Best Heroes

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.

1:05 There is no official tier list for Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era: Unfrozen publishes no hero ranking, and with more than a hundred heroes, 18 per faction (FAQ: Part 2), the strongest pick depends on the faction, the mode and the template. What makes a hero strong is its specialty, which grows with its level, its class (Might or Magic), its fixed starting skills and its starting spell and army. The patch notes are the hard evidence: they name every hero Unfrozen buffed or nerfed, from the spell specialists strengthened on Jun 1, 2026 to Lord Edgar and all creature and experience specialists weakened in the beta of Oct 21, 2026. This page lists those changes, patch by patch. The Early Access launch trailer shows the Pick Faction and Pick Hero screens, where a skirmish starts with a choice from the faction's roster.

A hero window over a green adventure map with red mushroom-shaped rocks at the bottom. An old bald hero portrait sits at the top left, and a dark tooltip box covers part of the window with the heading Cleric, a paragraph of text and two subclass entries with empty progress bars at 0/5. — A tooltip for the Cleric class, a Magic Hero who knows Heroic Strike, with its two subclasses, Grand Inquisitor (enemy heroes can use each spell only once per battle) and Ascendant (the hero's spells cost 0 mana), in an image from Unfrozen's Steam announcement "Devlog #11: Game Mechanics pt. 2: Skills and Subclasses" (Jul 25, 2025). Unfrozen

Quick facts

Official ranking	None
Heroes	18 per faction, six factions
What makes a hero	Specialty (scales with level), Might or Magic class, starting skills, starting spell and army
Starting skills	Fixed; they follow the specialty (Devlog #11)
Biggest hero patch	Patch #8, Jun 1, 2026
Latest hero changes	Beta v0.82.03, Oct 21, 2026 (public test branch only)

What makes a hero strong

Each hero starts with its faction skill and usually one more, and those starting skills "cannot be changed and follow the hero's specialization" (Devlog #11, Jul 25, 2025). Specialties grow as the hero levels (FAQ: Part 2), and some skills and specialties are meant for support or courier heroes rather than your main one (Devlog #2). The Steam store gives examples: one hero moves the army faster, another raises the initiative of all its units, favors recruiting one creature or generates resources. Each class has two optional subclasses, unlocked by skill choices; the Cleric, for example, can become a Grand Inquisitor or an Ascendant. See Heroes and Skills.

In practice, a main hero for Classic wants a specialty that keeps paying off in the late game, while a Single Hero game rewards a hero that is strong from day one; Unfrozen's Patch #9 changed Hive starting skills precisely so those heroes "perform better as starter heroes", mainly for Single Hero.

Every hero change in the patch notes

Patch #8 (Jun 1, 2026)

The big balance pass of Patch #8 changed whole groups of specialists:

Group	Change	Heroes
Spell specialists	Buffed: +1 Spell Power for their spell every 2 levels (was 3)	Temple: Julius, Vesper, Anastasia the Meek, Nadir. Necropolis: Marl, Laura, Lord Rufus. Grove: Old Pilgrim, Faleor, Aeliniel, Glacia, Vim, Halon, Echolily, Sullie. Schism: Changeling Urgo, Ra'Davok, Sister Keiri. Hive: Mila. Dungeon: Tellaris the Betrayed, Sister Deira
Diplomats	Buffed: base +10% (was +5%), +1% persuasion every 3 levels (was 4)	King-of-Kings (Necropolis), Alluring Sh'a (Grove), Ylwari (Dungeon)
Morale specialists	Nerfed: +1% trigger chance every 6 levels (was 4)	Aeos the Exalted (Temple), Goldentongue (Hive)
Physical damage specialists	Nerfed: +1% damage every 4 levels (was 2)	Bulwark (Necropolis), Gorel Spearhead (Grove), Grellekh the Betrayer and Icequeen Hel'Ghat (Schism), Niev (Hive)
Magic damage specialists	Buffed: +1% every level (was every 2)	Blackhorn (Schism), Zakron the Great (Dungeon)

The same patch nerfed Lord Edgar (Temple), whose creature Attack and Defense bonus from his own stats fell from "20% + 5% per 6 hero levels" to "10% + 5% per 6 hero levels"; buffed Aeliniel (Grove, Firewall lasts +2 rounds instead of +1) and Tarius and Funerella (Necropolis, +2% Necromancy power every 5 levels instead of 1%); and made Tavi (Hive) a Magic hero and Pauper (Hive) a Might hero. Every Schism hero now starts with a spell, and dozens of starting spells and skills changed across the factions.

Patch #9 to Patch #13 (Jun 2 to Aug 20, 2026)

Hive starting skills (Patch #9, Jun 2): Pauper Luck to Battlecraft, Maelstrom Insight to Luck, Nor Battlecraft to Insight, Zoran, the Self-Founded, Nightshade Magic to Defense, Lo Defense to Recruitment, Leira Battle Magic to Nightshade Magic, Oriax Recruitment to Battle Magic; Tavi's Fire Larvae bonus retuned.
Patch #11 (Jul 6): Lord Edgar starts with Basic Righteousness and Battlecraft instead of Advanced Righteousness, and his specialty scales a little faster again (every 5 levels instead of 6); Merry Elias and Vatawna get larger mana bonuses; Octavia and Rhea a better Lucky Strike chance; Nadir's spell can stack; Tellaris the Betrayed's spell now affects all friendly creatures; larger starting armies for Kel'Ghul, Ethric, Elder Tss'kish, The Iron Master and Maelstrom; all Schism and Dungeon Might heroes trade a point of Defense or Spellpower for Knowledge; starting skills change for Kestrel, Keandra, Zenith, Julius, Vesper, Gingertail, Jänhei, The Iron Master, Martyr Tho and Eye Collective.
Patch #12 (Jul 10): magic damage (Sorcery) specialists now gain 15% plus 5% every 3 levels, instead of 10% plus 1% per level.
Patch #13 (Aug 20): Necropolis specialist heroes give +1 weekly creature growth instead of +2; in Arena, heroes get starting stat bonuses depending on how they perform there.

The beta (Oct 15 and Oct 21, 2026)

The public beta, on Steam's public-test-branch only and with a release date to be announced, changes heroes again:

Oct 15 (v0.82.02): Julius, Leira, The Iron Master and Typhona start with the new skill First Aid; the elite classes Balthazar's Bodyguard, Silvertongue's Envoy and Amelchia's Heir drop from a 100% to a 40% stat bonus, and Unstoppable from 10 to 8; Arena stat bonuses are retuned (Tavi and Enatee from +4 to +2; Nadir, Adahn, Blackhorn, Mila, Oriax and Curson, Duke of Rage from +3 to +2).
Oct 21 (v0.82.03): "Weakened the specialization of Lord Edgar, as well as the specializations of all creature specialists and experience specialists"; new starting skills for Typhona, Old Pilgrim, Zam and The Minstrel.

Lord Edgar is the hero Unfrozen has weakened most often by name: on Jun 1, partly undone on Jul 6, and again in the Oct 21 beta. See Balance Update Beta and Patch Notes.

Creator picks are opinions, made on the build of each video's date, and most came before Patch #8 (Jun 1, 2026) retuned whole groups of specialists. Turin, a competitive player who focuses on Single Hero and Arena, made a beginner's guide for five of the six factions.

3:57 Temple (May 14, 2026): Turin calls Kestrel "probably one of the best characters" on the roster. She strengthens Crossbowmen, and he tells a new player who wants an easy game to pick her, get upgraded crossbowmen on day one and clear melee camps on the map. His other favorites are Aeos the Exalted for morale, Merry Elias, whom he would ban on maps that start with adventure spells such as Vendetta, and Zenith, whose Lightweavers make early creeping easy; Lia the Untethered and Vesper are his underrated picks. He rates Lord Edgar only "all right".

4:13 Necropolis (May 5, 2026): Kel'Ghul is "an early game tempo character" who starts with Dread Knights and can clear a zone faster than almost any other Necropolis hero; Turin calls him "very beginner-friendly". Onkos, whose Skeletons grow faster and gain stats with his level, is "very good for beginners" too.

12:38 Dungeon (May 7, 2026): "Motley is the best character on this faction", Turin says, for her stronger Onyx Dancers and for upgraded Twilight, which leaves the enemy with no ranged attacks at all. For newer players he highly recommends Stinger, whose Heroic Strike adds damage and poison; combat heroes, he argues, are "incredibly underrated" because they make clearing the map much easier.

5:00 Hive (Apr 19, 2026, a build from before the launch): his favorite hero on the whole roster is Curson, Duke of Rage, whose Heroic Strike lowers the target's initiative and, with the Combat skill, becomes free and can be used again after a kill, which covers the Hive's weak early game. He also recommends Pauper, who then gave all creatures +1 speed, before Patch #8 made him a Might hero and Patch #9 changed his starting skill, and Mila.

9:40 Grove (May 2, 2026): his favorite is Elder Tss'kish, who strengthens Herbomancers and is "good at every stage of the game": he starts with an elite unit for early fights and Thaumaturgy for the late game. Turin "highly recommends" Octavia, whose Luck bonus suits a faction with Luck laws, and rates Vim, whose starting spell cages an enemy stack, as solid.

Choosing a hero

For a first game, a hero whose starting skills and army work on day one; in Single Hero especially, the starting kit is the whole game.
For a Magic main, the spell specialists buffed in Patch #8 and the magic damage specialists retuned in Patch #12.
For a Might main, look past the morale and physical damage specialists nerfed in Patch #8, and remember creature specialists are weakened in the beta.
For couriers, Logistics and resource specialists; templates such as Sprint ban Logistics specialists in ranked play (Patch #8).

The faction guides go deeper: Temple Guide, Necropolis Guide, Dungeon Guide, Hive Guide, Grove Guide and Schism Guide.

Frequently asked questions

Who is the best hero in Olden Era? Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era has no official ranking, and the answer changes with each patch. Lord Edgar of the Temple is the hero Unfrozen has nerfed most often, on Jun 1, 2026 and again in the Oct 21, 2026 beta.

Is there an Olden Era hero tier list? Not from Unfrozen. Fan tier lists exist, but the patch notes, which name every buffed and nerfed hero, are the reliable record, and creators' picks are opinions tied to the patch they were made on.

What is the best hero for beginners in Olden Era? A hero with useful starting skills, spell and army for your faction, since starting skills cannot be changed. Among creators, Turin recommends Kestrel (Temple), Kel'Ghul (Necropolis) and Stinger (Dungeon) to new players in his May 2026 faction guides.

What is the best Magic hero in Olden Era? The spell specialists, buffed in Patch #8 on Jun 1, 2026 to gain Spell Power for their spell every 2 levels, and the magic damage specialists Blackhorn and Zakron the Great, retuned in Patch #12.

What is the best Might hero in Olden Era? Unfrozen names none. Physical damage and morale specialists were nerfed on Jun 1, 2026, and creature specialists are weakened in the Oct 21, 2026 beta, so check the current patch before choosing.

Which Olden Era heroes changed class? Tavi of the Hive became a Magic hero and Pauper a Might hero in Patch #8 on Jun 1, 2026.