Because you chose to side with Malwick, remove any gold you've stored from the bank immediately after you choose the light path or dark path. If you don't, a quest will cause all of it to disappear from the bank permanently.
The dark path ending was originally supposed to be the canon ending, and Heroes III Armageddon's blade was originally supposed to have a town called the forge with goblins and zombies with blaster weapons. Fans of the HOMM franchise didn't like the Sci-Fi elements from the Might and Magic RPG series, so it was scrapped and replaced with the Conflux town. That's made the light path more or less cannon, but the Light/Dark choice doesn't really have much bearing on story line of Might and Magic VIII or Armageddon's Blade. Gavin Magnus, the king of Celeste, is an antagonist in Heroes IV however, where as none of the dark path characters appear in later titles.
There is an instructor hireling that gives a 15% exp bonus. You'll probably need to go to the Tularean forest or another higher level city to find one. I'd recommend not getting one and getting a scholar hireling instead. The scholar hireling is cheaper, identifies all items, and gives a 5% exp bonus. They should also be hire-able in Harmondale.

I thought there was one or two instructor hirelings back on the Emerald Isle - but I may be wrong, however I do remember a hireling which boosted your gained experience was the one and only I always hired back there.

That was Teacher (+10% XP) I got some in Emerals Isle too. But no instructors yet.

I got a factor in Emerals Isle. It's always worth to get one rather than go empty, since he boosts your gold by 5% net, so you don't lose anything by taking him. Unless you find tons of 1GP piles, since the amount hirelings get is rounded up.


By the way Green_Hilltop, if you reply to your post as it is now, the forum opens two quote tags (16 and 17) but only closes one, which means you won't be able to post your message. Wierd.
Why would I want to put my money in banks? They don't give interest like MM3-5 (which made it very worthwhile).

I know you lose money when you die. But in these cases I just restart...

Don't you get a different set of hirelings with each reload of the game?

Bob

Without giving spoilers, could anyone please tell me if Castle Harmondale can be used to store extra items I'm not currently using? Will it stay with me till the end, and will items stored there remain or will they reset after 2 years like MM6 areas?

Yes, but apparently in MM7 not all towns get all types of hirelings.

I usually left the Isle with Teacher and Scholar (a combo I use until I get learning up to expert level).

Two Chests on either side of the Throne Room are safe.

Bob

PS I just noticed I forgot to say your castle in Harmondale. Sorry.

-Punkoinyc already covered the canon ending; originally it seemed that Dark was canon, but with the Conflux subbing in for Force, none of the other games ever does anything with it again, so that's up in the air.

-I think each monster has a minimum threshold for being identified (might be a random roll with each right click, but that doesn't seem right); more skill points allows for more monsters to be identified. As I recall, anyone can id a peasant (if they have the skill), but a goblin requires more points. As the skill states, higher mastery allows you to get more information for a given monster. Note that the character that is the active is the one that will be identifying monsters. If your knight is active, he'll be the one saying "I don't know what that is" instead of using your sorcerer's skill level. The +ID Monster hireling gives you bonus skill points (while he's with you) at the cost of one of your two hireling slots and his percent fee; I can't see any reason to take that hireling since you can only have 2.

-There is an Instructor hireling. Some of the "low level" towns (ex. Harmondale) won't spawn the stronger hirelings. Erathia or Tularean Forest should have a chance to spawn any of them. If you can't find the one you want, just reload to get a new spawn. I like to find an area where I can see a whole bunch of potential hirelings, save, then scan them and reload if I don't see what I'm looking for. You can also reset them by going to a different map (ex. entering a castle) and then coming back. Reloading is, of course, faster.

-I like grabbing an Instructor as one of my two hirelings. In the past, I also would grab a Banker (stronger version of Factor), but gold is plentiful enough that I prefer to grab a teacher instead now (or a scholar). While two of the same hireling don't stack (ex. two instructors), two different hirelings that provide the same kind of bonus do seem to stack (ex. instructor + teacher). Right click on your skills to see which ones are getting a boost, and by how much. Note that the Instructor, Teacher, and Scholar's exp boost function by adding skill points to your Learning skill; I don't think they help a particular character any if that character doesn't have the Learning skill (which everyone can at least learn).

-Once you get it, Castle Harmondale is yours for the rest of the game. I can't remember if it resets; I seem to think it is on the 2 year timer as well (though its timer isn't the same as for outdoor Harmondale's), but I haven't had to deal with that potential issue in many years (I usually finish the game within 2 game years). I would clear it out (the first main quest after you finish Emerald Isle) before storing anything, but after that it should be safe. Just make sure you put anything you want to keep in one of the chests; I think anything on the floor might be removed. There are several chests throughout the castle that you can use, with the two in the main hall being the most easily accessible. Your stuff will be fine even when your castle is upgraded.

-If you lose track of any quest items, the Arbiter (in a hut in the Harmondale outdoor area map) should be able to return it to you, just like the Seer in MM6. I wouldn't count on it (for obvious reasons), but it can be handy if you just can't recall where you left something. The Arbiter does give you a new copy, so you might run across the original again later (I like to throw the extras in the lake outside his hut).

The stables sound stutters (works fine otherwise). Is there any fix to this? Thanks!

EDIT: setting sound acceleration to None in DXdiag didn't help.

I never thought to look for a solution; I just ignored it. The same stutter occurs when you go to board a boat, as well.

Does it stutter in the soundtrack as well?

No.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but triden and halberd weapons use the spear skill, correct?

If so, does it mean they can be used with 1 hand at Master?

That is correct, it doesn't apply to two handed axes though.

Wow. I completely forgot that magic lamp effects vary by month and day and just realized I missed potential 16 skill points and instead wasted those 2 lamps on... +1 luck each :(

Luckily I kept the third one because it eradicated me (yes I know bad effects depend on day of the month).

Will there be more magic lamps other than the 3 in Bracada Desert? I've gone a bit too far to reload...

EDIT: You get max 8 skill points per lamp, so I missed 16 not 40 potential ones.

Deyja and the Evermorn Islands.