RTS Games With The Best Hero Units

There are many different types of RTS games, from grand strategy where players move whole nations, to more focused RTS campaigns that follow small groups of soldiers. While some games choose to focus on whole armies, others let players affect the battlefield with a few powerful hero units. These heroes often come with their own personalities and backgrounds, meaning that they stick in players’ minds long after the campaign is done.

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Hero units in an RTS need to feel distinctive, and able to affect the flow of battle in ways that regular units can’t. Some games achieve that by mixing hero units with larger armies, letting the player see their effects on the tide of battle. Other games choose to use only hero units, and let the player get to know each one intricately to take out much larger forces. Either way, these RTS games are the best in the genre for players who love hero units.

7

Warlords: Battlecry 3

RTS Gameplay With RPG Progression

The Warlords: Battlecry series is a unique hybrid of RTS gameplay and RPG progression mechanics. In Warlords: Battlecry 3, the player takes control of a hero character and travels the overworld map as them. The map features many locations that the player can visit, which each contain associated missions, both main missions and side quests.

The gameplay in a mission is mostly in the style of a standard RTS. The player has resources to gather, structures to build, and units to train. They also get to control their hero character as a special unit in these missions, and the player’s hero character normally determines the outcome of a battle. Unlike other units, the player character can level up to increase their stats and gain powerful abilities determined by their class.

The game is highly replayable, with 16 playable races and access to 28 hero classes, meaning players can go back with a different hero and have a vastly different experience. This is helped by the game’s faction and diplomacy system, which adds pre-determined racial tensions and alliances but also allows for some gaming of the system, adding variety to new campaigns.

6

The Lord Of The Rings: The Battle For Middle Earth 2

Heroes Of Middle Earth

The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth 2

Systems

The Lord Of The Rings universe is fertile ground for hero characters, as they’re built right into the plot of the novels. The Battle For Middle Earth 2 understands this even better than the first game did, and there are a lot of distinct and recognizable heroes for both the armies of good and evil. Powerful wizards like Gandalf and Saruman, warriors like Gimli and Legolas, and even side characters like the Nazgul, Shelob, and Arwen, are all represented as hero units here.

The Battle For Middle Earth 2 does a good job of balancing hero units while still making them highly relevant in its RTS battles. Regular units can be upgraded, while heroes can’t, but gain unique abilities as they get experience. Some players at the time felt that the heroes were a little unbalanced between factions for multiplayer purposes, but for the single-player campaigns, it certainly works.

The game also went one step further with its heroes than the original. During their campaign, players can optionally find and kill Gollum to obtain the One Ring. This item lets players summon a “Ring Hero” for 10,000 resources, either Galadriel for the good factions or Sauron for the evil factions. These two are predictably overpowered, able to decimate enemy armies when summoned.

5

Sins Of A Solar Empire

Capital Ships

Sins Of A Solar Empire is a 4X sandbox RTS with an interesting take on the concept of hero units. The basis of a player’s army in the game are ships of various classes. So, rather than having named heroes, the player has Capital Ships. These ships can level up, be customized, and have access to powerful abilities that regular ships don’t.

Players start with only one Capital Ship and getting more requires a lot of very specific resources and a crew. They’re essentially like generals in a game like Total War, with a Capital Ship forming the backbone of each military group. The ships come with different classes that each develop their abilities as they level, filling different roles in battle.

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As an “RT4X” strategy game, Sins of a Solar Empire also has players building a galactic empire. The sandbox gameplay allows for conquering planets and systems, diplomacy and trading, and completing missions for NPC factions. Each faction comes with expansive tech trees as players would expect. A nice feature is that the 4X gameplay can be enjoyed online with friends as well as offline with AI factions.

4

Warhammer 40K: Dawn Of War 2

The Empire’s Chosen

The Dawn Of War games all focus on hero-based RTS gameplay to some extent, but Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War 2 is arguably the best iteration of that system. Unlike the first game in the series, Dawn of War 2 removed the base-building elements in favor of focusing on the front-line hero-based gameplay. That means players select from available squads, each led by a named hero, before a mission, working with only these units and limited reinforcements.

Despite this sounding restrictive on paper, it ends up leading to some well-defined tactical gameplay as it forces players to learn the capabilities of each hero and their support units. The squad leader hero units level up as the campaign progresses, granting access to new abilities and equipment, which gives the player more options to customize each squad’s role in battle.

Interestingly, the game’s RTS campaign is non-linear. Players have to choose between distress calls to answer to access their next mission, and choices can be time-limited or mutually exclusive. This affects how the campaign develops and what subsequent missions and gear players might have access to.

3

Warcraft 3: Reign Of Chaos

Heroes Of Azeroth

Warcraft 3: Reign Of Chaos is often cited as the best Warcraft game and one of the best RTS games out there. It was also the first Warcraft game to introduce hero units. The single-player campaign features four factions with one campaign dedicated to each. Players control each faction in turn and get access to the unique heroes of the Human Alliance, the Orcish Horde, the Undead Scourge, and the Night Elves.

Each faction’s heroes level up as they defeat enemies and complete mission objectives, and experience accumulates throughout the campaign. Heroes can level up to ten, gaining access to three spells and an ultimate ability on the way. The game also features complementary RTS mechanics like base building and resource gathering, but it’s normally clever use of hero units that determines the outcome of a mission.

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One of the most interesting aspects of Warcraft 3‘s heroes is that there are in-mission map features that only hero characters can make use of. These include things like befriending NPC characters and adding them to the player’s controllable units, or finding merchants who can sell new gear upgrades for hero characters.

2

Starcraft 2

Terran, Protoss, Or Zerg

While it may have become better known for its multiplayer scene, Starcraft 2‘s campaign, and its subsequent expansions, are all-time RTS classics. The original Wings of Liberty focused mostly on the Terrans, but the expansions Heart of the Swarm and Legacy of The Void added equally fleshed-out campaigns for the Zerg and Protoss factions.

Hero units are highly important in Starcraft 2. They’re normally main characters and side characters from the game’s main plot, and losing them can mean the end of a mission in a lot of cases. Characters like Jim Raynor for the Terrans, Sarah Kerrigan for the Zerg, and Zeratul for the Protoss, are all represented as powerful units in-game. Hero units in Starcraft 2 are far from invincible though, and require tactical use of support units and abilities to survive.

1

Total War: Warhammer 3

Fantasy, Grand Strategy, And Larger Than Life Generals

While the Total War series has experimented with heroes in the form of generals in its historical games, the Total War: Warhammer spin-offs take the concept a lot further. Total War: Warhammer 3 is the latest in the series and a game that features some of the most creative and powerful hero units in the franchise. Heroes even come in different categories, with regular heroes, unique heroes, and legendary heroes, as well as the all-powerful lord who functions as the player character’s avatar.

Hero units of all types are useful both in the turn-based overworld for controlling territory, and in the RTS battles to give powerful advantages on the field. Spell-casting heroes can dish out area damage from afar and provide support spells, and melee heroes can bolster the front lines, overwhelming regular units and bolstering nearby allies.

Out of combat, some heroes can provide passive bonuses to the armies they’re in, bolstering unit replenishment and more. Tactical use of heroes and the abilities of the player’s chosen lord can lead to some highly overpowered strategies in the single-player campaign, and the game’s high fantasy setting allows for spectacular, over-the-top visual effects in combat, too.

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