Best Dungeon Heroes In HoMM: Olden Era

Published May 15, 2026, 5:30 AM EDT Ryan Thompson-Bamsey has been an Editor at TheGamer since 2021. He has specialized in RPGs, grand strategy games, and visual novels, reviewing major releases in franchises from Square Enix, Larian Studios, and Paradox Interactive. Ryan has served multiple times on the jury for the Indie Cup awards, and has mentored many emerging writers in the games industry. He has covered some of the biggest releases of recent years, including leading the site's coverage of Baldur's Gate 3, Dragon's Dogma 2, and plenty of other massive RPGs. The Dungeon is widely considered one of the stronger factions in Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era, and that power comes with a surprisingly wide gap between its best and worst hero picks. A hero's starting skills lock in immediately and cannot be changed, which means a poor choice on day one will follow you into the late game whether you want it to or not. This tier list ranks all 18 Dungeon heroes across two classes — nine Warlords (Might) and nine Warlocks (Magic) — based on three criteria: the quality of their starting skill, how well their specialisation supports Dungeon's core strategy, and whether their subclass path compounds those advantages over a full game. Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era is currently in Early Access, and balance patches are likely to shift this landscape. Check back after major updates. How These Tiers Are Decided Tier Meaning S Dominant choices that impact every stage of the game. You can pick these as your primary hero in almost any situation. A Strong heroes with clear strategic identity. Excellent primaries in the right build or excellent secondary heroes in any game. B Competent picks that contribute meaningfully but either come online slowly or cover narrower ground than A Tier. C Situational heroes whose specialisations depend heavily on map conditions, build paths, or luck to deliver value. D Weak primary picks. Fine as late-hire secondary heroes in specific modes, but do not start here in competitive play. Related Heroes Of Might And Magic: Olden Era - Temple Hero Tier List The Temple faction in HoMM: Olden Era has plenty of heroes to choose from. Here are our picks! S-Tier Hero Class Specialisation Justification Motley Warlock Onyx Dancer growth and buffs Starts with a full Onyx Dancer army — the most important early unit in the Dungeon roster — and her specialisation ensures those Dancers keep scaling throughout the game. No other hero compresses Day 1 map-clearing speed as effectively. Stinger Warlord Heroic Strike power Heroic Strike deals +10 damage from the first level, plus another +5 every six hero levels, and applies a stackable 18 Magic Damage poison per round to the target. That damage output is relevant from the opening weeks and scales into a legit combat win condition by the late game. Motley is by early consensus best Dungeon opener — and arguably one of the strongest Day 1 picks across all six factions — thanks to her all-Dancer starting army and Twilight spell, which shuts down enemy ranged units while yours deal uncontested damage. Her Attack stat of zero is a minor early liability worth addressing quickly, though. Stinger is the long-game alternative: no pre-built Dancer army, but her stackable poison means every Heroic Strike compounds across the fight, making her the stronger choice on larger maps where combat stretches into the mid and late game. A-Tier Hero Class Specialisation Justification Zakron the Great Warlock Spell damage and spell defence A double-sided swing that simultaneously boosts your damage and debuffs the opponent's. At higher levels, that gap exceeds 20% in both directions. Lodos Warlock Nightshade spells Locks the opposing hero out of the school entirely while boosting your own Nightshade spells by a full level at the start, plus another at level 10, 20, and so on. One of the strongest passive advantages in a good magic school. Tellaris the Betrayed Warlord Upgraded Early Start spell His version of Early Start cannot be removed by any means, and its Spell Power scales by 1 for every 3 hero levels. An undispellable tempo advantage that compounds across the entire game. Devir, Son of Devir Warlord Minotaur growth and buffs Increases Minotaur power with his specialisation, and enters with Leadership active — meaning his Minotaurs receive combat bonuses from the very first fight without needing a building unlock. Frees Onyx Dancer stacks to deal ranged damage without absorbing retaliatory hits. Tellaris offers a tempo advantage that cannot be taken away, one of the rarest boons in the game, though the spell-based edge handed to a Warlord means his kit still needs to be built around Might subclass paths if you're going for one of those. Devir is the best melee-composition alternative to the standard Dancer-first strategy, with Leadership activating Minotaur bonuses from the very first fight, and Lodos rounds out the tier as the strongest school-monopoly caster: locking the opposing hero out of Nightshade entirely while yours gets better. B-Tier Hero Class Specialisation Justification Gleard the Grey Warlord Arcane spells The Arcane school monopoly mirrors Lodos's Nightshade advantage, but Arcane's spell selection is narrower in the Dungeon context and Gleard is a Warlord, not a Warlock, making this a strong but more conditional pick. Kieran Warlord Troglodyte growth and buffs Troglodytes are a legitimate early unit and Kieran's triple Troglodyte starting army gives him early board presence. But Troglodytes are not Dancers, and the specialisation naturally fades in relevance as the Dungeon roster develops. Stands out as a secondary, though. Kelarr, Son of Navarr Warlock Hero growth The attribute snowball is great, and eventually pulls ahead of most heroes in raw stat efficiency, but it is meaningfully slower than direct combat skills in the opening weeks. Best on bigger maps, naturally, where he might even be considered more A-Tier. Sister Deira Warlock Upgraded Arina's Chosen spell An extra turn is one of the highest-ceiling effects in the game. At the right moment, it can completely decide a battle. The investment required to reach that moment reliably keeps it out of A Tier. Kelarr is the long-game stat scaler who starts slowly and starts with an Attack of zero, but his XP bonus compounds decently across every fight until he is pulling noticeably ahead of equivalent heroes on XL maps. Sister Deira's extra turn is incredible at the right moment, but her reliance on mana and setup keeps her out of A-Tier. Kieran provides genuine early board presence with his triple Troglodyte army, but Troglodytes are not Dancers, and the specialisation's value fades as the rest of the Dungeon roster comes online. 'Situational but still flexible' describes this tier well. C-Tier Hero Class Specialisation Justification Enatee Warlord Medusa growth and buffs Medusae are a very strong late-game ranged threat, and Enatee's suite — Speed, Initiative, 20% HP, and scaling Attack/Defense — makes them significantly more durable. The issue is that Medusae come online late, and the early weeks with a mixed Troglodyte/Medusa army are fragile. Quite risky for a primary. Mouaren Warlord Infiltrator growth and buffs Infiltrators are Dungeon's squishiest unit and should not be prioritised over Dancers. A specialisation built around the faction's weakest-value creature type has limited upside. C-Tier out of being completely outclassed. Rhea Warlord Luck and Lucky Strikes Lucky Strike is a great boon when it triggers, but Luck-based builds live and die by RNG. Rhea is a perfectly functional hero in casual play but is unreliable in more difficult or stressful contexts where you need to plan around consistent outcomes. Sunny Rauktol Warlock Daylight spells The Daylight school speciality is a real advantage, but Daylight's primary value in Dungeon is narrower than Nightshade or Arcane. Typhona Warlock Hydra growth and buffs Hydras are a powerful late-game unit with impressive multi-target potential. Typhona's starting army, however, is two to four Hydras — practically nothing at campaign start. Surviving the early game long enough for the specialisation to matter is an obstacle worth considering. Enatee and Typhona both suffer from the same problem: their unit specialisations take time to come online, and the early weeks are fragile as a result. Enatee at least starts with a mixed army capable of clearing; Typhona opens with just two to four Hydras and two empty slots, which makes the opening weeks a challenge. Mouaren's Infiltrator focus, on the other hand is held back by the unit itself. Rhea is functional in casual play but Luck-based builds are inherently unreliable in competitive contexts. Sunny Rauktol mirrors Gleard and Lodos as a school monopoly caster, but Daylight isn't as flexible for Dungeon. D-Tier Hero Class Specialisation Justification Glastor Warlock Gold A pretty great economic engine as a secondary hire on long maps or resource-contested skirmishes. As a primary hero, the lack of combat scaling means the Gold advantage eventually runs out of things to do. Ylwari Warlock Diplomacy and fleeing Diplomacy has situational value in specific game modes, but a primary hero built around fleeing and negotiating is not a competitive choice. Creta, Daughter of Navarr Warlord Gems Gems are an important rare resource for Dungeon's mid- and high-tier buildings, and Creta accelerates access to them, but as a primary, she brings almost nothing to combat. As a secondary economic hero, she is a solid pickup — just not at the cost of your starting slot. None of these heroes are dead weight in every context — Glastor and Creta are legitimate secondary hires in Classic mode, where dedicated resource runners pay dividends, and Creta's Gem acceleration is genuinely useful given how reliant Dungeon's mid and high-tier buildings are on rare resources. They do just suffer as primary picks. Next Heroes Of Might And Magic: Olden Era - Necropolis Hero Tier List The Necropolis faction has some incredibly powerful heroes to pick from in HoMM: Olden Era! And some... not so great.