Raider (Warcraft III)

For lore about raiders, see raider.

Raider
Race	Orc and Wolf
Faction	Orcish Horde
Statistics
Hit points	610
Hit point regeneration	Always
Hit point regeneration rate	0.25 HP/sec.
Unit Classified As	Ground
Level	3
Gold	180
Lumber	40
Food	3
Produced at	Beastiary
Build time	28 sec.
Attacking priority	6
Hotkey	R
Combat
Weapon(s)	Warblade
Normal attack	23-27 (25 avg)
Can attack	Ground, Structure, Debris, Item, Ward
Range	10 (Melee)
Attack type	Siege
Cooldown	1.85 sec.
Weapon type	Normal
Armor Type	Flesh
Defense Type	Medium
Armor	1
Day Sight	140
Night Sight	80
Movement Speed	Fast (350)
Sound
Sound Set	Wolfrider

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

Raiders were once considered to be the most honored warriors of the Horde. Yet, just prior to the Second War, Gul'dan the Warlock masterminded the disbanding of the Raiders. Now, after many long years, the young Warchief Thrall has decided to train a new generation. These mighty warriors carry hefty warblades into combat and rely greatly upon the cunning and ferocity of their faithful Wolf mounts to defeat their enemies.

Information

Raiders, as their name suggests, specialize in raiding the enemy by destroying their buildings. They possess fairly high health with a siege melee attack, making them the mobile counterpart of the Human Steam Tank. Before sending out Raiders to harass enemy settlements, it is important to research Pillage so that the Raiders generate resources while attacking enemy buildings. The resources gained from pillaging allow for further research or additional units in the army, especially as many players usually won't have towers defending their town hall early/midway through a game.

Raiders can also learn Ensnare, which allows them to net an enemy unit. Ensnared enemies cannot perform any action other than attacking and casting spells, which allows them to grab any fleeing enemies or stop workers from repairing buildings. Ensnared air units will be brought to the ground and can be attacked by melee units.

Unfortunately, Raiders aren't suitable for anything else due to their siege melee attack which deals reduced damage against non-fortified armor types. They also have medium type armor which makes them die fairly fast to other units.

If the map contains a Goblin Laboratory, Raiders work especially well with the aid of Goblin Zeppelins as it allows them to bypass enemy buildings who may surround their town hall to make aiming it harder. However, additional aerial units should be brought alongside the zeppelins so that they are less likely to be destroyed.

Spells and abilities

Ensnare

Causes a target enemy unit to be bound to the ground so that it cannot move. Air units that are ensnared can be attacked as though they were land units.

Research Cost Researched At Upgrade Time 50 75 Beastiary 40 sec.
Duration (Hero) Cooldown Range Allowed Targets Effect 9 (3) sec. 15 sec. 50 Ground, Air, Enemy, Neutral Target caught by net

Ensnare works on all enemy units, including Heroes (although with shorter duration). Ensnare works similarly to the Crypt Fiend's Web ability, but Ensnare can hit any target, although the unit can still attack any unit in range. Use Ensnare on melee units. This will temporarily stop them from moving around as easily and prevents them from using their bulk to tank incoming attacks.

Ensnare also works on enemy workers, which will stop them from repairing buildings if they are doing so. Use it on them when the enemy attempts to repair a building.

Pillage (Passive)

Each attack that does damage to a building also gains resources.

Pillage returns 50% of the cost of the building if you destroy it at full health.

Research Cost Researched At Upgrade Time 75 25 Great Hall/Stronghold/Fortress 60 sec.

Pillage also works on buildings even if the enemy left the match (and would turn them into a neutral passive-hostile faction). Many players in large free-for-all matches generally ignore destroying them, which means free resources for the Raiders.

Upgrades

Steel Melee Weapons

Increases the melee attack damage of Grunts, Raiders and Tauren.

Research Cost	Researched At	Upgrade Time	Effect
100 75	War Mill	60 sec.	Normal attack: 24-32 (28 avg)

Thorium Melee Weapons

Further increases the melee attack damage of Grunts, Raiders and Tauren.

Research Cost	Researched At	Requirements	Upgrade Time	Effect
150 175	War Mill	Stronghold	75 sec.	Normal attack: 25-37 (31 avg)

Arcanite Melee Weapons

Further increases the melee attack damage of Grunts, Raiders and Tauren.

Research Cost	Researched At	Requirements	Upgrade Time	Effect
200 275	War Mill	Fortress	90 sec.	Normal attack: 26-42 (34 avg)

Steel Unit Armor

Increases the armor of Grunts, Raiders, Troll Batriders, Tauren, Troll Headhunters, Troll Berserkers, Wind Riders and Demolishers.

Research Cost	Researched At	Upgrade Time	Effect
150 75	War Mill	60 sec.	Armor: 3

Thorium Unit Armor

Further increases the armor of Grunts, Raiders, Troll Batriders, Tauren, Troll Headhunters, Troll Berserkers, Wind Riders and Demolishers.

Research Cost	Researched At	Requirements	Upgrade Time	Effect
225 225	War Mill	Stronghold	75 sec.	Armor: 5

Arcanite Unit Armor

Further increases the armor of Grunts, Raiders, Troll Batriders, Tauren, Troll Headhunters, Troll Berserkers, Wind Riders and Demolishers.

Research Cost	Researched At	Requirements	Upgrade Time	Effect
300 375	War Mill	Fortress	90 sec.	Armor: 7

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.

Manual description

Note: The description is very similar to the one in Battle.net, but differs in some sentences.

The marauding, wolf-riding raiders were once considered to be the most honored warriors of the horde. Yet, just prior to the Second War, Gul'dan disbanded the raiders. Now, after many long years, the young warchief Thrall has decided to train a new generation of wolf riders. These mighty warriors carry hefty warblades into combat and rely greatly upon the cunning and ferocity of their faithful dire-wolf mounts to defeat their enemies.

World Editor description

Highly mobile wolf rider. Effective against buildings. Can learn the Ensnare ability.

Quotes

• See Warcraft III Raider quotes

Gallery

• 

Patch changes

• Patch 1.25b (2011-03-08): Ensnare Cooldown increased to 16 from 12.
  
• Patch 1.19 (2005-09-19): Ensnare duration reduced to 12 seconds from 15 seconds.
  
• Patch 1.10 (2003-07-03):
  • Ensnare duration increased to 15 from 12, and range increased to 500 from 400.
  • The Frozen Throne
    • Raiders now have a base armor of 1, up from 0.
      
• Patch 1.06 (2003-06-03):
  • Raiders now have light armor instead of heavy armor.
  • Raider Ensnare lasts 12 seconds, down from 20 seconds, and has a cooldown of 12 seconds, down from 20 seconds.
    

See also

• Raider (Warcraft I)

External links

Battle.net Warcraft III - Orcs -> Units -> Raider

es:Incursor (Warcraft III)