Creep

Creep is a term from Warcraft III to designate non-affiliated (but aggressive) packs of monsters which guard certain areas from players' armies. Creeps vary depending on the current map tileset, though it is possible for creeps to appear on other tilesets than the ones they were designed for.
The word "mob" is more often used in World of Warcraft.
==List of creeps==
==Tactics==
The lands of Lordaeron are not safe. Even the indigenous creatures of the wild hold peril for the unwary wanderer. Numerous monsters called creeps camp in strategic locations on the map. Creeps, unlike the harmless critters on the map, are intelligent creatures with the means and disposition to attack all players. Creeps range in power, or level, much like Heroes. Low-level creeps are simple beasts that can be easily defeated by a few Human Footmen. However, powerful creeps are formidable adversaries capable of laying low weak Heroes, and some are even immune to magic. Such powerful monsters are not to be trifled with. Luckily, they are as rare as they are mighty.
All creeps are indiscriminate in their hostilities and are ready to attack the units of any player on sight. However, these monsters will only pursue your units a limited distance. You can usually outrun them if you wish to avoid confrontation. Most Creeps can be found guarding Gold Mines or neutral buildings. You can always assume that Creeps defend neutral buildings or Gold Mines unless other players have cleared them. Some positions are defended by very powerful Creeps depending on the map. Creeps are an RPG element of the game that make the game maps feel more alive and add additional options and strategy elements early and then later in the game. It also adds a method for players that are outmatched by another player to try to get back into a game by killing creeps for items and levels.
Creeps give different amounts of experience, gold, and have different chances of dropping items and have a better possibility of dropping better items. Generally the tougher the Creep is, the greater the reward.
Any creeps with the passive Envenomed Weapons or Slow Poison will prioritize applying the status onto all hostile units in range before following normal creep aggression regardless of their level.
;Creep Camp Behavior:
Creep camps act as one unit. When one attacks, they all attack. It is possible to pull creeps apart via spells such as Entangling Roots and Sleep or blocking their movement. All Creeps will rejoin an attack if any one of them is hit. Creeps that are not in combat will ignore flying units if they have not been instructed to "attack move", unless the unit stops directly above the creep camp, causing any of them with anti-air capabilities to begin attacking, while ground attackers remain idle. 
The minimap has a special ability to show Creep Camps on the map, indicating the difficulty with three different colors; a green dot indicates a weak creep camp with a total level of 1-9, a brown dot indicates a medium creep camp with a total level of 10-19, and a red dot indicates creep camp with a total level of 20+.
Creeps have a different auto-acquire range which is usually set at a value of 500 or 200. The 200 value is frequently used as this prevents creeps from being immediately hostile from a distance.
The lone exception are buildings, which pulls creeps at a much longer aggression range compared to placing a unit nearby. They are very aggressive with buildings, but will retreat from defensive towers if they fall below 60% health.
;Level 6+ Creeps also have Hero Magic Resistance:
As special units, Level 6+ Creeps also enjoy a limited magic resistance against enemy spells. Negative spells cast on a 6+ creep will last shorter compared to lower levels.
;Level 7+ Creeps:
Level 7+ Creeps are smarter than level 1-6 Creeps. The "smart" Creeps behave like melee AI units. In particular, these Creeps:
* Generally have high damage and/or health, with increased armor.
* Tend to attack injured units before healthy ones, although summoned units generally take higher priority.
* Intelligently prioritize Heroes in attack range.
* Attack buildings under construction. 
Level 7+ Creeps all deal Chaos damage.
;Sleeping Creeps:
The presence of creeps makes it more difficult to scout the map or execute early attacks against other players during the day. Nearly all creeps sleep at night, and during this time can be avoided with ease. It is wise to use the cover of twilight to scout when the creeps leave wanderers undisturbed. You can recognize sleeping creeps by the animated Z over their heads and the sound of their snores. If provoked, sleeping creeps will wake to defend themselves.
They will be neutral to you. While a unit is sleeping your units will not auto-acquire them, so at night you can freely scout the map.
Some Creeps do not sleep during the night, and will not have ZZZs above their head. These creeps include golems (both natural and man-made), sea elementals, adult dragons of all types, bandits and most Outland, demonic and undead creeps. Player units, if made into creeps (charmed, possessed or placed as a hostile unit), will not sleep either.
;Treasure:
Creeps, despite their ability to attack and even kill your troops, are a boon to any player. Every Creep you kill gives you gold. The amount of gold is displayed as a golden number floating above the Creep's corpse immediately after it dies. Some Creeps also leave treasure chests behind. Inside the treasure chests are magic items, special objects that only Heroes and units with the Backpack upgrade can carry. Despite the presence of the Goblin Merchant, killing Creeps is the easiest means of acquiring treasure for your Heroes. The treasure dropped is random, but the relative power of the dropped treasure is commensurate with the level of the Creep. A level one creature will drop much less potent treasure than a level nine Creep. The corpses left behind by dead Creeps are also a treasure of sorts for the Undead commander, for these can be used by Scourge units and spells.
;Experience:
Creeps are not only good for treasure. They give your Heroes experience as well. Every creep killed bestows a certain amount of experience points to your Heroes. Thus, in multiplayer games, killing creeps is an effective way of leveling up your Hero without confronting other players in the early portion of the game. Lower-level monsters will give less experience than a higher-leveled one. Fighting other players does give your Hero more experience, but early in the game, defeating creeps is the best way of quickly advancing your Heroes. Once a Hero is level 5 they will not receive any experience from killing Creeps.
;Information:
* Creeps are level 1-10. There are some spells and items that do not work on Creeps level 6 and above. Select a Creep and read the information panel to see a Creep's level. Creeps do not level up; they are a fixed level.
* Creeps are pre-placed on the map when it is created. The same Creeps will always be in the same locations on each map, unless the spawn base was "Random" (by player editing) Creeps do not "respawn" when killed. However, Centaur Khans, Ancient Wendigos and Sasquatches come with Reincarnation, reviving themselves, but will permanently die if they are killed before their Reincarnation is reset.
* Creeps attack new buildings if you attempt to build next to them. But they will not seek out and destroy completed buildings if they come upon them.
* Some Creeps can be controlled using the Undead Banshee's Possession ability, the Dark Ranger's Charm spell. If the map has it, the Scepter of Mastery also allows players to control creeps.
* Some Creeps can be purchased at the Mercenary Camp. The Creeps or Mercenaries available depends on the Mercenary Camp's base tileset, although they are generally the same as the map's tileset.
* Creeps do not attack other Creeps.
* If you mouse your cursor over a Creep, it will display the Creep's name and level to make it easier to see their power.
* Creeps are divided up by the tilesets they are allowed on, although some maps may have Creeps from other tilesets.
;Run Away:
Creeps will only follow you a certain distance away from their "camp." If you do not wish to fight a group of Creeps attacking you, run away. Eventually, they will stop chasing and return to their camp.
;Neutral Buildings:
Sometimes you want to use a Neutral Building but don't want to clear out the Creeps. Run in with your Hero or unit, use the building, then run away. You can also use Neutral Buildings at night to avoid the Creeps guarding them, provided that none of them are awake at night. Hiring mercenaries from a camp will immediately cause the creeps guarding it to become aggressive however.
==Spells and abilities==
Some creeps have spells and abilities they will use in combat. These are often abilities already used by heroes and normal military units, although generally weaker. They may or may not use some spells depending on the amount of units they are in combat with.
==Trivia==
* Previous Warcraft games had similar concepts to creeps.
** Warcraft: Orcs & Humans had neutral monsters that couldn't be produced by either playable side. Unlike creeps, these monsters only appeared in Dungeon levels where there are no Gold or Lumber to collect and buildings cannot be built. Additionally, they did not appear in multiplayer battles, though they did sometimes appear fighting alongside the enemy army in Dungeon missions in the campaign.
**In Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal, some "neutral" monsters like skeletons and daemons started to appear on some campaign maps, sometimes even with a different color than the other normal armies,Beyond the Dark Portal (WC2 Human) indicating that they may be an early attempt at creeps.
*In StarCraft, creep is a layer of biochemical infestation where the zerg can build, similar to the Scourge faction's blight in Warcraft III. That usage is unrelated to the Warcraft universe.
*Creeps provided inspiration for their counterparts in Stormgate.2023-06-12, The Perfect Mix of Warcraft & Starcraft? Stormgate Developers Deep Dive. YouTube, retrieved on 2023-06-18
==Patch changes==
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==References==
==External links==
 
Category:Game terms