“ | The Werewolves' high agility enables it to jump over barricades, storming the front with ease. Its terrible howl induces fear in its enemies. | „ |
Description
The werewolf is unlocked and upgraded when players complete the Shapeshifter Hollow chambers in the dungeon.
Behavior
The werewolf moves much faster than any other unit or the hero. On the offence, werewolves jump over barricades and blockades, leaving them unharmed. It attacks all other structures (with the exception of spikes) and units. Usually, werewolves will ignore a tower and jump over an obstacle right next to it if there are enemy units nearby. Sometimes this also happens without enemy units present.
Once over a barricade or blockade, a werewolf will not jump back. If the wolf is recalled using scream, it will linger at the obstacle until it's destroyed or the scream effect stops.
When it encounters enemy units, the werewolf either howls right away or attacks once before howling. It is possible to use the hero to distract a wolf and delay the first howl.
The howl induces panic in some enemy troops. The wolf and friendly units close to the wolf have their moving speed and attack rate increased, become immune to slowing effects (including stun but not lightning effects), and take less damage. These effects are similar to the Battlecry scroll, although not as strong.
Like all monsters, werewolves almost never panic. Exceptions include the Panicpunch Trap and the Frightening Wolf.
Assessment
Werewolves can throw an enemy force into chaos when they howl. This can effectively delay an attacker, but alone the werewolf is usually too weak to deal a lot of actual damage. In combination with other units, however, the werewolf can make a big difference.
Strengths
Panic-inducing Howl: With its howl a werewolf can make other units panic, letting them run around mindlessly for a few seconds. Only regular, non-mechanic units are affected by this.
Strengthening Howl: Its howl also makes the wolf stronger. After howling it gains increased attack speed, is protected from slowing effects, and takes less damage. Allied units in very close to proximity to the howl may also benefit from this effect.
Speedy Attacker: The werewolf is the fastest unit in the game. On the offense it can be called very late, still making it to the Castle Gate when no other unit can travel the distance in time.
Speedy Defender: On the defense its speed allows the werewolf to travel much faster than other units, reaching the attackers much earlier. This can be used to have werewolves catching up with an earlier wave, essentially making a bigger wave.
Dedicated Hunter: Due to its speed it can be hard to shake off a wolf, even for the hero. This can be seen as a weakness as well since this often keeps the wolf away from other units. It also allows the hero to drag along the wolf until another spell is ready.
Health: With its enormous health a werewolf is usually hard to kill. Unlike many other units, running past it with an active Bladestorm won't be enough.
Weaknesses
Melee only: As a melee unit the werewolf has to reach an enemy unit first, making it useless in lane to lane combat. This also goes for its howl, which is only unleashed when the werewolf encounters an enemy directly.
Ice: Werewolves have a big weakness towards frost damage. This makes especially the Blizzard spell an effective weapon against werewolves. This weakness goes away when the wolf howls.
High Morale Cost: With 16 morale points required, werewolves cannot be called in large numbers.
Units immune to panic: Though most units panic when an opposing werewolf howls, some units do not. These includes ogres, gargoyles, mummies, other werewolves, cannons, and mortars. This makes the werewolf's howl seem somewhat useless, especially against frosters, which are the werewolf's biggest nemesis.
Levels
Forgings Levels
Elite Boost (Raging Wolf)