Horn of the Abyss v1.8.1 update with bunch of new single-palyer maps

Author: Liso1 August 26, 2026 1 Comment

Horn of the Abyss v1.8.1 release is mainly focused on bug fixes and balance adjustments. For fans of single‑player games in the classic style, we present a whole bunch of new maps offering varying levels of challenge: “The Cursed Legions”, “Noble Nemesis”, “Paradise of the Mind”, “Taming of the Shrew”, and “Help!”.

The update also includes new RMG templates, Conquest and Sapphire, expanded settings for the map editor, new decor (the “Ice Assault” scenario has been updated using it), and a vast number of fixes to the extended event system a treat for those who have grown to value this powerful tool.

In addition, the update includes a refined tutorial, if you want to introduce a new player to Heroes III, it will now be easier for them to master the basics; somewhat later, we plan to release a few more tutorial missions that will focus on more advanced mechanics applicable in modern-day, effective gameplay.

The Cursed Legions

Horn of the Abyss v1.8.1 changelog:

[!] Updated in-game tutorial: in addition to some scenario edits, it no longer requires referring to the printed manual from the game’s installation folder
[!] Some of the critical bug fixes mentioned below have already been delivered earlier through HD Mod updates
[!] This update does not yet feature the Bulwark campaign. Expect it to be released in future updates

HotA Bugs
[-] Fixed Biarma’s incorrect specialty (it was previously Archery instead of First Aid)
[-] Fixed a bug that caused Biarma and Haugir to be simultaneously available by default
[-] Fixed a problem with Runes bonuses: they would not reset upon a stack’s death, allowing Runes to be stacked beyond the maximum after resurrection
[-] Fixed the synchronization of the Altar of the Runes construction status in online play. Previously, information on its presence could differ between players, causing desyncs in combat
[-] Fixed a desync bug in online play related to Lightning Rod damage: it would occur when attacking an inactive player who had constructed the Grail building on the same day
[-] Fixed performance issues most noticeable on the combat screen
[-] Fixed a bug in the generation of water zones on random maps that often caused them to be created without any objects
[-] Fixed a bug: Kobolds in mines and garrisons brought gold to all players
[-] Fixed a bug with the Angelic Alliance effect: morale was reduced when mixing Bulwark creatures with good or neutral faction creatures
[-] Bulwark heroes are now banned in the Forged in Fire campaign and in some missions of the All In campaign
[-] Fixed a bug: objects with custom settings (for example, Pandora’s Boxes with a custom amount of experience) weren’t generated on random maps when set in templates
[-] Fixed bugs with removing artifacts from a hero’s inventory, as well as bugs related to taking artifacts and scrolls away from a hero
[-] Fixed bugs with incorrect primary skill values obtained from a Pandora’s Box if the hero was wearing artifacts that granted bonuses to those skills
[-] Fixed a bug with AI looping when using the Mana Vortex
[-] Fixed a bug: creatures were sometimes transferred incorrectly when moving between campaign scenarios
[-] Fixed a crash related to the Seafaring Academy that occurred when too many skills were disabled while Runes and Necromancy were enabled. Now, in such cases, banned faction skills will be enabled instead
[-] Fixed a bug: on SoD maps, banning the Shipyard in a random town caused the Factory’s Mana Generator to be banned as well
[-] Fixed bugs related to incorrect (or missing) construction of some buildings’ prerequisites via campaign bonuses and the event system
[-] Fixed a bug with Wight and Wraith regeneration: when under the effect of First Aid, they didn’t fully restore health if their maximum HP exceeded 50
[-] Fixed a bug: during the opponent’s turn in an online game, the Lean To’s visited status displayed the opponent’s status instead of the viewing player’s
[-] Fixed issues with primary skill images in the event system
[-] Fixed a problem with checking a hero’s empty army in a garrison after triggering a town event in the event system
[-] Event system: fixes to the triggering mechanisms of silent events
[-] Event system: added correct accounting for artifact value for the AI
[-] Fixed an event system bug: Quest Gates would let heroes through without a visit in cases where the visit would have reset quest stage completion. Now, in such cases, the Gate becomes visited
[-] Fixed an event system bug: completing a Quest Gate’s task in an extended event now correctly sets the Gate’s first hint
[-] Event system: added a log entry reset upon completing quest stages, if “create entry” is specified in the action settings
[-] Fixed overflows when changing event system variables: their values (as well as expression values) are now limited to a range of -2 billion to 2 billion
[-] Fixed a bug: the Learning skill was granted incorrectly by event system actions
[-] Loops in the event system now restore the counter variable to its previous value after completion
[-] Fixed the operation of the random number mechanism in the event system: previously, identical numbers could be generated in neutral town events
[-] Fixed a crash when a hero is defeated by neutrals if the event system has a “Defeat a specific hero” condition set
[-] Fixed crashes related to incorrect handling of Quest Guards when deleting events in the event system and when visiting an empty Quest Guard
[-] Fixed the logic for granting creatures in a reward message in the event system: if there isn’t enough room in the hero’s army, additional joining dialogs now contain all 7 creatures being added at the same time instead of a separate dialog for each creature
[-] Fixed a bug with granting creatures to a town garrison via the event system if a hero is present in the town

Gameplay
[-] Fair cost: 1000 gold, 5 wood -> 2000 gold, 10 wood
[-] War Mammoths: Fight Value and AI Value 1601 -> 1672, count in a standard Pandora’s Box 15 -> 12
[-] Dalton’s specialty: 10% -> 5% bonus per hero level, divided by the target’s level
[-] Ergon’s specialty: 5% -> 10% additional movement penalty reduction. He now moves across terrain with a minor penalty as if on a dirt road
[-] Glacius (Learning specialty) is now banned on the 2sm2c(2), Skirmish(M), and Nine-day Wonder templates
[+] The gosolo command is now equivalent to using a cheat code. It has also been disabled in online play
[+] Expanded the functionality of the nwcneo cheat code: it’s now possible to specify the number of levels gained, e.g. “nwcneo 20”
[+] The maximum number of events and Pandora’s Boxes on random maps has been increased to 10000

SoD Bugs
[+] Fixed a bug with the AI’s evaluation of Teleport’s value: the AI could teleport a stack that would then fail to attack the nearby target. The bug was most noticeable with Jotunn Warlords’ Teleport
[+] Fixed a bug: when teleporting in combat, the AI didn’t account for the fact that Quicksand won’t interrupt a stack’s move
[+] The difficulty level is no longer reset in the campaign scenario selection window when reselecting the same region
[+] Resources and income are no longer shown in the cheat menu for towns belonging to the neutral player
[+] Cyclopes can no longer attack castle walls if they have run out of shots
[+] Fixed a campaign bonus bug: buildings were constructed without their prerequisite buildings
[+] Fixed a bug where AI vs AI battles did not trigger the check for completing “defeat a hero” and “defeat a monster” quests
[+] Fixed a bug: campaign scenarios with starting hero bonuses could cause crashes (or incorrect player flags) on the region map screen due to incorrect determination of the player’s color when no bonus was selected

Graphics
[+] Added a set of Ice Formations for Snow, along with matching Crystal, Gold, and Abandoned Mines
[-] Ice Blocks have been renamed, and their graphics updated to better match the new Ice Formations
[-] Fixed the oversaturation of Glaciers and their mines
[+] Fixed the Stables being displayed on top of the Resource Silo in the Castle
[+] Fixed the outline and hover area for the Fort and Resource Silo construction stages in the Conflux
[+] Removed background noise between the flags of the upgraded and non-upgraded Training Grounds, as well as between the animated parts of the Village Hall, Town Hall, City Hall, and Capitol in the Castle
[-] Fixes to the Bulwark’s puzzle map
[-] Minor graphics and animation fixes for Mountain Rams, Argali, and Yeti
[-] Fixed the palette and horn-drinking animation for the Jotunn in combat
[-] Fixed the outline and hover area of the Upg. Mountain Embassy
[-] Fixes to the Satyr and Leprechaun portraits
[+] Fixes to the Sharpshooter and Wyvern Monarch portraits
[-] Fixes to the Azure Dragon icon
[-] Removed black pixels on the Phoenix and Serpent Fly portraits
[-] Fixes to the Factory siege screen graphics
[-] Disabled mirroring of the Runes animation in combat
[+] Graphics fixes for the adventure map frame corners of the Teal player

Map Editor
[+] Increased the limit on Ocean Bottles/Signs from 128 to 255
[+] Removed the limit of 500 local events and 500 Pandora’s Boxes. The combined maximum of Pandora’s Boxes and local events is now 20000
[+] Custom text displayed upon time expiration can now be set for Seer’s Huts, Quest Guards, and Quest Gates
[+] Seer’s Huts can now be assigned names
[-] Previously, scrolling the mouse wheel over the map would scroll the object list instead. Now, hovering the cursor over the map or the object list scrolls the corresponding area
[-] Fixed a crash occurring when there was an error during text import
[-] Fixed a crash during map verification related to town shipyards near the map edges
[-] Fixed an incorrect class specification in the Shaman’s Puppet description
[-] Fixed bugs related to the display of the Resource Silo and Vault of Ashes in the build tree
[-] Fixed a bug: the town interface marked not only banned buildings in gray, but also buildings inherited from the banned ones
[-] Fixed an event system bug: no support for random monsters in the “Monster defeated” condition or in log images
[-] Fixed an event system bug: crash when selecting a random hero in the “Hero defeated” condition
[-] Fixed a map verification bug: event system errors are now accounted for
[-] Fixed an event system bug: incorrect conversion of “If – Then – Else” actions into “If – Then – Else If”
[-] Fixed an event system bug: the “Cancel event” action only stopped the current loop of the sequence
[-] Event system: improved window resizing and moving/shrinking of dialog elements on low-resolution monitors (1366×768)
[-] Event system: fixed the position of some elements in dialogs
[+] Event system: focus now moves to the newly created element when creating new actions, expressions, copies of actions/expressions, and “If-Then” branches
[-] Fixed a bug: in events (global, town, and map) and Pandora’s Boxes with an extended event, the default text was saved and could then be exported
[-] Fixes to the drag-and-drop mechanism in the event system
[+] Event system: reworked the display conditions for images in the “OR” condition. Now, if a condition has only one child branch, its images are shown. If there are several branches and their image lists match, that list is shown. Otherwise, no images are shown
[+] The “Hero Ownership” logical expression has been split into two expressions — “Hero’s Affiliation” (checks whether the specified hero belongs to the selected player) and “Current Hero” (checks whether the current hero is the specified one)
[-] Changed the valid event types for the “Current Hero Identification” condition

Campaign Editor
[-] Fixed a problem with incorrect verification of special buildings and hordes that caused them to be removed from bonuses when updating the map
[-] Added the previously missing level 1 hordes for Inferno and Conflux to the campaign bonus list
[-] Added the previously missing Bulwark Spirits of the Forebears to the building bonus list

Template Editor
[-] Haugir and Biarma have been added to the hero list in the default availability settings

Interface
[+] Fixed the misalignment of the map level toggle icons
[-] Fixes to spell icons in the hero information window in HD Mod

Miscellaneous
[+] Added 5 new maps: The Cursed Legions, Noble Nemesis, Paradise of the Mind, Taming of the Shrew, Help!
[+] Added 2 templates: Conquest and Sapphire
[-] Multiple fixes to the event system
[-] Fixes to maps, campaigns, and texts