Beginner’s Guide#
Welcome to Warcraft III: Reforged — Blizzard Entertainment’s remake of the classic real-time strategy game, bundling all 7 single-player campaigns of Reign of Chaos and The Frozen Throne with the full four-race versus system intact. Since September 12, 2026, the game also hosts the large expansion Forsaken Kingdom. This page builds the right first impression for total newcomers: from difficulty choice to race pick, from macro rhythm to how the new campaign plays differently.
1. Know What You Bought#
Reforged’s content splits into three blocks that newcomers easily conflate:
| Block | Description | For whom |
|---|---|---|
| Base campaigns | The full stories of Reign of Chaos + The Frozen Throne; officially “over 60 missions”, 62 by community count | Story players, RTS newcomers |
| Versus mode | Four-race RTS competition with ladder and custom games | Competitive players |
| Forsaken Kingdom expansion | The new campaign released September 2026 (separately purchased or bundled), about 30 hours | Players who want new story and RPG-flavored play |
The official English title is Warcraft III: Reforged; the community shorthand “Reforged” refers to the same product.
A few baseline numbers before purchase: the base game launched January 28, 2020 in Western regions (mainland China’s new testing phase opened January 29), priced $29.99 standard and $39.99 for the Spoils of War edition. Platforms are Windows and macOS only — no console or mobile versions exist, so confirm your device before ordering.
Forsaken Kingdom costs $29.99 (about £24.00 at launch in the UK) and requires the base game; three purchase paths exist: buy the expansion alone, take the base+expansion Combo bundle, or buy the “Warcraft Forever” collection (limited-time through January 11, 2027), which includes the base game, the expansion, the Skyborne Epic Pack for World of Warcraft: Forever, and 30 days of game time. Players who just want the base game need not pay for the expansion early — buying it after finishing the campaign is perfectly fine.
Volume is not a concern: HowLongToBeat’s community tracking puts the base main story around 29.5 hours and completion around 54 hours, plus the expansion route described in section 5 — plenty for a new player.
2. Difficulty: Start With Story Mode#
The campaign offers three difficulties, including a beginner-facing “Story mode”:
- Story mode: built for players who want the plot, with the lowest combat pressure — the right start for total RTS newcomers.
- Standard difficulty: the series’ traditional middle tier with all mechanics present — good for a second pass or players with some RTS experience.
- Hard mode: cheats disabled, for challenge seekers.
The classic beginner mistake is overestimating yourself: starting on Hard, getting stuck, and quitting. The correct route is Story Mode through the Reign of Chaos prologue and the Human campaign, then replay at Standard once controls feel natural, and save Hard for when you fully understand the systems.
The series’ famous cheat codes work here as a first-aid kit: they function in Story and Standard and are disabled only on Hard. If one mission repeatedly kills you and you want to see the rest of the story, a single cheat is no crime — but keep them for true dead-ends; the sense of accomplishment belongs to a clean clear.
3. Choosing Your First Race#
The four versus races each have a distinct mechanical personality. First-pick advice (full comparison on the Factions page):
| Race | Difficulty | Character |
|---|---|---|
| Humans | Lower | Intuitive build flow, clear unit roles, forgiving |
| Orcs | Lower | High unit quality, straightforward head-on play |
| Undead | Higher | Asymmetric mechanics like summoned buildings; costly to learn |
| Night Elves | Medium | Living buildings and mobile armies; heavy map play |
Advice: pick Humans or Orcs as your first main race, learn its units and buildings in the campaigns first, then move to versus. Tier strength fluctuates by patch — mechanical comfort matters far more than the current “meta answer”.
Two more dimensions can inform the pick. Heroes: versus offers 4 heroes per race (16 total) plus 8 tavern neutrals hireable by anyone, and 3.0 added a ninth neutral hero, the Forsaken Paladin, with an anti-undead kit — see the Heroes page. Economy: each race runs its own lane — Humans can send multiple peasants to accelerate construction, Undead Acolytes summon buildings into existence, Orcs have Pillage, and Night Elf Wisps harvest wood without destroying trees. All are classic series mechanics; current values defer to the game, with the full comparison on the Factions and Resources pages.
4. Basic RTS Macro Rhythm#
The RTS macro loop compresses into four steps — build your rhythm on these as a beginner:
- Peasants never idle: keep the main hall’s worker queue running; the economy is the precondition for everything.
- No resource sits still: banked gold and lumber must continuously convert into units, buildings, and upgrades — see the Resources page.
- Level your hero: plan a creep route the moment your first hero spawns; levels are the most tangible early power.
- Scout diligently: early scouting decides your unit and tech choices; information is free power.
There is no universal build order — it changes by race, opponent, and map. Drill the four steps into muscle memory first, then study openers on the Strategy page.
Two big updates also upgraded the versus infrastructure: 3.0 raised the control-group cap from 12 to 24, so large fights no longer need to be split for management; and since 2.0.1 the custom hotkeys UI supports item slots and F-keys, so you can finalize your key layout during onboarding. The control framework and rebinding entry are on the Controls page.
5. How the Expansion Differs From Classic Missions#
Forsaken Kingdom’s structure is new even to series veterans. You can play it without finishing the base game, but understand how it differs from classic RTS missions:
| Dimension | Classic campaign missions | Expansion mainline |
|---|---|---|
| Structure | Linear level chain | A semi-open RPG structure modeled on The Frozen Throne’s Rexxar bonus campaign |
| Growth | Reset between levels | Talent system + equipment slots, level cap 20, persistent progression |
| Map | One map per mission | Undercity as an evolving hub map, with side quests and exploration alongside |
| Pacing | Push mission objectives | Side quests and gear collection drive character strength |
The prologue, The Last Days of Lordaeron, is a 4-mission linear classic chain (from a capital guard’s perspective) — transitional content. The real progression experience lives in the three mainline chapters, playing Forsaken warrior Garek Bandarion and dark ranger Anya. The route is on the Walkthrough page.
The prologue’s four missions visit classic locations from the original story: the capital of Lordaeron, the sewers that prefigure the Undercity, Andorhal, and the purged Stratholme — you relive the kingdom’s fall through a guard’s eyes.
The timeline is worth knowing in advance: the expansion fills the four years between Warcraft III and World of Warcraft. The story opens with Arthas’s return to Lordaeron and follows the Forsaken breaking free of the Scourge, founding the Undercity, and joining the Horde — ending directly at World of Warcraft: Forever, which launched November 4, 2026. Sylvanas, the expansion’s core figure, is fully set up in the base game’s Frozen Throne Scourge campaign; clearing those chapters first makes her choices land much harder.
6. Your First Two Hours#
- Install and sign in: install via the Battle.net client and log into your account; connectivity requirements are on the FAQ page.
- Pick a graphics mode: since 3.0 the game offers three graphics modes (including “Definitive Edition” and Classic HD) — choose by hardware, switchable anytime.
- Trial the campaign: clear the Reign of Chaos prologue on Story to drill select, move, abilities, and inventory.
- Play versus AI: one easy AI match, practicing two things — nonstop worker production and hero leveling.
- Commit to a main race: follow section 3’s advice and pick your first deep-practice race.
Check your device before downloading: at launch the official Windows minimum was a GeForce GTX 960 or Radeon R9 280X-class GPU, 8GB RAM, 30GB disk; macOS needed 10.13+, an Intel Core i5, and a GeForce 750M or Radeon R9 M290X-class GPU, with the same RAM and disk. By today’s standards the bar is low — most recent machines run it comfortably.
Newcomer Misconceptions#
| Misconception | Clarification |
|---|---|
| “I must finish the base game before the expansion” | The expansion is a standalone campaign; play it right after purchase — its story fills the gap between the base game and World of Warcraft |
| “Reforged is a new game” | It is a remake of Warcraft III with identical rules; most accumulated community knowledge still applies |
| “Versus must start with the ladder” | Versus AI and custom games are the gentler on-ramp; the ladder is on the Challenges page |
| “The expansion plays like classic levels” | The mainline is a semi-open RPG structure; side quests and progression are the core loop |
| “There is a console or mobile version” | Officially Windows and macOS only — no console or mobile versions |
| “The base game has achievements to farm” | Reforged has no built-in achievement system; long-term goals live on the ladder and in speedruns — see the Challenges page |
Platforms, Servers, and Multiplayer Status#
- Platforms: Windows and macOS only; no console or mobile versions.
- CN service: Blizzard’s China service shut down in January 2023 and its games returned to mainland China from summer 2024 via the Battle.net client.
- Servers: the 2.0 update added Chicago and Sydney nodes; 3.0 brought new game servers online.
- Matchmaking: the official ladder gained XP levels and seasons after 2.0; most community competition happens on the third-party platform W3Champions — worth checking both before committing to ranked.
Related Pages#
- Controls: the control framework and key rebinding.
- Heroes: the hero system overview.
- Units: the unit-counter framework.
- Updates: how the current version came to be.
- FAQ: installation, connectivity, and platform answers in one place.
- Walkthrough: the prologue and mainline chapters’ progression.
- Missions: the base campaigns’ mission-structure statistics.