The Dread Lord's mackin' Ultimate ability 'Charm' has been revealed, here's the scoop:

Takes control over a target non-hero unit. Cannot charm 6th level and higher creeps.

A small update from Blizz today, the Sorceress' Polymorph. You gotta love the icon:

Turns a target unit into a sheep.

Merry Christmas guys and have a happy holiday.

It's beta time baby! Blizzard made this announcement today:

Warcraft III®: Reign of Chaos™ Beta Sign-Ups Slated for January 7, 2002
5,000 beta slots open to players from the United States and Canada

Beginning Monday evening, January 7th, individuals residing in the United States or Canada will have the opportunity to register for their chance to be one of 5,000 players chosen to play-test Warcraft III®: Reign of Chaos™. These players will be the first to experience the new Real-Time Strategy Game from Blizzard.

The beta signup is scheduled for a 24-hour period on www.blizzard.com, beginning on Monday, January 7th at 11:00 p.m. and ending on Tuesday, January 8th at 11:00 p.m. Following the registration period, we will randomly select 5,000 testers based on a variety of system configurations and locations. Please note that multiple submissions will result in disqualification.

The beta, which will be playable only over Battle.net, will give selected testers a chance to play all four races -- Humans, Orcs, Night Elves and Undead. Each race is armed with unique units, magical abilities, and impressive weapons designed to aid them in combat as they renew their struggle for dominance. For more information on Warcraft III, please visit http://www.blizzard.com/war3/

It seemed as though we'd never see the beta, but we've finally got a solid date to look forward to. A relatively large and promising 5,000 people will be accepted this time, five times the number of people accepted into the Starcraft beta. Alongside the announcement, Blizzard wishes happy holidays to all in two new Christmas Wallpapers. Enjoy.

Blizzard uploaded another classy screenshot for us, this one features an orc base taking it from some Human raiders. Check the large version here.

Blizz posted another ability today, the Tauren Chieftain's Command Aura:

Gives additional attack damage to friendly units near the Tauren Chieftain.

Blizz posted a new Shaman ability, the notorious Blood Lust:

Activate Blood Lust to automatically buff the attack and movement speed of nearby friendly attacking units for a limited amount of time.

Blizz has added another Orc unit to the Races Page, the Shaman. He looks pretty fierce, check the animation and sound file here. Read the description:

Under the leadership of Thrall, the Orcs have rediscovered their ancient Shamanistic traditions. In an attempt to rid the Horde of its demonic corruption, Thrall banned the use of Warlock magic and necromancy. Now, all Orc magic users practice Shaman magic which draws its power from the natural world and the elements.

We are honored to announce that we are now the official host for the Azeroth Daily News, a daily newsletter by Editor-In-Chief. If you have seen any of his writings on the Battle.Net Warcraft III forum, you already know how talented he is with words. If you haven't, now is the time to get acquainted! Go to the index and be prepared to crack a smile :)

Blizzard has updated the War3 site with Creeps. These hostile neutral units now have their own page, which currently features the Ogre Lord. Check it.

Several weeks ago, we estimated a sign-up announcement on the 14th of December. Since then we've received two pieces of information: GameSpot reported that the beta will begin in early 2002, and later, Rob Pardo added this comment in an interview: "We are getting very close to going beta and are planning to ship out the beta CDs in early January." For an 'early January' shipment, today is the last reasonable chance for a beta sign-up announcement assuming that a full week for sign-ups is required. Every other week has a major holiday until the next possible opening on Friday, the fourth of January. It doesn't feel like beta announcement time just yet, but we'll see..

Some interesting Blizz forum posts have been lighting up the forums in the past while. Here's the scoop:

• The speed settings in War3 may be limited compared to the 'joke' fastest settings that were in War2 BNE and SC. Hope so.
• The Water Elemental animation does not do it justice.
• The current "food" cap IS 90 in the game. However 1 food does not equal one unit in most cases. Most peon-type units cost 1 food to build while all combat units cost a minimum of 2 food to build. Army sizes tend to be small in games (around 10-20 units).
  -Rob
• TPark(Warblade!)'s old school roots are kickin' at war3, and I quote:Well I don't know about owning all... ;) But I can say that I really do enjoy playing the game these days and our internal multiplayer games are getting much more competitive as we're nearing beta.

  As for what race I use... I used to love the Humans the most, then I switched to Orcs and I loved them... until I switched to Undead (who are one of the coolest looking races) and now I'm in favor of Night Elves... But then again, tomorrow or the next day or the next I'll probably have a new favorite race :)
  TPark (Warblade!)
  Game Artist
  Btw, Warblade does the in-game interfaces(ie the new Undead interface) which put all other game interfaces to shame. As for the comments, the game sounds like it's really shaping up and hella fun.. He's favoring the Night Elves.. meaning they're playable and hopefully almost ready.

Let them know.

It seems as though the screenshots are getting better and better, and this latest shot fits the mold, though the four item slots reveals a slightly older build. See the extra large version here.

There are a couple previews of both War3 and WoW that have come out recently. Although they don't reveal much new information, they're a great way to get caught up. Check 'em:

• WoW Preview - EuroGamer
• War3 Preview - Invisible Dream

Another ability from Blizzard, the Druid of the Talon's Raven Form:

Allows the Druid of the Talon to transform into a Raven and back again when he wishes.

Blizzard Insider Issue 08 was sent out over the weekend, chock-full of new info. The two 'new' features were actually revealed in the November Fansite Chat, but Blizzard knows that some people don't read those (although they should :)

Some of the news includes a Sound Blaster Audigy giveaway, a special screenshot update, and a quick World of Warcraft Q&A session. Do the right thing, click the links!

In Warcraft III, Human Arch-magi have regained a long-lost ability, first seen in the original Warcraft:

Summon Water Elemental Summons a powerful Water Elemental to fight by your side for a limited time.

Along with this update comes an all-new page with the Water Elemental concept art, sound clip, and animation. And if that's not enough for you, Blizzard has also put up the icon for the infamous Druid of the Claw ability:

Bear Form Allows the Druid of the Claw to transform into a Bear and back again when he wishes.

The Gargoyle special ability fell out of the sky and landed here:

Stone Form Gargoyles in Stone Form land on the ground and can be attacked by units with melee attacks. While in Stone Form the Gargoyle gains a large increase to its armor and health regeneration, but it can no longer attack.

ActionTrip has interview Rob Pardo, the project lead for Warcraft III, and posted all the questions and answers. It's not a long article by any means, but it's chock-full of info, so get to it!

Blizzard's Necromancer page has been updated with another unit ability:

Raise Skeleton Archer Raises a Skeleton Archer to fight for you -- for a limited time. Skeleton Archers don't require food, but the unstable magics that animate them dissipate after a while, returning the Skeleton Archers to dust.

According to a report from Gamespot, War3 "is expected to reach the beta stage of development in early 2002." No word from Blizzard to confirm or deny the change... We'll keep you posted. Thanks to Can. Bacon for the tip.

Update: The article also says the game is due for release in June or July of 2002, which is obviously a guess.. Seems like the writer pulled these estimates out of his ass.

Update: I guess not ... GFraizer (Shlonglor) has finally confirmed that the beta has been pushed back to 2002. --Edgewize

The Gargoyle's concept sketch has been added to the War3 Races page, which is, as usual, another piece from Samwise. Enjoy.

A few tidbits for ya:

• Hired mercs take your colour(surprise).
• Heroes have funky glowing discs below them permanently (see the Dread Lord, and the latest screenshot).
• War3 is better than Starcraft.

Well, we have a new screenshot, and its a beauty. It seems pretty current, since we have the new Upkeep indicator, as well as the adjusted hero inventory size and the new Blight graphics. If you look at the extra-large version, you'll see just how beautiful the game engine can be. This shot puts all doubts about visual quality to rest :)

The Night Elf Demon Hunter's Ultimate spell Metamorphosis was just revealed. The spell sounds pretty damn cool, here's the low down:

Metamorphosis This spell transforms the Demon Hunter into a Demon himself.

Blizzard just added the eighth hero to the Warcraft III Races Page, the Undead Dread Lord. This hero unit looks bad ass, and from what Blizz tells us, he's a mack daddy too. Here's the snip:

Dread Lords are incredibly powerful demonic entities that are masters of darkness and mental domination. These cunning, malefic beings were once considered to be the most trusted lieutenants of the Burning Legion. Yet Kil'jaeden, the Lord of the Legion, tasked his faithful Dread Lords to watch over the Lich King Ner'zhul, and insure that he carried out his orders to sow chaos in the mortal world. The Dread Lords carried out their task flawlessly, yet over time they fell under the influence of Ner'zhul's undead plague. Now, unbeknownst to Kil'jaeden and his Legion, the Dread Lords serve the Lich King and live only to carry out his dark agenda. Dread Lords generally appear as dashing human males and are adept at charming and beguiling mortal creatures through telepathy. Dread Lords radiate darkness around them and are fond of travelling within shadows.

A second update was delivered to us as well, new Footman concept sketches. The art looks great and I wouldn't be surprised if the WoW team used it as well.