I wonder why sometimes heroes show up more often offering their services for hire. Is it driven by my gold reserves or fame or sumthin else? Is there ever a time that champions will come knocking? Thx

I'm sure EvilLoynis will link a nice wiki page with all the relevant information, but to start you off...
-You must have a gold reserve equal to or greater than their one-time-fee for them to offer your services. I usually keep just above 100 gold in my bank in the early early game.
-Some heroes require certain amounts of fame to offer their services. 10, 20 and 40 fame are the big threshholds. Most champions require 40 (I think).
-The fewer heroes you have, the more likely a hero is to offer their services.

SamKuker101 covered the high points: you need at least 100 gold (which on Impossible can take a while) and the more fame you have, the more and better heroes you attract.

Some heroes will show up even if you have no fame: Brax, Gunther, Zaldron, B'Shan, Rakir, Valana, Bahgtru, Serena, Shuri and Theria. Others need 5, 10, 20 or 40 fame; those which require 40+ fame are called champions.

The fewer heroes you have, the more likely one is to stop by. Your chances of this happening go down with each hero you have. At the start (with no heroes and <25 fame) your base chance is 3% per turn. This goes up as you add fame, if you're Famous (your chances double, although they never go above 10%) and/or if you cast the spell Just Cause (which adds 10 fame while in effect). It drops back to 1% chance per turn (2% with Famous) as soon as you add that first hero, though.*

Summon Hero will randomly call any hero needing no more than 20 fame. Summon Champion brings you those heroes otherwise requiring 40 fame. You may also find heroes as prisoners, especially on Myrror. In any of these cases, you don't have to pay these heroes to join, nor do they care what your current fame is.

A very few champions require you to have Life (Elana and Roland) or Death (Mortu and Ravashack) spell books. The Life spell Incarnation is the only way to summon Torin the Chosen, probably the best single hero in the game.

Best bet? Learn and use Summon Hero as soon as you can. Especially if you already have your first hero.


*The complete chart, as found in the official strategy guide:

1st Hero: 3% at 0-24 fame; 4% at 25-49; 5% at 50-74; 6% at 75-99; 7% at 100+.
2nd or 3rd: 1% at 0-24 fame; 2% at 25-74; 3% at 75+.
4th or 5th: 1% at 0-74 fame; 2% at 75+.
6th Hero: 1% at 25+ fame.

All chances are per turn; they double with the Famous skill, but can never go above 10%.

It's not spelled out anywhere in the guide, but I believe there's a bias toward those heroes for whom you've met the minimum fame requirement. In other words, once your fame exceeds 40, it's unlikely (if not impossible) to be randomly offered a starter and far more likely (and perhaps exclusive) for you to see a champion.

Thanks! I had no idea how complex it is. :)

Don't forget that once you've recruited the maximum number of heroes you can recruit at one time (I think it's six?), you will no longer have any other heroes offer their services. So if you took a starting hero early on you may consider dismissing him or her so you'll have a slot open for a champion.

Good point. And to that I'll add that any hero who dies,* barring the use of the Life spells Raise Dead or Resurrection, cannot be reacquired or resummoned. Heroes who happen to die via Cracks Call are gone forever; the earth has swallowed them whole. Resurrection, like all the other hero summoning spells, requires an open hero slot.

Raised heroes, since the battle won't have ended, still have all their gear; resurrected heroes return only with the bulk of their XP and the clothes on their back.

*Except Torin, who can only be resummoned or resurrected via the Incarnation spell. (He's also the only hero with a spell maintenance cost.) Which may also make him "immune" to Cracks Call's perma-death effect, though not to the spell itself.

Wow looks like you all answered it before I woke up haha.
As Sam said get at least 100 gold in your bank asap to attract the earliest Heroes otherwise they don't offer.

Sadly as 2HS points out the best way to get heroes is with the Summon Hero/Champion Spell which you can usually trade for if a comp gets it early. This is another reason to start with Artificer as you get 2 very good trading spells.

Trying to get Heroes via Fame is a sucker bet sadly.

Also when using Summon Hero/Champ it's a good idea to save right before it finishes casting, that way if you get a crappy hero you can reload. This gives you a chance to get a different guy, although it only works in the Official version you get from gog.

One of my biggest peeves about this game though is how plain useless some heroes are and the completely random nature of some of their extra skills. Read my ALL HAIL MALLEUS thread for tips on the best heroes and why they are so good.

I read your Malleus thread and I agree. Love that guy. Thanks for the great info everyone!