Author: Liso1 June 9, 2025 0 Comments

This Horn of the Abyssupdate is compact in scope; however, in addition to correcting various bugs, it also features a handful of notable changes. A significant development that coincides with this patch’s completion is the release of Horn of the Abyss on GOG.com. Those who have a copy of Heroes of Might & Magic III in their GOG collection can now also install HotA from there.

Also, in response to frequent questions from players, we decided to offer instructions on how to install HotA on devices running macOS and Android. The solutions have been tested by team members and are considered to be workable at the time of this announcement.

Please note: HotA Crew still does not declare official support for these systems, cannot guarantee the universal performance and long-term viability of the suggested solutions, and does not accept any claims related to them. The instructions below should thus be considered nothing more than friendly advice.

Instructions for macOS: https://h3hota.com/en/x_macos
Instructions for Android: https://h3hota.com/en/x_android

Horn of the Abyss v1.7.3 full changelog:

[!] — Important Information.
[-] — Bug and error fixes and changes to previous elements.
[+] — Innovations.

Version 1.7.3 (08.06.2025)

HotA Bugs
[-] Fixed the susceptibility of a currently invulnerable Couatl to the effect of Poison that could interrupt the meditation animation
[-] Fixed bugs regarding incorrect surrender cost in the relevant tooltip
[-] Fixed the misplaced tooltips about seeing Keymaster’s Tents in the English version
[-] Fixed the incorrect tooltip about health to be restored with Sacrifice
[-] Fixed the incorrect text color when viewing the enemy’s spellbook with Eagle Eye
[-] Fixed a bug with the possible display of incorrect terrain in the Airship Yard window
[-] Fixed the possibility of misplaced voice clips appearing in custom campaigns
[-] The “..” line for going up a level now remains in the topmost position even upon sorting the folder
[-] Fixed a bug where music would not turn on immediately upon enabling it in the settings
[-] Fixed a possible crash when teleporting through Maelstroms
[-] Added accounting for changes in movement points attained through Pandora’s Boxes, previously lacking for the AI
[-] Fixed possible lack of experience granted by heroes’ starting Learning skill in RoE and AB maps
[-] Fixed the 100-round combat limit that had been reset on many multiplayer templates

Gameplay
[-] Learning experience bonus: 25/50/75% -> 20/40/60%. At the level-up that happens after gaining/advancing Learning, upgrading the skill again will not be offered if the hero has other skills that can be upgraded
[-] Chance to learn spells prior to a combat with Eagle Eye: 40/50/60% -> 10/20/30%. Learning spells cast by the opponent in combat is 100% guaranteed if the spell is of an appropriate level
[+] AI now less likely to activate the Automatons’ detonation upon death mode. The AI will only activate it if it believes that a stack of Automatons may die imminently
[+] Gog count in starting armies: 4-7 -> 5-7
[+] Hell Hound count in starting armies: 3-4 -> 4-5
[+] Goblin count in starting armies: 15-25 -> 20-30
[+] Orc count in starting armies: 4-6 -> 5-6
[+] Griffin count in starting armies: 2-3 -> 4-5
[+] Dwarf count in starting armies: 3-5 -> 5-7
[+] Walking Dead count in starting armies: 4-6 -> 6-8
[+] Water Elemental count in starting armies: 2-3 / 3-5 + 1-2 -> 3-5 / 3-5 + 2-3
[-] Galthran banned and Ranloo allowed on the Jebus Cross template
[-] Rion, Gem, Verdish, and Floribert allowed on the h3dm1, mt_Andromeda, mt_Antares, mt_Diamond, mt_Firewalk, mt_Jebus, and mt_TeamJebus templates
[-] Kalid banned on the 2sm2c(2), Nine-day Wonder, and Skirmish(M) templates

SoD Bugs
[+] Fixed a hero last step cost bug: now all the step cost modifiers are correctly taken into account when determining the possibility of making a diagonal step at the cost of a horizontal one
[+] Fixed a bug with incorrect music resuming after a combat. In HotA, due to this bug, combat victory music would continue playing on the adventure map
[+] Fixed a bug with a possible looping of the hero’s movement sound when trying to take a step with insufficient movement points when Fly or Water Walk are cast
[+] Fixed a bug with a delay when turning music on and off in the settings
[+] Fixed a bug with music not turning on immediately on the first player’s turn in Hot Seat mode
[+] Fixed a bug: after playing the campaign cutscene, the campaign music would not resume on the scenario information screen
[+] Fixed a bug with starting music when minimizing and expanding the game while the music is paused
[+] Fixed a bug with casting Slayer by Master Genies: now it correctly accounts for the enemy having living units susceptible to the advanced Slayer effect
[+] Fixed incorrect display of some buildings as campaign bonuses that could cause crashes in HotA
[+] The game no longer crashes when restarting a scenario if the campaign file is missing
[+] To prevent the object count value from overflowing, if there are 65,000 objects on the map, new week monsters will no longer appear; if there are 65,534, Holes will no longer appear upon digging

Graphics
[+] Fixed faulty palettes and blue/turquoise pixels in adventure map sprites of the Celestial Necklace of Bliss, Helm of Heavenly Enlightenment, Quiet Eye of the Dragon, Dragon Scale Armor, Dragonbone Greaves, Dragon Wing Tabard, and Still Eye of the Dragon
[+] Multiple corrections to the Conflux Town Hall building screen images
[-] Fixed and restored the original sprite of the Conflux Resource Silo
[-] Fixed the shifted outline of the Conflux Marketplace
[-] Fixed the perspective and lighting of the Castle on the backgrounds of Castle creatures

Map Editor
[+] Added the “Miscellaneous” tab in the map specifications, where some settings were moved from the “General” tab
[+] Added the option to prevent starting a map on newer versions of HotA (for maps made in a specific version of HotA that may not work properly in newer versions due to gameplay updates)
[+] To prevent the object count value from overflowing, the map editor prohibits adding more than 64,500 objects on a map

Campaign Editor
[+] Added the option to prevent starting a campaign on newer versions of HotA (for campaigns made in a specific version of HotA that may not work properly in newer versions due to gameplay updates)
[-] Fixed the possibility of incorrect campaign file reading
[-] Fixed the position of the Gunpowder Warehouse in the campaign bonus list
[-] Campaign name input field now a single-line field

Template Editor
[-] Fixed a bug: HotA-original combination artifacts were not included in the list of combination artifacts banned from assembly
[-] Fixed a bug: setting the maximum number of combat rounds was not saved correctly
[-] Fixed a bug: error messages for generating town/terrain/faction types did not contain text

Interface
[+] Information about creature level and attack type added to the monster view window on the adventure map
[+] When visiting a Blacksmith, the war machine’s properties window can now be opened open by right-clicking it

Miscellaneous
[+] Added 4 new maps: Just Win, Or Else; Key to Victory: The Second Key; Sails and Propellers; Treasures of the Pyramid
[-] “Original template pack” template renamed to “Default Random Map”
[+] Added the “Default Random Map (Legacy)” template, which contains a number of elements excluded from the standard HotA gameplay: allowed Cloak of the Undead King, monsters joining for free, Resistance instead of Interference, allowed Galthran and Sir Mullich, etc.
[+] If the user has disabled the DirectPlay component, a window suggesting to install it will now be displayed before the main game window launches
[+] Fixed a crash on non-Windows platforms due to savegame files having names with characters invalid in Windows
[-] Corrections of scenarios, campaigns, templates and texts