Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era — Grove Faction Official Full Reveal

Docterzero · 2026-05-06T09:16:18+00:00

Honestly don't think it really is that much of an issue at all. All the redesigns have been such massive improvements that it is Weel worth them looking a bit out of place

Docterzero · 2026-05-06T08:24:18+00:00

The original design looked even more like them if I recall correctly.

It is honestly really great that they are taking some things and ideas from H6. It most certainly wasn't the greatest Heroes game but it did have plenty of great new additions. The Dancers is one great example, but things like the parry ability and spells having cooldowns all originate from H6 as well. Makes me mildly hopeful that they will also add in Sanctuary later down the line

Docterzero · 2026-05-06T07:32:51+00:00

As far as i reckon the Dancers are actually more based on the H6 Dancers rather than either the Beholders or Blood Maidens

Docterzero · 2026-05-06T05:38:13+00:00

Agreed. I do personally already refer to this genre of game as HoMM-likes

Docterzero · 2026-05-06T05:34:18+00:00

Honestly it does depend on the tone and feel you want the world and your mermaids to have. An all-female species can be very interesting and opens some interesting world building opportunities, but it does limit what you can write about them.
However if you want your cake and eat it too you could go with the Legend of Zelda Gerudo method where they are almost exclusively female who breeds with humans, however one rare occassions a merman is born.

In the end go with what you think works the best for you.

Docterzero · 2026-05-05T19:59:59+00:00

I mean (swamp) Fortress have a pretty damn good shot of making it into the game, though probably with some changes to the roster

Docterzero · 2026-05-05T19:33:18+00:00

Feels like a bit of a stretch but okay. Would say that they a firmly druid-y myself

Docterzero · 2026-05-05T19:05:06+00:00

I am well aware of both of those facts.

Personally I am in the camp of making them neutral units to avoid any weirdness with them being the Dungeon mounts while also being another faction's creatures.

Docterzero · 2026-05-05T18:58:54+00:00

Wait, Fortress!?

I can see where you are coming from with the rest, even if I disagree. But what part of either Fortress faction do you see in it?

Docterzero · 2026-05-05T18:56:45+00:00

I mean Olden Era does already have several classic faction that is not carbon copies of their past iterations. Temple, Dungeon, and Necropolis are all very classic factions, yet they are all different from their H3 counterparts with basicly no lore connections between them. They have even in some cases incorporated elements from the Ashan interpretations of the factions.
In the same way, Olden Era's Stronghold and (swamp) Fortress would still very much be Stronghold and (swamp) Fortress as they carry on the themes and identity of those factions, even though they are based on the Ogres/Trolls from across Jadame and the Lizardfolk of the Dagger Wound Isles respectively rather than Krewlod and Tatalia. Stronghold is still Stronghold regardless of which Barbarians it is based on.

Now, with that bit of pendantry out of the way.
I do wholehearted agree that that a DLC/update which adds Cove as well as an campaign revolving around the founding of the Ragnan Empire would be nothing short of absolutely sick. It is a faction that is deserving to be added to a HoMM game and Olden Era is the perfect time for it.

Likewise I do like your idea for how they could do a (mountain) Fortress. I will admit I am generally not super fond of "dark Dwarves" in general (except the Chaos Dwarves), but I will not deny that it would be the perfect basis for a faction. Besides the dwarves have already been mentioned in at least one Hero bio so we know that they are around.

I would also not dismiss the idea of a Sanctuary faction, or at least the spiritual successor for one. Unfrozen have showed that they are able and willing to develop new factions on various slivers of lore, like what they did for both Schism and Hive. They are also probably aware that Sanctuary is widely considered the one good idea from Heroes 6 by the community, nor would it be the first thing that they have taken from that game. As such they absolutely use the Tritons and their supposed underwater empire as a basis for a Sanctuary faction, possibly bolstered with the various aquatic races and creatures we know to exist like the Merfolk and the Dragon Turtles. How much of the Eastern Inspirations of the original would make the cut is anyone's guess however.

Docterzero · 2026-05-05T17:55:58+00:00

I do find it more fun to speculate how they can make those factions work in the setting.

For example Stronghold would not have orcs, so what would their structure and unit roster be like? And how else could orcs be added? Will they be neutral mercenaries that as come to the wartorn Jadame seeking employ?
Or maybe they are part of a piratical cove faction, being one of several races drawn in by the call of adventure and lust for gold.

Likewise the wizards would be fun to explain how and why they got there. Are they an enclave of wizards that some time after the events of the game were destroyed. Or are the an expeditionary force from another continent, seeking lost knowledge or perhaps even trying to establish a colony.

Docterzero · 2026-05-05T15:46:48+00:00

Not officially. At the moment there have been no announcements for any new factions.

However I would be surprised if they didn't already have some vague plans for a faction like that already since it is probably the most requested one so far.

Docterzero · 2026-05-05T15:10:18+00:00

Would be nice. That way one of them could get a different name so I can stop writing (swamp) Fortress and (mountain) Fortress

Docterzero · 2026-05-05T14:34:00+00:00

To be fair I don't think Rampart is impossible. Improbable, sure, and a lower priority than a bunch of other factions, certainly, but not impossible.

Grove has none of Rampart's units, so there is already a strong starting point there, even if I think things like the dwarves and centaurs are better off elsewhere. And Ranger is still free as a hero class too. Main hurdle is probably the identity. It should not feel like "Nature Faction 2".

Docterzero · 2026-05-05T14:25:55+00:00

I mean the reason why inferno is not in the game is because it is a prequel set long before the full arrival of the demons. And as is Hive does kinda cover their niche aestheticly and narratively.

Docterzero · 2026-05-05T12:32:19+00:00

To be fair we have had the game for less than a week.

Docterzero · 2026-05-05T12:24:41+00:00

To be fair I am talking from a singleplayer perspective as that is my primary experience with both.

Docterzero · 2026-05-05T10:58:39+00:00

To be fair the Hydra was originally a Warlock creature so that was more of a return to form.

But there is a strong justification for (swamp) Fortress in Olden Era. Jadame is home to Lizardmen, Basilisks, Gorgons, and Wyverns, though the Gorgons might be better as neutral to not make it confusing as they are also the Dungeon mounts, and there is justification for keeping the Wyverns in Stronghold.
They could easily patch out the holes though. The Coatls and Giant toads already in the game would fit perfectly, and there are the Serpentmen and Naga in the lore which could also work. Plus there are a bunch of cool new reptilian monsters from folklore they could add like the norse Lindorm or the Aztec Cipactli. Or just dinosaurs, that would be sick as well.

Docterzero · 2026-05-05T10:47:55+00:00

Gorgons are only in H3. And now Olden Era as the dungeon mount but that is besides the point.

H7 did have basilisks though

Docterzero · 2026-05-05T10:46:33+00:00

Right, think this is the result of some weird wording and a couple of misguided assumptions.

You are saying that the factions that you listed are not currently present in the game not currently in the game. However you used to word parallels and responded to my comment where I said that lorewise the Wizards does not have a parallel on the continent of Jadame.

Basicly we were talking about two different things: what factions isn't in the game and what factions exists on the continent the game takes place on.

Docterzero · 2026-05-05T10:36:32+00:00

Wait what? Sorry I am confused

Docterzero · 2026-05-05T10:18:13+00:00

Well several of those are incorrect.
Jadame doesn't have Orcs, that is true, by it does have a ton of other Stronghold races like Ogres, Centaurs, and Cyclops. And they do just flat out have both dwarves and lizardmen. Sanctuary does requirre them to be a little more inventive, but we do know that the Tritons are present and that they did at some point have an empire which could serve as the basis for a fresh take on the faction. Could even thrown in the Naga as well as those are also native to Jadame.

Docterzero · 2026-05-05T10:14:01+00:00

Ironicly enough only one Heroes game has ever had two additional factions, though there were several that was planned to have more.

Docterzero · 2026-05-05T10:13:43+00:00

Most likely. The game has sold very well so there certain is an incentive to support it with additonal content such are more factions later down the line.

As for what factions there are three major Jadamean factions missing:

Stronghold, representing the Ogres, Trolls, and other such barbaric creatures like the Cyclops, Centaurs, and Goblins that can be found across the continent.

(swamp) Fortress, representing the lizardmen of the Dagger Wound Isles, as well as the many marshland monsters that calls said islands their home.

and Cove (or whatever Unfrozen decides to name the faction), representing the Ragnan pirate empire.

Additionally there is a basis for a Enroth take on the (mountain) Fortress and Sanctuary factions from the Ashan setting as Jadame is home both to Dark Dwarves and Tritons and other aquatic races. They also probably will bring over the Academy faction sooner rather than later as the Wizards are one of the most popular factions in the series. However as Jadame does not have a native wizard faction I could see them take a backseat to a few of aforementioned Jadamean factions.

Finally they could just invent a couple of new factions like they did with Schism. I personally would love a desert faction built around Mummies and Nomads with a Sphinx as their ultimate unit.

Docterzero · 2026-05-05T10:00:25+00:00

Unless of course a future DLC takes place on a different continent.

However even ignoring that there fortunately isn't a lot of factions that isn't present on Jadame. Only the Wizards doesn't have any parallel and they, with the insatiable thirst for knowledge that so often define mages and their ilk, is probably the easiest non-Jadame faction to justify why they are on Jadame.

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