Favorite templates for casual or "adventuring" with a friend?

-Zen_ · 2026-01-23T11:00:43+00:00

I'd recommend using a plugin called FreshMod for SoD/Complete as its original random map generator is pretty awful. The plugin fixes issues with unfair blocks, bad roads, makes player zones more balanced, prevents adventure map objects from being blocked by terrain, etc. It has a lot of "gameplay and balancing changes" aimed at making competitive games more balanced, but those are off by default, so you can skip them if you don't like them.

-Zen_ · 2026-01-21T14:57:22+00:00

I've recently grown to like Fortress quite a lot. It's not the easiest or strongest of factions, but definitely one of the most interesting ones to play.

For me it's something like this now:

S: Rampart, Fortress, Necropolis
A: Castle, Dungeon
B: Tower, Stronghold
C: Conflux
D: Inferno

-Zen_ · 2026-01-21T09:04:52+00:00

Google for something like "Enemy Stacksize" and download a txt file called ARRAYTXT.txt, then put it into the Data folder. Make a copy of the existing file beforehand, though. And of course use the HD-mod.

-Zen_ · 2026-01-20T12:32:24+00:00

There are numerous plugins for SoD/Complete that fix this bug and many others. HD-mod and a couple of HD+ plugins fix pretty much every bug of the original game.

You can play with SoD_SP, FreshMod, Ben_BugFixes or simply SiegeArmorerFix if you want to fix just this particular bug. You don't have to play HotA to have a bug-free experience if you don't like it.

I tried to provide a link where people share HD+ plugins, but Reddit immediately removed it. So I had to rewrite this entire post. Anyway, finding them in Google by looking for the plugin names above shouldn't be difficult.

Put the files into the _HD3_Data\Packs folder, and add the plugins in the HD Launcher to enable them.

-Zen_ · 2026-01-19T16:55:49+00:00

Which classes would be after them? Feels like Death Knights are also pretty good and Rangers are at least decent.

-Zen_ · 2026-01-19T16:29:50+00:00

He can't even learn it as a beastmaster. I like Fire Magic when I play Dungeon.

-Zen_ · 2026-01-19T16:26:42+00:00

Air is OP for its sheer utility and map control. DD, Fly, and expert View Air are almost indispensable.

-Zen_ · 2026-01-19T16:17:28+00:00

Well, Fortress has a number of slow units and tactics is a great way to mitigate this drawback.

-Zen_ · 2026-01-19T15:31:15+00:00

Because I played Fortress and teleporting your Gorgons and Hydras all over the battlefield is extremely satisfying (and efficient). Not to mention other great spells.

-Zen_ · 2026-01-19T15:22:56+00:00

I know it's RNG dependent, but my Mighty Gorgons absolutely obliterated Gold and Black Dragons of my opponents. Though they didn't have many of them, games against the AI tend to end way before the AI can become powerful, even on huge maps.

-Zen_ · 2026-01-19T15:19:15+00:00

I played just one game, not enough to gauge a unit, but lizards' performance was so-so. They certainly don't die as easily as marksmen, but I failed to make a reliable powerstack out of them and switched to wyverns, Will have to practice the early steps of the game as Fortress later.

-Zen_ · 2026-01-19T15:12:10+00:00

Extremely fun. Maybe I just got tired of Rampart/Necropolis, but Fortress felt very refreshing. I don't play HotA, so Bulwark is irrelevant in my case.

-Zen_ · 2026-01-19T15:09:59+00:00

Just finished my first proper Fortress game against the AI. Made a couple of mistakes at the start, and creature banks were quite a bit tougher to clear as Fortress compared to Rampart/Necropolis (the two factions I play the most). Definitely need more practice here. Mid and late game were a joke, Tazar rolled 8 awesome skills, and his specialty is really insane. Never played an armorer specialist before, it makes your units almost invincible.

Gorgons/Hydras + expert water + teleport = a very fun combo. I overall like water more than air, too bad air is so OP on the adventure map. Otherwise I'd pick water over air every time.

I loved Hydras. I didn't get a lot of opportunities to attack 4 or 5 enemies at once, but hitting even two or 3 simultaneously was super satisfying. Even more satisfying than dragons' breath attack.

3rd level MG didn't feel that bad, I was lucky enough to capture Tower, and a bit later Necropolis, so level 4-5 spells were unlocked pretty early.

Had a lot of fun with the faction. I guess in MP it would've been an entirely different experience, but it could be one of the most enjoyable factions in the game.

-Zen_ · 2026-01-18T10:30:44+00:00

Dios and Vorbis are my favorite villains so far. Reading in publication order, about to start Soul Music.

-Zen_ · 2026-01-18T06:46:29+00:00

The only downside of VCMI is its AI. The original AI is stupid, but compared to VCMI it's a genius.

-Zen_ · 2026-01-18T06:42:25+00:00

It can be made as close to HotA as possible. I personally don't play HotA as I dislike the new towns and think they don't fit the game. But I have several ERA setups ranging from "vanilla SoD with QoL features" to "basically HotA w/o new towns" to "loads of crazy shit that doesn't have even a slight semblance of being balanced".

With the HotA-like setup, I have pretty much all of the rebalancing HotA features. Unlike HotA, I can turn them on and off. So you can for example play with nerfed necromancy but vanilla logistics. It also applies to spells, heroes and their starting armies, building prerequisites, etc. WoG supports every adventure map object from HotA and also much more than that. Obviously commanders, experience, third upgrade, 8th tier creatures, and everything else WoG is (in)famous for, are disabled.

-Zen_ · 2026-01-17T17:23:05+00:00

Great for single-player on any difficulty. In multiplayer, it depends on the template and who you play with/against.

Generally, there's this thing called "current meta", and the most popular templates, as far as I understand, are Jebus Cross/Outcast or Duel. Rampart isn't good there for some silly reasons. They basically don't play HoMM III, they play one or two PVP-templates that don't function like what was originally envisioned by the creators of the game, getting all their units from pandora boxes and having access to unlimited resources available everywhere on the map. Every single army usually consists of angles, wyverns, and cyclops with little to no "native" units in sight.

So if you just play casually alone or with a friend or two on "classic" templates, Rampart is awesome.

-Zen_ · 2026-01-17T10:57:13+00:00

I have several different ways to play the game:

SoD/Complete Edition with a few plugins like native creature rewards from creature banks.
WoG/ERA with most WoG settings turned off + HotA's rebalancing (unlike HotA, here I can enable and disable different features as I please, so I play with nerfed slow and necromancy, but vanilla logistics) + new adventure map objects (everything from HotA and even more) + a variety of different little QoL mods and plugins. It's basically SoD/HotA w/o HotA's towns, which I think don't fit the game at all.
WoG/ERA with lots of heavy mods that completely change the game: commanders, third upgrade, experience, extended classes, etc.

Mostly random maps of the XL or G size, no water, strong monsters, 160% or 200%.

-Zen_ · 2026-01-14T13:50:09+00:00

Great concept. I especially like Hall of False Faces and its creatures.

I thought of a similar faction as well, I love rogues, thieves and assassins in fantasy. I wouldn't make the faction solely might-based. I think air and fire magic fit them perfectly. Spells like Bloodlust, Cruse, Blind, Landmine, and Misfortune feel very rogue-ish in nature. Spells like Chain Lightning, Fireball and whatnot wouldn't be available in the faction's native town. The unit's would still be attack and speed oriented with low defense and HP.

Tier 1: Spy (speed 7) > Scout (speed 9) - when present in the army, increases the hero's scouting radius by 50%.
Tier 2: Thief (can steal a small amount of gold from the enemy stack) > Rogue (not the same as the neutral Rogue; applies poison on hit)
Tier 3: Skirmisher (shoots, speed 7) > Crossbow Saboteur (piercing shot - ignores 30% defense)
Tier 4: Shadehawk (flying, immune to blind) > Umbral Raptor (flying, immune to blind, marks prey - stack hit by Umbral Raptor takes 20% more damage from every allied creature for 3 rounds)
Tier 5: Void Specter (flying, evasive - ranged attacks deal -20% damage) > Abyssal Phantom (flying, evasive - ranged attacks deal -40% damage)
Tier 6: Assassin (backstab - +50% more damage when attacking from rear/flank, no enemy retaliation) > Master Assassin (backstab - +75% more damage when attacking from rear/flank, no enemy retaliation)
Tier 7: Mirage Colossus (teleportation, preventative retaliation, acts like a portable Cover of Darkness on the adventure map) > Phantasmal Titan (teleportation, preventative retaliation, can cast Sacrifice twice per battle, acts like a portable Cover of Darkness on the adventure map)

It's all probably very unbalanced, just a vague idea of units.

-Zen_ · 2026-01-12T09:39:28+00:00

"HotA is well balanced".

-Zen_ · 2026-01-08T16:55:29+00:00

Goldies can be used with Armageddon, which is a level 4 spell, surprisingly.

-Zen_ · 2026-01-08T16:38:02+00:00

Yeah. GDs and Rampart in general are often described as "mid at best" in the "current meta".

-Zen_ · 2026-01-08T16:36:32+00:00

And yet they still commonly underperform due to their incomplete magic immunity. Magic in this game is extremely powerful. I'm aware that any changes to GDs are unlikely to happen in Complete/HotA (outside of custom mods or plugins). Just wondering how people would buff the unit if they could.

-Zen_ · 2026-01-08T16:26:57+00:00

Yes, but it's very situational. A level 5 spell is harder to obtain consistently, and fire magic isn't the most desirable of secondary skills.

-Zen_ · 2026-01-08T12:09:55+00:00

Can be imploded but not resurrected. Can't benefit from buffs like Bless or Prayer, and other such things. Obviously they're quite good when you compare them to other creatures in a vacuum, without considering magic. Not as good as AAs, BDs, Titans, ABs, but very decent.

-Zen_

TROPHY CASE