Night elfs are by far the most common race to pick a tavern hero first. Sometimes it is simply just fun to play a tavern hero first. At other times it is one of the strongest things to do on a map vs certain races, like going beastmaster first against human on Last Refuge. However, the build order outlined below is just a general build to get a tavern hero first. This page will not be used to discuss various builds you can do with the numerous tavern heroes you could select as depending on the map and what hero you pick your startegy may vary.
It should also be noted that there are several ways to get a fast tavern hero but this is a lazy build. Meaning it is not the most efficient but it is the most simple and straight forward. If you watch your favorite pro players you may see them juggling wisps to and from wood/gold to be as efficient as possible. This build is much more straight forward.
Difficulty of Build: Easy as long as you know how to AoW creep a medium sized camp which is what you normally want to take as a first camp.
Pros:
- This build order may seem confusing at first but is actually super easy to learn and execute because there are basically no multitasking or timing moves required. Every wisp has a very clear initial purpose.
- You can take a rather big camp right as your first creep because you start with a hero, 3 archers and your Ancient of War. Usually you aim for a camp that gives you level 2 right away.
Cons:
- Your hero is a little later than a quick altar hero build would be and your hero starts the game “far” away from your base/army.
- This is called the lazy tavern build because not everything aligns 100% perfectly. You may notice that your 1st moonwell might finish a little later than your AoW so you might lose a few seconds of production.
Race Match Ups:
- vs NE- Tavern hero in mirror is rather uncommon and is more of a pocket strategy with heroes like solo Pitlord which is a great (blind) counter to PotM mass hunts
- vs UD- Tavern heroes vs UD is not too common because DH, KotG and Warden are very viable options. This is more of a pocket strategy with heroes like solo Panda or DR mass t1 pushes.
- vs. ORC- Tavern hero builds are usually not the best choice in this match up. It is more of a pocket strategy thing to throw your opponent off with an unexpected hero choice
- vs. HU- This is the match up where this build/any tavern hero build is probably the most viable. It is very popular on maps with mercenary camps close to your main to get early access to abolish magic of the Forest Troll Shadow Priest (such as LR or SG). Other somewhat popular options are panda first or even solo panda on Tidehunters for example.
Mid to Late game Transitions:
The build itself allows basically any transition that the 1 archer tech build allows too. Most popular transitions with tavern heroes are usually double Ancient of Lores into bears and dryads. Mass t1 builds and/or Ancient Protector pushes are also viable options but more of a trick play.