In the heat of battle, Night Elf Archers can call upon the mighty Hippogryphs to carry them into the air. The Archers mount the flying beasts and are capable of firing their arrows from the Hippogryphs' backs. The brave creatures respond to the female riders as if they shared an empathic bond.
These units are fairly popular among Night Elf players because of their cheap cost and access. Chimaeras take quite some time to access and train, so the Hippogryph Rider is a good alternative for those on a tight budget. A Hippogryph Rider costs 290 gold, 30 wood and 4 food (the cost of an individual Hippogryph and Archer).
They share the same attack damage as standard archers, but with three times as much health. However, their armor changes from Normal to Unarmored, meaning that they are vulnerable to more damage sources, and they lose their Elune's Grace passive making them easily dealt with in the night. Hippogryph Archers may separate at any time and the two units will have health equal to the percentage of health the pair had when together.
When the enemy attacks with other aerial units (apart from Troll Batriders), dismount the Archer. With good Heroes, they can do most of the tanking while the Hippogryphs destroy all the enemy air units in the vicinity, while the Archer fires from afar.
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Battle.net Warcraft III - Night Elves -> Units -> Hippogryph Rider
