Warcraft 3

Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. New tasks and features are added to Warcraft III with The Frozen Throne. This is a simple expansion pack that gives numerous features to Warcraft III. The pack can be used to fix some of the issues that are seen in the game without downloading the game all over again or using a scanner to remove the issues. Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne is the official expansion pack to Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, requiring Reign of Chaos to play. Released in stores worldwide in multiple languages beginning on July 1, 2003, it includes new units for each race, two new auxiliary races, four campaigns, five neutral heroes (an additional neutral hero was added.

Hello and salutations! Due to some oversight on Blizzards part, it now falls upon the end user to fix their mistakes!

In this post I will explain how to download and setup the classic Warcraft 3 client so you can all revert and play with your friends again as well as some options for playing LAN over the internet.
(Note: this guide is not for playing on battlenet, only LAN.)

Before I get into it, for those who do not understand the motivation for wanting to play on the old Wc3 Client, I will do my best to convey my arguments and feelings below.

Warcraft
  1. Many of us were playing Wc3 fine for decades without issue. Forcing the Reforged client on us (some of which are still having issues playing) even though we didn’t pay for it or don’t want it is tyrannical.
  2. Sign in is now required to even get past the main menu.
  3. Your CD-Key is now linked to your account, meaning it cannot be reused or shared. If you account is banned, you lose access to the keys.
  4. World Editor and Custom games have been effectively gimped. No copyright material, custom models are allowed (anime games, basically any games with custom models) as well as maps deemed inappropriate by Blizzard.
  5. IP of your maps belong to Blizzard and there is now a report function, making me believe censorship will be rampant.
  6. ?No LAN functionality? Correct me if I’m wrong, but there is no LAN menu in the Reforged Client. I believe you need to be “online” to play offline.
  7. Some voice lines have been taken out of the game. (Dryad’s “I’m so wasted”) Not too sure what else has been taken out.
  8. The main menu is a web app running on chrome which runs worse than the actual game.
  9. Lazy animation work on Blizzards part results in missing animations for certain units. Animation Variety / Quality is Very Disappointing
  10. If you refund the game, you lose access to the Warcraft you initially purchased as Reforged is the only client.

That’s basically the gist of it. If you want a comprehensive list of things removed in Reforged, take a look at this guy’s post. Reforged is a forced downgrade for classic users

Now on to how to setup the old client.

  1. Find a download of Warcraft 3. (pastebin below)
    I won’t link any downloads, however its not hard to find (just google warcraft 3 download). There are a bunch of ways to get it, whether it be direct download, torrenting, etc. You can install any of them, even cracked ones or legitimate CD copies you still own. You can also check out Internet Archive for a download as well.

  2. Install the game and make sure it works. Check the version.
    The version I found started at 1.2. Take note of this, because it’s important.

  3. Patch the game up to 1.27b.
    Depending on which patch the initial install was, you will need to patch to 1.27b. Unfortunately you cannot patch to anything above this, as I believe 1.28 was the patch Warcraft started using the newer launcher. If you try to patch past 1.27b, it will attempt to install the Reforged client on your PC.

Warcraft

Note: YOU CANNOT SKIP PATCHES. You are required to install each patch in order. Here’s a good website for downloading the patches.
gaming-tools. com/warcraft-3/patches/

UPDATE: There are versions above 1.27b out there on the internet. You cannot patch past 1.27b, however If you manage to find some of these builds you will be able to play at a higher patch. I recommend 1.29 and above, as they fixed the widescreen issue in that patch. I will update the pastebin to reflect this new information.

  1. Once you patch to 1.27b, you are done!
    You can now play both single player and over LAN. The Maps folder is located in the base directory. For those who don’t want to lug their PC’s everywhere to play, I will now discuss some options to play LAN over the internet.

  2. For the non-technical users, you can try out some third party software like Hamachi or GameRanger. WC3Connect is also a popular option (on entgaming). Google is your friend, I’m sure there are plenty of services out there that you can use with your friends.

  3. For the technical users, you can install your own VPN using a Raspberry Pi, a server (local or not), or even a virtual machine on your own PC. I would highly recommend PiVpn as it is a relatively streamlined process that uses OPENVPN and can be used on most Linux distros. (pivpn .io) To save you alot of trouble, make sure you are using TCP as well as have the VPN in “bridge” mode.

That’s about it. I’m going to post a pastebin with some good stuff in it. Make sure you save this post because I’m sure at some point it will be taken down. Enjoy!
pastebin. com/CdskkiD9

Edit: I forgot to mention, I tried using the PTR 1.30 build. While I could access single player and LAN, I could not get anyone on my VLAN to connect to my games. I don’t know if it was the particular build or if PTR doesn’t allow for LAN. If someone could figure it out, I’m sure it would be very useful as downloading the PTR build is much more convenient.

Edit 2: There seems to be a platform called netease that supports 1.31, however it is all in Chinese so it may not be an accessible solution.

Overview | Heroes and Units | Unit Stats | Tech-tree | Arcane Vault | Building Stats | Basics | Advanced | Combos | Defeating Humans

Heroes: Paladin | Archmage | Mountain King | Blood Mage
Units : Peasant | Militia | Footman | Rifleman | Knight | Priest | Sorceress
Spell Breaker | Flying Machine | Mortar Team | Siege Engine
Gryphon Rider | Dragonhawk Rider | Water Elemental | Phoenix
Unit Index | Human Index

The brave Dwarven Riflemen have faithfully protected their mountain kingdom of Khaz Modan for hundreds of years. Yet they have once again offered their weapons and skills to the Alliance of Lordaeron. Using the legendary Single-shot Blunderbuss Longrifles, Riflemen are excellent marksmen and can shoot both land based and airborne opponents.
Level:3
Cost: 205 30 3
Unit Type:Normal
Attack Type:Pierce
Weapon Type:Instant
Armor Type:Medium
Armor:0 (6*)
Ground Attack:21 avg (28.5 avg*)

*(#) = Stats when fully upgraded
Air Attack:21 avg (28.5 avg*)
Cooldown:1.5
Hit Points:535
Health Regeneration:Always
Mana:None
Mana Regeneration:N/A
Range:40 (60*)
Day Sight:140
Night Sight:80
Speed:Average (270)
Build Time:26
Trained At:Barracks
Requirements:Blacksmith
Transport Space
Usage:
1
Production Hot Key:R

Learn how to use ranged units with unit control.

It's very important to research upgrades. If you're mostly doing damage to the enemy research the damage upgrades first, then follow up with the armor upgrades. If you're both taking damage and dishing it out alternate between armor and damage upgrades. You should always get the Long Rifles upgrade when using Riflemen. Rush to it as soon as possible.

You can build some Riflemen to add to your army or focus entirely on them with a Hero. This can be risky in 1 vs. 1s but very easy in 2 vs. 2, 3 vs. 3, and 4 vs. 4. The Paladin is a good choice with the Riflemen because he can heal them with Holy Light. His Devotion Aura can also give them armor making it more difficult for the enemy to kill them.

Riflemen are very weak against Melee Units that are attacking them so keep Melee units away. If a Rifleman is attacked by a Melee unit, instruct that Rifleman to run away and keep running until they give up chase.

Riflemen are great against light armor units since they do 200% damage to them. This can make Riflemen useful against such units as Gryphons, Wind Riders, Frost Wyrms, and Chimaera.

Long Rifles
Increases the range of the Rifleman's attack by 20.

Warcraft 3 Cheats

Research CostResearched AtRequirementsUpgrade Time
75 125 BarracksKeep30 sec.

Warcraft 3 Cheats

Black Gunpowder
Increases the ranged attack damage of Riflemen, Mortar Teams, Siege Engines, and Flying Machines.
Research CostResearched AtRequirementsUpgrade Time
100 50 BlacksmithNone60 sec.

Warcraft 3 Epic War

Refined Gunpowder
Further increases the ranged attack damage of Riflemen, Mortar Teams, Siege Engines, and Flying Machines.
Research CostResearched AtRequirementsUpgrade Time
175 175 BlacksmithKeep75 sec.

Imbued Gunpowder
Further increases the ranged attack damage of Riflemen, Mortar Teams, Siege Engines, and Flying Machines.
Research CostResearched AtRequirementsUpgrade Time
250 300 BlacksmithCastle90 sec.

Studded Leather Armor
Increases the armor of Riflemen, Mortar Teams, Dragonhawk Riders, and Gryphon Riders.
Research CostResearched AtRequirementsUpgrade Time
100 100 BlacksmithNone60 sec.

Warcraft 3 Ultimate Battle


Reinforced Leather Armor
Further increases the armor of Riflemen, Mortar Teams, Dragonhawk Riders, and Gryphon Riders.
Research CostResearched AtRequirementsUpgrade Time
150 175 BlacksmithKeep75 sec.

Warcraft 3 Frozen Throne Download


Dragonhide Armor
Further increases the armor of Riflemen, Mortar Teams, Dragonhawk Riders, and Gryphon Riders.
Research CostResearched AtRequirementsUpgrade Time
200 250 BlacksmithCastle90 sec.

Warcraft 3 Frozen Throne