What changes
Skills are ordered Basic / Advanced / Expert. Logistics: movement bonus; Intelligence: maximum mana bonus; Necromancy: share of enemies raised; Sorcery: spell damage bonus; Estates: gold per day; Scouting: sight range. Artifacts show movement points.
| Skill / artifact | Complete | HotA |
|---|---|---|
| Logistics | 10 / 20 / 30 % | 5 / 10 / 20 % |
| Intelligence | 25 / 50 / 100 % | 20 / 35 / 50 % |
| Necromancy | 10 / 20 / 30 % | 5 / 10 / 15 % |
| Sorcery | 5 / 10 / 15 % | 10 / 20 / 30 % |
| Estates | 125 / 250 / 500 | 250 / 500 / 1000 |
| Scouting | +1 / +2 / +3 | +1 / +3 / +5 |
| Boots of Speed | +600 | +400 |
| Equestrian’s Gloves | +300 | +200 |
Three heroes: turn a specialty into a plan
These are not guaranteed level-up sequences. Skill offers, found artifacts and the opponent determine which branch you can follow. Equipment below is a candidate to evaluate, not guaranteed starting gear.
Henrietta · Factory
- Specialty
- Halflings
- Starting skills
- Basic Leadership · Basic Luck
Development and first decision
Start with an army centred on Halflings. If offered Archery, weigh it against how many upcoming battles you will actually win through shooting. A screen should buy time for shooters, not casually sacrifice most reinforcements. Before splitting shooters into more stacks, consider whether you can keep each out of contact.
Equipment to compare
Consider Golden Bow when distance or walls limit shooting. Compare Ring of Vitality when keeping numerous creatures alive is the problem. Neither choice fixes poor positioning by itself.
Artifact cards: Complete / English: Golden Bow · Ring of Vitality
When to change the plan
If the enemy closes quickly or shooters are no longer your main strength, reconsider further ranged investment. A specialty is not a reason to take a losing battle.
Eovacius · Cove
- Specialty
- Clone
- Starting skills
- Basic Wisdom · Basic Intelligence
The first Clone in each battle creates two copies if placement allows; otherwise it creates the available number.
Development and first decision
Build around a specific Clone target and its next useful action. When developing Water Magic, check which targets the current mastery allows. Before casting, check space for copies, mana and threats that could remove them before they help. A larger mana pool is not protection for clones.
Equipment to compare
Compare Mystic Orb of Mana for a longer route with several battles; it does not replace mana missing right now. Consider Ring of the Wayfarer for army tempo in combat. What matters is whether the copied stack gets to contribute.
Artifact cards: Complete / English: Mystic Orb of Mana · Ring of the Wayfarer
When to change the plan
If there is no legal, valuable target or copies vanish immediately, give magic a different job this turn. The first Clone is central to the specialty; it does not promise the same benefit on every later cast.
Dury · Factory
- Specialty
- Armorer
- Starting skills
- Basic Offense · Basic Armorer
Development and first decision
Start by deciding which stack must survive contact. Consider more Armorer to limit physical losses and Offense when your army actually attacks in melee. A mixed army needs clear jobs for protecting shooters and exploiting an opening, not merely evenly distributed bonuses.
Equipment to compare
Consider Vial of Lifeblood for endurance and Cape of Velocity for reaching the required position. Compare one artifact at a time with the same army first. More durability and faster access to a target solve different problems.
Artifact cards: Complete / English: Vial of Lifeblood · Cape of Velocity
When to change the plan
If spells cause most losses, do not treat Armorer as a universal answer. If you cannot reach melee at all, reconsider route and tempo instead of adding another melee bonus.
1. Scout and reinforcement carrier
Choose a destination and the day you need to reach it first. Then weigh movement against sight range. Do not pick Scouting simply because its numbers look better; on an already explored supply route it may solve a different problem from yours.
Judge Boots of Speed and Equestrian’s Gloves by the destination they let you reach. Their simple sum is 900 points in Complete and 600 in HotA. This is not a full daily route calculation: army, terrain and other effects still matter.
2. Mage for consecutive battles
Before developing Intelligence, list the spells you actually know, their costs and the battles planned before replenishing mana. Consider Sorcery for damage, not as a universal improvement to every support spell. With limited mana, changing battle order may matter more than adding damage.
For a model base of 100 maximum mana with no other bonuses, Expert Intelligence gives 200 in Complete but 150 in HotA. It does not instantly refill current mana. Budget spells against what the hero actually has.
3. Secondary hero and income
Count the days until the purchase you want to fund. Separate hero cost, skill income and work on the map. An economic hero who also collects resources or carries reinforcements has a different job from the main fighter; do not automatically give them identical skills.
Over seven days, Expert Estates alone yields 3,500 gold in Complete and 7,000 in HotA. This is gross income without costs, specialties or other sources. It is not an automatic hiring payback calculation.
For a necromancer army, do not forecast reinforcements using the old Complete percentage. The percentage alone is not a full skeleton calculator; check eligible casualties and other limits for the particular battle.
Sources and related content
The catalogues below describe original Complete and help identify heroes and artifacts. Use this table and the mod documentation for HotA values.
Boots of Speed · Complete / EN · Equestrian’s Gloves · Complete / EN
Complete heroes · English · Complete artifacts · English
HotA installation and compatibility · Czech · Cheats by edition