Fortress

The Fortress is the swamp town of Heroes of Might and Magic 3: home of the Beastmaster (might) and the Witch (magic), it recruits Gnolls, Lizardmen, Serpent Flies, Basilisks, Gorgons, Wyverns and Hydras, each with an upgrade, up to the Chaos Hydra, which attacks every enemy next to it and cannot be counterstruck. The official strategy guide calls it "a real bargain": its creature dwellings need less gold than any other town's, and it is easy to defend once its siege buildings stand, but "Fortress-based armies lack upper-end punch", so it suits resource-poor maps and shorter games (Prima's Official Strategy Guide, p.114). It is one of the nine Towns.

Quick facts

Fortress creatures

Each cell gives the base creature, then its upgrade, with The Restoration of Erathia's numbers from the official guide. Speed is in hexes a round; growth is per week from the base dwelling, before a Citadel, Castle or Grail adds to it (Prima, pp.134-137).

The Shadow of Death changed two Fortress creatures "for better game play balance" (The Shadow of Death manual, pp.10, 24), and these are the numbers in the Complete edition and the Steam Complete Edition, which include it:

The same update gave Dragon Flies the power to cast Weakness on their target every time they attack (The Shadow of Death manual, p.24). The HD Edition is based on the 1999 base game (Steam).

Lizardmen shoot with bows (12 shots, 24 for Lizard Warriors). Serpent Flies and Dragon Flies remove any beneficial spells from their target. Basilisks Petrify like the Dungeon's Medusas: a 20 percent chance to freeze the target for three rounds or until attacked (Prima, pp.132, 135).

Mighty Gorgons have the Death Stare: after damage, a chance of (number of Mighty Gorgons / 10) x 10 percent to kill the top creature of the target stack. Wyvern Monarchs have a 20 percent chance to Poison, which takes 50 percent of the top creature's health at once and again each round until the Cure spell or the end of combat. Hydras attack all enemy stacks within one hex, and that attack cannot be countered (Prima, pp.136-137). Every town's creatures are side by side on Creatures.

How the Fortress army plays

The guide rates Fortress armies "among the best at lower levels": the Gnoll's high Defense lets it survive long enough to close with the enemy, and Serpent Flies, Dragon Flies above all, are so much faster than anything of their level that they can "fly circles" around enemies (Prima, p.137).

Gorgons and Wyverns add two attacks that whittle down big stacks, though the guide says the Death Stare is not reliable until you have a large stack of Gorgons, "50 or more", at which point they can "take out two or three Giants in a single blow". The full army's strength is "its high average Defense rating" and its weakness is Speed: apart from the Wyvern Monarch and Dragon Fly, Fortress creatures are "far slower than those of other armies", which hurts the Chaos Hydra, since faster enemies avoid its multi-hex attack (Prima, p.137). The Hydra is "the slowest in its class and lacks a ranged attack" (p.114). How speed and retaliation work is on Combat.

1:17 Quick Save's 2018 ranking of the nine towns, an opinion piece, puts the Fortress last: it likes the Hydra and calls the Mighty Gorgon the town's "MVP" for its Death Stare, notes the Lizard Warrior is the only shooter, and finds the town cheaper than the others but not "very exciting to use".

Heroes

The Beastmaster is the Barbarian reversed: the highest starting Defense of any class, raised fastest, with Armorer its main secondary skill. The guide notes a high Attack is usually better than a high Defense, except for the defender in a siege, so Beastmasters "make superior garrison commanders", especially with plenty of shooters (Prima, p.34); it names the Beastmaster the best level-one garrison commander (Prima, p.60).

The Witch is "another highly specialized magic user, but not as much as the Warlock or Wizard". Eagle Eye is her main skill, with good odds of Wisdom, Sorcery, Mysticism and First Aid, and Earth and Water Magic as her likeliest schools; the guide suggests using Eagle Eye, Wisdom and Scholar to collect spells and pass them to other heroes (Prima, p.56). Spells are on Spells and Magic.

Armageddon's Blade's campaign hero Adrienne is "an outcast Fire Witch in the land of Tatalia" who starts with Expert Fire Magic (Armageddon's Blade manual, pp.9-11). All classes are compared on Heroes.

Buildings and the Grail

The Fortress's Mage Guild stops at level 3, it can build a Shipyard when it stands on a shore (Prima, pp.107, 111), and it has these buildings of its own (Prima, p.114):

The guide's bargain is that the dwellings need less gold than any other town's and lean on wood, "almost always in good supply and is the least expensive to purchase from Marketplaces", and that the Fortress is easier to defend than most once the Blood Obelisk, Glyphs of Fear and Cage of Warlords are built (Prima, p.114). The Hydra Pond costs 10,000 gold and the upgraded pond 15,000 gold, 10 wood, 10 ore and 20 sulfur. Build orders are on Town Build Order.

The Fortress's Grail building is the Carnivorous Plant: like every Grail structure it adds 50 percent creature production in its town and 5,000 gold a day, and it gives the garrison hero +10 Attack and Defense during a siege (Prima, p.111). On swamp, the slowest terrain to cross (175 percent movement cost), Fortress creatures get +1 Attack, Defense and Speed (Prima, pp.98, 165-166).

In the campaigns

The Restoration of Erathia's neutral campaign Spoils of War opens with Borderlands, where the player starts with two Fortress towns and picks Korbac the Beastmaster, Verdish the Witch or a random Fortress hero. Because the final map, Greed, is mostly swamp, the guide advises bringing the Borderlands Witches and Beastmasters there for the native terrain bonus (Prima, p.306). Armageddon's Blade's Playing with Fire follows Adrienne as she hunts a "strangely familiar Death Knight" turning Tatalia into a harvesting ground for the undead (Armageddon's Blade manual, pp.9-11). All campaigns are on Campaigns.

In the Remake

3:53 In the Remake's gameplay overview, Ubisoft says each of the "nine unique faction towns" has its own buildings, powers and line-up of creatures, and says every faction will be playable from day one in the Remake (Ubisoft on Steam, Aug 27, 2026), which rebuilds the original and both expansions in 3D for 2027. Fortress creatures already appear in one of the Remake's Steam store screenshots: a hydra, a wyvern, a dragonfly and lizard warriors gathered in a misty swamp (Steam). Ubisoft has not detailed changes to Fortress creatures or buildings, as of Oct 21, 2026, and its Oct 7, 2026 roadmap says the team has "begun refining several creature models" after feedback (Ubisoft on Steam).

Frequently asked questions

What are the Fortress units in Heroes 3? The Fortress in Heroes of Might and Magic 3 recruits Gnolls, Lizardmen, Serpent Flies, Basilisks, Gorgons, Wyverns and Hydras, which upgrade to Gnoll Marauders, Lizard Warriors, Dragon Flies, Greater Basilisks, Mighty Gorgons, Wyvern Monarchs and Chaos Hydras.

How does the Hydra attack in Heroes 3? The Hydra and Chaos Hydra in Heroes of Might and Magic 3 attack every enemy stack within one hex at once, and no stack can retaliate. The Chaos Hydra has 18 Attack, 20 Defense, 25-45 damage and 250 health and costs 3,500 gold and 1 sulfur, per the official strategy guide.

Is the Fortress a good town in Heroes 3? The official strategy guide for Heroes of Might and Magic 3 calls the Fortress "a real bargain" that is strong at low levels and easy to defend, but slow and short of top-end punch, so it suits resource-poor maps and shorter games.

What did The Shadow of Death change for the Fortress? The Shadow of Death raised the Lizardman's and Lizard Warrior's stats and weekly growth to 9, raised the Serpent Fly's and Dragon Fly's Attack and Defense, and let Dragon Flies cast Weakness on every attack in Heroes of Might and Magic 3.

What is the Fortress's Grail building? The Fortress's Grail building in Heroes of Might and Magic 3 is the Carnivorous Plant, which adds 50 percent creature production and 5,000 gold a day and gives the garrison hero +10 Attack and Defense during a siege.

What is the Mighty Gorgon's Death Stare? The Mighty Gorgon's Death Stare in Heroes of Might and Magic 3 can kill the top creature of the stack it attacks after damage, with a chance that grows with the number of Mighty Gorgons; the official guide says it becomes reliable at about 50 Gorgons.

Sources

• Heroes of Might and Magic III: Prima's Official Strategy Guide, Tom Ono, Prima Publishing, 1999, pp.34-35, 56-57, 60, 98, 107, 111, 114, 132, 134-137, 165-166, 306
• Heroes of Might and Magic III: Armageddon's Blade manual, The 3DO Company, 1999, pp.9-11
• Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Shadow of Death user manual, The 3DO Company, 2000, pp.10, 24
• Heroes of Might & Magic III - HD Edition, Steam store page, read Oct 21, 2026
• Heroes of Might and Magic III Remake, Steam store page, read Oct 21, 2026
• Heroes of Might and Magic III Remake news: "Welcome Back to Erathia" and "Community Roadmap, Playtest, and Events", Ubisoft on Steam, Aug 27, 2026 and Oct 7, 2026
• Heroes of Might and Magic III Remake - Gameplay Overview Trailer, Ubisoft, Aug 26, 2026 (video)
• Heroes of Might and Magic III: Ranking the Town Factions, Quick Save, Jun 7, 2018 (video)