Five tips to help you get started in Warcraft Rumble

Blizzard’s next mobile game Warcraft Rumble has been soft-launched in a few countries around the world for a little while now, and having some expert tips in your pocket might help you as you’re getting started in the game. I’ve been lucky enough to live in Canada so I’ve been playing for about a month now and have learned a few things that may help you in your quest to be the best Rumble-r around when the game officially launches to all eligible Android and iOS devices November 3.

While Rumble may seem like a pretty straightforward game at first, there’s a surprising depth to it beyond just putting out as many units as possible. So let’s dive right in and learn how to play Warcraft Rumble like a pro.

Get a way to handle flying enemies

I’ve spent a lot of time so far playing a mostly Undead army. They’re great for filling the map with lots of little skeletons but don’t have a lot of great anti-aerial unit options. But whatever type of army you’re building, you’ll want to get something cheap that can handle the Harpies, Gargoyles, and Drakes that your enemy will throw at you. Blackrock Pyromancers are one of the best options: they’re only three gold to play, hit both ground and air targets, and have an AOE attack — perfect for clearing out whole squads and making sure that you don’t get overwhelmed by lots of units at once.

Spells are also great for this. Chain Lightning, Blizzard, Arcane Explosion, and Living Bomb are all your best friends at taking care of that pesky flyer coming towards you. It’s also a good idea to have at least one flying unit in your army. Nothing makes me happier than watching a four-gold squad of Harpies clear out a bunch of expensive ground units.

Diversify your army!

Just because you’re running an Undead commander doesn’t mean you can’t sneak an Alliance unit in there too. Night Elf Huntresses are great for clearing out squads of, well, anything coming toward you. Just because they’re not all bony doesn’t mean they don’t have a place in your army. I fell into that trap early on and only bought and upgraded Undead units — and kept getting trounced until I tossed in an S.A.F.E. Pilot to help take care of things that were grouping up against me. Learn from my mistakes and don’t lock yourself into a single minion type.

It’s also a good idea to build out your bought army so that your collection level goes up. The higher that gets the more experience you’ll get from Quests, Tomes, and after-matches. That’ll help you to level up your chosen units faster and mean that you can progress further into the quests.

Have at least one Unbound unit in every army

Unbound units are great. These are the units that can be placed anywhere on the map instead of just next to Towers and Meeting Stones. I always make sure to have at least one of them in my armies. There are more than a few maps that have treasure chests out of the way that you can get easily with an early unbound unit. Sure my Skeleton Party costs four gold, but if I drop it on a treasure chest it’s like it only cost me two gold.

They also have the obvious benefit of being able to reinforce a push that might be stalling at one of the enemy towers or boss. That extra Earth Elemental might just make the difference between a couple of ranged units getting steamrolled or you taking a tower.

Go for the gold

Greed is good. Even if you think you’re about to win, it never hurts to drop an extra Kobold Miner to collect some gold — just in case. I’ve watched my big pushes get annihilated by a well-cast Blizzard or that one Drake that’s just spawned. So always plan to have extra income coming in.

It’s also really important to stop your enemy from mining their own gold. It’s almost always worth it to use an unbound unit or spell to eliminate an enemy Kobold or Dark Iron Miner. It might seem wasteful but I’d much rather have to wait a few more seconds to play my big guy than have to worry about what the enemy has waiting in the wings.

Don’t be afraid to try new leaders

The enemies that you’ll face are based on your leader’s level, so if you’re thinking of swapping over to a brand new leader and new army composition don’t be worried if they’re not as strong as your main squad. Dungeons swap weekly which faction they’ll let in, so you’ll want to have an army of each flavor ready so that you can continue to get the materials to improve your minis and upgrade your army slots.

Sometimes it’s also really fun to completely change the way you’ve been playing. I went from running a slower Undead build to a very speedy Beast build and have had a blast. It’s actually a lot of fun to send swarms of raptors to eat your enemy’s faces — who knew! I’ve found that I’ll play my games differently with different leaders too. Old Murk-Eye has me stock up on more gold before playing him so that I can send out maximum Murlocs with him. While I’ll be more reckless with my spending when I’ve got Tirion on the field so that he’s got lots of targets to heal.

Hopefully, these tips will have you conquering the board in Warcraft Rumble. But if you do find yourself hitting a wall, sometimes it can be as simple as coming back a day later and trying a slightly different tactic.

Originally published September 22, 2023. Updated October 23, 2023.