Heroes 3 VCMI v1.7 – New major update was released

Author: Liso1 December 24, 2025 0 Comments

A new major release has arrived: VCMI 1.7.0. This update focuses on improving the combat experience, delivering quality-of-life enhancements, expanding editor and modding capabilities, and making multiplayer gameplay smoother than ever.

Download

VCMI

How to install VCMI via Heroes Launcher (YT video)

Heroes 3 Complete GOG version (works only with this version)

or try WoG Folder – online source of Heroes of Might and Magic mods (not only Heroes 3 mods, but not Heroes 6 😀 ) and various goodies (like “Did you know” series) that I have managed to collect over the last 10 years for everyone who contributes to the running of the Heroes 3.5 Portal.

Battle-only mode and smoother combat

Players who want to dive straight into tactical gameplay can now use the new battle-only mode, which allows combat between heroes without the adventure map phase. The combat interface has been improved with a new unit action panel for quick access to alternative actions, alongside numerous refinements such as a more compact battle window and additional options during the tactics phase.

Configurable keybindings and UI polish

Keybindings can now be viewed and customized directly in-game, making it easier to adapt controls to individual playstyles. The user interface received a wide range of usability improvements, including better sorting and tooltips, improved dialogs and sliders, more consistent menu backgrounds, and many small refinements that make everyday play smoother. Importing HD graphics from the Steam version is now also supported.

Better adventure gameplay and AI

The default adventure map AI has been upgraded to Nullkiller2, offering stronger decision-making and improved overall gameplay flow, while the deprecated VCAI has been removed. An experimental machine-learning-based battle AI, MMAI, has also been introduced. Gameplay mechanics received significant attention, including support for HotA 1.7 map features (such as scroll-related Seer Hut and Pandora rewards), improved handling of quests and events, and a steady stream of fixes aimed at matching the original Heroes III behavior.

Multiplayer: lag compensation and simultaneous turns

Multiplayer gameplay has been significantly enhanced with network lag compensation for actions such as hero movement and troop rearrangement. Simultaneous turns were further refined, reducing awkward edge cases and making online matches feel more responsive and fair.

Map Editor and modding toolkit upgrades

Working on large projects in the map editor is now much more comfortable thanks to major performance and memory improvements for huge maps. New keyboard shortcuts were added, shortcuts are now visible in menus, and undo/redo support was introduced for terrain, river, and road changes. The update also includes a new random map template editor and an initial campaign editor.

For modders, version 1.7 brings greater flexibility across the board. New features include custom magic schools, custom resource types and mines, improved validation to catch invalid content early, more powerful JSON merge options (including list entry replacement and appending), and many new ways to configure objects, bonuses, artifacts, and campaigns.

Changelog:

Key Changes

Windows ARM and Android x86_64 platforms are now officially supported
Added support for loading h3m maps and campaigns from HotA 1.7 (also needs support from HotA mod)
Implemented network lag compensation system for some actions like hero movement and troops rearrangement
It is now possible to view and configure keybinding in game
Battle-only mode has been implemented, consisting solely of combat between heroes without an adventure map phase.
Implemented unit action panel in combat for easy selection of unit’s alternative actions
Implemented quick save & quick load options in game
Game will now automatically make save before visiting objects
Added an improved Nullkiller2 adventure map AI as the default option.
Added an experimental machine learning-based combat AI, MMAI
Removed the deprecated VCAI adventure map AI
Added translation to Romanian and Turkish languages
Initial support for maps with more than two layers
It is now possible to import data from Heroes 3: HD Edition into VCMI. Shadow of Death or Complete edition is still required as a base game
The Launcher now shows the number of GitHub stars as the mod ranking
Added support for exporting game logs via Launcher

Stability

Fixed possible crash when player with Chinese localization attack with Vampire Lords, causing one of them to resurrect
Fixed possible crash on combining Drain Life with area-targeted attack by units from mods
Fixed multiple possible crashes on game shutdown
Fixed memory leak on playing video file with embedded audio track
Fixed small memory leak on playing a video file
Fixed large number of small memory leaks when restating map or returning to main menu
Fixed crash on attempting to access map located in .zip archive
Fixed rare freeze on starting combat with opening spells present, such as from Armor of the Damned
Fixed a possible crash when opening the stack window in the fort window for units with an ability limited to a specific terrain
Fixed crash on loading of community-made maps with out-of-bounds towns
Fixed possible crashes on ending battle in a draw in objects like town, pandora boxes or creature banks
Fixed a crash when accessing a shipyard placed adjacent to the left border of the map
Fixed crash when unit with attack-and-return attack is slowed by retaliation and can’t return to origin
Fixed possible client crash on ending the game when playing through online lobby
Fixed crash on attempt to import mod preset that contains unknown mod

Interface – General

Fixed not functioning keybindings when non-lating keyboard layout is in use
Fixed movement of software cursor when touch input is in use, for example on mobile systems
“Show FPS” option has been replaced with “Show Performance Overlay” option that also displays time and remaining battery level, if any
Change scroll direction for horizontal slider when using mouse wheel to match HD mod
Spell selection in the spellbook now includes haptic feedback
Fixed possible mid-word wrapping in icon descriptions on items with long names, such as some artifacts
The length of the slider in all dialogs now depends on the number of available items, rather than always being square
The creature window and the quest log now use the same background as the rest of the in-game menus for a more native look

Interface – Campaign and Map selection

Added button to access campaign sets from mods (such as Chronicles) from custom campaigns screen
Custom map sizes can now be selected for random map generation
Option to search for a random map template by name has been added.
Added option to view game statistics for campaign scenario
Game will no longer show chat button in campaign selection screen
It is now possible to skip campaign and main menu video with Esc or Enter keyboard keys, in addition to mouse click
Added option to toggle video subtitles
Added missing tooltips for campaign set buttons (RoE/AB/SoD/etc)
Maps with non-latin names will now be sorted correctly according to selected language
Fixed corrupted background for Armaggeddon’s Blade campaign selection screen
Fixed a possible text overflow issue with long skill or spell names in the hero overview window when selecting a starting hero
It is no longer possible to deselect underground on random map templates that only support maps with underground

Interface – Adventure Map

Right-clicking on a hero, castle, or garrison will show a window whose color is determined by the owner of the target rather than the current player
It is now possible for players to access game statistics for themselves and their allies during gameplay
Heroes on minimaps are now shown as icon, to help with readability on large maps or on small displays
Right-click tooltip on Refugee Camp will now show preview of available creatures if current player have visited it this week
Right-click on previously visited University will now show skills available in it
Implemented “Show Path” setting option from H3
Engaging into a combat with wandering monster will cause monster to show attack sprite on adventure map
It is now possible to search for any objects on map, including individual heroes or wandering monsters
Improved handling of non-latin texts in spell search and adventure map object search
Fixed text alignment on hero status window popup
Fixed hero path not updating instantly after using infinite movement cheat
Game will now show correct visitation text for map dwellings from mods with 2 or 3 available creatures
Fixed not replaced text placeholders in visitation message for unique dwellings with single available unit
Fixed positioning of GUI elements when improved hero exchange from vcmi extras mod is in use
Fixed army transfer during hero exchange sometimes not transferring all possible units
Swapping two armies on hero exchange window will now maintain unit ordering
It is now possible to sort the artifacts in the backpack in reverse order by clicking on the same sorting mode again
A new backpack icon created by Andruids has been added
Right-clicking on the resource bar will now also show the expected daily income, in addition to the current resource amount
It is now possible to see the name of the artifact even when the slot is locked
Combined or fused artifacts now show their list of components as part of their description
Changed background for right-click popup of on-map garrisons

Interface – Towns

Equipping or unequipping artifacts that affect unit growth will now instantly update town interface with new growth values
Fixed quick recruitment dialog failing if there are no free slots in army
It is now possible to rename a town that the player owns during gameplay
Conflux with Aurora Borealis build will now correctly display all available spells in the Mages Guild.
Removed water wheel animation from Fortress town screen in line with H3

Interface – Combat

Implemented unit action panel in combat for easy selection of unit’s alternative actions
Battle window now uses thin border and require less screen space. Quick actions side panels are now active on all 900px-wide resolutions
Hovering over target with spell will now show spell impact (damage, health, raised or summoned unit amount) in status bar
Units that will be affected by multi-hex attacks like Dragon Breath will now be selected similar to primary target
It is now possible to permanently open creature window of any unit using “show info” button from unit action panel
Right-click tooltip on list of spells affecting unit in unit window will now show full spell description
It is now possible to move double-wide unit one hex backwards
It is now possible to finish battle with autocombat during tactics phase
Angel, Devils, and Bone-Dragon battle-wide abilities that change luck and morale now show up in UI with proper description
Orb of Vulnerability effect now clearly displayed in unit window and only if unit has magic resistance, instead of displaying strange 0% resistance ability on all units
Fixed bonuses from terrain (such as Holy Grounds) not showing up in unit window
Fixed possible overflow of unit health bar if unit health is different from max health of unit type

Mechanics – General

During simultaneous turns, it is no longer possible to interact (for example, start battle) with player that is already engaged into a different combat
Heroes that are marked as unavailable for specific player will now be correctly blocked from use as starting heroes
Removed default limit of 16 total heroes per player
Winning combat with no enemy casualties will no longer result in raising of a single skeleton when victor has Necromancy
If hero has Necromancy and no available slot, game will now also consider upgrades of upgrades as potentially rised creature
Fixed incorrect recalculation of stack experience when splitting-off a single unit via shortcut
Implemented vcmiteleport x y z cheat that teleports current hero to target position
Gold Golems and Diamond Golems now have correct level, in line with H3

Mechanics – Heroes and Commanders

Lord Haart is now available instead of Sir Mullich on random maps, in line with H3
Implemented stacking of artifacts (e.g. resource-producing artifacts) in line with H3 – multiple such artifacts will all provide their bonuses
Heroes with neutral units are now always subject to terrain penalties (unless hero has sufficiently advanced Pathfinding skill)
Artifacts that provide multiple spells, such as Tomes of Spells and Spellbinder Hat will no longer provide spells banned on maps (only for random maps and maps in HotA format)
Added missing ability for commanders that mastered Defense and Speed skills
Fixed commanders not receiving levelups once hero fills all his secondary skills
Commanders will now automatically gain no melee penalty bonus on receiving ranged attack
Commanders can now hold up to 9 artifacts
Commanders experience is now capped to map hero level limit, if any exists on map

Mechanics – Quests and Events

Implemented HotA 1.7 map feature: scrolls can be part of seer hut or pandora box reward
Implemented HotA 1.7 map feature: seer hut and quest guards can ask for specific scroll
Added disabled by default option that allows quests that take entire army and leave hero without army to emulate H3 bug
Quests that take entire army can now be completed if quests give replacement units
Fixed events that are available for all players not activating on maps in .vmap format
Fixed bug that caused events that only contain text message to not trigger in premade .vmap’s
Guardians of owned dwellings no longer count towards “accumulate X creatures” win condition

Mechanics – Adventure Map Objects

Purchasing map from a cartographer will now correctly mark all cartographers of this type as visited
Leaving units in cleared creature bank will no longer turn left creatures into guards of an empty bank
Visiting a configurable town building will now always show popup instead of displaying effect in inactive infobox of an adventure map
Fixed invalid positioning of Portal of Glory when selected as replacement for random dwelling on premade maps
It is no longer possible to summon boat on top of another boat with hero in it
Multi-creature dwellings like Elemental Conflux now correctly provide town growth bonus for every available creature
Garrisoned hero will no longer receive bonuses from town buildings that give bonuses during siege, and will only receive them for the duration of combat
Fixed bug that allowed to attack heroes inside Sanctuary
Assembling an artifact will now correctly trigger victory conditions, if any
Game will now correctly disassemble combined artifact when its part is needed for Seer Hut quest
University, Scholar, and Witch Hut will no longer grant special secondary skills from mods
Fixed bug that could cause battle to start on battlefield from nearby map object, instead of current terrain

Mechanics – Combat

Luck, morale, and most of combat abilities with chance to trigger now use randomization with memory, preventing long streaks of “bad” rolls.
Fixed inability of unit to cast spell after receiving morale
Fixed inability of unit to receive morale if hero casts a spell after unit receives turn
It is no longer possible for a unit that ends its turn in moat or other obstacle to attack another unit
Hypnotized units with multi-target attacks such as Cerberi or Hydra will now attack all units that they view as enemy
Attack skill provided by equipped artifact will now correctly modify damage range of Ballista
Familiar’s Magic Channel ability will no longer work after Familiars are dead
Resistance now correctly interacts with Chain Lightning spell, in line with H3
Units that are unable to act (e.g. Blinded) will no longer be able to use preemptive attack ability
Fixed functionality of Adela specialty
Fixed inability to use ranged attack if enemy clone that was blocking unit was killed in this round before
Fixed inability of creatures to cast spells when controlled by defending player in hotseat mode
Fixed miss chance for catapult not computed correctly when hero has no ballistics skill
vcmiistari cheat now also allows casting spell up to 100 times per combat round for ease of testing
It is now possible to flee the combat while having shackles of war when other side got no hero
Changed formula of town arrow towers to be more in line with H3
Fixed large number of issue with Magic Mirror spell. The spell logic should now be in line with H3
Unit under Berserk effect will now correctly move towards nearest unit if they can’t reach any target
Ranged unit under Berserk effect will now use ranged attack if able
Multiple issues where it was possible to select illegal units for the Sacrifice spell have been fixed
Fixed a possible overlap between the commander and a double-wide creature in the fifth slot of the army

Campaigns

Fixed selection of starting faction in last scenario in Spoils of War campaign
Magic heroes without spellbook will no longer receive one on transferring to next scenario (e.g. Yog)

AI

Added an improved Nullkiller2 adventure map AI as the default option.
Removed the deprecated VCAI adventure map AI
Fixed possible infinite loop when hero can’t decide whether to equip mana regeneration artifact or knowledge boosting artifact
Fixed incorrect BattleAI estimation of multi-hex attacks when attacking from behind if at least one of the units is double-wide
Fixed a bug where the adventure AI might attempt to act before all the side effects from the battle end have been processed.
Fixed bug where BattleAI would only consider head position of double-wide unit leading to inability to move such unit
BattleAI is now aware of invincible units and will not attempt to attack them
Units under BattleAI control will now cast healing, resurrection, and summoning spells, if any

Random Maps Generator

Placement of main town in center of zone will now account for water tiles
It is now possible to enable normally banned heroes, spells or skills in RMG template
Added support for town type hints likeZone, notLikeZone, relatedToZoneTerrain
Map generator will now place curved roads
Fixed missing road on 6lm10a template
It is now possible to force zone to be placed on specific map level
Removed roads that don’t end with towns or zone entry points
Fixed possible freeze on attempt to revert unsucessful treasure placement
Simplified syntax and fixed logic of object customization of map objects in random map template
Random map generator will now respect customized RMG parameters for dwellings
Seer Huts will have low RMG value while quest artifacts will be guarded instead

Launcher

Fixed a crash when importing the new version of the Heroes Chronicles installer from GOG.com
Fixed importing of maps on Android
Fixed a bug causing mods to be disabled if they are marked as soft-depending on submod of mod that was disabled
Mod download will now keep screen active on mobile system to prevent corrupted downloads
It is now possible to import a .zip archive containing multiple maps
Fixed mod selection reset on installation of a new mod
The mod installation phase now correctly shows the mod name instead of the mod ID
Added built-in editor for configuration file
Correctly hide gog install button after successful install
Fixed sorting of mods by their enabled status in launcher
The launcher will now use the system proxy (if available) for all downloads

Map Editor

Massive performance and memory usage issues when editing huge maps have been fixed
Added random map template editor, available from map editor
Added initial version of campaign editor, available from map editor
Added support for drag-and-drop of maps into map editor
Added new keyboard shortcuts
Keyboard shortcuts are now visible in menu
It is now possible to undo or redo operations that change the terrain, rivers, or roads
Add filter to hero spell selection widget
Map validation results window now dynamically adjusts its size based on message lengths
A valid map will now properly display an appropriate message in the map validation results
Added word wrap for item text activates only when the map validation window reaches a defined width limit
Fixed potentially corrupted tiling of terrains in some edge cases when multiple types of terrain are adjacent to each other
When changing terrain, the orientation of pre-existing rivers on affected tiles will now be preserved correctly
Fixed discrepancy in map object rendering between editor and client
Fixed selected spells changing to artifacts in reward box on reopening
Fixed possible crash on changing inspector table instantly after reloading a map
Fixed changing neutral armies character when non-English locale is in use
Fixed possible crash on changing victory conditions
Map editor now uses .ini format to save settings on all platforms