Olden Era Necropolis PvP guide — Necromancy, snowball, liches

Necropolis in Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era is the long-game snowball faction. Every won fight returns part of the army through Necromancy, liches hit in an area, and the whole faction is morale-immune — anti-mix tactics your opponent uses don’t apply against you.

In PvP, Necropolis wins by weeks 3-4 when necrotic energy is full and the Mage Guild unlocks Sleep and Haste. Until then, don’t lose tempo — Logistics and Tactics are mandatory.

Win condition: the Necromancy snowball

Every time your hero wins a battle, 10-20% of the strongest enemy stack rises as undead. Without it, Necropolis is a middling army; with it, it’s the only faction that grows from your opponent’s losses.

Relative size of “raised” army after 4 weeks of battles.

Top Necropolis heroes in PvP

Immortal Legion — pure snowball

Tarius is a Might hero whose specialization is +5% Necromancy strength plus another +1% per 5 hero levels. Combined with the “Animate Dead I” law and Expert Necromancy, the coefficient reaches 30-35% by late game — almost a third of the strongest enemy stack returns. Ideal for long maps where battle count converts directly into army.

The lich-focused mage

Ethric is a Magic hero built for the lich shooter playstyle: +2 lich growth, and his liches gain +1 Speed and Initiative, +20% HP, +1 ATK/DEF per level. Starting Nightshade Magic unlocks Sleep (tier 3) — the prime anti-shooter spell of Necropolis.

Necropolis army

The standard build hinges on T1 mass (skeletons), a T2 flying blocker (wights), and a T5 ranged group (liches).

Tier	Unit	Role
T1	Skeleton	Cheapest unit in the game. Target stack: 300-500 by week 3.
T2	Wight	Flying melee, “Banshee Howl” active fear ability.
T3	Undead Pet	Melee defender, finishes off wounded stacks.
T4	Graverobber	Reach attack (no counter), “Plague Remains”.
T5	Lich	Area-of-effect ranged — your main DPS.
T6	Dread Knight	Heavy melee, Double Strike on upgrade.
T7	Vampire	Late-game finisher with Vampirism.

Signature unit

Key spell

Sleep is Necropolis’s best anti-shooter and anti-mage spell. The target loses its turn, and while it sleeps, your skeletons close in.

Skill priority

For Tarius (Might):

1. Necromancy → Expert. Build doesn’t work without it.
2. Offense → Expert. +25% damage on regular attacks — the DPS backbone.
3. Logistics → Expert. More fights = more Necromancy procs.
4. Wisdom → Advanced. Access to Sleep (Nightshade tier 3) without the school skill.
5. Defense → Expert. −25% damage protects rare T5-T7 stacks.
6. Leadership → Basic. Undead is immune, but Dread Knights and Vampires aren’t.

For Ethric (Magic): swap Offense/Defense for Thaumaturgy, Nightshade Magic, and Sorcery.

Law priority

Phase	Law	Cost	Why
Day 1	Resource Riches I (T0)	1	+2500 gold, +5 wood/ore.
Day 1-2	Animate Dead I (T0)	3	+2% Necromancy strength to all heroes.
Day 3-4	Elite Skeletons (T0)	3	+4 skeleton growth, +2 ATK/DEF.
Week 1	Tax Collectors (T0)	2	+250 gold per day.
Week 1-2	Elite Wights (T0)	3	+4 wight growth, +1 min damage.
Week 2	Laws of the Immortals (T1)	2	+20% law points in cities — critical accelerator.
Week 2-3	Animate Dead II (T1)	3	+250 to necrotic energy cap.

Full plan — in the law calculator.

Week 1-2 opener

Necropolis rewards not rushing in the first 5-7 days. Stack the skeleton growth first, then push tempo.

Strengths and weaknesses

	Strength	Weakness
Snowball	Grows from every fight, theoretically forever.	Doesn’t work vs Grove and other factions with unusual undead immunity.
Immunities	Morale, vampirism, mind/fear effects.	Vulnerable to direct magic, especially Fireball.
Ranged	Liches — best T5 AoE shooters.	Low T1-T5 speed (3-4) without Haste.
Late game	Vampires with Vampirism — self-sustaining stack.	Soft T2-T3 window (days 4-7).

Where to next

• The “Skeleton Storm” Onkos build — in Top 3 Overpowered Builds.
• Damage and initiative mechanics — PvP combat mechanics.
• Plan a Necropolis law tree in the calculator.
• Full Necropolis hero catalog — /en/olden-era/heroes/.