The magic system in Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era is incredibly complex, even for those who have played the previous games in the series.
Completely rebuilt, the magic system features different spell classes, level-up mechanics that can make spells even stronger, and also plenty of spells to potentially learn (over 70 at the moment of writing).
While this is discouraging at first, you will see that, in the end, you will only use a handful to a dozen spells, depending on the situation. And today I am here to tell you which are the best ones to focus on in Olden Era. Let’s begin.
Best spells in Olden Area (during fights)
Since this is where you will spend most of your mana, these are the spells I want to focus on first.
Based on the 20+ hours of gameplay I already have with Olden Era, I realized that direct damage spells are not always the best choice (although that is situational also). Instead, enemy debuffs seem to work best, followed by buffs for your own units.
Here are the best spells to use, in no particular order (truly ranking them from 1 to 10, for example, is impossible due to the game’s complex mechanics):
Cave In – This is one of my favorite spells in the game, as it deals damage to the unit, but also forces it to lose its turn by attacking one of the obstacles that are placed around it upon casting. Unfortunately, this doesn’t work against flying units or those who “Blink”.
Sleep – The closest thing you have to the popular “Blind” spell in other HoMM games, making the target unit skip its turn until it takes damage. However, you can target a unit with sleep just once per battle.
Twilight – The perfect spell to use against ranged units, forcing them to perform a melee attack instead.
Carpace – This one offers amazing strategic options, as it makes your unit immune to the first hit. Cast it on your unit before attacking a strong stack and have it lose its counterattack, basically. It gets even better with further levels.
Shackels – Similar to the one above, it strips away a unit’s counterattacks.
Rewind Life – Brings fallen units back to life, similar to the Resurrection spells in Heroes 3.
Doreath’s Tide – one of the best high-tier spells in the game, especially because it can stack. Increases both Speed and Initiative, while lowering it for enemy units.
Riposte – Situational, but extremely useful as it makes a unit counterattack before it gets hit.
Apart from this, direct damage-dealing spells like Ice Bolt, Fireball, Judgement, Chain Lightning and all the other can definitely help directly remove enemy units from the map.
If you enjoy rankings, I recommend checking out my article talking about the best Tier 6 units in Olden Era.
Best World Map Spells in the Game
You only have a few of those, with most becoming active in later game situations, when you have enough points to get them (and upgrade them), but they are extremely useful. The top choices are:
Town Portal – one of the most important spells in the game, it allows a hero to be instantly moved to any owned town on the map. For shorter games, Back to Town! is also an option, but it becomes useless in longer games once you unlock Town Portal.
Dimension Door – instantly moves a hero a few hexes away, offering the option of avoiding obstacles, stacks of troops and so on. Very useful.
Second Wind – useful in just some situations, this gives you a short boost of movement points. Sometimes, just enough to reach an enemy hero that tries to escape, or take the extra step(s) to capture an enemy town on day 7.
Also read: HoMM Olden Era Fortifications Upgrade Guide
Wrapping up
Many of the game’s spells can prove extremely useful in various situations. For example, the one that reduces the duration of a negative effect can basically dispel any debuff on your troop(s).
So don’t be afraid to read the spells’ descriptions, experiment with them all… or at least focus on the best ones I shared above. And if you still need help, check out my Olden Era tips for beginners.
Now over to you: do you have other favorite spells in the game? If so, let us know about them and how you use them to get the most out of them.
