The second Castle added to the map is of the same race as the player. No race has any advantages.
Regarding composite monster groups – they only exist where there are groups of creatures ready to join the hero (there are 16 such groups in total). All the rest are quite ordinary units.
...I'm suffering and getting my butt kicked with a weak mageAdded 3 minutes later
I tried to finish the game, and I finally reached the Guardians and failed. I haven't seen such overpowered characters in a long time. For example, one of them has a spell like a fireball that goes off at the very beginning of the battle and spreads around the perimeter, dealing huge damage and breaking all equipment (from what game is this?). They all have insane initiative; I'm not even talking about their stats and strength. But the author thought that wasn't enough, so he took away all the mana before the battle, so the main character is left to fume and complain about the unfairness of life. It's a pain in the neck. What a big difference between the crystals. Happy upcoming holidays to everyone (including the author).