Warcraft Rumble offers a choice of three Leader Minis at the start of the game for every player. These Leaders uh…lead the way? And build the foundation of how you’re going to assemble your team, influence the faction minis you’re going to want to obtain, and the talent upgrades you will need down the road. Selecting the correct Leader mini for your particular playstyle is going to be the difference between having a good time and a great time in this game. Here are my top 5 suggestions for starter leaders for any type of new player.
Rend Blackhand
An expensive, but powerful unit. He begins the fight fiercely flying on a dragon which can attack from air with a breath of fire AoE attack that can hit multiple units. Once the dragon is destroyed, he dismounts and charges into battle as a heavy tank that does decent damage. I like this unit a lot because he gives you both a flying unit and a tank ground unit, which comes in handy during fights. His passive boost called Black the Skies is also very good, which states “Your other flying troops cost 1 less Gold while Rend is in play (but no less than 2).” This gold reduction takes place regardless of if Rend is flying his dragon or in his ground tank form. You can consider spending gold on reduced-cost units during a battle as the same thing as generating extra gold, which is one of the most important objectives you can accomplish in battle.
Baron Rivendare
Four Gold for Baron is a steal; this is one of my favorite leaders right now because of his passive Army of the Dead. This allows Rivendare to periodically summon Skeletons at buildings you control, including Hearthstones. Alongside his passive ability you can equip him with the talent Chill Of The Grave. This allows you to summon Skeletal Mages instead of Warriors which are VERY good! Between these two skills, map control turns into your priority, and you will find yourself summoning swarms of Skeletal Mages which are game changing and relentless. As strong as Baron is, his weakness is flying and squad units. So, make sure you protect him from above!
Grommash Hellscream
You can never go wrong selecting Hellscream himself. Not only is he a beefy frontline tank, but Bloodlust is his leader ability, granting nearby friendly units a 33% boost to movement and attack speed. This powerful Leader passive can sway the course of a battle very easily in your favor and push for insanely fast wins out of the blue. Hellscream also has some powerful talents like Savage Strikes (Deal double damage to enemies who are below 50% health) and Bladestorm (Gain an AOE bladespin ability that damages all nearby enemies). Similar to Baron he is weak to flying and squad units.
Cairne Bloodhoof
Coming in at a five gold cost, we have Cairne, another great frontline tank with huge upside. He has a giant frontal cleave which is great against any squad units and his leader passive Earthen Might gives your Horde troops 20% increased health, which is fantastic for new players because it doesn’t require any placement or advanced game knowledge to utilize effectively. Considering this, Cairne is a solid choice for any new player wanting to build a brute force Horde team, have a great time, and not wrack their brain as they learn the intricacies of Warcraft Rumble. A wise man once said “Bloodhoof strong, strong good, strong win”...or maybe I just made that up as I smashed through the enemy. The world may never know.
Tirion Fordring
By far the strongest Alliance Leader we have, Tirion! This leader is an absolute unit, he can deal decent damage, is Armored, which reduces physical damage he takes by 50%, and constantly heals friendly troops around him. For a four gold unit, he has massive flexibility. Not a lot of units can heal and, in my opinion, is currently super underrated for both PVE and PVP. The self-sustain he provides allows him to take down entire lanes and towers with ease, while also keeping your backline and other frontline tanks alive. Tirion is not only a powerful unit, but also has amazing talents. Divine Shield in particular is a game changer in battle, providing Tirion a magical shield at 30% health, nullifying all damage for 5 seconds. This effect can trigger again in the same battle after a cooldown timer, which is next level Paladin holiness.
For a closer look at these Leaders, I have a video guide covering the Best Starter Leader Minis To Choose.
I hope this introduction guide to Warcraft Rumble helps you understand and navigate the game better. Have fun in Azeroth!