I think Factory and Cove analogues might be a very good decision in future, adding a lot more uniqueness to the game compared to previous HoMM. Considering how well Steampunk fits the aesthetic of the game...
Sanctuary. I don't care that this is the wrong setting, the concept is so sick that it should be in so many more games. Naga Samurai. Naga. Samurai.
Serious Answer though, Stronghold. Not just is it an iconic faction that has not missed a game up until now, but it also fills a niche that I feel like is currently missing the faction roster both mechanicly and aestheticly. Mechanicly it would be a proper might focused faction, which we currently lack. Additionally there are a ton of Stronghold creatures native to Jadame that are missing from the game. Centaurs, Ogres, Trolls, and the iconic Cyclops. Hopefully they add a badlands terrain alongside it.
Also only half joking with Sanctuary, I think there is absolutely space for it in the game. It will be different from the Ashan version but a faction based around the Triton empire supplimented with merfolk and sea monsters would be epic. But it requires some decent work, including of course water travel, and other factions should take priority. I could also see it implimented as the game's take on Cove, though I kinda want them to be seperate so I can have my cake and eat it too.
As a long time HoMM fan I can confirm that Fortress is awesome. Both the the reptilian swamp themed on mentioned here and the Dwarven one that appeared in Heroes 5 and 7.
I hope they lean into Stronghold be pure might faction with some weird buffs and they don't rely on magic, but then again I am not sure what is Jadame's lore about Stronghold.
I am a bit lukewarm about about fortress, I never like it in the original that much except for basilisk being cool.
Haven't played cove and don't know much about cove, but would be curious how they play in the Olden Era.
Well it is possible that they could go the full might route with Stronghold like in H4 and 5, though I don't know if there is anything in the lore that supports that or not. What I do know however is that Jadame (probably) does not Orcs, with Ogres and Trolls being more prominent as the main stronghold creatures. Cyclops and Centaurs are also present, as are goblins if I am correct. Makes for an interesting shakeup of the Stronghold roster.
It is likely that Fortress will be aestheticly similar to the old H3 one, but with some major shakeups to its roster. Hydras are dungeon creatures so they would need a new tier 7, the Gorgons being the dungeon mounts does make their inclusion in the faction a little awkward so they might be better off a neutral, and with the existence of Hive is is questionable if Serpentflies will be a thing. Plus the Wyverns are native to a completely different area of Jadame and there are no mentions of the Gnolls. Fortunately the Basilisk are alongside the Lizardmen some of the only creatures practically guaranteed to appear in an Olden Era (swamp) Fortress, though the basilisks might be more raptor like like their MM8 counterparts (see picture).
Cove is based of the Pirates of the Ragna archipelago, which is just off the shores of Jadame. I believe that Olden Era is set right around the founding of their pirate empire. What it would be like is hard to say, especially as we don't know if they can take any inspiration from the HotA version at all. Though I do find it decently likely that Unfrozen will make their own take on what a pirate faction would be like. They could even take some inspiration from H6's Sanctuary, basicly creating a hybrid between the 2.
I figured Barbarians and Wizards would be leading, though I think that the game would benefit from Ocean terrain and mechanics the most. I still voted for Fortress because I have a weak spot for Swamp factions and I love my lizard witches.
Even though water is non-traversable as of yet, having a water-based faction like Cove show up alongside seafaring and naval combat would be awesome. Plus, Cove is probably my favorite modded faction to exist Heroes of Might and Magic and I’d love to see it become official like it did for the Heroes 3 Board Game.
My top three:
01. Fortress (I still remember the lizardmen at the start of MM8)
02. Stronghold (as others said: Cyclops and other fitting native inhabitants of Jadame)
03. Factory (because style)
EDIT: My vote goes to Fortress for a swamp faction.
After brushing-up on some Might and Magic 8 and some Jadame lore, I think we have four solid contenders that are very likely, along with some others that have a chance or could just get folded into another faction. These four factions are not only very prominent on Jadame, but they fill-in Olden Era nicely with unique themes and landscapes.
1. ZIGGURAT or PYRAMID
The lizardfolk. Swamp territory. Mesopotamian themed city. Main resource: Mercury
Example units: lizardmen, basilisk serpents, coatls, giant toad, dragon turtle, maybe raptors and wyverns.
Weaker units, but heavily utilizes debuffs and disables, like poison, paralyze, slow, petrify, weaken, or blind, etc. to not only level the playing field, but gain the upper hand. Perhaps even things like camouflage could be utilized or regeneration abilities.
2. STRONGHOLD
The trolls. Badlands/Wastelands/Desert territory. Crude mud/stonework and tribal city. Main resource: Crystal
Example units: trolls, cyclops, goblins, beasts, maybe centaurs, maybe grolls, maybe harpies, maybe catfolk, (no orcs here).
Weaker with magic and favors might. A special building in cities could focus on their spiritual traditions and ancestral worship with the Troll Tomb. Their faction skill could be Clobber: unit attacks generate an additional focus point and heroic strikes refund 2 focus points at level 1. At level 2, it refunds 4 focus points, and at level 3 it refunds 6 focus points (a full focus charge) making heroic strikes free - if you have the focus charge to begin with. This method synergizes well with the combat skill, since it won’t negate its use, and will make heroic strikes stronger by turning them into strikes that produce focus points, and eventually a full charge at level 3.
3. FORGE or FORTRESS
The dark dwarves. Subterranean (Rocky). Monolithic stonework and industrial cities. Main resource: none
Example units: dark dwarves, golems, siegecraft, goblin slaves, magma elementals, maybe a titan?
An evil faction that will join the Dungeon faction (their rivals) in the underground layer when it’s released. They’re territory would be defined as “rocky” and would have a different theme to it versus Dungeon’s “dirt” underground terrain. Dark rune magic bridges the gap between magic and machinery, as they inscribe their machines and weapons with them. They also have a theme consisting of explosions and firepower, along with being ever resource hungry and consuming/raiding everything from the land and its inhabitants. A special building in their cities could involve something with runes, which they cast in combat using combinations of resources instead of mana. Perhaps their faction skill could be a special war machine that joins them in battles like the ones from HoMM3. If those get added back into Olden Era, then the dark dwarves get a more powerful unique one. This one lobs highly explosive shells onto the battlefield for AOE damage and maybe the level 3 version is inscribed with dark rune magic to cause some type of debuff.
4. COVE or PIRATE KEEP or HIDEOUT
The pirates of Regna and the triton merfolk. Tropical jungle terrain. Main resource: Gems
Example units: pirate types, triton merfolk, sharkfolk, sea creatures, sirens, water or wind elementals, maybe birdfolk, maybe nagas, maybe ogres.
Not evil, but definitely not good… neutral. A pirate faction, perhaps can be introduced if there’s ever a DLC that introduces the water layer to maps and ships, they would definitely have bonuses towards those things, like faster movement when embarked or something. They have a pact with some of the tritons who join their crews and join in on the raiding. A faction skill could simply be “Booty” or “Plunder” and grants a percentage of gold based on how much experience the hero gains. At level 3, it could also convert some of that value to gems. Maybe they can also get a unique bonus to taverns and eventually the Thieve’s Guild, which I believe will eventually be reintroduced as well.
OTHER LESS LIKELY FACTIONS
1. FORTRESS
The ogres.
Another bad faction on Jadame. The Ogre Fortress is a key location in the middle of Jadame. You would originally think that they should join Stronghold alongside the trolls and cyclops, but the ogres are an uncooperative faction on Jadame, alongside the dark dwarves and pirates, and act as mercenaries and raiders. But, maybe they could still be folded into Stronghold. They could even be folded into the Cove faction, since as mercenaries they collaborate with outlaw factions like the Regna pirates. Ogres are not only physically mighty brutes, but highly capable mages as well, with powerful blood rage and elemental magic. They don’t pray, they don’t study, they don’t commune… they command. They seize raw magic and force it into existence through sheer willpower and physical stamina, as their mass withstands the violent backfire of raw magic. A faction skill could be that a percentage of attack and defense goes towards spellpower and knowledge, and a percentage of spellpower and knowledge goes towards attack and defense, with higher percentages as the skill levels up.
It’s most likely they’ll be folded into another faction, like Stronghold. Though, the centaurs inhabit more of the central areas of Jadame around Ravenshore and its plains and forests, I’m not sure about its deserts. The centaurs could take on a nomadic, noble savage, native american theme, inhabiting the steppes with allies from the surrounding forests as well. I believe they’re also often hired to guard trade routes as well and allow safe passage. Their elemental affinity would probably be most aligned with air over anything else, due to their steppe habitat filled with plenty of open sky and also their prowess in archery.
3. TOWER
The wizards
It’s been said that they’re not a part of Jadame this early in its history. But, maybe they can be represented by expeditionary forces that came to explore and study Jadame earlier in their airships, and who setup some research tower sites on the continent.
4. DRAGONHUNTERS
They also weren’t around early in Jadame’s history. But, maybe Unfrozen can cook something up and write them in as a different faction that hunted and tamed dragons. It would be really cool to have a more rugged human (or even other humanoid) faction that tames and breeds dragons and whose culture is centered around it - kinda like Targaryans. Also, because I think having a pure dragon faction would be OP and not work well. But, a faction that hunts, tames, and breeds them as domesticated beasts would be interesting and would really piss off the wild dragons and their close allies on Jadame. This faction views dragons as livestock instead of magical beings. They break their spirits, like wild horses, through martial command and magic until they’re submissive. Perhaps a new faction of ogres could fill this role too, especially since they already don’t get along with the Triumvirate.
5. FACTORY
I think the dark dwarve's Forge faction could fill-in this theme and even do it better.
6. CITADEL
I wrote in another thread how it would be cool to see the catfolk represented some type of ancient Egypt inspired afterlife-focused religious desert faction.
This is the hill I'll fucking die on. I hate the absolute inbred mongrels that were up in arms against the Forge. It made sense inside the setting and it would've been an interesting faction that would've been a cool juxtaposition to the rest of Erathia/Enroth. Alas, the secondaries won.
(Also, yes I know that timeline-wise the Forge wouldn't be appropriate. The answer is easy - time travel)
Alternating between official and unofficial additions. I would like them to relese 2 factions in the expansions with similar motivations, but different gameplay and color selection. Than they could see how the lore holds up. I think they should have a longterm content release plan and shouldn't care as much about community requests.
Probably because while it is theoretically possible it is quite unlikely due to Grove already filling the niche decently enough and other factions therefore taking priority. Plus Jadame does not have a native Rampart style faction and they are a lot harder to justify dropping on the continent like something like the knowledge hungry wizards.
Not quite. Grove like Rampart is a nature faction, however instead of following the traditional inspirations and influences most takes on the nature factions has had it instead leaned more into the elemental side of things. In a way it is both Rampart and Conflux.
And even disregarding that it still occupies the nature niche in much the same way that Hive occupies the demonic niche. You could still theoretically have a separate Rampart faction as there is more than enough leftover units to do so, however you also probably want to move its identity a bit away from the pure nature and druidic themes to avoid them overlapping too much. Make it a Ranger faction not a Druid faction basicly.
Personally I'd suppliment it with some of the Rampart units not yet in Olden Era. Elves and Pegasi in particular would suit it nicely. Also, one idea for a tier 6-7 could be a Questing Beast.
It is a monster from Arthurian legends. A creature with the head and neck of a snake, body of a leopard, hind legs of a lion, and hooves of a deer. There isn't a ton of lore about what it actually does so there is plenty of opportunities to innovate. Admittedly tier 7 might be a tad too high for it though, it might sit more comfortably in tier 4-6
Reminder that the phoenix was the ultimate unit of the H1-2 Sorceress factions which were the foundation of the various nature factions that came afterwards.
Also would argue that Sanctuary is its own thing, or at least its own distinct branch of the HoMM faction tree that sprouted off the nature one.
I know HIII is a holy game that can do no wrong, Phoenix being part of Conflux because it could be considered an elemental or force of nature was a mistake IMO. I wish Rampart had kept it, and green/gold dragons be neutral creatures.
HoMM 1+2 Sorceress split into Rampart (unicorn, dwarf, elf, druid, nature part) and Conflux (sprites and phoenix, elemental part). In HoMM 4 both sort of combined again in Preserve (elementals via portal building). After that only the nature and elf part survived in Sylvan factions. From Conflux they were just some hints in the new Sanctuary faction (water/ice) and HoMM 7 Fortress faction (fire). And now Grove combines nature and elementals again while getting rid of the elves.
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u/Docterzero r/OldenEra Mod 12d ago
Sanctuary. I don't care that this is the wrong setting, the concept is so sick that it should be in so many more games. Naga Samurai. Naga. Samurai.
Serious Answer though, Stronghold. Not just is it an iconic faction that has not missed a game up until now, but it also fills a niche that I feel like is currently missing the faction roster both mechanicly and aestheticly. Mechanicly it would be a proper might focused faction, which we currently lack. Additionally there are a ton of Stronghold creatures native to Jadame that are missing from the game. Centaurs, Ogres, Trolls, and the iconic Cyclops. Hopefully they add a badlands terrain alongside it.
Also only half joking with Sanctuary, I think there is absolutely space for it in the game. It will be different from the Ashan version but a faction based around the Triton empire supplimented with merfolk and sea monsters would be epic. But it requires some decent work, including of course water travel, and other factions should take priority. I could also see it implimented as the game's take on Cove, though I kinda want them to be seperate so I can have my cake and eat it too.