So, ladies and gentlemen. I present my concept of the FIFTH heroes for each W3 race.

(They were made for the community matches recently, but I decided to post it here too...)

From left to right: Plague Doctor, Runemaster, Justiciar, Sylvan Bulwark.​

Plague Doctor, abilities:​

Corpse Explosion - (Creates and detonates a corpse at the center of the target area, leaving remains behind. The explosion deals physical damage to all surrounding ground targets and spreads blighted ground).

Healing Bomb - (The hero throws a vial of liquid at the specified ally, which shatters upon impact. Restores the health of the target and nearby units over time).

Aura of Decay - (The health of nearby enemy organic units decreases over time).

Ultimate: Mutation - (All of the following friendly undead units within a small target area are destroyed and replaced with their permanent upgraded counterparts:

Ghouls become Fiends, gaining poison and plague cloud abilities.

Skeletons become Skeleton Warriors, gaining the "Defend" ability.

Skeleton Mages become Skeleton Sorcerers, gaining "Animate Dead" and "Frost Arrow" abilities.

Crypt Fiends become Graveyard Incubators, spawning spiders and possessing "Magic Immunity".)

Thoughts: Core Undead heroes like the Lich or Death Knight are very strong, so I thought about creating a specialized hero for the Undead who would be a good choice as a solo hero tailored for a specific strategy with Necromancers, or as an alternative "support hero" option for the aforementioned heroes in the 2nd or 3rd slot. Primary attribute - Intelligence.

Runemaster, abilities:​

Fortifying Cry - (All nearby troops receive increased armor and magic resistance for a certain duration.)

Create Rune - (Creates a Mana Rune at the specified nearby target location.)

Enchant Weapon - (Enchants the weapon of a nearby friendly warrior, permanently changing their attack type from their default type to Magic.)

Ultimate: Crushing Prison - (The specified target is immobilized and imprisoned. The prison prevents the target from acting and deals damage per second.)

Thoughts: The Horde hero combinations of "Blademaster"/"Farseer", "Shadow Hunter", and "Tauren Chieftain" are very strong in the late game. Therefore, I thought of a new Horde hero who can support the army and cover some of the issues of Horde units: namely, to make a hero with the ability to replenish mana for casters, as well as to strengthen units like Grunts or Taurens by giving them the ability to resist magic damage, while at the same time turning specific chosen units into their counterparts with magic damage, since we only have Spirit Walkers as a unit against heavy armor. Primary attribute - "Strength", a second strength hero for the Horde.

Justiciar, abilities:​

Arcane Grip - (Teleports a chosen ground enemy target to the caster, immobilizing it for a short time.)

Arcane Stance - (Arcane Stance allows the hero to deal bonus damage as a percentage of their maximum mana before each attack. At the same time, a percentage of the hero's mana is burned before each attack. Continually drains mana while active.)

Alliance Banner - (Raises an Alliance Banner at the target location, increasing the movement speed of all friendly units and boosting the damage of nearby melee warriors in the area.)

Ultimate: Battle Trance - (Increases all attributes by 9 for 30 sec, and resets all ability cooldowns.)

Thoughts: The idea to create a late-game damage dealer for the Alliance like the "Blademaster" or "Demon Hunter", who would also have "Agility" as a primary attribute, came to me a long time ago. At the same time, I wanted to create a unique hero who would not rely on critical strike chance or evasion chance, instead giving him mechanics that work off percentages and burning his own mana. I also wanted to solve the Alliance's issue by giving the race a movement speed increase from a certain ward analogue — the Alliance Banner, with which you can both creep and move across the map faster if you lay down a "path" of Flags in advance.

Sylvan Bulwark, abilities:​

Earth Fracture - (The hero shakes the ground, slowing the movement speed of nearby ground enemies and dealing periodic damage.)

Sapling - (Creates a Wisp at the specified nearby target location, which, space permitting, immediately transforms into a Sapling that attacks ground and air targets.)

Oak Skin - (Increases health regeneration, and grants a chance to restore a portion of health upon taking damage.)

Ultimate: Might of the Woods - (The hero transforms into an ancient treant - Sylvan. His abilities are replaced with: "Devour", "Hurl Boulder", "Ground Slam", and "Empowered Throw", and he becomes immune to magic. If Sylvan is still alive when the spell expires, the hero is reborn.)

Thoughts: The Demon Hunter is essentially the core hero for the Elves, mainly due to scaling into the late game and the mana burn mechanic, while also having abilities for the early game. I thought about creating a hero for the Elves with "Strength" as the primary attribute, who could act as a carry hero for the Elves as an alternative to the Demon Hunter, but without annoying mechanics like mana burn, while instead being good at fighting enemy buildings.

Credits: