The Master of Magic Heroes Compendium

Occasionally, a hero will offer their services in exchange for gold. This is known as a solicitation, or a request for a job. The chance of a hero offering their services is based on several factors:

* Your wizard's fame,
* Your wizard's gold supply, and
* The number of heroes already in your wizard's army.

Like everything else in Master of Magic©, the chance of a hero asking for work is based on a mathematical formula. The chart shown below details your chances based on the variables listed above. By using this chart, you can better prepare your wizard to be approached by a hero:

Before we discuss the chart, remember that gold also plays an important part in hiring heroes. Why is this? Because almost every hero has a base hiring cost (refer to the Hero Compendium) which you must have on-hand before a hero will even approach you! Example: on your turn the computer determines that you are eligible to be approached by a low-level hero with a 100 gold hiring cost. However, you only have 75 gold in your reserves. Because you are short on gold, the hero doesn't even approach you. You wouldn't even know that you were eligible for a hero since you didn't have enough gold!

Now, what does the chart tell us about attracting heroes? First, the higher your fame, the better your chance. Second, the more heroes you already have, the lower your chance. Third, no matter what, these are pretty crappy chances. This is why solicitation is ranked the least valuable method of acquiring heroes. Not that you shouldn't try to attract a hero, but there are more reliable methods available.

In most cases, the only time you will be interested in hiring a hero is at the start of the game. Chances are, you will not have the spells Summon Hero or Summon Champion, and heroes are usually rescued from the tougher lairs. Therefore, solicitation is your only real alternative for collecting a hero at the start of the game. To make matters worse, you will only be approached by low-level to mid-level heroes. "Why even Bother?", you ask. Because some of these heroes are excellent candidates to help you get on your feet at the start of the game. Don't worry about keeping them throughout the game, because they are "disposable". You will use them until their usefulness has run-out, and then disband them.

What do you look for in a "disposable" hero? Look for the following attributes:

Noble
Heroes with the Noble attribute cost nothing and add 10 gold to your bankroll each turn! Heroes such as B'Shan the Dervish are great for helping you make financial ends meet when times are tough. Once you have your budget balanced and are turning a decent profit, let him go.

Leadership
Leadership is extremely valuable at the start of the game since it boosts the attack strength of all the normal units stacked with the hero. Since your first army usually consist of nothing more than swordsmen and bowmen, this can make quite a difference in a battle. Let Valana the Bard lead your army for a while until you develop tougher units, and then send her home.

Sage
Is your spell research barely moving? Hire a sage to help you out. A hero with the Sage attribute adds to your spell research, helping you speed up the acquisition of new spells. Hire the old-but-wise Zaldron the Sage and leave him at your fortress. Since he is also a spell-caster, he can help pay for overland enchantments! Once you have built enough shrines and temples and have a solid mana base, let Zaldron retire and collect his pension.

Scouting
Can't seem to clear the map fast enough? Hire a scout to help you out. Scouts can see farther than normal units and can really clear up a map in a hurry. Hire Rakir the Beastmaster and try to speed him up with spells like Endurance or Water Walking. Once you have cleared enough of the map, let him go back to bird watching.

Healer
Is your army taking a beating? Hire a healer and stack your units under him/her. Heroes like Serena the Healer will speed up the healing process of your units between battles and can cast the spell Healing in combat. Most healers also come with the Purify ability. Not the most useful attribute in the world, but it comes in handy every once in a while. When your units get tougher and you have built Animist Guilds in your cities, let Serena go back to the leper colony.

Should you always dispose of these lower-class heroes? Not necessarily. If you are playing a short-term game, or prefer to rely upon normal units instead of heroes to fight your battles, let them hang around and move up in rank. Any hero, no matter how useless they seem, is formidable when they have achieved a high rank (Super-Hero, Demi-God). This is especially true when you begin adding enchanted items. However, if you prefer to play the longer, more difficult games, it would be wise to let these heroes move out of the way when you can afford a better one.