Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era

Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era is made by Unfrozen, the studio behind Iratus: Lord of the Dead, under license from Ubisoft, which revealed it at Gamescom on Aug 22, 2024. Hooded Horse joined as publisher on Jul 1, 2025, Might and Magic creator Jon Van Caneghem became Unfrozen's creative advisor on Jan 29, 2026, and the game entered Early Access on Apr 30, 2026.

Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era is not a remake of Heroes of Might and Magic 3 but a new prequel built on its core loop, with hexagonal battles, towns, heroes and random maps that Heroes 3 players know, plus new systems such as Faction Laws, alternative upgrades, subskills, four magic schools, Arena and Single Hero modes and simultaneous-turn Alliances. Its underground layer and Thieves' Guild are still to come.

Critics liked Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era (OpenCritic Top Critic Average 83, 80% recommend; IGN 7/10) and Steam players rate it Very Positive, with 20,406 of 23,557 reviews positive on Oct 21, 2026. It sold 250,000 copies in 24 hours and over 1,000,000 on Steam by May 28, 2026.

Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era has 127 faction creatures and 18 neutral ones in Early Access, over 140 in all: each of the six factions has seven tiers, and each tier is a base unit with two alternative upgrades. Neutral creatures go up to the tier 8 Lich Dragon.

Dungeon is the Alvar Pact of Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era, an alliance of dark elves, Stygianscale dragons and minotaurs with Troglodytes, Infiltrators, Dancers, Minotaurs, Medusae, Hydras and Dragons. Its faction skill is Triumvirate's Strength, three battle stances that boost one stat a round.

Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era has six factions: Temple, Necropolis and Dungeon, which return from earlier Heroes games, and three new ones, Hive, Grove and Schism. Each has seven tiers of creatures, each tier with a base unit and two upgrades, its own faction skill, its own Faction Laws and 18 heroes.

The Grove (announced as Sylvan) is Olden Era's nature faction of fey folk and elemental beasts from the forest of Murmurwoods, built on utility and Focus Charges through its faction skill Murmuring, with awakened elementals such as the Thunder Qilin and a Phoenix that is reborn.

The Hive is Olden Era's villain faction, a demon-worshipping cult of insects built as a "monofaction" that grows stronger the more Hive creature types it fields, with the faction skill Summon Swarm that hatches exploding Fire Larvae and a T7 Hive Queen.

Necropolis is the undead faction of Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era, the Necromancers' Guild of Shadowspire ruled by vampires, with Skeletons, Wights, Liches, Dread Knights and Vampires. Its faction skill is Necromancy, which raises defeated enemies as undead from a reserve of necro energy.

Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era launched with 18 neutral creatures; the patch notes name the Pixie (tier 1), Ghoul (2), Animated Armor (3), Starchild and Primal Remnant (4), Giant Toad (5), Couatl and Worldwatcher (6), the tier 8 Lich Dragon and the Groll. The public beta of Oct 15, 2026 adds the Mummy (5) and the Kitsune (7), and more tier 8 neutrals are planned.

Schism is Olden Era's secret sixth faction, revealed Aug 21, 2025: renegade Alvari elves who opened the Rift to the Abyss and summon Lovecraft-inspired horrors, built around unavoidable damage and ability control, with the faction skill Abyssal Communion that adds temporary units to every battle.

Temple is the human knights faction of Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era, the sun-worshipping Temple of the Sun with Swordsmen, Crossbowmen, Griffins, Cavalry, Inquisitors and Angels. Its faction skill is Righteousness, rebuilt around three battle prayers in the Oct 15, 2026 public beta.

Arena is Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era's quick mode: each player drafts a hero, skills, artifacts, spells and an army in a few minutes, then fights one battle against a player or the AI, with its own ranked rating. It was playtested in March 2025 and overhauled in Patch #13 on Aug 20, 2026 with hero starting bonuses, 4 reroll points and guaranteed creature tiers for specialists.

Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era has three skirmish modes, Classic (several heroes, the series' standard), Single Hero (one hero whose death loses the game) and Arena (a draft into one battle), each playable against the AI, in hotseat or online with ranked matchmaking, plus the campaign's first act, scenarios, puzzle challenges and, since Sep 30, 2026, Alliances for team play.

Olden Era has shipped a pre-release map editor since its Early Access launch on Apr 30, 2026. Unfrozen plans editor improvements in Stage 3 of its roadmap and map sharing for 1.0; as of Oct 21, 2026 there is no official way to share maps and no Steam Workshop.

Olden Era plays online with ranked 1v1 matchmaking and leaderboards in Classic, Single Hero and Arena modes, custom lobbies, hotseat on one PC and, since Sep 30, 2026, Alliances for co-op and team play. Unfrozen's first official tournament, the Alvari Cup, began on Aug 1, 2026 with 16 invited players.

Olden Era makes its skirmish maps from templates such as Jebus Cross, Jebus Outcast, Crossroads, Harmony, Sprint, Galaxy and Mix, over 50 of them by Sep 2026. Since Sep 30, 2026 its Advanced Random Map Generator can also build a fully random single-player map from size, players, alliances, richness, difficulty, symmetry and victory conditions.

The Mysterious Island is Olden Era's first giant hand-crafted single-player map, added in Patch #13 on Aug 20, 2026. It was made by Papyjama, author of the Heroes 3 map of the same name, who joined Unfrozen as a level designer; Patch #14 on Sep 3, 2026 added his classic map Broken Alliance and the scenario Prisoners.

The adventure map is where Olden Era's heroes explore, collect resources and treasure, fight neutral guards and capture towns, mines and creature dwellings. Unfrozen counts 190 kinds of buildings on the map at the Early Access launch, more than any earlier Heroes game.

Olden Era launched in Early Access with 148 artifacts in four rarities (common, rare, epic and legendary), several of them in sets. The Oct 15, 2026 public beta adds 15 more, among them 12 two-stat items, Elven Blade, Ripe Apple and Diplomat's Robe, and the Oct 21 beta adds the Orb of Poison.

Battles in Olden Era are turn-based on a hex grid, with creature stacks acting in order of Initiative while heroes cast spells, strike and use faction abilities. Units spend shared Focus Charges on abilities, a tactics phase lets you place your army first, and the Oct 15, 2026 beta replaces the damage formula.

Faction Laws are Olden Era's technology tree for your starting faction. Fighting guards, capturing external dwellings and owning town halls earn Law points, every batch of points becomes a Seal, and Seals enact laws arranged in tiers that boost your economy, heroes and creatures.

Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era has 18 skirmish heroes per faction, 108 in all, plus heroes found only in the campaign. Each hero has a class, a specialization and fixed starting skills, gains Attack, Defense, Spell Power or Knowledge with every level, learns up to 8 skills with subskills, and can unlock one of two elite classes (subclasses).

Olden Era has four schools of magic (Daylight, Nightshade, Primal and Arcane) plus Neutral magic for adventure spells. Spells come in tiers I to V; anyone can learn tiers I and II, tiers III to V need the school's skill, the spellbook is free, and a Mage Guild can research one missing spell a day.

Necromancy is the Necropolis faction skill in Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era that turns enemies defeated in battle into undead in the hero's army. Since Patch #11 (Jul 6, 2026) it can raise any tier and spends a necromantic energy reserve of 3,000, 4,000 or 5,000.

A hero in Olden Era learns up to 8 skills, the faction skill included, and each skill has 5 subskills (pick 1 of 3 at Advanced and 1 of 2 at Expert). The right skills and subskills unlock one of two optional subclasses, and Early Access launched with 30 skills and 180 subskills.

In Olden Era you win the Grail by finding the Mirage on the adventure map and defeating a stronger copy of your own hero there. The Grail then goes into your resources and can be spent on a Grail Sanctuary in any of your towns, a faction-specific building whose bonus, such as Temple's Golden Calf or Dungeon's Spy Network, can be read from the first day.

To start Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era, play the tutorial and Act 1 of the campaign, or a Classic or Single Hero skirmish on Easy against one AI; build in your town every day, keep one main hero fighting guards for experience and Law points while cheaper heroes collect resources, and learn the four hero stats, skills, Faction Laws and the four schools of magic.

There is no official best faction or tier list in Olden Era: Unfrozen balances the six factions patch by patch and has said which ones were over or under its targets in each mode. As of Oct 21, 2026 the biggest rework, the Oct 15 balance beta, is not yet on the main branch.

Unfrozen publishes no hero ranking for Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era; a hero's strength comes from its specialty, class and starting skills, and the patch notes name the heroes it buffed and nerfed: spell specialists buffed on Jun 1, 2026, Tavi made a Magic hero and Pauper a Might hero, Lord Edgar weakened on Jun 1 and again with creature and experience specialists in the Oct 21, 2026 beta.

Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era has five AI difficulty levels since Patch #6 on May 13, 2026: Easy, Normal, Moderate, Hard and Unfair. Unfrozen made Easy very passive and Normal less aggressive on May 2, 2026 after launch complaints, fixed an AI that did not build in its towns on May 14, and its Oct 15, 2026 public beta makes the map AI flee lost battles, use map spells, equip artifacts and pick skills that fit its heroes.

Dungeon in Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era wins with early tempo from Triumvirate's Strength stances, a strong economy from its trade laws, and Hydras and Dragons late. Swap stances each round, use fighting styles, and take growth, market and spell-level laws.

The Grove wins in Olden Era through abilities: its Warden and Druid heroes bank Focus Charges with Murmuring, its laws raise the Focus limit and make abilities cheaper, and Primal Magic, awakened Qilins and reborn Phoenixes finish fights, while a careful early game avoids its costly losses. Built from Unfrozen's notes as of Oct 21, 2026.

The Hive wins in Olden Era by aggression: an army made mostly of Hive creatures, Fire Larvae from Summon Swarm to soak and explode, and laws for fast expansion, while keeping its own losses down, its main weakness. Built from Unfrozen's patch notes as of Oct 21, 2026.

Necropolis in Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era wins by growing its army after every fight with Necromancy, which since Patch #11 raises defeated enemies of any tier from a 3,000 to 5,000 energy reserve. Plan routes to bank and spend necro energy, and take the laws that feed it.

Schism wins in Olden Era by snowballing: its faction skill Abyssal Communion adds temporary units to every battle at a level that grows with each win and falls each day, so one main hero should fight every day, while its laws drain enemy mana and multiply summons. This guide is built from Unfrozen's own notes as of Oct 21, 2026.

Temple in Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era wins with sturdy knights, Griffins and Angels backed by fast building and flexible magic. Build twice a day with its laws, lean on Righteousness, and remember Unfrozen judged it weak in the late game until the Aug 20, 2026 law overhaul.

Unfrozen has not announced a 1.0 release date for Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era as of Oct 21, 2026. Its Steam Early Access text says it plans to stay in Early Access for about a year from Apr 30, 2026, so Vi.ki's best guess is about Apr 2027; no console version is announced.

Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era is Unfrozen's turn-based fantasy strategy game, the official prequel of the Heroes of Might and Magic series, in Steam Early Access on Windows since Apr 30, 2026, published by Hooded Horse with Ubisoft. It is set on the continent of Jadame with six factions; 1.0 has no announced date.

Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era needs at least Windows 10 64-bit, an Intel Core i3-10300 or AMD Ryzen 3 3100, 8 GB of RAM, a GeForce GTX 1650 (4 GB), Radeon RX 5500 XT or Arc A580, DirectX 11 and 8 GB on an SSD. The recommended PC has a Core i5-12400T or Ryzen 5 5500, 16 GB of RAM and a GTX 1660, RX 5600 OEM or Arc A750. It runs on Windows only.

Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era has one edition, $39.99 on Steam (25% off at $29.99 until Oct 24, 2026), and is also on the Microsoft Store as a Game Preview and in PC Game Pass since launch day. No DLC, deluxe edition or soundtrack is sold as of Oct 21, 2026, and a free demo has been on Steam since Oct 9, 2025.

Alliances, added to Olden Era on Sep 30, 2026 in the Roadmap Patch (v0.81.02), let players team up in PvE and PvP with always-simultaneous turns, resource trading and requests, shared vision and storage and a shared victory, with 5 new Alliance templates. Co-op against the AI works online with friends or solo with AI allies.

On Oct 15, 2026 Unfrozen opened a public Steam beta of Olden Era's biggest balance update since Early Access, v0.82.02, updated to v0.82.03 on Oct 21. It brings a new damage formula, a smarter adventure map AI, the neutral Mummy and Kitsune, the First Aid skill, Temple prayers, reworked alternative upgrades and 16 new artifacts; its release to everyone has no date.

Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era entered Steam Early Access on Apr 30, 2026 with six factions, a tutorial, Act 1 of the campaign, scenarios, three modes in single player and multiplayer, ranked matchmaking, hotseat, puzzle challenges and a pre-release map editor. Unfrozen plans to stay in Early Access for about a year; 1.0 has no date.

Unfrozen's Early Access roadmap for Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era, published May 28, 2026, has four stages: Q3 2026 (team play, random maps, skills, emotes; delivered Sep 30), Q4 2026 (matchmaking, elite classes, Observer Mode and replays, alternative upgrades), the rest of Early Access (underground, Thieves' Guild and more) and 1.0 (campaign Acts 2 and 3, a PvE Roguelike Mode).

The live version of Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era is v0.81.04, a hotfix of Oct 2, 2026, and a public beta of the next big balance update, now v0.82.03, has been testing on Steam since Oct 15, 2026. Unfrozen has shipped 14 numbered patches, the Roadmap Patch and seven hotfixes since Early Access began on Apr 30, 2026.

Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era has one non-linear story campaign that covers every faction, in which Jadame's quarreling powers must unite against the demonic Hive. Early Access has its first act; Acts 2 and 3 are planned for the 1.0 release, and an Ironman mode for the road there.

Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era is set on Jadame, a continent of the world of Enroth that no Heroes game had explored before, centuries before the role-playing game Might and Magic 8. Unfrozen tells its lore through in-world writers, chief among them an old minotaur scholar named Kelarr.