Creatures

Every town in Heroes of Might and Magic 3 recruits seven levels of creatures, each of which can be upgraded once, so the nine towns of the Complete game field 126 town creatures, from Pikemen and Pixies at level 1 to Archangels, Gold and Black Dragons, Titans, Arch Devils, Ghost Dragons, Ancient Behemoths, Chaos Hydras and Phoenixes at level 7. Neutral creatures belong to no town and are met on the map: six in the 1999 base game (four elementals and the Gold and Diamond Golems), and 23 more from the expansions, up to the Azure Dragon (Prima's Official Strategy Guide, p.125; The Shadow of Death manual, p.18). Creatures are what a hero's army is made of: a hero carries up to seven stacks of them into Combat.

Quick facts

Stats on this page come from the official guide to The Restoration of Erathia (Prima's Official Strategy Guide, 1999) and the expansion manuals, which updated a few of them in 2000 (The Shadow of Death manual, p.24).

How creatures work

8:07 The HD Edition's creature overview, shown here for a Castle with a Citadel, lists every dwelling's creature with these numbers. Each creature has a level, a cost (gold, and for the strongest a rare resource), Attack and Defense, Health, Damage (a range), Speed and, for shooters, Shots. The guide notes that level "isn't used by the game for anything in particular", except to decide which creatures the Clone spell can copy (Prima, p.125).

4:29 Damage is rolled once for the whole stack (the Remake's gameplay overview shows the same turn-based duels of stacks, "taking turns moving and attacking and casting spells"): a random number between the low and high damage, times the number of creatures, then raised or lowered by comparing the attacker's Attack with the target's Defense. Damage kills one creature at a time, so a stack loses its top creature only when that creature's health is gone. Shooters carry a set number of shots, refilled before every battle; in hand-to-hand combat they spend no ammunition but do half damage (Prima, p.126). Each point of Attack above the target's Defense adds 5 percent damage, and each point of Defense above Attack takes 2 percent off (Prima, pp.162-170).

19:23 In this HD Edition battle, a Castle army that includes Angels is placed on a grass field before fighting Walking Dead, then the stacks take their turns. Speed decides who acts first in a battle round, and on the map the slowest creature in a hero's army sets how far the hero walks: an army whose slowest creature has speed 3 or 4 gets 15 tiles of movement, rising to 20 tiles at speed 11 or more (Prima, pp.97, 166). Creatures fighting on their town's native terrain get +1 Attack, Defense and Speed (Prima, p.165). How heroes add their own Attack and Defense to their troops is on Heroes.

Upgrades come from upgrading a dwelling in town: the upgraded creature is stronger, often faster, and often gains an ability, and turning an existing creature into its upgrade costs the difference in price (Prima, pp.109-110). The Hill Fort on the map also upgrades creatures (Prima, pp.349-351), and since the expansions players choose whether a town's dwelling sells base or upgraded creatures, upgraded by default (The Shadow of Death manual, p.10).

Level 7 creatures

The strongest creature of every town, in its base and upgraded form (Prima, pp.129-156; Armageddon's Blade manual, p.17; The Shadow of Death manual, pp.22, 25):

There is no single official "strongest creature". By the numbers, the Archangel has the highest Attack and Defense of any town creature, the Black Dragon, Titan and Ancient Behemoth share the most health (300), and the Phoenix is the fastest. The official guide calls the Archangel "one of the best units in the game", able to fly the length of the battlefield in one turn and resurrect other stacks (Prima, p.130). The Conflux is the only town whose level 7 dwelling grows two a week (Armageddon's Blade manual, p.17).

Every town's creatures and upgrades

All 63 pairs, level 1 to 7; each town page has the full stats (Prima, pp.127-156; Armageddon's Blade manual, pp.13-17).

The Shadow of Death changed only a few of these: the Lizardman and Lizard Warrior, the Serpent Fly and Dragon Fly, and the Angel's and Archangel's costs (The Shadow of Death manual, pp.24-25). The fan-made, unofficial Horn of the Abyss adds three more towns with creatures of their own: see Horn of the Abyss Towns.

Neutral creatures

Neutral creatures are "not associated with any particular town type, but may be found wandering the lands" (The Shadow of Death manual, p.18). The base game has the four elementals, which the Conflux later made its own, and two golems; the expansions added 23, ten of them the Conflux's new creatures and the rest below (Prima, p.157; The Shadow of Death manual, pp.18-23):

The Rust Dragon's gold price differs between the manuals: the Shadow of Death manual's text reads 5,000 gold and the Armageddon's Blade scan 15,000. The campaign heroes Gelu and Dracon can turn Archers, Marksmen, Wood Elves and Grand Elves into Sharpshooters, and Monks, Zealots, Magi and Arch Magi into Enchanters (Armageddon's Blade manual, pp.9-10). The base elementals also come from the four Summon Elemental spells on Spells and Magic.

Creature hatreds

A few creatures do 150 percent damage to a rival (Prima, pp.129-156):

• Angels and Archangels against Devils and Arch Devils, and the reverse.
• Genies and Master Genies against Efreet and Efreet Sultans, and the reverse.
• Black Dragons against Giants; Titans against Black Dragons.

Morale and mixing towns

An army's starting morale depends on how many towns its creatures come from: one town +1, two 0, three -1, four -2, five -3, six -4, seven -5. Undead and elementals have neutral morale, undead mixed with living creatures cost -1, and an enemy Bone Dragon lowers morale by 1 (Prima, p.13; Armageddon's Blade manual, p.13). Each point of good morale gives a 4.2 percent chance (up to 12.5 percent at +3) that a stack acts again; bad morale gives the same chance of freezing (Prima, p.165). The Shadow of Death's Angelic Alliance lets Rampart, Tower, Fortress, Stronghold and Castle creatures mix without the penalty (The Shadow of Death manual, pp.26-27).

Growth and recruiting

Every dwelling produces its creatures on day 1 of each week, and creatures not recruited stay and pile up (Prima, pp.109-110). A Citadel adds 50 percent to a town's production and a Castle 100 percent (Prima, p.106); a Grail building adds another 50 percent (p.111); some towns have buildings that add a fixed number, such as the Dungeon's Mushroom Rings (+7 Troglodytes). Creature dwellings on the map produce their creature each week at the town building's rate, and flagging one adds to your towns' production of that creature; dwellings of level 5 and up must be fought for first (Prima, pp.101, 349). The guide advises leaving creatures in their dwellings until a town is threatened and letting level 3 and 4 creatures pile up to 30 or more before recruiting (Prima, p.192).

Wandering neutral stacks on the map have a hostility rating from 1 (always joins) to 10 (always fights), and stack sizes are shown in words, from Few (1 to 4) to Legion (1,000 or more) (Prima, p.102). Creature banks such as the Dragon Utopia, the Griffin Conservatory (which wins Angels) and the Dragon Fly Hive (which wins Wyverns) guard creatures or treasure behind a fight (Prima, p.349); they are on Adventure Map.

In the Remake

The Remake rebuilds every town's creatures in 3D for 2027. After criticism of some units' designs, Ubisoft said on Oct 7, 2026 that the team had "already begun refining several creature models" (Ubisoft on Steam). It has not published creature stats for the Remake, as of Oct 21, 2026. Each town is on Towns.

Frequently asked questions

How many creatures are in Heroes 3? Heroes of Might and Magic 3 has 112 town creatures and 6 neutral creatures in the 1999 base game; Armageddon's Blade and The Shadow of Death bring it to 126 town creatures across nine towns plus 15 neutral creatures that belong to no town (141 in all), not counting war machines.

What is the strongest creature in Heroes 3? The Azure Dragon, a neutral creature added by the expansions, has the highest stats in Heroes of Might and Magic 3 (50 Attack, 50 Defense, 1,000 health). Among town creatures, the Archangel has the highest Attack and Defense (30 each) and the official guide calls it "one of the best units in the game", while the Black Dragon, Titan and Ancient Behemoth have the most health (300).

How do you upgrade creatures in Heroes 3? In Heroes of Might and Magic 3 you build the upgraded version of a creature's dwelling in town, then upgrade creatures there for the difference in price; the Hill Fort on the map upgrades them too.

What are neutral creatures in Heroes 3? Neutral creatures in Heroes of Might and Magic 3 belong to no town and are found on the map: the elementals and Gold and Diamond Golems in the base game, and 23 more from the expansions, including Peasants, Trolls, Sharpshooters, Enchanters and the Faerie, Rust, Crystal and Azure Dragons.

What are the level 7 creatures in Heroes 3? The level 7 creatures of Heroes of Might and Magic 3 are the Angel and Archangel, Green and Gold Dragon, Giant and Titan, Devil and Arch Devil, Bone and Ghost Dragon, Red and Black Dragon, Behemoth and Ancient Behemoth, Hydra and Chaos Hydra, and Firebird and Phoenix.

How often do creatures grow in Heroes 3? Creatures in Heroes of Might and Magic 3 grow once a week, on day 1; a Citadel adds 50 percent, a Castle 100 percent and a Grail building 50 percent more in its town.

Which dragons are in Heroes 3? Heroes of Might and Magic 3 has the Green and Gold Dragons (Rampart), Red and Black Dragons (Dungeon), Bone and Ghost Dragons (Necropolis), and the neutral Faerie, Rust, Crystal and Azure Dragons from the expansions.

Sources

• Heroes of Might and Magic III: Prima's Official Strategy Guide, Tom Ono, Prima Publishing, 1999, pp.13, 97, 101-102, 106, 109-111, 125-157, 162-170, 192, 349-351
• Heroes of Might and Magic III: Armageddon's Blade manual, The 3DO Company, 1999, pp.9-10, 13-17
• Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Shadow of Death user manual, The 3DO Company, 2000, pp.10, 18-27
• Heroes of Might and Magic III Remake news: "Community Roadmap, Playtest, and Events", Ubisoft on Steam, Oct 7, 2026
• Heroes of Might and Magic III Remake - Gameplay Overview Trailer, Ubisoft, Aug 26, 2026 (video)
• Heroes of Might and Magic 3 HD Edition - 4K GAMEPLAY, SergiuHellDragoonHQ, Apr 20, 2017 (video)