HoMM: Olden Era – Sylvan faction revealed

Author: Liso1 April 11, 2025 0 Comments

Since the dawn of the series, the mystical and fable-like forest towns have been one of the mainstays of the Heroes of Might and Magic games, with only one notable absence in Heroes VI. Though present all around, nature factions varied a lot from one game to another.

In Heroes I and II it was represented by magical, almost fairy-tale-like towns of Sorceress. Heroes III included mystical Rampart and elemental-based Conflux. Heroes IV focused its Preserve around animal creatures — both mythical and real — and in the world of Ashan the central figures of the Sylvan faction were wood elves.

To summarise, each game tried to showcase a different aspect of nature. In Olden Era, we have decided to fuse the two themes of Sorceress town from Heroes II — the fairy-tale-like and the elemental sides of it. This way we are bridging it closer to its original form that was split in two in Heroes III. Fusing the elemental and forest themes back into one town gave us a unique opportunity to reimagine the four elements and give them forms that are more in-tune with the original motif behind the Sorceress. To do this, we have ventured into some less known and popular mythologies, using their stories and depictions to form the basis for our creatures such as the iriyads or aqualotls.

Focusing on the powers of the natural world and grandeur of elements, descendants of Sorceress’ faction ebbed and flowed like the waves on the coast and changed their forms like the seasons — each change showcasing a different aspect of the living world — yet at their core they have always remained a Forest town, where nature and mysticism are at their highest.

How does that translate to gameplay in Olden Era?

Before we talk about the faction skill, let us introduce to you Focus and Focus Charges — a special combat resource in Olden Era. It is used by Unit and Hero Abilities and is generated by attacking and taking damage, casting certain spells and at the beginning of each round. Its generation can be further boosted by some subskills and some of them can even take it away from your enemy. Focus Charges are shared between all of your units, so you have to be wise about spending them.

Without further ado let’s talk about Murmuring, the Sylvan faction skill. It’s exclusive to Wardens and Druids, who always start with it. At the beginning of each combat, it generates up to 3 Focus Charges based on its level. In addition, its subskills can give you more options on how to spend the charges and even expand their limit beyond the default one.

Just like all the other factions, Sylvan will have access to Faction Laws. They are a new feature available to all factions that acts like a technology tree for them. We would like to mention a few examples: some of the Sylvan’s faction laws will further enhance their strengths by making the most of their units’ abilities. For instance, one of them expands the Focus Charge limit even further for all heroes, another makes all of your elemental units’ abilities require fewer charges to be used. There are also Laws that improve your economy and empower your heroes, as well as increasing unit growth for your town or dwellings.

As we have already showcased it during one of the unit reveals, one central aspect of Sylvan’s elemental units are their awakenings, which heavily boost their stats and unlock their special, very powerful abilities.

For example, Thunder Qilins can exchange all of their defense for additional attack to deliver one major, lethal blow or use Ball Lightning to suddenly teleport across the map and deal area damage once awakened.

However, Sylvan units will also have other abilities, Phoenix’s Rebirth being the most iconic one. Depending on which upgrade you go for, they will either turn into a pile of ashes that has to be destroyed to stop them from coming back or continuously regenerate themselves over time.

As a faction closely attuned to nature, Sylvan heroes are more likely to learn Primal Magic and many of them will specialise in spells from that school. This means that when expanding your mage guild, it is wise to focus on upgrading primal spells as they are the most likely to be unlocked in Sylvan towns. Of course, the choice is always up to you.

One last thing — with Kelarr still nowhere to be found, we’ve initiated a searching party for him. In the meantime, a courier from Murmurwoods brought an intricately crafted letter to him from Miss Vatawna. Perhaps we can gain some insight from her missive.