Mercenary camp

Kerrigan and Uther attack a mercenary camp.

ETC and Valla attempt to enlist a pair of siege giants.

A knight camp.

In addition to the various objectives each Battleground offers, you'll also be able to earn the allegiance of the Mercenaries who populate the world. To do so, you must first defeat the neutral mercenaries at their camp site, and then stand on the beacon nearby to capture them for your team. When defeated, they grant mercenaries that aid your team's minion waves, pushing against enemy forts. Determining the optimal time to capture a mercenary camp is crucial, and can be of great value when you need to distract the enemy team from capturing an objective.

Mercenary camps spawn at various points during a match. Once a camp has been captured, a respawn timer will begin, at the completion of which the mercenaries will reappear, ready for capture once more. Mercenaries do grant a little experience when they're captured by your team (Hanamura being the exception), but not when killing the enemy team's mercenaries.

Concepts

Most Battlegrounds feature powerful, neutral creatures, known as Mercenaries. These Mercenaries can aid your team by advancing down the lanes and attacking minions and fortresses, and there are yet other kinds of helpful Mercenary Camps which offer different bonuses.

Mercenaries, such as Siege mercs, Bruisers, and Bosses can help sow confusion for the opponent when objectives become available. Timing a Mercenary assault in this way will give pause to enemies who will then need to choose between clearing the incoming Mercenaries, or contesting the objective. Additionally, splitting the opponents’ defenses can help in a big push against opposing fortifications, as well as give your team more vision, and more control over the map.

Mercenaries are not won by simply defeating the camp. You must stand uncontested for a few seconds on the beacon that spawns after clearing the neutral mercs. If you don’t, a keen opponent can steal the camp away from your team.

Capturing

Each camp must be captured in order to recruit the mercenaries found there. This is achieved by defeating the mercenaries themselves. Once a camp has spawned, any player can attack the mercenaries found there, and if they successfully defeat them all, a capture point will appear. By standing on the capture point uncontested for .75 seconds, the player will gain control of the mercenaries for their team, at which point the mercenaries will run to the nearest lane and spring into action for the team.

Note that either team may capture the capture point, even if the other team defeated the mercenaries. Sometimes a player may wait just out of sight of an enemy player who is attempting to capture a mercenary camp, and swoop in at the last second to kill the enemy player (who may be weakened from fighting the mercenaries) and then capture the camp for their own team.

Disappearance after objective activated

On some maps, after the objective has been activated, mercenary camps would disappear, only reappearing after the objective has been neutralised. As the camp will not despawn if it is already engaged, teams can consider engaging camps just before the objective is activated.

1. Alterac Pass: Once the cavalry begin spawning. Camps reappear only after all cavalry have been killed.
2. Battlefield of Eternity: Once an Immortal has been activated.
3. Braxis Holdout: Once the Zerg Waves spawn. Camps reappear only after all Zerg in both waves have been killed.
4. Dragon Shire: Once the Dragon Knight has been activated.
5. Garden of Terror: Once a Garden Terror has been activated. If there are 2 Terrors active, the camps will only reappear after both have been neutralised.
6. Tomb of the Spider Queen: Once the webweavers begin spawning. Camps reappear only after all webweavers have been killed.
7. Volskaya Foundry: Once the Triglav Protector has been spawned.

Scaling

Mercenaries also increase their statistics every minute, in a linear ramping fashion. "Wild" Mercenaries (The neutral, uncaptured ones) have different statistics from the captured ones. Captured mercenaries usually have more HP and Damage than the wild ones at the same time. Wild mercenary statistics update every minute, but mercenary camp that has been "pulled" will not update its statistics mid-fight. Resetting aggro on a mercenary camp will update its statistics to the current minute. Captured mercenaries have snapshot their statistics when the capture beacon becomes available, so clearing a mercenary camp then waiting on capturing the beacon will not yield additional statistics.

Mercenary Lord is a Generic Talent that both granted durability against enemy Mercenary Camps and empowered those that you claimed yourself. The damage reduction makes capturing mercs significantly easier, especially bosses which are affected by the damage reduction. The bonus damage only applies when you are within half a screen-length of the mercs, but can provide a huge boost in pushing power and presence, and is shown by the mercs growing slightly larger in size, but does not affect bosses.

Experience

All Mercenary Camps grant all Experience to the team that captured the camp.

When Should I Be Doing Camps?

You should never take any camp without having a reason for doing so. Obviously, it’s less risky to take camps on your side of the map (safe camps) than it is on your opponent’s side (not-safe camps). Sneaking enemy camps almost always ends in tragedy, so it’s in your best interest to refrain unless your team is on the same page.

Ask yourself this series of questions every time you consider taking a camp:

• Does my team need me elsewhere?
• Are we going to be able to push with this camp?
• If I start this camp, am I in danger of being invaded by the enemy?
• Do I need help to do this camp quickly?
• Which enemy Hero am I anticipating will come to clear this camp?

Before level 10 you should not be doing camps if you do not have a member of the team soaking in every lane. You must have a person in each lane for every waking moment of the laning phase, because it is very important to capture as much experience as possible on the battleground as fast as possible.

Types

There are several types of mercenary camps, some only found on certain themed battlegrounds. Each is displayed with its own difficult rating, indicating the challenge of defeating the mercenaries found there. Some camps share similarities which give them an over-arching type, such as Siege camp, Bruiser camp, and Boss camp.

Siege Camps

Siege mercenaries are destructive mercenaries that are weak if attacked by heroes and are the easiest camps to take, but if left alone in a lane they can clear waves and sometimes take structures.

Name	Properties	Description	Battleground	Timer
Armored Gnolls	Splash Damage, Tanky & armor reduction	The Armored Gnolls spawn as three. They are a Warcraft themed Merc camp that can soak up damage from towers and enemy minions. Enemies hit by their basic attacks will have their armor reduced for a few seconds. This armor reduction effect can stack.	Alterac Pass	They first spawn after 1:00 minutes into the game and respawn after 3:00 minutes.
Assault Troopers	Medium damage & Long Range	These camps consist of three men piloting hovering exoskeletons with long-ranged missile attacks that outrange structures.	Volskaya Foundry	They first spawn after 1:00 minutes into the game and respawn after 3:00 minutes.
Hellbats	Splash Damage, Tanky & armor reduction	The Hellbats spawn in duos. They are a Starcraft themed Merc camp that can soak up damage from towers and enemy minions. Enemies hit by their basic attacks will have their armor reduced for a few seconds. This armor reduction effect can stack.	Braxis Holdout, Warhead Junction.	They first spawn after 1:00 minutes into the game and respawn after 3:00 minutes.
Impalers	Medium damage & Long Range	Aka Khazra camps, these goatmen spawn in trios. Much like their non-Diablo themed counterparts the Siege Giants, the Impalers are mercenaries that are able to attack structures outside of their attack ranges.	Battlefield of Eternity, Infernal Shrines	They first spawn after 1:00 minutes into the game and respawn after 3:00 minutes.
Sappers	Medium damage & Long Range and suicide bomb structures	Spawning in groups of 3, these pumpkins have a ranged attack like a catapult minion, that does splash damage. Once a pumpkin locks in on a target, it will not move until the target is killed. When it is close enough to a structure it will charge in and suicide to blow up enemy fortifications.	Towers of Doom, Haunted Mines	They first spawn after 1:00 minutes into the game and respawn after 2:00 minutes (2:30 on Towers of Doom) .
Sentinels	Heavy Damage & Tanky	Sentinels push down lanes and have a strong cleave attack.	Hanamura	They first spawn 1:00 minutes into the game and respawn after 3:00 minutes.
Siege giants	Heavy Damage & Long Range	Siege giants are large, ranged mercenaries that can easily take down enemy forts from outside the structures' attack ranges. However, they are not as threatening up close, which makes them the easiest camp to take. This also makes them fairly easy for enemy heroes to defeat once in action. They are found in groups of 2.	Dragon Shire, Cursed Hollow, Garden of Terror, Haunted Mines, Blackheart's Bay, Sky Temple, Tomb of the Spider Queen	They first spawn 1:00 minutes into the game and respawn after 3:00 minutes.

Bruiser Camps

Bruiser are tanky units that take longer to capture but are excellent at fortifying creep waves, making them a strong addition to any push or a distraction for enemies to waste time on.

Name	Properties	Description	Battleground	Timer
Knights	Tanky, ranged, and spell armor aura	Knights are 4 tanky units that are excellent at fortifying creep waves. Although individually they do not provide much damage, their health/tankiness make them a strong addition to any push. They are found in groups with 3 frontliners and a single ranged "Wizard". The Wizard emits a spell armor aura to buff all nearby allied units, including Heroes. This makes Knights a formidable force when they're barreling down a lane accompanied by Heroes.	Dragon Shire, Cursed Hollow, Garden of Terror, Blackheart's Bay, Sky Temple, Tomb of the Spider Queen	They first spawn 1:00 minutes into the game and respawn after 4 minutes.
Fallen Shaman	Summons dogs periodically	The Fallen Shaman camp is made up of the Shaman himself with ranged attacks, and 2 melee dogs. The camp is fairly hard to take and generally requires at least 2-3 people. When captured the Shaman will resummon his dogs when they die to help him, be it with significantly less health. This helps with pushing and makes this Merc camp one you do not want to leave alone pushing lanes.	Battlefield of Eternity, Infernal Shrines	They first spawn after 1:00 minutes into the game and respawn after 4:00 minutes.
Goliaths & Raven	Tanky, ranged, and Seeker Missiles	This camp consists of 3 Goliaths & 1 Raven. The Goliaths have a fast ranged attack, but do not out range the structures' attacks. The raven however, does out range structures as well as periodically sends Seeker Missiles to its current target dealing AoE damage. These missiles are locked on and will follow the target until they are hit, or out of range. The camp does decent damage to structures and heroes	Braxis Holdout, Warhead Junction.	They first spawn after 1:00 minutes into the game and respawn after 4:00 minutes.

Boss Camps

These are the biggest, baddest mercenaries you can capture. Not all maps contain Boss Camps and there is only one Boss per camp, but that one Boss does a lot of damage with each swing while also possessing a huge amount of health. The high health and high damage of the Boss, however, means that you'll need multiple heroes to take it down. This makes you particularly vulnerable to ambushes while fighting a Boss, which is why their spawn location is known as "the throw pit", so only attack them when you have a level advantage or some opposing heroes are dead in order to make sure it will not be stolen from you. Once captured, Bosses auto-attack structures and can use abilities on minions and heroes (Archangel besides using abilities on minions and heroes, use auto-attack on minions too). A Boss cannot have buff abilities be cast on it. Also, they cannot be slowed or stunned, being sort of unstoppable. If left unchecked, a Boss can literally break down walls and towers - even a keep - almost all by itself. Bosses cannot be captured by using abilities like "Bribe".

Name	Properties	Description	Battleground	Timer
Archangel	Massive Damage, ranged & very Tanky	The Archangel is a Starcraft themed Viking boss. It is the only ranged boss and will fire an extremely high-damage stream of bullets at the closest enemy making it difficult to take alone. It also periodically paints a circle on the ground where it fires a rocket dealing damage every could seconds, and sometimes shoots a rapid-fire hail of pellets in a long straight AoE. The raw damage it deals is offset by it having less health that other bosses.	Braxis Holdout	He first spawns after 5:00 minutes into the game and respawn after 4:10 minutes.
Grave Golem	Massive Damage, CC, & extremely Tanky	Grave Golems are large, tanky, high damage bosses that can easily push through enemy creeps and forts. They will alternate between a delayed slam on the ground dealing high damage and stunning, and a delayed root and DoT in a ranged AoE. This boss also is features prominently on the Haunted Mines as a primary map objective.	Cursed Hollow, Blackheart's Bay	They first spawn after 5:00 minutes into the game and respawn after 5:00 minutes.
Headless Horseman	Cleaving attacks, high-scaling AoE damage and very Tanky	The Headless Horseman is a high-damage boss with attacks that cleave. He also launches his head at enemies leaving a DoT field below them. This is offset by him having slightly lower health that other bosses, but his arena is very out in the open. When defeated, instead of pushing the nearest lane, he unleashes a volley of flaming pumpkins that deals 4 damage to the enemy team's core.	Towers of Doom	He first spawns after 5:00 minutes into the game and respawn after 5:00 minutes.
Ice Giant	Massive Damage, CC, and extremely Tanky	The Ice Giants at the northern and southernmost points of Alterac Pass tend to mind their own business, but once provoked, they’ve been known to hurl deadly balls of ice and even stomp the ground in an effort to Slow or Stun their foes.	Alterac Pass	They first spawn after 5:00 minutes into the game and respawn after 5:00 minutes.
Mega Enforcer	Massive Damage, Gorge, and very Tanky	This Boss gorges a hero for 5 seconds with a 12-second cooldown, preventing them from taking any action. After gorging, the Boss creates a ring of fire that does periodic damage. When defeated, instead of pushing the nearest lane, the Mega Enforcer deals 1 damage to the enemy team's Core. This boss is right in the center of the map and can heavily swing the tide of battle.	Hanamura	He first spawns after 5:00 minutes into the game and respawns after 5:00 minutes.
Sand Golem	Massive Damage, CC, and extremely Tanky	The Sand Golem is similar to the Grave Golem, with lots of health and high damage and even a delayed stun. It also periodically spawns a whirlwind that moves around randomly damaging and pushing heroes out of the way/prevents them from walking through that area.	Sky Temple, Tomb of the Spider Queen	They first spawn after 5:00 minutes into the game and respawn after 5:00 minutes.
Slime Boss	AOE DoT, summons, and very Tanky	The Slime Boss is a Starcraft themed boss. It has an AOE spew attack, and periodically spawns Podlings. When the Podlings are close enough to a hero, they puff up and will soon explode, slowing and dealing DoT to the hero. They are easy to dodge by proccing them and moving away but multiple of them can easily kill a hero. After being captured and as the Slime Boss moves down the lane, it leaves behind a trail of Ooze, similar to Stitches' Heroic.	Warhead Junction	They first spawn after 5:00 minutes into the game and respawn after 5:00 minutes.

Reward Camps

When a Reward Camp is captured, an item is dropped, which can be picked up and used by a hero. In addition, a large amount of experience is awarded to the team.

Name	Description	Reward	Battleground	Timer
Fortification Camps	Consists of a mechanic and a turret. The mechanic can heal the turret.	Creates a Turret on the ground, which fires at enemies.	Hanamura, Volskaya Foundry	They first spawn after 1:00 minutes into the game and respawn after 2:30 minutes.
Recon Camps	Consists of 3 Henchmen. The Henchmen deal little damage and are easy to kill.	Recon Camps offer the vision that Watchtowers do on the other maps. However, taking the camp means your enemies can re-take it to provide vision for their own team.	Hanamura	They first spawn after 1:00 minutes into the game.
Support Camps	Consists of 1 Sentinel. The Sentinel occasionally heals itself.	Support Camps give you a healing totem that restores 40% maximum Health and Mana to nearby allied Heroes over 10 seconds. Support Camps cannot be captured by using abilities like "Bribe".	Hanamura, Volskaya Foundry	They first spawn after 1:00 minutes into the game and respawn after 3:00 minutes.