In Warcraft III, Units have Armor and Attack types that modify the damage they deal/take against other units.
Attack types
Normal
- Mainly used by melee or short ranged units. Effective against ground ranged units.
- Examples: Knights, Huntresses
Piercing
- Primarily used by ranged attackers, ground, air, or structure. Effective against aerial units and spellcasters.
- Examples: Crypt Fiends, Hippogryph Riders
Magic
- Primarily used by spellcasters, but also by certain heavy air units. Effective against heavy infantry and cavalry. Introduced in patch 1.06.
- Examples: Druids of the Talon, Gryphon Riders
Siege
- Used by siege units, to destroy fortifications and spellcasters.
- Examples: Meat Wagons, Mortar Teams
Hero
- Used by Heroes. Full damage to all units except those with Fortified armor.
- Introduced in patch 1.06.
Chaos
- Used by powerful creeps, generally level 7 and higher. The Black Citadel and Outland tile sets contain creeps below level 7 capable of using chaos attacks. Full damage to all armor types.
- Used in the campaign by Chaos orcs, as well as high-ranking demons and demigods.
- See also: Chaos
Armor types
Heavy
- Primarily used by melee units, long-ranged siege weaponry, and summoned units.
- Examples: Druids of the Claw, Demolishers
Medium
- Primarily used by ground ranged units.
- Examples: Riflemen, Spell Breakers
Light
- Used by most air units, and Scout Towers for whatever reason.
- Examples: Destroyers, Frost Wyrms
Unarmored
- Mostly used by spellcasters, and certain air units. Equally vulnerable to all types of attack.
- Examples: Necromancers, Gargoyles
Fortified
- Used by most buildings.
- Also used by Siege Engines.
Hero
- Used by Heroes.
- Resistant to most types of damage, except for Normal and Chaos. Takes 70% damage from Spells.
Divine
- Used by powerful characters in the campaign, notably demigods.
- Divine beings take only 5% damage from attack types other than Chaos, and only 50% damage from spells.
Damage calculation tables
The Frozen Throne
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 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
100% |
150% |
100% |
100% |
70% |
100%
|
 |
100% |
75% |
200% |
150% |
35% |
50%
|
 |
200% |
75% |
125% |
100% |
35% |
50%
|
 |
100% |
50% |
100% |
150% |
150% |
50%
|
 |
100% |
100% |
100% |
100% |
50% |
100%
|
 |
100% |
100% |
100% |
100% |
100% |
100%
|
Reign of Chaos
In Reign of Chaos, Heavy, Medium, and Light armor have rotated. So Light takes extra from Normal, Medium takes extra from Magic, and Heavy takes extra from Piercing.
Also note basic melee units such as Grunts have Medium armor, but heavy melee such as Tauren have Heavy armor. Summons and Workers also have Medium armor.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
100% |
100% |
150% |
100% |
50% |
100%
|
|
150% |
100% |
75% |
150% |
35% |
50%
|
|
100% |
200% |
100% |
75% |
50% |
50%
|
|
100% |
100% |
50% |
150% |
150% |
50%
|
|
100% |
100% |
100% |
100% |
50% |
100%
|
|
100% |
100% |
100% |
100% |
100% |
100%
|
Patch changes
| Patch 1.03 (10/09/2002)
|
- Creeps above level 6 now deal Chaos damage.
- Previously they did Normal for melee, Piercing for ranged.
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| Patch 1.06 (06/04/2003)
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- New Attack Type: Hero. Previously, Heroes used the Normal attack type.
- New Attack Type: Magic. Previously, Casters used the Piercing attack type.
- New Armor Type: Unarmored. Previously, Casters used the Light armor type.
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| Patch 1.15 (05/11/2004)
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- Spells do 30% less damage to Heroes, from 25%.
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