As we are nearing the full reveal of all 6 factions that will be present in Early Access, we would like to dive into more specific details that will define our game as well. With the help of our testers and feedback from the community, we have been working hard to bring you the best version of mechanics you had a chance to play with in the previous Heroes games. As such, we are trying to not only bring new additions into the game so that you can experience something new, but also some much needed quality of life changes that players have been asking for in all other Heroes of Might and Magic games.
One of the most important systems of Heroes of Might and Magic has been all the various, fantastical spells that can be cast throughout the game. Each game within the series had a different approach to magic, its distribution among the factions and its core functions. From limited casts of Heroes I to the elemental variety of Heroes VII, magic has been the source of fun and mayhem in each game, shaping and twisting the battlefield to the caster’s whim. Before we dive deeper, let’s talk about some basics.
For those unfamiliar with the series, spells are a feature that will help your heroes both in combat as well as on the adventure map itself. Some of them can empower your army, while others cripple the enemies. Some spells simply deal damage, manipulate the battlefield, or give you an advantage on the adventure map.
Traditionally, spells are primarily learned through constructing a mage guild, which has to be visited by a hero to learn its available spells. In earlier Heroes games, you also had to buy a spellbook, something we have decided to give everyone by default. They can also be acquired through other means; for example, you can acquire spells through shrines on the adventure map, scrolls, Pandora boxes, or by simply picking a hero specialist that has a unique version of a spell. In addition, some skills and subskills will also grant you unique spells exclusive to leveling them.
For our battle-hardened Heroes veterans, let's take a more in-depth look at this system. We will have the classic Battle spells, as well as Adventure ones. Expect a familiar approach, but also many surprises. In Olden Era, you will find more spells than any other Heroes game out there, with some creative and unique new ones added to the list.
Magic in Olden Era is split into four schools that have been founded by their respective scholars: Arina, Naira, Hksmilla and Doreath. These influential, powerful mages left a lasting mark on Jadame, weaving instructions on how to wield their magic into the stars. Similar to the Wisdom skill from Heroes II and III, as well as Magic Schools from Heroes V and VII, you have to learn Daylight, Nightshade, Primal or Arcane Magic skill to access Tier III, IV and V spells of respective schools of magic. However, anyone can learn the first two tiers of spells.
Before we show any of the spells, let’s have a brief talk about mana and how mana regeneration works in Olden Era. First of all, spells will have varying mana costs. Second of all, we decided to go with a system very similar to Heroes of Might and Magic V where every knowledge point equals 10 mana and also gives 1 mana regeneration per knowledge point every turn. As an example if you have 10 knowledge, you will regenerate 10 mana points every turn. Some skills and subskills can affect how much mana you have and regenerate.
Without further ado, let’s take a closer look at each school of magic:
One of the new features that will be present in Olden Era is the ability to research spells. In previous games, the magic systems were very interesting but we believe that we can adapt it further by introducing certain quality of life changes:
The spells were granted to the player at random in each Mage Guild — In addition to that, in Olden Era we will give people the option to pick any spell they want to research;
There was no way to acquire new spells in a Mage Guild without capturing another town — Now a single mage guild can acquire all the spells in the game within its maximum tier cap;
Some spells were so incredibly powerful that if the player didn’t get lucky enough to roll them, their entire playthrough would become significantly more difficult (if not outright doomed in a competitive environment) — We have moved those spells to a new category called “Neutral Magic” that we’ll talk more about in a short bit. By doing this we believe that the competitive aspect of Olden Era will be much more balanced.
Through the addition of these options we chose to adapt the system by offering a more universal approach and, once per day, allowing players to unlock any missing spell that they would like to get for the cost of some resources, allowing for your mage guilds to house all spells over time.
In addition, Olden Era will also feature a hybrid upgrade system. Spells have their own levels now and can have them increased by upgrading them in a mage guild, learning their respective school of magic or perks, owning certain artefacts and capturing special adventure sites on the map. For example, a hero without any magic school can only improve a spell to level 2 at most. At the same time a hero that invests levels into, for example, Primal Magic skill, can go up to a level 4 of a spell in addition to being able to learn high-tier spells. Investing into spell upgrades is an important decision as a high level spell is much more powerful than a low level one. As magic heroes are more likely to learn skills that can improve a spell level than might heroes, it will be generally easier for them to reach the maximum potential of this new system.
The third feature is the inclusion of neutral magic — here is where all the unique spells obtained from skills will be found, alongside most adventure spells. While working on the magic system, we considered that some spells from previous games, such as Town Portal or Dimension Door, are too powerful to belong to a specific school of magic, which led to the dominance of that school over others.
We would like to give each school of magic in Olden Era its own flair, and to balance it in a way where every spell has its place. As such, we decided to create a separate neutral magic, similarly to Heroes of Might and Magic 5, for the spells that we believed were previously too strong. To unlock them, you have to both level up your hero and unlock enough spells until you reach the minimum required for a guaranteed neutral one, which will depend on its tier. However, for the first neutral tier, you only need to learn enough spells, as a hero of any level can acquire them. Additionally, upgrading your spells and developing your cities will also contribute towards your progress to unlocking global spells.
To give some examples of neutral spells, you can find some that you might already be accustomed to, as well as some new ones that we will be adding:
Tier I: Second wind: grants the casting hero additional movement points.
Tier II: Shadowflight: makes a casting hero able to fly over obstacles.
Tier III: Gate of Light: creates a gateway on the map that any hero can go through to relocate a very short distance. The gateway remains until the end of the day.
Tier IV: Town portal: allows a casting hero to teleport to a specific town of your choice. Limited use per day.
Tier V: Dimension door: the casting hero can teleport a short distance. Cannot teleport between zones without defeating units guarding the passage. Limited use per day.
All of these spells will cost mana to use and have certain limitations, which are of course still subject to change depending on user feedback.
There will be more devlogs about mechanics coming, so stay tuned. Before we go, here’s one more classic spell you may recognise from Heroes III.
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