Blademaster (Warcraft III)

Though their numbers are few, the seasoned Blademasters represent an elite fighting force within the Horde. These skilled swordsmen were once part of the ill-fated Burning Blade Clan which consumed itself in the throes of Demonic corruption. With their Clan scattered and broken, the proud Blademasters swore a grim oath to free themselves and their brethren from Demonic control once and for all. Under Thrall's command, the Blademasters have once again joined the Horde and serve as the young Warchief's personal honor guard.

Hero names
Tojara, Nikoro, Kajind, Mikasa, Samuro, Akinos, Mazuru, Yozshura, Daisho, Kigami, Arashicage, Moogul the Sly, Jubei.

Information
The Blademaster is a favorite Hero of many Orc commanders. Though he lacks any hero killing skills like the Mountain King, he makes up for it with one of the fastest attack speeds for a Hero combined with high damage.

The Blademaster is one of the most powerful melee Heroes when combined with Mirror Image and Critical Strike. Blademasters can quickly destroy enemy units and buildings when they are powered up with items and levels. The Blademaster's greatest advantage is Mirror Image, which confuses the enemy and focuses their attention on fake copies of the Blademaster. Critical Strike allows the Blademaster to deal very high damage and essentially serves as his "nuke" ability. Wind Walk can allow the Blademaster to go invisible and run away when he's about to die or sneak into enemy towns. The Blademaster's Bladestorm ultimate ability can do serious damage if left unchecked.

There are many point spending strategies with the Blademaster. Most players generally prefer Wind Walk over Mirror Image (due to its numerous cons early game), followed by Critical Strike to conserve the Blademaster's mana for more Wind Walks.

Buy attack speed boosting items at the Goblin Merchant and Marketplace to further enhance the Blademaster's power.

During early game, try to discourage Blademaster rushes before they can cause too much havoc on your base. Mid/late-game, try to target him before he can unleash his attacks and pick out your core units.
 * Blademaster Counters


 * Human players should build an Arcane Tower near their town hall - Feedback will destroy his mana and prevent him from using Wind Walk as much. Use Flying Machines to detect invisible Blademasters.
 * Orc players should build Burrows near their town hall so the Peons can defend themselves if he tries attacking them. Use the Troll Witch Doctor's Sentry Wards to detect invisible Blademasters.
 * Undead players should build a Nerubian Tower near their mine; though it deals little damage, it is better than nothing and the Blademaster is slowed while he attacks. Dust is also another alternative if your army is at base. Also build in a manner that he will have trouble trying to reach your units or core buildings. Bring a Shade along your army to detect invisible Blademasters.
 * Night Elf players should Detonate their Wisps if he tries targeting them. Try to build in a manner that he will have trouble trying to reach your units or core buildings. Since Night Elves lack an early defense tower, they should build in a manner that the Blademaster has trouble trying to reach core units or buildings. The Keeper of the Grove's Entangle combined with Dust is the best option against Blademasters early game. The Priestess of the Moon's Scout can be used to detect invisible Blademasters.

ind Walk

 * Allows the Blademaster to become invisible, and move faster for a set amount of time. When the Blademaster attacks a unit to break invisibility, he will deal bonus damage.


 * Use Wind Walk to get away when the Blademaster is about to die. Use Wind Walk to scout the map without being attacked. You can walk into an enemy town, look around, then leave.
 * Use Wind Walk to sneak into an enemy town or upon stopped collections of enemy units and do a Bladestorm.
 * Wind Walk can be used for soloing Creeps at the start of the game. A cool trick is to run into a group of Creeps, kill the "leader" (the monster that carries the best items in the group) and Wind Walk away when you're done.
 * The Blademaster can use Wind Walk early in the game to use Fountains of Health, Fountains of Mana, or other Neutral buildings while they are still being defended by Creeps.
 * Because Hero Speed is capped at 400, the Blademaster is not able to advance beyond 400 speed. 400 is reached with Level 2 Wind Walk. The Blademaster's speed does not increase after level 2. The main benefit of the third level is the increased damage and duration.
 * Wind Walk can be used to walk through units.

Detect Invisibility. Undead and Night Elf players arguably have it the easiest, because both races' shops have access to the Dust of Appearance item, allowing them to detect any invisible unit in its range when activated. Night Elf players may alternatively Detonate their Wisps, though this should only be done if the Wisp is about to die.
 * Wind Walk Counters

Mirro Image

 * Confuses the enemy by creating illusions of the Blademaster and dispelling all magic from the Blademaster.

Mirror Image is a very effective spell because he is invulnerable for a brief second when activated to make the clones. This also breaks any focused attempts on him.

When used, the player and allies can discern the real Blademaster from illusions as the latter will be colored blue; for the enemy, they will see the exact copy of the Blademaster. The illusions deal no damage and take twice as much damage from incoming attacks. Illusions cannot use items, and cannot utilize spells. However, as they're still considered summoned units, they can be used to trap stunned enemies.

When using the spell, control the Blademaster and his illusions. If the player becomes careless and only directs the actual Blademaster, then enemy players can quickly discern the real Blademaster and go for him instead. To confuse the average player more, use beneficial spells on a mirror image and control it more than the actual Blademaster to fool the enemy into thinking it is the actual Blademaster.

Despite this, Mirror Image takes low priority.

As summoned units, illusions can be quickly destroyed by any sort of dispel magic.
 * Mirror Image Counters

If the Blademaster is not fully leveled, then enemy players can quickly spot the actual Blademaster if he levels up in battle. The same also applies if the player examines his inventory (only possible in The Frozen Throne).

If the Blademaster and his illusions attack at different speeds, then an observant player can quickly determine the actual Blademaster by holding the "Alt" button or having their health bar settings always show. When the actual Blademaster strikes, the target will lose health, making it quite obvious as to who is real.

ritical Strike (Passive)

 * Gives a 15% chance that the Blademaster will do more damage on his attacks.

There are few players that pass up Critical Strike. Critical Strike can allow for some very high damage attacks as the Blademaster gets equipment and levels.

When activated, the Blademaster swings his katana down towards the unfortunate target with heavy force. Red numbers will also appear indicating a Critical Strike and how much damage he has dealt from the attack.

Critical Strike does not work on buildings.

Critical Strike does not receive damage from the Keeper of the Grove's Thorns Aura. However, the Blademaster's base attack associated with a Critical Strike still interacts with Thorns appropriately.

ladestorm (Ultimate)

 * Causes a bladestorm of destructive force around the Blademaster, rendering him immune to magic and dealing 110 damage per second to nearby enemy land units.

The Blademaster is not invulnerable while casting Bladestorm, but has Spell Immunity.

Bladestorm does equal damage to all of the units in its area.

Bladestorm is great against low hit point buildings such as Towers and Farms. Use it on a group of lined up buildings to quickly destroy them. You can use them on any buildings you want to kill quickly.

It's best to use Bladestorm against units that are all lined up. The enemy will typically (if they are good) start running away from the Bladestorm which means you will have to control it very carefully so the Blademaster is always attacking something.

Before using Bladestorm make sure there isn't anything in the way that will prevent the Blademaster from reaching the enemy while he's doing his Bladestorm. A common mistake is to cast Bladestorm then to become trapped, unable to reach the enemy before the timer runs out.

For maximum usage, use Wind Walk, run up to a cluster of enemies, trigger the Wind Walk damage and then cast Bladestorm. This works extremely well if the enemy doesn't have any units capable of detecting invisibility.

The best defense against Bladestorm is to run away until it is over.
 * Bladestorm Counters

Quotes

 * See Warcraft III Blademaster quotes