- Joined
- Apr 6, 2004
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- 230
The invasion of Ashenvale is one of defining parts of Warcraft lore and of the Warcraft 3 campaign, and has influenced the setting for many years since, which means that it deserves to be the best it can possibly be. This will take me some time to do, so please treat it as a work-in-progress (which is good as we're a long way away from this campaign!). I will separate each section by the map/section:
Chapter 4: The Spirits of Ashenvale - Update
This mission starts with Grom being sent to Ashenvale to gather lumber for the Horde as punishment for his actions by Thrall. We all know this, as its the first time we ever encountered the Night Elves and it becomes pivotal to the history of Warcraft. So, how can we improve this mission? What can we do to make it better? Here are some possibilities:
Main Quest - Furbolg Chieftain
As I'm sure you all know, there is an optional quest in this mission where we meet with the goblin Neeloc Greedyfingers who has had problems with the local furbolg. Right now this involves killing the Chieftain, and in return you can buy Shredders to speed up your lumber harvesting operations. On the whole this mission is alright, there's nothing bad about it, but I want to propose something a little bold and new - promoting this mission from optional to a main mission. My ideas for this are a little complex, so I'll try and break them down into manageable bullet points:
The idea behind this is to tease out the arrival of the night elven forces, taking more time to set the stage and keeping things mysterious for a few more minutes. Obviously these ideas are a big change, so if these are a step too far, then just getting Neeloc Greedyfingers as a spare hero would be a fine addition to receive.
Optional Quest - Destroy Trees of Life
I do not feel that this quest needs editing at all, instead I wanted to suggest something a bit different. I think that if the Trees of Life are cut down, this information should be saved by the game. This information could then be used in later missions or the Night Elf campaign, having an impact on one of the missions. For example, if you take the "easy" route to your lumber total by felling these trees, you're left with a harder position in one of the Night Elf campaign missions. If you left them as they were, there would be a bonus as those trees survived.
Naming the Grunt
A Grunt speaks with Grom Hellscream in cutscenes in this mission and the one that follows, as such it would be a good idea if he is promoted to demi-hero status, or at least named status, like the Captains were in Arthas' campaign. I think there are two possibilities - Iskar or Gargok. Iskar was an advisor of Grom's in the Lord of the Clans novel, and Gargok is a named leader of the Warsong Outriders in WoW and is suspected of being the clans current leader. Either would make a fine choice for a name.
Mil'janza
In the mission By Demons Be Driven we see that Grom & the Warsong have imprisoned the Jungle Trolls, as well as a Witch Doctor called Mil'janza in the cut content. We also see a Witch Doctor in the The Hunters of Shadow mission that warns Grom against drinking from the Chaos Well. It would be a good idea to turn Mil'janza into a demi-hero that has a role across these missions.
Night Elven Forces
Though we don't have names for the leaders of all the four elven factions, we do know that Shandris Feathermoon (from the Night Elf campaign) leads the Shadowleaves, and there are hints/theories that Astranaar is one of the territories that the Orcs can attack, which would leave Raene Wolfrunner as the perfect leader for a faction too. These do not need to be full heroes, but notable leaders or at least easter eggs.
Additionally, I recommend changing the composition of the Night Elven forces in a similar way to how the Undead forces are changed during the Human campaign in Re-Reforged. My suggestion is to remove the Dryads, and replace them with a unit from the Warcraft 3 beta called the Assassin, whose description was as follows:
"Though the mysterious female Assassins are not officially part of the Sentinel army, they serve the militaristic needs of Kalimdor with as much passion and precision as their moon-worshipping sisters. These dark women prefer to stay in the shadows and strike from afar. Like all Night Elf women, Assassins are able to Shadowmeld at night."
This then saves the Children of Cenarius for when Cenarius decides to fight back against the Warsong.
Chapter 4x: The Blood of Mannoroth - Update
No changes necessary, except perhaps the usual camera edits and scene compositions.
Chapter 5: The Hunter of Shadows - Overhaul
What I'm going to propose is a pretty huge departure from what we already have in this mission - I suggest overhauling this map and making it a hero map instead of the base-building map that it already is. This would be a huge change, and no doubt will be a controversial one, but one of the reasons for suggesting it is that in the current campaign structure we never get a hero map for Grom. This deprives the player of a mission where we have to use his abilities to overcome challenges and puzzles. So, how would this work?
Ashenvale is ripe for fleshing out into a hero map. It is an ancient, dangerous forest with its own host of threats to overcome and ruins to explore. So, let's begin with some of the changes required:
Opening Cutscene
The concept here is quite simple. What we need to do is bridge the current opening cutscene with the one where the forests are regrown by the magic of Cenarius. As you'd expect, it'd have to show the Orcs being driven back across the river. Additionally, I think it is a must for the Witch Doctor's line "Hellscream, I sense a dark power emanating from the wilderness! It might be the key to destroying Cenarius!" to tie off the end of the cinematic, setting the stage for Hellscreams hero map jaunt.
Map
As you'd expect, the map would need one hell of a lot of changes. The Orcish settlements wouldn't need to be so widespread but even if they were trimmed back, they'd still be usable for the opening cinematic. This can be tucked away out of sight after the initial cutscene, or the surviving Warsong camp could remain, with the ability for players to see the Warsong defending their territory while you're off exploring. Everything else would be for hero map purposes only, and although WoW can prove a useful inspiration for adding places such as Satyrnaar or Bough Shadow, I feel it would be best to let your imagination run riot and portray Ashenvale as the enchanted, dangerous and mysterious forest that it is always meant to be but that we rarely see.
It's also worth noting that a place in eastern Ashenvale in the WC3 manual map is the Dryad Shrine, which might be possible to show too. Something else I suggest doing, is factoring Waygates into puzzles, but I haven't given much thought to what kind of puzzle it could be used for.
Main Quest - The Chaos Well
To begin with, we remove the other Main Quest "Cenarius" from the mission. This will be pushed into a new map set after this one. Instead, the main quest "The Chaos Well" is promoted to be the sole main quest. Reaching the Chaos Well that Mannoroth corrupted is the core plot of this map, but standing in your way are various denizens of the forest, ranging from ambushing Night Elves, to Dryads, Furbolg, Green Dragons and more. However, guarding many of the routes are the Satyr, who as we know from the vanilla map were chosen to defend the well from the orcs. The goal here is the same as it ever was - reach the Chaos Well.
The main difference between this and the original would be the introduction of a countdown. The Orcs can only hold back the Night Elves for so long. This time could be bolstered by finding certain items, killing certain enemies or completing certain side quests.
Side Quests
Though I have no defined sidequest ideas so far, here are some I've considered:
These side quests would only impact the ability for the Warsong to repel the Night Elves in this mission, though perhaps if you wanted, then any boosts/benefits given from these would carry over to your forces in the next map as a reward for completing them.
Treants
A small change, but I suggest amending the textures for the Treants summoned by Cenarius so that their bark and leaves matches the trees that they are created from.
Satyrnaar
As mentioned earlier, Satyr are found guarding the Chaos Well from the Orcs during the vanilla map. When we compare this original map with the map of WoW's Ashenvale, it suggests that the settlement called Satyrnaar is in this region and would be perfect one to use. How it is used is up to you, but I definitely favour it being part of a puzzle that revolves around using Wind Walk to infiltrate their base, perhaps killing sentries that might spot your forces or stealing some artefact that would allow you passage to the Chaos Well.
End Cutscene
The mission would end once you reach the Chaos Well. You then get the same cutscene from the vanilla map that happens when you complete the same quest, the difference here would be that it would mark the end of Grom Hellscream's hero map.
Chapter 6: The Dark Gift - New
If we're thinking of the vanilla The Hunter of Shadows mission, this would revolve around the second half of that mission. Grom Hellscream has drunk from the Chaos Well, as have his warriors, and now they're ready to slay the demigod Cenarius and drive the Night Elves back. If the player gained Neeloc Greedyfingers in the earlier missions, then he will have access to him here as well.
Main Quest - Cenarius
The Main Quest is exactly the same was in vanilla. Your task is to hunt down Cenarius and kill him, but trying to stop you are several bases of Night Elves that are harassing you the entire way. The likelihood is that most of these need to be put down before Cenarius can be killed outright. As this is a base-building map, there wouldn't be any need for fancy objectives as by now the player has finished 3 campaigns, they know what to do.
Side Quest
I'm not certain there is a need for a side quest. The goal is pretty clear that Cenarius must be slain. Perhaps a sidequest could involve killing off enemy champions or depriving them of certain buildings or allies that are supporting them, but in truth I don't believe it's really necessary.
Enemy Forces
In the vanilla mission you are facing off against four Night Elven factions - Nightblades, Moonhunters, Shadowleaves and Starseekers. As with the Spirits of Ashenvale mission, I feel these should be lead by suitable elves of note, so that the player has other champions to clear from the field before killing Cenarius. Additionally, I think it is worth considering varying the kind of units that each of the four groups has access too, including giving them access to certain non-buildable units like the Assassin or the Sentinel. By doing this, a player can strategise - for example; by wiping out one base that is the sole producer of Hippogryphs, thus depriving the enemy of air support.
Additionally, I want to suggest either replacing one of these, or adding a fifth in the form of the Children of Cenarius, who will form Cenarius' personal guard and his base. His would be a minor faction, consisting of Dryads and other woodland entities such as Chimaera, Treants and potentially Wildkin. Giving these elves the "Cult of the Damned" treatment from Re-Reforged would work well to show the different divisions in the Night Elven factions, the Sentinels and those following the teachings of Cenarius, before they come together under player control during the Night Elf campaign.
End Cutscene
The end cutscene would show the same events that it shows now, but with the usual changes that InsaneMonster likes to make to them. Perhaps it could be lengthened to include something about the trolls being snared or Neeloc Greedyfingers running off, or not.
The End
Chapter 4: The Spirits of Ashenvale - Update
This mission starts with Grom being sent to Ashenvale to gather lumber for the Horde as punishment for his actions by Thrall. We all know this, as its the first time we ever encountered the Night Elves and it becomes pivotal to the history of Warcraft. So, how can we improve this mission? What can we do to make it better? Here are some possibilities:
Main Quest - Furbolg Chieftain
As I'm sure you all know, there is an optional quest in this mission where we meet with the goblin Neeloc Greedyfingers who has had problems with the local furbolg. Right now this involves killing the Chieftain, and in return you can buy Shredders to speed up your lumber harvesting operations. On the whole this mission is alright, there's nothing bad about it, but I want to propose something a little bold and new - promoting this mission from optional to a main mission. My ideas for this are a little complex, so I'll try and break them down into manageable bullet points:
- The mission begins as it does now, the cutscene is exactly the same and the vanilla main mission remains the same too. The player has to start cutting down trees.
- The map has its limits temporarily reduced (like with certain other maps in Re-Reforged), so that you get access to a small map area that will force the player into meeting Neeloc Greedyfingers.
- Instead of just killing the Furbolg Chieftain, you're tasked with wiping out the Furbolg encampment. The Furbolg gain a minor tech tree and will produce units to attack the Goblin base. They'll destroy it if the player doesn't push them back.
- As the Orcs run through the woods to kill the Furbolgs, there are ambush points where they'll get hit by a flurry of arrows or other traps, but those behind the attacks do not get revealed. Alongside these ambushes are some eerie voice lines and Wisps, keeping up the suspense of what is hunting them.
- When the Orcs defeat the Furbolgs, the Night Elves reveal themselves and begin harassing the Orcs. At the same time, the explorable map area widens to full size.
- Once you return the quest to Neeloc, you don't just get his Shredders as a reward, but the goblin himself. I suggest making him an Alchemist instead of an Engineer, as this will make him more unique compared to Gazlowe in the Rexxar campaign.
The idea behind this is to tease out the arrival of the night elven forces, taking more time to set the stage and keeping things mysterious for a few more minutes. Obviously these ideas are a big change, so if these are a step too far, then just getting Neeloc Greedyfingers as a spare hero would be a fine addition to receive.
Optional Quest - Destroy Trees of Life
I do not feel that this quest needs editing at all, instead I wanted to suggest something a bit different. I think that if the Trees of Life are cut down, this information should be saved by the game. This information could then be used in later missions or the Night Elf campaign, having an impact on one of the missions. For example, if you take the "easy" route to your lumber total by felling these trees, you're left with a harder position in one of the Night Elf campaign missions. If you left them as they were, there would be a bonus as those trees survived.
Naming the Grunt
A Grunt speaks with Grom Hellscream in cutscenes in this mission and the one that follows, as such it would be a good idea if he is promoted to demi-hero status, or at least named status, like the Captains were in Arthas' campaign. I think there are two possibilities - Iskar or Gargok. Iskar was an advisor of Grom's in the Lord of the Clans novel, and Gargok is a named leader of the Warsong Outriders in WoW and is suspected of being the clans current leader. Either would make a fine choice for a name.
Mil'janza
In the mission By Demons Be Driven we see that Grom & the Warsong have imprisoned the Jungle Trolls, as well as a Witch Doctor called Mil'janza in the cut content. We also see a Witch Doctor in the The Hunters of Shadow mission that warns Grom against drinking from the Chaos Well. It would be a good idea to turn Mil'janza into a demi-hero that has a role across these missions.
Night Elven Forces
Though we don't have names for the leaders of all the four elven factions, we do know that Shandris Feathermoon (from the Night Elf campaign) leads the Shadowleaves, and there are hints/theories that Astranaar is one of the territories that the Orcs can attack, which would leave Raene Wolfrunner as the perfect leader for a faction too. These do not need to be full heroes, but notable leaders or at least easter eggs.
Additionally, I recommend changing the composition of the Night Elven forces in a similar way to how the Undead forces are changed during the Human campaign in Re-Reforged. My suggestion is to remove the Dryads, and replace them with a unit from the Warcraft 3 beta called the Assassin, whose description was as follows:
"Though the mysterious female Assassins are not officially part of the Sentinel army, they serve the militaristic needs of Kalimdor with as much passion and precision as their moon-worshipping sisters. These dark women prefer to stay in the shadows and strike from afar. Like all Night Elf women, Assassins are able to Shadowmeld at night."
This then saves the Children of Cenarius for when Cenarius decides to fight back against the Warsong.
Chapter 4x: The Blood of Mannoroth - Update
No changes necessary, except perhaps the usual camera edits and scene compositions.
Chapter 5: The Hunter of Shadows - Overhaul
What I'm going to propose is a pretty huge departure from what we already have in this mission - I suggest overhauling this map and making it a hero map instead of the base-building map that it already is. This would be a huge change, and no doubt will be a controversial one, but one of the reasons for suggesting it is that in the current campaign structure we never get a hero map for Grom. This deprives the player of a mission where we have to use his abilities to overcome challenges and puzzles. So, how would this work?
Ashenvale is ripe for fleshing out into a hero map. It is an ancient, dangerous forest with its own host of threats to overcome and ruins to explore. So, let's begin with some of the changes required:
Opening Cutscene
The concept here is quite simple. What we need to do is bridge the current opening cutscene with the one where the forests are regrown by the magic of Cenarius. As you'd expect, it'd have to show the Orcs being driven back across the river. Additionally, I think it is a must for the Witch Doctor's line "Hellscream, I sense a dark power emanating from the wilderness! It might be the key to destroying Cenarius!" to tie off the end of the cinematic, setting the stage for Hellscreams hero map jaunt.
Map
As you'd expect, the map would need one hell of a lot of changes. The Orcish settlements wouldn't need to be so widespread but even if they were trimmed back, they'd still be usable for the opening cinematic. This can be tucked away out of sight after the initial cutscene, or the surviving Warsong camp could remain, with the ability for players to see the Warsong defending their territory while you're off exploring. Everything else would be for hero map purposes only, and although WoW can prove a useful inspiration for adding places such as Satyrnaar or Bough Shadow, I feel it would be best to let your imagination run riot and portray Ashenvale as the enchanted, dangerous and mysterious forest that it is always meant to be but that we rarely see.
It's also worth noting that a place in eastern Ashenvale in the WC3 manual map is the Dryad Shrine, which might be possible to show too. Something else I suggest doing, is factoring Waygates into puzzles, but I haven't given much thought to what kind of puzzle it could be used for.
Main Quest - The Chaos Well
To begin with, we remove the other Main Quest "Cenarius" from the mission. This will be pushed into a new map set after this one. Instead, the main quest "The Chaos Well" is promoted to be the sole main quest. Reaching the Chaos Well that Mannoroth corrupted is the core plot of this map, but standing in your way are various denizens of the forest, ranging from ambushing Night Elves, to Dryads, Furbolg, Green Dragons and more. However, guarding many of the routes are the Satyr, who as we know from the vanilla map were chosen to defend the well from the orcs. The goal here is the same as it ever was - reach the Chaos Well.
The main difference between this and the original would be the introduction of a countdown. The Orcs can only hold back the Night Elves for so long. This time could be bolstered by finding certain items, killing certain enemies or completing certain side quests.
Side Quests
Though I have no defined sidequest ideas so far, here are some I've considered:
- Looting dryad poison spears from the Dryad Shrine
- Stealing soul crystals from Satyrnaar to bolster the spellcasters defending the base
- Slaying a green dragon
These side quests would only impact the ability for the Warsong to repel the Night Elves in this mission, though perhaps if you wanted, then any boosts/benefits given from these would carry over to your forces in the next map as a reward for completing them.
Treants
A small change, but I suggest amending the textures for the Treants summoned by Cenarius so that their bark and leaves matches the trees that they are created from.
Satyrnaar
As mentioned earlier, Satyr are found guarding the Chaos Well from the Orcs during the vanilla map. When we compare this original map with the map of WoW's Ashenvale, it suggests that the settlement called Satyrnaar is in this region and would be perfect one to use. How it is used is up to you, but I definitely favour it being part of a puzzle that revolves around using Wind Walk to infiltrate their base, perhaps killing sentries that might spot your forces or stealing some artefact that would allow you passage to the Chaos Well.
End Cutscene
The mission would end once you reach the Chaos Well. You then get the same cutscene from the vanilla map that happens when you complete the same quest, the difference here would be that it would mark the end of Grom Hellscream's hero map.
Chapter 6: The Dark Gift - New
If we're thinking of the vanilla The Hunter of Shadows mission, this would revolve around the second half of that mission. Grom Hellscream has drunk from the Chaos Well, as have his warriors, and now they're ready to slay the demigod Cenarius and drive the Night Elves back. If the player gained Neeloc Greedyfingers in the earlier missions, then he will have access to him here as well.
Main Quest - Cenarius
The Main Quest is exactly the same was in vanilla. Your task is to hunt down Cenarius and kill him, but trying to stop you are several bases of Night Elves that are harassing you the entire way. The likelihood is that most of these need to be put down before Cenarius can be killed outright. As this is a base-building map, there wouldn't be any need for fancy objectives as by now the player has finished 3 campaigns, they know what to do.
Side Quest
I'm not certain there is a need for a side quest. The goal is pretty clear that Cenarius must be slain. Perhaps a sidequest could involve killing off enemy champions or depriving them of certain buildings or allies that are supporting them, but in truth I don't believe it's really necessary.
Enemy Forces
In the vanilla mission you are facing off against four Night Elven factions - Nightblades, Moonhunters, Shadowleaves and Starseekers. As with the Spirits of Ashenvale mission, I feel these should be lead by suitable elves of note, so that the player has other champions to clear from the field before killing Cenarius. Additionally, I think it is worth considering varying the kind of units that each of the four groups has access too, including giving them access to certain non-buildable units like the Assassin or the Sentinel. By doing this, a player can strategise - for example; by wiping out one base that is the sole producer of Hippogryphs, thus depriving the enemy of air support.
Additionally, I want to suggest either replacing one of these, or adding a fifth in the form of the Children of Cenarius, who will form Cenarius' personal guard and his base. His would be a minor faction, consisting of Dryads and other woodland entities such as Chimaera, Treants and potentially Wildkin. Giving these elves the "Cult of the Damned" treatment from Re-Reforged would work well to show the different divisions in the Night Elven factions, the Sentinels and those following the teachings of Cenarius, before they come together under player control during the Night Elf campaign.
End Cutscene
The end cutscene would show the same events that it shows now, but with the usual changes that InsaneMonster likes to make to them. Perhaps it could be lengthened to include something about the trolls being snared or Neeloc Greedyfingers running off, or not.
The End
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