Temple Guide

Temple in Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era wins by building up faster than anyone and turning its heroes' strength into its creatures': its laws let a town build twice a day and let Temple heroes learn any spell of any tier, and its faction skill, Righteousness, is being rebuilt around battle prayers in the public beta. This guide sets Unfrozen's notes beside Turin's Temple Beginners Guide of May 14, 2026, and says where later patches changed his advice. The faction's lore, full lineup and history are on Temple; the basics of the game are on Beginner's Guide.

Quick facts

Strengths and weaknesses

Temple was built around "positive effects and the hero's base stats", in Unfrozen's words (beta notes, Oct 15, 2026). The store page promises griffins that "counterattack multiple times", knights with "devastating charges" and the healing Hierophant (Steam). Its weakness was the late game: Unfrozen wrote on Aug 20, 2026 that "Temple underperforms in the late game" and overhauled its laws for that reason (Patch #13).

0:12 Turin recommends Temple as "probably hands-down the best faction for beginners": its plans are straightforward, its early shooters (Crossbowmen, Austringers and Lightweavers) are very effective, and it clears guarded camps on the map ("creeping") well from the first day.

Opening and first week

35:53 Turin's opening uses Kestrel, the Crossbowman specialist. On turn 1 he upgrades the Mews (the tier 2 dwelling), buys the Crossbowmen and upgrades them to Austringers, which shoot twice; as an optional trick he turns two of them into Marksmen for their "Piercing Shot", and keeps Swordsmen as single stacks to shield the shooters in a corner.

38:49 His week 1 build order is: Mews first, then the building he calls the "solar temple" (Law points or Astrology points, depending on the map), then a bank to set up the economy, then a rush to the Sundrop Chapel, the tier 4 dwelling. He skips the Hippodrome (tier 5) in week 1 because it costs 15 Wood. Since then Patch #8 made the Hippodrome require the Griffin Rookery and cost 500 gold less, and made the Sundrop Chapels 250 gold dearer (Jun 1, 2026).

43:24 On day 6 or 7 he comes home, upgrades the Crossbowmen, buys the Lightweavers and upgrades the Hierophants to Sun Heralds, buying nothing else, and calls two upgraded ranged units this early "a powerhouse". In week 2 he builds walls for growth and, with Crystals from the map, may rush Angels.

Faction Laws to take

Unfrozen's three headline Temple laws shape the plan (Devlog #14, Dec 5, 2025):

• Build twice a day in your towns. The fastest economy and army growth in the game when it comes online.
• Any spell of any tier. Temple heroes ignore the school requirement that normally limits tiers 3 to 5 to heroes with the matching magic skill (see Magic and Spells).
• Immunity to negative effects. First in Grasslands; since Sep 30, 2026 the law "Sacred Protection" makes friendly heroes immune to negative effects in combat and on the adventure map (Unfrozen).

Patch #13 cut "Tax Collectors" and "Training: Scouting" to 2 Seals; the Oct 15 beta put "Tax Collectors" at 3/3 and "Sacred Protection" at 5, and cut the "Elite" creature laws back to two levels (beta notes). Law points come from fighting guards, capturing external dwellings and your town halls (Faction Laws).

30:21 Turin recommends "Heroes of Tales" early with a hero who does not have morale built in, paired with "Encouragement" (a higher chance of morale triggering per point of morale), which is why Temple armies seem to get morale procs even without a morale hero. He makes the Crossbowmen's elite law "a huge priority" and takes the hero training laws for the late game. Patch #13 cut "Heroes of Tales" to one level costing 3 Seals and "Encouragement" to two levels at 2/2, and "Power of Faith" (any spell of any tier) now works only for Temple heroes.

31:43 He does not rush "Architect's Mastery", the build-twice law, because early on you rarely have the resources for two buildings a day; it pays on long maps with many towns. It became far cheaper after his video, from 6 to 2 Seals in Patch #13 and 3 in the beta.

34:58 Turin called "Sacred Lands" (immunity to negative effects on native terrain) one of the best laws in the tree, and described what he took for a bug: the bonus followed the terrain where the hero started the turn, so teleporting from town into a desert still counted. That law no longer exists: Patch #11 raised its cost from 3 to 4, and on Sep 30, 2026 it was replaced by "Sacred Protection", which protects friendly heroes on any terrain.

Heroes to pick

• Lord Edgar starts with Righteousness and passes part of his attributes to his creatures; Patch #8 cut that to "10% + 5% per 6 hero levels" (Unfrozen), Patch #11 improved it to every 5 levels with Basic Righteousness and Battlecraft as his starting skills (Unfrozen), and the Oct 21 beta weakened him again.
• Spell specialists Julius, Vesper, Anastasia the Meek and Nadir gain 1 Spell Power for their spell every 2 hero levels since Patch #8. Nadir's spell can stack since Patch #11.
• Merry Elias has a larger mana bonus since Patch #11 ("20% + 5% per 4 hero levels").

3:57 Turin rates Kestrel "one of the best characters on the roster": she buffs Crossbowmen, and with the Mews upgraded on day 1 a new player can "just fight melee camps" with double-shooting Austringers. Patch #11 changed her starting skill from Offense, which he used, to Luck, and took a point of Initiative from Crossbowmen and Austringers (Unfrozen).

4:59 He calls Aeos the Exalted, the morale specialist who starts with Leadership, one of the faction's top heroes and the one he usually bans. Patch #8 slowed morale specialists' scaling to an extra trigger chance every 6 hero levels instead of every 4.

12:15 For a caster he picks Lia the Untethered One, "sleeper strong": take Thaumaturgy and high Daylight Magic, cast Mass Blessing and Mass Radiant Armor, then spam "Judgement"; Vesper plays the same way. Patch #11 weakened both buffs (Radiant Armor's damage reduction from 20/30/30/40% to 15/25/25/35%, Blessing's bonus to 15/20/20/30%) and gave Lia "Judgement" as her starting spell. He also likes Zenith (six starting Lightweavers), Keandra for Cavalry and Merry Elias, an automatic ban on maps such as Vendetta that start with adventure map spells.

The whole cast across factions is on Best Heroes.

Creature upgrades

19:20 Turin takes the Sun's Aegis over the Guard Captain: Swordsmen exist to protect shooters, and the Aegis cuts ranged damage to itself and its neighbors. At tier 2 he prefers the Austringer's double shot to the Marksmen's single long-range shot, and suggests a main Austringer stack plus single Marksmen whose deaths trigger Righteousness.

22:42 He calls Lightweavers a great ranged unit: their "Inner Glow" adds Attack, Defense, Speed and Initiative to an ally for one Focus point, the same at any stack size. His tier 4 upgrade is the Sun Herald, whose "Exaltation" makes an ally deal maximum damage. Patch #8 raised Lightweaver Attack and Defense from 10 to 11 and the Sun Herald's Initiative from 4 to 5. For tier 5 he prefers Noble Cavalry, whose charge speeds up the whole army.

28:44 At tier 7 Turin rates the Apotheosis "the goat": it and adjacent allies are immune to negative effects, and it fought at full damage in melee. Patch #8 gave the Archangel the same "Duelist" passive and raised the Apotheosis's Defense from 30 to 35, so the choice is closer than in his video.

Skills, spells and town

On the main branch Righteousness works through its subskills; Patch #8 reduced "Chosen One" (creatures get the hero's attributes) from 100% to 50%. In the public beta it becomes three prayers (Song of Wrath, Plea for Healing, Hymn of Power), single-use charges since Oct 21 (v0.82.03), and "Fields of Serenity" gives Temple creatures 10% more damage and 10% less damage taken on native terrain.

1:27 In the Righteousness of his video (+1 to the hero's four attributes for two rounds whenever a friendly creature dies or kills an enemy), Turin's trick is to split weak units into single stacks, or kill the enemy's weak stacks first, to stack the bonus before the big fight; he also warns that an opponent can farm your single stacks the same way. The beta prayers drop that link to creatures dying.

17:16 Temple's unique building, the "Guild of Six Winds", trains a hero in Attack, Defense, Spell Power or Knowledge but keeps them for the day, so Turin sends a hero there only after using all their movement, then returns to the map next morning; timed well, he says, it adds +3 to every stat by the final fight. He notes the town's mage guild stops at level 4, so level 5 Daylight spells such as "Judgement" need another town, and he calls Radiant Armor "probably their best spell".

Matchups

16:14 Turin finds Temple hard to play against because it has "so many good heroes" that three bans cannot cover them: ban Kestrel, Aeos and the Heroic Strike specialist, and the Cavalry specialist, a strong early-creeping hero or Merry Elias may still be open. Against Twilight or Berserk he prefers the Apotheosis's immunity aura to building around Julius's dispelling "Healing Water".

What changed in patches and the beta

• Patch #11 (Jul 6, 2026): Griffins from 25 to 30 health; "Mews II" cheaper and "Griffin Rookery I" dearer; an endless-resources exploit removed.
• Patch #13 (Aug 20, 2026): the law overhaul, with an extra level on every creature-upgrade law.
• Sep 30, 2026: "Sacred Lands" replaced by "Sacred Protection".
• Oct 15 and Oct 21, 2026 (beta only): the prayers; Tier 1 "Shields Up" against ranged damage; Sunspear Cavalry "Strike and Return"; Noble Cavalry "Inspiring"; Mother Superior "Malleus Maleficarum"; Angels faster (Speed 4 to 5). Unfrozen has not dated the beta's release to the main game.

Frequently asked questions

How do you play Temple in Olden Era? In Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era, Temple builds fast with its law that allows building twice a day, fights early guards for Law points, and wins with sturdy knights, Griffins and Angels empowered by hero stats and Righteousness.

What is the best Temple build order in Olden Era? Turin's Olden Era opening of May 14, 2026 upgrades the Mews on day 1 for Austringers, then builds the Law or Astrology building, a bank and the Sundrop Chapel in week 1, and buys Lightweavers and Sun Heralds around day 6.

What are the best Temple laws in Olden Era? Unfrozen's headline Temple laws in Olden Era are building twice a day, learning any spell of any tier, and "Sacred Protection", which since Sep 30, 2026 makes friendly heroes immune to negative effects.

Who is the best Temple hero in Olden Era? Olden Era's Lord Edgar is built around Righteousness, though Unfrozen has weakened him twice; the creator Turin rates Kestrel and Aeos the Exalted the strongest Temple picks and Lia the Untethered One the best caster.

Is Temple weak in Olden Era? Unfrozen wrote on Aug 20, 2026 that Olden Era's Temple "underperforms in the late game" and overhauled its laws in Patch #13; the Oct 15, 2026 public beta then rebuilt its faction skill around prayers.

Sources

• Devlog #14: Gameplay Mechanics pt. 3: Faction Laws, Unfrozen, Dec 5, 2025
• 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
• Patch #13: The Mysterious Island, Unfrozen, Aug 20, 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
• Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era on Steam, Steam, read Oct 21, 2026
• Heroes of Might & Magic: Olden Era - Temple Faction Beginners Guide, Turin, May 14, 2026 (video)