- "Unfamiliar" creatures
- Traveling across the map
- Specific properties of individual creatures
- Documentation errors in some creature stats
- Resource exchange rates in the Marketplace depending on quantity
- Crypt, Medusa Stores, Imp Cache, Cyclops Stockpile, Naga Bank, Dwarven Treasury
- Griffin Conservatory, Dragon Fly Hive and Dragon Utopia
- Sea "vaults" Derelict Ship and Shipwreck
- Damage dealt by Arrow Towers when repelling an assault
- Damage dealt to attacking units by city moats
- The Grail (Грааль)
- Hero's use of magic without a Spell Book
- Formula for calculating points recorded in the results table
- Map objects
- Strategy
- Tactics
- Magic
- Artifacts
- The Grail
- Preparing an army for battle
- Strategy
- Tactics
- Use of magic
- City construction
- Playing on Impossible level
- Choosing a starting Hero when playing a separate scenario
- Separate scenario with an ally
Author: vsk
06.03.2002 12:57:00
Reference information and useful tips, kindly provided by Vsk.
Of course, a stitch in time saves nine. I won't say all, but many fans and gamers have already played through "Heroes 3" itself and all its add-ons, and haven't ignored the six "Chronicles." They are eagerly awaiting autumn, when 3DO plans to release "Heroes 4." My "experience sharing" is as useful to them as a screen door on a submarine. However, I hold onto the hope that this article may still be useful to fans (if only because it contains certain reference information and tips gathered together and systematized).
The proposed list was compiled based on many days (many years) of experience gained in the "Heroes 3..." series games (the foundation of which began with the first "Heroes"). Only a variety of game situations allows a commander to accumulate new knowledge in strategy and tactics for military campaigns. Nevertheless, what is presented here for your judgment is only a small subset of the variety of tips, as some points from the games have been forgotten, while others the author simply never encountered.
For the most part, these tips are intended for newcomers to the world of "Heroes..." (don't be surprised—there are still such people), but even an experienced gamer will find a couple or three useful tips here that will be a revelation.
Enough with the introductions—let's get down to business...
Since the tips will concern all games in the “Heroes 3” series, for convenience of presentation, we will introduce several abbreviations:
Heroes of Might and Magic 3: Armageddon’s Blade - ABlade
Heroes of Might and Magic 3: Shadow of Death - SoD
1. Some useful reference information
"Unfamiliar" creatures
In the lands of "Heroes of Might and Magic 3: Shadow of Death," in addition to the usual creatures from the seven city types, representatives of the Conflux city type and neutral creatures that successfully migrated there from the "Armageddon's Blade" add-on are also encountered. However, while descriptions of neutrals can be found in the "Town and Creature Reference" section, any attempt to find information about representatives of the Conflux city type will be futile, because the Manual says not a word about them. This is obviously because there is no Conflux city type in "Shadow of Death," and their description was linked specifically to that city.
Interrupting the game and trying to obtain information about these creatures using the map editor is a tedious task. Learning their capabilities when your Hero has already entered battle with some army of these strangers is also very dangerous—such neglect of the opponent can end miserably for him. I will attempt to fill this gap in documentation and provide the characteristics of all Conflux city creatures.
Level 1
Pixie - Attack (At) = 2, Defense (Def) = 2, Damage (Dam) = 1-2, Hit Points (HP) = 3,
Speed = 7.
Sprite - At = 2, Def = 2, Dam = 1-3, HP = 3, Speed = 9.
Enemies do not retaliate.
Level 2
Air Elemental - At = 9, Def = 9, Dam = 2-8, HP = 25, Speed = 7.
Vulnerable to Lightning and Firestorm spells.
Storm Elemental - At = 9, Def = 9, Shots (Sh) = 24, Dam = 2-8, HP = 25, Speed = 8.
No penalty in melee. Vulnerable to Lightning and Firestorm spells.
Level 3
Water Elemental - At = 8, Def = 10, Dam = 3-7, HP = 30, Speed = 5.
Immunity to ice (Ice). Vulnerable to Fire Magic.
Ice Elemental - At = 8, Def = 10, Sh = 24, Dam = 3-7, HP = 30, Speed = 6.
Immunity to ice (Ice) and mind-affecting magic (Mind). Vulnerable to Fire Magic.
Level 4
Fire Elemental - At = 10, Def = 8, Dam = 4-6, HP = 35, Speed = 6.
Immunity to Fire Magic. Vulnerable to ice (Ice).
Energy Elemental - At = 12, Def = 8, Dam = 4-6, HP = 35, Speed = 8.
Casts protection magic against Fire Magic. Immunity to Fire Magic and mind-affecting spells (Mind). Vulnerable to cold (Cold).
Level 5
Earth Elemental - At = 10, Def = 10, Dam = 4-8, HP = 40, Speed = 4.
Vulnerable to the Meteor Shower spell.
Magma Elemental - At = 11, Def = 11, Dam = 6-10, HP = 40, Speed = 6.
Immunity to mind-affecting magic (Mind). Casts protection against Earth Magic.
Level 6
Psychic Elemental - At = 15, Def = 13, Dam = 10-20, HP = 75, Speed = 7.
Attacks all adjacent enemy units without retaliation from them.
Magic Elemental - At = 15, Def = 13, Dam = 15-25, HP = 80, Speed = 9.
Immunity to magic. Attacks all adjacent enemy units without retaliation from them.
Level 7
Firebird- At = 18, Def = 18, Dam = 30-40, HP = 150, Speed=15.
Fire breath affecting two cells. Immunity to Fire Magic.
Phoenix- At = 21, Def = 18, Dam = 30-40, HP = 200, Speed = 21.
Fire breath affecting two cells. Immunity to Fire Magic. Once during the entire battle, a "phoenix" unit, after being destroyed, can be reborn from the ashes (but with reduced numbers, unless, of course, the unit consisted of only one bird).
Documentation errors in some creature stats
When an enemy is encountered on your Hero's path and you (before the start of battle) consult the Manual to check the characteristics of its units, keep in mind that since the very first appearance of "Heroes 3," errors were made by the compilers in the description of some creatures' stats, which were successfully replicated in subsequent same-series add-on Manuals:
Cerberi: Damage 2-5 (in game: 2-7),
Dragon Fly: - Attack - 6 (8), Defense - 8 (10),
Lizardman: Damage - 1-3 (2-3), Health - 12 (14),
Lizard Warrior: Attack - 5 (6), Defense - 7 (8), Damage - 2-3 (2-5), Health - 12 (15),
Serpent Fly: Attack - 6 (7), Defense - 8 (9).
Resource exchange rates in the Marketplace depending on quantity
One market is no gift. Trading in it only costs you more, although sometimes it's necessary. However, as the number of your cities increases, the trade network of their markets provides increasingly larger discounts for resource exchange operations.
For convenience, let's call resources mercure, sulfur, crystal, gem "valuable" (v), wood, ore "common" (c), and denote gold as "g", and see what the mutual exchange rate of these resources is:
2 markets: 1v= 75g, 1c= 37g, 7v=1v, 13c=1v, 3v=1c, 7c=1c, 3333g=1v, 1667g=1c
3 markets: 1v=100g, 1c= 50g, 5v=1v, 10c=1v, 3v=1c, 5c=1c, 2500g=1v, 1250g=1c
4 markets: 1v=125g, 1c= 62g, 4v=1v, 8c=1v, 2v=1c, 4c=1c, 2000g=1v, 1000g=1c
5 markets: 1v=150g, 1c= 75g, 3v=1v, 7c=1v, 2v=1c, 3c=1c, 1667g=1v, 833g=1c
6 markets: 1v=175g, 1c= 88g, 3v=1v, 6c=1v, 1v=1c, 3c=1c, 1429g=1v, 714g=1c
7 markets: 1v=200g, 1c=100g, 3v=1v, 5c=1v, 1v=1c, 3c=1c, 1250g=1v, 625g=1c
8 markets: 1v=225g, 1c=112g, 2v=1v, 4c=1v, 1v=1c, 2c=1c, 1111g=1v, 556g=1c
9 markets: 1v=250g, 1c=125g, 2v=1v, 4c=1v, 1v=1c, 2c=1c, 1000g=1v, 500g=1c
Further construction of Marketplaces no longer affects the exchange rate, which remains equal to the rate for nine markets.
The cost of artifacts sold in Artifact Merchants depends on the number of Marketplaces built in controlled cities.
Dungeon and Tower type cities have Artifact Merchants among their buildings, where you can exchange your resources for artifacts. "Untouched" shops contain seven artifacts, the price of which decreases depending on the number of Marketplaces at your disposal. The larger the market network, the cheaper the artifacts.
Two markets reduce the standard artifact price by 20%, three - by 33%, four - by 43%, five - by 50%, six - by 56%, seven - by 60%, eight - by 64%, nine - by 67%. A larger number of markets does not provide additional discounts.
The publicly accessible Black Market always sells each of its artifacts at the same price, equal to that which it can be purchased for in a city shop with five Marketplaces. (Source – astralwizard, Maneater)
Guarded resource and creature vaults
Surprisingly, information about some objects of this type (number of guards and reward amount) reported in the Heroes 3 Map Editor does not match what is in the game. Furthermore, information about such objects (like many other things) is missing from the game Manual, and details on the placement of "guards" on the battlefield and their order of "appearance" can only be learned during battle, when it is no longer possible to change your Hero's army layout. I propose full information about such objects and their guards in this section.
Crypt, Medusa Stores, Imp Cache, Cyclops Stockpile, Naga Bank, Dwarven Treasury
All of these are guarded vaults containing gold and some amount of a valuable resource (Cyclops Stockpile gives only resources, but all four "valuable" types). They are guarded by an army of creatures whose type (except for the Crypt) is indicated in their name. The "Crypt," however, is guarded by units of various Necropolis representatives. In the poorest—these are Skeletons and Walking Dead, while in those that are "richer," you may encounter Wights and Vampires. For all vaults, a single principle exists: the larger the guard, the larger the reward.
The guard army consists of five (for Crypt, four or five) units. On the battlefield, they are positioned as follows: four units stand in the corners to the left and right of the field, and the fifth is in the middle between the two "right" units. The order of their entry into battle is as follows: top right - bottom right - bottom left - top left - center right. The order changes slightly if the bottom left unit consists of an "upgrade"—then this unit starts the battle first.
Crypt. There are 4 types of "crypts," differing in guards and reward size (like other vaults, they are placed on the map with a certain probability: 30%, 30%, 30%, 10%):
1) Guard of five units - 10 Skeletons, 10 Skeletons, 10 Skeletons, 10 Walking Dead, 10 Walking Dead (unit placement is clockwise, starting from top left). Reward - 1500 gold,
2) Guard of five units - 10 Walking Dead, 13 Skeletons, 12 Skeletons, 10 Walking Dead, 5 Wights. Reward - 2000 gold,
3) Guard of four units - 5 Vampires, 20 Skeletons, 20 Walking Dead, 10 Wights. Reward - 2500 gold and 1 artifact,
4) Guard of four units - 10 Vampires, 20 Skeletons, 20 Walking Dead, 10 Wights. Reward - 5000 gold and 1 artifact.
Cyclops Stockpile (Guard - army of five units):
1) Unit size - 4 Cyclopes. Reward - 4 units of each "valuable" resource,
2) Unit size - 6 Cyclopes. Reward - 6 units of each "valuable" resource,
3) Unit size - 8 Cyclopes. Reward - 8 units of each "valuable" resource,
4) Unit size - 10 Cyclopes. Reward - 10 units of each "valuable" resource.
The bottom left unit may consist of Cyclops Kings.
Dwarven Treasury (Guard - army of five units):
1) Unit size - 10 Dwarves. Reward - 2500 and 2 crystal,
2) Unit size - 15 Dwarves. Reward - 4000 and 3 crystal,
3) Unit size - 20 Dwarves. Reward - 5000 and 5 crystal,
4) Unit size - 30 Dwarves. Reward - 7500 and 10 crystal,
The bottom left unit may consist of Battle Dwarves.
Imp Cache (Guard - army of five units):
1) Unit size - 20 Imps. Reward - 1000 gold and 2 mercury,
2) Unit size - 30 Imps. Reward - 1500 gold and 3 mercury,
3) Unit size - 40 Imps. Reward - 2000 gold and 4 mercury,
4) Unit size - 60 Imps. Reward - 3000 gold and 6 mercury.
The bottom left unit may consist of Familiars.
Medusa Stores (Guard - army of five units):
1) Unit size - 4 Medusas. Reward - 2000 gold and 5 sulfur,
2) Unit size - 6 Medusas. Reward - 3000 gold and 6 sulfur,
3) Unit size - 8 Medusas. Reward - 4000 gold and 8 sulfur,
4) Unit size - 10 Medusas. Reward - 5000 gold and 10 sulfur,
The bottom left unit may consist of Medusa Queens.
Naga Bank (Guard - army of five units):
1) Unit size - 2 Nagas. Reward - 4000 gold and 8 sulfur,
2) Unit size - 3 Nagas. Reward - 6000 gold and 12 sulfur,
3) Unit size - 4 Nagas. Reward - 8000 gold and 16 sulfur,
4) Unit size - 6 Nagas. Reward - 12000 gold and 24 sulfur.
The bottom left unit may consist of Naga Queens.
Here I will allow myself a slight digression. The three previous vaults contained crystal, mercury, and sulfur resources—so necessary when building the most senior "military building" in Rampart, Inferno, and Dungeon cities, respectively. It was natural to assume that the Naga Bank should store the gem resource in its "safes," needed for the appearance of the pride and beauty of wizard troops—Titans—in Tower. The editor reports the same (Naga Bank contains gold and gems).
But no. In the game, the Naga Bank stores the exact same "valuable" resource already offered in Medusa Stores. The "leprechaun" from the Mystical Garden has to make up for others; his love for gems partially saves adherents of the Tower city type (even on Impossible, Giants appear quite quickly, but the problem with promoting them to Titans exists not only on the maximum difficulty level).
Griffin Conservatory, Dragon Fly Hive and Dragon Utopia
These are objects in which, after defeating their guards, you can receive Angels (in the first) or Wyverns (in the second) for free. The layout of the guard units on the battlefield is similar to that mentioned in the previous point.
Griffin Conservatory (guarded by five units of "musical birds"):
For RoE:
1) Unit size - 8 Griffins. Reward - 2 Angels,
2) Unit size - 12 Griffins. Reward - 3 Angels,
3) Unit size - 16 Griffins. Reward - 4 Angels,
4) Unit size - 20 Griffins. Reward - 5 Angels,
The bottom-left unit may consist of Royal Griffins.
For ABlade and SoD:
1) Unit size - 10 Griffins. Reward - 1 Angel,
2) Unit size - 20 Griffins. Reward - 2 Angels,
3) Unit size - 30 Griffins. Reward - 3 Angels,
4) Unit size - 40 Griffins. Reward - 4 Angels,
The bottom-left unit may consist of Royal Griffins.
Dragon Fly Hive (guards - an army of five units):
1) Unit size - 6 Dragon Flies. Reward - 4 Wyverns,
2) Unit size - 9 Dragon Flies. Reward - 6 Wyverns,
3) Unit size - 12 Dragon Flies. Reward - 8 Wyverns,
4) Unit size - 18 Dragon Flies. Reward - 12 Wyverns.
Dragon Utopia
The richest vault, guarded by four units of dragons at once. The following types of vaults are possible:
1) Guards - 8 Green Dragons, 5 Red Dragons, 2 Gold Dragons, 1 Black Dragon. Reward - 20000 gold, 1 treasure artifact, 1 minor artifact, 1 major artifact and 1 relic artifact
2) Guards - 8 Green Dragons, 6 Red Dragons, 3 Gold Dragons, 2 Black Dragon. Reward - 30000 gold, 1 minor artifact, 1 major artifact and 2 relic artifacts
3) Guards - 8 Green Dragons, 6 Red Dragons, 4 Gold Dragons, 3 Black Dragons. Reward - 40000 gold, 1 major artifact and 3 relic artifacts
4) Guards - 8 Green Dragons, 7 Red Dragons, 6 Gold Dragons, 5 Black Dragons. Reward - 50000 gold and 4 relic artifacts
Sea "vaults" Derelict Ship and Shipwreck
Ships that have run aground on reefs or been attacked by pirates and abandoned by their crew are by no means empty. If your ship docks near one of these objects, and the Hero's army searches its holds thoroughly, gold and perhaps an artifact are guaranteed. However, these treasures were not left unguarded, and to seize them, the Hero must first fight a small army of Water Elementals or Wights.
Derelict Ship (guards - an army of five units):
1) Unit size - 4 Water Elementals. Reward - 3000 gold,
2) Unit size - 6 Water Elementals. Reward - 3000 gold and 1 artifact,
3) Unit size - 8 Water Elementals. Reward - 4000 gold and 1 artifact,
4) Unit size - 12 Water Elementals. Reward - 6000 gold and 1 artifact.
Shipwreck (guarded by five units of restless "souls" - Wights):
1) Unit size - 2 Wights. Reward - 2000 gold,
2) Unit size - 3 Wights. Reward - 3000 gold,
3) Unit size - 5 Wights. Reward - 4000 gold and 1 artifact,
4) Unit size - 10 Wights. Reward - 5000 gold and 1 artifact.
If a Hero visits a ship hull that has already been searched, their morale (Morale), and consequently the morale of their army's creatures, will decrease by one. Exceptions are creatures whose same stat does not change (undead, golems...).
1.5. Defensive properties of cities when repelling an assault
Damage dealt by Arrow Towers when repelling an assault
As is known, a city may have a central "shooting tower" (Citadel) or a central and two side towers (Castle). The damage dealt by the central tower is twice as much as that from one of the side towers.
The amount of damage depends only on the number of "structures" (buildings) currently present in the city (the defense level of the attacking unit and its position on the field do not affect the amount of damage, which does occur during ranged attacks by defending shooting units). However, not everything that can be built in a city falls under the definition of a "structure".
Firstly, all "upgrades" to military buildings, the administrative building (starting from City Hall), and the Mage Guild (starting from the second level) do not increase the number of "structures", as the main building is already constructed.
Secondly, additional population increases (such as Griffin Bastion - Castle, Sculptor's Wings - Tower, Miner's Guild - Rampart, etc.) are also not "structures". These "upgrades" are not even reflected in the city view when entering the Hall (they cannot be selected with the mouse to get a name in the information bar).
Thirdly, Citadel or Castle are not included among such "structures", as they already deal damage to attackers with their "towers", and much more so than each "structure".
Fourthly, some cities have other "upgrades" which, naturally, are not "structures". Their names are mentioned below when considering the number of "structures" for all eight city types.
The formula for calculating damage in Hit Points (HP) dealt by the central tower of a specific city is as follows: <10-15> + <2-3> x (number of structures).
In an "empty" city (Village Hall and Citadel), the central tower deals 10 to 15 HP damage. Each constructed "structure" adds 2-3 HP to the possible damage dealt by the tower, bringing it (in a fully built city) up to 46-69 HP (for example, Dungeon).
It should be noted that practical damage often exceeds the upper limit and never drops below the lower one.
Different types of cities have different numbers of "structures" and, therefore, different tower capabilities at their maximum ("structure") build-out.
Castle. Includes 17 structures. Brotherhood of the Sword is not included, as it is an upgrade to the Tavern.
It should be noted that a non-coastal city of this type immediately loses two "structures": Shipyard and Lighthouse, with all resulting consequences (regarding the strength of "shooting towers").
Maximum damage from "shooting towers": 44-66 HP (central) and 22-33 HP - each side tower.
Fortress and Necropolis. Include 18 structures, one of which is "coastal" - Shipyard.
Maximum damage from "shooting towers": 46-69 (24-36).
Rampart. Includes 16 structures. Fountain of Fortune is not included, as it is an upgrade to the Mystic Pond. Maximum damage from "shooting towers": 42-63 (22-33).
Dungeon, Stronghold and Tower. Include 18 structures. Maximum damage from "shooting towers": 46-69 (24-36).
Inferno. Includes 17 structures. Maximum damage from "shooting towers": 44-66 (22-33).
And lastly, The Grail (see later in the text) is also a "structure" (the number of which is indicated for cities including it).
Damage dealt to attacking units by city moats
Cities of each type build their own special moats. When any unit falls into a moat, its movement for that round ends. For Ablade and SoD, additionally, as long as a unit remains in the moat, it takes damage every round, the amount of which depends on the type of moat.
Castle. The Moat deals 70 HP damage to any unit falling into the moat.
Dungeon. Boiling Oil deals 90 HP damage to any unit falling into the moat.
Fortress. Boiling Tar deals 90 HP damage to any unit falling into the moat.
Inferno. Lava deals 90 HP damage to any unit falling into the moat.
Necropolis. Boneyard deals 70 HP damage to any unit falling into the moat.
Rampart. Bramble Hedge deals 70 HP damage to any unit falling into the moat.
Stronghold. Spike Barrier deals 70 HP damage to any unit falling into the moat.
All listed moats are crossed by units in one round, except for the Fortress moat, which is wider and takes two rounds to cross.
Tower. The walls of the wizards' city are surrounded by Land Mines. As is known, they pose a threat only to attacking units. The amount of damage dealt to an enemy unit by each mine appearing on the battlefield after casting the Land Mine spell is determined by the formula (10 x SP + A), where A equals 25 if the Hero lacks the Fire Magic secondary skill or has it at the basic level, 50 - with Advanced Fire Magic, and 100 - if the Hero has this skill at Expert level. The amount of damage from "city" Land Mines is not constant and is determined differently for the base game and its add-ons.
For RoE:
1) If the city has only a garrison, the damage from each mine equals 55 HP
2) If there is a Hero in the city, the amount of damage dealt by Land Mine is determined by the formula given above. In this case, the damage from a mine can be lower than 55.
For ABlade and SoD:
1) If the city has only a garrison, the damage from each mine equals 150 HP
2) If the defending Hero has Spell Power and/or the Fire Magic secondary skill such that the amount of damage calculated by the specified formula exceeds 150 HP, then the damage from the "city" mine will be determined by this value; otherwise, the amount of damage equals 150 HP. Interestingly, in this case, mines appearing on the battlefield after casting the Land Mine spell can deal significantly less damage than "city" ones.
It should be noted that Land Mines along Tower walls are less reliable than the defensive moats of other cities, as they deal one-time damage and can be easily destroyed by the Mass Dispel spell. (Source – astralwizard, Dan McGraw)
One should also remember that various Golems units (resistant to magic) will take much less damage than all others, and therefore should lead the infantry vanguard.
The Grail
If, while traveling through the lands of the kingdom, any of your Heroes encounters an Obelisk, know that you have the opportunity (as do your opponents in the scenario) to dig up the great artifact The Grail. To do this, you must visit all "obelisks" on the map to find the exact spot where you need to dig, or at least have some idea of the area where the artifact is presumably buried. In this case, the most desperate will gather several Heroes in that area and begin methodically digging up the entire territory. I should note that computer commanders (at Impossible level for a human) often engage in such nonsense, as they have money to burn. If any Hero becomes the owner of this artifact, the commander should quickly send them to one of their cities to take advantage as soon as possible of all the benefits provided by constructing a unique building in the city.
The main advantages of such a building in a city compared to ordinary ones are an additional daily income of 5000 coins and a weekly 50% increase in creature population. Other benefits from having this unique building are determined by the type of city:
Colossus (Castle) increases the morale of all Heroes belonging to the commander who owns such a city by 2
Guardian of Earth (Dungeon) increases the Hero's Spell Power value by 12 for as long as they are participating in repelling an enemy attack on a city with this building
Carnivorous Plant (Fortress) increases the Hero's Attack and Defense values by 10 for as long as they are participating in repelling an enemy attack on a city with this building
Deity of Fire (Inferno) makes all weeks, starting from the one after its appearance in the city, "imp" weeks (in every Inferno-type city at the start of the week, there is an opportunity to hire an additional 15 Imps or Familiars)
Soul Prison (Necropolis) increases the Necromancy secondary skill by 2 for all Heroes of the commander (who owns a city with this building) who have such a skill
Spirit Guardian (Rampart) increases the luck of all Heroes belonging to the commander who owns such a city by 2
Warlord's Monument (Stronghold) increases the Hero's Attack value by 20 for as long as they are participating in repelling an enemy attack on a city with such a building
Skyship (Tower) adds 150 spell points (Knowledge +15) to the Hero for as long as they are participating in repelling an enemy attack on a city with such a building. Additionally, Skyship reveals the entire map of the area (!) to "its" commander, which significantly eases further management of their own armies.
Aurora Borealis (Conflux-type city, only in the “Armageddon’s Blade” add-on) gives ALL spells available in the game to ALL Heroes who have visited the city, regardless of whether they have the Wisdom secondary skill or its level.
Hero's use of magic without a Spell Book
Everyone knows that before casting a spell, one must look into the corresponding magical tome and memorize the spell thoroughly so as not to mix anything up. No tome - no magic.
This small (in volume) section earned its right to exist because the following piquant situation was discovered in the game.
Getting acquainted with Hero Yog during actual events that happened to me on the lands of Antagarich (described in the monumental work "How I Became a True Commander of Erathia") seemed to confirm my opinion that a Hero without a Spell Book is a Might Hero and never Magic. Until, however, when I hired a Hero for one of my subsequent military campaigns who also did not have a Spell Book. This one, unlike Yog, could buy a book.
But there was no book, the cities were far away, and I decided to temporarily provide him with a Tome of Earth Magic, reasonably assuming that this magic book was just as good. To my surprise, in the very first battle encountered, the Hero was unable to cast a single combat spell from its arsenal. He read the spells aloud correctly, but the result was similar to Yog's attempt to cast Chain Lightning (the formula for which he stole from the Academy of Brakada) - nothing happened!
Immediately after the fight, which he managed to win anyway, I asked him to try the Town Portal spell. And what do you think? He successfully teleported to our nearest city.
It turns out that all non-combat magic spells (travel magic) from a book of any school of magic are within a Hero's power even without a Spell Book, but combat ones from the same book cannot be cast.
One can't help but wonder: what did the game developers have in mind when granting a Hero such abilities?
Formula for calculating points recorded in the results table
For those playing for a score, the formula for calculating virtual gold coins (points in the results table) that the Red Dragon bestows as rewards for victory in a separate scenario will be interesting:
(200 - (A+10)/(B+5) + C + D) x E, where
A - number of days spent completing the map (including the current day),
B - number of your towns,
C - equals 25 if all enemies were destroyed, and 0 otherwise,
D - equals 25 if you managed to bring The Grail to one of your towns and build a unique structure based on it. Otherwise D = 0,
E - difficulty coefficient (for Impossible, for example, it equals 2)
From this, it is clear that for the best result, you must destroy all enemies and capture ALL towns (including neutral ones) on the map in the shortest possible time. And do not forget about the Grail.
It can also be noted that those wishing to earn the highest rank (Archangel) will need to play only on the hardest difficulty level (Impossible). To set a personal record, you should use scenarios with a large number of towns (usually "L" or "XL" size maps), where a result of, say, 490 points would be quite achievable for you.
Note: Only the integer part of the fraction (A+10)/(B+5) is taken.
As for the bonus for destroying everyone, it is not always given. There are two types of scenarios in the game: those with one victory condition or two. In those that have two conditions, the second will necessarily be "Defeat All Enemies". Now then: in all scenarios where such a condition exists (or scenarios with this single victory condition), the bonus is given! But if there is no such victory condition in the scenario, sorry — the bonus is not granted! For example, in a scenario with the victory condition "Capture Town", destroying all enemies makes no sense from the perspective of the final score.
If the player strives for a high result, then in scenarios with two conditions, they should always fulfill the second one (destroy everyone). Of course, after first digging up the Grail. Then they will have two bonuses. Scenarios where the first condition is "Build the Grail Structure" can be an obstacle to this arrangement. But there's nothing to be done here — you have to choose one bonus out of two. Personally, I prefer the second. At least you won't have to spend precious time on tedious digging.
The result of a successfully completed campaign is calculated as follows:
1) the results of each individual scenario (map) are calculated using the formula provided above;
2) the average value for an individual scenario is calculated: the sum of all results is divided by the number of scenarios;
3) the campaign result is determined: the average value of an individual scenario is multiplied by 5
(Source - astralwizard, Gus Smedstad through Maranthea through Quebec Dragon)
Some game changes that appeared in Ablade and SoD compared to RoE:
Only two Heroes who can be hired in the tavern during a week now have a normal army. The others are accompanied by only one first-level creature. Thus, the possibility of quickly building up a large army has been eliminated, provided you have money and some luck with new Hero candidates.
In the object called Garrison, you can now only leave your soldiers. You can no longer take them from there.
In town buildings that weekly produce creatures which have undergone an "upgrade", both versions (basic and upgrade) can be hired. Sometimes it is more logical to purchase basic creatures, as their number will be greater for the same amount of money spent. For example, when defending a town against a planned attack, and there isn't enough gold available to hire everyone. In resource sources, you can leave squads of creatures to protect them from the encroachments of enemy Heroes.
Useful Tips
They are "useful" because the tips contained in "Heroes..." or "Chronicles" (Tutorial mode) are tips for gamers playing for the first time and try to help on the "training map" in mastering the game, but they do not bring you any closer to victory in a real scenario or campaign. The "Chronicles" Tutorial is more advanced in this sense, but if you have a good command of English, it is better to use the original source rather than the localization from "Buka". "Russian" tips should be treated with great caution — they often provide incorrect information due to poor translation (about which you can read in my article "Heroes Chronicles: Localization Errors and Flaws of the Original").
I must state immediately that the tips in this article were compiled based on playing against the computer (AI), and in a struggle against fellow humans, a gamer will likely have to reconsider their approach to some of them.
Traveling the Map
Moving their heroes across the kingdom map, the commander solves both tactical tasks to build up their "muscles" in the game (collecting resources, establishing control over various objects, etc.) and strategic ones (timely hiring of a new hero, planning the capture of enemy towns, etc.), which should lead him (the commander) to a well-deserved victory.
