Here's hoping the developers don't nerf everything in the name of balance next week.

Now, to Unfrozen devs, I know how tempting it is to just look at the data, see what's overpowered/overused and just tweak those down. But just hear me out.

Personal story, I used to make key game design decisions for a massive PvP multiplayer game (which I'd never reveal because what I did deserves no less than a thousand deaths). In an attempt to "balance" the game, and make it reward "skill", my decisions eventually caused the game to become sterile, with nearly all factions playing in only ONE style. While there used to be more variety in strategy and tactics, my balance decisions killed everything and left only one single most effective method. Trying to play in any other way means you simply couldn't compete anymore. As many players felt their version of "fun" got wrecked, the playerbase started declining fast.

Yes, the game became balanced. But it wasn't fun. It went backwards. It was so balanced, everyone ended up playing the same way. I'd always regret what I did, almost singlehandedly killing a really good game. I sincerely hope Olden Era doesn't go the same way.

TO THE DEVS OF OLDEN ERA:

Different players enjoy the game in different ways. There might be players who already find fun in certain tactics (hoplite abuse, Avatar as a skill, Wraith life steal, unkillable Temple units, solo turn army wiping Reavers/Griffins, the recently patched Taunt abuse). Some niche combos aren't even easily achievable, and require more investments, which make them far from the fastest creeping tactics. So while not everything affects PvP ladder, I reckon there are many players who find their own version of fun and play OE because of it.

Killing people's fun never brings in new players. But can turn existing players away.

Instead, rather than killing off existing tactics, make the approach to balancing be:
1) buff certain weaker factions/units/skills/spells
2) introduce more/make more accessible the counters to what the devs find too strong

This way, the players who already find fun in certain things don't suddenly feel they got shafted. Variety is kept. And you still manage to achieve a more equal PvP environment, while not turning away the majority of players who are casuals.

I hope this post gets to the devs. It'd help if everyone who agrees can upvote to keep this going.

For the first time in decades, we have a HOMM game that can bring an influx of new players to the series. But with this also comes many questions, mostly around difficulty settings, build orders, hero tiers and stuff. I hope this can be a quick guide for both new and returning players to navigate the game more easily.

DIFFICULTY

The HOMM series is unique in the sense that the main thing affecting difficulty isn’t…. the “difficulty” setting. It’s the map.

HOMM is a game where you don’t play the units, heroes or economy. You simply play the map. The map is the single most important thing that determines everything else.

Certain maps will simply be tougher than others. For instance, a 125% classic Jebus Cross game will feel infinitely harder than a 200% Vendetta or Exodus. This is the first thing to note when choosing what to play. For newer players, I’d higher recommend starting with Single Hero templates until you’re familiar with the units, heroes and optimization paths.

CLASSIC VS SINGLE HERO MODE

Classic Jebus Cross is an accurate test for what level AI opponent you should set on classic mode.

Mastering this template lets you do well in every other mode, and lets you play at the highest difficulty settings/AI enemy level. Try a few games with Unfair Difficulty (125%), and see how long you take to break through the desert guard on average. Experienced players mostly do this day 7 or earlier (typically dubbed 117, which stands for Month 1, Week 1, Day 7). When you get a lucky map, it’s usually day 5 (or 115).

I haven’t done a day 4 break yet, but I guess better players might have done it. Sounds impossible? That’s because the most important skill in Classic mode is hero chaining, which is also why the AI is beating you so badly. It’s cause the AI is efficiently hero chaining while you’re not.

HOW THE ABOVE AFFECTS YOUR CPU DIFFICULTY CHOICE

Week 1 break = feel free to play against "Multiplayer AI opponent" or PvP online

Week 2 break = setting the computer opponent to "Hard" should give you some challenge

Week 3 break = recommended computer opponent "Normal"

Week 4+ break = recommended computer opponent "Easy"

Week 1 breaks on Jebus Cross classic mode is the what's needed to beat the hardest AI or high level competitive play. If you don't do either, PLEASE IGNORE IT! You can enjoy the game in any way you want, at any pace you like. You don’t have to play a map or mode you dislike.

There's always a best way to beat a map. But there's never a best way to play the game. Single player, PvP, casual long games raising 5000 skeletons or making 100 spellpower mages. Play the game the way you enjoy most. No one can tell you otherwise.

The amazing thing about Olden Era is that there’s a playstyle and mode for everyone - rapid-fire draft mode; casual hotseat with your friends; days long single player games on huge adventure maps; PvP addicts who love fast-paced games; old school ranked Classic style players. I'm personally waiting for giant, story-style maps to play co-op with friends. There's just something for everyone!

Pick a mode and difficulty setting that suits your level to enjoy and learn the game. You’d naturally get better as you play more and can up the difficulty later.

BEST BUILD ORDER, ECONOMY, DWELLINGS

This is a very common question. Similar to difficulty settings, the most important factor that determines your in-game decisions is the map. So your best build order and what to build is completely dependent on the map template and what you find during your early scouting.

By now, you should understand how important the map template is, and that’s exactly what we’re talking about next.

MAP TEMPLATES & GAMEPLAN

Every map can be easily conquered once you know the optimal gameplan. The heroes, units and build order you choose must be something that helps you achieve the gameplan in the fastest, most optimal way. Most of my playtime has been in multi-hero Jebus Cross because it was the easiest transition for me as a long time H3 player.

However, I believe this play mode will not be as popular going forward. The Single Hero templates are far quicker, with lower barrier to entry and generally more fun for nearly everyone. Hence, I’d try to break down the most popular Single Hero PvP templates too.

*SUPER IMPORTANT - Remember, regardless of map, your objectives will always be:

·        Scouting the map fast

·        Planning what you need to beat the exact map you just scouted

·        Moving where you want quickly

·        Building capability to take important fights (either through army or hero)

Jebus Cross – The aim of this map is to take as many creature banks and lucky Pandora boxes as possible, and break into the desert in week 1. This means you hardly build dwellings in town. You only need your key upgrades (faun warriors for Grove, specific spells to take the banks you’ve scouted or the break guards (impending fate, twilight, etc). Get as many heroes as you can, scout fast, see the banks available, see the guards, plan what units/spells you need. Day 4/5 should be full of hero chaining and fighting with your army moving across multiple heroes and main hero fleeing battles to be rehired elsewhere.

Because everything is done within 5-7 game days, a small miscalculation in hero movement points or forgetting to setup a chain in an area, resulting in being slower by 1-2 days can effectively lose you the whole game. The map is also very luck-based. It's entirely possible to get a horrendous map with creature banks far from roads/towns, or nearby banks all size 4 without any starter Pandoras. The variance is just too huge and can be a turn-off at times. Definitely not newbie friendly.

Best heroes on Jebus Cross (multi hero)= You're looking for heroes that can take creature banks earlier. Common ones are might heroes that are unit specialists or defense/offense specialists (Gingertail, Krestel, Bulwark, Orkos, Ice Queen etc).

Vendetta – This is a single hero Jebus Cross so it’s normal to make the mistake of thinking they play the same way. They don’t. It’s a vastly different map! Firstly, you start with a few global movement spells. You also get to choose +2 Spellpower/Knowledge TWICE from the start (so +2/+2, +4/+0 or +0/+4). This immediately gives a big edge to both global spellcaster heroes and mages. Also, all Pandora boxes here give your own faction units, (until you reach the desert, where it gives the central city faction units), so the goal is to creep them fast and hard. Once again, dwellings aren’t as important because your main army is coming from the Pandoras. As a single hero map, you can no longer use endless hero chains to cover the map. Single hero movement becomes very important. Heroes that can cast global map spells twice have a huge advantage on this map.

Best heroes on Vendetta (single hero) = Because scouting and movement is a lot slower with only 1 hero, the ones with huge movement can become very powerful. The best heroes are probably the ones that can town portal & dimension door twice every turn. Mages also gain usefulness here due to the starting buff for Spellpower/Knowledge.

Exodus – You start with 0 mana Town Portal and nothing else. There are no Pandoras and no creature banks. This means you’d need to beat the map using your own capability. The gameplan for this then becomes building up your key dwellings, or aim for the Tier 6/Tier 7 external dwellings. Since you start with 2 cities from the same faction, some factions can opt for double building the towns to get a big powerstack. Other factions with poor build orders (Grove’s build order is TERRIBLE) rely on building up a powerful mage to creep the map. It’s a very easy map to play, and with the Victory Condition being 2/3 Tournament wins, games finish within an hour or so. I highly recommend Exodus for newer players or if you want some relaxed fun.

Best heroes on Exodus (single hero) = Probably might heroes again. However, factions that can double build easily like Tower, Dungeon or Necro can play in more styles. Special shoutout to the Fireball specialist from Grove with hoplet abuse. Because Fireball only costs 13 mana, his strategy is still very viable on this map even without the early Spellpower/Knowledge buff. Grove can also easily double build Fauns and get hoplets. Not like they have anything else. (Iriyads and Mancers are mediocre. Everything else is expensive to build with too many requirements. Like why is this faction so hard to build up!?)

Jebus Outcast – This is pretty much Vendetta without the global map spells and Spellpower/Knowledge bonus at start. The goal, like with Vendetta, is to creep the Pandoras to quickly build up an army. This map also lets you start with 2 cities, just like in Exodus. But remember, your goal here is Pandora creeping. Build only what you need to creep Pandoras quicker. Your city dwellings will never produce armies faster than Pandora boxes. However, without global map spells and easy movement, you’d have trouble getting to the different boxes as fast as in Vendetta. This means the game drags on and city Tier 7 dwellings might even eventually have an impact. All in, it’s a rather slow game (takes 2-3 hours like Classic Jebus Cross) that’s kinda like a lovechild of Vendetta and Exodus.

Best heroes on Jebus Outcast - I don't have enough experience to comment. You can try approaching it with the same idea as the above templates, which shouldn't go too far wrong.

Sprint – I haven’t had enough experience yet to comment on this template. Perhaps someone else can chime in.