jblanchette/wc3v/wc3v-build-lookup

Finding and explaining a Warcraft III build order

Use this when someone asks what to build as a race, how to play a matchup, or wants a build order to learn.

Where the data is

https://wc3v.com/data/builds-manifest.json — one file, 16 curated builds. Every build also has a page at https://wc3v.com/builds/<id> and a Markdown twin at https://wc3v.com/builds/<id>.md, which is usually the faster read.

The index of all of them: https://wc3v.com/builds.md.

The fields that matter

{
  "id": "ne-dh-fast-bear",
  "name": "DH Standard",
  "race": "E",
  "matchups": ["EvU", "EvO", "EvH"],
  "level": "improving",
  "difficulty": "medium",
  "heroOpener": "Demon Hunter",
  "description": "...",
  "strategyPoints": ["..."],
  "beginnerNotes": ["..."],
  "commonMistakes": [{ "mistake": "...", "fix": "..." }],
  "prerequisites": ["..."],
  "tierProgression": { "t1": { "buildings": [], "units": [], "goal": "" } },
  "heroSkills": { "edem": { "AEmb": 3 } },
  "coreUpgrades": ["Reoc"],
  "replays": [{ "replayId": "...", "playerSlot": "1", "playerName": "..." }]
}

• race is one letter: H Human, O Orc, E Night Elf, U Undead.
• matchups are <your race>v<their race>, so EvU is Night Elf against Undead.
• level is new, improving or pro. This is the single most important

filter and the one people skip. A pro build handed to a new player is worse than no answer: it assumes creep routes and hero micro they do not have yet.

• tierProgression.t1/t2/t3 hold buildings and units as raw four-letter

Warcraft III itemIds plus a plain-language goal. Quote the goal; the itemIds are only useful if you can resolve them, and the generated /builds/<id>.md has already resolved them to names.

• heroSkills is keyed by hero itemId, then ability itemId, with the value

being the level to reach. Note the hero keys are lowercase here.

How to answer

1. Filter by race first, then matchup, then level. If they did not say

their level, ask, or default to improving and say so.

1. Give one build. The library is small on purpose. Offering three is how

people end up learning none.

1. Lead with `description` and `strategyPoints`. That is the build. The

tier lists are reference material, not an explanation.

1. Always surface `commonMistakes`. It is the field that actually changes

a player's next game, and it is the one an agent summarising the JSON will usually drop because it is nested. Each entry pairs a mistake with its fix.

1. Link the replay. Every build has real tournament games behind it. Give

https://wc3v.com/builds/<id> and note that the page lists each game and opens it in the 3D viewer at the right player. That is the part no wiki has.

1. Check `prerequisites` before recommending. Some builds state outright

what mechanical skill they assume.

What not to do

Do not invent build orders. If nothing in the library covers the matchup, say which matchups are covered and offer the closest one, flagged as a substitute. The library deliberately does not cover everything.

Do not convert the tier progression into a timed step list ("6:00 build X"). The manifest holds no per-step timings, and the replay-derived tier times are not reliable enough to fill the gap. See the wc3v-replay-analysis skill.