Unused Text

This is a sub-page of Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos.

Among the game's text files, there is a number of unused strings that reference cut content. These have been stripped of their special characters for the sake of readability.

Armored Transport#

Armored Transport
"Heavily armored vehicle which can transport troops. When piloted by a Rifleman it becomes a War Wagon with a ranged attack. When piloted by a Mortar Team it becomes a Steam Tank with a siege attack. Armored Transports cannot attack."

Judging by this unused string, it seems Humans originally had access to an armored transport unit of sort whose attack mode depends on the kind of Dwarven unit piloting it. Loading it with a Rifleman would turn it into a ranged version named War Wagon while a Mortar Team turns into a Steam Tank armed with a wrecking ball. In the final game, the War Wagon was renamed to Steam Tank while the original Steam Tank was removed. The new Steam Tank still uses the old Steam Tank selection image with the wrecking ball.

Tank Load Pilot#

Load Pilot
"Use this ability on a Rifleman to become a War Wagon that can attack enemy units, but not buildings. Use this ability on a Mortar Team to become a Steam Tank that can siege enemy buildings."

Related to the aforementioned Armored Transport unit. This was an ability for picking Dwarven units into the Armored Transport, giving it an attack. Its hotkey is P and has a unique unused icon.

Tank Drop Pilot#

Drop Pilot
"Release the current pilot to lose the attack of this vehicle and become an Armored Transport again."

Again, for the Armored Transport unit. Simply for unloading units from the Armored Transport. Its hotkey is also P and has a special unused icon.

Pilot Tank#

Pilot Tank
"Use this ability on an Armored Transport to jump in and become the pilot, giving it an attack."

An ability For Dwarven units, for loading themselves into the Armored Transport. Its hotkey is T.

Mage Tower#

Mage Tower
"Spellcaster production building. Trains Priests and Sorceresses."

Originally, spellcaster units were trained from the Mage Tower. The Arcane Sanctum, under a different name, simply enabled the production of spellcaster units. The building was cut, its model reused for the High Elven Barracks and its role merged with the Arcane Sanctum.

Poison Sting#

Poison Sting

No clue what this does, simply an empty string. One thing for certain is that it's related to the Orcs since it's found in their string files. Maybe an early name for Envenomed Spears.

Tracking#

Tracking

Although blank in the final game, the description for this string can be found in the Closed Beta of 2002. Apparently this was an upgrade that increased the line of sight for Troll Headhunters during night time.

Berserker Rage#

Berserker Rage

Berserker Strength was originally an ability named Berserker Rage. It worked by increasing the Grunt damage by 30 percent for 15 seconds. The Grunt has an unused animation for casting his Berserker ability. Giving the Grunt a spell with the Editor will let him use it as a casting animation. The soundfile for Berserker Rage was later reused in the Expansion Pack.

Ancestral Guardian#

Ancestral Guardian

Ancestral Guardian was a kind of ward that can be summoned by the Troll Witch Doctor. The ward was cut but was later introduced in the Expansion Pack as the Serpent Ward, which can be summoned by the Shadow Hunter hero (himself cut from the game) .

Gargoyle Spire#

Gargoyle Spire
"Enables the production of Gargoyles from the Crypt."

Gargoyle Spire was a tech-enabling building that enabled the production of Gargoyles and housed the Stone Form upgrade. Emphasis on "enabled", you still had to train them from the Crypt. Sounds pretty convoluted, which might be the reason why tech-enabling buildings were either repurposed or downright removed.