Town List
On the left below the town view is the town list, allowing you to look at all of your towns by clicking on the portrait of that town. As on the Adventure screen, the green, blue, and red bars over each portrait indicate the level of that town's structures, mage guild, and creature dwellings, respectively. Also, if you've already built a structure during the current turn, a check will appear on the town's portrait. The Mini-Map to the right of the portrait indicates where that town is on the...
Spell List Nature Magic
Speed increases a friendly target's speed and movement by 3. Pathfinding grants an army no movement penalty on the Adventure Map. Stoneskin increases the target's Melee and Ranged Defense by 25 . Summons a number of Leprechauns based on the level of the caster. Summons a number of Sprites based on the level of the caster. Summons a number of Wolves based on the level of the caster. Terrain Walk gives the target the ability to walk on all terrains without penalty. Giant Strength increases the...
Terrain
Some terrain types are more difficult to cross over than others are, so when an army passes over a non-native terrain type, it moves at a slower pace. Troops native to a certain terrain type don't get as much of a movement penalty on their native terrain because they have lived on that terrain all their lives. Below is a chart indicating the penalties an army will gain for passing over a certain terrain type and a list of what alignments are native to what type of terrains.
Recruiting Creatures
Each town can support up to two Level 1 creature dwellings, and one each of Level 1, 2, 3, and 4 creature dwellings. Clicking on a creature dwelling in the Town screen brings up the Recruit screen, allowing you to purchase creatures for your army if they are available. All creatures cost a certain amount of gold, while Level 4 creatures also cost precious resources. Before being able to build creature dwellings, however, you must construct a Fort. Clicking on your Fort provides an easier way to...
Advanced Class Abilities
Combat determines the Archer class. The Archer has no class ability. Archmage All magic determines the Archmage class. The Archmage's class ability gives him 20 to all spell effects. Death Magic and Combat determine the Assassin class. The Assassin's class ability increases his speed and movement by 3. Combat skills determine Barbarian class. The Barbarian has no class ability. Nature Magic and Scouting determine the Bard class. The Bard always has maximum luck due to his class ability. Order...
Special Buildings
All town types have special buildings designed to improve your kingdom, heroes and armies. Some of these structures, like the Treasury, earn extra gold for your kingdom. Structures like the University allow you to purchase skills for your heroes, or improve your statistics like the Wrestling Pits. Others improve your armies for example, the Rainbow, gives all your troops a temporary boost to their luck. In all cases, you can learn what a structure does either by right-clicking on it in the Hall...
Siege Combat
Whenever you attack a town or garrison, you enter into Siege Combat. This special form of combat includes walls and a gate for the defending army, and in some cases arrow towers and moats. The defending army gains an advantage over the attacking army because of these added defenses. Moats slow enemy troops down as they approach the wall. The walls themselves provide barriers against walking troops who must break down the gate before entering. The only way melee troops can attack each other...
Combat Cursors
The various cursors you will encounter on the Combat screen are explained in the table below. This is similar to the move cursor on the Adventure Map. Click on a location to move a troop. This is similar to the normal combat move cursor, but this one indicates the troop can fly over obstacles on its way to the designated location. This orders a troop to attack the target in hand-to-hand combat from the indicated direction. This orders a troop to attack the target with a ranged attack. This...
Combat Screen Buttons
Cast Spell Opens the currently selected troop's Spell Book so they can cast a spell. Defend Orders the selected troop to take no action but defending themselves, thus, increasing their Melee and Ranged Defense by 25 . Wait Orders the selected troop to wait until all other troops have acted. If more than one troop is waiting, they act in order of the slowest troop to the fastest. Preferred Action Sets the selected troop's preferred action. You can set a troop to attack in melee or ranged, to...
Spell Book 1
The Spell Book accessed through the Adventure screen, Army screen and Combat screen allows a hero to cast a spell or some creatures to use their special abilities. The tabs along the edge of the book organize your spells according to specific categories such as Adventure Spells only, or Life Magic spells only. You cast a spell by clicking on the colorful icon for that spell, or if you want to know more about the spell you can click the ' ' button to get a full-page description of the spell.
Tutorial
Greetings, brave adventurer, and welcome to the Heroes of Might and Magic IV Tutorial. Consider this a training session. We're going to show you some of the ins and outs of adventuring through a mysterious and magical world. The best way to use this tutorial is to read through these pages, and then load the Hemes iVTutorial map so you can actually explore a map and interact with various structures. You load the Tutorial by clicking on New Game on the Main Menu screen. A pop-up menu will appear....
The Adventure Screen
Let's begin with a short description of the Adventure Screen elements. First, the largest portion of this screen is devoted to the Adventure Map, or the area where you will explore, attack enemy armies, and visit structures. At the start of a game, most of this area will be blackened by the 'Shroud', which means you haven't explored that region yet. In the upper-right of the screen is the Mini-Map. This is a representation of the entire Adventure Map and helps you locate an area instantly. When...
Skill List Life Magic
Basic Life Magic gives the hero the ability to cast Level One Life Magic spells. It is also required to learn Basic Healing and is one of the requirements for Advanced Resurrection. Advanced Life Magic gives the hero the ability to cast Level Two Life Magic spells. It is also required to learn Basic Spirituality and is one of the requirements for Master Resurrection. Expert Life Magic gives the hero the ability to cast Level Three Life Magic spells. It is also required to learn Grandmaster...
Screen Layout
Every action in Heroes of Might and Magic iVbegins on the Adventure screen. From here, you explore the Adventure Map, engage in battles with enemy armies, visit structures and towns, cast spells, view details about your armies, and even save and quit the game. Since Heroes IV supports three screen resolutions, you will notice some subtle differences between different resolutions. The following are all three Adventure screen resolutions 800x600, 1024x768, and 1280x1024 which include all...
Spell List Summon Demon Spells
The following unique spells cannot be found in any magic guild. A hero must learn both Nature Magic and Death Magic to automatically gain these spells. Imps based on the level of the caster. All summoned creatures vanish after combat ends. Requires Basic Nature Magic and Basic Demonology. Cerberi based on the level of the caster. All summoned creatures vanish after combat ends. Requires Advanced Nature Magic and Advanced Demonology. 12 Summons a number of Ice Demons based on the level of the...
Adventure Cursors
If you move your cursor to the edge of the map, this cursor appears and the Adventure Map scrolls in that direction. This cursor gives you the ability to select each army's next destination. If a number appears before the cursor, it indicates the number of turns it will take the current army to reach the destination you select. This cursor appears whenever the cursor rolls over an object including towns and all adventure objects that you can visit. This cursor appears if the location you are...
Skill List Nature Magic
Basic Nature Magic gives the hero the ability to cast Level One Nature Magic spells. It is required to learn Basic Herbalism and is one of the requirements for Advanced Summoning. Advanced Nature Magic gives the hero the ability to cast Level Two Nature Magic spells. It is required to learn Master Summoning. Expert Nature Magic gives the hero the ability to cast Level Three Nature Magic spells. It is required to learn Grandmaster Summoning. Master Nature Magic gives the hero the ability to cast...
Skill List Scouting
Basic Scouting Basic Scouting gives the hero a 1 scouting radius and the ability to learn the traits of any adventure object. The hero can also see enemies with Basic Stealth on the Adventure Map. It is required to learn Advanced Pathfinding, Advanced Seamanship, and Basic Stealth. Advanced Scouting Advanced Scouting gives the hero a 2 scouting radius and the ability to learn the exact number of creatures in a hostile army. The hero can also see enemies with Advanced Stealth on the Adventure...
Puzzle Screen
Whenever you visit an Oracle on a map, it will reveal a piece of the puzzle map. This puzzle map can be viewed from the Puzzle screen so you can gauge your progress in finding the location of the buried treasure associated with a certain Oracle color. In maps where there are multiple Oracles, this makes it easier to keep track of them all. Once you have visited the required number of Oracles of the same color, a map showing the location of the buried treasure will be revealed to you. Go to that...
Spell List Order Magic
Blur obscures the target's true position, increasing its Ranged Defense by 50 . Dispel removes all spells from the target. Displacement causes the target to move 2 yards in a direction of the caster's choice, if possible. Magic Fist does a number of points of damage based on the level of the caster to a single target within the line of sight of the caster. Precision increases the target's Ranged Attack by 25 , and also gives the target no penalty for range, walls or obstacles. Visions shows you...
Adventure Objects 1
As you explore the Adventure Map, the structures you interact with are called adventure objects. They include everything from towns to resources to creature dwellings. A list of the various types of adventure objects is below. Towns Allow you to build creature dwellings and other structures that enhance your heroes and armies. Garrisons An army can be garrisoned here to block enemy armies from getting through a narrow path. Creature Dwellings Various types of creatures can be hired from these...
Learning Spells
Heroes can learn spells from a magic guild as long as they have the corresponding magic skill. For example, a hero must have the Order Magic skill to study spells at an Academy's version of the mage guild, the Institute of Magic. There are five schools of magic, each with their unique strengths. Contains spells that focus on healing and protection. Contains spells that focus on curses and raising the dead. Contains spells that focus on mind control and countering other spells. Contains spells...
Combat Rounds
Combat is divided into a series of rounds. A combat round is completed when all troops who can act for that round have completed their actions, whether that action be a melee attack, ranged attack, spell attack, movement, or defense. Some spells and special abilities like the Blind spell or the Ice Demon's Freezing ability keep troops from acting during that turn. The point at which a troop acts during each combat round is determined by its Speed statistic and is influenced by morale effects,...
Creating a Caravan
Follow the steps below to create a Caravan. 1 Click on the Caravan structure in the Town screen. 2 Click the 'Create Caravan' button. 3 Select the town or creature dwelling on the left where the Caravan will begin its journey. 4 Drag the troops from the troop slots in the starting location to the Caravan troop slots at the bottom. If you are purchasing creatures from a creature dwelling, the Recruit screen will pop-up, and you must buy the creatures before you can put them in a Caravan. 5...
Spell List Death Magic
Cancellation removes all beneficial spells from the target. Curse causes the target to do minimum damage in combat. Poison does damage to the target every round starting with the current round until combat ends. Raises a number of Skeletons based on the caster's level from any stack of dead creatures. The number of raised Skeletons cannot exceed either the Hit Points or number of the creatures. All Skeletons vanish after combat ends. Disrupting Ray causes the target's Melee and Ranged Defense...