Dungeon

Dungeon is the Alvar Pact of Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era: an alliance of red-skinned dark elves, Stygianscale dragons and minotaurs whose heroes start with Triumvirate's Strength, a set of three stances that boost one stat each round, and whose creatures carry "fighting styles" that change their attacks. Unfrozen's first FAQ listed it as "Dungeon (Dark Elves and Underground Creatures)" (Unfrozen, Aug 30, 2024), and its reveal video of Dec 13, 2024 showed "the majestic BLACK DRAGONS" with minotaurs, troglodytes, medusae and dark elves (Unfrozen). In the story the rulers of Dungeon plot the defensive alliance against the Hive. It has been playable since the demo of Oct 9, 2025. All six factions are compared on Factions; how to play it is on Dungeon Guide.

Quick facts

Lore: the Alvar Pact

Unfrozen sums up Dungeon across the series in two words, "Power" and "Misfits" (Devlog #8, Mar 13, 2025). In Jadame it is the Alvar Pact, also called the Triumvirate of Alvar: about "a score of years" before the story, the dark elves of the surface city of Alvar, the Stygianscale dragons of the Garrote Gorge and the minotaurs of the Ravage Roaming herd sealed an alliance for economic, cultural and military exchange. Its three leaders are Caspair Silvertongue, a dark elf Patriarch and Spymaster of the Alvarian Merchant Guild; Amelchia, the Dragonqueen of the Stygianscales; and Balthazar the Second, Herdmaster of the minotaurs and son of the founder of Balthazar Lair. The dark elves descend from the First Elves, shunned for "pragmatism, sedentary lifestyle and mercantilism", and the Pact projects its strength "through diplomacy, mercantile power and military treaties". The minotaur letter-writer adds that the Triumvirate proposed the Winter Armistice that stopped the fighting between several of the continent's powers, the opening of the Campaign.

The town

0:09 The Dungeon town is an underground city in a cavern: a tower crowned by a dragon statue, serpent statues along a bridge and a red-domed palace among stalactites, as Devlog #8 shows. Unfrozen says the Overlords of the Pact reinforce the surface fiefdoms "from within our elaborate Dungeons" (Devlog #8).

Creatures

Every tier has a base creature and two alternative upgrades, named as in Unfrozen's patch notes (beta notes, Oct 15, 2026). The whole bestiary is on Creatures.

0:57 Unfrozen's reveal video of Dec 13, 2024 walks through the lineup one tier at a time, each base unit and its two upgrades fighting armored knights with a few lines on its role. Two things have changed since: the tier 7 base unit was then called the Red Dragon (now the Cave Dragon), and the tier 3 slot was left empty with a card saying that unit would be revealed later; the Dancers came later, in Devlog #8.

Why there are no Beholders. Players asked for Beholders and Evil Eyes, but in the lore of Heroes 3 and Might and Magic 6 and 7 they were created by the Warlock Agar, who "hasn't been born yet" at the time of Olden Era. Unfrozen made the Infiltrators to fill their role, a ranged unit with no melee penalty, and added the Dancers, who "combine their grace and love for the arts with combat expertise" (Devlog #8). The Onyx Dancer model was updated before launch (Community Feedback #4, Mar 6, 2026).

Faction skill: Triumvirate's Strength

0:24 Triumvirate's Strength is unique to Dungeon heroes as a starting skill: once per round the hero activates one of three stances, which boosts a chosen stat for the whole round and can be swapped when the next round begins (Devlog #8). Unfrozen wrote that the bonuses "pack a punch in the early game" and give Dungeon heroes "a lot of tempo". Its skills chart gave the bonus to the selected primary skill as +2, +4 and +6 at Basic, Advanced and Expert (Devlog #11, Jul 25, 2025, in an image). Patch #11 fixed the order the stances are shown in and improved their interface (Unfrozen, Jul 6, 2026); the Oct 15 beta moved every faction's active skill to its own panel in combat.

Fighting styles

22:19 Dungeon creatures also have fighting styles, which act like abilities that change the basic attack at a cost such as less damage. Troglodytes can fire a Long Reach attack at a 50% damage penalty, and Medusae can turn their ranged attack into an area attack that hits packed units. The second half of the reveal video shows a fighting style for every tier, named on screen: "Viscous Spit" for the Troglodytes, "Hit and Run" for the Infiltrators, "Grand Slam" for the Minotaurs, "Arrow Barrage" for the Medusae, "Whirlwind Strike" for the Hydras and "Sulphurous Assault" for the Dragons. Unfrozen ties the styles to the Pact's theme of cooperation: stances empower the army while the units' styles handle "any challenge thrown against them". The Oct 15, 2026 beta added more ways to spend Focus, which Unfrozen said Dungeon lacked: "Blade Dance" for all Dancers (attack twice until the end of the round), "Minotaur's Onslaught" for all Minotaurs (push the target back), "Balthazar's Tramp" for the Minotaur Vanguard, "Hail of Arrows" for the Medusa Queen and "Ambush" for the Bleak Infiltrator (beta notes).

Faction Laws

32:07 Unfrozen's laws devlog says Dungeon laws make the faction "masters of trade and diplomacy" by greatly improving town growth and giving perfect market rates, while a more offensive law raises the level of Dungeon heroes' spells by 1 (Devlog #14, Dec 5, 2025). Patch #13 reworked them "to align them better with faction's narrative lore and strengthen their early-game capabilities": "Triumvirate's Agents" now helps all heroes with Attack, Defense and Spell Power, and a new "Arcane Knowledge" adds 15 maximum mana to all heroes, while the old law of that name became "Celestial Maps" (Aug 20, 2026). Elite laws for Infiltrators, Dancers, Minotaurs, Medusae and Hydras were rewritten in the Oct 15 beta. How laws are earned is on Faction Laws.

Heroes and elite classes

Dungeon heroes named in Unfrozen's patch notes include Tellaris the Betrayed and Sister Deira (spell specialists), Ylwari (a diplomat), Zakron the Great (magic damage), Creta, Daughter of Navarr, Kelarr, Son of Navarr, "Gleard the Grey", Glastor, Motley and Rhea (Patch #8; Patch #11). Hero classes named in the lore are Overlords and Patriarchs.

0:25 The 2024 reveal video introduced Dungeon heroes as Warlocks and Overlords: Rhea, Tellaris the Betrayed and Creta, Daughter of Navarr appear as Overlords, and Sister Deira and Glastor as Warlocks. The three elite classes echo the three rulers: "Balthazar's Bodyguard" (Attack), "Silvertongue's Envoy" (Defense) and "Amelchia's Heir" (Spell Power), each cut from 100% to 40% in the beta. Picks for every faction are on Best Heroes.

Changes in patches

• Patch #9 (Jun 2, 2026): Dungeon was "underperforming in Arena mode", so its Arena army sizes grew, for example basic Troglodytes offered from 285 to 295.
• Patch #11 (Jul 6, 2026): all Dungeon Might heroes start with 1 Spell Power and 2 Knowledge instead of 2 and 1; a bug in the dragons' alternative attack damage was fixed (Unfrozen).
• Patch #13 (Aug 20, 2026): the law rework above.
• Patch #14 (Sep 3, 2026): Unfrozen promised a new skill for "Hive's and Dungeon's bleeding problems" (Unfrozen); the Oct 15 beta added First Aid, a new skill for all heroes that restores part of the losses after a victory.
• Public beta (Oct 15, 2026): the new abilities above, and Cave Dragon health up from 275 to 300. Beta-only as of Oct 21, 2026.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Dungeon faction in Olden Era? Dungeon in Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era is the Alvar Pact, an alliance of dark elves, Stygianscale dragons and minotaurs, with Troglodytes, Infiltrators, Dancers, Minotaurs, Medusae, Hydras and Dragons.

What is Dungeon's faction skill in Olden Era? Olden Era's Dungeon heroes start with Triumvirate's Strength: once per round the hero picks one of three stances that boosts a stat for that round, by +2, +4 or +6 by skill level in Unfrozen's 2025 chart.

Why are there no Beholders in Olden Era's Dungeon? Unfrozen says the Beholders and Evil Eyes were created by the Warlock Agar, who has not been born yet in Olden Era's time, so the Infiltrators fill their ranged role instead.

What are the Dungeon faction laws? Unfrozen's examples of Dungeon laws in Olden Era are much better town growth, perfect market rates and +1 to the level of Dungeon heroes' spells; Patch #13 added "Arcane Knowledge", which gives all heroes 15 more maximum mana.

Who leads the Dungeon faction in Olden Era? Olden Era's Alvar Pact is led by the dark elf Caspair Silvertongue, the Dragonqueen Amelchia and the minotaur Herdmaster Balthazar the Second, and its three elite hero classes are named after them.

Sources

• FAQ, Unfrozen, Aug 30, 2024
• FAQ: Part 2, Unfrozen, Dec 6, 2024
• Dungeon Faction full reveal (Happy Holidays!), Unfrozen, Dec 13, 2024
• Devlog #8: On Triumvirate's Strength and the Alvar Pact, Unfrozen, Mar 13, 2025
• Devlog #11: Game Mechanics pt. 2: Skills and Subclasses, Unfrozen, Jul 25, 2025
• Devlog #14: Gameplay Mechanics pt. 3: Faction Laws, Unfrozen, Dec 5, 2025
• HoMM: Olden Era | Community Feedback #4: UI, QoL and Others!, Unfrozen, Mar 6, 2026
• Patch #8: Skills Rework, Balance Pass & Exploit Fixes, Unfrozen, Jun 1, 2026
• Patch #9: Hotfix & Balance Adjustments, Unfrozen, Jun 2, 2026
• Patch #11: Necromancy Update, UI Tweaks and Balance Changes, Unfrozen, Jul 6, 2026
• Patch #13: The Mysterious Island, Unfrozen, Aug 20, 2026
• Patch #14: More PvE Content and Plans for the Future!, Unfrozen, Sep 3, 2026
• BETA Patch: Balance Update - New Damage Formula, Smarter AI & New Creatures, Unfrozen, Oct 15, 2026
• Heroes of Might & Magic: Olden Era - Dungeon Faction full reveal (Happy Holidays!), Unfrozen Official, Dec 13, 2024 (video)
• Heroes of Might & Magic: Olden Era - Dungeon Faction Beginners Guide, Turin, May 7, 2026 (video)