Dragonhawk Rider (Warcraft III)

Swift flying unit mounted by an Elven warrior. The fierce warriors of the Dragonhawk battalions are often the first into combat, picking apart the enemy ranks and surrounding enemy towers with dense fog so that reinforcements can strike unhindered by enemy defenses. Attacks land and air units.

During Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos beta, Dragonhawk Riders were a playable Human Alliance unit. They are useful against towers using the Cloud ability.

Dragonhawk Riders are fairly uncommon amongst Human players, mainly because they lack the offensive power that the Gryphon Riders and Flying Machines possess. However, they are excellent against taking down heavily fortified towns and heavy air units.

Dragonhawk Riders have a fairly decent Piercing attack allowing them to deal with various units that the Gryphon Riders and Flying Machines may have trouble dealing with, such as Dryads, who are spell immune and are protected from magic attacks.

Cloud prevents enemy towers from attacking in the targeted area for 30 seconds - more than enough for your other units to batter through them before they can resume attacking again. If an enemy player attempts to defend themselves with numerous towers, have several Dragonhawk Riders use Cloud on them, effectively rendering them useless for the duration of the spell. Make sure to have a Paladin heal them in case the enemy attempts to target the Dragonhawk Rider.

Aerial Shackles is an anti-air spell which deals 40 damage every second for 30 seconds in total, for a total of 1,200 damage. As the name suggests, it only works on enemy aerial units. The damage and duration of the spell ensure that if not interrupted, it will kill a light aerial unit and severely weaken a heavy one to the point that it can be killed quickly by other attacks. This spell is particularly useful at taking down any aerial threats to a player or team's army, such as Chimaeras or Frost Wyrms. They can also be used on Gargoyles or Hippogryphs if needed.

• Creates a small cloud that stops buildings with ranged attacks that are within it from attacking.

Do not move the Dragonhawk Rider while it is casting Cloud or it will stop casting Cloud.

This spell must be maintained by having the Dragonhawk Rider stay still while the spell is cast to get the full effect. Force the Dragonhawk Rider to run which will cancel Cloud.

• Cloud Counters

• Magically binds a target enemy air unit, so that it cannot move or attack and takes 30 damage per second.

Do not move the Dragonhawk Rider while it is casting Aerial Shackles or it will stop casting Aerial Shackles.

This spell must be maintained by having the Dragonhawk Rider stay still while the spell is cast to get the full effect. Force the Dragonhawk Rider to run which will cancel Aerial Shackles.

• Aerial Shackles Counters

• Swift flying unit, mounted by an Elven warrior. Has the Aerial Shackles ability, which allows it to immobilize and disarm enemy air units temporarily. Can learn Animal War Training, and the Cloud ability.

• See Warcraft III Dragonhawk Rider quotes