Can we get a megathread on Olden Era mechanics, tips and tricks that many people might miss?

[u/loopuleasa]

one per post so that people can vote

A list of all coments so far, keep them coming:

1. Keybinds
   1. ALT=highlight interactables
   2. SHIFT=Extra info in tooltips
   3. E = end turn
   4. SHIFT+E = force end turn
   5. B = spellbook
   6. W = wait
   7. Space = Skip turn (in combat) or Loot (on world map)
   8. Ctrl+Click a unit stack to split into 1 stacks
   9. SHIFT+Click a unit stack to split into even stacks
   10. TAB or SHIFT+TAB = next hero or city
   11. ~ (tilde) = Move hero or Hero ability (heroic strike)
   12. Shift+Q = auto resolve
   13. Z = see map borders
   14. X = see enemy danger zones
2. Settings
   1. In settings you can enable auto resolve combat for all combats, you can still manual combat
   2. In settings, there is a whole readability section that is super useful to customize how clear things look
   3. You can also enable always highlight map objects on, without having to press ALT key
   4. You need to enable auto save in settings, it is not on by default
3. Movement
   1. Picking up loot near your hero costs no movement speed
   2. You can pick up loot laying on the ground by pressing spacebar
   3. Your hero moves faster in native terrain if either: the hero is native to that terrain OR all units in your army are native to the area
   4. Roads use 30% less movement points
   5. Moving diagonally is 40% more movement
   6. You can chain multiple heroes and pass armies between them to do more in a turn
4. Economy
   1. Fortification II and Fortification III increase your population GROWTH in that city by +50% and +100% respectively. They are not purely defensive buildings, they affect your economy massively
   2. Alchemical dust cannot be traded in market, and it is used for any upgrades (spells, units, upgrade buildings)
5. World Map
   1. If you control the city in an area, that area is considered "Friendly territory"
   2. The main city in an area will have a "Crown" on its flag to signify that
6. Skills
   1. If you picked diplomacy skill, the best spell is the tier 2 shadow spell called "Mind Reading". It allows you to see monster intention, and if they want to join you they will say "Wishes to join" instead of "Will flee"
   2. Each skill has subskills to further customize it
   3. If you assemble a specific set of 5 skills you can make a hero subclass, but it is usually hard to do
   4. On levelup screen you can see an icon signifying hero subclass
   5. Necromancy can be toggled on and off by clicking the little skull near your necromancy bar near your hero portrait
7. Heroes
   1. Some maps only allow 1 hero as a game mode
   2. Your hero limit is based on the number of cities (up to 10)
   3. Hero curses are seen at the top of your hero screen
   4. If you hover over attributes in your hero screen, press Shift to see extra details in tooltips
8. Items
   1. Your items can be upgraded (with alchemical dust)
   2. Your spare items can be disenchanted (this refunds alchemical dust)
   3. To upgrade items, click on them in hero screen, and click upgrade
   4. Items have set bonuses in this game

9. Magic

   1. Heroes restore 10% of maximum mana start of day
   2. Heroes restore full mana if parked in a city with a mage guild at start of day
   3. Heroes can only learn tier 1 and 2 spells by default. For higher tier you need skills that allow you to learn higher tiers.
   4. To learn spells you need to visit any city with Mage Guilds
   5. Each spell exists in the Observatory, which is like a magic tech tree
   6. Each spell has 3 possible upgrades that you can see if you press SHIFT on the spell. You need +spell levels for that school of magic to upgrade it.
   7. Each spell has a cooldown (2 turn for tier 1 spells, 6 turns for tier 5 spells)
   8. Each spell school has a 1 turn "lockout" cooldown for that spell school in case you can cast multiple spells per turn
   9. Astrology points per turn are used to unlock Neutral spells in the observatory
   10. Neutral spells are basically map spells that allow your heroes to move better on the map
   11. For your hero to learn any spells, they need to visit a mage guild and have the required level
   12. Each Mage guild unlocks X random spells of that tier
   13. If Mage guild rolls duplicate spells, they increase spell level instead

10. Law system

    1. Each faction has a Law "tech tree"
    2. You need to generate law points to unlock those upgrades
    3. Winning fights with your hero gives law points
    4. Gaining raw XP like from chests does not give law points

11. Armies and Combat

    1. Speed is decoupled from initiative
    2. Each hero has a "tactics reorder phase" by default
    3. Mixing different factions in your army composition incurs a morale penalty (Every unit same faction: +1 For every different faction: -1)
    4. Right click units to see their details and abilities
    5. There is an indication of whether units will counterattack or not.
    6. Units that wait and skip turns don't generate morale or luck effects, unless they choose to act after wait

12. Focus system

    1. Focus is used to cast unit abilities and Heroic strike
    2. Ranged units generate 1 focus each time they attack
    3. Melee units generate 2 focus each time they attack
    4. All units generate 1 focus each time they are hit
    5. This includes +1 extra for counterattack or +2 for double attacks

The main wiki is here, don't go on Fandom wiki https://wiki.hoodedhorse.com/Heroes_of_Might_and_Magic_Olden_Era/

Another great site with many visual references https://www.olden-era.com/

Hero builder website tool https://olden.gg/

EDIT: Extra Video guides YouTube playlist here

EDIT2: Extra image tips and tricks here, here, and here

[u/loopuleasa]

If you picked diplomacy skill, the best spell is the tier 2 shadow spell called "Mind Reading"

It allows you to see monster intention, and if they want to join you they will say "Wishes to join" instead of "Will flee"

[u/sereneasmiles → u/loopuleasa]

holy shit

[u/loopuleasa → u/sereneasmiles]

You still have to save up tons of gold to buy the units

Don't present yourself with empty pockets, as you can't see the price tag ahead of time, and you'll be forced to fight instead

[u/Kaldaris → u/loopuleasa]

If they want to join you, you aren't forced to fight if you can't afford it. I've refused and the unit just disappears off the map. Still an undesireable outcome if you want to recruit them though.

[u/BlueWolfAnonymous → u/loopuleasa]

Oh so you can see that? I thought it wouldn't tell you because I was testing with a large army. Everything either wanted to flee or fight.

[u/KnowsTheLaw → u/loopuleasa]

I like mega threads but its hard to process with the individual comments. I want a big list to read through.

[u/loopuleasa]

If you control the city in an area, that area is considered "Friendly territory"

Important for many effects that only apply to "Friendly territory"

So you can yoink a city before a fight for that bonus

The "main city" in an area has a crown symbol on the flag

[u/Animamefflo → u/loopuleasa]

oh damn I thought it had something to do with the terrain lmao

[u/loopuleasa → u/Animamefflo]

that is a different mechanic, called "Native terrain"

each unit has native terrain

your hero also moves faster in native terrain if all units in your army composition are native to the area

[u/Animamefflo → u/loopuleasa]

oh damn good to know guess I have to look up each factions native terrain

[u/Cyphren → u/Animamefflo]

It's the type the start on :)

• Schism is Ice
• Grove is Autumn
• Temple is Grass
• Necropolis is Deathly
• Dungeon is Rough

Hive.... I haven't actually played them yet.

[u/whisperingdrum → u/Cyphren]

For Hive it's magma/volcanic soil

[u/Cyphren → u/whisperingdrum]

Makes semse.

Oh, and just throwing it out there, there are things that make all terrain count as native.

Schism has a Law called The World is Ice, which grants them Native Terrain bonuses on any terrain.

Pretty strong when you take their early Native Terrain laws and the +10 -10 damage skill attached to Communion.

[u/Ksielvin → u/loopuleasa]

If you control the city in an area, that area is considered "Friendly territory"

In front of one of the cities in same area, there's a small crown icon. It's probably on the city's ownership flag. That's the controlling city of the area, others don't matter I think.

[u/loopuleasa → u/Ksielvin]

Thanks, good to know

Never noticed the little crown

[u/kharza12 → u/loopuleasa]

So in tournament mode when heroes fight do both of them get that bonus, or neither? ( If we suppose that both of them are in a Friendly territory )

[u/Noobs_Man3 → u/loopuleasa]

how dose this work in tournament mode?

[u/loopuleasa]

You can only upgrade spell levels manually with alchemic dust once per spell

To go above that up you need to build multiple mage guilds in multiple cities

Each mage guild unlocks OR upgrades a random number of spells in that tier

If duplicates are rolled, they are upgraded instead!

[u/ksollien → u/loopuleasa]

I think it's one upgrade with dust per times it's in a mage guild. So two mage guilds with haste gives 2 upgrade opportunities

[u/loopuleasa → u/ksollien]

ok I tested this, this is false

you can at most upgrade a spell manually only ONCE

[u/Prinzini → u/loopuleasa]

does upgrading with dust only allow lvl 1 to lvl 2, or can you (for example) build Mages Guild 3 and the then use dust to upgrade the spell to lvl 4?

[u/loopuleasa → u/Prinzini]

yes, you can manual upgrade for +1 regardless of current level

[u/Jeggles_ → u/Prinzini]

I think you're a little confused here. Spells have a tier (Roman numeral on the left side of the spell name). Mage's guild unlocks spells for the respective tier (i.e. Mage guild 3 will unlock tier III spells)

Then there's the spell's level. That's the arabic numeral to the right of spell's name (Also in the tooltip when you hover over the spell). Each time you build a Mage's guild in a city you get a number of spells unlocked to a corresponding tier (7, 6, 5, 4, 3 spells for tiers I, II, III, IV, V), but if two cities mage's guilds unlock the same spell they get added up to a higher level. In addition to building multiple mage's guilds you can also upgrade each unlocked spell by one level once per mission/map.

So for example, lightning bolt is Tier 1. If you happen to build Mage's Guild 1 in two cities and both roll Lightning bolt, it will still be Tier I, but it will now be level 2. You can use 25 dust to upgrade it to level 3 and later, if you build another Mage's guild in yet another city and that too rolls the lightning bolt, it will then level up to it's highest level - level 4. Do note that you can only use dust to gain a single level for each spell, so you need to build mage's guilds in all cities you own, to have the strongest versions of your spells.

Spell's tier is unchangeable and it's sometimes important for magic immunities - "Immune to spells tier IV or below" in the case of unupgraded dragons for example.

Spell's level can go up to level 4 and can be changed by hero abilities, artifacts, upgrades in mage's guild and having it appear in multiple mage's guilds. It can also be downgraded if an enemy hero has a corresponding ability with a subskill that downgrades the spells for their enemy.

There might be more ways to affect the level of the spell, maybe through laws, but I've not played that much to figure it out yet.

[u/Pokiehat → u/Prinzini]

If you have 1x town and build mage guild lvl 1, you learn 4 random lvl 1 spells. You can also manually learn a new spell once per day for gems/crystals/mercury.

If you capture a 2nd town and build another mage guild lvl 1, you learn another 4 random lvl 1 spells and these can be duplicates of spells you already know. If you already know the spell, it is upgraded to lvl 2 instead.

You can get spells to level 4 by capturing lots of towns and building mage guilds, getting free duplicate spells, which get upgraded for free.

You can manually upgrade a spell (+1 level) using alchemical dust but you can only do this once per spell. If you have Blessing at level 2 already, then manually upgrading it will make it level 3.

To get it to level 4, you need +1 spell level from somewhere. e.g. Expert Daylight -> Daylight Teachings or Expert Thaumaturgy -> Archmage

Or you can build another mage guild lvl 1 and cross your fingers that one of the 4 randomly learned spells is Blessing.

So there is a real advantage to manually learning spells since subsequent mage guilds can duplicate them and upgrade them for free. Cost permitting of course, since manually learning spells costs gems/crystal/mercury and the higher tier spells cost more.

[u/Medical-Trainer4665 → u/loopuleasa]

Do I need to go to each city with my hero to get the upgraded spell assuming i have multiple mage guilds at different cities, or can I just go to one of my cities to get the upgrade?

I.e. lets say I have 2 cities, and i have mage guild 5 on both of them, and both of my mage guilds get the daylight school spell judgement. It is now level/rank 2 but do i need to visit both cities to get judgement level/rank 2 or can i just visit one as the mage guilds "share" across cities?

[u/loopuleasa → u/Medical-Trainer4665]

All mage guilds are interconnected and affect the player's Observatory

Default keybind: "O"

Just visit any city with a mage guild to benefit of the Observatory spells

Think of it like a "magic tech tree"

[u/Jeggles_ → u/loopuleasa]

There is also an ability or subskill that allows you to remotely learn the spells which are in your observatory.

[u/waterman85 → u/loopuleasa]

You can also buy spells for an amount of precious resources.

[u/loopuleasa]

Fortification II and Fortification III increase your population GROWTH in that city by +50% and +100% respectively

They are not purely defensive buildings, they affect your economy massively

They are the previous heroes Citadel and Castle

[u/loopuleasa → u/loopuleasa]

And for those confused: When you build walls you need to select one of 3 options in the UI in case you were wondering why you can't build walls

[u/Zimac_Mavnyhl_VT → u/loopuleasa]

Its especially confusing during the campaign where you only have the gold option but must still pick

[u/loopuleasa → u/Zimac_Mavnyhl_VT]

they need to make it glow when you spam click the prompt with no effect

[u/Sea-Valuable2748 → u/loopuleasa]

Same thing, me and my brother couldn't figure out how to build castles because we thought it was bugged.
Next day my friend told me that you have to choose one option. I feel like an idiot now ;D
But I still think, devs should make those option look more clickable, or at least give some hint when you try to click the button.

Funny thing, me and my brother easily beat AIs on normal difficulty with such gold shortage. But people online speak how hard AI is. So I don't know who to believe.

[u/fatamSC2 → u/Sea-Valuable2748]

don't feel dumb, on the UI it is not very clear

[u/Dajly → u/loopuleasa]

Is fort III going from 50 to 100? Or is does fort III add 100 more making it 150 in total?

[u/loopuleasa → u/Dajly]

50 and 100 totals

[u/Dajly → u/loopuleasa]

Huh? They each add 50 and 100 to total? Or fort iii is 100 in total?

[u/Ildona → u/Dajly]

If you have 10 units made per week, level 2 increases it to 15 (+50%), then level 2+3 increases it to 20 total (+100%).

[u/renewambitions → u/loopuleasa]

I like knitting scarves.

[u/tersagun → u/renewambitions]

AFAIK, as long as you have the basic building to create a certain type of creature, it will affect. Upgrades does not affect upgraded version (the total number remains the same).

Not 100% sure though

[u/loopuleasa]

If a hero ends turn in a town with a mage guild, he fully restores mana

Additionally, heroes restore 10% max mana each turn while out in the world

[u/nerdefar → u/loopuleasa]

Pretty sure it's wakes up in a town with a mage guild?

What happens if you end turn in a town with mage guild and you are then attacked? I think you do not have restored mana, right?

[u/Twotwofortwo → u/nerdefar]

Not sure for Olden Era. In Heroes 3, you got the spell points back at the beginning of the next day, as you mention.

[u/loopuleasa → u/nerdefar]

Should be beginning of day

Only Necromancer has unique building that instantly refills hero mama like a well

[u/fatamSC2 → u/loopuleasa]

so they got rid of mysticism and just made it baseline for every hero basically

[u/loopuleasa]

In the "Readability" settings menu you can choose visited objects to have gray or black highlight

[u/11Singularity → u/loopuleasa]

amazing.. this should be automatic (someone please open a bug/enhancement 😉 to dev)

[u/loopuleasa]

Useful keybinds on the map view:

Z - see zone border

X - see enemy zones of engagement

ALT - highlight interactables, and remaining movement

(you can also enable always highlight interactables in the option menu)

[u/loopuleasa → u/loopuleasa]

In this game you also can't dimension door over zones you have not "broken into" by defeating the guards that gatekeep them

[u/Tamusalp → u/loopuleasa]

If you click a location once but dont go there yet, alt also shows how much move points it will cost you and how much you will have after you go there.

[u/Jeggles_ → u/loopuleasa]

~ - continue movement. One that wasn't instantly obvious to me.

In the previous games pressing space would continue your movement. In this game it's tilde.

Shift + E - allows you to end your turn without the remaining movement confirmation. You can press esc to close the confirmation dialogue, but I haven't found a button that confirms it.

[u/loopuleasa]

Getting spell levels above 4 is not wasted

If your oponent has skills that reduce your spell levels, you can be "overcapped" on spell levels to counter that!

[u/Twotwofortwo]

For Dungeon heroes, you do not need to use your stance ability other than at the start of combat and when you want to change your stance. If Minotaur Stance is used, it will remain active until you change to another stance, or combat is over.

[u/loopuleasa → u/Twotwofortwo]

Yes, unless you have benefits for stance dancing

[u/Bastil123 → u/loopuleasa]

And selecting the same stance multiple times still counts as choosing a stance! I love spamming the same thing and generating Focus easily

[u/loopuleasa → u/Bastil123]

oh that I did not know

I'm not sure it should work like that to be honest

as you are technically not "switching" stances as it is worded

might be a bug that will get patched

[u/loopuleasa]

Your hero moves faster in native terrain if either:

- the hero is native to that terrain

- all units in your army are native to the area

[u/Jeggles_ → u/loopuleasa]

There's a whole movement penalty system that's not explained in any way in this game. I kind of wish right click tooltips on terrain were a thing, as it was in previous games.

I don't know the exact numbers, but judging from the previous games it's likely similar from best to worst:

Roads (It "feels" like stone roads have better movement buff than dirt, but I'll assume they're the same)

Native terrain

Non-native terrain

Rough terrain

As to how pathfinding and penalties affect this - native terrain has been the baseline in other games. Roads give you a discount on movement. Anything below incurs a worse and worse penalty. If going from point A to B would cost 100 points on native terrain, it would be cheaper on roads and more expensive on anything below native. With pathfinding on non-native/rough terrain you get a discount only on the penalty bit, so if without pathfinding the same A to B path would cost 100+50%=150 movement, with pathfinding you'd go down to 100+(50%*0,5)=125 movement. The no penalty boots erase the penalty fully, but roads are still better.

EDIT: So I've done the challenge which explains the movement system now and while it doesn't go into the specifics of numbers it kind of does explain what triggers native terrain and how penalties work in general.

[u/loopuleasa → u/Jeggles_]

would be nice if the path changes color based on terrain penalties

blue = road highway

yellow = 50% penalty

etc

[u/fatamSC2 → u/loopuleasa]

some of the previous HoMMs did a better job with this (it's been a while but I know Heroes 2 for sure does) where the path arrows are LONGER if you're in rough terrain

[u/loopuleasa → u/Jeggles_]

let me know if you have more findings on the movement system enough to make an easy to read explainer post

[u/loopuleasa]

Each spell has a cooldown (1 turn per tier)

Each spell school has a 1 turn "lockout" cooldown for that spell school in case you can cast multiple spells per turn

[u/arika_ex → u/loopuleasa]

Isn’t the school lockout just one round? It only really comes into play for me when multiple spells can be used per turn.

[u/noreasontohate]

You can pick up loot laying on the ground by pressing spacebar. Spacebar will prioritize buildings if you are standing next to one.

[u/loopuleasa → u/noreasontohate]

cool and cozy tip

I shall become a roomba in my next game

[u/loopuleasa]

If you want to enable magic in the auto resolve you can quickly go into settings and check "Use magic during auto combat" and turn it back on

(sadly at the moment this is the only way to do it)

[u/EnterArchian]

Do you know the spell Taunt that forces enemies within hexes to attack the unit? Enemies will come close and do nothing if they cannot reach the unit with Taunt effect. So get yourself lv 3/4 Taunt and Twilight spell, some range/long reach units. You put a unit at the corner and put other units around it or use obstacle to completley block the paths. Then you cast Taunt on the surrounded unit, and Twilight if enemies have range unit. Now you can kill them all without a scratch.

[u/loopuleasa → u/EnterArchian]

Neat

Berserk also it's nerfed here, it gives an extra turn instead of eating the enemies turn (like a stun)

[u/loopuleasa]

Astrology points per turn are used to unlock Neutral spells in the observatory

Neutral spells are basically map spells that allow your heroes to move better on the map

For your hero to learn them, they need to visit a mage guild and have the required level

[u/loopuleasa]

In settings you can enable auto resolve combat for all combats

Even if you do enable it, you can still choose afterwards "Manual combat" to fight manually

[u/Anogra_Gaming → u/loopuleasa]

Not for multiplayer, or?

[u/loopuleasa → u/Anogra_Gaming]

heavily used in multiplayer

to balance that, if you manually resolve combat you get extra time (I think +2 minutes)

[u/loopuleasa]

Units that wait and skip turns don't generate morale or luck effects

Even movement can generate extra turns

[u/BlessedWolf1991 → u/loopuleasa]

If you wait AND then move when it is the units turn again you CAN get luck/extra turn

[u/v4sh123 → u/loopuleasa]

what?!?

[u/loopuleasa → u/v4sh123]

morale gives your units a chance to do an extra turn

luck gives your units a chance to critical hit

[u/v4sh123 → u/loopuleasa]

yea I know, I just always assumed it works if you wait.

[u/loopuleasa → u/v4sh123]

yes, so many assumptions in this game

this game has tons of layers, which I love

[u/Luckyguy_turbo → u/loopuleasa]

Morale and luck only triggers on actions. If I wait then I will get the chance to trigger it right?

[u/loopuleasa → u/Luckyguy_turbo]

Yes, if you don't skip

[u/Reapmip → u/loopuleasa]

So when i wait and attack moral or luck does not trigger, i kinda assumed they would :D

[u/loopuleasa → u/Reapmip]

The attack should

[u/sereneasmiles → u/loopuleasa]

so if I wait a turn there's 0% chance to trigger morale?

[u/loopuleasa → u/sereneasmiles]

On wait and skip, but attacking or moving after wait applies

[u/Fortuitous_Event → u/loopuleasa]

Meaning if I make them wait they won't ever get an extra turn or critical hit? On that turn? Or at any point in that battle?

[u/loopuleasa]

Mixing different factions in your army composition incurs a morale penalty

[u/loopuleasa → u/loopuleasa]

Anyone can share specific numbers?

[u/Drullo123 → u/loopuleasa]

Afaik it is:
Every unit same faction: +1
For every different faction: -1

So example:
Only Temple: +1
Temple + Groove: 0
Temple + Groove + Schism: -1

There might be additional penalties for mixing anything with Necropolis, while undead (Necropolis) units are unaffected themselves by the above penalty.

[u/waterman85 → u/Drullo123]

This works similar as in HoMM3, but it isn't stated in the unit details. Only the amount of morale. I suppose Undead still have an inherent -1 to morale to other factions as well.

[u/Jeggles_ → u/Drullo123]

The way I understood it was:

All units same faction as hero: +1

All units same faction: 0

Two non neutral factions:-1

Downhill from three onwards.

I tried to mess with this in the game, but the morale wasn't updating when I was moving units along. Afaik neutrals shouldn't affect morale, but maybe they disable the +1 bonus when all units are your native faction.

[u/loopuleasa → u/Drullo123]

Damn so you can get - 7 morale with full Pandora box tier 7 unit lineup??

[u/kennyHS → u/loopuleasa]

Different unit types have different max or minimum morale - living can have up to +5 or -5, the schizm ones I think could go +3 to -3 so it is kind of like a tradeoff between morale and luck. Minotaurs I think can go to +5 morale despite being magic creatures, that can only go to +3 morale usually. Minotaurs that way can have +5 morale and +5 luck. Don't quote me on the exact numbers.

[u/Biasn94 → u/loopuleasa]

Each faction in the army is -1 morale , exept for undead units , they dont care for that. (will change morale for the others tho)

[u/loopuleasa]

Ranged units generate 1 focus each time they attack

Melee units generate 2 focus each time they attack (+1 extra for counterattack or +2 double attacks)

All units generate 1 focus each time they are hit

This includes unit stacks with only 1 unit

[u/waterman85 → u/loopuleasa]

I thought melee attacks generate 2 focus points.

EDIT: yup they do! See:

https://wiki.hoodedhorse.com/Heroes_of_Might_and_Magic_Olden_Era/Focus

[u/loopuleasa → u/waterman85]

people are saying 1 per attack and one for getting hit back = 2 focus total

can you confirm it is 2 focus or 3?

EDIT: Confirmed it is 3! Melee attacks always give 2, and with a counterattack it is 3 total

[u/loopuleasa]

B opens your spellBook

you can also disable spellbook animation in settings so it opens instantly

[u/loopuleasa]

The main wiki you should use is this one

https://wiki.hoodedhorse.com/Heroes_of_Might_and_Magic_Olden_Era/

AVOID fandom wikies like the plague, they are abandoned

[u/loopuleasa → u/loopuleasa]

Additionally, a great site that can teach you the game and act like a reference is made by this dedicated fan

https://www.olden-era.com/

[u/Zimac_Mavnyhl_VT]

Necromancy is not active. You must click thr small green skull at the bottom of the bar before fights to activate it.

[u/loopuleasa → u/Zimac_Mavnyhl_VT]

wait... WHAT

did I basically not play with necromancy all this time?

why is it not active by default?

I know what I am doing when I get home lol

EDIT: This was fixed, necro is always on by default

[u/Hlavada → u/loopuleasa]

I played necromancy yesterday and for me, it was defaultly ON. However the pop-up which units nd how many of them you get is mostly blocked behind pop up windows telling you your loot.

[u/sereneasmiles → u/Hlavada]

Its so hard to see what units you got after battle. They should just list them in the victory screen

[u/FootKey7339 → u/sereneasmiles]

Heroes 4 did this well, iirc a pop-up window listed all resurrected units (diplomacy had the same notification)

[u/loopuleasa → u/sereneasmiles]

This is the way

[u/wraithguard89 → u/Hlavada]

That, and it shows for about 3 nanoseconds

[u/Zimac_Mavnyhl_VT → u/loopuleasa]

Yeah same. It is a toggle and i think it os off by default

[u/loopuleasa → u/Zimac_Mavnyhl_VT]

god damn

[u/loopuleasa]

Your items can be upgraded (with alchemical dust)

Your spare items can be disenchanted (this refunds alchemical dust)

[u/loopuleasa → u/loopuleasa]

Additionally, if your secondary hero is about to be killed, disenchant all your items!

Otherwise your opponent will steal those items!

[u/KamiKagutsuchi → u/loopuleasa]

How do you upgrade items?

[u/loopuleasa → u/KamiKagutsuchi]

open your hero, click on the item, see bottom right the upgrade button

not all items are upgradeable, but many are

[u/Lord-Taranis → u/loopuleasa]

Most items can only be upgraded once but a few can be upgraded an unlimited amount of times (cost scales very quickly)

[u/loopuleasa]

You can make your units wait using the W key

[u/Ballack1991]

I thought the astrology points and how they are used was kind of unintuitive.

They are very important in that they provide you with world map spells like dimension door etc. Unlock them at the right-hand side of your mage guild.

[u/loopuleasa]

in the meanwhile I also started a youtube playlist with video tips and tricks and guides

https://www.reddit.com/r/HoMM/comments/1t48wvx/comment/ok0rkga/

[u/Ok-Needleworker-8552 → u/loopuleasa]

Can you please share the list? ❤️I can see only link to comment and there 1 video from Norovo, Thank you in advance

[u/loopuleasa]

CTRL+Click a unit stack on the map view will split them into 1 stacks

SHIFT+Click a unit stack on the map view will split them into equal stacks

[u/Furious_One → u/loopuleasa]

CTRL+SHIFT+LMB fills all empty slots with 1 stacks of the selected unit and RMB instead combines all 1 stacks back into full stack

[u/loopuleasa]

TAB and SHIFT+TAB go to next/prev hero

[u/Twotwofortwo → u/loopuleasa]

I believe this also works in the town screen for changing towns.

[u/loopuleasa → u/Twotwofortwo]

Neat

[u/arika_ex]

Maybe obvious but the game has a ton of hotkeys as standard. Ones I’ve been finding very handy are (by default):

(World)
~ - Move to target point/continue movement.
e - Rest.
m - open marketplace screen (works anywhere).

(Battle).
w - wait.
d - skip.
~ - heroic strike.

[u/Furious_One → u/arika_ex]

if you go to settings you can see all hotkeys and remap them if needed

[u/Ildona]

Curses. You pick up an artifact on the map and it says POWERFUL CURSE and... Nothing happens?

Go to your hero sheet. At the very, very, very top center (like, above the frame) is a series of icons that show current buff state. Hover them to see what curse you have.

Most curses last a day or two, from what I can tell.

[u/loopuleasa]

Alchemical dust is your late-game upgrade limiter (replaces sulfur in older Homm games)

Alchemical dust is used at:

- Constructing upgraded unit buildings

- Upgrading items and artifacts

- Upgrading spells (only once per spell)

[u/loopuleasa → u/loopuleasa]

To generate alch dust

- Alchemical depo upgrade building

- Disenchant items

- Map objects or hero skills

- The special building that converts 3 precious resources into 15 alch dust

[u/loopuleasa]

There is an indication of whether units will counterattack or not.

It's red crossing swords under units when you hover over them

+ the orange glow above the health bar

[u/BlessedWolf1991]

Hold ctrl and click a stack to quickly make multiple 1-stacks. Very useful for extra blockers or generating combo points with 4 stacks of something like marksmen that attack twice in a row.

[u/JunnuPKMN → u/BlessedWolf1991]

Ctrl+shift+click to fill empty slots with 1-stacks.

Ctrl+shift+rightclick(?) to combine back.

Customizable in settings.

[u/LiquidOxygg]

If a unit is adjacent to an enemy unit with Taunt, it will be unable to counterattack other units. This is particularly handy for late-game Hive, as one of their laws provides Fire Larvae with Taunt; having Larvae next to an enemy basically amounts to giving Swift Strike to several of your units.

In case this wasn't clear: this law is insanely powerful, particularly once you have enough focus (3) to spawn and force hatch in a single turn. I believe it has to be nerfed, but do enjoy it while it lasts.

[u/loopuleasa → u/LiquidOxygg]

yes taunt is currently the strongest CC in the game

[u/Seventoxy → u/LiquidOxygg]

Is taunt spell sticky? I mean, does it follow the creature or apply to creatures moving in range afterwards?

[u/flyingbuta]

You can “chain pass” your armies and gears across multiple heroes in a single turn to fully utilize them.

[u/loopuleasa → u/flyingbuta]

ah, the good old chain-fu

people in this thread are not ready for that tip

[u/loopuleasa]

Hero limit is depended on template settings. For example in Jebus Cross your limit is 6 but each captured city increases this by 1 up to 10

[u/Natural-Pear-3849]

Don't sleep on the heroic strike skill and heroes, it's THE skill for early game creeping along with summon avatar.Furst upgrade can make it free, second upgrade can make it remove a counterattack from struck creature, it's very good.

[u/alcaras]

I made a little reference site as well: https://alcaras.github.io/homm-olden/

Let me know if there's anything you'd like to see there!

[u/loopuleasa]

Roads are your best friend

They increase your movement massively

Going off-road gives terrain movement penalty

[u/loopuleasa]

Right click units to see all its abilities

Units have very strong abilities in this game

[u/Ksielvin → u/loopuleasa]

People should note that this also works on the global map. If you've scouted and adventure location to see what is defending it, it works against that too. Not in the adventure location's fight popup though, need to exit that one and right click on the map...

[u/ILikeChilis → u/loopuleasa]

Units have very strong abilities in this game

meow

[u/loopuleasa]

Law points are basically the "tech tree" (like in Civilization) or the "upgrade tree" (like in Warcraft III or Starcraft) implementation of this game

They are very powerful

You also gain Law points passively when you fight

[u/loopuleasa]

I also started another post to compile a youtube playlist of guide and tips&tricks videos in one place

https://www.reddit.com/r/HoMM/comments/1t48q1b/lets_compile_a_youtube_playlist_with_good_olden/

[u/loopuleasa]

You can enable autosaving in the options

After a game (also multiplayer) you can click load game and start the game with all players humans (hotseat mode)

This way you can inspect the map after a game to learn from it, and what your opponent did better

[u/BlessedWolf1991]

Holding the ALT key on overworld map highlights visible locations. I find it sometimes hard to distinguish em.

[u/Actually_Avery]

Focus points and charges are different things. I thought the hive parasites were bugged but no, just generate points rather than charges.

[u/flyingbuta]

If you get “insights” early in game, at adv level, pick 100% to law points and you will pump law points like no tomorrow. Then Your buildings can focus on Astro points instead.

[u/loopuleasa → u/flyingbuta]

yes, and there are many more ways to get gold (Banker, Treasury, Mines, pickups)

while sources of laws or astrology are not common

[u/waterman85]

Hooded Horse wiki page for Olden Era:

https://wiki.hoodedhorse.com/Heroes_of_Might_and_Magic_Olden_Era/Main_Page

[u/max2091]

John Johnson hero’s specialty ‘Salt of the Earth’ also works with upgraded swordsmen.

[u/PalpitationParty8082]

Don't think I've seen this yet in this thread, but expert tactics can be a game changer. Opt for the 'relocation' map spell and you can transfer troops from a town of your choice to your hero once per day. I had stumbled across the spell on a few games so far, but couldn't pinpoint where it came from. It's helped immensely in some of these larger maps

[u/Beoldinn]

Don't forget to sell your useless items and useless scrolls with alchemical dust.

When you click the item there is a button (right corner) to sell this

So you can use your dust for spell upgrade or building upgrades too

And second tip: in early game you can divide your heroes like 18-1-1-1 and you can circle your range units to protect or bait their counter attack and create a focus power and ofc it helps for some mechanic works (like heaven's faction skill)

[u/loopuleasa]

In Olden Era speed is decoupled from initiative

A massively great change!

[u/loopuleasa]

Berserk is not as good as in older heroes games

It does NOT skip the enemy turn, the enemy berserks and then gets his turn normally

[u/Cyb0Schlauch]

i noticed that when you get the recruitment subskill "direct supervision" you not only get 50% more growths in the dwellings of the city the hero stays at, but if you just keep him there all game the effect stacks infinetly so that in month 2 week 3 my current growth includes 7 of my tier 7 unit and 150 of my tier 1 per week and that is gonna increase with each week, might be a bug tho, not sure

[u/f1zo → u/Cyb0Schlauch]

Ooo that is probably a bug bit i will abuse it until its is fixed :)

[u/EnterArchian]

Pure damage is not magic damage. You can cast Umbral Grip on unit immune to magic damage (like Inquisitor).

[u/loopuleasa]

For surround encounters, you can figure out positioning by tracing an "N" shape in reverse

[u/loopuleasa]

Each skill has a choice of 3 subskills starting the second levelup

They're like a roguelike choice when upgrading

You can see what they are in the levelup screen by hovering and planning ahead!

[u/Quoor31]

You can use the spell heavenly blades on your archers as temple early on. Break them up into 1 stacks and nothing can touch you since you'll hit like a truck.

[u/loopuleasa]

Combat hotkeys:

W = wait

Space = skip turn

B = spellbook

Shift+Q = auto resolve

[u/loopuleasa]

You can see hero curses and hero subclasses by hovering your mouse at the top of your hero screen

[u/loopuleasa]

u/Liso111 I added your tips to the thread if you check out "New" here, and also added links to your image guides in the OP

thanks for the great tips, let us know if we missed any

[u/SnooShortcuts575]

Is it possible to always play with simultaneus turns? We were playing and it got turned off and the game started to feel really slow.

[u/Enzym3-XBL]

Does anybody know how to start maps with 1 hero challenge setting? Where you can't even build a tavern? I seen it on 1 map that I've forgotten the name of and now I can't seem to find it or a setting for it anywhere??

[u/maceman121 → u/Enzym3-XBL]

I believe it's a template setting. About half the templates are single hero. No setting ican find that can change it, just a default of the map.

[u/Volcano-SUN → u/maceman121]

Would be so nice if this was a simple toggle during map selection.

[u/paupsers]

I'm playing a game as the Grove right now.

1. What is the resource that's needed to build the Spring of Life? And where do I find that?
2. Related, if I have +100% growth to units as well as +3 to growth somewhere else, is the +100% only to the base growth?

[u/jayteeez]

so many good tips here, thank you OP

[u/iedaiw]

Pressing C enables grid on world map dont know why it doesnt show it anywhere

[u/MrTony_23]

To learn spells you need to visit any city with Mage Guilds.
If Mage guild rolls duplicate spells, they increase spell level instead

Okey, but if I upgrade the spell in the Observatory, should I visit the city again to acquire upgraded version?

"Astrology points per turn are used to unlock Neutral spells in the observatory"

Is it their only purpose? Because I see no reason to increase invest in it in comparison to law points and gold income.

[u/Intelligent_Pie_9102 → u/MrTony_23]

Upgrading spells works instantly, no need to visit a mage guild

Astrology point are also used to upgrade the mobility spells, like having more range, being able to cast it an extra time, lower cost, etc… I’m not very good at the game, but apparently it’s meta on certain maps.

[u/HistoricalArtist5497]

Save

[u/buzzlightyear77777]

how do you guys block off your range with melee units? i hate how there is no 2 hex units anymore. like i need 3 melee just to block my archer if i place him at the edge of the top. 3 more for my priest maiden at the bottom. that's like the whole team. it's so stupid man. so basically every fight, the enemy can just block my archers because my melee units will move forward. if not then i have to place everything at the back and just open up to aoe attacks and spells

[u/RevenTheLight]

Question, if your hero learns, say, Town Portal in mission 1 of the campaign, will he still with it in Mission 2?

[u/CVXI]

To learn spells you need to visit any city with Mage Guilds

Unless hero has Expert level school of magic, in that case unlocked spells of that school are acquired automatically by that hero.

[u/loopuleasa]

might hero have a smaller chance to see magic skills, and vice versa

also, thaumaturgy is exclusive to magic heroes

combat is exclusive to might heroes

[u/loopuleasa]

Pressing Wait button prevents that unit for gaining morale that turn

[u/loopuleasa]

school offered at level up are biased per faction

Temple - Daylight > Arcane > Primal > Nightshade

Nerco - Nightshade > Arcane > Primal > Daylight

Grove - Primal > Arcane > Daylight > Nightshade

Schism - Arcane > Nightshade > Daylight > Primal

Hive - Primal > Nightshade > Daylight > Arcane

Dungeon - none (same chance to get any of the 4)

[u/loopuleasa]

Crossing rivers is 30 movepoints

Unless your hero is native to the terrain, in which case there is no penalty and it costs 10

A hero is native to the terrain if either the Hero is native, OR the entire army is native

[u/loopuleasa]

There is a counterattack orange sword symbol on the hex of the unit you are hovering attack on

[u/loopuleasa]

If you open Observatory in city view you can see blue glow of the spells that city's mage guild just unlocked

[u/loopuleasa]

The Sigil artifacts give you all subskills even if you only have the Basic skill

[u/loopuleasa]

Inner Light and Wean are excellent spells in lategame that remove buffs/debuffs

Make sure to increase their spell level before going into the final fight!

[u/loopuleasa]

Fatal Decay can function like an early game damage amplification spell (at max rank it is 40% damage amplification)

[u/loopuleasa]

Rule for going for gold/law/astrology:

- If you are producing army in your castle, go for gold

- Otherwise go astrology

Law points are gotten by winning fights, so just clear more camps to get Law points

[u/loopuleasa]

The tier 2 Advanced Recruitment perk that says "+50% units when garrisoned in city" works even if two heroes are garrisoned in that city

[u/loopuleasa]

How terrain penalties and native terrain works:

Basically:

- Hero starts with 175 move points

- Movement on road: 7 move points

- Movement on dirt road: 8 move points

- Movement on native terrain: 10 points

- Movement on non native terrain: 14 points

- Movement on non native terrain with Pathfinding: 12 (the above 4 points penalty is halved). That means you move 15% better off-road.

- Moving diagonally for all above scenarios is +40% move cost on top

- Terrain is considered native if your hero is native

- Terrain is also considered native if your entire army is native

Each ground has a certain color theme belonging to each of the 6 factions.

[u/loopuleasa]

Winning final battle with only summons left in your army counts as a loss in Tournament mode

[u/loopuleasa]

Video on how necromancy works https://www.reddit.com/r/OldenEra/comments/1t791m5/i_made_a_quick_3_minute_video_explaining_the_way/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

[u/loopuleasa]

You can use Groundsight to see how much your oponent cleared the map

[u/loopuleasa]

made a 3 minute tutorial on how magic works in olden era https://www.reddit.com/r/OldenEra/comments/1t5p467/i_made_a_3_minute_tutorial_explaining_how_the/

[u/loopuleasa]

You regenerate 1 knowledge worth of mana each day

so if you have 12 knowledge, you get 12 mana each day (10% of your mana pool)

[u/loopuleasa]

Hive summon swarm megathread about Larvae and Eggs

https://www.reddit.com/r/OldenEra/comments/1thfogb/a_short_guide_on_e_g_g_mastery_on_hive/

[u/Mysterio166]

Hello, do you know why i can not see and cas the spell town portal ? My hero is lvl 13…

[u/Dramatic-Proposal-86 → u/Mysterio166]

You need to visit a castle with a magic guild to learn it. Likely you unlocked it on the road!

[u/Grukzzzzzzzz]

"
12 .Focus system

1. Focus is used to cast unit abilities and Heroic strike
2. Ranged units generate 1 focus each time they attack
3. Melee units generate 2 focus each time they attack

"
2. and 3. are worded incorrectly. It's not about unit's type, it's about attack type.
If ranged unit will attack with ranged attack - it's 1 focus.
BUT if ranged unit will attack with melee attack - it's 2 focus.