Is diplomacy necessary?

I remember that at first, AmberSoler was categorically against diplomacy. It seems like he started to compromise gradually.

Where exactly was I against it? :) I said that if there is no goal to gather troops during the game, then diplomacy can be replaced by most skills, which ultimately are more useful for the game...

1. If we are playing with a fixed map, where scouting has revealed deposits of strong units heading towards the diplomat, we look at how much time it will take for these units to reach him... Sometimes the game ends faster... :) Only pragmatism works here, and nothing else. I would rather take attack or intelligence for the main hero, but never diplomacy. All schools of magic, wisdom, logistics - are a given. That's why I put diplomacy next to Eagle Eye (but it's even worse... :) )

There are specially trained people for diplomacy :) And the hero's level does not affect the ability of monsters to join - attack and defense can be gained through artifacts, so we don't need strong diplomats. My diplomats are rarely above level five or six, but I level them up (if the focus is on diplomacy) in the first place.

2. If we are playing with a random map, then diplomacy is a burden because it's not interesting :) The poor AI is already struggling, and now hordes of freebies are coming to you. I usually fight them, rather than joining them... And in general, my game always focuses on magic, not on brute force... I sacrifice free units at the altar if there is one nearby, otherwise I just fight them, but I don't join them... Morale, you see, is more important - because I never take leadership for the main hero... :)

But - this is my personal tactic and preference. Everyone has their own - and everything said earlier (before this post) did not reflect my attitude towards diplomacy. I was just saying that everything depends on the specific circumstances... Sometimes it is impossible to do without it, and sometimes it is just a useless ballast (not many skills have such a dualism of usefulness). That's why you saw comments both "for" and "against" it in my statements.