Heroes 3 damage calculation

26 Aug 2020

Created by: HoMM Utopia

Guide sections

  1. tl;dr
  2. Base damage
  3. Damage increases
  4. Damage reductions
  5. Examples

tl;dr

Looking at the HoMM3 damage calculation, it may seem very complicated - but in truth, it’s nothing more than bunch of modifiers that affect the base damage your creature or a stack of creatures will do. When it comes to modifiers, we have those that will increase your damage and those that will reduce it.

Base damage

The first thing we have to know about is the base damage (DMGb) our unit or a stack can do. Everything else we add to our Damage calculations are basically modifiers of the base damage. We calculate these modifiers as I (increase) and R (reduction). Every unit has its own range of Damage, and it is displayed in its stats (e. g. Black Dragon has 40-50 Damage range). Some of the units have a fixed Damage value, like Archangel at 50. Of course, it’s always best to have as many units as possible, because damage will be increased as our stack gets bigger.

The next thing we need to know is the calculation of base Damage for a stack of creatures: if we have less than or equal to 10 creatures in a stack, a random value is chosen in a damage range for each creature. Let’s say we have 3 Black dragons – we get a random Damage value for all three of them, and they are added up. If there are more than 10 creatures in a stack, 10 random values are chosen in a Damage range of the unit and are then added up. The final result is later multiplied by N/10, where N is the number of creatures in the stack. Lastly, this calculated value is rounded down and we have our base damage.

Damage increases

Of course, the first thing we want to do when attacking is to get those numbers up. There are a total of 5 variables that will increase your damage:

Attack and Defense stat difference

If the attacking unit’s attack value is greater than defending unit’s defense, the attacking unit receives a 5% bonus to for each attack point exceeding the total defense points of the unit under attack – I1 in this case. We can get up to 300% increase in our damage in this way.

On the other hand, if defending unit’s defense value is greater than attacking unit’s attack we get the R1 variable, which means that the attacking creature gets a 2.5% penalty to its total dealt damage for every point the attack value is lower. R1 variable can decrease the amount of received damage by up to 30%.

Secondary skills (Offense and Archery)

The I2 variable comes into count when we have a hero with Offense and/or Archery skill. Offense skill grants our close-combat, melee attacks 0, 10%, 20% or 30% increase depending on the skill level, while creatures attacking from the distance get damage increase of 0, 10%, 25% or 50% based on Archery skill level respectfully.

Heroes with Archery or Offense specialty

Next we have the I3 variable, reserved for Heroes with Offense or Archery specialty. There are a couple of heroes with this specialty, and they get a 5% increase in damage per experience level, so the formula is calculated thus: I3 = 0.05 × hero level × I2

Luck bonus (lucky strike)

It is always good to get lucky in a battle – the possibilities of a lucky strike (I4) are influenced by the combat variable luck, which may be neutral (0), positive (+1), good (+2) or excellent (+3). The probability of a lucky strike varies from 0% to 12.5%.

Unit abilities (cavalier charge, ballista double attack etc.)

The I5 variable comes from creature specialties (for instance, the jousting specialty of Cavaliers and Champions grants them 5% added damage for every hex they travel during the battle; I5 = 0.05 × squares travelled) and from creatures that hate each other, which gives them a 50% damage increase when they attack each other.

Damage Reductions

On another note, we have modifiers that will reduce the amount of damage we make (or receive):

Secondary skill (Armorer)

Armorer secondary skill reduces the damage done to a hero’s unit or a stack engaged in melee or ranged combat. Depending on the skill level, R2 can reduce the damage 5% - 15%.

Heroes with Armorer specialty

Heroes with Armorer specialty get another 5% bonus per level to their Armorer skill – this is the R3 variable.

Magic shields

There are a couple of spells that affect damage directly; not by increasing or decreasing the attack and defense skills of troops in combat – Shield, Air Shield, and Forgetfulness are counted as R4.

Range and Melee penalty

Most ranged units will inflict only 50% damage to defending creatures that are at a distance of ten or more hexes on the battlefield. There are artifacts that can cancel this R5 penalty; also Sharpshooters are not affected by the distance from their target. When a ranged unit is blocked by an enemy unit, it has to resort to melee attacks, which also reduces their damage by 50%.

Obstacle Penalty

Obstacle penalty (R6) reduces damage another 50% if a ranged unit attacks over the wall during a siege. Again, artifacts and some ranged units negate this penalty.

Mind spells

Some mind spells affect the amount of damage unit makes – e. g. Blind can modify R7 and reduce creature’s retaliation strength by 50%, 25% or it can make the attacking unit completely avoid the retaliation. Forgetfulness makes half of ranged units forget to attack.

Creature Specialties

Damage is also affected by creatures’ special abilities and is reduced by it. Creatures like Psychic Elementals or Magic Elementals are influenced by R8 depending on the units they attack.

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