Proto:Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos/Warcraft III Closed Beta

This is a sub-page of Proto:Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos.

This article is a work in progress. ...Well, all the articles here are, in a way. But this one moreso, and the article may contain incomplete information and editor's notes.

General Differences

• Unit stats are arranged in a different order. For heroes, the attributes are arranged in a row, bottom-middle, not a column on the right.
• Units affected by an Aura ability are highlighted with a miniature texture of that Aura below their feet instead of a blue glow as in the final game.
• Priests and Sorceresses are trained in a structure called the Mage Tower. The building was cut in the final game, its role merged with the Arcane Sanctum. and its model reused for the High Elven Barracks.
• The Arcane Sanctum doesn't train any spell caster units, instead it's used to research Priests and Sorceresses Training upgrades.
• Priests have Inner Fire by default, and Heal requires the Master Priest training upgrade.
• The portrait camera for Gryphon Riders is centered on the Gryphon, and the Gryphon opens its mouth as the Dwarf speaks, giving the humorous impression that the Gryphon is speaking.
• Instead of Inferno, the Dreadlord's ultimate ability is Dark Summoning. Behaved just like the ultimate of the Arch-Mage, which might've been the reason for its semi-removal as it is too redundant. The final game keeps the spell for use in one cutscene.
• The Necromancer can cast Corpse Explosion. This cut spell is cast on corpses, exploding them and dealing damage. Its icon is used in the final game for the Finger of Death spell. The actual icon for Finger of Death was never included in the final game.
• The Undead need to build a Gargoyle Spire to unlock the training of Gargoyle units. This building was cut from the final game.
• Dryads do not have Spell Immunity by default and has to be researched from the Bear Den. The Bear Den was cut but its model was reused for the campaign.
• Wisps are not needed to extract gold, it's automatically collected by the Tree of Life.

Icons

Abomination Explosion

This is a cut upgrade for the Abomination. Abominations with this upgrade, when they die, deal damage to all nearby units by exploding in an alternative death animation. This animation as well as its sound effect are still in the final game. This icon was edited to create the Disease Cloud icon, since it didn't yet exist as of the Close Beta. The raw graphic of this icon was later reused for the Corruption Warlock ability in World of Warcraft.

Animal Breeding

This is a cut Human upgrade. According to some leftover data, it costs 250 and 200 Gold and Lumber to research, respectively. It would've increased the hit points of some units, however it's unknown which units benefit from it.

Assassin

The Assassin was one of the planned hero units for the Night Elves. When she was cut, her model was reutilized for the campaign-exclusive Warden unit but this icon wasn't reused because it actually depicts an older model. A hand drawn closeup icon of her face is used instead.

Improved Gold Mining & Advanced Gold Mining

These are cut upgrades for Humans. The first one is Improved Gold Mining while its second tier is Advanced Gold Mining. These were supposed to increase the minimum amount of Gold mined by peasants. The first tier costs 100 Gold and 60 seconds to finish researching while the second tier costs an additional 50 Gold and 30 seconds to finish.

The icon for Improved Gold Mining is also unused in the final game, but it would go on to be used as the icon for Mining in World of Warcraft.

Human Artillery Upgrades

An entire upgrade line for Humans, which consists of three upgrades respectively named Steel Artillery, Thorium Artillery and Arcanite Artillery was cut. It was supposed to increase the ranged attack damage of Mortar teams. The first upgrade costs 100 Gold and takes 40 seconds to finish research. Further upgrades cost 50 Gold and take 20 seconds to finish. Since creating three upgrades for one unit seems unnecessary, it was probably removed because of that and Mortar teams were made to benefit from the Black Gunpowder ugpradeline instead. It's interesting to say the names for these upgrades are the same as the Orc Artillery Upgrades, which means they were copied from the Orcs.

An edited icon of Steel Artillery is used for the Gyrocopter Bombs upgrade in the final game.

Orc Artillery Upgrades

WIP

The Fragmentation Shards upgrade from the expansion pack uses an edited icon of Thorium Artillery.

Banish

Banish was one of Spirit Walker hero spells. When this hero was cut, the spell went down with it. The spell was supposed to damage Demon units in the same way Holy Light (Then known as Exorcism) damages undead units.

Bloodrage

The cut Orc Warlord hero had a number of abilities that never saw the light of the day. Bloodrage was among those abilities. There's no clear indication to how it worked.

• 

  The Orc Warlord in a prerelease screenshot from late 2000/early 2001. The Bloodrage ability can be seen unlocked in the control bar.

Charge

Charge is a cut ability for the Human Knight.

Call Storm

Call Storm is a cut spell for the Far Seer. Calls down a massive lightning storm upon the enemy. The icon for this spell was slightly edited to remove the Far Seer and was used for the Forked Lightning spell in the expansion pack. The spell made it back in the expansion pack under a new name, Monsoon.

• 

  The Far Seer using the spell in a prerelease screenshot from late 2000/early 2001.

Chain Lightining

This is probably a newer, alternative icon for the Chain Lightning spell. It's actually misspelled with an extra i. Its raw graphic was later used for the Lightning Bolt shaman spell in World of Warcraft.

Druid Of The Talon

The Druid Of The Talon in this build uses the icon and model of a cut Night Elf hero called the Arch-Druid. Prior to his removal, the Druid Of The Talon used a vastly different model. This might've been a hasty last-minute change since his model was later retextured and edited to remove the horns.

Scattershot Rockets

Scattershot Rockets is a cut upgrade for Mortar Teams. According to its unused string, it would've provided Mortar Teams with an area of effect anti-personnel attack.

Gather Shadows

Gather Shadows is a cut Dreadlord spell. Apart from this unused icon and its appearance in a screenshot, there's no other information or data related to it.

• 

  The spell in a prerelease screenshot.

Spirit Walker

The Spirit Walker was one of the planned heroes for the Orcs. After his removal, his model was given to the Shaman, the latter originally used a vastly different model that was repurposed for the Orc Warlock in the final game. According to Rob Pardo, the Spirit Walker was cut because he overlapped the Shaman too much in gameplay. This icon shows the 2000/2001 era model of the Spirit Walker, and not the newer one used in the final game for the Shaman.
The Spirit Walker would later resurface in the expansion pack as a Tauren unit.

Ranger

The Ranger was originally the fourth Human hero. She was scrapped late into development and some of her spells were given to the Priestess of the Moon, the latter had her own unique selection of spells. Her model and was recycled for Sylvanas and Shandris in the campaign. One of her original abilities, Flaming Arrows, is still in the final game in the form of an unused icon and sound effects. Her texture is also unused in the final game. One of the Ranger possible random names was "Somand Wayfinder" which is also one of the random names for the Dark Ranger hero introduced in the Expansion pack, perhaps hinting that all of the Dark Ranger random hero names were recycled from the Ranger.

Shadow Hunter

The Shadow Hunter was the fourth Orc hero, first appearing in prerelease media from mid 2000. He was cut from the game but later brought back for the expansion pack. It's interesting to say that the Shadow Hunter in the expansion pack does not use this Reign of Chaos icon, instead he uses a newer icon added in the Frozen Throne expansion pack.

Finger of Death

Finger of Death has a unique, unused icon, the one used in the final game is that of a different cut spell - Corpse Explosion. The raw graphic of this icon was reused in World of Warcraft.

Items

An assortment of different weapon icons are unused in the files. These are likely items, and not upgrades or abilities. However there's no other related data or strings whatsoever so their actual purpose cannot be ascertained.

Edited versions of the Arrow and Maul icons are used for the Impaling Bolt and Storm Hammers upgrades respectively in the final game.

The raw graphics of the Mace and Maul icons was later used for the Blunt Instruments warrior talent and Lightbringer Mastery in World of Warcraft, respectively.

• 

  Arrow

• 

  Axe

• 

  Flame Sword

• 

  Holy Sword

• 

  Mace

• 

  Maul

• 

  Scimitar

Fireball

Fireball is a cut spell for the Archmage. It does appear in some prerelease media. Its raw graphic was later used for the Fire Blast mage spell in World of Warcraft.

Time Stop

Time Stop was the original proposed ultimate of the Archmage. It's mentioned in some game previews and interviews. It's not known how a time stopping spell would work in a large scale RTS game. This icon would go on to be reused in World of Warcraft for a variety of spells.

Exorcism

This Undead-damaging spell was originally one of the priest's abilities, before it was given to the Paladin hero. Either way, it was cut from the game but the idea of a spell that damages undead survived into Holy Light.

Ziggurat

These unused icons depict an old model of the Ziggurat. It seems Ziggurats were upgradeable up to three levels, with the Ziggurats' size increasing in each upgrade.

• 

  In a prerelease screenshot.

• 

  In a prerelease screenshot dated May 2002 although the date may be inaccurate.

Racial Command Buttons

It seems the developers planned for each race to have unique Control Bar buttons. These buttons are a reflection of each race playstyle (E.g. Humans have a sword for the attack button, while the Orc have an axe). Every race in the files have unused full sets, except for the Orcs. This is probably because the default, red Control Bar buttons are already the same army color as the Orcs, and creating duplicated icons would be unnecessary. These don't appear in any prerelease media, game previews or interviews, which could mean such idea was quickly canned.

Human	Orc	Undead	Night Elf
	Missing
	Missing
	Missing
	Missing
	Missing

Restoration

It was originally planned for spells to change names with each level, Restoration would've been the upgraded form of Resurrection. With the added benefit of resurrecting a unit with full hit points and mana. However, it's unknown if the icons were also meant to change. Its raw graphic was later used for the Light's Inspiration priest talent in World of Warcraft.

Retribution

Retribution was said to be an upgraded version of the Exorcism spell

Earth bind

Earth bind was a spell for the 2000-era Shaman. The spell worked by binding air units to the ground, its soundfiles and SFX effects as well some text strings are in this build. The raw graphic of this icon was later reused for the Cyclone druid class talent in World of Warcraft

Lightning

This might an icon for an ability, it's not used in this build. This was later used for the Innervate talent in World of Warcraft

Spirit Tower

This unused icon shows an Undead building that doesn't resemble the Spirit Tower of the final game. It's very possible that this Spirit Tower might've been a separate building from the Ziggurat since Rob Pardo does mention in an online interview the removal of an Undead defensive building, this could've been it.

• 

  In a screenshot

Curse

The Curse icon in this build doesn't have a border trim.

Poison Arrows

WIP

Flame Arrows

WIP

Black Arrow

WIP

Dirge

WIP

Lament

WIP

Healing Drums

WIP

Speed Drums

WIP

Buildings

Mage Tower

WIP

Orc Lumbermill

WIP

Gargoyle Spire

WIP

Strings

WIP

Unused Models

Doodads

The Closed Beta, surprisingly, contains many unused doodads. These were first seen in prerelease screenshots from 2000 and early 2001. Some of the Ashenvale doodads made it to the final game, in the Night Elf campaign menu. However, they cannot be placed in any maps, since they're part of the 3D menu and have no actual game data.

Ashenvale

WIP

Barrens

WIP

Hellscream

Grom's model is in the files but his unit is not in the code. This indicates his model's inclusion was accidental.

Thieves Guild

The Thieves Guild is a cut natural building. There's no indication to what its purpose was. The final game contains the building icon and some strings but the actual model is found only here.

Unused Units

There are several units in the code that retain no models in the first beta build but can still be hacked into a map and function. Some of these units would later be removed during the beta, and by beta version 1.21 all of these would be gone.

Pixie

This is a unit labelled "npix" in the files. It is called Pixie in the strings. This unit has 15 hp and appears to be a critter.

Tallstrider

This is a unit labelled "ntal" in the files. It is called Tallstrider in the strings. This unit has 15 hp and appears to be a critter. Interestingly this creature appears in World of Warcraft as a prominent fauna of the Durotar and Barrens region.

Warlock

This needs some investigation. Discuss ideas and findings on the talk page. Specifically: The Uwar label in the final game more than likely stands for Undead Warlock. There's only one hero in the entire game with the Warlock class, Archimonde, and almost always seen with the Undead. Nwar probably stands for Neutral Warlock. Which is either the cut red Eredar Warlock, or just an older data name for Archimonde.

This is a neutral hero labelled "Nwar" in the files. It is called Warlock in the strings. This unit is a proper hero, and has one major ability called "Inferno", this ability would later be made into the ultimate of the Dreadlord.

The Warlock has the following names assigned in the NeutralUnitStrings file: "Algannnon,Gorushar,Il'Noron,Mikasa,Magalar"

In the final game a hero labelled "Uwar" exists who uses a model labelled "warlock", and that unit is Archimonde.

Unit Quotes

All units were planned to have voicelines for casting spells/abilities. The idea was removed before many of the units were finalized. For that, many of these quotes reference spells/abilities that no longer exist in the final game, not even this beta. This indicates that these quotes are remnants of an even older build.

Crypt Fiend

The Crypt Fiend was once described as a female undead hero with a focus on summoning insects. This quote is probably for one of her summoning spells. Interestingly, this voiceline was modified/created on the 11th of May 2001.

CryptFiendSummonVileInsects1

Rise!

Dreadlord

Perhaps the Dreadlord at one point had the ability to morph into a flock of bats, similar to the morphing abilities of the Druids. These quotes are the only proof of this. These are all just sounds of bats.

DreadLordMorphedWhat1
DreadLordMorphedWhat2
DreadLordMorphedYes1
DreadLordMorphedYes2
DreadLordMorphIn1
DreadLordMorphOut1

Druid of The Claw

The Druid has two voicelines. One for his transformation ability, the second is for casting a cut spell called Hibernation. Both files were last modified/created on the 27th of April, 2001.

DruidOfTheClawBearForm1		Things are about to get Grizzly!
DruidOfTheClawHibernation1		Sleep, and be healed.

Dryad

One voiceline is a quote for casting a weakness spell of sorts. This voiceline is pretty old, last modified/created on the 28th of November 2000. The second is a cut attack order.

DryadWeakness1		This might sting a little.
DryadYesAttack1		Die Infidel!

Abomination

The Abomination was originally a Hero for the Undead. These voicelines are of him attacking and were last modified/created on the 8th of May, 2000.

HeroAbominationAttack1
HeroAbominationAttack2

Demon Hunter

Voicelines for casting four spells, three of which never made it to the final game. All last modified on the 19th of April, 2001.

HeroDemonHunterMetamorphosis1		Time to raise hell.
HeroDemonHunterMindLock1		You are spellbound.
HeroDemonHunterSoulSiphon1		Your soul is mine.
HeroDemonHunterSpectralSight1		Hide no longer.

Lich

The Lich had a different assortment of spells and a cut ultimate ability, the summoning of a Frost Wyrm. All last modified on the 4th of May, 2001.

HeroLichDisenchant1		Clear.
HeroLichFrostArmor1		Ner'zhul protect them.
HeroLichGlacier1		Freeze.
HeroLichSummonFrostWyrm1		Rise, from your grave!