The mage guild is a type of building in Heroes of Might and Magic series.
The mage guild can teach a hero spells, if they meet the requirements. The mage guild can be built up to level 5 in most installments.
Heroes I[]
The Mage Guild in Heroes of Might and Magic I is the player's first and foremost way of not only recieving spells, but buying a spellbook as well.
The Mage Guild is found in all four towns and can be built from level 1 to level 4. It's quite expensive in terms of precious resources, consuming over 20 of each of the four. Once completed, it will give the hero stationed at the town 9 spells: 3 at level 1 than 2 for each subsequent levesl. Knights and barbarians have the option of buying a spellbook, which will then contain the 9 spells. They can always go to other towns and see if they have different spells and it is highly suggested to do so, as spells can strengthen your troops, weaken opponents, destroy enemy units and even resurrect their own troops.
Heroes I (GameBoy)[]
The mage guild in Heroes (Game Boy Color) retains the same function as in the previous installment.
Heroes II[]
In Heroes II, the mage guild teaches the hero spells, if they have the Wisdom skill. Level 1 and 2 spells can be taught without the skill, but level 3 requires basic, level 4 advanced and level 5 the expert Wisdom skill. It costs 5 wood, 5 ore and 1000 gold for any level, plus 4 of each rare resource for level 2, plus 2 of those resources for each level afterwards.
Heroes III[]
The mage guild retains the same function in Heroes III as it did in the previous installment. However, the amount of spells are: five for level 1, four for level 2, three for level 3, two for level 4 and 1 for level 5. Also, the first level costs 5 wood, 5 ore and 2000 gold, but each level afterwards has the same cost as it is in the previous game. It is needed to build the city hall.
The exception to this are the Castle, Stronghold and Fortress towns: Castle can build the mage guild up to level 4, while Fortress and Stronghold towns can build up to level 3. Also, the Tower town can build the library, which adds one spell to each mage guild level.
Outside of town, the hero can visit shrines of magic to learn spells, up to level 3.
Heroes IV[]
The mage guild retains the same function in Heroes IV as it did in the previous installment. However, the mage guild has a different name in each town, and the spells vary between factions. Thus, a mage guild can only have spells of the faction the town is based upon (three spells up to level 2, two spells for level 3 and 4 and one level 5 spell) plus two of "adjacent" factions' magic schools (which can be added with appropriate buildings, and provide two spells up to level 3 and one spell for level 4 and 5). Finally, there is no option to buy a spellbook, as all heroes have one at the start. It costs 2 wood, 2 ore, 1000 gold and an additional resource, also every upgrade needs that resource and 1000 gold. Also, every town can build a library (which are named differently among factions), which provide additional spells from different factions.
The exception to this is the Stronghold town, which does not have any mage guilds.
Outside of town, the hero can learn spells through scrolls, which can be found either in certain creature banks, or in conservatories.
The hero can only learn spells if they have the right level of skill:
- Level 1 - basic X Magic
- Level 2 - advanced X Magic
- Level 3 - expert X Magic
- Level 4 - master X Magic
- Level 5 - grandmaster X Magic
These are the names of the mage guilds, their additional costs, and the magic schools that the factions can teach:
- Academy: Order (Institute of Magic, 1 gem)
- Asylum: Chaos (Sorcerer's guild, 1 mercury)
- Haven: Life (Holy cathedral, 1 wood and ore)
- Necropolis: Death (Tower of Darkness, 1 sulfur)
- Preserve: Nature (Druid's hall, 1 crystal)
Heroes V[]
The mage guild retains the same function in Heroes V as it did in the previous installment. However, it is renamed to magic guild, and while the hero can learn any level 1 and level 2 spells, they need basic expertise of magic for level 3, advanced for level 4 and expert for level 5 spells, and only the spells the skill corresponds to. Also, the town provides on all levels two spells of specific magic school, except to level 3, where they have an additional spell. It costs 5 wood, 5 ore and 1000 gold, plus 1 of each mercury, sulfur, gems and crystals for the level 2 upgrade, 2 resources for level 3, 3 resources for level 4 and 5 resources for level 5. It requires the town level to be at level 3.
The exception to this is the Stronghold town, which does not have any mage guilds. Instead, they provide warcries. Also, the Academy town can build a library to add one random spell to each level.
The two magic schools of the towns are these:
- Academy: Light and Summoning
- Dungeon: Summoning and Destructive
- Haven: Light and Dark
- Inferno: Dark and Destructive
- Necropolis: Summoning and Dark
- Sylvan, Fortress: Destructive and Light
Heroes VII[]
The mage guild retains the same function in Heroes VII as it did in the previous installment. However, it is renamed to magic guild, and the amount of spells are: five for level 1, four for level 2, three for level 3, and 1 for level 4. Also, the hero can learn spells, depending on how many magic skills (and their levels) they have. It costs 5 wood, 5 ore and 1000 gold, plus 1 of each rare resource for the level 2 upgrade, and 2 additional rare resource for any level afterwards. It requires the town level to be at level 3, 6 and 9 for the level 2, 3 and 4 upgrades.
The exception to this is Academy faction, which can build an arcane library to add additional spells.
The points of those skills is called arcane knowledge, which gives:
- 2 points for level 1 spells
- 5 points for level 2 spells
- 8 points for level 3 spells
- 10 points for level 4 spells
