Gargoyle (Warcraft III)

Gargoyle
	; ;
Race	Gargoyle
Faction	Undead Scourge
Statistics
Hit points	410
Hit point regeneration	Blight
Hit point regeneration rate	2.00 HP/sec.
Unit Type	Undead
Level	2
Gold	175
Lumber	30
Food	2
Produced at	Crypt
Build time	35 sec.
Requires	Graveyard, Halls of the Dead
Hotkey	A
Combat
Weapon(s)	Talons (vs Air); Energy Wave (vs Ground)
Normal attack	61-70 (65.5 avg)
Can attack	Air
Range	12.8 (Melee)
Attack type	Normal
Cooldown	1.40 sec.
Weapon type	Normal
Secondary attack	18-21 (19.5 avg)
Can attack	Ground, Structure, Debris, Item, Ward
Range	300
Attack type	Piercing
Cooldown	2.20 sec.
Weapon type	Missile
Armor Type	Unarmored
Armor	3
Day Sight	160
Night Sight	80
Movement Speed	Fast (375)

For lore, see gargoyle.

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

The dreaded Gargoyles of Northrend are voracious flying creatures who revel in slaughter and mayhem. Brought from the frozen north by the armies of the Lich King, these strange, wiry flyers have rough, crystalline hides which protect them from all manner of attacks. In times of great peril, gargoyles can land and condense their hides into a stone-like surface. Though they are unable to attack in this state, Gargoyles can take time to regenerate their wounds and replenish their energies.

Information

Gargoyles are a mix of the Human Flying Machine and Night Elf Hippogryph; they can attack both air and ground units (which is already unlocked) and have a powerful anti-air melee attack. Gargoyles are generally cheaper to use than Destroyers but lack the versatility that the latter provides. Generally, Undead players focusing on aerial units will have Gargoyles accompanying the more powerful Frost Wyrms to protect them from any hostile aerial attackers. The Gargoyles are the Undead counterpart of the Human Gryphon Rider, Orc Wind Rider and Night Elf Hippogryph Rider.

The primary advantages of a Gargoyle are its fairly damaging ground and extremely powerful aerial attack, and swarms of Gargoyles can easily decimate most aerial armies in seconds if they aren't focused on. Gargoyles can also quickly regenerate themselves by hardening themselves, making them one of the few Undead units that can heal themselves outside of blighted ground without relying on a Death Knight's Unholy Aura or a fountain of life.

Gargoyles are best accompanied with a Dreadlord, as his Vampiric Aura allows the Gargoyle to leech health off of enemy aerial units. Swarms of Gargoyles with this Aura often result in them only Troll Batriders being able to take them down as all other aerial units simply deal little to no damage due to the health they restore from their attacks.

Toggle the Gargoyle's air priority on when they are trained/amassed. This way they will immediately attack any enemy air units in range over other ground units with higher priority than them.

Like Hippogryphs, Gargoyles possess Unarmored-type armor for balancing reasons. This makes them highly susceptible to all forms of attack.

Spells and abilities

Stone Form

Transforms the Gargoyle into a statue that is immune to spells, has 12 bonus armor, and a regeneration rate of 8 hit points per second. The Gargoyle cannot attack in this form.

Research Cost	Researched At	Requirements	Upgrade Time
75 150	Crypt	Graveyard, Black Citadel	40 sec.

Duration	Cast Time	Cooldown	Effect
0.5 sec.	0.7 sec.	30 sec.	Regenerates 8.00 HP/sec, +12 Armor.

Due to the high armor bonus players can often use Stone Form as a barricade of sorts, but the Gargoyle becomes attackable by ground units as soon as it is activated, and will often deprive the player of some additional damage. Stone Form is highly effective against Troll Batriders if they attempt to use Unstable Concoction on them, as the Gargoyle is immediately considered a ground unit once Stone Form is activated, and Unstable Concoction only works on aerial units, which kills the Troll Batrider without harming the Gargoyle.

Spell Immunity (Passive)

Renders this unit immune to negative spells. The Gargoyle only has this ability in Stone Form.

Upgrades

Creature Attack: Increases the attack damage of Crypt Fiends, Gargoyles, Destroyers, and Frost Wyrms.

Research Cost	Researched At	Upgrade Time	Effect
150 50	Graveyard	60 sec.	Normal attack: 62-80 (71 avg) Secondary attack: 19-25 (22 avg)

Improved Creature Attack: Further increases the attack damage of Crypt Fiends, Gargoyles, Destroyers, and Frost Wyrms.

Research Cost	Researched At	Requirements	Upgrade Time	Effect
200 125	Graveyard	Halls of the Dead	75 sec.	Normal attack: 63-90 (76.5 avg) Secondary attack: 20-29 (24.5 avg)

Advanced Creature Attack: Further increases the attack damage of Crypt Fiends, Gargoyles, Destroyers, and Frost Wyrms.

Research Cost	Researched At	Requirements	Upgrade Time	Effect
250 200	Graveyard	Black Citadel	90 sec.	Normal attack: 64-100 (82 avg) Secondary attack: 21-33 (27 avg)

Creature Carapace: Increases the armor of Crypt Fiends, Gargoyles, Destroyers, and Frost Wyrms.

Research Cost	Researched At	Upgrade Time	Effect
150 75	Graveyard	60 sec.	Armor: 5

Improved Creature Carapace: Further increases the armor of Crypt Fiends, Gargoyles, Destroyers, and Frost Wyrms.

Research Cost	Researched At	Requirements	Upgrade Time	Effect
200 200	Graveyard	Halls of the Dead	75 sec.	Armor: 7

Advanced Creature Carapace: Further increases the armor of Crypt Fiends, Gargoyles, Destroyers, and Frost Wyrms.

Research Cost	Researched At	Requirements	Upgrade Time	Effect
250 325	Graveyard	Black Citadel	90 sec.	Armor: 9

Patch changes

Patch 1.10 (2003-07-03):
- Reign of Chaos
  - Gargoyle attack versus air decreased to 1d11 + 43 from 1d13 + 50 to reflect new air pathing changes.
- The Frozen Throne
  - Gargoyles now require Halls of the Dead instead of Black Citadel.
Patch 1.07 (2003-07-01):
- Air attack damage raised to 61-70 damage, up from 51-63 damage.
- Is now Unarmored instead of Medium.
Patch 1.03 (2002-10-09): Gargoyles' ground attack was substantially upgraded. They now do 21-24 damage, up from 16-18 damage. They also have less armor (3, down from 5), but also hit harder against air units, doing 51-63 damage, up from 46-57 damage. Note that they are still just as effective against air units as they were before, but their ground attack has been much improved.