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Spellbringers 1.07 - Classic RTS with divine powers!

WHAT IS SPELLBRINGERS?


Spellbringers is a total conversion mod for Warcraft III Reforged, completely changing the game into a classic real-time strategy game that is full of surprises. It boasts all new units, many custom models, and completely asymmetric factions. There are no heroes in Spellbringers, however, each faction can construct a unique Spellbringer, a mighty structure that casts powerful global spells. Economy, base-building, large-scale management, and small-scale skirmishes are all essential to Spellbringers gameplay, and the Spellbringers themselves lend a special twist to each of these mechanics. Spellbringers has been in development for over 3 years in its current iteration and is now ready for public beta. Join our Discord server to get access to the game and play now!

The inhabitants of the Spellbringers universe are ruled by several gods, each the embodiment of their individual aspect. These gods grant mighty powers to their followers through the use of their Spellbringer structures. Each Spellbringer is a conduit that channels magical energies from the godly realms, allowing mere mortals to direct them and cast powerful, global spells.

For more information, you can watch this short video for an introduction to Spellbringers gameplay.

FACTIONS


Spellbringers currently features 3 unique factions, with a fourth planned for post-release development.

ORDER

The Order faction worships Valantor, the god of order. Valantor's followers consist primarily of humans and celestial beings such as valkyries and angels. Additionally, these humans can construct mighty machines of war such as the devastating ballistae and looming airships. The Order faction prefers to approach problems through superior strength and brute-force tactics. It is also the easiest faction for beginners, while still offering a challenge for veteran players to master.

For a brief introduction to the Order faction, watch this short video.

NATURE

The Nature faction worships Shaela, the goddess of life and nature. Her followers consist of elves, treefolk called Dendroids, faefolk, and various wild beasts. This is a deadly faction that requires guile and finesse to master. It is a challenging race for beginners, but once initiated players will find themselves enjoying the unique base mechanics and tactical gameplay.

For a brief introduction to the Nature faction, watch this short video.

DEATH

The Death faction worships Ket, lord of the underworld and ruler of the dead. His followers are radical cultists, crazy scientists, and undead monstrosities. The Death faction can raise a horde of zombies to overwhelm opponents in a battle of attrition, or can choose to slink around the shadows using deadly vampires and vengeful spirits. This faction can be easy to approach but difficult to master.

For a brief introduction to the Death faction, watch this short video.

ROADMAP


Open Beta - Finished

Spellbringers is currently in open beta, meaning it is fully available to the public to play, but is currently still under development. The game is fully playable and all three factions are fleshed out. However, at this stage your feedback is vital to the continued development of Spellbringers. We want you to enjoy the game, play with us, and give us your feedback about bugs, balance, and fun. Sending us your replays is also incredibly valuable. Those who join us during this stage will have a distinct advantage in the upcoming tournament, as they will have more time to master the game. Once we are satisfied with the state of the game, we will enter full release.

Full Release - Success!

Full Release simply means that the game is stable and fun. Development on Spellbringers will still continue throughout release, with balance changes likely and the addition of a completely new faction.

Head-to-head Tournament - Finished

A beginners tournament is now open for registration! Click here to see details and register! The tournament will be broadcast live on twitch!
Prize pool is currently $500.00!

Congratulations to @Deolrin and @Wareditor, our first and second place winners!

Single-Player Campaign​

Once the factions are all completed, a single-player campaign is planned. This campaign will delve into the world of Spellbringers and focus on the rivalries between the various gods and goddesses and the mortals who get caught in the crossfire. The campaign will likely be released in stages, with each faction having their own campaign series.

RESOURCES


  • Join our Discord community to chat with us, arrange games, upload replays, or provide feedback.
  • Visit the Tournament Page to view details about the Beginner's Tournament and register!
  • Check out our YouTube channel for helpful build order guides, VoDs with commentary, and more.
  • Feel free to send a message to Bawbz at the wonderful Hive Workshop for questions or feedback.

Thank you for reading, and we hope to see you soon!

VERSION HISTORY

Version 1.0 - Released 11/12/2022

Version 1.01 - Released 12/5/2022

Version 1.02 - Released 12/7/2022

Version 1.03 - Released 12/31/2022

Version 1.04 - Released 1/28/2023

Version 1.05 - Released 2/10/2023

Version 1.06 - Released 5/9/2023

Version 1.07 - Released 10/1/2023
Bug Fixes
  • Fixed a bug where Eclipse would create a creep camp icon in the center of the map.
  • Fixed an issue where Ballistas would be stuck moving at the same speed as Airship Defenders when using the Spellbringer army commands.

Maps
  • New 2 player map: SBArchipelago
  • New 4 player map: SBMaelstrom
  • New 4 player map: SBBullseye
  • New 2v2 map: SBSteppes

General
  • Siege attacks now do 125% damage to fortified armor, down from 150%.
  • All weapon and armor upgrade times reduced from 160,175,190 to 120,135,150
  • All weapon and armor upgrade costs increased from 100/100, 150/150, 200/200 to 100/100, 175/175, 250/250
  • Army commands can now be given at the spellbringer via right-click (smart) commands in addition to the move army and attack army buttons.
  • Spellbringer attack army command hotkey changed from X to A.
    • Consequently, the bottom row of spellbringer spells have now been moved to the right over one space in the command card, changing their hotkeys to S,D, and F.

Order
Spellbringer
  • Summon Spirit Dwarves duration reduced from 45 to 35 seconds.
  • Summon Spirit Dwarves mana cost reduced from 90 to 85.

Ballista
  • No longer eligible for the Improved Construction upgrade.
  • Damage reduced from 60 to 55.

Blacksmith
  • Fixed a bug where the Blacksmith cost 60 lumber instead of 40.

Valkyrie
  • Build time reduced from 34 to 32 seconds.
  • Cost reduced from 150/50 to 140/40.

Archon
  • Descend is now a targeted AOE ability:
    • Plummets to the ground, becoming a ground unit. While grounded, the Archon is faster and gains a melee Striking attack. Upon landing, the Archon taunts nearby enemies, forcing them to attack.

Celestial Beacon / Celestial Gateway
  • Fixed an issue where the Beacon trained flying Archons but the Gateway trained grounded Archons. They now both train flying Archons.

Nature
Spellbringer
  • Grasping Vines (entangle) can no longer target air units.
  • Cloud of Mist has been reverted back to preventing all damage instead of only direct attacks.
    • It still affects both friendly and enemy units.

Couatl
  • Build time reduced from 25 to 20 seconds.
  • Now has a new ability: Viper Strike
    • Strikes at the target air unit from a short distance, closing the gap between them and guaranteeing a hit.

Archery Post
  • Attack cooldown against air increased from 0.8 to 1 second (the same as its attack cooldown vs ground).
  • Has a new innate ability: Split Shot
    • Attacks against air units hit up to 2 additional targets at once.
  • Build time reduced from 45 to 40 seconds.
  • Cost increased from 110/30 to 120/30.

Faerie Dragon
  • Units affected by Whirlwind can no longer attack.

Dendroid Elder
  • Fixed a tooltip error that claimed that Dendroid March was trained at the Dendroid Chieftain.

Death
This update introduces some major changes to the Death faction:
  • Players no longer start the game with a Necromancer, but 3 lost souls instead.
  • Necromancers no longer summon structures.
  • Lost souls now summon all structures.
  • Necromancers can now summon Zombies and Wraiths without any additional requirements.
  • All undead units now regenerate 1 hit point per second on Blight, up from 0.5.

Spellbringer
  • Death Knight
    • Obliterate now has a new missile effect and shows an effect that indicates where the missile will hit.

Blight Factory
  • Cost increased from 50 to 100.
  • Lumber income rate improved from 1 every 2.2 to 1 every 1.1 seconds.
  • Increased the amount of time it takes to unsummon a Blight Factory from 1 second to 10 seconds.

Necropolis
  • Now produces 12 food, up from 9.
  • Now has the Absorb Lumber ability (acts as a Blight Factory), but harvests half as quickly.
  • Now has a fancy new model.

Dark Nexus
  • Now requires a Crypt, Manor, or Dread Spire in addition to a Spellbringer.

Graveyard
  • Now requires a Necromancer.
  • Contains weapon and armor upgrades for Crypt, Manor, and Air units.

Manor
  • Cost reduced from 160/45 to 100/30.

Necromancer
  • No longer summons structures.
  • Removed the Necromancer Training upgrade.
  • Base movement speed increased from 250 to 300.

Zombie
  • Now summoned one at a time, down from two at a time.
  • Cost increased from 50 to 75.
  • Food cost increased from 1 to 2.
  • Hit points increased from 100 to 150.
  • Attack cooldown reduced from 3 to 2.
  • Rend Flesh attack speed reduction increased from 15% to 20%.
  • Rend Flesh no longer requires an upgrade.
  • Undying now requires a Spellbringer instead of a Dark Nexus.

Hoodling
  • Removed from the game (merged with Wraith).

Wraith
  • Requires a Graveyard.
  • Cost reduced from 140/30 to 130/15
  • Build time reduced from 24 to 22.
  • Damage changed from 16 every 1.9 seconds to 19 every 2.2 seconds.
  • Damage type changed from magic to piercing.
  • Attack range increased from 500 to 600 vs ground and 800 vs air.
  • Hit points reduced from 170 to 90 100.
  • Defense type changed from Unarmored to Light.
  • Movement speed increased from 350 to 400.
  • Collision size reduced from 24 to 16.
  • Transported size reduced from 3 to 2.
  • Eclipse invisibility fade time reduced from 1.5 to 1 second.
  • No longer has the Essence Drain ability.
  • New upgrade: Wicked Crossbows
    • Increases the attack range of Wraiths by 100.
    • Available at the Manor.
  • New ability: Blight Shot
    • Adds 10 additional damage to the Wraith's attack. Can only be used once every 20 seconds.
    • Requires research at the manor.

Shepherd of Rot
  • Reworked Gaseous Bloat:
    • Now named Putrefy
    • Requires research at the Crypt.
    • Previously: Puts a buff on a unit that caused it to explode on death and create a plague cloud that spread disease for a few seconds.
    • Now: Puts a buff on a unit that causes that unit to spread disease to nearby enemies for as long as it has the buff. The unit will still explode on death, but it will no longer create a plague cloud.
  • Unholy Banner no longer has any requirements, but works a bit differently:
    • If placed on blight, it extends the blight radius and becomes permanent.
    • If placed off blight, it does not create blight and lasts 30 seconds.
    • Now has a 30 second cooldown, up from 0.
    • Regenerates increases hit point regeneration of nearby friendly units by 5.

Immolator
  • Cost changed from 140/50 and 3 food to 180/70 and 4 food.
  • Build time increased from 20 to 26.
  • Damage increased from 16 to 18.
  • Hit points increased from 100 to 130.
  • Now has a mana pool.
  • Flare ability removed.
  • New ability: Pyre
    • Creates a pillar of flame at the target point that activates after a 2 second casting time. The fire will remain ablaze for as long as the Immolator remains channeling, dealing 20 30 damage per second to any units caught within. Affects both enemy and allied units.
    • Also grants a small amount of vision in the target area.
    • Drains 5 mana per second.
    • Requires research at the Graveyard.
      • Costs 150/150 and requires a Dark Nexus


Crypt
  • Now contains the following research:
    • Undying (Requires Spellbringer)
    • Putrefy
    • Rot Mastery
    • Pyre (Requires Altar of Darkness)
    • Ember Mastery (Requires Altar of Darkness

Gargoyle
  • Replaced by a new unit, the Stitchwing.
  • The Stitchwing has the same stats and role as the gargoyle, but has a new model that reflects its nature as a science experiment.
  • New ability: Corrosive Bile
    • Causes Stitchwing attacks to coat the target in acid, dealing an additional 1 damage per second for 15 seconds.
    • Researched at the Vile Laboratory.

Ghost Ship
  • Removed from the game

Death Ray
  • New air unit, replacing the Ghost Ship.
  • Fires a deadly eye beam that does heavy magic damage to a single target, ground or air.
  • Has an upgrade available at the Vile Laboratory that greatly slows units attacked by the Death Ray.
  • Detects invisible units
  • Hit points increased from 250 to 300

Phantom Carriage
  • No longer detects invisible units.

Vampire
  • New model
  • Bloodthirst research now requires a Spellbringer.
  • Bloodthirst life steal rate increased from 20% to 30%.
  • Removed the ability Coffin Slumber.
  • Now gains 2 hit points per second life regeneration during an Eclipse.
  • The Exquisite Taste upgrade has been replaced by a new upgrade called Blood Gorge.
    • Blood Gorge:
      • Upon harvesting greater than 10 souls, the Vampire will now transform into a Vampire Bloodfiend, a deadly melee brawler. The Vampire Bloodfiend gains increased hit points (180 -> 230), can harvest 10 more souls, and has its hit points fully restored upon transforming.

Blood Mistress
  • No longer has the Dominate ability.
  • New ability: Suck Mana
    • Drains up to 120 mana from the target unit, granting it to the Blood Mistress. Can be cast on friendly or enemy units.
Lich
  • No longer an upgraded necromancer. Is now summoned by the Necromancer.
  • Requires a Temple of Phylacteries.
  • Has 340 hit points, 100 max mana (starts with 0, loses 5 per second), 2 heavy armor, and deals 30 magic damage every 1.8 seconds.
  • Costs 200/100 and 5 food.
  • Has two abilities: Soul Capture and Death Nova.
    • Soul Capture: Whenever a unit dies near the Lich, it gains 5 mana per food cost of the dying unit. For 5 seconds after, the lich won’t degenerate mana.
    • Death Nova: Costs 100 mana. Deals 100 additional damage on an attack with a large area of effect.

Temple of Phylacteries
  • Name changed from Vault of Phylacteries
  • Requirement changed from Altar of Darkness to:
    • Dark Nexus
    • Altar of Darkness
  • Contains weapon and armor upgrades for liches.

Spellbringers Credits
------------------------------------

DEVELOPMENT
------------------------------------
Design, object editing, triggering, and terraining
- Bawbz

Testing Team
- Usyless
- GGTheMachine
- Islandsnake
- doom_sheep

ASSETS
------------------------------------
UI SCRIPTS
Hide Min Damage - Tasyen

UNIT ICONS
Airship Transport: BTNHumanZeppeline - General Frank
Angel Knight: BTNAngelKnight - General Frank
Archangel of Life: BTNAngelio - JollyD
Archery Post: ???
Avatar of Command: BTNJudgmentPaladin - Murlocologist
Ballista: BTNBallista - General Frank
Blight Factory: BTNPlagueSpreader2 - infrenus
Blight Vessel: BTNBlightVessel - General Frank
Blood Mistress: BTNBloodMistress - General Frank
Celestial Beacon: BTNCelestialBeacon - General Frank
Celestial Gateway: BTNCelestialGateway - General Frank
Church: BTNChurch - General Frank
Citadel: BTNCitadel - General Frank
Cleric: BTNCleric - General Frank
Conservatory: BTNConservatory - General Frank
Crusader: BTNKnightOfKome - General Frank
Death Knight: BTNDeathKnightTeron - Artork312
Death Obelisk: BTNObelisk_Red - General Frank
Dread Spire: BTNGargoyleSpire - Blizzard Entertainment
Elven Looter: BTNMageHuntress - Deolrin
Elven Ranger: BTNBloodElfPhoenixArcher - General Frank
Eye of Ket: BTNEldritchCovenant - General Frank
Falconer: BTNFalconer - General Frank
Giant Toad: BTNToad - General Frank
Hall of Elites: BTNNightElfGraveyard - Unknown102
Haven: BTNHaven - General Frank
Hoodling: BTNUndeadArcher - AndrewOverload519
Immolator: BTNUndeadFireMage - -Grendel
Lich: BTNPowerLich - HappyTauren
Manor: BTNForsakenKeep - Ujimasa Hojo
Mad Scientist: BTNMadScientist - General Frank
Rowdy Crew: BTNRowdyCrew - General Frank
Shaela's Chosen: BTNEternitysCrown - General Frank
Shock Obelisk: BTNObelisk_Green - General Frank
Valantor's Mirror: BTNAltarOfStarlight - Vinz, Spellbound
Valkyrie: BTNValkyrie - General Frank
Vile Laboratory: BTNDreadLaboratory - General Frank
Wraith: BTNWraith - General Frank

ABILITY ICONS
Absorb Essence: BTNDarkTrinity - 4eNNightmare
Acid Breath: BTNNoxiousCloud - KILLCIDE, Mr.Goblin
Beast Within: BTNDragonEyeUpdate02 - ~Nightmare
Blight Armor: BTNHauntingAura - The Panda
Bounty: BTNRoast - UgoUgo
Canopy Cover: BTNTreantNatureSign - JollyD
Cleave: BTNLethalTwist - Sun gate
Cloud Cover: BTNTranquilLight - Elenai
Coffin Slumber: BTNDeathCoffin - Darkfang
Death Beam: BTNPyramid - Mc !
Devouring Swarm: BTNCarrionSwarm - -Berz-, edited by Bawbz
Entwine: BTNPoisonousVines - The Panda
Essence Drain: BTNEssenceDrain - Blizzard Entertainment
Giant's Stride: BTNStrengthOfNature - BLazeKraze
Judgment: BTNHammerCrush - zbc
Leech Seed: BTNNatureSeed - BLazeKraze
Loot: BTNSackOGold - KelThuzad
Obliterate: BTNDeathBomb - PrinceYaser
Rain of Fire: BTNSpell_Shadow_RainOfFire - Blizzard Entertainment
Soul Harvest: BTNConsumeSouls - PrinceYaser
Stag's Blessing: BTNMightyAnglers - pick-a-chew
Tail Whip: BTNNagaRoyalGuardWarStomp - Sin'dorei300
Thorns Armor: BTNExpandingThorns - D.ee
Thousand Needles: BTNPhantomArrows - NO-Bloody-Name

UPGRADE ICONS
Celestial Plate: BTNHolyArmor - 8512590215848
Celestial Weapons: BTNHolyArrow - Darkfang
Divine Plate: BTNDivineArmor - PrinceYaser
Elder Faerie Dragons: BTNDreamCoil - 4eNNightmare
Lich Armor: BTNElvenRobe - PrinceYaser
Master Angel Knights: BTNDemonicSword - ~Nightmare
Nature's Protection: BTNTreantHeroAbility3 - Marcos DAB
Vampiric Speed: BTNDarkFlight - Darkfang

UNIT MODELS
Airship Defender: GilneasGunship - Mephestrial, edited by General Frank
Airship Transport: Human Airship - Bioautomaton, edited by General Frank
Angel Knight: Archangel - expresso, Tranquil
Archangel of Life: Archangel Arcana - RavenBlackbird
Archery Post: ArcheryPost - Blizzard Entertainment, edited by General Frank
Ballista: Ballista - General Frank
BlackObelisk/DeathObelisk/ShockObelisk - Blizzard, edited by General Frank
Blight Factory: Scourge Plague Spreader - infrenus, edited by General Frank
Blight Vessel: Scourge Plague Spreader - infrenus, edited by General Frank
Blood Mistress: High Illusionist - A.R., edited by General Frank
Celestial Beacon: Celestial Beacon - General Frank
Celestial Gateway: Celestial Gateway - General Frank
Church: WC2 Church - Ket
Citadel: LordaeronPalace - bakr, edited by General Frank
Cleric: Human Bishop - Tranquil
Couatl: Wind Viper - Explodobomb
Conservatory: DruidHut - Callahan
Crow: Crow - Vinz
Crusader: Arkain_KnightOfKomeNoRibbon - General Frank
Death Beam: PyramidRessurection - Callahan, edited by General Frank
Death Knight - WC2_DeathKnight - Mr.Goblin, Deolrin, Whitehorn, Pyramidhe@d, edited by General Frank
Elven Looter: High Elf Mage Huntress - Deolrin
Elven Ranger: Blood Elf Phoenix Archer - General Frank
Enforcer: Plate Armor Knight - Gluma, edited by General Frank and Maximal
Evil Eye: EvilEye - General Frank
Expansion Marker: ExpansionMarker - Blizzard, edited by General Frank
Eye of Ket: Eldritch Covenant - Vinz
Faerie Dust Buff: FaerieDustBuff - Dubey
Falconer: Sorceror - tillinghast
Flesh Golem: MegaZombie - Blizzard Entertainment, edited by General Frank
Fleshless Zombie: SkellyZombie - General Frank
Gargoyle: ObsidianGargoyle - Blizzard Enterainment, edited by General Frank
Giant Toad: Toad - Freddyk, edited by GeneralFrank
Gold Mine: SBGoldMine - Blizzard Entertainment, edited by General Frank
Great Stag: GreatStag - Vinz
Green Dragon: FerSZ, edited by General Frank
Green Matron's Roost - Green Dragon Roost - Blizzard Entertainment, edited by General Frank
Hall of Elites: Night Elf Graveyard - Unknown102, edited by General Frank
Haven: Haven - General Frank
Hoodling: Forsaken Archer - AndrewOverload519
Immolator: UndeadFireMage - -Grendel, edited by General Frank
Lich: PowerLich - HappyTauren, edited by General Frank
Lost Soul: BansheeGhost - Blizzard Entertainment, edited by General Frank
Mad Scientist: MadScientist - General Frank
Manor: Town Hall Forsaken - Ujimasa Hojo, edited by General Frank
Necromancer: Arch-Acolyte - DeuceGorgon
Rowdy Crew: Black Corsair - WhiteDeath
Sapling: Ent - Blizzard, Edited by General Frank
Shaela's Chosen: Eternitys Crown - Vinz
Shepherd of Rot: Decay the Plague Bringer - Alpain, edited by General Frank
Spearman: Rostrodle Javaliner - Cavman, edited by General Frank
Spearman (Siege Spears): Rostrodle Javaliner - Cavman, edited by General Frank
Spirit Dwarf: Dwarf Worker - HerrDave
Sprite: Faerie - donut3.5, edited by doom_sheep
Swarm Bat: Carrion Bats - Vinz
Tyrannosaurus Rex: Red_Dragon_Rex - Hantoo, edited by General Frank
Valantor's Mirror: Altar of Starlight - Vinz, Spellbound
Valkyrie: Pegasus Rider - wojia10502, edited by General Frank
Vampire Lord: Vampyr - Dionesiist
Vampire Lord (Coffin Form): Stone Coffin - Remixer, edited by General Frank
Vampire Lord (Eclipse Wings): WingsOfTheNightmare - Usedwell
Vile Laboratory: Acherus - Mister_Haudrauf, edited by General Frank
Wraith: Nightmare - Callahan, edited by General Frank
Zombie: Zombie - Blizzard - Edited by General Frank

EFFECT MODELS
Acid Breath: ChemicalEmbers - ???
Animate Dead Buff: Soul Armor Crimson_opt - Vinz
Angel Knight Missile: General Frank
Avatar of Command Target: DivineEdict - Vinz
Ballista Missile: General Frank
Banish: Sacred Exile, Sacred Verdict - Vinz
Battle Standard: Battle Standard / Safeguard - Vinz
Blight Armor: Necromancer Defensive Buff - doom_sheep
Blinding Flash: Blind_Halo, BlindingFlashCream - Vinz
Bounty: fireworks_ok - 8uY_YoU
Cloud Cover / Spirit Dwarf Levitation: MistAura - Pyritie
Command Aura: KingstrideAura - Vinz
Death Beam Target: ConflagrateGreen - Vinz
Devouring Swarm: DevouringSwarmEffect - Vinz
Dominate: Bondage Purple - Vinz
Dust hit effect: Dust - doom_sheep
Eclipse Building Armor: Effect_ShieldBuff_Purple - Vinz
Entwine Spitter Plants: Venolia_squished - Callahan
Essence Drain: EssenceDrainCaster/EssenceDrainTarget - Vinz
Hold the Line: Blizzard Entertainment, edited by doom_sheep
Hyde Potion Missile / Buff: HidePotionMissile / HidePotionTarget - doom_sheep
It's Alive! gren bolt: MadScientist_MonsoonBoltTargetGreen - Blizzard Entertainment, edited by GeneralFrank
Judgment Hammer Effect: JudgmentNoHive - Vinz
Judgment Rune: Rune Yellow - Tranquil
Leech Seed: Seed Shot / Seed Inside / Seed Squirt - Vinz
Mad Scientist Missile: MadScientist_BoltImpactGreen - General Frank
Murder of Crows: MurderOfCrowsTarget - Vinz
Null Bomb: NullBomb / NullBombBirth - Vinz
Obliterate: DarknessBomb - nGy
Putrid Bloat Disease: PlagueCloudSmol - doom_sheep
Putrid Bloat Explosion: Plague Explosion - doom_sheep
Rain of Fire: Rain of Fire III - Vinz
Recall: Void Teleport Green - Vinz
Rend Flesh Target: Lacerate Soundless - Veronnis
Shepherd of Rot Missile: ShepherdOfRotMissile - doom_sheep
Slurp Devour: NewtRegen - Callahan
Soothe: Heal Green - Vinz
Soul Harvest Caster: Warp Dark (Target) - Thrikodius
Tail Whip: Fireblade2 - Callahan
Thorns Armor Buff: Nature Blessing - Vitchie08
Valkyrie Attack Lightning: SBL_BlueNewLightning - Spellbound
Zombie Plague: Omen / Dark Conversion - Vinz
Contents

Spellbringers: Archipelago (Map)

Spellbringers: Autumn Falls (Map)

Spellbringers: Bullseye (Map)

Spellbringers: Circuit Breakers (Map)

Spellbringers: Dilemma (Map)

Spellbringers: Dragon's Teeth (Map)

Spellbringers: Duelling Peaks (Map)

Spellbringers: Fighting Spirit (Map)

Spellbringers: Golden Valley (Map)

Spellbringers: Maelstrom (Map)

Spellbringers: Oasis Dunes (Map)

Spellbringers: Rival Districts (Map)

Spellbringers: Riverglade (Map)

Spellbringers: Sally Forth (Map)

Spellbringers: Shadowood (Map)

Spellbringers: Steppes (Map)

Reviews
deepstrasz
It's generally relying on basic Warcraft III melee mechanics. Of the three factions, Death seems to be most original overall. There is a missing DIBTN for Nature's Protection - level 2. Eclipse's icon is that of Spell Immunity. Some balance testing...
Level 9
Joined
Aug 16, 2019
Messages
66
In this project, I see the dynamics of SC2. And the idea of dividing races is like in WarHammer: Age of Sigmar.
The Magic Towers are very complementary to the main game. This is an absolute success.
I want to ask - are there any sub-factions planned?
I also PM you a couple of crazy ideas.
 
Level 35
Joined
Feb 5, 2009
Messages
4,552
After having played a number of games and defending my title of being the greatest Death player of all time against @Deolrin, I can say without a doubt that this is indeed a map submission.

The factions are very well made and the unit design is very nice across the board. I am especially a fan of the implementation of units within a faction that are designed to provide balance against the more powerful units of other factions, creating an gameplay style where some units might not get used as much in specific match-ups, but there isn't a unit where there's no situations you would use it.

The Giant Toads are a unit, and for that reason, I'm giving this map a 6/5.
 
Level 48
Joined
Apr 18, 2008
Messages
8,416
Fantastic project with very interesting ideas and well thought-out balance and mechanics. Certainly feels closer to Brood War and Starcraft 2 than to Warcraft 3, in all the best ways. The Spellbringer mechanic - a powerful structure casting spells to aid the player's army - is well executed and certainly one of several highlights.
I'm going strong at ~10-15 games now with a consistent 0% winrate! Challengers beware!
(that said, do actually PM me if you'd like to play a match :thumbs_up:)
 
Level 21
Joined
Dec 4, 2007
Messages
1,473
Played some matches now and my favorite race has to be Death.
Grim Obelisks, Zombie Hordes and Plagues, Black Pyramid with death beam and a unique way of spawning units - all check!
 

Bawbz

Hosted Project: SB
Level 13
Joined
Jun 11, 2004
Messages
164
Played some matches now and my favorite race has to be Death.
Grim Obelisks, Zombie Hordes and Plagues, Black Pyramid with death beam and a unique way of spawning units - all check!
Glad to hear it!

Did you play against an opponent or the AI? If you played against an opponent, I'd love to watch the replays if you have them.
 
Level 21
Joined
Dec 4, 2007
Messages
1,473
Well we played pretty slow/low apm, however i managed to looter rush the undead guy quite often, 1 looter kills 1 necro (if off blight).
All in all i see the esport approach working well, but for me it's a bit too fast paced, like starcraft is meant to be ofc.
 
Level 23
Joined
Dec 24, 2019
Messages
399
Absolutely 5/5, any other punctuation would be almost an insult to something that has taken so much work and effort. All works like this deserve the highest score for me, even if there are small flaws and things that could be improved. But there are very few who invest so much time and effort in creating something original. I will continue to play it more throughout these weeks and surely I will comment again, but in advance I thank you for uploading original and quality content.

Regards.
 
Level 48
Joined
Apr 18, 2008
Messages
8,416
Absolutely 5/5, any other punctuation would be almost an insult to something that has taken so much work and effort. All works like this deserve the highest score for me, even if there are small flaws and things that could be improved. But there are very few who invest so much time and effort in creating something original. I will continue to play it more throughout these weeks and surely I will comment again, but in advance I thank you for uploading original and quality content.

Regards.
Hopefully that means we'll see you around on the Discord channel, yeah? :)
 

deepstrasz

Map Reviewer
Level 68
Joined
Jun 4, 2009
Messages
18,706
It's generally relying on basic Warcraft III melee mechanics. Of the three factions, Death seems to be most original overall.

There is a missing DIBTN for Nature's Protection - level 2.
Eclipse's icon is that of Spell Immunity.
Some balance testing would be required. Death seems to have a lot of movement speed boni (the vampire for instance from Unholy Aura and during the night).

A neatly Warcraft III melee modification that puts emphasis on troops as StarCraft/Warcraft II while relying on a static hero-like unit.

Approved.


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Level 5
Joined
Jul 15, 2022
Messages
15
Happy to see another great altered melee map. However I do not understand the tenets of defining good map or approval of maps. I looked at every unit in this map and do not see anything that really changed the way RTS plays. For example, units either deals XX damages, or slows down enemies etc. Instead, why can't we have some ability to change unit to mechanical, undead etc (just an example). Yet reviewer still defined it as "original". I had fight with the reviewers before on my altered melee map and lost my hope. But now seeing this kind of map getting all 5 stars and on main page, I wonder is this something war3 players would really play again and again? Is the standards reviewers using really benefit the community? Of course I have bias because what I made, but when I open war3 I would still prefer play standard melee over this for everyday gameplay.

Anyways I still gave 5 star to it just for good will.
 
Factions:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Spellbringers features three factions, Order, Nature, and Death, which are very reminiscient of the Magic: The Gathering colors White, Green, and Black, which I imagine were an inspiration since the creator is sporting a 🔥 Koth of the Hammer 🔥 avatar on Discord. Here's hoping we will see Blue and Red represented in the future as well.

The factions all feature wonderful, cohesive styles and elaborate, well-thought-out tech trees. Most units have a special ability or a unique tech that unlocks a special ability. Almost no unit is a simple Grunt. The Spellbringers look fantastic and their spells underline the great flavor of the factions. The use of a spitting spider as a siege weapon is very creative and works perfectly for the Nature faction.

Playing as the Nature faction, I have three things to gripe about:
1. Some of the buildings are hard to distinguish from another. The Haven and the Hall of Elites quickly disappear within the sea of other buildings and could benefit from an additional eye-catcher, maybe added via special effect to the building.
2. The Tyrannosaur, while awesome, breaks the flavor of the Nature faction, whose ground animal forces are otherwise exclusively comprised of woodland critters. I think a giant bear spirit would fit better and be equally awesome. The same could be said about the Sky Totem units, which feel like they're just a relic of the map being a derivative of a Warcraft game, instead of it making sense within the Spellbringers universe.
3. The transgender archer upgrade is a serious flavor fail.

Maps/Terrain:
⭐⭐⭐
The maps are a hybrid between Starcraft II maps and Warcraft III maps without the creeps. Small ramps lead to the player bases on all maps. I find the decision to use the Starcraft ramps questionable. Starcraft matchups are balanced around Protoss and Terran being able to wall off their base entrance, mainly to prevent Zerglings from running wild. I haven't seen that necessity in Spellbringers. In addition, walling off the ramp is really easy as a Terran with relocatable buildings and Supply Depots that can be lowered, whereas these features don't exist in Spellbringers.

The terrain quality is not on par with the rest of the content, but I may be biased because I don't think most Warcraft III melee map terrain looks that great. Since Spellbringers is advertised as a total conversion mod, I would like to see maps with beautiful terrain and custom trees and other doodads. If that means we get less maps overall, I am fine with it, because, to be honest, in a Starcraft-like RTS, the map geometry has a negligible impact on the gameplay and only the map size is important.

I also imagine a custom system where bonus damage/miss chance is based on terrain height instead of cliff level (similar to AoE2) is worth trying out, getting rid of most of the default cliffs in the process. Default cliffs are ugly (or rather the ramps) and have giant a collision size that interferes with the clunky unit pathing.

Balance:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
It is apparent that a tremendous amount of thought and work has been put into the design of the factions and the balance of the units. Each unit has a place in the meta, but is not too powerful that it can't be countered. The Starcraft gameplay has been replicated perfectly. My only concern is the Order Enforcers, who hit like a truck, which is a bit weird for such a low tier unit. But since the tournament was won by a Nature player, it might be a case of "git gud". One issue I had with them, though, is that they're really hard to click and so I ended up running my archers repeatedly into them by accident while training against the A.I., where they were slaughtered in only a few hits.

Controls/UI:
⭐⭐⭐
After playing a lot of Age of Empires II, it is a real shock how many quality of life features are missing in Warcraft III. No "Select all Barracks", no production queue, no "Select all idle workers", and an absurdly low selection limit. In a Warcraft III melee game, this is not such a large issue, because armies are small, macro is not very important, and the controls are more optimized towards microing your heroes. However, in an RTS map with large armies and more focus on macro, the lack of those quality of life features hurts a lot. There is the ability to command the entire army via the Spellbringer, but it is not enough to make the controls not cumbersome. I would like to see more quality of life features added via a custom UI.

Summary:

This leads me to my last criticism. I am harsh about these missing features, because the map is advertised as a total conversion mod. However, at the moment, I do not see how this is justified. Total conversion is mostly reserved for maps such as Embercraft or 8-Bit Raid that change almost every aspect of the game and UI, up until the point where the main game is often unrecognizable. Even if it is interpreted as it meaning that it totally changes the RTS gameplay, that is not really the case. The resource system as well as the weapon/armor type systems are mostly unchanged.

In many areas, I think Spellbringers should be more bold and do more of its own thing with the help of all the powerful tools we have available as map makers, building on the foundation of the awesome factions. Currently, I think it is somewhere between a very good altered melee map and an RTS mod.

Because it is advertised as a total conversion mod, I have to rate it as such and therefore give it ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5) with an easy upgrade to 5/5 if more custom systems are added, such as quality of life features to help with the clunkiness of Warcraft III.

Edit: Controls have been improved a lot! Updating the rating to 5/5!
 
Last edited:
Level 35
Joined
Feb 5, 2009
Messages
4,552
Make it into a game guys! It'll be hard but make it its own game, RTS market kind of dead atm. Its a very cool project. I don't even know what kind of other teams/races you can make? Fire? War? Chaos? Really awesome
Tech faction, obviously. Or Snake.

Looking forward to seeing further developments in the new year, congrats on the clutch end of year update 😄
 
Level 3
Joined
Dec 13, 2018
Messages
10
A lot of fun. Masterful project - I can wax on about the intricacies but the developer is hopefully quite aware of the sheer quality.

Simply put: try it if you like C&C, TA, SC like games. Even the AI is engaging.
 

Macielos

Hosted Project: W3E
Level 18
Joined
Jul 9, 2010
Messages
214
I gave it a try - it definitely has a cool SC/C&C vibe, with massive armies and macro-focused games. Everything looks polished with lots of climatic custom assets. Interesting idea with Spellbringer's mass move/attack ability as a workaround for WC3 selection limit. I also like non-standard attacks of some units, like battlecruiser-style gunship attack while moving.

I only have one complaint so far - I started testing mechanics vs AI and AI always selects Order faction - are AIs of other factions somehow available? They could be chosen based on standard race we selected for AI: HU -> Order, NE -> Nature, UD -> Death, ORC -> one of above or random.
 

Bawbz

Hosted Project: SB
Level 13
Joined
Jun 11, 2004
Messages
164
I gave it a try - it definitely has a cool SC/C&C vibe, with massive armies and macro-focused games. Everything looks polished with lots of climatic custom assets. Interesting idea with Spellbringer's mass move/attack ability as a workaround for WC3 selection limit. I also like non-standard attacks of some units, like battlecruiser-style gunship attack while moving.

I only have one complaint so far - I started testing mechanics vs AI and AI always selects Order faction - are AIs of other factions somehow available? They could be chosen based on standard race we selected for AI: HU -> Order, NE -> Nature, UD -> Death, ORC -> one of above or random.
Thanks for trying!

Unfortunately, Order is the only available AI right now. In the future, we will be adding AI for all factions.
 

Bawbz

Hosted Project: SB
Level 13
Joined
Jun 11, 2004
Messages
164
On shadowwood game crashes as soon as I try to place necropolis on 1.07
Thank you for reporting this. Is this the only map where this happens?

Edit: Tried this and couldn't reproduce. Can you give me a little more info? What exactly were you doing and what version of Warcraft III: Reforged are you running?

Thanks
 
Last edited:
Level 1
Joined
Apr 9, 2022
Messages
3
Thank you for reporting this. Is this the only map where this happens?

Edit: Tried this and couldn't reproduce. Can you give me a little more info? What exactly were you doing and what version of Warcraft III: Reforged are you running?

Thanks
Hi,
I'm on version 1.36.0.20257, this is the only map I have tried. I started over 3 times and every time I tried to place the Necropolis the game ctd instantly. I set map to full visibility. 3 normal AIs in a 1v1v1v1, ai are set to random and im set to undead. In game I pick Death.

I will try redownloading and/or trying different maps.

I'll post more on discord.


Edit:

I found the issue, its the Necropolis ground texture that needs fixing. It's being resolved.
 
Last edited:
Level 8
Joined
Aug 2, 2012
Messages
224
The map is REALLY fun, didn't had so much fun for a while on warcraft 3. I love this map ! Really well done ! The factions are truly assymetrics and it's really different to play each one. I can't wait to see the fourth faction, probably a "barbarian" faction with orcs? :D

The pathing of units is well done (for warcraft 3 engine), and having ultimate spells and being able to move the whole army is very cool too, as it avoids having to have an intense micro. Being able to remove the common move etc... in short, a pure masterpiece of mapping as the community knows how :)

I wonder if adding options for unique units/commanders would be interesting, even if it means making them killable (so not as heroes, leaving the divine building as the only hero) and feasible in a single copy. Also having more players per maps would be cool I think, since I have some friends and limited to 4 is a bit sad :( I know it's probably easier to balance but at least 1 version 6-8 players would be cool.
 

Bawbz

Hosted Project: SB
Level 13
Joined
Jun 11, 2004
Messages
164
The map is REALLY fun, didn't had so much fun for a while on warcraft 3. I love this map ! Really well done ! The factions are truly assymetrics and it's really different to play each one. I can't wait to see the fourth faction, probably a "barbarian" faction with orcs? :D

The pathing of units is well done (for warcraft 3 engine), and having ultimate spells and being able to move the whole army is very cool too, as it avoids having to have an intense micro. Being able to remove the common move etc... in short, a pure masterpiece of mapping as the community knows how :)

I wonder if adding options for unique units/commanders would be interesting, even if it means making them killable (so not as heroes, leaving the divine building as the only hero) and feasible in a single copy. Also having more players per maps would be cool I think, since I have some friends and limited to 4 is a bit sad :( I know it's probably easier to balance but at least 1 version 6-8 players would be cool.
Thanks for playing and for your review! The main reason I haven't added larger maps is due to lack of interest, but if you need one I can certainly make one. Do you want 3v3, 4v4 or FFA?
 
Level 8
Joined
Aug 2, 2012
Messages
224
Thanks for playing and for your review! The main reason I haven't added larger maps is due to lack of interest, but if you need one I can certainly make one. Do you want 3v3, 4v4 or FFA?
Hey ! Thanks for the answer :) FFA 6 or 8 players would be the best I think.

Do you have a little hint for the next faction/race :D ?
 
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