Heroes 3 Complete Necromancy guide - learn the ins and outs of one of the most overpowered HoMM skills

14 Nov 2020

Created by: HoMM Utopia

Necromancy is a secondary skill that allows the Heroes having it to raise killed enemy creatures as Skeletons or Skeleton Warriors. All Death Knights and Necromancers start with this skill at a basic level, with the exception of Isra the Death Knight and Vidomina the Necromancer, who will both start with advanced Necromancy.

With Necromancy at a basic level, 10% of killed enemy creatures will be resurrected as Skeletons. Advanced Necromancy allows the Hero to resurrect 20% of killed enemy creatures, and with expert Necromancy 30% of enemy creatures killed will be brought back to life as undead. In Horn of the Abyss version of the game, the skill percentages are reduced by half - basic Necromancy resurrects 5% of creatures killed, advanced 10% and expert 15%.

How does Necromancy work

The number of raised Skeletons depends on three factors - number of killed creatures, amount of health points of units killed and the level of Necromancy skill.

First of all, all creatures killed are taken into account (this includes sacrificed and cloned creatures, summoned elementals and war machines). The total number of raised Skeletons can never be higher than the number of creatures killed in battle. If the Hero raising the killed enemy creatures has only Skeleton Warriors among his army and no more room for new troops, Skeleton Warriors will be added to his army. But this way, he will get only 66.6% (or two thirds) of Skeleton Warriors compared to Skeletons. If the Hero doesn't have any type of Skeletons in his army and no available room, none of the killed enemy creatures will be raised.

Secondly, the total health of raised Skeletons can't be higher than the total health of creatures killed. The health of the killed enemy units affects the efficiency of reviving creatures in the following way:

1 HP = 16.6% efficiency 2 HP = 33.3% efficiency 3 HP = 50% efficiency 4 HP = 66.6% efficiency 5 HP = 83.3% efficiency 6 HP or more = 100% efficiency

This means that the Hero with 30% Necromancy, who kills 100 units with 6 HP or more will get 30 Skeletons, and the units with less health points will be raised according to percentages in the table. And thirdly, level of Necromancy used in calculations can never exceed 100%. Also, at least one creature will always be raised from any battle.

Necromancy skill increases

There is a lot of stuff that can affect the level of Necromancy. Necromancy is considered to be one of the strongest secondary skills in the game, and here is why:

Artifacts

Artifacts that will increase the Necromancy skill are: Amulet of the Undertaker - 5% increase (2,5% in HotA); Vampire's Cowl - 10% increse (5% in HotA); Dead Man's Boots - 15% increase (7,5% in HotA).

artifacts-that-improve-necromancy Artifacts that improve Necromancy

Cloak of the Undead King

Cloak of the Undead King is an artifact that allows the Hero with Necromancy skill to raise other undead creatures than Skeletons back to life. This is a combination artifact and it requires the Amulet of the Undertaker, Dead Man's Boots and Vampire's Cowl to be collected. Once assembled, it will resurrect 30% (15% in HotA) of enemy troops killed in battle and depending on the level of the skill, different undead will rise: Walking Dead with basic Necromancy, Wights with advanced Necromancy and Liches with expert Necromancy. Now, when it comes to number of raised creatures, these units have more health than Skeletons, so less is raised. And again, if the Hero has only upgraded versions of these units, two thirds of upgraded creatures will be raised.

Heroes' specialty

Besides starting with advanced Necromancy, Isra and Vidomina also have Necromancy specialty, which gives them 5% increase with every level.

heroes-with-necromancy-specialty Heroes with Necromancy specialty

Buildings

Necromancy Amplifier is a building that can be built in every Necropolis, and it increases the Necromancy skill by 10%. Having more Necro cities means being able to build more Amplifiers, and they add up. Another building that you can erect is the grail structure - Soul Prison. Besides giving the standard 5000 gold and 50% additional creature growth, it will increase Necromancy by 20%.

buildings-that-improve-necromancy Buildings that improve Necromancy

Conclusion

We hope that you learned some new stuff about the Necromancy skill and that you were able to understand it and benefit from this guide. Also, bear in mind that other Heroes (besides Death Knights and Necromancers) cannot get this skill if otherwise not specified by map creators.

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