Hero's Hour Guides - Guide Hub

Don't be fooled by the pixel graphics of Hero's Hour -- this is a deep strategy game that mixes auto battlers with tactical choices on the world stage and in each individual battle. Featuring 11 factions, hundreds of units, and dozens of skills, artifacts, and spells, there's a lot to unpack here. We're here to help you get started!

Quicklinks: Faction Guides | Beginner's Guide | Basic Game Tutorial | FAQ

Hero's Hour Faction Guides

• Arcane Faction Guide
• Decay Faction Guide
• Earthen Faction Guide
• Enclave Faction Guide
• Horde Faction Guide
• Lament Faction Guide
• Order Faction Guide
• Pillar Faction Guide
• Pyre Faction Guide
• Tide Faction Guide
• Wild Faction Guide

Hero's Hour Beginner's Guide - Game Mechanics You Need to Know

Hero's Hour has some pretty complex mechanics that you'll need to understand if you want to succeed. We'll break things down for you.

Factions

There are a total of 11 Factions in the game. Make sure to check out our Faction Guides (at the top of this Hero's Hour Guides Hub) to learn more about each one!

Towns

Towns serve as the center of your civilization. You produce units here, upgrade them, and occasionally use special abilities.

You can build or upgrade a building in your Town once per Turn and you can produce new Units once per Week. Generally, you should always try to erect a new building or upgrade an existing one every turn if possible.

Resources

There are six basic Resources in the game.

• Gold - Cold, hard cash. Used for erecting buildings, upgrading them, and training & upgrading units.
• Ore - Metal used for upgrading buildings and producing some units.
• Wood - Used for upgrading buildings and producing some units.
• Mercury - Used for producing high-end specialty units in some Factions.
• Crystal - Used for producing high-end specialty units in some Factions.
• Sulfur - Used for producing high-end specialty units in some Factions.

Each Faction has Resources that it needs over others. Many units in the Wild Faction, for example, use Wood (and you can even generate extra Wood with one of their Unique Buildings).

Some Factions have unique Resources that only they use. For example, Pillar has Gems and Tide has Pearls.

Heroes

Heroes are the commanders of your army. They can cast spells and buff units. Each Faction has two Hero types, each of which has three different individual Heroes. Each individual Hero has an alternate cosmetic choice, and all Heroes have their own unique Skill Tree.

Skills & Spells

Skills are passive abilities that improve your Hero and their armies in various ways.

Spells are magic used by Heroes (and some units) that can do pretty much everything: cause damage, prevent damage, resurrect the dead, or even teleport your whole army across the man. Using Spells requires Mana, a resource that the Hero regenerates slowly every day.

Artifacts

Artifacts are equipment for your Heroes. Some Artifacts come in Sets, and collecting all of the Sets unlocks a bonus.

Units, Rare Units, Regiments, and Caravans

Units are the soldiers of your army, typically produced at your Town. You can sometimes get Units from other Factions through buildings in your Town or Adventure Buildings found in the game world. Every Faction has 3 "Unit Choices" where you must decide to produce one of two types of Unit. (You can change your mind later by pushing a button on the Unit Creation screen.)

Rare Units are highly-specialized Units that often cannot be produced by any one Faction; rather, you'll get them as a reward for completing a battle or something similar. Some Factions (such as Earthen) can create Rare Units.

Regiments are armies with no Hero leading them. You can make a Regiment by dragging your Units to the right on the Hero screen.

Caravans are highly-mobile Regiments that carry units produced at an Adventure Building to the nearest Hero or Town. Caravans can be attacked by enemy forces.

Mines

Mines generate one type of Resource and are typically protected by Neutral Regiments. Once captured, they'll produce a certain amount of that Resource for you every day. You can, of course, capture Mines from enemy players.

Some Mines are "Potential Mines." Potential Mines will not produce any Resources until you've spent some Resources setting them up.

Adventure Buildings

Adventure Buildings are special buildings on the map that are typically guarded by Neutral Regiments. These can do various effects depending on the building including (but not limited to) upgrading your Units, teaching your Hero a new skill, or regularly producing Units that you can't create with your Faction.

Obelisks & Buried Treasure

Obelisks are big, pointy buildings that can start a mini-quest to reveal Buried Treasure. Once activated, you can pick up a series of Clues that will narrow down where the Buried Treasure is.

After you have enough Clues, you can go to the area depicted on the map and use the "Dig for Riches" button above the minimap once you're in range. This will reward you with Resources, Artifacts, and Treasure Chests.

Neutral Regiments (Creeps) & Roaming Neutrals

Neutral Regiments are the "Creeps" of Hero's Hour -- they typically protect uncaptured Mines and Adventure Buildings.

Roaming Neutrals are Heroes with armies that are not aligned to any player. They will not typically attack you, but they're worth fighting -- they often carry valuable treasure.

Guardposts, Portals, and Docks

Maps in Hero's Hour typically separate players from one another using Guardposts, Portals, or Docks.

Guardposts are fortresses built at defensive chokepoints. They usually have the strongest Neutral Regiments in the area protecting them. Once defeated, you'll automatically capture them. You can upgrade them by spending Wood and Ore to hold a larger Garrison, protecting your land from enemy attacks to a degree.

Portals instantly transport you from one fixed point on the map to another fixed point on the map. They usually have a Neutral Regiment protecting them. There are no buildings protecting them like with Guardposts, so they are more difficult to defend once you've cleared the area.

Docks allow you to build Ships and travel on water. The Tide Faction can create a free Ship at any coastline once they've built a particular Unique Building.

The Enemy(s)

Every game of Hero's Hour has one or more enemies for you to overcome. This is your biggest threat. They can only be defeated once they have no more Heroes, Regiments, or owned buildings on the map.

Hero's Hour Basic Game Tutorial

All of these Hero's Hour Guides won't count for much if you don't know how to play the game. Here's a basic tutorial that will tell you what a typical game of Hero's Hour looks like!

1. Getting Started - Picking a Map and Opponents

The very first thing you'll have to do is select a map, your Faction, and the enemy Factions. Once that's done, you can select your starting Hero. You can opt to pick a random Faction (for yourself or your enemies) if you so choose.

2. Early Game Moves - Capturing Mines and Adventure Buildings

Once you've begun the game, your first move should be to produce more Units and erect a new Building (or upgrade an existing one). It's a good idea to focus on buildings that will let you make new units so you can start building your army.

Use your Hero and their starting units to explore the map. You can claim some loose Resources on the ground this way to get an early-game boost. Don't start any battles with Neutral Regiments or Roaming Neutrals until the difficulty is "Moderate" or lower -- you don't want to lose your precious soldiers so early in the game.

Once you've built up a decent Army, focus on capturing Mines so you can start getting some more Resources produced every day. Don't forget to use these Resources to build or upgrade buildings every Turn and produce new Units every week!

3. Mid-Game - Exploring Outside of Your Territory

If you play your cards right, you'll be able to grow your army and conquer many Mines and Adventure Buildings in the territory surrounding your Town. Eventually, you'll come to the point where you need to expand beyond your borders.

How this plays out depends on the map. You may need to destroy a Guardpost, go through a Portal, or build a Ship at a Dock to make it out of your starting area. Some maps have totally neutral zones that cannot be owned by any one player.

In any case, your next move after you've got some momentum and a decent army is to start expanding outward. Capture more Mines and Adventure Buildings, whether they're owned by Neutrals or an enemy player.

4. Late Game - Battling Other Players

Inevitably, you'll come up against an enemy Hero and their army. If you're lucky, you'll be able to fight them and win. If not, you might have to retreat and build up your army some more.

Your basic strategy should be to fight enemy Heroes when you can win and run when you cannot. Take every opportunity to capture Mines or Adventure Buildings held by the enemy, too -- these will make them weaker and make you stronger.

5. Victory - How to Win a Game of Hero's Hour

Your ultimate goal is to conquer all enemies. You can eliminate a faction once it has no more units on the map and owns no buildings, including its Town.

A 1v1 game will end once you've defeated the enemy faction. Games with more players, however, won't end when you defeat an enemy player. Instead, you'll capture their Town and can use it to produce units. It's essentially a second Town, with all of the bonuses (and headaches) that confers.

Hero's Hour FAQ

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What is Hero's Hour?

Hero's Hour is a fantasy strategy game where you try to conquer other players on a world map. It's also an auto battler, although you can exercise a level of control over your units during combat.

Is Hero's Hour an RTS?

Hero's Hour is not an RTS game. However, you can make your units move around while a battle is going on.

Does Hero's Hour Have a Campaign?

Hero's Hour does not have a campaign as of its Steam Early Access launch.

Does Hero's Hour Have Online Multiplayer?

Hero's Hour does not have online multiplayer. However, it does support Steam Remote Play and has a local Hotseat Mode if you'd prefer to play with other people.

Which Faction Should I Play?

The Order Faction and Horde Faction are good choices for new players -- they don't have any unique mechanics that would be difficult to understand. Once you're comfortable with these basic Factions, check out our Faction Guides and begin exploring some of the other options!

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That's all for our Hero's Hour Guides Hub. Hopefully, our guides will help get you started on the path to victory!