Zerx Hydromon

Zerx Hydromon is a hydromancer who has a camp outside of Vol'jin's new base camp in Dustwallow Marsh. He is guarded by Sea Elementals. He has the title of Grand Wizard.

Even though he is not an objective, he can be killed by Rexxar, Rokhan and Chen Stormstout. He drops a Pendant of Mana upon death.

• Calls down waves of freezing ice shards that damage units in a target area.

Blizzard will hurt your own troops so don't Blizzard your own units or allied units. Be sure to prevent your units from running into a Blizzard after your enemy steps out of it. Whenever possible aim Blizzard on low hit point units such as ranged units and spellcasters. Try to move the enemy into areas where their retreat is cut off so you can Blizzard them. Cast Blizzard on any enemy units that can't run away. If you see that you are casting Blizzard on friendly troops immediately cancel it.

Blizzard does 50% damage to buildings. Blizzard is not that effective against buildings but it can work.

Blizzard will not hurt units with Spell Immunity or protection.

• Counters

This spell must be maintained to get the full effect. If the Archmage moves, the spell will not do its full damage. The ice shards will stack their effects on the area of effect. Force the Archmage to move from his location. This will stop the Blizzard.

• Summons a Water Elemental to attack the Archmage's enemies.

For solo gameplay or 2 vs. 2s, a common strategy is Archmage and Water Elementals to start out with. This works very well with Brilliance. Try to have enemy Creeps focus on the elemental, although this should not be done if the creep camp contains units capable of using Purge.

• Counters

If dispellers are available use them to kill the Water Elemental, such as Dryads.

• Gives additional mana regeneration to nearby friendly units.

• Teleports 24 of the player's nearby units, including the Archmage, to a friendly ground unit or structure.

Mass Teleport is very powerful. It can allow you to teleport all around the map responding to enemy attacks and offensively attacking the enemy. It is especially useful in FFA games and large team games. If an enemy is attacking an allied base, a player can use a teleport scroll to head there. If the enemy attack isn't strong enough and can be easily repelled, then the player can easily return to the battlefield with Mass Teleport.

Note that the target the Archmage is focused on will be disabled for the duration of the teleport. Try not to use it on a summoned unit or a Hero, as if the former dies too fast, the teleport is cancelled, and using it on the latter will turn them into sitting ducks.

You can use Mass Teleport to go anywhere, and invisible units can be targeted to allow for surprise attacks. It does not work on wards for balancing reasons.

• Counters

Like the Staff of Teleportation offered by Goblin Merchants, casting Mass Teleport does not make the Archmage invulnerable. As it is a channeled spell, forcing the Archmage to move or killing him will prevent him and his units from teleporting away to safety.

Alternatively if the Archmage is attempting to teleport an army to a location, killing the unit or destroying the building the Archmage is focused on will stop the teleport. This can be risky as there is a very small gap before the Archmage arrives with any units under his command, but can stop reinforcements from arriving if it is pulled off.

He is presumably an independent wizard drawn to the Magistrates Temple and not a member of Admiral Proudmoore's forces. Zerx does not have the Kul Tiran dark green color and will attack the nearby soldiers in Captain Thornby's camp if they get too close.