The Grail

In Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era you win the Grail by finding the Mirage on the adventure map and defeating a copy of your own hero with a much stronger army; the Grail is then added to your resources, and you spend it to build a Grail Sanctuary in one of your towns (Devlog #12, Aug 15, 2025). Each faction's Sanctuary is a different building with its own bonus, from Necropolis's Everserpent, which hides the map from your enemies, to Dungeon's Spy Network, which removes the fog of war for you, and every one of them makes its city's dwellings produce +100% creatures. Unfrozen had promised a "new Grail system that makes it actually buildable" when the game was announced (Designing a Heroes Game, Aug 29, 2024).

Quick facts

The Grail in Heroes games

Heroes of Might and Magic has always paid explorers with an ultimate prize. Heroes 1 and 2 used special ultimate artifacts; later games used a Grail, "named Tear of Asha in the Ashan Universe" of Heroes 5 to 7, which let you build a sanctuary with large bonuses to economy and army growth plus a faction bonus (Devlog #12). In those games the hunt took many steps, and Unfrozen says it was "a commitment most would not go for in quick multiplayer matches". Olden Era, set in the world of Enroth, keeps the Grail but changes how you get it so that Sanctuaries show up in regular games. How the hunt worked in Heroes 3 is on the Heroes 3 viki, https://heroes3.vi.ki/.

Winning the Grail at the Mirage

Unfrozen's rules for the hunt (Devlog #12, Aug 15, 2025):

1. Explore enough of the map to find the Mirage, a map object.
2. Fight yourself. Inside, your hero faces a copy of itself with "a much stronger army, significantly increased primary skills" and every spell you have learned. Unfrozen built in protections against cheap tricks, giving "1 troglodyte + magic arrow" as an example, and because your army changes from game to game, so does the fight.
3. Win, and your hero adds the Grail to your pool of resources.

Unfrozen describes no obelisks or puzzle map to dig at: the Mirage replaces the search. A hero who loses the Grail battle disappears from the map like any defeated hero; Patch #11 fixed heroes staying on the map after such a loss (Patch #11, Jul 6, 2026). The other sites of the map are on Adventure Map.

Building the Grail Sanctuary

Unlike in Heroes 3 and 4, the Grail Sanctuary is in every town's list of buildings from the start of the game, and you can read its bonus on day one. Once you hold the Grail, you pick the town whose faction bonus you want and confirm construction, which uses up the Grail. Guard that town: "should your enemy capture the Grail Town, they will receive the bonuses the Grail Sanctuary grants for as long as they control the town" (Devlog #12). Because the bonus follows the town's faction, a captured town of another faction can be the better home for the Grail.

The six Grail buildings

17:33 Devlog #12 showed one card per faction. The faction is the one the card's lore line and town point to: the Necromancers, the Sun and Chalice of the Temple, the Hive's "Master", the Abyss of the Schism, Dungeon's Triumvirate, and by elimination the Grove. Turin's Grove guide (May 2, 2026) confirms it in the game: the Grove's Grail building, Spring of Life, gives +1 growth to all creatures in your cities on top of the +100% for its own city's dwellings, though he calls the Grail less relevant in the PvP games his guides focus on.

19:02 Every card adds that "this city's dwellings produce +100% units" (Devlog #12, Aug 15, 2025). The cards show a build from 2025, and Unfrozen has not posted the buildings' exact numbers; the town buildings are compared on Factions. In Turin's Dungeon guide, the Dungeon town's Spy Network still removes the fog of war on the map in the Early Access game.

Frequently asked questions

How do you find the Grail in Olden Era? In Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era you explore the map until you find the Mirage, then defeat a copy of your own hero that has a much stronger army, higher stats and your spells; winning adds the Grail to your resources.

Are there obelisks in Olden Era? Unfrozen's description of the Grail in Olden Era mentions no obelisks or puzzle map; the Grail is won in a battle at the Mirage instead of being dug up.

What does each faction get from the Grail in Olden Era? Necropolis gets Everserpent (fog of war over the map for enemies), Temple The Golden Calf (extra gold and resources), Grove Spring of Life (extra growth), Schism Firmament's Abyss (all spells of a Mage Guild tier), Hive Chorus Conductor (extra Attack and lucky strike damage) and Dungeon Spy Network (no fog of war); each also gives its city's dwellings +100% creatures.

Can I choose where to build the Grail in Olden Era? Yes. The Grail goes into your resources, and the Grail Sanctuary is on the build list of every town you own, so you build it in the town whose faction bonus you want.

What happens if the enemy captures my Grail town? In Olden Era the Grail Sanctuary's bonus goes to whoever controls the town, so an enemy who captures it gets the bonus for as long as they hold it.

Is there a Tear of Asha in Olden Era? No. Tear of Asha was the Grail's name in the Ashan setting of Heroes 5 to 7; Olden Era is set in Enroth and calls it the Grail.

Sources

• Designing a Heroes Game, Unfrozen, Aug 29, 2024
• Devlog #12: The Grail and its Sanctuaries, Unfrozen, Aug 15, 2025
• Patch #11: Necromancy Update, UI Tweaks and Balance Changes, Unfrozen, Jul 6, 2026
• Heroes of Might & Magic: Olden Era - Grove Faction Beginners Guide, Turin, May 2, 2026 (video)
• Heroes of Might & Magic: Olden Era - Dungeon Faction Beginners Guide, Turin, May 7, 2026 (video)