I. Disclaimer
This article is provided "as is" in an attempt to help the
gamers about the game "Heroes of Might and Magic III", by New
World Computing.
This article carries with it no warranties of any kind
regarding it's use or usefulness, and the author of this article
claims no responsibility whatsoever regarding the same.
This article was created by it's author without any direct
input from New World Computing, and, therefore, any questions
regarding the information provided in this article should be
directed solely to it's author.
This article is Copyright 1999. All rights reserved.
II. Introduction
Heroes of Might and Magic 3 is a fantasy turn-based strategy
game. The action takes place in Erathia, a land of myth and legend,
where the warlords are fighting for resources and domination.
III. Castles
Sources of Castles:
-you already have them
-building a fort in a town
-capturing neutral or enemy towns or castles
At the beginning of most maps you own a castle and a hero. Your hero has
a few weak monsters, so for you to win the game you must provide your
hero with more and powerful monsters. It is better to have more than
one hero, because there's so much to do: explore the map, control mines
for resources, defeat monsters, visit different places on the map and much
more, so it will be almost impossible to do this with only one hero without
getting your ass kicked by enemies. There are two ways to purchase monsters
and heroes: one, by visiting creature dwellings, some defended by armies
that are hard to beat, and taverns or jails that are very rarely met, and two,
by buying them from your castle's dwellings and tavern. Don't forget that
if you do not have a castle for seven days you loose the game, so if
you choose the first way your castle will remain undefended and eventually
will be captured and you will surely loose. The best way is the second way
complemented by the first, because by controlling external dwellings you
increase the number of the creatures produced in a week by your castle's
dwellings of the same type. Also, the castle is your main source of gold,
spells and various skills depending on your type of castle. In some castle
you can build boats, buy artifacts, resources, etc.
There are many ways to develop a castle, but not all are good. Here is one:
Castle: Day 1 - Archers' Tower Day 8 - Town Hall
Day 2 - Blacksmith Day 9 - Mage Guild 1
Day 3 - Barracks Day 10 - Marketplace
Day 4 - Stables Day 11 - City Hall
Day 5 - Training Grounds Day 12 - Griffin Tower
Day 6 - Citadel Day 13 - Monastery
Day 7 - Castle Day 14 - Upg. Barracks or
Mage Guild 2
For all this you need: 34500 gold, 70 wood, 40 ore, 7 crystal, 2 mercury,
2 sulfur, 2 gems. Assuming you're playing at normal skill you will only
need: 14500 gold, 50 wood and 20 ore which are not very hard to get. And
don't forget that you can choose gold or resources at the advanced options
before you begin a game.
Tip: If you have enough gold you can build Portal of Glory in day 14!
You can try this:
1 - Town Hall 2 - Blacksmith 3 - Barracks 4 - Mage Guild 1
5 - Monastery 6 - ! Portal of Glory ! 7 - Citadel
Dungeon: 1 - Harpy Loft 8 - Town Hall
2 - Pillar of Eyes 9 - Mage Guild 1
3 - Chapel of Stilled Voices 10 - Blacksmith
4 - Manticore Lair 11 - Marketplace
5 - Labyrinth 12 - City Hall
6 - Citadel 13 - Resource Silo
7 - Castle 14 - Mage Guild 2
What you need: 37500 gold, 41 wood, 56 ore, 5 c, 10 m, 10 s, 15 g
Normal skill : 17500 gold, 21 wood, 36 ore, 5 gems
Necropolis: 1 - Graveyard 8 - Town Hall
2 - Estate 9 - Blacksmith
3 - Mage Guild 1 10 - Marketplace
4 - Mausoleum 11 - City Hall
5 - Hall of Darkness 12 - Necromancy Amplifier
6 - ! Dragon Vault ! 13 - Tomb of Souls
7 - Citadel 14 - Castle
What you need: 33000 gold, 50 wood, 60 ore, 5 c, 5 m, 15 s, 5 g
Normal skill : 13000 gold, 30 wood, 40 ore, 5 sulfur
Inferno: 1 - Hall of Sins 8 - Town Hall
2 - Demon Gate 9 - Blacksmith
3 - Hell Hole 10 - Marketplace
4 - Mage Guild 1 11 - City Hall
5 - Fire Lake 12 - Resource Silo
6 - Citadel 13 - Kennels
7 - Castle 14 - Capitol
What you need: 45000 gold, 40 wood, 45 ore, 0 c, 3 m, 3 s, 3 g
Normal skill : 25000 gold, 20 wood, 25 ore
Tower: 1 - Parapet 8 - Town Hall
2 - Golem Factory 9 - Blacksmith
3 - Mage Guild 1 10 - Marketplace
4 - Mage Tower 11 - City Hall
5 - Altar of Wishes 12 - Castle
6 - Golden Pavilion 13 - Capitol
7 - Citadel 14 - Upg. Altar of Wishes
What you need: 43000 gold, 50 wood, 50 ore, 13 c, 7 m, 7 s, 13 g
Normal skill : 23000 gold, 30 wood, 30 ore, 3 c, 3 g
Stronghold: 1 - Wolf Pen 8 - Town Hall
2 - Cliff Nest 9 - Mage Guild 1
3 - ! Behemoth Lair ! 10 - Blacksmith
4 - Orc Tower 11 - Marketplace
5 - Ogre Fort 12 - City Hall
6 - Citadel 13 - Mage Guild 2
7 - Castle 14 - Upg. Cliff Nest
What you need: 38000 gold, 80 wood, 60 ore, 14 c, 4 m, 4 s, 4 g
Normal skill : 18000 gold, 60 wood, 40 ore, 4 c
Rampart: 1 - Homestead 8 - Town Hall
2 - Enchanted Spring 9 - Mage Guild
3 - Dendroid Arches 10 - Blacksmith
4 - Unicorn Glade 11 - Marketplace
5 - Dwarf Cottage 12 - City Hall
6 - Citadel 13 - Mage Guild 2
7 - Castle 14 - Capitol
What you need: 40500 gold, 50 wood, 30 ore, 14 c, 4 m, 4 s, 14 g
Normal skill : 20500 gold, 30 wood, 10 ore, 4 c, 4 g
Fortress: 1 - Lizard Den 8 - Town Hall
2 - Wyvern Nest 9 - Mage Guild
3 - Serpent Fly Hive 10 - Blacksmith
4 - Gorgon Lair 11 - Marketplace
5 - Basilisk Pit 12 - City Hall
6 - Citadel 13 - Hydra Pond
7 - Castle 14 - Upg Lizard Den
What you need: 39500 gold, 80 wood, 50 ore, 0 c, 7 m, 17 s, 0 g
Normal skill : 19500 gold, 60 wood, 30 ore, 7 s
Explore the map as much as you can. Visit all places you see. Take all
resources on the map. Control as many mines as you can, even if you don't need
that resource you can trade it for other things(gold, artifacts, different
resources), and this way you limit your enemy's production. Don't forget the
obelisks, they help you find the Grail, and with the Grail you're half way
to victory. To build the Grail structure you have to take the Grail into a
city and visit the hall, you will be asked if you want that city to be the
Grail's permanent home so you have to be carefully which city you choose
because once built the Grail structure remains there, so if you build it in
a weak town you're enemies might capture it and you don't want that to happen.
There can be only one Grail structure in a game. The Grail Structure increases
creature production with 50%, adds 5000 gold per day to your treasury and a
special bonus.
Table with special Grail bonuses in different castles:
Castle - Colossus: + 2 morale to all allied heroes
Dungeon - Guardian of Earth: + 12 Spell Power to hero defending castle
Necropolis - Soul Prison: + 20% Necromancy skill to all allied heroes
Inferno - Deity of Fire: every week will be the week of imp (+15)
Tower - Skyship: +15 Knowledge to defending hero and shows entire map
Stronghold - Warlords' Monument: +20 Attack to hero defending castle
Rampart - Spirit Guardian: +2 luck to all allied heroes
Fortress - Carnivorous Plant: +10 Attack and Defense to defending hero
A new feature implemented in Heroes3 allows you to give resources to other
players(human or computer), so if an ally of yours is in trouble you can
help him by giving him gold, for example. To give resources you have to go
to the marketplace and click on the "Give Resources" button.
The Tavern is a good place to visit, not just for hiring heroes, you can
hear rumours and visit the Thieves Guild to see how your enemy is doing. If you
have just defeated an enemy, you can look for him in the tavern at the beginning
of the following week, you might find him and you can hire him to fight for
you. When you retreat or surrender your heroes, go as soon as you can to the
tavern to rehire him or you'll lose him.
There are many advantages depending on the type of castle, e.g. in Castle
you have the stables that boosts your speed for that week, in Dungeon build
the Portal of Summoning to have eight types of creatures available for
purchasing, in Necropolis you have the Cover of Darkness, a big disadvantage
for enemies, then there's the Escape Tunnel in Stronghold which allows you to
retreat during a siege, and the list continues. It doesn't matter what kind of
castle you have, if you know how to take advantage of it you can defeat
a Castle even with a Fortress. Just keep playing!
IV. Heroes
Sources of heroes:
- the castle's tavern
- the town's tavern
- adventure map's taverns
- prisons
Now, the heroes have unique abilities, so you might wanna check the hero
before you hire him. E.g. if you have a Necropolis is best to hire the
heroes who have the increased necromancy skill, for every level of
experience they get a 5% necromancy bonus. Or from Tower you can hire the
hero with the Chain Lightning speciality. Not only from Tower, but from any
other castle you can get this hero. So it's a good idea to visit the tavern
every week.
Heroes that deserve to be hired from any castle:
Loynis the Cleric
Secondary Skills Basic Wisdom, Basic Learning
Unique Ability Loynis's proficiency with the Prayer spell allows him
to cast it with increased effect, based on his level
compared to the level of the target unit. (the bonus
is greater on weaker units)
Isra the Death Knight
Secondary Skills Advanced Necromancy
Unique Ability Isra receives a 5% per level bonus to her Necromancy
skill.
Alagar the Druid
Secondary Skills Basic Wisdom, Basic Sorcery
Unique Ability Alagar's proficiency with the Ice Bolt spell allows
him to cast it with increased effect, based on his
level compared to the level of the target unit.
(greater bonus on weaker units)
Xyron the Heretic
Secondary Skills Basic Wisdom, Basic Scholar
Unique Ability Xyron's proficiency with the Inferno spell allows him
to cast it with increased effect, based on his level
compared to the level of the target unit. (greater
bonus on weaker units)
Lord Haart the Knight
Secondary Skills Basic Leadership, Basic Estates
Unique Ability Lord Haart receives a 5% per level bonus to his
Estates skill.
Aislinn the Necromancer
Secondary Skills Basic Necromancy, Basic Wisdom
Unique Ability Aislinn's proficiency with the Meteor Shower spell
allows her to cast it with increased effect, based on
her level compared to the level of the target unit.
(greater bonus on weaker units)
Vidomina the Necromancer
Secondary Skills Advanced Necromancy
Unique Ability Vidomina receives a 5% per level bonus to her
Necromancy skill.
Gunnar the Overlord
Secondary Skills Basic Tactics, Basic Logistics
Unique Ability Gunnar receives a 5% per level bonus to his Logistics
skill.
Kyrre the Ranger
Secondary Skills Basic Archery, Basic Logistics
Unique Ability Kyrre receives a 5% per level bonus to her Logistics
skill.
Thorgrim the Ranger
Secondary Skills Advanced Magic Resistance
Unique Ability Thorgrim receives a 5% per level bonus to his
Resistance skill.
Alamar the Warlock
Secondary Skills Basic Wisdom, Basic Scholar
Unique Ability Alamar's proficiency with the Resurrection spell
allows him to cast it with increased effect, based on
his level compared to the level of the target unit.
(greater bonus on weaker units)
Deemer the Warlock
Secondary Skills Basic Wisdom, Advanced Scouting
Unique Ability Deemer's proficiency with the Meteor Shower spell
allows him to cast it with increased effect, based on
his level compared to the level of the target unit.
(greater bonus on weaker units)
Solmyr the Wizard
Secondary Skills Basic Wisdom, Basic Sorcery
Unique Ability Solmyr's proficiency with the Chain Lightning spell
allows him to cast it with increased effect, based on
his level compared to the level of the target unit.
(greater bonus on weaker units)
You'll find out that some heroes will bring resources to your kingdome, so
if you need a specific resource look for that hero.
- sulfur: Calid the Heretic
- gems: Saurug the Battle Mage
- mercury: Rissa the Alchemist
- crystals: Sephinroth the Warlock
More to come...
- for suggestions e.mail me at: kingktav@hotmail.com
