Mastering Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era can feel daunting at first. Balancing gold, resources, town infrastructure, unit recruitment, and tactical magic is a complex juggling act. To help you hit the ground running, we’ve compiled these essential strategies to ensure your first foray into the game is successful.
Here are eight fundamental tips to elevate your gameplay in Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era.
A Hero needs support
Success in Olden Era hinges on rapidly building a formidable Hero with a massive army before your adversaries do. Time is your most precious resource. Expanding your roster of Heroes is vital for maximizing map coverage and gathering essential upgrades; you can recruit additional leaders via the Tavern.
Establish a clear hierarchy: designate one “main” Hero to spearhead combat and conquer objectives, while your secondary Heroes focus on scouting, logistics, and funneling fresh reinforcements to your lead commander. This specialized approach is the fastest route to forging an unstoppable endgame force.
Prioritize town development and resource acquisition
Upon spawning, resist the urge to rush out aimlessly. Focus on your starting town to secure a solid foundation. While every match presents unique challenges, these early-game priorities are almost universally beneficial:
- Bolster your ranks: Recruit units in your home base immediately and continue to do so at the start of every week.
- Delegate: Hire a second Hero early to handle scouting and gathering duties.
- Establish a Mage Guild: Essential for accessing combat magic, which can devastate foes and preserve your own unit count.
- Secure resource nodes: Prioritize claiming sawmills and ore mines to establish a steady daily income of wood and ore.
- Scavenge wisely: Focus on collecting experience from treasure chests early on to ensure your Hero doesn’t fall behind the leveling curve.
- Invest in infrastructure: Construct buildings that increase gold production and those that unlock higher-tier unit recruitment.
- Clear local threats: Systematically eliminate nearby weak neutral enemies to secure your immediate surroundings.
Master combat magic through the Mage Guild
Clicking your spellbook icon during battle grants access to game-changing tactical options, from healing and buffing allies to debuffing or obliterating your foes. To unlock your initial suite of seven randomized tier-1 spells, construct a Mage Guild in your town for 2,500 gold and five wood. Subsequent upgrades to this building within the same town will unlock higher tiers of magic.
Graphic: Marloes Valentina Stella/Polygon | Source image: Unfrozen/Hooded Horse via PolygonIf you aren’t thrilled with your initial spell selection, build Mage Guilds in other towns to roll for more. If you land on a spell you already possess, it will level up, increasing its potency. You can inspect leveling bonuses by holding Shift while hovering over a spell in the Magic Observatory. While you can manually upgrade spells using resources, this is highly expensive—reserve this for your most essential tactical tools. Keep a close eye on mana and cooldowns; manage your mana pool carefully, as it only replenishes by visiting wells or resting in a town with a Mage Guild.
Capitalize on Focus points and charges
Monitor the golden meter at the bottom of your combat screen—this is your Focus bar. Your units build Focus as they trade blows: melee units generate two points per strike, while ranged units gain one. Hitting six points grants a Focus Charge (typically stacking up to three). These charges unlock powerful unit-specific abilities. Avoid hoarding these charges unless you have a specific strategic objective, as a capped bar prevents further point accumulation.
Graphic: Marloes Valentina Stella/Polygon | Source image: Unfrozen/Hooded Horse via PolygonUtilize expendable units
A clever way to manipulate enemy AI is to utilize “one-stack” units—single units detached from a larger group—as sacrificial buffers. Place these in front of your high-value damage dealers to intercept enemy charges, draw out counterattacks, or rapidly build your Focus meter. Right-click any troop stack and select “split one unit” to create these versatile disposable shields.
Master the art of “Waiting”
In Olden Era, acting first isn’t always advantageous. If you move your melee units forward early, you may leave them exposed to a devastating counter-strike from a waiting enemy. Use the “Wait” feature—the hourglass icon next to a unit’s portrait—to hold their turn. Keep in mind that when units wait, those with higher initiative are prioritized to act later. This can be used to your advantage, allowing you to move last in one turn and first in the next, effectively giving you two consecutive actions.
Graphic: Marloes Valentina Stella/Polygon | Source image: Unfrozen/Hooded Horse via PolygonOptimize travel efficiency
Efficient movement is the key to winning the race against time. Before committing to a path, click a tile to preview your route and hold ALT to see the exact movement cost. To optimize your mobility:
- Stay on the beaten path: Roads drastically reduce movement costs; only leave them when necessary.
- Avoid water: Rivers are major movement inhibitors.
- Leverage spells: Global map spells like “Second Wind” or “Shadowflight” can bypass terrain obstacles and provide movement boosts.
- Match terrain: Moving your Hero and units through their native terrain type significantly lowers movement consumption.
Enhance your map awareness
Don’t let valuable resources go unnoticed. Hold ALT at any time to highlight all interactable objects, such as ore and wood piles. For a more permanent solution, navigate to your settings and toggle “always highlight interactables” in the “readability” section, where you can also customize the highlight color.
Graphic: Marloes Valentina Stella/Polygon | Source image: Unfrozen/Hooded Horse via PolygonFinally, activate “danger zones” via the map icon in the top-left corner. This illuminates a red radius around enemy forces, providing crucial visual cues regarding their threat range so you can avoid unintended engagements.
Source: Polygon
