WC3 Hero Spotlight: The Dark Ranger

[@feldi1234]

There is one special interaction with the dark ranger ult. As said it pierce magic immune, so if you have a pit lord cast Doom on a target, while it will usully be impossible to save, casting Charm on the same unit will cancel the doom and give you a unit whithout the doom effect

[@GrubbyTalks]

???????????? really?

[@GrubbyTalks]

omfg you're right. Cheers, pinned!

[@TheRealXartaX]

Seems like more of an anti interaction. Since you can never use it to your advantage, just avoid getting hosed by it (though it would probably be a pretty bad idea to charm a doomed target regardless of how it works).

[@mackparker9064]

DAFUQ? SINCE WHEN ? 21 YEARS AND WE KEEP LEARNING THINGS

[@SDREHXC]

This was a really cool interaction, some random KZbin commenter comes out with some esoteric knowledge about a more than 20 year old game that even one of the most prolific player doesn’t know.

[@TheBiomedZed]

First 20 seconds is crazy

[@pedrodemendoncaefontes7909]

5:50 also. =D Great content as always

[@matercheff]

I mean he’s right

[@hounddogzepp]

Grubby going twitch mode

[@PombaoDumau]

What the actual fuck

[@matercheff]

@@PombaoDumau he’s right ?

[@guiguito5505]

I too subscribe to the belief that wow lore is just a fever dream. My dream is to one day be rich enough to buy blizzard, scrub any trace of wow from the planet, and release warcraft 4 with warcraft 2 metal aesthetics, hiring grubby as a consultant like he was for reforged, especially on unit readability.

[@Biopax1]

There is one thing I definitely do need in life and that thing is to listen to Grubster talking about the one whos might cannot be matched- the Crypt Lord

[@Матвей-я7е3р]

You mean whos mites cannot be matched?

[@silviuvisan505]

Indubitbly

[@LOWBORN-the-LOATHSOME]

@@Biopax1 From the depths I come...

[@TaengJr]

Gotta admit, you got me with that Silence. Was looking away and was like, " did the video just stop?!" Well played Grubby. Well played.

[@novapulser9396]

I had the vid playing in the background while doing some house stuff and thought the same thing, the moment I went to my desk it continued on LOL

[@germainpinganaud2965]

10:20 "more about this later." 6 seconds later Grub s explaining for 25 seconds that the "later" is now... Ok, we r all ears

[@cgoldbac]

I love his sense of humor

[@chrisr4023]

There were 38 reasons why wc3 dark ranger used to have charm. Now i dont see any in reforged.

[@squidikka]

Current day cultural enrichment sure is a treat.

[@xxxViceroyxxx]

@@squidikka sir this is a wendys

[@zachariastsampasidis8880]

Why 38 in particular

[@TS6815]

38 polygons maybe?

[@TheRealMycanthrope]

38?

[@Alex-wh3zw]

I didn't play WC3 for years but still watch these high effort and quality videos from Grubby.

[@nosterdaye3102]

Something to note is that, black arrow will dissipate the corpse if not magic immune or mechanical. I have seen games where she was picked as second to counter tauren-walker strategy and it was a really hard counter. Not that you need her to beat taurens anyway....

[@zachariastsampasidis8880]

Same goes for conflagration caused by Firelord incinerate

[@IschmarVI]

yeah. As a rule of thumb: everything that explodes a corpse as well as everything that summons stuff out of a corpse will make the corpse disappear. Keep that in mind if you are planning on using necromancers. Either have meat wagons nearby or make sure to use most of your necro mana for frenzy/cripple instead as there may not be many corpses to utilize for them.

[@Audon4150]

A very little thing left out of the buff/spells on Dark Ranger : She is undead so can be healed by DK

[@dyingember8661]

So in the same sense, did he love pitlord as well?

[@shodan785]

@@dyingember8661dk is not stopped by shallow concepts like gender/race/4 legs. His goals are clear as he pursues curves and curves only. Period.

[@Audon4150]

@@dyingember8661 I'm sure he does. Look at those legs !

[@expandingflames5225]

thicclord

[@parham1023]

​@@expandingflames5225 he comes for the dankness of your pit.

[@theadventuresofnekosnowbal7285]

Subscribed to encourage you to do more videos. We need these videos more than just watching someone play. There's more to learn here. Cheers.

[@arshamnaderi7340]

0:40 Hey thats me! Thank you Grubby❤❤❤

[@SAPH..]

Love these hero spotlights! 😎

[@onatamana3362]

Ooooh, OH! What about a Death Knight and Paladin double feature? You get Arthas' and Uther's lore knocked out in one go and get to compare and contrast their abilities/gameplay. Although, that could make the video bad for watchability if someone only wants to see a spotlight for one of the heroes.

[@miorioff]

Interesting idea 😯

[@IschmarVI]

I want the video to include immersive dk vs. pala gameplay where they just coil/holy light each other all day. And neither one dies because pally blocks coil with divine shield and dk summons random skellys with rod and then eats them, lol.

[@Karifean]

Just gotta point out that there's one more very important thing about Base Attack Cooldown Time you're missing, which is "Animation Damage Point". Every unit in Warcraft 3 this value, it is basically the attack animation windup time - the time it takes from beginning an auto-attack animation until the projectile is fired (or until the damage is dealt directly, in case of melee units). It needs to be combined with Base Cooldown Time to get the actual interval between attacks. Sadly Archers fare very poorly on this stat since their windup involves putting the arrow in the bow - Dark Ranger has an Animation Damage Point of a staggering 0.7 seconds. This is not the highest in the game (Naga Sea Witch has 0.73 seconds) but combined with the Dark Ranger's already high Base Cooldown Time, this makes her the slowest attacker in the game, period, with a whopping 3.12 second interval between her attacks, before attack speed bonuses come into play. For comparison, the hero with the highest Base Cooldown Time (the Alchemist with 2.5 seconds) only has a windup of 0.35 seconds, giving him a 2.85 second interval between attacks, still better than the Dark Ranger. Oh and in case you were wondering - yes, Animation Damage Point scales down with attack speed modifiers. That is to say, if you have +50% attack speed, your attack windup is also 50% faster (in Dark Ranger's case, her windup would fall to 0.46 seconds). So it is still correct that the sum of attack speed bonuses raises DPS just as you'd expect it to. Animation Damage Point is a stat that goes unreported in most unit tables I see be it on liquipedia or other wiki sites. It's only in the editor that you'll find this out, generally. And to pre-empt an inevitable question, you'll also find next to it a value called Animation Backswing Point - but this value does not actually affect interval between attacks, it is merely telling you how long the unit will stand perfectly still after making an attack; this backswing period can be interrupted by giving a new command, just like it works on spells, and does not relate to the actual attack cooldown of the unit.

[@zachariastsampasidis8880]

TIL

[@PedroHawk1]

Really cool piece of research, thank you.

[@skinnybones123]

Peak content as always, Mr. Grubby. Now stop hiding the peon unit spotlight video so our favorite work-work man can finally have his moment to shine!

[@Kane_NOD]

Warden is the sexiest hero.

[@billdewall6152]

"What are you doing, my son???" "Giving you some trouble, father."

[@ira233]

XD

[@kyleault5017]

I just wanna say that you are easily the most wholesome guide creator I have seen on this platform and I absolutely love that for you. Also please do far seer next time

[@DaWombatGaming]

@2:23 I know it's a joke, but it made me look up just how old Arthas was in WC3. TIL he was 27 when he defended Strahnbrad and in Wrath of the Lich King (his death) happened when he was either 33 or 34 depending on birthdate

[@PedroHawk1]

His death was when he first touched the Frostmourne and had his soul sucked. At 33 he lost his undeath, and 5 years later his soul was completely extinguished.

[@DaWombatGaming]

@@PedroHawk1 That entirely depends on your definition of death. Considering he was never raised and simply had his soul rent/stolen, I'd say his body was alive. Preemptively saying: Don't use WC3 mechanic logic to argue your point either. Yes arthas as a death knight heals on blight and allied death knights can death coil each other, but you can death coil demons as well and they aren't "undead." Acolytes and necromancers are also definitely still alive/draw breath and they act the same way.

[@PedroHawk1]

​@@DaWombatGaming WC3 mechanic was never valid, since we know light can also hurt living beings just as well. That said, Dreadlords shouldn't be hurt by Death Coils because... They're beings attuned to the realm of death. Remember they were created by Sire Denathrius to act as spies? And even if you don't consider that canon, you could just as well say that Death Coil heals corrupted beings.

[@DaWombatGaming]

@@PedroHawk1 yeah I don't consider any shadowlands guff cannon. Killed the world for me. I run a tabletop homebrew in pre WoW azeroth so I can live out my own head canon

[@PedroHawk1]

@@DaWombatGaming What system?

[@isml1915]

Arthas: I’ll finish it. You deserve a clean death. Sylvanas: After all I’ve put you through, Arthas, the last thing you’ll give me is the peace of death. Arthas: No! I wouldn’t dare!

[@tudorserban111]

Ahh the inverse dialogue meme. Well done. Works well with Star Wars too. "It's over, Obi-Wan, you have the high ground!", "I underestimate your power."

[@LOWBORN-the-LOATHSOME]

Arthas was gaslit into being evil by his so-called friends and allies and that's the truth.

[@silviuvisan505]

​@@LOWBORN-the-LOATHSOMElol cope he was raised under Uther.

[@PedroHawk1]

@@silviuvisan505 Muradin was a more significant figure in his life than Uther was. Muradin was his instructor as a child.

[@zachariastsampasidis8880]

@@PedroHawk1 No, what a cope is this. Muradin was a cool uncle figure but Uther was his teacher as a paladin, practically a second father

[@kainlei1124]

Silence has proven extremely effect. However, Grubby is considered as a hero, meaning he is spell resistant and shortened the duration

[@SwabcraftCreates]

There is an important trick for her, it's to use vision when using charm strategies. Shade, sentry wards, sentinel owls, workshop/arcane tower reveals. This allows her to steal units with charm with minimal risk. In team games and FFA I often pair her with both Alchemist and Pitlord to remove 3 high value units in an enemy army and run away, and then repeat until they only have heroes left. Vision is also the main counterplay to charm attrition strats. For items, boots of speed, and while she doesn't care too much she prefers rings of protection to health items when using drain life. I suppose tome of retraining at level 6 for drain life can be worth it very rarely in the lategame, but only against a zero interrupt army.

[@blizzfreak245]

Dark Ranger is one of my favorite heroes. Lots of flexibility and combos with different heroes for all races

[@ScottBroadway88]

Very cool series Grubby! Seeing as you've done one hero from each column so far, it would be cool to see the Paladin next. Even though Undead is my main race, you've covered quite a few undead like heroes so far with Dreadlord, Pitlord, and Dark Ranger, so it would be nice to see the champion of the light covered next! Good old Uther Lightbringer :D

[@powsinwosin6808]

wish we had these spotlghts 21 years ago

[@gils3567]

Thanks for the Spotlight! ! Can't believe I made it to the video!

[@ChefRaekwon420]

5:55 Grubby “Champion of the blind”

[@liviuursegr]

10:54 I was so ready for it😂

[@G1ingy]

After having played MOBA's years after WC3, looking at these Heroes made me realize how random and uncoordinated some of the Heroes in this game is, and Dark Ranger is probably the queen of this. Her entire kit is literally a bunch of random unrelated abilities with no synergy or relation to another, just a grab bag of random. Worse, Life Drain until recently literally works against Black arrow. Or Avatar of Vengeance being on Warden, etc.

[@rommdan2716]

Lots of things have change since then

[@vul4ak]

A MOBA hero's abilities synergise first with its other abilities, and then with the abilities of its allied heroes. A War3 hero's abilities first synergise with the faction's units and then with the abilities of the other 2 heroes you can build. There's a colossal difference in design philosophy. MOBA was born around the design idea of self-sufficiency behind heroes like the Undead Crypt Lord whose abilities synergise better with each other due to his fantasy being a one man (bug?) army. Dark Ranger on the other hand is a neutral hero you can hire from a tavern, thus her abilities (and even her undead status) serve a completely different role and purpose in a skirmish.

[@PoutyBun]

I had Silence casted on me forever because it's all I can only hear now after Grubby shouted the previous videos title in all-caps! Thank you for the silence demonstration, Grubby! ♥

[@GaspardSavoureux01]

Man, you made me laugh in this video, haha. ty for the spotlight, it helps understand your train of thought when you're playing. You have to at least cover Mountain King!

[@AG_247]

Thank you very much! Well done, fun explanation. Would like to suggest Firelord next, I played this game 20years ago and never really understood his skills (incinerate, lava spawn,...)

[@2nightwehunt]

An another gem on the Grubby Talks channel? Well...sorry baby, pleasuring you must wait, this is an important matter. I am going to find out how to use the Dark Ranger first this knowledge must be aquired right now.

[@heffalump111]

isn't it just mindboggling that the game is out 20 years and this is the first time hero spotlights are done for it?????

[@cathulionetharn5139]

6:22 new Grubby lore: he is an an enemy of a/- dark rangers

[@TheRealXartaX]

Surprised why people would want this one first. Dark Ranger is an extremely simple hero with no non-obvious interactions, besides what race mixing with charm possibly unlocks (but that isn't really an interaction with her). I guess it's just the Sylvanas branding. I think the most interesting/non-obvious interaction she has is that she is kind of a counterpick to coil nova, since she obviously can't be coiled and she has tools to deal with nukers (and as you mentioned she heals faster in their base, for what that's worth). Oh, and maybe that she could make a bit of a power couple with Blood Mage, using banish on targets to lifedrain nuke (slow/magnify damage) and providing mana with Siphon Mana. For items, I would say amulet of spell shield is a lot stronger on her than most other heroes (especially if you go for life drain). As I said the last spotlight, if you want a hero with a crazy amount of interactions/tricks, go with Tinker.

[@Ryan-sn3uo]

Simple reason - people like Sylvanas, and DR has a gimmick ult. And people like the character model for obvious reasons.

[@IschmarVI]

It's simple. It's because simple men like this simple hero for very simple reasons. -I had to-

[@blayz6024]

That intro caught me WAY off-guard.

[@Robocop2134]

Awesome series for new players like me. I would love to see Blood Mage next.

[@spoookyllama]

Thanks you Grubby!!!, This was one I was rly looking forward to!

[@Bengoalkeeper]

I LOVE this series! Please keep doing them.

[@master_jon]

Damn, didn't know that about Charm. Insane. I do think the immunity piercing is kind of weird but ok.

[@jeystian]

I like the way that you talk about the game we love more than blizzard does

[@SCARaw]

Let me go into details: 1st Black arrow have a reforge special bug that does not always proc if character auto-attack and killshot happened to go from base damage aka you deal 10+2 damage, enemy have 10HP 2nd there is Charm can control immune targets and Creeps which is relatively insane 3rd Boots on dark ranger are CORE item if 1st, its absolutely mandatory inclusion for her to be fast to and out of action 4th elf dark ranger loves cloak of shadows, it allow you to use dirty guerilla on enemy workers that feels illegal 5th Dark Ranger can not be healed by paladin, but can be healed by priest and shadow shaman 6th Dark ranger can use Ulti unconditionally even go over max population in the game

[@CyanMentality]

Yo Grubs, thank you so much for these. These are so lovely and your humour is fun. Thank you for doing these instead of wading through DOTA 2 lol

[@khalidaxe]

your understanding of silence paladin while nuking am, is basically arenas in wow. Just throw in divine intervention potion on am, and that resembles defensive cds, and that's arenan

[@yevgenydevine]

That caps lock voice over lol.

[@ShakerGER]

POTM! She is really underrated and underplayed nowadays aswell basically only very rarely used in mirror!

[@IschmarVI]

Problem with priestess isn't really that she "sucks". The problem is that the "dedicated ranged race" that is NI likes to spam the literal only two units that they have that don't really care about trueshot aura. Bears are unaffected by it and dryads only do part of their damage with the actual attack so the effect on them is reduced as well. It IS great with archers and huntresses though.

[@ShakerGER]

@@IschmarVI the problem with bears or the or problem with everything else is that they are universallY good against all races vs most builds

[@Amoeby]

Tbh, I have chills every time I hear "I'm here as always!"

[@testitestmann8819]

Don't forget that it's the only hero which can let you go > 100 supply.

[@goomshill]

An important concept with life drain is that it comes at the opportunity cost of not attacking. You deal effectively that much less DPS to your target, and you can't move. With 1/3/5 arrows and no items DR deals 17.6 // 25.3 // 34.7 DPS physical, reduced by armor (often around ~25% to normal units). So channeling to deal 30/45/60 DPS is actually only slightly more than just attacking your target. And while orb casting you can move and attack at the same time more effectively than her normal backswing, and with a longer range. In essence the only really good thing about life drain is that it heals you so effectively, which turns DR into an oddball sort of tank hero. And yet, its less efficient in mana consumption to tank creeps with life drain than it is for summons to do so- and undead already have necrorod. Treants give 600/900/1200 heavy EHP for 100 mana. Life drain doing its full duration on 4.3/5.4/6.1 armor gives 302/477/656 hero EHP back for 50 mana. And on an agi hero with far lower max mana / regen.

[@gregsmw]

@1:19 yes and im one of them

[@General12th]

Hi Grubbs! I hope you finish out the hero spotlight, then move on to a unit spotlight, an ability spotlight, and finally (but most importantly), a sound effect spotlight.

[@zachariastsampasidis8880]

Casting charm removes doom It also removes drops from creeps and I think it changes their kill in some cases

[@hounddogzepp]

The part of Frozen Throne where you're invading Quel'Thalas always felt so evil to me 😮

Indeed! I hated the Undead campaign! However, the invasion of Quel'Thalas was in Reign of Chaos, not The Frozen Throne

[@rubz1390]

Then it was perfect for the intended purpose!

[@highlordlaughterofcanada8685]

That was Reign of Chaos

[@amplesstratleholm7609]

To be fair, you're playing as the evil faction so it makes sense

[@TheNethertyp]

Section about Silence missed that the best point to use it is right after the enemy town portals.

[@Lucius_Chiaraviglio]

Worth noting a couple of more things about countering Dark Ranger: 1. Not only mechanical units, but also Spirit Walkers and Mountain Giants (with the Resistant Skin upgrade) are immune to Charm, as are Summons. 2. If you have decent economy, you could afford to make really cheap units that don't hurt much when Dark Ranger takes them Combine the above, and you can actually keep an army against her: Night Elf could go Mountain Giants + Archers; Orc can go Headhunter//Berserks + Spirit Walkers; Human can go Siege Engines and/or Flying Machines; Undead is the most hosed here (no non-hero Resistant Skin units, and Obsidian Statues stop being useful after 2 if heroes are the only other thing you have, and Meat Wagons are just bad).

[@vladimirtucek6053]

Love these spotlights!

[@LordOfMadness]

AcktsuaLly around 3:40 Kel'thas didn't do the channeling to break Icecrown since thats the Sentinels campaing and Kel helps you againts Illidan (though he mostly gets owned by the undead). Also Arthas's path crossed with Illidans way sooner in the RoC campaign when he told him about Gul'dans skull.

[@MatthewEgan-op2ej]

Dark ranger is great design

[@Audon4150]

GREAT Spotlight as usual

[@shane9287]

So what you're saying is: firelord into dark ranger into Necromancer summons.

[@dakapo8985]

Sure i am old and from that era of e-sport. But damn that Moon game was sick af.

[@kjyu]

New grubby dropped

[@thomasbschorr5495]

Nice series, I really would enjoy Tinker Spotlight. Greetings from Germany

[@fangeddeserter]

16:35 Stats are genuinely my favourite segment.

[@cohazdi3545]

Ey! My daily dose of Grubby! Cheers! (would love to see TC or SH next :3)

[@MiruruOfTheCCCCCCC]

Not sure if it's a thing in the current version since I'm playing an old version of WC3 but if you charm a unit from the same race (ie undead vs undead and you charm a frost wyrm), you get its upgrade for free if the enemy has it.

[@devorgatev9348]

I would like to see a spotlight of the Firelord next. He seems very cool but seldom utilized

[@ragganmore6113]

Am i weird for going Lich -> DR because my Lich gets to eat well from all the Summons the DR creates letting me stay on the enemy side and poke enemies with lots of Frostnovas?

[@khalidaxe]

considerate of the blind i appreciate, as i watch this while napping, with my eyes closed

[@TheUltimateShade667]

Firelord is my favourite hero, would love to see him soon.

[@IschmarVI]

I'm looking forward to all the fire puns during the intro.

[@SeIphie]

cinema content as always

[@Machida209]

I like how you diligently warn us of spoilers in this 25 year old game

[@subject1449]

I think panda would be a cool next hero. Seeing combos with the ult would be interesting as it is rare to even see it, let alone practice with it and try to pull off something really cool.

[@Khazulduhuens]

you had me laughing at the beginning :D well done grubs

[@diegobuenovillafane869]

AWESOME, thanks very much

[@brickstonesonn9276]

Ngl dark ranger awakened something in me when I was a kid

[@Imbanar]

The jokes in this one is so funny :D

[@BridgetGGX]

>Life Drain received sizeable buffs recently >2018 Yes Grubby, I also can't come to terms with the inevitable passage of time

[@PoutyBun]

Yes Grubby! Become the VaatiVidya of Warcraft 3 and WoW!! Explain that lore!

[@MilanStier]

Please do Mountain King next! And this video was superb, cheers.

[@ИосифЛуна]

By Muradin`s beard! © Gryphon Rider

[@TempGuest7]

for me its the silence such a sick skill

[@FatherElaijah]

Wow, thank you for the video!

[@thejavanhr7513]

let's go another hero spotlight🔥🔥🔥

[@AnubhavB00B5]

Ah yes, recently in 2018. Splendid gag, that.

[@juliankanzuki2013]

Preistess of the Moon next!!! She's my favorite her and I want to see her breakdown. Also, something you didn't mention here, Searing arrows (and all arrow abilities including black arrows) can be used while entangled to keep auto attacking if you manual cast, which normally disables attacks. also trueshot has a lot of strange interactions, as it stacks with stat boost items, but not attack damage items, so an agility +6 will give more damage from trueshot, but claws of attack will not affect trueshot... etc. POTM next!!! Please!!

[@yyhn7168]

Grubby saying "recently" then soon following it up with 2019 is a classic

[@dudlecore7358]

this tshirt beeing pulled to the other side of the matrix while recording this

[@muratkaradag3703]

She is great in 4v4 NE for sniping low hp units... you get an army of skellis very fast. I sometimes pair her with Hippo-Archer and Few druids in combination with POTM.

[@angamaitesangahyando685]

03:40 Grubby, you are the only person in the world (alongside your lore speech writer) who knows that it was Illidan who crated the Forsaken. Blizzard have long since forgotten it, let alone the WoW fans. It triggers me so much... Illidan did it! - Adûnâi

[@ernestomarcos0103]

I never understood what was going on with the image for Silence because it looked like a fish on top of a mouth, I just realized it's supposed to be a skeletal finger shooshing you.

[@dennisthorson4159]

One more counter is to try and spin into low pop cost units if possible to minimize the impact of each Charm. Charming a gryphon for 150 mana is worth it, as charming anything smaller than rifleman is almost not worth it.

[@liviuursegr]

29:32 ah, yes, the good old war-of-a-Tricia

[@SmokeBloody]

It took me 20 years to finally realize there are lips on the Silence icon😅

[@pho3nix-]

My fave hero!

[@MSouscolline]

5:50 : my hot chocolate went through my nose in a laugh, thumbs up 😅

[@yuukiritotrinh6567]

+1 for more lore on GrubbyTalks

[@BigBoneBusiness]

I'd love to see Firelord or, my unfortunate favorite, the Crypt Lord.

[@AdaraHaze]

That is such a cool idea