Warcraft III : Reign of Chaos Warcraft III : Reign of Chaos is a computer game released by Blizzard Entertainment on July 3 2002 . It is a real - time strategy computer game , the second sequel to " " and the third game set in the Warcraft universe . It details the second invasion of the Burning Legion and the origins of the Scourge , along with the fall of Lordaeron and the awakening of the night elves . In addition , the orcs leave the Eastern Kingdoms , and on their journey to Kalimdor , save the Darkspear trolls from destruction . When they arrive , they also assist the tauren and officially form the Horde as a collective of these races . The game proved to be one of the most anticipated and popular computer game releases ever , with 4 . 5 million units shipped to retail stores and over one million units sold within a month . " Warcraft III " won many awards including " Game of the Year " from more than six different publications . Overview . One of the main innovations " Warcraft III " offers over the previous games in the series is the way the role of hero units has changed . Where before , heroes were merely very powerful variants of standard units , now they are unique , with their own special abilities that normal units do not have access to . For instance , heroes within the game can find or trade items to increase skills , defense , etc . With each kill of an enemy of a certain level the heroes gain experience points , eventually resulting in increased levels of their own , and new spell options ( thus introducing role - playing game elements to the series ) . Some heroes also can apply beneficial auras to allied units . Another new innovation is the addition of creeps , which are computer controlled characters the player fights even in multiplayer . They guard key areas or neutral buildings and are designed to act as a resource for the players to kill to provide experience points to a player ' s hero and to provide hero items . The idea is to force the player to be aggressive instead of " turtling up " ( building up powerful defenses and rarely attacking ) . Within the game there are four races at war : the Human Alliance and the Orc ish Horde , who also appeared in " " , " " , and " " , along with two new character teams , the night elves and the undead . As an April Fool ' s joke before the game was released , Blizzard announced that the pandaren would be the fourth race . The company didn ' t reveal the night elves until a month later , and pandas are a running gag in " Warcraft " now ( to the point that a pandaren Hero — called the Brewmaster — was available in the expansion pack , " " , and pandaren heads were featured on the glaives of Illidan and the rest of the Demon Hunter hero class ) . A fifth playable race , the Burning Legion , was changed during play - testing to a set of non - player characters and monsters ( with a playable " cameo " on the last level of the undead campaign , as Kel ' Thuzad summons Archimonde ) . Players meet other players over the Internet to set up multiplayer games via Blizzard ' s free Battle . net service , or may play against the computer . Warcraft III also includes a very thorough scenario editor called World Editor . It uses a scripting language similar to the trigger system used in " Starcraft " . As well as providing the ability to edit any aspect of the units , buildings and spells , it has such advanced features as custom tilesets , custom cinematic scenes , dialog boxes , variables , and weather effects . Many custom maps , featuring a large variety of gametypes continue to be developed , and together with the expansion pack have contributed to the longevity of the game . Warcraft III Demo . A game demo for " Warcraft III : Reign of Chaos " also exists , the Warcraft III Demo , it includes the tutorial and prologue campaign . Story . The story in " Warcraft III : Reign of Chaos " is told through all four races in a progressive manner , in a similar way to how " StarCraft " was told . The order is human , undead , orc , and night elf . Prologue : Exodus of the Horde . The young Thrall awakes fom a strange vision , directing him to the prophet Medivh . Medivh tells him to rally the orcs from Lordaeron and travel to Kalimdor , where they shall meet their destiny . He frees the orcs from the remaining internment camps , including Grom Hellscream . The Horde steals the human fleet from Southshore and sail off . Near the Maelstrom , they are forced to land on a small island to repair their ships . There they are joined by the Darkspear Trolls , led by Sen ' jin , but are soon ambushed and captured by a group of murloc s worshiping a Naga Sea Witch . Thrall and his people need to escape from their underworld prison together with the trolls and flee from the island before it is destroyed by an erupting volcano . Human Campaign : The Scourge of Lordaeron . Prince Arthas , a paladin of the Silver Hand , The Captain and Jaina Proudmoore , Arthas ' former lover and apprentice - Archmage , are investigating a strange plague that is spreading across the lands of Lordaeron . To their horror , they find that the plague turns unsuspecting people into hideous Undead warriors , and must move to stop the undead ' s plans . After a string of hollow victories ( many towns in the now Plaguelands being destroyed ) , Arthas decides that the best way to end the game was to destroy Mal ' Ganis the ( supposed ) leader of the scourge . Mal ' Ganis travels northward to the icy lands of Northrend , and Arthas follows him . There he aids an old friend , Muradin Bronzebeard , who tells him of a powerful weapon , a sword called Frostmourne . Arthas obtains Frostmourne , at the ( supposed ) cost of Muradin ' s life , and uses it to defeat Mal ' Ganis . However , as a result , Frostmourne steals Arthas ' soul and turns to ally the undead . . . Undead Campaign : Path of the Damned . With their new leader , the undead must move to complete their purpose in Lordaeron , which is to destroy the remnants of the Alliance and pave the way for a new invasion . In a series of quests , Arthas succeeds in reviving a former adversary , Kel ' Thuzad , as a Lich , and the two successfully open an inter - dimensional portal for the true masters of the Scourge , the Burning Legion , to enter the realm of Azeroth ( see the article on Arthas for a more detailed description ) . Orcish Campaign : The Invasion of Kalimdor . After escaping Human captivity and fleeing to the shores of Kalimdor , orcish warchief Thrall must lead his brethren to safety and ensure their survival in this strange and hostile land . Help comes from the Tauren , a nomadic group of Kalimdor natives , and their leader , Cairne Bloodhoof . Unfortunately , fellow orc Grom Hellscream falls under demonic corruption , and Thrall is forced to ally himself with Jaina Proudmore , now leader of the survivors of Lordaeron . He also discovers ( courtesy of an oracle ) that his fate is to help repel the Burning Legion , and he and Jaina accomplish this goal , and also to save Hellscream . Afterwards , Grom insists upon battling Mannoroth , the demon who cast him into the corruption . Thrall and Grom succeed in vanquishing Mannoroth , but Grom is slain in the process . Night Elf Campaign : Eternity ' s End . With the coming of the undead and Burning Legion as well as the humans and orcs , Tyrande Whisperwind and her night elf Sentinels fight a desperate battle to save their beloved home of Kalimdor . She first reawakens her lover , Malfurion Stormrage , and then the Druids of the Talon and finally the Druids of the Claw . She also decides to free the great betrayer , Illidan Stormrage , and he is eventually instrumental in weakening the Legion . Finally , she and Malfurion join forces with Proudmoore and Thrall to delay the Legion ' s advance until a proper end can be arranged for their leader Archimonde ( mirroring the final mission of " Starcraft " , in which the player commands a multi - racial force against a common foe ) . Play details . Unlike other RTS games , Warcraft III has introduced a new element of game play , special units called hero es , they are super units that have special abilities that expand as the game progresses ( as they gain experience ) . For example , an Archmage hero can acquire the ability to ( temporarily ) summon water - elementals , increase the mana regeneration rate of surrounding magic casting units , create a blizzard over enemy units , and teleport friendly units to other parts of the map . In the course of a game a maximum of up to three heroes can be built , but if they die , they can be revived at an altar . The upkeep is a gameplay concept that keeps armies small as it penalizes anyone who gets big too fast . With the Heroes occupying five food cap and the upkeep that force you to have low food cap it is difficult to win through sheer numbers , and micromanagement becomes more important , as a result the gameplay is more tactical than strategical . There are strong distinctions in the game between melee and ranged units ; between air and ground units ; and ( particularly in " " ) between mundane , magical , and antimagic units . Antimagic units , such as the Spell Breaker ( only in the expansion pack ) and the night elves ' Dryad , have the ability to cancel the effects of magic spells cast on other units . Other versions . In addition to the regular game , there also exists a limited " " bundle and . Another release was the " Warcraft Battle Chest " . Finally , Warcraft III is also available in the " BestSeller Series " . Other adaptations . The strategy board game " " was released in 2003 by , and is based on Warcraft III . It uses a modular game board , which allows many different scenarios to be played with the same set of components . Sequels . Expansion set . On May 29 , 2003 , Blizzard announced that the expansion set , " " had " gone gold " ( release version sent to presses ) . It was released in stores worldwide in multiple languages beginning on July 1 , 2003 . It includes an additional hero for each race and three to four new units per race , four campaigns , eight neutral heroes , the ability to build a shop and various other improvements such as the ability to queue upgrades . It requires the ownership of Reign of Chaos . Blizzard regularly patches both the original game and the more popular " expanded " version to fix bugs , add new features , and balance multiplayer play . The latter is the reason Blizzard games remain popular long after their initial release . Spin - off . A massively multiplayer online role - playing game set in the " Warcraft " universe , entitled " World of Warcraft " , is the fourth Warcraft game in a series produced by Blizzard . It picks up the Warcraft storyline four years after the events of Reign of Chaos . Quotations . One of the features of " Warcraft III " , like " Warcraft II " , are the unit quotes . If a single unit was clicked several times in a row , the unit ' s voice samples would change . The unit would start getting angry at the player , or start saying silly things in reference to movies , games , or other things . For example , a peasant might say , " Help ! Help ! I ' m being repressed ! " — a quote from the movie " " or a Crypt Fiend might say " Spider sense . . . tingling " - an oft - quoted line of . Development . " Warcraft III : Reign of Chaos " started as a " Role - Playing Strategy " : A strategy game set heavily within a role - playing environment . Having smaller , potent parties of heroes and troops in a dynamic world of living towns , wandering monsters , characters and quests , while simultaneously devising strategies to defeat their enemies . However , during the develpment , many of the RPS ideas were scrapped and became an RTS with some RPG elements . Custom maps . There are many player - made multiplayer maps ( made with World Editor , which can be used to make your own levels , even fan - made campaigns , that comes with the game ) available for download and play on Battle . net as well as many fansites . Popular maps include :