Heroes of Might and Magic III has a separate list of cheat codes for each release: Restoration of Erathia, Armageddon's Blade and The Shadow of Death (also used by the Complete edition). Fan projects add codes of their own.[1][1] The 2015 HD Edition, which contains the original game without the expansions, uses the Restoration of Erathia codes.[1][1] The lists have themes: the Restoration of Erathia codes quote Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the Armageddon's Blade codes come from Star Wars: Episode I, and the Shadow of Death codes from The Matrix.[1][1]
How to enter the codes
In a single-player game press Tab: a chat line opens below the map. Type the code and press Enter.[1][1][1] In the HD Edition the line shows only a small underscore cursor, which is easy to miss; the codes still work there.[1]
In Russian releases the chat line types Cyrillic letters. Hold Ctrl while typing the code, which switches the line to Latin.[1][1][1][1]
Cheats work only in single-player games, not in hot-seat or online play. A player on our forum suggests that a hot-seat save loaded as a single-player game accepts them.[1][1]
Cheat codes
| Restoration of Erathia, HD Edition | Armageddon's Blade | The Shadow of Death, Complete | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
nwctrojanrabbit | — | nwcredpill | Win the scenario |
nwcsirrobin | — | nwcbluepill | Lose the scenario |
nwcmuchrejoicing | — | nwcmorpheus | Maximum morale for the selected hero |
nwccastleanthrax | — | nwcfollowthewhiterabbit | Maximum luck for the selected hero |
nwcantioch | nwcr2d2 | nwclotsofguns | All war machines (ballista, ammo cart, first aid tent) |
nwcfleshwound | nwcdarthmaul | nwcagents | 10 Black Knights into every empty army slot |
nwcavertingoureyes | nwcpadme | nwctrinity | 5 Archangels into every empty army slot |
nwctim | nwcmidichlorians | nwcthereisnospoon | Spell book, all spells and 999 spell points |
nwccoconuts | nwcpodracer | nwcnebuchadnezzar | Unlimited movement for the selected hero |
nwcigotbetter | nwcquigon | nwcneo | The selected hero gains a level |
nwcshrubbery | nwcwatto | nwctheconstruct | 100,000 gold and 100 of every other resource |
nwconlyamodel | nwccoruscant | nwczion | Builds every structure in town (see the note below) |
nwcgeneraldirection | nwcrevealourselves | nwcwhatisthematrix | Reveals the whole map |
| — | — | nwcignoranceisbliss | Covers again everything that is not currently in view |
nwcalreadygotone | nwcprophecy | nwcoracle | Reveals the puzzle map (obelisk map) |
nwcphisherprice | — | nwcphisherprice | Heroes II-style colour palette |
| — | — | gosolo | The computer plays your turns (Esc in the end-of-day message cancels it) |
Sources for the table: [1][1][1][1][1][1] Armageddon's Blade has no codes for winning or losing, luck, morale, hiding the map or the palette.[1][1] The code gosolo is described on our forum as the computer playing for you.[1]
Note on the “build everything” codes: sources disagree on the scope — all towns on the map, the player's towns, or only the selected town.[1][1][1]
The first post of the forum topic “Cheats in Heroes III” is inaccurate in its Armageddon's Blade list: it gives the war-machine code as nwcwr2d2, with nwcr2d2 only as an alternative (that one is correct), and says nwcwatto gives 10,000 gold instead of 100,000.[1][1]
Cheat menu
Add /nwcgrail after the executable in the game's shortcut (for example "C:\SoD\homm3.exe" /nwcgrail), start the game and press F4 to switch to windowed mode: a Cheat menu appears in the window's menu bar. The menus can only be used in windowed mode.[1][1][1][1] With the HD Mod, create the shortcut through HD3_Launcher and append /nwcgrail.[1]
Codes added by HD Mod, Horn of the Abyss and VCMI
| Code | Effect | Where | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
nwctheone | Reveals the map, puts 5 Archangels into every empty slot, gives unlimited movement and flight | HD Mod 5.0 RC40 (2 December 2018) and later; VCMI | [1][1][1] |
nwcarchitect | Gives the Grail to the selected hero | Horn of the Abyss 1.8.0 and later; VCMI | [1][1][1] |
nwcneo N | The selected hero gains N levels (for example nwcneo 20) | Horn of the Abyss 1.8.1 | [1] |
Horn of the Abyss otherwise keeps the Shadow of Death codes. Since version 1.8.0 nwczion no longer builds the Grail structure, which is why nwcarchitect was added. Version 1.8.1 made gosolo count as a cheat and disabled it in online games.[1][1]
In the Wake of Gods
In the Wake of Gods (WoG 3.58) adds its own codes, prefixed wog and themed on The Lord of the Rings. They are typed like the original codes. The last three work during combat. The WoG option “Disable Cheat Codes and Menus” blocks them.[1][1]
| Code | Effect |
|---|---|
wogonering | Win the scenario |
wogdarklord | Lose the scenario |
wogminastirith | Build all buildings |
woggaladriel | 5 Archangels into each empty slot |
wogoliphaunt | All war machines |
woggandalfwhite | The hero gains a level |
wogshadowfax | Unlimited movement |
wogpalantir | Reveal the puzzle map |
wogeyeofsauron | Reveal the whole map |
wogmordor | Cover the map again |
wogisengard | 100,000 gold and 100 of each other resource |
wogsaruman | All spells and 999 spell points |
wogpathofthedead | Black Knights into the army (sources disagree on how many) |
wogbilbo | Maximum luck |
wogfellowship | Maximum morale |
wogsarumanofmanycolors | Change the colour palette |
wogfrodo | Win the battle (in combat) |
wogdenethor | Lose the battle (in combat) |
woggandalf | All spells and 999 spell points (in combat) |
A post on our forum swaps the win and lose codes. According to the WoG readme, wogonering wins and wogdarklord loses.[1][1][1] For wogpathofthedead sources give either up to 50 knights (“death knights” in the WoG readme, Black Knights on our forum) or 10 Black Knights per slot.[1][1][1]
VCMI
The open-source engine VCMI accepts all the original codes, also as vcmi... aliases, and adds parameterised ones, for example vcmiarmy <creature> <amount>, vcmiresources <amount>, vcmilevel <n> or vcmiteleport <x> <y>. The chat line opens with Tab or by tapping the status bar. In multiplayer, !cheaters lists the players who used cheats. The full list is in the VCMI documentation.[1]
See also: Where to buy Heroes of Might and Magic III.
Cheats in other Heroes games
Heroes I, Heroes II, Heroes IV, Heroes V, Heroes VI, Heroes VII, Olden Era.