Warcraft Rumble Season 2 – The New Game-Changing Troop

With the Warcraft Rumble Season 2 at our door, here is all we know about the up-and-coming new troop, the Chimaera

Warcraft Rumble came as a hit of nostalgia for the fans of one of Blizzard’s greatest franchises, Warcraft, entering as a fresh new take on the world. The mobile game’s blueprint and design have established themselves as very welcoming and easily addicting, giving Rumblers plentiful opportunities to mix and match their favorite Warcraft heroes with legendary minions, all hosting a unique set of skills and talents.

Chimaera’s reign of terror takes flight on December 10th in Season 2. #WarcraftRumble

Get Ready: https://t.co/wTrvaeEosH pic.twitter.com/0849aWxsNF

— Warcraft Rumble (@WarcraftRumble) December 6, 2023

Based on the Warcraft 3 Night Elf Chimera, the Chimaera comes as a unique addition and this new troop is looking to fill in a lot of roles that flying-troops desperately need. This ‘trailer’ for the troop brings that notion to the spotlight, with the comments praising the twin-headed dragon and showing evident excitement in incorporating it into their existing parties. 

With the info we have gathered from the trailer and some expert insight, let us break down this new troop and lay out strategies through which we can ensure easy victories the moment the troop hits the stage this 10th December 2023. 

Warcraft Rumble Season 2 – Chaemira’s Reign of Terror Begins

Within the 7 existing flying troops available in the game till now, only the Gargoyle has tanking capabilities. As the Gargoyle ignores troops and instead focuses its ‘Aggro’ (attack priority) on Towers and Bases, it’s safe to say there is a palpable gap in the tanking division for flyers that are good at taking down melee troops. 

With the addition of Chimaera, we believe that Rumblers who prefer flyers will surely add this monster to their roster, playing it as a tank and a tank-killer, thanks to its lighting and poison attack modifier.

Troop Breakdown

From the troop trailer released by Warcraft Rumble‘s official X page, here is what we know about the Chimaera:

• Faction: Beast
• Cost: The new troop costs 5 gold, putting it in the expensive category and forcing players to consider heavily before summoning it.
• Health: It appears to be decently tanky, and can excel with the right talent. 
• Attack Type: Its basic attacks are poisonous and deal Area of Effect (AoE) damage, and it can target both land and air troops.
• Movement: It’s a slow flyer, so it will be great in pushes with slower tanks. 

Talents Explained 

The 3 talents mainly cover 2 builds for the Chimaera, turning it into a full-on tank with multiple deployments, or a heavy damage inflictor with slows and double poison damage.

• Leviathan – This ability grants our twin-headed dragon the ability to scale its tanking capabilities with every deployment, similar to Hogger’s Ham Hock talent. This switches up the playstyle greatly, allowing the dragon to lead pushes instead of supporting them.
  
• Frost Shock – The second attack of the Chimaera inflicts frost along with the lighting AoE, slowing the enemies caught by the splash. This makes this troop excellent at slowing mass pushes, killing Armored units with ease and buying you time to react.
  
• Corrosive Breath – The first attack of the troop inflicts double the poison, making it incredible at melting away Armored troops with deadly efficiency. This makes it a natural anti-tank flying troop that can even focus down tank squads like Core Hounds, Footmen and Warsong Grunts.

Our picks in terms of unlocking priority would be Corrosive Breath first, then Frost Shock and finally Leviathan.

Playstyles

From the abilities seen on the trailer and in comparison to existing troops, here are some ways we are looking forward to using this troop.

Tank Killer

Needless to say, the Chimaera’s poisonous attack is their bread and butter to killing tanky enemy troops. This is because poisonous damage stacks and deals damage over time, working perfectly against heavily Armored troops, such as the dreadful Molten Giant and the Earth Elemental. 

With a bit of practice and good timing, its splash damage will also take out any pesky troops that usually hide behind tank pushes, like Vultures, Skeletons, Raptors, Murloc Tidehunters and more. The trailer has also demonstrated their ability to take out squishy squad units (both aerial and ground), annihilating them with a few zaps.

If you are looking for single-target devastation, pick up the Corrosive Breath talent, and if you are looking to slow enemy squad pushes, the Frost Shock talent is the perfect choice.

Pusher

If it deals Area of Effect (AoE) damage, put it behind a tank. Similar to the functionality of a Drake or a Bat Rider, the Chimaera will also be able to play a vital role in supporting pushes. Although it might be not as effect in clearing out anti-tank squads like Spiderlings, Angry Chickens or Skeletons as the Drake would be, our Twin-headed Dragon would fair well enough and would work even better against tanky chargers like the Prowler or the Stronehoof Tauren. 

The Poisonous attacks would make short work of these units and allow your squads to push further in with your tank. Furthermore, its Poisonous attack can devastate towers with ease. 

The Frost Shock talent excels at aiding pushes, slowing defending squads as your troops annihilate them safely from behind your tanking frontliner. You may also pick up the Corrosive Breath talent if you’re looking for a faster siege. 

Tanker

This playstyle is heavily dependent on a particular talent, making it very situational. Although not as tanky as the Gargoyle initially, the Chimaera’s tanking capabilities can be easily magnified with its first talent – Leviathan. 

This will allow the Chimaera to lead attacks and pushes, similarly to how the Hogger gains that authority with his Ham Hock talent. With this talent, you can finally replace your tank’s slot with a Cycle troop to let you resummon twin-headed dragon even faster. 

Counters & Drawbacks

Like every troop to exist in the Rumble universe, this too has its drawbacks and weaknesses which you need to keep in mind when adding this troop to your deck. 

Expensive

Pushing behind a Tank could prove to be quite impactful when playing your Chimaera, as its high damage-dealing capabilities excel from a safe distance. This might be quite difficult, as most sturdy tanks cost around 6 Gold, and this too costs 5 Gold. This means, once you initiate the push, you will be left with little gold to stop a faster counter attack.

Slow Movement Speed & Attack Animation

The trailer puts the movement speed and animation of the Chimaera’s attack on full display, showcasing how slow it truly is. Once it starts attacking, it shoots two consecutive projectiles, and refuses to move until the entire animation is complete. 

This might seem small, but can impact the timing of your push severely. Furthermore, if your opponent decides to counter-push, their troop speed will mostly outmatch yours. 

Tanky, Yet Not Entirely

Unlike the Gargoyle, the Chimaera isn’t as tanky at the start, with the trailer showing it takes quite a lot of damage from the Mountaineer’s Rifler. This was with the Leviathan talent, implying that it is much weaker without it. And with its expensive summoning cost, how feasible will it truly be to invest in that talent and playstyle?

Here to Redeem Flyer Troops

The Chimaera comes as a blessing to flyer troops, which were often pretty one-directional. With this new troop blessing the game in just the second season of Warcraft Rumble, we can only wonder about all the exciting things soon to follow. So, stay tuned and keep Rumbling!