Crypt Lord

• Death Knight
• Dreadlord
• Lich
• Crypt Lord

[e][h] Crypt Lord

General Information

Race:

Undead

Trained at:

Altar of Darkness

C

Hotkey:

C

Attributes

26 +3.20

14 +1.20

14 +1.60

Base Stats

Movement Speed:

290

Sight Range:

1800 / 800

Attack Range:

Melee

Turn Rate:

0.50

Stats per Level

HP:

675

HP Regen.:

1.3/sec

Mana:

210

Mana Regen.:

0.71/sec

Armor:

2.2

Damage:

28 - 34 (31 avg)

Attack Cooldown:

1.48

HP:

750

HP Regen.:

1.45/sec

Mana:

225

Mana Regen.:

0.76/sec

Armor:

2.5

Damage:

31 - 37 (34 avg)

Attack Cooldown:

1.46

HP:

825

HP Regen.:

1.6/sec

Mana:

255

Mana Regen.:

0.86/sec

Armor:

2.8

Damage:

34 - 40 (37 avg)

Attack Cooldown:

1.44

HP:

900

HP Regen.:

1.75/sec

Mana:

270

Mana Regen.:

0.91/sec

Armor:

3.1

Damage:

37 - 43 (40 avg)

Attack Cooldown:

1.42

HP:

975

HP Regen.:

1.9/sec

Mana:

300

Mana Regen.:

1.01/sec

Armor:

3.4

Damage:

40 - 46 (43 avg)

Attack Cooldown:

1.4

HP:

1075

HP Regen.:

2.1/sec

Mana:

330

Mana Regen.:

1.11/sec

Armor:

4

Damage:

44 - 50 (47 avg)

Attack Cooldown:

1.36

HP:

1150

HP Regen.:

2.25/sec

Mana:

345

Mana Regen.:

1.16/sec

Armor:

4.3

Damage:

47 - 53 (50 avg)

Attack Cooldown:

1.34

HP:

1225

HP Regen.:

2.4/sec

Mana:

375

Mana Regen.:

1.26/sec

Armor:

4.6

Damage:

50 - 56 (53 avg)

Attack Cooldown:

1.32

HP:

1300

HP Regen.:

2.55/sec

Mana:

390

Mana Regen.:

1.31/sec

Armor:

4.9

Damage:

53 - 59 (56 avg)

Attack Cooldown:

1.3

HP:

1375

HP Regen.:

2.7/sec

Mana:

420

Mana Regen.:

1.41/sec

Armor:

5.2

Damage:

56 - 62 (59 avg)

Attack Cooldown:

1.28

These ancient, evil behemoths were once the mighty kings of the subterranean spider kingdom of Azjol-Nerub. Though the Nerubians fell before the wrath of the Lich King during the fabled War of the Spider, the insidious Crypt Lords were swayed over to the Lich King's ranks and granted considerable power and the immortality of undeath. Now the giant, thundering beasts serve as the Lich King's mightiest warriors and the guardians of the Scourge's holdings in Northrend.

A warrior Hero, adept at summoning insect minions and crushing enemies. Betraying the Nerubian people, the Crypt Lords have sacrificed the lifeblood of thousands to bolster the Undead armies of Ner'zhul, winning an eternal life of servitude in his name. Attacks land units.

Abilities

Impale
	Cast Type : Active  Ability Type:  Magical Target Type : Point Target  Damage Type:  Magic Slams the ground with the Crypt Lord's massive claws, shooting spiked tendrils out in a straight line, dealing damage and hurling enemy ground units into the air in their wake, stunning them.
Cast Requirements : 90 9 s  Range:  700 Targets Allowed : Ground, Enemy, Neutral, Organic Area of Effect : 125 Damage : 60 / 105 / 150 Duration : 2 (1) / 3 (1.5) / 4 (2) s Wave Distance : 600 Air Duration : 1 second Notes : Airborne units can take damage and be attacked. Airborne units are untargetable by spells. Hotkey : E

Notes:

• Line up the enemy units to get the best results. Impale is like a combined War Stomp and Shockwave.
• Impale can interrupt spells like Starfall or Mass Teleport from a long distance.

Spiked Carapace
	Cast Type : Passive Target Type : No Target  Damage Type:  Magic The Crypt Lord forms barbed layers of chitinous armor that increases its defence and returns damage to enemy melee attackers.
Damage returned : 15/30/45% Bonus Armor : 4/8/12 Hotkey : S

• This ability, combined with the Crypt Lord's naturally high HP, makes him very tough to take down, especially with melee attacks.

Carrion Beetles
	Cast Type : Autocast  Ability Type:  Magical Target Type : No Target The Crypt Lord progenerates 2 Carrion Beetles from a target corpse to attack the Crypt Lord's enemies. Beetles are permanent but only 6 can be controlled at a time.
Cast Requirements : 50 9 s Targets Allowed : Dead Area of Effect : 900 Summoned Unit : Carrion Beetle (Level 1)/Carrion Beetle (Level 2)/Carrion Beetle (Level 3) Hotkey : C

Notes:

• Unlike most summoned units, the beetles have an unlimited lifespan. Carrion Beetles persist even if the Crypt Lord dies.
• Bring a Rod of Necromancy along and your Crypt Lord will generate more units than any other hero at low levels. In many cases, you can get an edge over your opponent by defeating creep camps that would be too powerful for any other low-level heroes to attempt.
• Level 2 or 3 Carrion Beetles can Burrow (if upgraded) and become invisible. Hide a beetle at a remote Gold Mine to secretly find out when an opponent starts to build an expansion there, or keep one near a Goblin Laboratory or Mercenary Camp to use them even when your army is far away.
• Carrion Beetles disappear into the earth and do not leave a corpse when killed. This means the Crypt Lord cannot recycle his Carrion Beetles when they die.
• See further: corpse.

Locust Swarm
	Cast Type : Active  Ability Type:  Universal Target Type : No Target  Damage Type:  Physical Creates a swarm of angry locusts that bite and tear at nearby enemy units. As they chew the enemy flesh, they convert it into a substance that restores hit points to the Crypt Lord when they return.
Cast Requirements : 150 180 s Area of Effect : 800 Duration : 30 s Summoned Unit : Locust Summon Count : 20 Notes : Does not damage Ethereal units. Hotkey : L

Notes:

• Locust Swarm is kind of similar to Protoss Carriers in StarCraft. Once "launched" the Locust Swarm will follow the Crypt Lord where he walks, heading out in an area around the Crypt Lord.
• 20 Locusts are released. 0.2 second delay between releasing each Locust.
• Up to 7 Locusts can target an enemy unit at the same time. Fraction of damage dealt by Locusts that will be returned and collected by Crypt Lord: 0.75.
• The Locust must collect 20 hit points before returning it to the Crypt Lord.
• There must be at least 3 enemy units to do maximum damage.
• Locusts have a physical attack of type Normal that does 13-14 damage with a 1.0 base cooldown and 10 range. So each locust potentially does 13.5 DPS before armor calculations. Damage returned as HP to Crypt Lord is after Armor. When the locust has done 26.6 damage, it returns to the Crypt Lord to restore 20 HP. If spell is hitting one unit which is a 100 armor footman, the locust will only do 1 damage per hit, and will not return to the Crypt Lord until the spell ends as it can't reach the damage threshold of 26.6. When it returns at spell end, it will return ~12 HP. Very important to point out is that Locusts have an ability similar to what critters have, that causes them to randomly wander, so they don't attack every second. And as a melee attacker they're susceptible to kiting. They will never do even close to the max potential damage, and because damage is random with some testing in games it approximately does 2000-2300. It is also noted that it would likely finish off a damaged unit rather than spreading damage equally to all units.
• The 20th locust takes 4 seconds to come out. All locusts return to the Crypt Lord at the 30 second mark, so each succeeding locust released has a shorter duration.

Upgrades

Burrow
	Cast Type : Active  Ability Type:  Physical Target Type : No Target The Carrion Beetle digs into the ground and becomes invisible.
Duration : 1.45 s New Regeneration : 2 Hit Points per second Notes : Burrowed Beetles have a new regeneration type and gain no benefit from Blight anymore. Burrowed units are not affected by auras. Hotkey : B
Upgrade: Burrow
Cost : 75 75  Research Time:  30 Researched at : Crypt  Hotkey : B  Requirements : Halls of the Dead, Graveyard

Quotes

Quotes
Built	Selected	Move	Attack	Warcry	Annoyed
From the depths I come.	Speak. I have heard the summons. Time is fleeting. My might cannot be matched! I serve only the Frozen Throne.	I'll see to it. By Nerub. Indubitably. Kinky. I'll consume the living and the dead!	Oblivion awaits! Feel the venom of Nerub! Raid.	For the Frozen Throne!	The Scourge will devour all! The strands of destiny weave only a web of death. It was good to be the king. Humans check in. They don't check out. I'm the fifth beetle. And they say Blizzard games don't have bugs.

• Crypt Lord's quotes (video and sound on Reforged) - YouTube video.
• Crypt Lord's quotes (video and sound on Frozen Throne) - YouTube video.

Version History

Balance Patch History
Version	Release	Balance Changes
2.0.3	2025-07-17	Piercing damage against Heavy armor decreased from 100% to 90%
2.0.2	2025-04-16	Burrow research time reduced from 45 to 30 seconds.
1.36.2	2024-06-04	Crypt Lord Impale mana cost reduced from 100 to 90
1.36.1	2023-11-20	Crypt Lord Spiked Carapace bonus armor increased from 3/5/7 to 4/8/12. Crypt Lord Spiked Carapace melee damage returned increased from 15/25/35 to 15/30/45%.
1.32.10	2021-04-14	Crypt Lord’s Impale damage reduced from 75/120/165 to 60/105/150. Crypt Lord’s Impale hero stun duration reduced from 1/2/3 to 1/1.5/2.
1.32.9	2020-10-21	Carrion Beetles Burrow ability requires the Burrow upgrade. Carrion Beetle Level 2 Collision Size increased from 16 to 32. Carrion Beetles movement speed reduced from 290 to 280 (all levels). Carrion Beetles hit points increased from 170/275/410 to 170/300/440.
1.32.8	2020-08-11	Carrion Beetles hit points reduced from 170/330/490 to 170/275/410. Carrion Beetles mana cost increased from 45 to 50.
1.32.6	2020-06-02	Carrion Beetles mana cost increased from 30 to 45. Now spawns 2 beetles at a time, up from 1. Maximum beetles increased from 5 to 6. Cooldown increased from 6 seconds to 9 seconds. Crypt Lord cast point increased from 0.4 to 0.5. Impale can no longer be interrupted. Units knocked airborne can now take damage and be attacked.
1.29.0	2018-04-10	Crypt Lord Carrion Beetles movement speed increased from 270 to 290, and HP increased from 140/275/410 to 170/330/490. Crypt Lord's movement speed increased from 270 to 290. Crypt Lord Impale damage increased from 50/80/110 to 75/120/165.
1.15	2004-05-10	Level-2 Carrion Beetles are now the same size as Ghouls, instead of the same size as Crypt Fiends. Level-3 Carrion Beetles are now the same size as Crypt Fiends, instead of the same size as Abominations.
1.10	2003-07-03	Impale area of effect width reduced to 250 from 300.

Games

• Crypt Lord first
• Crypt Lord second
• Crypt Lord third

The most recent games with Crypt Lord first are

Leon   |	vs.	|   Edo
Game 1 on Tidehunters - Leon vs Edo in WC3 DACH Inferno - Season 4
Pink   |	vs.	|   Deathnote
Game 2 on Northern Isles Round 1 - Pink vs Deathnote in Dolphin Cocoon Into Butterfly Cup - S3
Pink   |	vs.	|   Deathnote
Game 1 on Hammerfall Round 1 - Pink vs Deathnote in Dolphin Cocoon Into Butterfly Cup - S3
Deathnote   |	vs.	|   Edo
Game 1 on Scrimmage Lower Bracket Quarterfinals - Deathnote vs Edo in B2W Weekly Cup 177
HawK   |	vs.	|   DSLIH
Game 2 on Tidehunters Grand Final - HawK vs DSLIH in Dolphin Cocoon Into Butterfly Cup 43

The most recent games with Crypt Lord second are

Reklewt   |	vs.	|   Mikauzora
Game 2 on Springtime - Reklewt vs Mikauzora in SMF League - Season 3 - Group G
psjwandao   |	vs.	|   Meftly
Game 3 on Tidehunters - Psjwandao vs Meftly in SMF League - Season 3 - Group D
Drotaverine   |	vs.	|   Rivendell
Game 1 on Last Refuge Lower Bracket Quarterfinals - Drotaverine vs Rivendell in Undeads Elite Cup 7
ag3nt   |	vs.	|   Alaster
Game 3 on Hammerfall - Ag3nt vs Alaster in Team Raven's Nest Tournament 6
Cas   |	vs.	|   D3xter
Game 2 on Northern Isles - Cas vs D3xter in FoM League - S8 - Div 2

The most recent games with Crypt Lord third are

HawK   |	vs.	|   Lucifer
Game 1 on Hammerfall Round 1 - HawK vs Lucifer in Dolphin Cocoon Into Butterfly Cup - S3
GoDRieN   |	vs.	|   Edo
Game 1 on Springtime Lower Bracket Round 2 - GoDRieN vs Edo in B2W Weekly Cup 177
Edo   |	vs.	|   Saganash
Game 1 on Tidehunters Upper Bracket Round 2 - Edo vs Saganash in B2W Weekly Cup 177
ice orc   |	vs.	|   Lucifer
Game 2 on Hammerfall Semifinals - Ice_orc vs Lucifer in Dolphin Cocoon Into Butterfly Cup 43
ice orc   |	vs.	|   Lucifer
Game 1 on Shattered Exile Semifinals - Ice_orc vs Lucifer in Dolphin Cocoon Into Butterfly Cup 43

References

http://classic.battle.net/war3/undead/units/cryptlord.shtml