Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era Factions Tier List — Best Factions Ranked

In Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era, there are six factions available at the start of early access: Temple, Necropolis, Grove, Dungeon, Swarm, and Rift. In this guide, we’ve put together an up-to-date tier list based on early-game strength, development speed, reliance on rare resources, beginner-friendliness, and late-game potential.

In short, Dungeon currently stands out as the strongest. Grove is the easiest pick for beginners, Necropolis is a good choice for a relaxed single-player experience, and Rift remains the most demanding faction.

Each faction in Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era has 7 types of creatures and 18 heroes, so it’s not easy to figure out their strengths and weaknesses right away. This is especially true if you’re new to the game and aren’t sure which faction fits your style best—whether that’s aggressive rushing, cautious ranged play, slow buildup, or creative tactical combos.

Keep in mind: this tier list doesn’t mean that factions in lower tiers are unplayable. In Olden Era, a lot depends on the map, your starting hero, resource distribution, neutral armies, and whether you’re playing against AI or a real opponent. Plus, the game is still in early access—the developers have said clearly that things will change, and balance, building costs, faction mechanics, and individual units may all be tweaked based on player feedback.

Here’s how it breaks down:

When evaluating factions in Olden Era, it is not just about the army's strength on paper. What also matters is how quickly a faction can clear the map, how expensive it is to develop, and how early it can set the pace of the game.

The first factor is early-game strength. If a faction can clear neutral camps with minimal losses in the very first week, it gets gold, ore, wood, and rare resources faster. This creates a snowball effect: more resources mean faster building, quicker upgrades, a bigger army, and easier fights down the line.

The second factor is native terrain. In Olden Era, each faction gets bonuses on its own type of landscape. Units receive +1 initiative on their home ground, and with an advanced skill, they also gain +10% damage dealt and -10% damage taken.

The third factor is economy. The game has several key resources, and rare materials are needed not just for building, but also for recruiting high-level creatures. Factions that need a lot of gold, ore, crystals, gems, or mercury at the same time often run into resource shortages. Factions with a more straightforward economy can reach a stable pace faster.

The fourth factor is late-game strength. Some factions really shine only when they get their level 6-7 creatures. But here’s the catch: a strong late game does not help if it is too hard to survive until then. So, for example, the Archangel in Temple is a fantastic unit, but the faction still does not make S-tier because you have to wait so long to get there.

Dungeon is the top contender for the strongest faction in the current version of Olden Era. Its main advantage is versatility: all its units can switch between two attack types. This is a huge tactical bonus. You are not just sending your army in and hoping for the best—you are constantly adapting. If you need to break through a frontline, you play one way. If you need to punish a dangerous target at range or change priorities, you switch modes.

Dungeon is especially dangerous early on thanks to the Onyx Dancers. These ranged units are especially useful at the start of a match: they deal serious damage quickly and help clear the map with minimal losses. Their main weakness is low initiative, but you can make up for it as you develop. If you put most of your gold into recruiting them, then upgrade to Golden Dancers and build a level two Amphitheater, the squad becomes noticeably faster.

Another ranged unit, the Medusas, help carry you through the mid-game when early units are no longer enough but you are not yet able to recruit top-tier creatures. Medusas provide control, and thanks to their Volley ability, they can hit several enemies standing close together.

In the late game, Dungeon gets Black Dragons and their upgraded forms. Their main advantage is magic immunity.

Best for: experienced players, multiplayer fans, and anyone who wants the strongest and most versatile faction and is ready to manage their units carefully in battle.

Necropolis is a faction that wins not by rushing, but by slowly and steadily suffocating the enemy. The key mechanic here is necromancy. It’s simple: after each battle, your army grows by turning fallen enemies into skeletons. This creates the classic snowball effect the series is known for—you clear the map, collect resources, gain experience, and at the same time, your army keeps growing. Even if some battles go less than perfectly, it does not feel as punishing as with other factions, because part of your losses are offset by new recruits.

The downside is that Necropolis is fairly weak in the early game. In the first days, it lacks reliable ranged damage. That’s why one of your main priorities should be upgrading Skeletons to Skeleton Archers as soon as possible. Until you have a solid ranged core, many neutral fights will feel tense. Necropolis needs to choose its targets carefully, avoid jumping into dangerous stacks, and not try to play like an aggressive, fast-paced faction. Also, use Slow and Blind spells against armored factions like Temple, whose physical damage can neutralize your Skeleton Archers.

By the mid-game, Necropolis starts to shine. Your army is already growing with skeletons, you get better control tools, and it becomes harder for your opponents to trade efficiently with you.

In the late game, Liches and Vampires become especially important. Liches provide powerful area magic damage, helping you deal with large groups of enemies. Vampires are valuable for their survivability and self-healing with every attack, which fits perfectly with the faction’s philosophy.

It is also worth noting that the native terrain—Dead Land—does not appear on every map. Because of this, Necropolis can feel much stronger on some templates and a bit weaker on others.

The main drawback of Necropolis is its slow start. If you are up against a human opponent who understands the faction’s weaknesses, they might try to pressure you before necromancy really kicks in. Against the AI, Necropolis usually feels more comfortable: the computer tends to give you more time to build up and rarely punishes passive play early on.

Best for: patient players, fans of economic play and building up an advantage, lovers of classic Necropolis, and beginners playing solo.

Grove is one of the most beginner-friendly factions. If Dungeon wins with flexibility and Necropolis with a snowball effect, Grove wins through consistency. Its strategy is simple: your ranged units deal damage, your frontline holds the enemy, your hero supports the army, and you try to clear the map with minimal losses.

Grove gets an early advantage because its ranged damage is not concentrated in a single unit. The faction’s ranged strength is spread across several tiers: first you have Fauns and Faun Archers, then Naiads and Grass Conjurers join in.

Another key strength is the mushroom teleportation network. On large maps, mobility can be just as important as army strength. Being able to quickly move between your holdings, defend cities, shift forces, and respond to threats makes Grove a very comfortable faction for scenarios with multiple fronts.

In the late game, Grove is powered up by the Phoenix. This is a powerful level 7 unit with high combat value and regeneration. The Phoenix fits perfectly with the faction’s style: while your ranged units do most of the work, your top creature puts pressure on the enemy, survives dangerous situations, and disrupts your opponent’s plans.

Best for: beginners, returning Heroes fans, players who love ranged armies, and anyone who prefers a clear and reliable game plan.

Temple is the classic human faction in Olden Era. Knights, crossbowmen, griffins, cavalry, angels—it is exactly what you would expect if you grew up with the old Heroes games. On paper, Temple looks great: a balanced roster, clear unit roles, high morale, and powerful top-tier creatures. But in the current version, it falls short of A-tier because its development pace is just too slow.

The main problem with Temple is its slow start. The faction wants to reach its powerful late game, but to get there, it has to go through an expensive and not-so-fast building chain. Early on, Temple relies on Crossbowmen, because without ranged damage, clearing the map becomes too painful. But Crossbowmen alone are not enough to make you feel as confident as Grove or Dungeon.

Temple does have strong mid-tier units. Griffins are great thanks to their mobility and retaliation attacks, cavalry works well as a shock force, and support units help your army survive and get stronger. But all of this costs money, requires buildings, and takes time. If the map allows you to develop at your own pace, Temple gradually turns into a very dangerous faction. If the enemy pushes the tempo, though, you might not have enough time to show your full potential.

Temple’s real strength comes at tier seven, when you get Angels and Archangels. The Archangel is one of the strongest late-game units thanks to its ability to resurrect fallen allies. This can turn a battle around: your opponent spends turns wiping out a key stack, and you bring it right back, ruining their plans.

But Temple’s economy is a weak spot. To reach the top tiers, you need a lot of gold, ore, and gems. As a result, Temple often feels like a faction of tomorrow: tomorrow you will have Angels, tomorrow you will have cavalry, tomorrow the real game will begin.

Best for: series veterans, fans of classic knightly gameplay, and players who enjoy balanced armies and a strong late game.

Swarm is one of the new factions in Olden Era and probably the most aggressive in the current version. Its units are designed for fast engagement, aiming to finish battles before the enemy can set up a solid defense.

In terms of lore, Swarm is linked to insect-like creatures and the threat that drives the conflict on the continent of Jadame. During the campaign, all rival factions have to unite against Swarm just to survive.

Swarm’s main mechanic is rewarding a diverse army. The more different unit types you bring into battle, the better your bonuses work. For experienced players, this is an interesting challenge: you need to consider synergies and know which stacks should charge in first and which should finish off the enemy.

Swarm’s early game is all about aggression. The faction has almost no real ranged damage at the start, so the plan is to close the gap quickly. If you let ranged factions set up and hold positions, Swarm quickly falls behind in tempo and losses. But if you pick your targets well and set the pace, the enemy simply does not have time to use their advantages.

This makes Swarm a high-risk faction. Grove can carefully clear the map with archers. Necropolis can be patient and build up skeletons. Temple can aim for the late game. Swarm, on the other hand, always has to hunt for favorable fights.

At the same time, Swarm’s economy is pretty straightforward and convenient. The faction mostly needs gold and ore, rather than a complicated mix of rare resources. This helps you build up your basic structures faster and makes you less dependent on random map generation.

In the late game, Swarm gets more interesting tools, especially high-level creatures like the Swarm Queen and her upgrades. There are also options that help cover the problem of ranged pressure. But you still have to survive until then—and ideally not lose half your army in early frontal assaults.

Survivability through corpse consumption. This ability lets Swarm recover during battle and helps offset the problem of heavy losses in melee engagements.

Power from a diverse army composition. The passive mechanic encourages using different creature types. The more variety in your army, the greater your advantage in longer battles.

Simple economy. Swarm mostly depends on gold and ore, so developing your city and recruiting units is easier than for factions that constantly need rare resources.

Best for: aggressive players, melee fans, and those who are not afraid of losses and want to keep up the pressure.

Shatter is the most challenging and demanding faction in Olden Era. That does not mean it is useless. In fact, it has unique mechanics that can be very powerful when played well. But in practice, Shatter often punishes every mistake twice as hard.

The main mechanic is Communion. It builds up with victories and slowly fades over time. At the start of each battle, the faction gets extra temporary units based on your Communion level. It sounds strong—the more you win, the stronger you become. But there is a catch: these extra units do not stay after battle. They help you win that specific fight, but they do not become part of your permanent army.

Because of this, Shatter is heavily dependent on winning streaks. If you win without setbacks, the mechanic works as intended. If you lose or have a bad trade, your pace drops, Communion falls, and future battles get tougher. Shatter’s early roster does not help either. It is fragile, not as straightforward or effective as Grove or Dungeon, and it really requires you to understand the mechanics. You cannot just build a strong archer group and safely clear the map. You need to know which fights to take, which hero to send forward, how to maintain Communion, and when it is worth taking risks.

Shatter’s main strength is its unusual abilities and combat tricks. Some units can create new stacks to replace fallen ones, which lets you stall the fight and disrupt your opponent’s plans. If your enemy expects to quickly remove a key unit and you suddenly bring it back, the battle can swing in your favor. But all of this takes careful execution.

In the late game, Shatter gets powerful creatures, including high-tier otherworldly units with serious damage. The problem is the same as before: to reach this stage, you have to make it through the early and mid-game without disaster. That is harder for Shatter than for any other faction.

Best for: veterans, fans of complex mechanics, and players interested in unconventional strategies and risk management.

The best faction for beginners in Olden Era is still Grove. It has a clear game plan, lots of ranged units, strong map clearing, and more straightforward tactics than Swarm or Shatter. Grove teaches you the basics: how to protect your ranged units, pick the right targets, reduce losses, grow your economy, and time your decisive battles. At the same time, Grove stays strong even at a high level, so it’s not just a training faction for one evening—it’s a solid choice for any player.

Another good option is Necropolis. It is weaker at the start, but it forgives some mistakes thanks to necromancy. If you are playing against AI and do not want to jump into multiplayer right away, Necropolis gives you a pleasant sense of growth: every battle makes your army bigger, and the late game becomes more comfortable.

Dungeon also works for beginners if you want to play the strongest faction right away. But it is important to understand that to unlock its full potential, you need to switch attack modes smartly and keep a close eye on initiative. If you do not do this, Dungeon will still be strong, but you will miss out on part of its advantage.

For multiplayer, the best choice in the current version of Olden Era is Dungeon. It is strong at every stage, adapts well to different opponents, and does not have the obvious early vulnerability of Necropolis or Shatter. Flexible attacks, strong mid-tier units, and Black Dragons make it the most reliable pick in games where your opponent can punish a weak start.

Grove is also good in multiplayer, especially for more cautious players. It consistently clears the map and can quickly gain an economic advantage thanks to low losses. But against an aggressive opponent, you need to be very careful to protect your ranged units.

Necropolis is stronger in multiplayer on large maps where it has time to build up. On smaller maps, it can be pressured before necromancy becomes a real problem.

If we are talking only about the late game, the strongest factions are Dungeon, Necropolis, and Temple. Dungeon gets Black Dragons and keeps its flexibility. Necropolis reaches a powerful combination of Liches, Vampires, and a huge army. Temple gets Archangels, whose resurrection ability can decide key battles.

But in a real match, you cannot look at the late game in isolation from the path to reach it. That is why Temple stays in B-Tier: its final army is truly powerful, but getting there is much harder than it is for Dungeon or Grove to reach their core tools.

Temple, Swarm, and Shatter have the best chance to move up. Temple just needs a slight economic boost or a faster start to become much more dangerous. Swarm could use early tools against ranged units or buffs to lava and faction bonuses. Shatter needs an easier start or less punishing consequences for losing Communion.