Recently I played a game where my starting hero's special ability was using the Ballista and it changed the way I played the hero. Suddenly I found myself protecting the Ballista because it was one of my most effective creatures. Other special skills for individual heroes include higher attack and defense ratings, generating additional resources per day, increased spell potency, and more. On the next page are description of some of the individual heroes in HOMM3 . The manual comes complete with an Appendix that lists every hero in the game, their vital stats, special abilities, and the type and quantity of creatures they'll bring when recruited.
All heroes come with at least one stack of creatures and can have as many as three.