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With the Heroes Olden Era tips I've detailed below, gathered by multiple members of GR+ staff playing the strategy game, you won't wind up in some of the sticky situations we did. Heroes of Might and Magic Olden Era is no walk in the park, even on the easiest difficulty, so be sure to thoroughly inspect this list.
Some of the Olden Era tips below are applicable across the campaign, quick matches, and online games, but many are specific to either the campaign or matches. I've specified how each is applicable, but you'll want to know them all if you're planning on playing Heroes Olden Era to the fullest.
1. Matches: Focus on just one main Hero
While there is a Single-Hero mode and you have no choice over your Heroes during the campaign, standard quick matches and online matches give you the ability to hire additional Heroes from your cities. While this can be tempting, and prevents you losing if your main Hero's army is taken out, we think you should focus on one main hero for battles, and only use any spares for scouting and picking up ground loot.
This way, you can remove the fog of war a little easier, since you can have Heroes in different areas, but let them be easy victims to enemy armies. Any fog of war they remove stays gone, and any items they collect (like crystals, gold, and mercury) go into a shared pot. Building multiple armies, though, is very expensive and time-consuming, and XP isn't shared between Heroes, so you really want to focus adding units to and levelling up your main Hero only.
Article continues below2. Matches: Use multiple Heroes wisely
When you do have more than one Hero, for example during some of the campaign missions, make sure you use them wisely. Like I've mentioned above, try and spread them around the map a bit to cover more ground.
You should also consider which faction their armies will be from. Any army that is made up of units from multiple factions loses Morale, an important stat, so you might want to give, for example, all Dungeon units to one Hero and then all Grove units to another, rather than mixing them up. This also applies to movement, as factions have their own unique terrain that they move faster on. Keep each Hero to their own terrain when applicable to make the most of your movement points.
Finally, don't forget about Olden Era artefacts. If you have your Heroes meet up on the map (or, in some cases, use Remote Footholds), you can exchange units and items. If you've sent a Hero out to explore and they've picked up a bunch of artefacts they don't need, be sure to give them to another Hero to save them going to waste.
3. All modes: Consider city buildings carefully
Be conscious of what you build in the opening weeks. Generally speaking, build base unit structures first so you start generating them early. Once you have a unit building, that unit will start generating in that city on a weekly basis, ready for you to hire them the next time you return. The earlier you get them built, then, preferably all in week one if possible, the more you'll be able to recruit. It doesn't even matter if you're not returning to the city right away - they'll be waiting for you when you do.
With that in mind, don't worry about unit upgrade buildings until you've got a good few units stacking up, as they don't generate additional units. Once you've got units stacking up, then move onto unit upgrade buildings before building banks and depots for town resource generation. The exception to this rule is if you're short on rarer resources for unit buildings, then build other structures. Leave city fortifications until the very end as they have the smallest impact on your survival.
Another point to keep in mind when it comes to city-building is to remember to build every day. You can build in every controlled city once per day as long as you have the resources, no matter where you are on the map, but since you're restricted to one building a day, forgetting can set you back.
4. All modes: Prioritize Gold over Exp
Buying those stacked up units from cities costs Gold, but so does erecting all those buildings. Buying units around the map will also set your bank balance back, so you're going to need as much as you can get. Finding chests around the map, though, gives you the choice between Gold and Exp, and, certainly in the earlier game, you should always be picking Gold.
While levelling up gives you access to the best skills and elite level buffs, you will earn Exp from winning battles. The only way you'll win said battles, though, is with a strong army, and there's nothing worse than trying to recruit stacks and realizing you can't afford them.
5. All modes: Don't get blinkered by shiny objects
This one doesn't massively apply to the campaign, but in normal matches, don't always go out of your way to pick everything up. Be conscious of resources you need versus other pretty things. Some Olden Era factions favor certain resources for building, for example, so if you're playing Dungeon you'll want to prioritize Crystals, whereas you'll need more Mercury as a Schism Hero. If you go for everything, you'll quickly waste movement points and time, while your enemy could be building up a stronger army.
6. All modes: Build and utilize the Marketplace
Once you've built your base unit recruitment buildings, you can start thinking about some of the other city buildings on offer, starting with the Marketplace. Here, you can trade resources - for example, you can buy Crystals using Ore. You won't want to use this too much as the prices are incredibly steep, but it's a great way to trade resources if you're short on something specific.
You'll likely build the Marketplace before some of the more higher-tier unit buildings due to their specific resource requirements. That's when you'll need to swap, say, wood for mercury. The same goes for the higher-tier units you'll be able to hire around the map, as well, as some must be purchased with a combination of gold and rare resources like Gems.
7. All modes: Take out enemies as soon as possible
Naturally, as you're starting to get a bigger army and put your city together, so is your enemy. This applies to all modes, even the campaign. If you take too long exploring and gathering resources, you might find the enemy becomes impossible to defeat. This goes back to the earlier point about not picking everything up and considering movement speed and time. Actually, especially in the campaign, you might find it easier to go after them as soon as possible.
Get a strong enough army together, go after your enemy, and take them down while their stacks are still small. Since you also need to capture all cities first as well, this makes the most sense as you'll be on the right side of the map to do so and take on the enemy, rather than giving them enough time to come for you.
8. Matches: Keep an eye on enemy Heroes
Similarly, you want to keep your eyes peeled for enemies on the mini-map, particularly during matches. You can't avoid a battle if an enemy hunts you down, and fleeing automatically causes the loss of your army anyway, so you'll need to keep them at bay if you're not ready for a fight.
If it takes a while to load a new day and the light dims, this in an indicator that an enemy is on the map, and you'll be able to track their movement all the while they're not covered by the fog of war. Use this both to get an idea of how far they've progressed and to avoid or approach them, triggering a battle on your own terms.
9. All modes: Pay attention to unit stats
Once you upgrade your units, you'll have to choose between two different variants. You could split your army into multiple stacks and try both, of course, but you'll soon run out of slots. The best method as you unlock more base units is to have each type in one increasingly large stack, and choose the best upgrade, so checking unit stats is crucial.
You shouldn't just focus on the basics like HP and damage, don't forget to keep an eye on their abilities and attack types, as you might find a unit you thought was a ranged attacker suddenly becomes a melee fighter in one form, so consider your options carefully.
What's even better is that, once you decide which your preferred unit upgrade is, you can set your cities' weekly recruitment to automatically hire the upgraded version, skipping the upgrade step, and saving you time each time you return to your cities to buy new units.
10. All modes: Consider skills when levelling up your Hero
While each individual unit's stats are important, your Hero's stats are also reflected in your army, so it's essential that you pay attention to and level up your Hero as much as possible. Certain structures around the map grant buffs to your Hero's attributes, including Attack, Damage, and Knowledge, and the more these go up, the better your army becomes, and the better your Hero's abilities become, too.
However, this isn't the only way your Hero can improve. Every time you level up, you'll also be able to pick from three skills, in time filling out eight skill slots. Each skill can also be leveled up, and each time a skill goes up a tier, you'll get to choose a subskill, while the basic skill itself also gets better.
Individually, consider each of the three skill choices very carefully, and choose which best suits your Hero and your playstyle, for example whether you use Magic or Might heroes or if you prefer ranged attack or melee combat. However, you should also consider your Hero's two elite tier options, and the skills required to reach it. I've got more on that on my guide to the best Olden Era skills.
11. All modes: Equip the best artefacts
As you explore and battle, you'll find and be rewarded with various valuable artefacts. The first artefact your find for each slot (chest, main-hand, head, etc) will be automatically equipped to that slot, but anything else will go straight into your inventory, so be sure to regularly check your bag and swap held items out for the best ones you've got.
Since you might not get my picks for the best Olden Era artefacts right away, you should always take a close look at each artefact's effect, as well as the effects of any sets you might have. Don't get swayed by rarity, either: some lower-rarity items might be better for you and your army than those that look, on first glance, like they're among the best.
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