Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era — Patch #13: The Mysterious Island

Greetings, Heroes!

Today, we are excited to present a major patch featuring a massive new single-player map — "The Mysterious Island"! But that's far from all: we have also substantially overhauled Arena Mode, introduced several quality-of-life improvements, fixed a wide range of bugs, and re-added an option to hide the user interface. Balance tweaks, template adjustments, and map generator updates are all included as well.

Read on for the full changelog below!

Steam reviews — thank you!

---

Your reviews help us understand what matters most to you. We read every single one, so please keep them coming — they really do make a difference.

---

New Single-Player Map: "The Mysterious Island"

Map designer Papyjama, creator of one of the most popular custom maps for Heroes of Might and Magic III — "The Mysterious Island" — returns with its official remake! The iconic map comes to life anew through the mechanics, factions, and atmosphere of Olden Era.

"The Mysterious Island" is a large-scale map featuring six playable factions, taking narrative inspiration from Jules Verne's famous novel. The story of "The Mysterious Island" is just getting started — its narrative will be expanded in future updates as essential mechanics are introduced, such as the underground level!

Changelog

v. 0.80.45

⚠️ Reminder: Intentionally exploiting in-game bugs in competitive play can result in a temporary or permanent multiplayer ban! Engaging in such behavior may also violate the rules of the platform you're playing on, risking a platform-wide ban. Don't jeopardize your account for a dubious advantage — play fair!

Bug Fixes

Combat and Creature Mechanics

• Fixed a bug where a stack remained in the Overwatch state until the end of the round.

• Fixed a bug where over-time damage effects activated by the Pestilent Lich's "Death’s Embrace" ability continued dealing damage over time on subsequent turns.

• The "Summoning Rite" ability of Ra’Shoth, Grand Shoth, and Abyssal Envoys (and their upgraded versions) can no longer raise more creatures from a friendly corpse than the target stack had at the start of battle.

• Fixed a bug where Archangels dealt reduced damage when executing counterattacks.

• Fixed a bug where Vampire Scholars generated 2 Focus Points when using basic attacks.

• Fixed a bug where Angels and their upgraded versions copied spell effects from an inconsistent number of friendly creatures via the "Forging Perfection" passive ability.

• Fixed a bug where basic attacks of Pyroboros were erroneously amplified by bonuses meant strictly for counterattacks.

• Fixed a bug where counterattacks executed by Fauns (and their upgraded versions), Barghests, Armored Hounds, Avatars of War, and Hollow Reapers were not amplified by bonuses affecting counterattacks.

• Fixed a bug where damage from the Energy Phoenixes’ "Supernova" ability was not classified as Magic Damage.

• Fixed a bug where the Dragonslayers’ "Dragon Blood" ability granted immunity to creature abilities.

• Basic attacks and counterattacks of Chanters now weaken enemies via the "Whisper of Doubt" passive ability for the same duration, as intended.

• Fixed a bug where Fire Larvae mistakenly generated 1 Focus Point when performing basic attacks.

Spells and Skills

• Diplomacy:

• Fixed a bug where Diplomacy skill bonuses failed to apply correctly.

• In the Diplomacy creature recruitment window, the purchase button is now correctly disabled when setting all unit quantities to 0.

• Fixed a crash that occurred when attempting to cast the "Back to Town!" spell while owning no towns.

• "Pocket Dimension" can no longer be summoned in locations that are impassable to the hero.

• The "Assemble!" spell now correctly allows interaction only with the hero positioned in the town's visiting slot.

• Fixed a bug where the max-level "Favorable Wind" spell failed to remove the distance penalties.

• The "Masterful Web" sub-skill effect is now applied for the correct duration.

• Fixed a bug where the "Enlarge Shadow" spell effect stacked only once.

• "Riposte": Fixed incorrect duration scaling derived from hero Spell Power.

• Fixed a bug where "Temporal Spheres" still dealt Pure Damage instead of Magic Damage.

• Fixed a bug where it was impossible to recruit units into armies on player-created maps with free Diplomacy, due to their price being 0 gold.

Artifacts, Laws, and Map Objects

• Fixed an exploit that allowed converting dragons at the "Eternal Dragon" object even with an insufficient dragon count.

• Fixed a bug where Murmurmancers failed to dispel the blocking effect of the "Orb of Inhibition" artifact.

• Fixed a bug where the law amplifying Fire Larva explosions did not apply to explosions triggered by their passive ability.

• The Temple law "Power of Faith" now affects only faction heroes, rather than all heroes owned by the player.

• Artefact Merchant: Fixed incorrect sell prices for the artifacts "Ribcage Armor", "Bone Boots", and "Dark Hatchet".

UI and Controls

• Refined interaction logic for the adventure map creature recruitment window — players no longer need to close the recruitment window to manage the hero army panel.

• Selected creatures in the recruitment window and the town quick-recruit panel are now correctly preserved even when loading a save.

• Re-added the hotkey Shift+U to hide the user interface.

• In the level-up window, fixed hotkey 3 misbehaving when selecting a sub-skill.

• The creature upgrade button in the "Mentors" window is now correctly disabled when lacking required resources.

• The tooltip for the stack dismissal button now correctly disappears from the screen.

• Fixed a bug that broke various visual and audio effects in combat.

• Fixed improper behavior of the bug report window when entering combat while open on the Global Map.

• Changing days while inside a town view no longer kicks players out to the Global Map.

Multiplayer, Maps, and Template Generator

• Fixed issues of varying severity that caused asymmetrical map generation on competitive templates.

• Votes to resume simultaneous turns are now correctly registered.

• Fixed a bug where skipping a turn due to timer expiration could accidentally skip the player's subsequent turn as well.

• Hero selection for tournament battles in Classic Mode tournament templates now functions correctly.

• Fixed incorrect side assignments in the Map Editor.

• The "Involuntary Summons" structure in Schism towns now functions correctly.

Description Fixes and Visual Effects

• Fixed the description for the "Ethereal Knowledge" artifact set.

• Fixed incorrect text descriptions for upgraded versions of the "Circle of Winter" spell.

• Fixed description errors for the Hive Queen "Soul Assimilator" ability.

• Fixed a description error for the Hollow Reaper "Reap without Sowing" active ability.

• Fixed and polished various visual and audio effects.

• Fixed visual layering issues with guard hazard zones after casting spells on the Global Map.

• Aligned the textual description of Gold resources with the actual amount granted.

---

General Changes

• In-Game Notifications: Screen notifications layout and indicators have been updated (e.g., loss notifications, victory conditions in tournament-type templates, etc.).

• This information is now displayed at the top of the screen.

• Players can now hide this block.

• AI Player: Preparatory work has begun on reworking AI heroes on the Global Map. Numerous minor adjustments have been added to build the foundation for future improvements, which may already subtly influence computer opponent behavior on the map.

Arena Mode Update

A series of important functional additions and balance mechanics have been implemented in Arena Mode:

• Hero Starting Bonus: Depending on their current performance metrics in Arena Mode, certain heroes have been granted an additional starting bonus that increases their primary attributes. These bonuses will be dynamically adjusted in future updates.

• Reroll System: Added the option to refresh offered choices during artifact, spell, and creature draft phases.

• By default, players have 4 reroll points available.

• Players gain 1 reroll point during both the artifact and creature draft phases.

• Heroes with creature specializations now guarantee the appearance of units of their respective Tier for both players. (For instance, if your hero specializes in Tier-1 creatures, Tier-1 creatures are guaranteed to appear in the draft pool for both sides.)

• Certain high-power spells offered during draft can no longer exceed Level 1 by default.

• Adjusted unit draft counts during the creature draft phase.

---

Balance

Factions

Temple

Currently, Temple underperforms in the late game. We are rolling out a substantial overhaul of its faction's laws: the core change here being an extra tier level to all laws that upgrade creatures.

• Laws:

• "Tax Collectors": Adoption cost reduced: 3/3 → 2/2.

• "Training: Scouting": Adoption cost reduced: 4 → 2.

• "Execute Excellence": Adoption cost reduced: 3/3 → 2/2.

• "Heroes of Tales": Max level reduced: 2 → 1. Adoption cost increased: 2/2 → 3.

• "Encouragement": Max level reduced: 3 → 2. Adoption cost increased: 1/1/1 → 2/2.

• "Hero’s Blessing": Creatures’ attribute scaling bonus granted by hero stats reduced: 25% → 20%. Adoption cost reduced: 6 → 4.

• "Power of Faith": Adoption cost reduced: 4 → 3.

• "Architect’s Mastery": Adoption cost reduced: 6 → 2.

• "Temple Elite Creatures": Max level for all laws in this tree increased: 2 → 3.

• "Elite Angels": Angels’ attribute bonus scaling granted by hero stats changed: 25/50% → 20/40/60%.

Necropolis

• Tier 5. Pestilent Lich:

• "Death’s Embrace" ability:

• When activated, over-time damage effects now deal only half of their full damage.

• Cooldown increased: 1 → 2 rounds.

• Casting cost increased: 1 → 2 Focus Charges.

• Heroes:

• The bonus to weekly creature growth granted by all specialist heroes reduced: 2 → 1.

• Buildings:

• Construction of "Tomb of Warriors I" (Tier 6 dwelling) is now 500 Gold more expensive.

• Construction of "Tomb of Warriors II" (upgraded Tier 6 dwelling) is now 500 Gold cheaper.

• Laws:

• "Gifts of the Afterlife": Max level reduced: 3 → 2. Adoption cost increased: 2/2/2 → 3/3.

• "Terror and Dread": Law Tier changed: 4 → 5.

Grove

• Tier 6:

• Qilin: HP: 135 → 130, Defense: 22 → 20, Luck: 3 → 2.

• Thunder Qilin: HP: 135 → 130, Defense: 24 → 22, Luck: 3 → 2.

• Mist Qilin: HP: 135 → 130, Defense: 22 → 20, Luck: 3 → 2.

• “Murmuring” Faction Skill:

• "Burst of Energy" sub-skill: Heroic Strike damage bonus per Focus Charge spent reduced: 15% → 10%.

• Buildings:

• Construction of "Shroomwood Shack I" and "Shroomwood Shack II" (Tier 5 dwellings) is now 3 Crystals cheaper, but 500 Gold more expensive.

Schism

• Tier 1. Ferocious Ra’Shoth: Attack: 4 → 3, Defense: 4 → 3, Initiative: 5 → 6.

Hive

Following recent Hive adjustments, Tier-1 (Parasites) and Tier-2 (Locusts) units began overlapping in their battlefield roles — due to high mobility, Parasites covered the same tactical zones while dealing ranged damage without taking counterattacks. Meanwhile, Tier-6 units (Waurms) became overly dominant, and Tier-4 units (Scorpions) proved to be among the least utilized.

Therefore, in this patch we are tuning down Parasites and Waurms, reallocating their power budget toward Scorpions.

• Tier 1:

• Parasite: Speed: 4 → 3.

• Warden Parasite: Speed: 5 → 4.

• Ravager Parasite: Speed: 6 → 5.

• Tier 4:

• Scorpion: HP: 45 → 40, Initiative: 3 → 5.

• Volcanic Scorpion: HP: 60 → 55, Initiative: 4 → 6.

• Spelaean Scorpion: HP: 45 → 40, Initiative: 4 → 6.

• Tier 6:

• Waurm: Initiative: 8 → 7.

• Devourer: Initiative: 8 → 7, Damage: 26-28 → 27-29.

• Pyroboros: Initiative: 9 → 8.

• Buildings:

• Construction of "Neglected Housing" (Tier 1 dwelling) is now 250 Gold cheaper.

• Construction of "Chitinous Ziggurat I" and "Chitinous Ziggurat II" (Tier 4 dwellings) is now 250 Gold more expensive.

• Construction of "Apex I" (Tier 5 dwelling) is now 500 Gold cheaper.

• Construction of "Tower of Love II" (upgraded Tier 7 dwelling) is now 2500 Gold and 5 Crystals cheaper, but 10 Wood and Ore more expensive.

• Laws:

• "Mana Devour", "Hive Magic", and "Great Conquest": Effects now apply exclusively to Hive heroes and creatures.

Dungeon

We are making targeted tweaks to Dungeon laws to align them better with faction’s narrative lore and strengthen their early-game capabilities.

• Laws:

• "Triumvirate’s Agents":

• Effect now applies to all heroes.

• Adoption cost reduced: 5/5 → 4/4.

• All-attribute bonus replaced with a bonus to Attack, Defense, and Spell Power.

• Added a new law, "Arcane Knowledge": increases max mana capacity for all heroes by 15.

• The law containing the old "Arcane Knowledge" effect has been renamed to "Celestial Maps".

Multiplayer and Templates

Mix

• Template final battles now occur on the following in-game days:

• Week 2, Day 2.

• Week 3, Day 2 (instead of Day 4).

• Week 4, Day 1 (instead of Day 6).

• Adjusted starting bonus Gold and common/valuable resource counts.

• Adjusted pre-built city structures.

• Adjusted treasury zone area objects to match player home factions.

• Reduced guard difficulty for treasury zone entrances.

• "Legion’s Leg" can no longer generate on this template.

• Added extra connecting passages from standard treasuries to the ultra-rich treasury zone.

Galaxy

• Reduced template size from 128 × 128 to 112 × 112, with accompanying adjustments to area proportions, object density, and zone entrance guards.

• Adjusted terrain elevation to smooth out steep height drops.

• The road leading to the primary treasury zone near the home city now always generates as a dirt road.

• Added an extra city to each player's secondary expansion area.

• Added an external "Town Gates" object to each player's starting and secondary areas.

• Adjusted pre-built city structures.

Outcast Tournament

• Adjusted Pandora's Box distribution and high-tier external dwellings in starting areas.

• Increased the unlock progression rate for Global Map spells.

Sprint

• Template final battles now occur on the following in-game days:

• Week 2, Day 2.

• Week 3, Day 1 (instead of Day 2).

• Week 3, Day 6 (instead of Week 4, Day 2).

• The dirt road in the final zone now leads to an Artefact Merchant instead of Town Gates (both objects remain present in the zone).

• Reduced the unlock progression rate for Global Map spells.

• The "Pocket Dimension" spell is once again available on this template.

Jebus Tournament

• Pandora's Boxes containing army units are now fully blocked from generating in the central area.

Official Wiki

---

New to the series or a returning veteran? We have an Official Community Wiki for you to master the art of war! Thanks to active community members, it has detailed breakdowns of unit stats, spell tiers, and other detailed data for those who wish to dig deeper. You, our community, are the gift that keeps on giving!

Join the Community

---

Stay informed and share your victories with the community! Follow us on (https://steamcommunity.com/linkfilter/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fdiscord.gg%2Funfrozen&snr=1_2108_9__2107), (https://steamcommunity.com/app/3105440?snr=1_2108_9__2107) and (https://steamcommunity.com/linkfilter/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FUnfrozen.official&snr=1_2108_9__2107) for the latest patch notes, community discussions and chit chat with our team! We would also like to take this opportunity to give a shoutout to the unofficial community subreddit, where you’re also welcome to share your thoughts!

With love,

💙 Unfrozen Team