Backstory

Falstad Wildhammer is the High Thane of the Wildhammer Clan and a founding member of the Council of Three Hammers that now presides over Ironforge. Despite wild speculation, Falstad has never been dead and anyone who claims such is a liar.

Description

Able to strike enemies from afar and fly over any terrain. Uses abilities to avoid damage or destroys his enemies.

Store Cost: 312 | 7000

Role: Ranged Assassin

Difficulty: Hard

Origin

Falstad was originally introduced in the novel Warcraft: Day of the Dragon (reprinted in the WarCraft Archive).

During the Second War, the old Horde captured Alexstrasza (the Queen of the Red Dragonflight) and enslaved her brethren to use them as aerial siege weapons against the Alliance. Rhonin was sent by Krasus and the Council of Six to infiltrate Grim Batol in order to rescue the dragon. Falstad Wildhammer assisted Rhonin the mage and Vereesa Windrunner in that mission, and earned the respect of the Red Dragonflight.

Throughout World of Warcraft until the Wrath of the Lich King expansion, Falstad was an NPC located at the Aerie Peak in The Hinterlands. In the Cataclysm expansion, the NPC was moved to the throne room of Ironforge as one of the members of the Council of Three Hammers.

Cameos:

• World of Warcraft: The Essential Sunwell Collection
• World of Warcraft: Stormrage
• World of Warcraft: The Shattering: Prelude to Cataclysm
• Fire and Iron -- Short Story by Matt Burns
• Quest for Pandaria (Part 2)-- by Sarah Pine

"Agh? I'm yer' dwarf!"

"The wind at ma' back, and a monster 'tween my legs! Errrr..."

"Do a barrel role, eh?"

"(fart noises) Ewww! Man alive, Swiftwing! Did you eat a ghoul again?"

"(Upset stomach rumbling) Look out below, we've got a sick gryphon here!"

"It's nice ta' get out of Ironforge. I dunna' how those Bronzebeards can stand that cave."

"Rumors of me' death have been greatly exaggerated."

"Um, you didn't happen to see a little guy in a red shirt around here, did 'ya? He's always watchin' me..."

"In my day, it took serious dedication to ride a gryphon. Nowadays, even gnomes are doing it!"

"Thank you for flying Wildhammer Aerie-lines. Your in-flight entertainment today will be The Perfect Storm-Hammer"

"Flight attendant, me' mug is empty!"

	Static Shield	Gain a Shield equal to 4% of Falstad's max Health after every Lightning Rod strike. Lasts 4 sec and stacks.
	Updraft	Increases Barrel Roll's range, Shield amount and Shield duration by 40%.
	Hammer Gains	Basic Attacks heal for 20% of the damage dealt to the primary target.

	Secret Weapon	Increases Hammerang's range by 30% and Basic Attacks deal 60% bonus damage while Hammerang is in flight.
	BOOMerang	Reactivate Hammerang mid-flight to deal 217 damage around the hammer.
	Charged Up	Increases the number of Lightning Rod strikes by 2 and its range by 25%.

	Hinterland Blast	After 1 sec, deal 756 damage to enemies within a long line. The cooldown is reduced by 25 sec for every enemy Hero hit. Mana: 100 Cooldown: 120
	Mighty Gust	Push enemies away, and slow their Movement Speed by 40% decaying over 4 sec. Mana: 70 Cooldown: 60

	Thunderstrikes	Lightning Rod deals 20% more damage each subsequent strike.
	Flow Rider	While Tailwind is active, Falstad's Basic Abilities recharge 100% faster.
	Giant Killer	Basic Attacks against enemy Heroes deal bonus damage equal to 1.5% of the Hero's max Health.

	Crippling Hammer	Increases Hammerang's slow from 25% to 50%.
	Aerie Gusts	Reduces the activation time for Tailwind from 6 to 3 sec, and increases the Movement Speed bonus from 15% to 25%.
	Afterburner	Barrel Roll increases Movement Speed by 60%, decaying over 3 sec.

	Call of the Wildhammer	Hinterland Blast has double the range and deals 25% more damage.
	Wind Tunnel	Mighty Gust creates a wind tunnel for 4 sec. Enemies caught in the tunnel will periodically be pushed back.
	Nexus Frenzy	Increases Attack Speed by 20% and Attack Range by 1.1.
	Epic Mount	Reduce the cooldown of Flight to 30 sec, reduce the cast time before flying to 0.5 sec, and increase the speed by 50%.

November "Nova" Terra is a ghost of the Terran Dominion and one of the most powerful psionic soldiers ever known. Nova is highly focused, determined, and extremely deadly. Even Jim Raynor wouldn't want to be caught within her crosshairs.

Description

Automatically cloaks while out of combat. Snipes enemies from afar, and creates Decoys of herself to fool enemies.

Role: Ranged Assassin

Difficulty: Medium

History

November "Nova" Terra spent the best parts of her youth as the golden child of one of Tarsonis' wealthy Old Families. Though she exhibited signs of burgeoning psionic potential, Nova's parents insisted that she was merely sensitive or "empathetic," hoping to keep her abilities a secret (as much from the Ghost Academy that would conscript their child as from Nova herself).

When her family was violently betrayed and her telekinetic powers became destructively apparent, Nova was forced into hiding in the crime-ridden slums of Tarsonis' Gutter. The story of Nova's emergence from the Gutter is apocryphal, but the burden of psionic abilities and the pain of her family's ruin led her to seek refuge among the very Ghosts her parents hoped to keep her from.

Supremely dedicated, Nova excelled as a trainee in the Ghost Academy on Ursa, eventually earning the questionable reward of a mind-wipe that erased all recollection of her tragic youth – and the majority of her long-term memory with it.

As a full-fledged Ghost operative, Nova's duties have included battling zerg, investigating the psionic killers known as Spectres, and even dealing with noted enemy of the people Jim Raynor. Her service record has seen her assigned tasks of increasing importance to the leadership of the Dominion, and she stands ready to be dispatched on missions that will make her past pale in comparison.

Origin

Nova was first introduced in StarCraft: Ghost, an FPS video game developed originally by Nihilistic & Blizzard Entertainment. The video game was first announced at the Tokyo Game Show 2002. The game was later transferred to Swingin' Ape Studios. Blizzard Entertainment acquired the studios time later, and in 2006 the game was deemed postponed (not cancelled).

The novel was meant to ship the same day as the game, but the game was postponed. Nevertheless, Blizzard and Pocket Star Books decided to launch the novel months later, on November 28, 2006 ... Starcraft: Ghost--Nova by Keith R.A. DeCandido.

Nova was also featured in the Tokyopop manga StarCraft: Ghost--Academy Vol. 1-3. Nova was introduced as an NPC in a cutscene shown in StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty and the player controls her as a unit during an optional mission. Nova also appears briefly in the initial missions of StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm.

Sample Description

These are the voice over quotes repeated by Nova when the player clicks on her multiple times. Transcript courtesy of Egrem. (Thank you)

"Nova here."

"Don't have all day."

"No, I am not Kerrigan... and if I had my own game, you'd know that."

"A Ghost's first and best weapon is her mind. Everything else is supplemental."

"If they're not dead, it's just because I haven't killed them yet."

"What can I say? I do have the best equipment."

"Watch where you're clicking! I'm not just some piece of assassin."

"You ever hear the one about the... is that a nuclear launch I detect, or are you just glad to see me?"

"Well all day long at Ghost Academy, all I hear is how great Sarah is at this, or how wonderful Kerrigan did at that. Kerrigan, Kerrigan, Kerrigan!"

"One shot, center mass. Pew."

"Boo."

"You think you have issues with your parents? Clearly you haven't heard my story."

"I can't believe I made out with Tosh. Wait, was I mind-wiped in that manga? I always forget."

"Blondes have more fun! See? So fun!"

	Remote Delivery	Increases Holo Decoy cast range by 100% and its sight range by 50%.
	Rapid Projection	Reduces Holo Decoy's cooldown and Mana cost by 40%.
	Holo Stability	Increases the duration of Holo Decoy by 120%.
	Covert Mission	Enemy Minions killed near Nova grant a stack of Bribe. Hero Takedowns grant 10 stacks of Bribe. Use 25 stacks to bribe a Mercenary, instantly defeating them. Does not work on Bosses. Max of 100 stacks. If a camp is defeated entirely with Bribe, the camp respawns 50% faster.

	One in the Chamber	After using an Ability, Nova's next Basic Attack within 3 sec deals 80% additional damage.
	Anti-Armor Shells	Nova's Basic Attacks deal 250% damage, but her Attack Speed is proportionally slower.
	Snipe Master	Hitting an enemy Hero with Snipe permanently increases the damage of Snipe by 15%. Stacks up to 5 times. All stacks are lost if Snipe fails to hit an enemy.

	Triple Tap	Locks in on the target Hero, then fires 3 shots that hit the first Hero or Structure they come in contact with for 501 damage each. Mana: 100 Cooldown: 100 sec
	Precision Sstrike	After 1.5 sec delay, deals 675 damage to enemies within an area. Unlimited Range. Mana: 100 Cooldown: 60 sec

	Double Tap	Pinning Shot now has 2 charges.
	Psionic Efficiency	Removes Snipe's Mana cost and increases its range by 10%.
	Explosive Round	Snipe also deals 50% damage to enemies near the impact.

	Perfect Shot	Hitting enemy Hero with Snipe reduces the cooldown by 3 sec.
	Crippling Shot	Pinning Shot lowers a Hero's Armor by 25 for the duration of the slow, causing them to take 25% increased damage.
	Lethal Decoy	Holo Decoy deals 40% of Nova's damage.

	Fast Reload	Triple Tap's cooldown is reset if it kills an enemy Hero.
	Precision Barrage	Precision Strike holds 2 charges with a 3 sec cooldown between using each charge.
	Rewind	Activate to reset the cooldown of your Basic Abilities. Cooldown: 60 sec
	Ghost Protocol	Activate to gain Stealth and become Unrevealable for 2 sec. Nova's attacks and Abilities will also not break Stealth during this time. Cooldown: 60 sec