresses pop out of the dual AoW, just in time to surround the Treants, making it a total of four Huntresses defending elvenNEwt's base. The Huntresses decided to concentrate on the dryads, quickly killing one and then they ran for the Moon Wells. The remaining dryads take down the last remaining Druid of the Talon as another Huntress pops out of the AoW; making it a total of five Huntresses! It was now time for Oghma to run as he escaped with one single dryad and made their way to the Eastern expansion.
The Counter
Gathering seven Huntresses and one dryad, elvenNEwt's forces head out to mount an attack of Shojo4's Eastern expansion. It seems Shojo4 has been too involved in battle as his macro now is non-existent but his income is pretty good. I seemed to catch him off guard once again, cornering Oghma and his dryad in the Eastern expansion.
Oghma: You can't defeat me!
Huntress: Here are seven moon glaives that say otherwise!
Oghma: Mommy!
Poor MojoShojo, he tried so hard only to quit in the end. Yes, he admitted defeat and quit before Oghma died, that was how much pride he had. GG!
Lessons Learned
1. Never Give Up! I thought poor MojoShojo had a chance even though I was about to kill his expansions. I didn't think I had a chance defending my base, but I forgot I build a Protector there. ^^
2. Don't stop building just because you are too busy watching your units duke it out! Thats how Shojo4 lost, stopped macroing near the end.
3. Scout! That is the key to launching successful attacks. I saw his NE expansion was completely unguarded because my Sentry Owl spotted his army somewhere else.
4. Turbo Creep! Oghma was level 5 already when I first engaged Shojo4, thats my fault for not attacking sooner but his gain that he got to level up!
5. I'm never going to write another battlereport like this ever again. Took my three day :( Maybe I'll write one once I get to level ten, but right now level 9 is Sweeeeet.
This Has Been Another C_Time Battlereport
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