Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era Gets Patch 0.80.49 With New Maps
Turn-based strategy fans waiting on Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era have a fresh patch to dive into today, while the developers at Unfrozen also confirmed what’s coming next on their early-access roadmap—along with a later, more involved balance pass planned in beta form.
The update rolling out now is version 0.80.49, bringing two new maps into the game. One of them was created by Papyjama, a community member behind a large fan-made map for the original Heroes 3. For Olden Era, that work has been adapted into a new scenario set on “Tajemnicza Wyspa” (Mystery Island). The developers also noted that a refreshed version of Papyjama’s map had already appeared in a previous August patch, and today’s release folds that content into the current build alongside an additional new addition.
For players who want specifics about what’s new, the team shared details on the two scenarios included with this patch. The first, titled “Zerwane Przymierze,” is available only through custom play and the hot seat mode. In it, players face off against former allies, effectively “painting the map” with the colors of their chosen faction. The second scenario, “Więźniowie,” centers on a search party that ventures deep into a mysterious forest, hoping to locate missing commanders.
Beyond today’s content drop, Unfrozen also confirmed that a larger “roadmap” update is scheduled for this month. This will be the big early-access patch that the studio has been teasing, and it’s planned to introduce multiple gameplay systems rather than only adding scenarios. Among the confirmed additions are a new team mode, referred to as “Sojusze,” more advanced options for the Random Map Generator, and improvements to the Koło Reakcji (Reaction Wheel). The developers also highlighted changes to the ranking system and player search functionality, aiming to make matchmaking and finding opponents more reliable.
While the studio is holding back the full details of that larger patch, it promised that it will publish a closer look soon to explain the new gameplay elements in greater depth.
Finally, after the roadmap-focused update lands, the developers said they plan to roll out the balance changes that players have been anticipating. These adjustments will not come as part of the standard roadmap update. Instead, they’re expected to arrive through a beta version that interested players will be able to opt into. The balance work includes a redesign of the faction ability system for the Temple, reshaped into a set of “prayers” meant to better reflect the beliefs and faith of that faction. Armies associated with the Hive and the Dungeon are also set to gain a new ability intended to reduce how often they “bleed out” during fights. The changes will extend to the Battle Magic and Battlecraft systems as well.
On top of ability and rules tuning, the balance-focused patch is also expected to add new units. Unfrozen said it is simultaneously working to improve AI behavior by introducing fresh combat strategies, though it again emphasized that it’s not yet committing to a precise timing for when the gameplay-impacting changes will be applied inside Olden Era.
