Hello everyone,

I thought I'd throw this in here, since I found it enormously helpful in my playthroughs and especially custom games/hotseats. It's a little piece of software that shows you all the possible combinations of skills your heroes can get, sorted by castle and even includes particular heroes starting skills.

http://www.celestialheavens.com/viewpage.php?id=520

You can also scroll down the page to download an executable if you don't want to run it off the website.

Very good and well done tool. It is so useful that GOG should include this in the extras. I don't think the author (Aurelain) will have something to object. :)

It should be pointed out that GOG actually includes this tool in the default installation. In the start menu folder that's created for HoMM5 it's located under Documents->Fan Documents.

I believe you're right indeed. My bad for not finding it there first.

Something else I should add is that the skills available and the skill requirements changed between the original HoMM5 and the two expansions. The included skill wheel is only accurate for Tribes of the East. A skill wheel for the original game can be found , while a skill wheel for Hammers of Fate can be found [url=http://www.aurelain.ro/works/aurelain_skillwheel/skillwheel.swf]here. The skills and skill requirements for the original and Hammers of Fate are nearly identical, but there were some significant changes made in Tribes of the East.

Good to know. Have you already reported that to Support? I'd like to think they would want to fix that and provide updated installers (at some point).

There's also a mod that implements the Skill Wheel in the game. It's called Doc Skills, and it had versions for HoMM5/HoF and ToTE as well.
I'd really like to place a link to it, but I've only found the files on sites with names which make me wonder if they're reliable, and while I myself have a copy of them (from some time ago), I don't have a personal web storage anymore where I could upload them.
Anyway, if you can find them at some reliable source, be sure to grab them - they are extremely useful.
EDIT
For Hammers of Fate, I've found a trustworthy source, here's the link. It's the first download (SkillWheel in game).
Now to find the ToTE version...
EDIT2
I've found an other but identical mod, you can grab it from here (Xazardous_Skillwheel_3.0.2.zip).

Here are the links for Version 1.1 & Version 2.1 as '.exe' files in case anyone wishes to download them or GoG wishes to include them :)

I personally prefer to run the executable versus the browser based version (tho both work and contain the same information).

Skillwheel 1.1 executable version:
http://www.celestialheavens.com/homm5/skillwheel.zip

Skillwheel 2.1 executable version:
http://www.celestialheavens.com/homm5/skillwheel/en/en=2.1.zip

Skillwheel 2.03 executable version:
http://www.celestialheavens.com/homm5/skillwheel/en/en=2.03.zip

The following text was included with the post where I found these links
[i]NOTE: Not 100% sure on all of this, but I think Skillwheel 2.1 applies to H5 original game v1.5+ & HoF v2.1, Skillwheel 2.03

applies to H5 original game v1.4-1.41 & HoF v2.0 (before the changes to necromancy), and Skillwheel 1.1 is for very old

versions of H5 original game (probably v1.1)
Edited on Thu, Sep 04 2008, 18:25 by Shad0WeN[/i]

Link to that thread on Celestial Havens: http://www.celestialheavens.com/viewpage.php?id=520

With the skillwheel it becomes pretty straight forward (when you begin playing the single player campaign). There is a little bit of a learning curve but since the skillwheel GOG included explains the effects of each skill in tooltips (upon mouse hover) it's not that bad :)

Also there is a great deal of community support online from general hero build tips to complete walkthroughs for each campaign level (often with maps and screenshots to make things as clear as day.

Here's a quick link to just one of the many guide pages :) I hope you find it helpful.
http://www.celestialheavens.com/viewpage.php?id=119

thanks, let me check it out. when I played homm 3 or 4, the skill system is pretty straightforward, hom V is bit... confusing. I dont know (yet) which skills are the best for me and how I should build my character.

in most of my gameplay I usually picked archery skill, mastering four elements, wisdom. I want to make similar build in homm V, but well... I'm not sure which skills corresponds to the homm 3 and 4 skills

My homm 3/4 is a bit rusty (it's been a few years since I last played through them ;) ) but I believe you'd want to play Ranger (the Sylvan town hero) using Attack (archery specialization is in there), Enlightenment, and Summoning (Master of Conjuration --> Fire Warriors). I believe that will get you pretty close to the same experience as the homm 3/4 build you're describing.

For better details you can check this out as well
http://www.heroesofmightandmagic.com/heroes5/game_manuals.shtml

It's a community supported (and officially approved) manual for homm 5 which provides insight into many of the mechanics as well as various suggested hero builds you could draw from as a starting place. I found it to be a useful resource, I hope it helps you as well :)

While the skillwheel makes it obvious, if the RNG decides to screw you up (huts which teach you a random skill, level up skill offer), you may not be able to get the build you want.

That's a good point and certainly worth noting. :)

However, if you're playing Tribes of the East there is a map structure that allows you to selectively unlearn skills, and will then given a choice of new skills to learn. So you can just keep unlearning/relearning until the RNG gives you what you want. For the original HoMM5 and HoF though, yeah, you're out of luck if you're forced to choose between skills you don't want.