HoMM3 Resources Guide

There are a total of seven resources in the game. Other than Gold, we have the basic resources (Wood and Ore) and magical resources (Mercury, Sulfur, Gems, and Crystals). You can find out more about Gold and how to obtain it in our Gold guide.

As far as other resources go, there are almost always required in order to build and upgrade structures in a Town, as well as for recruiting certain units.

Where to obtain resources?

Most commonly, resources can be found in the Adventure map to be picked up. They will be scattered throughout the map and will be in various amounts. When it comes to collecting Wood and Ore, you will get between 5 and 10 of them. Magical resources can be found in amounts between 3 and 6.

Resource Mines

Even though pickups are the fastest and most usual way of obtaining resources, you can collect a pile only once and eventually, the map will run out of them. Therefore, the primary source of these resources will be mines. Sawmill and Ore Pit will grant you +2 to Wood and Ore every day they are in your possession. The mines of magical resources will each give +1 to these precious resources, so Crystal Cavern produces +1 Crystal; Gem Pond produces +1 Gem; Alchemist's Lab produces +1 Mercury; and Sulfur Dune produces +1 Sulfur. Of course, the more mines you own, the more resources you will get, since they all add up.

There are also Abandoned Mines, where you will need to fight the Troglodytes so as to restore the mine to production. These mines can provide you randomly with one of the resources except for Wood.

Resource Silo

Another great way of acquiring resources is by building Resource Silos in your Towns. You can build one Resource Silo in one Town, after building the Marketplace. In essence, the Resource Silo will give you extra resources depending on the Town requirements for 7th level units.

Resource Silos and resources they give

In Towns where the Resource Silo grants extra magical resources, this structure is extremely useful - because it can help the Towns develop faster and can make the Town become self-sufficient. Other Towns will give +2 Wood and Ore, which is also useful, since these resources are needed to build the majority of structures in the Town.

Trivial fact - in the original game, for the recruitment of 7th level units in Castle, Stronghold, Fortress and Necropolis no magical resources were required. The Resource Silo in these Towns therefore gave extra Wood and Ore and it remained like that to this day.

Heroes' specialty

Certain Heroes can also provide your Kingdom with extra magical resources. They will grant you +1 to these resources daily. The Heroes providing you with added resources are Rissa the Alchemist, Calid the Heretic, Saurug the Battle Mage, Sephinroth the Warlock and Andal the Navigator.

Heroes who give extra resources

It is interesting that none of these Heroes will give you the resources their Town needs for recruiting 7th level units.

Artifacts

When it comes to artifacts, there is one for each of the resources. When equipped, the artifact will give +1 to your resource on daily basis. Inexhaustible Cart of Lumber will give you +1 Wood; Inexhaustible Cart of Ore will give you +1 Ore; Everpouring Vial of Mercury will give you +1 Mercury; Eversmoking Ring of Sulfur will give you +1 Sulfur; Everflowing Crystal Cloak will give you +1 Crystal; and Ring of Infinite Gems will give you +1 Gems.

Artifacts that give extra resources

There is also an artifact you can assemble – Cornucopia. This relic class combination artifact produces 5 units of each of the magical resources daily, and you will need Everpouring Vial of Mercury, Eversmoking Ring of Sulfur, Everflowing Crystal Cloak and Ring of Infinite Gems for its assembly.

Buildings

There are particular buildings in Towns that can help you with acquiring resources. You may get the resources you need in Marketplaces by trading them, you can sell artifacts in Artifact Merchants, or you can sell units in Freelancer’s Guild. In Rampart, a Mystic Pond will provide you with 1-4 random resources at the beginning of every week.

Creatures

Crystal Dragons are a source of Crystals. If you have them in your army, they will provide you with 3 additional Crystals every week.

Crystal Dragons have Crystal generation ability

Unfortunately, the amount of Crystal you will get is fixed, so it doesn’t matter how many Crystal Dragons you have in your army – they will always provide you with the same number of Crystals.

Creature Banks

Creature Banks are Adventure map objects which can sometimes give you a hefty amount of resources. You may look for resources in Cyclops Stockpiles, Dwarven Treasuries, Imp Caches, Medusa Stores, Naga Banks and Mansions (in HotA).

Creature Banks and resources they give

However, you will need to fight guards in order to get to these resources. Only upon beating them, you shall get the spoils. The number of creatures defending the Banks is varying, but they will always be guarded by the same creatures – Cyclops guard their Stockpile, Dwarves guard their Treasury, Imps guard their Cache, Medusas guard their Store and the Mansion is guarded by Vampire Lords.

Warehouses

In the Horn of the Abyss version of the game, Warehouses are introduced and they also give a certain number of resources. These locations will give you resources once per week when visited. The quantity they will give you is 10 for Wood and Ore and 6 for magical resources. Warehouses need to be restocked, so visiting them more than once in one week will not result in you getting double resources.

Warehouses can be found only in Horn of the Abyss version

In HotA, you can also find Warlock’s lab. This is a structure where you can exchange magical resources in 1:1 ratio. But, before being able to do this, you will need to fight strong creatures, since they will guard this object.

Other Adventure map objects

In the end, there are also some pickables and more Adventure map objects which can be visited for extra resources. They may be found on land or in water.

Pickables and other map objects that give you resources

Be sure to visit Windmills, Water wheels, Prospector (HotA) and Mystical Gardens every week. Also, make certain you pick up every Campfire, Lean To, Wagon etc. you stumble upon.

Conclusion

We hope that we have covered everything you need to know and wanted to know about acquiring resources. Besides being able to build some structures that will help you with this, a lot depends on the map. If the map you are playing is scarce, chances are you will struggle with resources, which can affect your game greatly. Try and find those needed locations and don’t forget to visit them, since you opponent will certainly not hesitate!