Games PC HEROES OF MIGHT AND MAGIC III-TUTORIAL User Manual

Welcome to the Heroes of Might and Magic III Tutorial! This tutorial is a great place to start,
not only for players new to the Heroes series, but for seasoned veterans to get a taste of what’s
new to Heroes III. This tutorial is designed as a read-along, so for best results you should print
this document before beginning, and follow the instructions as you play. In moments, you will
be learning the ins-and-outs of Heroes III.

First, launch the game, either by selecting PLAY from the autorun window, by double-clicking
the Heroes III desktop icon (if you chose to install it), or by selecting Heroes III from your
Windows Start Menu. After watching the intro, choose NEW GAME, then TUTORIAL. This
will bypass the scenario selection screen and directly load the tutorial map.

Week 1, Day 1

What you will see first is the Adventure Screen. This is where you will spend a great deal of
time while playing Heroes III. The main window provides you with a close view around your
heroes and cities, while the world map (located in the upper-right corner of the screen) shows
you a small view of the entire world. Notice that most of the world map is black – that is

because until you send a hero to explore an area you won’t know what is there. Don’t worry
about any of the other buttons below the World Map, these will be described in greater detail
later.

Your first hero, Lord Haart, should already be selected (he’s sitting on his horse, waiting for
instructions). The first thing we’ll want him to do is visit the town, so place your mouse cursor
over the entrance to the town (between the two flag poles). Notice how the horse icon rears up
on its hind legs – this means that by traveling to that location, your hero will interact with
whatever is there. Also, the name and a short description of the location appears in the Rollover
Bar at the bottom of the screen (the rollover bar appears on nearly every screen in Heroes III and
gives useful, context sensitive information). When you click on a location, a set of green arrows
show the path your hero will take to reach the large green X. It is this X that marks your hero’s
destination. Click again on the same location and your hero will move to the castle (a fast way to
move is to simply double click on an intended destination – the first click selects the path, the
second click sends the hero). When the hero arrives at the entrance to the town, the view will
change to the Town Screen.

Town Screen

This is the Town Screen for the Castle town type (there are eight different town types in Heroes
III, each with its own unique creatures and buildings). Most of this screen is taken up by the
town view. Any structures or upgrades you build in this town will appear here. As you can see,
several structures have already been constructed. Specific information about the town is
displayed in the bottom-left corner of the screen, including town income (per day) and troop
production (per week). To the right of the town info are two rows of boxes. The top row is for
any troops that are currently in the town’s garrison, the bottom row is for any troops currently
visiting a town with a hero.

The first thing you will want to do is build a Fort. To do so, click on the larger of the two
buildings on the left side of the town view – the Town Hall – to enter the Hall Screen.

The Hall Screen is where you make all your construction decisions. Any building you can
currently build is shown with its name in a green bar. Any building that you can not build, but
can be built later is shown with its name in a red bar. If a building has been disabled or can
never be built, its name will appear in a gray bar. Once you have completely built or upgraded a
structure as high as it will go, its name will be displayed in gold.

Click on the picture of the Fort. You will be shown a description of what the Fort does, as well
as what resources are required to build it. Click on the Build button (in the lower left hand
corner of the popup window) and the Fort will be constructed.

Now that you have a Fort, click on it to view the Castle Window. This window shows you
information about all seven units that can be produced by this town. Any troop-producing
structures (usually referred to as Creature Generators) that are already constructed will show a
number of Available units (currently the Guardhouse, Archers’ Tower, and Barracks show units
available – the other structures have not been built yet). Click the Exit button (lower right) to
return to the Town Screen.

The round tower on the right side of the screen is your Mage Guild. It is here that heroes go to
learn the spells that they will cast while adventuring. Click on the Mage Guild, then choose to
buy a spell book. Since Lord Haart is a Knight, he does not begin with a spell book. All heroes
must have a spell book before they can learn or cast spells. Once you agree to purchase a spell
book, you are shown the Mage Guild Screen. Each of the spells the Mage Guild offers is listed
on scrolls on the various shelves in the guild. Left or right clicking on any spell scroll will show
you a description of that spell. When you are ready to leave, click on the Exit button (lower
right).

Your hero starts with troops, but it’s really just a token force, so you should buy any available
troops and add them to his army. Along the hill at the back of your town are three towers. Click
on the large central tower. The Recruit Pikemen window is displayed. Using the scroll bar you
can select how many troops you wish to purchase, and the total cost is calculated to the right.
However, the fastest way to buy troops is to use the Maximum button (the four up arrows at the
bottom of the popup window) which will automatically calculate the maximum number of troops
available that you can currently afford. Click the Maximum button, then click the Recruit button
(bottom center). Notice how there are now Pikemen in the garrison row of your town.

The other two towers will allow you to purchase Swordsmen and Archers. Use the Maximum
button and recruit these troops as well.

Now that you’ve purchased troops, you will want to move them into your army. To do so, click
on the unit you wish to move, then click on an empty slot in the hero’s army (bottom row). You
can also move troops together, or rearrange them within an army. For example, if you click on
the newly purchased Pikemen, then on the Pikemen that Lord Haart already had, they will
combine their numbers into a single, larger stack. Now click on the newly purchased
Swordsmen, then on the Pikemen in your hero’s army. Notice that since they were not the same
troops, rather than combining, they switched places. Experiment with moving troops around, but

when you are done, make sure that all the troops are in Lord Haart’s army, then exit the Town
Screen by clicking on the Exit button (bottom right).

Just to the east of your Castle town is a Sawmill. Click once on the Sawmill’s entrance, then
again to start your hero moving. When you arrive, your hero will automatically claim the
Sawmill’s production for your faction by placing a red flag (your faction’s color) on the Sawmill,
and you will receive a message telling you the Sawmill’s production. As you will discover,
many objects in Heroes III may be flagged.

Also notice that while your hero moved toward the Sawmill, some of the dark shroud covering
the map was revealed. Just to the southeast of the Sawmill is an Ore Pit. Wood and ore are the
basic resources needed for building nearly any town structure, so these should be the first
resources you seek out early in the game. Go claim the Ore Pit now.

Excellent. You now have secured wood and ore for your faction. Now, just to the west is a
treasure chest. Double click on it to move Lord Haart there, he will automatically pick it up
when he arrives. Sometimes you will find that treasure chests contain some sort of magical
artifact. Most times, though, they will contain gold, and you will be given a choice of either
keeping the gold, or distributing it to the peasants in exchange for experience points. Choose the
experience this time, because it should be enough for your hero to gain a level!

Congratulations, Lord Haart now has enough experience to reach 2nd level. Two things happen
when a hero gains a level. First, he gains +1 to one of his primary skills (Attack, Defense,
Power, or Knowledge). Second, he is offered two choices of Secondary Skill that you must
decide which you wish the hero to learn. The choices will either be a skill the hero does not
have, or an improvement to a skill that he does have. Right clicking on a skill will display its
description, so take a look at both, and pick whichever one you like.

Well, that was enough for one day, don’t you agree? Located at the bottom of the button row
just below the World Map is a button with a picture of an hourglass. Click on that button to end
the current turn. Your opponent(s) will then take their turns, and a new day will begin.

Week 1, Day 2

The first thing you’ll want to do today is build up your town, so move your hero back to the
castle. Once inside, click on the Town Hall and build a Griffin Tower. Recruit the available
Griffins and add them to Lord Haart’s army the same way you did for the other troops, then exit
the Town Screen.

Once back out on the adventure map, you should probably do a little more exploring, so have
your hero follow the road east past the Sawmill and Ore Pit. You will soon see a waterfall with a
stone face next to it. This is a Fountain of Youth, so be sure to pay it a visit. The Fountain of
Youth is just one of many locations that will boost your army’s luck or morale, or give you a
movement bonus for the rest of the day or week. These objects do not get flagged like mines,
and may be used by anyone. Morale and luck effects typically last until your next battle, so
visiting one of these sites multiple times does nothing until the current effects wear off.

End your turn.