This page contains general information that doesn't fit into any other category or section on the site.
[Resources] [Attack Skill] [Defense Skill] [Spell Power Skill] [Knowledge Skill] [Morale] [Luck] [Experience] [Terrain] [Graveyards and Shipwrecks] [Demon Caves] [Beginning Resources] [Hero Type Costs] [Reveal the Map!] [Auto Battle] [Retreat or Surrender?] [Few, Pack, Lots?]
In HOMM, there are different resources that must be obtained in order to build up castles or hire troops. The table below shows pictures of each of the resources and names each of them. Be aware that on this website, if there is a picture of a resource (or any picture), and you're not sure what it is, rest the mouse cursor over it for a moment to bring up a little information box describing the picture. Try it below. See?
The first 3 are the most essential. The other 4 are for special structures, such as the mage guilds, structures for the upper-end creatures, and for hiring those creatures as well.
 |
Gold |
 |
Wood |
 |
Ore |
 |
Crystal |
 |
Gems |
 |
Sulfur |
 |
Mercury |
Every creature has an attack rating, which represents the amount of damage a particular creature will do in battle. A hero's attack statistic adds to the attack of a creature, so it does more damage. For example, even a legion of Peasants can be dangerous if their leading hero has a high attack statistic!
Different hero types start with different attack, defense, spell power, and knowledge statistics. For more on this subject, visit the Heroes Page. A higher attack rating means that a creature will do more damage in combat.
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Like attack, every creature has a defense rating. A hero's defense rating increases the creature's defense, which means it can take more damage in combat before perishing.
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A hero's spell power controls how much damage spells will do, or how long their effects linger. For example, say the hero's spell power is 5. If that hero casts Blind on an enemy troop, the effect will last for 5 turns (not taking into account whether the enemy hero uses Dispel Magic or Cure, or you attack the blinded stack, in which case the effect will end). If the hero uses a spell like Fireball, you need to know the "multiplier" for that spell (psst: Fireball's multiplier is 10). Multiply the multiplier by the hero's spell power to get 50, which is how much damage the spell will do.
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Knowledge really only has one function: to control the number of spells you can memorize. Say a hero's knowledge is 10, so that means he/she can remember up to 10 of each spell. When he runs out of a particular spell, he will have to return to a castle, with a mage guild containing that particular spell, to relearn it. If his knowledge has increased by 2, he can then learn up to 12 of that spell. Be aware that if your knowledge increases while you are are out adventuring, you must revisit a mage guild to gain up to your new maximum.
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If your troops get high morale, they get to attack twice a round. If they have low morale, they may freeze in combat. You get low morale from having more than 2 types of troops in your army, or from visiting graveyards or shipwrecks, OR by getting the Fizbin of Misfortune. You get high morale by having no more than 2 troop types in your army, visiting a statue or bouy, by having a Knight hero, or by having one of the morale artifacts.
Check your hero's status screen. In the upper-right corner, you see a small box with a few things in it. The golden bird represents your morale; if its wings are up, you have good morale; if its wings are down, you have bad morale; and if its wings are level, you have neutral morale, meaning you will not get extra turns or lose any in combat. If there is more than 1 bird, than the odds are increased. 3 birds with wings pointing up mean you have awesome morale. In this case, the hero's morale is +2. The chances of getting good morale in battle are as follows: with a +1 rating, the odds are 1 in 24; with a +2 rating, the odds are 1 in 12; and with +3, the odds are 1 in 8. The odds of receiving bad morale are higher than the odds of receving good morale. The odds are: -1 morale has a 1 in 12 chance; -2 morale has a 1 in 6 chance; and -3 morale has a 1 in 4 chance of giving you bad morale.
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When your troops get good luck, their attacks do double damage. Conversely, if they get bad luck, attacks do half damage. You can get good luck by visiting faerie rings or fountains, or by having one of the luck(y) artifacts.
Look at the upper-right corner of your hero status screen. The scale with the rainbow represents your luck rating. If there's just a rainbow, you have good luck. If there's just a cloud, then you have bad luck. If the rainbow and cloud are level with each other, your luck is neutral. In the above example, the hero's luck is +1. The odds for getting good luck and bad luck are the same as the odds shown above for good morale and bad morale.
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When a hero wins a battle, he gains a certain amount of experience. The total experience he has gained is indicated by the number beside the star. When clicked, the star will tell what level the hero is, and how much experience he needs to rise to the next level.
Besides winning battles, a hero can gain experience by taking experience instead of gold at a treasure chest, visiting a gazebo (only once per hero), or by going to a demon cave. If it is a good outcome, you will usually get some experience there also.
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There are different kinds of terrain in HOMM. Some terrains are easier to move over than others, while others reduce a hero's movement drastically. One way to offset this is to use a Barbarian hero (movement bonus), leave slow troops in a castle, or get one of the mobility artifacts. The amount of movement a hero has is expressed in "points". Moving on rougher terrain uses more movement points than on regular terrain. Every step you take on regular terrain (grass, dirt) uses 4 movement points. Moving on rough terrain costs more (unless you're a Barbarian). Another note is that moving diagonally on any terrain takes up more movement than going North/South or East/West. Check the table below for pictures of the different terrains and how much movement a hero can use.
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Water: 200% movement |
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Grass: 100% movement |
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Dirt: 100% movement |
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Lava: 100% movement |
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Snow: 66% movement |
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Swamp: 66% movement |
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Desert: 50% movement |
Note that Sorceresses' movement on water is doubled further because of their special skill: extra movement on water.
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When you visit a graveyard or shipwreck, you can fight a certain number of Ghosts to gain a certain amount of gold, experience, etc (see table below). However, if another hero has already gotten the goods, you will only get bad morale by visiting. Save your game first, then check. If you get the bad morale, reload your game, make a note of it, and move on. The table below applies to both graveyards and shipwrecks.
| Number of Ghosts per group | Your reward | Chance of occurrence |
|---|---|---|
| 2 Ghosts/ group | 1000 |
30% |
| 3 Ghosts/ group | 2000 |
30% |
| 4 Ghosts/ group | 3000 |
30% |
| 10 Ghosts/ group | 2000 + Artifact |
10% |
Note that in all the above situations, there are 5 groups, or stacks. So when it says 4 Ghosts/ group, that means there will be 20 Ghosts to fight at the beginning of the battle. So don't take troops that are easily scared to death, like Peasants!
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When you visit a demon cave, you could get some gold and experience, just experience, or experience and an artifact. For more details, check the table below.
| What you get | Chance of Occurrence |
|---|---|
| 1000 Experience | 30% |
| 1000 Experience and 2500 |
30% |
| 1000 Experience and an Artifact | 10% |
| The demon captures and eats you if you don't pay 2500 |
30% |
Yes, there is a chance of... unpleasantness here. Like with shipwrecks or graveyerds, save before going in and reload if you don't care for the result. However, you won't have to do any battle here. If someone has visited the cave before you, then it will be empty.
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Depending on the difficulty level you choose, you will start with a certain amount of resources at the beginning of a regular scenario (you cannot control the difficulty level in the campaign, however). Check the table below to see what you get at each difficulty level.
| Resource | Easy | Normal | Hard | Expert |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
10000 | 7500 | 5000 | 0 |
|
30 | 20 | 10 | 0 |
|
30 | 20 | 10 | 0 |
|
10 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
|
10 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
|
10 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
|
10 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
The Knight and Barbarian possess an advantage in harder scenarios in that their castles require much fewer resources than the other two types. They only need the special resources to build their 5th level troop dwelling. This advantage becomes a disadvantage when playing easier scenarios, since the spellcasters will have access to more resources, and therefore it will take them less time to rise in power.
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| Hero Type | Gold |
Wood |
Ore |
Crystal |
Gems |
Mercury |
Sulfur |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Knight | 13200 | 55 | 15 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Barbarian | 14100 | 15 | 50 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sorceress | 21000 | 30 | 45 | 0 | 10 | 30 | 0 |
| Warlock | 255000 | 0 | 40 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 30 |
From looking at the table, you can see that the spellcasters, the Sorceress especially, have higher building costs. The Sorceress is the only hero type that has to build a mage guild before building all her troop generators. She also requires more resources than the Warlock, but the Warlock's buildings cost more in gold.
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There are many cheats out there on the internet for this game (free Dragons, more luck, resources, etc) but this is the only that I have found to work. On the adventure screen, with a hero selected, type in 101495 on the top row of keys on the keyboard. It will reveal the whole map for your viewing pleasure. I sometimes, at the beginning of a scenario, save the game, use this cheat to see where everyone is, where artifacts, resources, and mines are, than reload and start playing.
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If you are in a battle that you know you can easily win, then just select the Auto button on the lower left of the battle screen. The computer will then take over for you. There are 3 reasons I don't like to do this:
- The computer casts spells for you. You may not like the computer doing that, especially since it does pretty dopey things. It also wastes one of your spells.
- Your troops do things you would not want them to do.
- The computer doesn't account for the fact that Cyclopes, Dragons, and Phoenix can hit 2 spaces at once. So sometimes it toasts some of your own troops when it uses one of the aforementioned creatures to eliminate an enemy.
In battle, you can retreat or surrender if you think you can't win. When you retreat, your hero keeps his experience and artifacts, but loses his army. He then returns to the hero pool, where you can rehire him when he appears. Be aware that the enemy can hire him before you. You can do the same, however! It's a 2-way street here. When you surrender, you pay the amount of gold equal to half the cost of your current army, and your hero reappears in the hero pool in your castles right away, with his experience, artifacts, and army intact, all for 2500! However, if you have a big army, it can cost you a pretty penny! If you don't have enough money right away, let the enemy whittle down your forces a little and try again. Repeat as necesary. Either way, it's better than being defeated altogether, since the enemy takes your artifacts.
Ever wonder about the number equivalents for the descriptions of enemy army sizes? Check the table below for the lowdown on these confusing descriptions.
| Description | Number |
|---|---|
| Few | 1-4 |
| Several | 5-9 |
| Pack | 10-19 |
| Lots | 20-49 |
| Horde | 50-99 |
| Throng | 100-249 |
| Swarm | 250-499 |
| Zounds | 500-999 |
| Legion | 1000+ |