6. Mid Game
Mid game you should have most of your units out while staying in no to low upkeep, and most upgrades you want. You should be tier 2.5-3 and creeping. Creeping is important. Items play large roll, and the faster you level your heroes the better. Plus less creeps for the enemy means less exp and items for them to get. Also you should secure at best 2 expansions, and have at least 2-3 heroes.
In mid game it is likely there have been some people who have fought each other. Stay out of these battles because you can only invite problems on you. If you see an opportunity to completely wipe out somebody, take it. If you’re only going to piss someone off, but not take them out of the game there is no point. If you see no chance to beat someone, or cripple them it is not worth it. Instead or irritating someone, go creep a red spot and get a frost orb or some rare artifact that is important.
Use the double production building to your advantage. With a nice tech, and an expansion with lots of money holding back until you need your units is smart. In the mid to late game, you’re going to need to make a choice. Only begin to build your army up after you have picked who you want to attack and have made the essential modifications. If you feel pressured earlier, building your army may be needed, but holding up a bit is much smarter.
6.5 -Alliances: Mid game you should see who the hot shots are. Those are the people who instigate fights with people, likely have 2 expansions and higher level heros due to picking on people. That is the moment to form a temporary alliance with people to take him out. This means you in game team. It is not a necessary tactic, but it works. It is not cheap or cheating, unless you have pre-arranged it. Also, With you being low key, there is no reason for them to do it to you unless you are seen as to strong after you take the one guy out. If you remove the dominant player, and become the dominant player you put yourself in a bad position. The best way to get out of that is to remove the original dominant player then turn on one of your former allies. Always have a plan ready to counter your allies along with your enemies. Of course you could also play one person off the other, but that can be tricky to do. Some people aren’t stupid.
7. Late game: Late game goes all out. When you are ready go full out. Max out your food supply, and grab orbs for all your heroes (unless they already have a modifier spell) several TP, potions, scrolls of protect, scrolls of healing and such. Any artifacts are a great asset, especially the frost orb. Items like Infernal stone are a smart choice. Items that are unneeded are rod of necromancy, or lightning wand because in late game their minor effects are worthless. Boots of speed for slow heroes, and anything extending heroes health/mana or armor is also a nice addition.
Always go after you biggest threat. If you can take them out, you can clean up anyone else. You should have extensive defense at your expansions, and TP to get out if a battle is going bad or your being attacked. The worst thing to happen is you attack and at the same time you’re attacked. This is where scouting comes in handy. Know where everyone is, and if you are in a direct line of attack, be there to intercept.
You don't even need to take out someone's army to win, just buildings. If you can avoid a conflict and take out a base better for you. I have won without even engaging the enemy. Most people at the ending of the game have gone through a lot, and usually are low on cash. Preventing more expansions is crucial. You should have a firm hold on the map by now, something you should only achieve when you know you can win.
If you are running low on cash, sell your items. You can get a nice price for the Ankh of Resurrection and good items. Save Artifacts, some items are just not needed, and could be better spent on reviving a dead hero, or building a required unit. They are no use to you if you have no army with your hero, or that important expansion you can't afford. Most items won't win you a game either, so don't be afraid to sell items. Items I would sell for dough immediately are any level 1-4 item, and an ankh of resurrection. The reasoning for this is an invisibility potion is a lot cheaper and a lot smarter to save a hero than that. Especially since you should never use a item as a crutch to allow a hero to die.
Avoid confrontations you can't win and if you have to hit and run repeatedly. this is easy with fast heros and the AM with teleport. One of the best things about humans is the mobility of the AM. It is also incredibly frustrating to hit and run.
By late you should have at least one or more level 9 or 10 hero. Use them to your advantage. NEVER let a hero at such a high level die, the cost and time to get them back is irreplaceable and could cost you the game especially since money gets tight at the end.
8. Wrap up: finally, it comes down to people either leaving or the building hunt. Do the entire Bnet community a favor. Win with grace. Calling anyone a "noob" is just disrespectful even if they are not near your skill. Not everyone can spend their time to get good; some people just like to play for fun. If you get to the point where you have won and looking for hidden buildings, don't be an ass. You just get into flaming blame wars. No one likes that.
If you get in the losing position, and you know your not going to win, then just leave. There is no point in staying. If someone pissed you off by backstabbing you, whatever man let it go. It all comes full circle. Just know it is a game.
9. Neutral Heros:
Neutral heroes can be integrated with many strategies to strengthen your army. You should understand Neutral heroes strengths/weaknesses before attempting to use them. Depend on how well they fare late game. There are a few heroes that will assist you late game, but will still need to be taken care of.
Alchemist: Although kind of awkward, his Acid bomb ability drops a group of units armor by -5 at level 3, and deals damage. This can prove a tide turner, especially if you add farie fire, to lower armor further, or bloodlust to attack the weakened units faster. Remember, if a unit’s armor dips below zero, attacks do extra damage than normal (ie. -2 armor will have attacks increase by 111%). Chemical rage is a self inducing bloodlust, however the Alchemist may also be lusted, adding an incredible attack speed and movement speed. Chemical rage can increase attack for the alchemist by 125%, and movement by 50% alone. Transmute makes this hero useful in late game. Similar to “Charm”, it can help to remove a powerful enemy unit, and get gold in return.
Dark Ranger: The Dark Ranger is a valuable asset as well You should consider whether or not you need black arrow. If the Dark Ranger is being used as a first hero, the summons can be used to creep effectively, with little reliance on a number of units. However, as the game progresses, the summons become too weak and when you face things like Knights and Tauren, they will fall quite easily. Dark Ranger is especially useful for silence, to remove annoying casters from the battle, and to delay a hero from casting a spell. Charm is one of the most useful ultimate in the game. There is no stopping/blocking/dispelling, if a DR wants your unit, she will take your unit. Not only do you gain a unit, the enemy also loses that unit. Turning a Frost Wyrm or a chimera against your enemy is not only insulting; it can be a monumental shift in the battle
Naga Sea Witch: this hero is known for one thing, frost arrows. Imitating a frost orb, this hero can stop any unit dead in it’s tracks. This is useful from beginning to end, as you can creep easier with it, knowkc of fleeing heros, or slow down a strong unit. Forked lightning does a fair amount of damage to units, something not to be taken lightly. The final normal spell is mana shield. Now most people would dismiss it, but I ask you can you really? At level 3, a naga sea witch can became one of the hardest heroes to kill. This is because the mana shield will take 1 mana for every two damage. Roughly the Naga sea witch can have the equivalent of 2350 hp. Tornado is a base wrecker. Honestly, this is one of my favorite ultimate. Unlike earthquake of D&D, this baby does more than expected. It does an AOE of 280 damage to buildings over 40 seconds. It also slows all targets down, and creates tornadoes to remove random units from battle. This is a very good spell for long FFA games, and big battles, as an entire army slowed down, is a dream come true.
10. Items:
Items play a key part in your FFA game. Items can make or break an army. However, the difference between solo and FFA, is items are more frequent, and there are usually incredibly powerful items put into play. The large incomes you can receive also help to boost your ability to purchase more items more frequently. Using a Town portal isn’t as wasteful in any situation as it can be in a solo match. There are two buildings that will be your best friends, The Goblin Merchant, and the Market place. The Goblin Observatory, and fountains will also make a wonderful addition to your strategy, it’s all about how you use it. Neutral buildings are going to be your greatest and only ally on the map.
Goblin merchant: The Goblin merchant is incredibly useful both early game and late game. It contains three basic types of items, consumables, permanent, power-ups, and charged.
Consumables: Scroll of healing, Scroll of protection, potion of Invisibility, and Potion of lesser invulnerability. These items can be used by a hero, and will be used to boost your chances of winning. The two scrolls are invaluable. Scroll of healing is mass healing of 150hp to all units in the vicinity. The scroll of Protection is also very powerful, as it adds +2 armor to all units in the area. Two armor adds 10.71% damage reduction, effectively adding a 12% hp increase to all your units.
The town portal is the most important purchased item at the Merchant. IT is imperative at elast 2 of your three heros have a TP, and that you always have one when going into battle. It can save your hero, and your entire army. Games can be won/lost on the use of a Town Portal. Staff of Teleportation has little use in a FFA game, do with it what you wish.
Permanent: The permanent items are the
Circlet of Nobility, Boots of speed,
Periapt of Vitality . The effects of the circlet of Nobility are minute, to other items may provide. However it can fetch a fair price to sell, and give a good boost in the early game. Boots of speed never loses it’s value. Periapt of Vitality gives 150 hp, and can be replaced by the item Khadgar's Gem of Health which adds 250.
Charged: Dust of appearance is of little importance in most FFA games.
Marketplace:
If you find a marketplace on a map, abuse it to the furthest degree. Items at a market place range from level 1 to level 10 items. You can buy aura inducing items, creating an army with true shot, brilliance, endurance, vampuric, and unholy. Items like claws of attack +15, Medallion of Courage or the Pendant of Magic. All of these items will give a hero a huge boost, without needing to fight a tough creep. Though it is still suggested to fight creeps for exp, skipping that step for a powerful item is sometimes a wise move.
The Goblin Observatory should be used to scout the map for only 50 gold, buy a goblin shredder, or a zeppelin. On island maps, a Zeppelin will be the most important tool for victory. More in maps section. The shredder will bring back 200 wood each trip. For only 4 food, you can eliminate the need for multiple peasants that will take up in excess many food units.
Fountains:
Creep and Control fountains. They regenerate your army for free, and will make your life a lot easier. Block your opponents from settling here, especially after a long battle. Mae sure to defend your fountains, to gain an advantage. You can fight within range of the fountain, and your enemy out of range giving you a fair advantage. Use the map, use your advantage.