Dryad (Warcraft III)

For lore, see dryad.

Dryad
Race	Dryad
Faction	Night Elf Sentinels
Statistics
Hit points	435
Hit point regeneration	Night
Hit point regeneration rate	0.50 HP/sec.
Mana	200 (Initial 75)
Mana Regeneration rate	0.75 Mana/sec.
Level	3
Gold	145
Lumber	60
Food	3
Produced at	Ancient of Lore
Build time	30 sec.
Attacking priority	4
Hotkey	D
Combat
Weapon(s)	Poison Spear
Normal attack	17-19 (18 avg)
Can attack	Ground, Structure, Debris, Air, Item, Ward
Range	50
Attack type	Piercing
Cooldown	2.00 sec.
Weapon type	Missile
Armor Type	Unarmored
Armor	0
Day Sight	140
Night Sight	80
Movement Speed	Fast (350)
Sound
Sound Set	Dryad

This article contains lore taken from Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, the manuals, and/or official bonus maps.

The enchanted Dryads are the daughters of the Night Elf demigod, Cenarius. The playful, frolicking creatures vaguely resemble centaurs (their cursed cousins), but have bodies more akin to woodland fauns. They are swift and sure and are at peace with all of the children of the forest. Though they abhor unnecessary violence, the Dryads will defend the wildlands of Kalimdor with their lives if need be.

Information

Dryads are popular units amongst Night Elf players because of their two most powerful traits; Spell Immunity and Slow Poison. Dryads innately come with these abilities, so no research is required in order to unlock them. Spell Immunity protects Dryads from spells (including most beneficial ones) and magic damage - essentially making them invulnerable when facing off against Gryphon Riders, Frost Wyrms and Chimaeras, along with most spellcasters.

Slow Poison causes the Dryad's attacks to slowly chip off the unfortunate target's health over time, along with the additional effect of slowing them down slightly. This, coupled with their fast speed and attack rate, allows them to chase down fleeing troops.

Dryads may also learn Abolish Magic, allowing them to dispel any unfriendly spells casted on allied units and beneficial spells on enemy units, essentially countering Bloodlust, Polymorph and Slow.

Counters

Focus on the Dryads whenever possible, as they have low health and Unarmored-based armor which makes them particularly suspect to piercing and siege attacks. Artillery units such as Mortar Teams can make short work of them.

Spells and abilities

Abolish Magic (Autocast)

Dispels positive buffs from enemy units, and negative buffs from friendly units. Deals 250 damage to summoned units.

Research Cost Researched At Upgrade Time 50 50 Ancient of Lore 45 sec.
Cooldown Mana Cost Range Allowed Targets Effect 1 sec. 50 50 Air, Ground, Ward, Invulnerable, Vulnerable, Tree Dispels buffs on target, 250 damage to summoned units.

Dispel Magic won't automatically dispel any summoned units such as skeletons or wards, so you will have to manually cast it to remove them.

Slow Poison (Passive)

A poison attack that deals 4 damage per second, and slows the target enemies movement by 50% and attack by 25% for 5 seconds (1 second Heroes). Affects organic targets only.

Spell Immunity (Passive)

Renders this unit immune to negative spells.

Upgrades

Strength of the Wild

Increases the damage of Druids of the Claw in Bear Form, Druids of the Talon in Storm Crow Form, Dryads, Mountain Giants, Faerie Dragons, Hippogryphs, and Chimaeras.

Research Cost	Researched At	Upgrade Time	Effect
100 75	Hunter's Hall	60 sec.	Normal attack: 18-22 (20 avg)

Improved Strength of the Wild

Further increases the damage of Druids of the Claw in Bear Form, Druids of the Talon in Storm Crow Form, Dryads, Mountain Giants, Faerie Dragons, Hippogryphs, and Chimaeras.

Research Cost	Researched At	Requirements	Upgrade Time	Effect
175 175	Hunter's Hall	Tree of Ages	75 sec.	Normal attack: 19-25 (22 avg)

Advanced Strength of the Wild

Further increases the damage of Druids of the Claw in Bear Form, Druids of the Talon in Storm Crow Form, Dryads, Mountain Giants, Faerie Dragons, Hippogryphs, and Chimaeras.

Research Cost	Researched At	Requirements	Upgrade Time	Effect
250 275	Hunter's Hall	Tree of Eternity	90 sec.	Normal attack: 20-28 (24 avg)

Reinforced Hides

Increases the armor of Druids of the Claw in Bear Form, Druids of the Talon in Storm Crow Form, Dryads, Mountain Giants, Faerie Dragons, Hippogryphs, and Chimaeras.

Research Cost	Researched At	Upgrade Time	Effect
150 50	Hunter's Hall	60 sec.	Armor: 2

Improved Reinforced Hides

Further increases the armor of Druids of the Claw in Bear Form, Druids of the Talon in Storm Crow Form, Dryads, Mountain Giants, Faerie Dragons, Hippogryphs, and Chimaeras.

Research Cost	Researched At	Requirements	Upgrade Time	Effect
200 150	Hunter's Hall	Tree of Ages	75 sec.	Armor: 4

Advanced Reinforced Hides

Further increases the armor of Druids of the Claw in Bear Form, Druids of the Talon in Storm Crow Form, Dryads, Mountain Giants, Faerie Dragons, Hippogryphs, and Chimaeras.

Research Cost	Researched At	Requirements	Upgrade Time	Effect
250 250	Hunter's Hall	Tree of Eternity	90 sec.	Armor: 6

Ultravision

Gives Night Elves the ability to see as far at night as they do during the day.

Research Cost Researched At Requirements Upgrade Time Effect 50 50 Hunter's Hall Tree of Ages 45 sec. Night Sight: 140

Backpack

Gives the ability to carry up to two items. Items carried by the unit will be dropped upon death.

Units can not use or gain benefits of items that they carry.

Research Cost Researched At Requires Upgrade Time 50 25 Townhall-type Structure Player-built Shop 20 sec.

Quotes

• See Warcraft III Dryad quotes

Trivia

• She's voiced by Glynnis Talken Campbell.
• The Dryad was originally called the "Huntress" during development. Concept art showed the unit with a significant amount of detail, including additional armor and foliage in her hair, which couldn't be implemented in Warcraft III due to that game's low polygon count.

Gallery

• 

  Dryad portrait in Warcraft III: Reforged.

Patch changes

• Patch 1.22 (2008-06-30): Increase the experience gain from Dryads to Level 3 (60xp) from Level 2 (40xp).
  
• Patch 1.17 (2004-09-20):
  • Abolish Magic no longer auto-dispels hero spells.
  • Abolish Magic no longer removes positive buffs on friendlies or negative buffs on enemies when manually cast (it already did this for autocast).
    
• Patch 1.13 (2003-12-16):
  • The Frozen Throne
    • Dryad damage increased to 17-19 from 16-18.
      
• Patch 1.10 (2003-07-03): Dryad damage increased from 15-17 to 16-18.
  
• Patch 1.06 (2003-06-03):
  • Casters, including Dryads, have had their mana regeneration rates boosted by 30%.
  • Dryads now have the unarmored armor type. This change was made to further specialize Dryads as melee killers, but allow piercing damage units, such as Crypt Fiends and Archers, to counter them more effectively.
  • Dryad hitpoints increased to 435 from 380.
    

External links

Battle.net Warcraft III - Night Elves -> Units -> Dryad

es:Dríade (Warcraft III)