Warcraft III: Reforged Guide#
About This Guide#
This hub is the complete guide home for Warcraft III: Reforged. The game is Blizzard Entertainment’s remaster of the classic real-time strategy title Warcraft III. It launched on January 28, 2020 in North America, Europe, and other regions (a new phase of mainland China testing opened on January 29, 2020), on Windows and macOS, with NetEase handling publication in mainland China. On September 12, 2026, the game received its first major campaign expansion, Forsaken Kingdom, along with a free 3.0 update pushed to all players.
Regional official localizations use different subtitles for the remaster; this guide sticks with the English title, Warcraft III: Reforged. The remastering was handled by Blizzard’s Warcraft RTS team, with the art outsourced to Lemon Sky Studios.
This hub covers three layers:
- Base campaigns: all 7 single-player campaigns of Reign of Chaos and The Frozen Throne — officially advertised as more than 60 missions, with the community tally at 62 formal missions.
- Versus multiplayer: real-time strategy play across four factions — Humans, Orcs, Undead, and Night Elves — covering heroes, units, resource management, and ladder competition.
- The Forsaken Kingdom expansion: the new campaign released in September 2026, telling the story of the Forsaken’s rise and introducing a semi-open RPG structure for the first time.
Quick Facts#
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Base game release | January 28, 2020 (North America, Europe, and other regions) |
| Mainland China test opens | January 29, 2020 (new testing phase) |
| Developer | Blizzard Entertainment (Warcraft RTS team), art outsourced to Lemon Sky Studios |
| Publisher | Worldwide: Blizzard Entertainment; mainland China: NetEase |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS (no console or mobile versions) |
| Genre | Real-time strategy (RTS), single-player + online |
| Base price at launch | Standard Edition $29.99; Spoils of War Edition $39.99 |
| Expansion price | Forsaken Kingdom $29.99 (approx. £24.00), base game required |
| Main story length | About 29.5 hours main story, about 54 hours full completion (HowLongToBeat) |
| Playable factions | Humans, Orcs, Undead, Night Elves |
Version Timeline#
More than six years after launch, Warcraft III: Reforged has passed several key milestones. Understanding this timeline makes it easier to tell which features arrived with which version:
| Time | Version / Event | Key Points |
|---|---|---|
| January 28, 2020 | Base game launch (1.32) | Includes all 7 single-player campaigns from Reign of Chaos and The Frozen Throne |
| February 3, 2020 | Refund policy | Blizzard announces full refunds with no playtime limit, responding to the launch controversy |
| November 13, 2024 | 2.0 update | Marking the 30th anniversary of Warcraft: Orcs & Humans: adds Classic HD assets and a plug-in system, UI refresh, XP levels added to the ladder, matchmaking rating range changed from 0-10000 to 0-7000, new Chicago and Sydney servers, Bloom post-processing removed, Warcraft I/II music added, and more |
| December 17, 2024 | 2.0.1 update | Matchmaking prioritizes latency, custom hotkeys extended to the inventory and F-keys, Classic HD icons reduced from 512 to 256, and more |
| September 12, 2026 | Forsaken Kingdom expansion + 3.0 update | Expansion revealed at the BlizzCon opening ceremony and on sale the same day; the free 3.0 update adds a third graphics mode, “Definitive Edition”, raises the unit selection cap from 12 to 24, adds a Cinematic Editor and Lighting Editor to the World Editor, improves the inventory system, adds game servers, brings the 1.36 terrain back to Reforged mode, and includes the Warcraft III Classic client |
| November 4, 2026 | Story hand-off | The expansion’s ending leads directly into the launch of World of Warcraft: Forever |
Forsaken Kingdom Expansion: Key Facts#
Forsaken Kingdom is Reforged’s first major campaign expansion and the focus of this hub’s rewrite. Verified information so far:
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release date | September 12, 2026 (announced at the BlizzCon 2026 opening ceremony and on sale on Battle.net the same day) |
| Content scope | A 4-mission prologue, The Last Days of Lordaeron, plus a 3-chapter main campaign |
| Total length | About 30 hours across both campaigns, including nearly 1 hour of in-engine cinematics |
| Protagonists | Garek Bandarion, a recently resurrected Forsaken warrior, and Anya, a Dark Ranger |
| Central story figure | Sylvanas |
| Story placement | Fills the four-year gap between Warcraft III and World of Warcraft: the prologue starts with Arthas’s return to Lordaeron; the main campaign follows the Forsaken breaking free of Scourge control, founding the Undercity, and joining the Horde |
| Gameplay structure | The prologue uses traditional linear missions; the main campaign adopts a semi-open single-player RPG structure modeled on The Frozen Throne’s Rexxar bonus campaign: expanded inventory + talent system + equipment slots, with the Undercity as an evolving hub map and a level cap of 20 |
| New versus content | The ninth neutral tavern hero, the Forsaken Paladin, specializing in anti-undead abilities — available to all players from 3.0 |
| Media reception | IGN 7/10 (September 24, 2026); VGChartz 7/10 |
| Sales formats | Standalone DLC, a base game + expansion bundle, and a limited-time “Warcraft Forever Collection” (base game + expansion + the World of Warcraft: Forever Skyborne Epic Pack + 30 days of game time, available through January 11, 2027) |
One caveat: the mission-by-mission list and specific objective details of the expansion’s main campaign have not been fully published in verifiable official sources. This site does not speculate, and the relevant pages state explicitly that in-game content takes precedence.
The Core Multiplayer Loop#
As a real-time strategy game, Reforged’s versus mode follows the same fundamental loop as the rest of the series:
- Gather resources: worker units collect gold and lumber to sustain building and unit production.
- Tech up: upgrading your main hall unlocks advanced buildings, units, and higher hero level caps.
- Level your heroes: heroes earn experience and item drops by killing neutral creeps in the wild — the core variable of mid-game contention.
- Counter system: the attack-type-versus-armor-type framework decides army composition. See the Units page.
- Map control: fights over expansions, mercenary camps, shops, and creep camps run through the entire match. See the Strategy page.
The four factions differ in harvesting and building mechanics (Humans can send multiple Peasants to speed up construction, the Undead’s Acolytes summon buildings, and Night Elf Wisps harvest lumber without destroying trees). For a full breakdown, see the Factions and Resources pages.
Reception and Background: An Honest Record#
Any quoted reception must be tied to its date and source. Figures below were verified on October 9, 2026:
| Source | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Metacritic critics’ average (base game) | 59/100 | Based on 46 outlets, PC — mixed reception |
| Metacritic user score (base game) | 0.6/10 | 31,295 ratings, 94% negative (as of the verification date) |
| Metacritic user score (at 2020 launch) | 0.5 | The lowest player score ever recorded on Metacritic |
| IGN (expansion) | 7/10 | Review published September 24, 2026 |
| VGChartz (expansion) | 7/10 | September 2026 review |
The base game’s launch was met with review bombing over cut content, custom map ownership terms, and a forced update that replaced the original client; Blizzard announced full refunds with no playtime limit on February 3, 2020. In addition, most of the community’s competitive play has since moved to the third-party platform W3Champions. This background directly shapes any “is it worth buying now” judgment: if what you care about is the new campaign from the 2026 expansion and the post-3.0 experience, the expansion’s critical reception is clearly better than the base game’s launch; if what you care about is the legacy custom map ecosystem, you need to understand the specifics of the launch controversy — see the FAQ page.
System Requirements (Official Launch Minimums)#
| Item | Windows Minimum | macOS Minimum |
|---|---|---|
| OS | — (no specific version listed in verified sources) | macOS 10.13 or later |
| Processor | — (no specific model listed in verified sources) | Intel Core i5 or better |
| Graphics | GeForce GTX 960 / Radeon R9 280X or better | GeForce 750M / Radeon R9 M290X |
| Memory | 8GB | 8GB |
| Storage | 30GB | 30GB |
The table reflects the official minimum requirements published at launch. Actual needs for the current version (3.0) are subject to the official store page; this site does not fill in unverified figures.
Sub-Page Navigation#
| Page | Focus |
|---|---|
| Beginner’s Guide | From install to your first match: difficulty choice, first faction pick, basic economy rhythm |
| Controls & Hotkeys | The classic keybind framework plus the new control features from 2.0/3.0 |
| Campaign Walkthrough | Progression ideas for the expansion’s prologue and main campaign, based on verified structure |
| Forsaken Kingdom Campaign | The expansion’s chapter structure, gameplay mechanics, and narrative placement |
| Missions & Chapters | The structure and mission counts of the base game’s 7 campaigns, plus the expansion’s chapter makeup |
| Factions & Races | The four versus factions and the story factions of the expansion |
| Units | The unit system and the attack/armor counter framework |
| Heroes | 16 racial heroes + 9 neutral tavern heroes + playable expansion characters |
| Items | Versus items, plus the expansion’s equipment slots and expanded inventory system |
| Buildings & Tech Trees | Building routes and tech timing for all four factions |
| Resources & Economy | Gold mining, lumber, upkeep, and how the four economies differ |
| Strategy | General tactical frameworks for versus play and the state of competitive play today |
| Tips | Practical, mechanics-based advice for play and progression |
| Challenges | Hard mode, ladder, and speedrun goals (this game has no achievement system) |
| Progression | Why you cannot find achievements, and what the real progression goals are |
| Secrets | Secret levels, cheat codes, and unused content in the data files |
| Lore | The Warcraft III universe and where the expansion sits on the timeline |
| Story | The expansion’s dual-protagonist narrative structure and its connective points |
| FAQ | Online requirements, the China server situation, refund policy, and spec questions |
| Update Timeline | Official change log from 1.32 → 2.0 → 2.0.1 → 3.0 |
How to Read This Guide#
If this is your first Warcraft III game: start with the Beginner’s Guide, and use the campaigns’ Story difficulty to learn the controls — Reforged campaigns offer three difficulty tiers; Story mode is aimed at newcomers, and Hard mode disables cheat codes. Once the basics feel comfortable, move into versus multiplayer and pick one main faction to practice in depth, guided by the Factions page.
If you are a returning player: focus on the Update Timeline — versions 2.0 and 3.0 together changed graphics modes, the selection cap, matchmaking, and custom hotkeys, so some habits need small adjustments. Competitive players should also note the current two-track reality of the official ladder and W3Champions.
If you are here for the 2026 expansion: go straight to the Forsaken Kingdom Campaign and Campaign Walkthrough pages. The main campaign is a semi-open RPG structure, very different from traditional RTS missions, and the equipment-slot notes on the Items page are worth reading alongside it.
Sourcing Statement#
- The expansion’s mission-by-mission list and some mission objectives have no verifiable official information; the relevant pages only describe verified structure and invent no mission names or numbers.
- Specific in-game harvesting values, unit stats, and ability data follow what the game actually shows; this site does not fill guides with unverified numbers.
- All content in this hub is based on public sources verified on October 9, 2026. If later versions change anything, official announcements take precedence.
Related Games#
- StarCraft II: Remastered — Blizzard’s other landmark RTS and Reforged’s closest genre sibling
- Age of Empires IV — a modern historical RTS with a comparable build-and-expand rhythm
- Heroes of the Storm — Blizzard’s crossover MOBA built from Warcraft III heroes and lore
- Diablo II: Resurrected — another Blizzard classic remaster from the same era of the catalog
- Baldur’s Gate 3 — a party-based fantasy RPG for players drawn to Azeroth-style hero stories
Related Rankings#
Best RPG Games · Best Co-Op Games · Most Anticipated Games of 2026
Full Guides#
In-depth sub-guides — beginner basics, controls and hotkeys, the full campaign walkthrough, the Forsaken Kingdom campaign, factions and races, heroes, units and counters, multiplayer strategy, and the version update timeline — are available in Chinese on NTGame’s Warcraft III: Reforged section.