Posts from The eternal question: which heroes are better, mages or warriors?
Which heroes do you prefer to play as?
Here, as everywhere else, better balance is preferable, but... a good mage is stronger than a warrior, even if the warrior is stronger in terms of power and army. I've been convinced of this many times. When you can't take a single step, and before your first powerful warrior can do anything, he's either dead or far from powerful, demoralized, and with a sad red square instead of a green one.
What do you think of this situation: you're playing as mages - "Tower," and I'm playing as warriors - "Humans." We meet, and I have 20-20-10-10, while you have 10-10-20-20. I use tactics to move all my units, cast Haste, and all my 7 units move faster than your fastest unit. With such defense, you'll have almost no one left. And then what? Well, you'll explode someone, blind them, or curse them. But how will you attack further? With each attack, you'll receive much more damage in return. IMO, only warriors or battle mages are effective, depending on the situation.
Well, if you play as a mage, you need to have a decent army!
I prefer to do this: I choose a warrior as the main hero, but I always try to get Wisdom, Earth Magic, and Water Magic, and depending on the situation, also Fire and Air Magic. Again, don't expect to deal a lot of damage with offensive spells: a strong melee unit will almost always deal more damage. It's better to increase Knowledge than Magical Power: you can never have too much mana!
(Василь Симоненко. Люди – прекрасні)
By the way, when the question was initially raised, were the boundaries between these three categories of heroes defined? Or does everyone decide for themselves?
If a hero has no combat skills, he's a mage; if he has no magical skills, not even a spellbook, he's a warrior. It seems straightforward.
But if he buys a spellbook, does he remain a warrior or transition into a battle mage? What if he learns one of the schools of magic? Or several schools (in any of these three scenarios, magic is not higher than level 2)? What if he gains wisdom? Or if a mage acquires a combat skill that isn't very strong but still exists (and doesn't affect direct damage)?

And in general, this is the first time I've heard that a hero's class is renamed to mage/warrior/cutie because of 1-2 skills.

Warriors differ from mages in the probability of specific skills appearing, both primary and secondary. I have never seen warriors with initial Wisdom + Literacy.
Of course, there can be exceptions, such as a berserker, for example, on the mage's side. But the warrior can also get lucky with a sphere of prohibition, for example, or a cloak of defiance... Or even just with some artifact that provides antimagic or resistance.
Therefore, my unequivocal, subjective verdict is that the warrior will win in most battles! :)
As I understand it, the best combination of "price and quality" is achieved with a good Warrior, one expert in a suitable element, and with resistance. I don't think such a hero can be called a Battle Mage; in battle, he will only use spells of level 1 or 2. Such a Warrior will almost certainly overwhelm his Mage opponent, all other things being equal.
Of course, there can be exceptions, such as a Berserker, on the Mage's side. But the Warrior can also get lucky with a Sphere of Suppression, or a Cloak of Negation... or even just some artifact that provides antimagic or resistance.
Therefore, my unequivocal, subjective verdict is that the Warrior will win in most battles! :)
If a Warrior can use magic and does so in battle, then he is a Battle Mage!
Sometimes, without magic, even the strongest Warrior cannot pass a test...
I created a small map for testing, but here's the problem: with "correct" defense, the Mage always dies, and only the Battle Mage wins the game. And with incorrect defense, only the Mage wins the game...
Without the Sphere of Suppression, the Warrior sometimes simply cannot survive...
However, in fast-paced gameplay, when Heroes need to develop, the Warrior can become the only Favorite and Winner!
Conclusion: Heroes of Might and Magic III is very well-balanced!
Map for testing:
http://corksink.narod.ru/all/02game/rargame/Test_HW_CORKSINK.rar
If a Warrior can use magic and does so in battle, then he is a Battle Mage!
Sometimes, without magic, even the strongest Warrior cannot overcome a challenge...
Справочник по НоММ-4 http://handbookhmm.ru/pamyatka-dlya-heroes-iv.html
Памятка по НоММ-3 http://handbookhmm.ru/pamyatka-dlya-homm-iii.html
и HotA http://handbookhmm.ru/vyishla-obnovlennaya-pamyatka-dlya-homm-iii-hota.html