Balance in Heroes 5.

The balance in Heroes with the Lord of the Horde has improved significantly. Now, each race has a choice of warriors and diverse tactics! In general, the balance in Heroes 5 can only be compared to the balance in Heroes 3! It's excellent in both! Who wants to argue?

You have at least two mutually exclusive statements in your message.
1. The fifth installment has a good balance. (I agree, it's definitely the best in the series.)
2. The fifth installment has the same balance as the third. (The third installment has no balance; it's the most unbalanced part of the Heroes series. That's why they cut Necromancer and Castle in tournaments.)

On the Former Friends map, on the Warrior difficulty level (the most balanced), on days 7-8, I consistently capture the gold, sulfur, crystal, and gem mines (sometimes I manage to capture the mercury mine).

Interesting statement. Veteran is considered the most "balanced," but some play on Hero out of habit. Warrior isn't even a topic of discussion. And on Veteran, players go to the center on the first week. Just now, for fun, I captured the mines as a Knight and passed through the bridge in 5 days (with bears and alt-mages), and on day 6, I went for the angels, but I had a bit of luck with the starting position.

2. In the mid/long game, if the Academician gets Armageddon, it's a brutal hit-and-run with new golems.

Yeah, but the initiative of the golems is so low that they can be killed before their turn (and the hero has already cast the spell). It turns into a hit-and-die situation.

I haven't played enough with the other races to draw far-reaching conclusions.

Golden words.