Magic and Spells

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.

0:59 Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era splits its spells into four schools of magic, Daylight, Nightshade, Primal and Arcane, plus a Neutral school that holds the strongest adventure spells such as Town Portal and Dimension Door. Spells come in five tiers: any hero can learn tiers I and II, but tiers III to V need the matching school skill, much like Wisdom in Heroes 2 and 3 (Devlog #10, Jun 13, 2025). Every hero has a spellbook from the start, and a Mage Guild can research any missing spell once a day for resources. Unfrozen counts 74 original spells and 17 adventure spells at the Early Access launch, and says the game has "more spells than any other Heroes game out there".

A large open book with parchment pages fills the center of a crimson battlefield. Each page holds round spell icons with names and a mana cost on top, and colored tabs for the magic schools stick out on the right edge. A green-haired hero portrait sits at the top left and the turn order runs across the top. — The spellbook open during a battle, listing spells such as Healing Water, Blessing, Haste, Guillotine, Energize, Early Start, Despair, Fatal Decay, Thick Hide and Lightning Bolt with their mana costs, in an official Steam store screenshot of Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era. Unfrozen

Quick facts

Schools	Daylight (Arina), Nightshade (Naira), Primal (Hksmilla), Arcane (Doreath), plus Neutral
Spell tiers	I to V; I and II open to all, III to V need the school skill
Spell levels	Up to 2 without the school, up to 4 with it; 5 planned on the roadmap
Spells at Early Access	74 original, 17 adventure
Mana	10 per point of Knowledge, and 1 per point regenerated each turn
Spellbook	Free for every hero
Global spells	Unlocked with Insight from Astrology Points since Mar 2026

How magic works

2:59 Learning spells. As in earlier Heroes games, heroes learn spells by visiting a town's Mage Guild. They also get them from shrines on the map, scrolls, Pandora's Boxes, a specialist hero's own spell, and some skills and subskills that grant spells of their own (Devlog #10, Jun 13, 2025). Each school was founded by one of four scholars, Arina, Naira, Hksmilla and Doreath, who "wove instructions on how to wield their magic into the stars"; Devlog #10's banners pair Daylight with Arina, Nightshade with Naira, Primal with Hksmilla and Arcane with Doreath, and the top spells of each school carry the founder's name. Vilestride's magic guide (Oct 24, 2025, recorded on a build before Early Access) adds that a hero learns a spell you have unlocked by visiting a town whose Mage Guild is at or above that spell's tier.

3:36 Research. Mage Guilds no longer depend on luck: once per day you can pay resources to unlock any missing spell, so a single guild can eventually hold every spell up to its tier cap (Devlog #10). The highest guild level differs from town to town, and guilds have specializations (FAQ: Part 2, Dec 6, 2024).

4:38 Spell levels. Each spell has its own level, raised by upgrading it in a Mage Guild, by the school skill, by perks, by artifacts and by special map sites. Without the school skill a spell reaches level 2 at most; with it, level 4 (Devlog #10). Raising the maximum from 4 to 5 is planned for Stage 3 of the Early Access roadmap (roadmap, May 28, 2026). Some laws help too: Dungeon's "Magical Education" adds a level to its heroes' spells, and Temple's "Power of Faith" lets Temple heroes learn any tier (see Faction Laws). Vilestride's guide notes that the manual upgrade, paid in Alchemical Dust, works only once per spell, so reaching level 4 takes several of these sources together.

Mana. As in Heroes 5, each point of Knowledge gives 10 mana and 1 mana regenerated per turn, so a hero with 10 Knowledge regains 10 mana a day. The school skills cut their spells' mana cost, the Intelligence skill raises maximum mana, and Thaumaturgy lets a hero open the spellbook one more time per battle round (Devlog #10; Devlog #11). The values are on Skills.

Daylight Magic

1:11 Daylight, founded by Arina, is the school of blessings and healing. The spells and effects below are from Unfrozen's chart at spell level 1 (Devlog #10, Jun 13, 2025).

Tier	Spell	Effect at level 1
I	Blessing	Target ally deals +10% damage with basic attacks
I	From a Bird's Eye	Reveals the borders of all zones, even in fog of war
I	Healing Water	Target ally restores HP; does not revive
I	Haste	+2 Speed to target ally
II	Weakening Ray	Removes 1 counterattack charge from an enemy
II	Shorten Shadow	-3 Attack and Defense to an enemy
II	Favorable Wind	Target ally deals +10% damage with ranged attacks
II	Inner Light	Target ally gains +1 Focus Point when attacking
III	Riposte	Target ally counterattacks before the enemy attack lands
III	Song of Power	Resets the target ally's cooldowns
III	Arina's Touch	+1 Speed, +1 Initiative and +10% maximum HP
III	Taunt	Enemies within 2 hexes must attack the target
IV	Radiant Armor	Target ally takes -20% damage from any source
IV	Clear Fog	Reveals 5 squares around a chosen spot on the map
IV	Heavenly Blades	+50% Pure Damage on attack, healing the same amount
IV	Vengeance	A shield that deals Magic Damage to melee attackers
V	Arina's Chosen	Target ally cannot drop below 20% of its current units
V	"Judgement"	Strikes an enemy four times for Magic Damage

A tall parchment scroll with a gold winged emblem at the top and the title Daylight Magic. Gold bands mark Tier I to Tier V, and under each sit round, warm-colored spell icons with the spell name in small capitals and a short description. — A chart of the Daylight Magic school's spells by tier, from Blessing, Haste and Healing Water in Tier I to Arina's Chosen in Tier V, in an image from Unfrozen's Steam announcement "Devlog #10: Game Mechanics pt. 1: Magic" (Jun 13, 2025). Unfrozen

Nightshade Magic

1:41 Nightshade, founded by Naira, is the school of curses, stealth and death (Devlog #10).

Tier	Spell	Effect at level 1
I	Enlarge Shadow	Target ally has +4 Attack and Defense
I	Despair	Curse: Pure Damage at the start of each of the enemy's turns; stacks
I	Web	-2 Speed to an enemy
I	Unnatural Calm	Enemy deals -10% damage with basic attacks
II	Fatal Decay	Enemy cannot restore HP, even after death
II	Shade Cloak	Ally cannot be targeted until the end of the round or until it acts
II	Umbral Grip	Pure Damage that cannot be modified
II	Read Minds	Shows the number and intentions of neutral squads within 3 squares
III	Naira's Veil	Fog of war in a 7-square radius around the hero
III	Sleep	Enemy cannot act until it takes damage
III	Silence	Enemy cannot use abilities or generate Focus Points
III	Twilight	Enemy cannot use ranged attacks
IV	Vulnerability	Enemy takes +20% damage from any source
IV	Berserk	Target attacks the nearest random creature, friend or foe
IV	Summon Starchild	Summons a stack of Starchildren for the battle
V	Shadow Army	Adds temporary units to an allied stack
V	Naira's Kiss	Target's Attack and Defense are always zero
V	Coup de Grace	Enemy dies on any hit once at or below 20% of its original units

Primal Magic

2:18 Primal, founded by Hksmilla, is the school of fire, ice, lightning and earth, and the one Grove heroes are more likely to learn (Devlog #9, Apr 11, 2025).

Tier	Spell	Effect at level 1
I	Wean	Removes all positive effects from the target and adjacent enemies
I	Lightning Bolt	Magic Damage to an enemy
I	Thick Hide	Ally takes -10% damage from melee attacks
I	Groundsight	Shows all neutral armies on the map, even in fog of war
II	Icebolt	Magic Damage and -2 Initiative
II	Fireball	Magic Damage to all units in a 1-hex radius
II	Crystal Crown	Places up to 2 crystal obstacles
III	Firewall	2 burning hexes that damage ground creatures
III	Cave In	Magic Damage, and rock obstacles fill the adjacent hexes
III	Stone Fangs	Magic Damage to up to 3 enemies
III	Earth's Rage	Damages defensive structures and creatures inside castle walls
IV	Primordial Chaos	Turns a neutral army on the map into another of equal strength
IV	Anti-Magic	Target becomes immune to magic; cannot be dispelled
IV	Circle of Winter	Magic Damage around a hex, pushing enemies away
IV	Chain Lightning	Jumps between targets within 2 hexes, -50% each jump
V	Summon Primal Remnant	Summons a stack of Primal Remnants for the battle
V	Hksmilla's Rampage	Ally gets double strike, dealing and taking extra damage
V	Armageddon	Magic Damage to all units on the battlefield

A battlefield of cracked brown earth seen from above. Streaks of fire fall diagonally from the top of the image and burst into orange flames and embers across the center. Winged and mounted warriors stand on red hexes at the left, and creatures inside a green-outlined area wait on purple hexes at the right. — A rain of flaming meteors striking the middle of a hex battlefield between two armies, in an official Steam store screenshot of Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era. Unfrozen

Arcane Magic

2:54 Arcane, founded by Doreath, is the school of Focus, time, traps and teleports (Devlog #10).

Tier	Spell	Effect at level 1
I	Energize	Restores 1 Focus Charge
I	Early Start	+1 Initiative to an ally
I	Energy Explosion	50 Pure Damage per Focus Charge to all units in a 1-hex radius
II	Trap: Jaws	Up to 2 invisible traps that deal Pure Damage
II	Reinforcements	Use any external dwelling you own within twice the hero's sight
II	Optical Illusion	Ally takes -20% ranged damage
II	Blink	Teleports an ally up to 3 hexes
III	Assemble!	Trade with an allied hero within twice the hero's sight, once a day
III	Carapace	A barrier that blocks one hit
III	Impending Fate	15 Magic Damage per unit tier to every enemy
III	Shackles	Enemy cannot retaliate
IV	Black Hole	Magic Damage in a 2-hex star, pulling the farthest targets in
IV	Rewind Life	Ally recovers HP and revives fallen units
IV	Guillotine	10% + 5x Spell Power of the target's maximum HP as Magic Damage
IV	Mirror Copy	A copy of an ally that deals -75% and takes +300% damage
V	Reality Distortion	Target's damage is delayed and taken a round later as Pure Damage
V	Trap: Snare	Up to 2 invisible traps that stop a creature's move
V	Doreath's Tide	+1 Speed and Initiative to all allies, -1 to all enemies

The four charts list 72 spells. They show a build from Jun 2025, and some spells have changed since: Unfrozen's patch notes retune spell scaling, for example, and name further spells such as "Temporal Spheres" (Patch #8, Jun 1, 2026). The beta's fixes say the extra counterattack of Riposte now starts at spell level 3 and that Doreath's Tide now dispels petrification (beta notes, Oct 15, 2026).

Neutral magic and global spells

Unfrozen moved the spells that "were previously too strong", such as Town Portal and Dimension Door, out of the four schools into Neutral Magic, along with the unique spells granted by skills (Devlog #10). The examples it gave before launch:

Tier I, Second Wind: extra movement points for the caster.
Tier II, Shadowflight: the caster flies over obstacles.
Tier III, Gate of Light: a gateway on the map that any hero can use to move a very short distance, until the end of the day.
Tier IV, Town Portal: teleport to a chosen town, limited uses per day.
Tier V, Dimension Door: a short teleport that cannot skip a guarded passage between zones, limited uses per day.

Magic Arrow is also neutral; Patch #8 split its damage into three consecutive strikes (Patch #8). The Pocket Dimension spell, like the Remote Foothold map object, gives allies in Alliances a shared storage for sending armies and artifacts at a distance (Unfrozen, Sep 30, 2026).

Unlocking these global spells was reworked before launch because players found it unclear: your towns produce Astrology Points, which earn Insight, and Insight is spent to unlock global spells, each at its own cost (Community Feedback #4, Mar 6, 2026). The Wisdom subskill "Stargazer" adds 500 Astrology Points a day since Patch #11.

The public beta reorganizes the adventure spells into High Neutral Magic: on Oct 15, 2026 Second Wind, Pocket Dimension and Gate of Light had their mana costs changed, and on Oct 21 Shadowflight, Gate of Light and Pocket Dimension moved to High Neutral Magic tiers 1, 2 and 3, which heroes can learn at levels 4, 8 and 12, while Dimension Door was slightly strengthened (beta notes; beta v0.82.03). The AI in the beta also learns high Global Map Magic in the Magic Observatory and uses map spells to move around. These changes are on Steam's public beta branch only; the main-game release date is still to be announced (Balance Update Beta).

Other ways to get spells

Pandora's Boxes. In the Oct 15, 2026 beta, five spell boxes, one per tier, let you choose which school's spells the hero learns; the Oct 21 update stopped them from teaching spells the hero's magic skills would not allow (beta notes; beta v0.82.03).
The Grail. Schism's Grail building, Firmament's Abyss, unlocks every spell of a tier when you build a Mage Guild in its city (Devlog #12); see The Grail.
Starting spells. Many heroes start with a spell, and since Patch #8 every Schism hero does (Patch #8); see Heroes.

In battle, the Oct 15 beta adds a "Favorite Spells" bar for 3 quickly cast spells; how spells fit into a fight is on Combat.

Frequently asked questions

How many spells are in Olden Era? Unfrozen counted 74 original spells and 17 adventure spells in Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era at the Early Access launch of Apr 30, 2026; its Jun 2025 charts list 18 spells in each of the four schools.

What are the schools of magic in Olden Era? Olden Era has four schools, Daylight (founded by Arina), Nightshade (Naira), Primal (Hksmilla) and Arcane (Doreath), plus Neutral magic for the strongest adventure spells and skill spells.

How do I learn tier 4 and tier 5 spells in Olden Era? You need the skill of that spell's school, such as Primal Magic for Armageddon, and a Mage Guild high enough to hold the tier; tiers I and II are open to every hero, and Temple's "Power of Faith" law lets Temple heroes learn any tier.

What is Insight in Olden Era? Insight is what you spend to unlock global (adventure map) spells in Olden Era; your towns produce Astrology Points that earn Insight. It should not be confused with the Insight skill, which gives heroes extra experience.

Can a Mage Guild teach every spell in Olden Era? Yes, over time: once per day a Mage Guild in Olden Era can research any spell it is missing for resources, up to the highest tier that guild can hold.

What are the best spells in Olden Era? Unfrozen does not rank them; it moved the spells it considered too strong for any one school, such as Town Portal and Dimension Door, into Neutral magic so that no school dominates.

Sources

FAQ: Part 2, Unfrozen, Dec 6, 2024
Devlog #9: The Binding Roots of Murmurwoods, Unfrozen, Apr 11, 2025
Devlog #10: Game Mechanics pt. 1: Magic, Unfrozen, Jun 13, 2025
Devlog #11: Game Mechanics pt. 2: Skills and Subclasses, Unfrozen, Jul 25, 2025
Devlog #12: The Grail and its Sanctuaries, Unfrozen, Aug 15, 2025
HoMM: Olden Era | Community Feedback #4: UI, QoL and Others!, Unfrozen, Mar 6, 2026
Devlog #15: How and Why We Chose the Artstyle of Olden Era, Unfrozen, Apr 24, 2026
Building the Future - HoMM: Olden Era's Early Access Roadmap is here!, Unfrozen, May 28, 2026
Patch #8: Skills Rework, Balance Pass & Exploit Fixes, Unfrozen, Jun 1, 2026
Patch #11: Necromancy Update, UI Tweaks and Balance Changes, Unfrozen, Jul 6, 2026
Alliances & Updated Random Map Generator, Unfrozen, Sep 30, 2026
BETA Patch: Balance Update - New Damage Formula, Smarter AI & New Creatures, Unfrozen, Oct 15, 2026
BETA Patch: Balance Tweaks - Spells, Heroes & a New Artifact, Unfrozen, Oct 21, 2026
Devlog #2 : Schools of magic in Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era, Unfrozen Official, Jun 10, 2025 (video)
Everything You NEED To Know About Magic In Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era, Vilestride, Oct 24, 2025 (video)

Moments

Devlog #2 : Schools of magic in Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era

Unfrozen Official

0:59 Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era splits its spells into four schools of magic, Daylight, Nightshade, Primal and…
3:36 Research. Mage Guilds no longer depend on luck: once per day you can pay resources to unlock any missing spell, so a…
1:11 Daylight, founded by Arina, is the school of blessings and healing. The spells and effects below are from Unfrozen's…
1:41 Nightshade, founded by Naira, is the school of curses, stealth and death (Devlog #10).
2:18 Primal, founded by Hksmilla, is the school of fire, ice, lightning and earth, and the one Grove heroes are more likely…
2:54 Arcane, founded by Doreath, is the school of Focus, time, traps and teleports (Devlog #10).

Everything You NEED To Know About Magic In Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era

Vilestride

2:59 Learning spells. As in earlier Heroes games, heroes learn spells by visiting a town's Mage Guild. They also get them…
4:38 Spell levels. Each spell has its own level, raised by upgrading it in a Mage Guild, by the school skill, by perks, by…