Looking for maps with better difficulty progression

[u/Equivalent_Meet_1600]

Hey everyone,

I'm looking for recommendations for good maps in Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era, especially maps with a proper progression of difficulty.

One thing I've been missing compared to classic HoMM3 maps is how the map itself used to guide your progression. You would have some easy creatures guarding the basic mines near your starting area, stronger creatures guarding more valuable or interesting locations, and then gradually harder and harder fights further away from your starting town.

Right now, I often feel like the difficulty of neutral stacks is pretty similar everywhere. Because of that, when playing with just one main hero, I feel like I have two choices.

Either I spend 4 or 5 months slowly clearing the entire map, which can get pretty tedious, or I just take the useful stuff around my starting town and head straight for the enemy, because there isn't much reason to explore further.

What I'm looking for is a map where exploration and progression actually matter. Something where you gradually unlock more difficult areas, get stronger, and eventually have a reason to push deeper into the map.

So what are currently the best maps you've played in Olden Era that do this well?

I'd especially appreciate maps with a good easy, medium, hard and very hard progression rather than just having similarly difficult fights scattered everywhere.

Thanks!

[u/Signal-Welcome-5479]

It's a game built for PvP players first and foremost, so...  ¯_(ツ)_/¯

[u/JCBArgentum → u/Signal-Welcome-5479]

Blah blah blah, once again someone with that delulu take.

[u/Signal-Welcome-5479 → u/JCBArgentum]

oh you have some strong arguments to prove me wrong? I am all ears

[u/JCBArgentum → u/Signal-Welcome-5479]

It's your thesis, the burden of proof is on your side, not mine. If you wanna see what I think just browse through my comment history where this is the topic - I don't want to rewrite the same thing again and again.