I agree that antimagic skills are only worthwhile when you can easily predict what the opponent will specialize in. For example, against the Dungeon faction, you can take anti-Chaos; against the Necropolis, anti-Darkness; and against the Sylvan, anti-Light. But even then, there can be situations where you won't be able to guess correctly. For instance, I play with Ilfina, but I develop her Light skills because there's no other option, and otherwise, I focus on combat skills plus leadership and luck (then the unicorns tear everyone apart... well, here I go again, talking about myself :). This is to say that you can easily make a mistake with a skill and waste a slot that wouldn't be superfluous in any case. So, when playing as a Barbarian, I develop anything, but definitely not antimagic. After all, Blood Fury still reduces damage from magic, right? Plus, you can also get artifacts for resistance. In principle, a well-developed Barbarian with Blood Fury at level 2-3 and a couple of good spells will make any mage nervously stand aside :). *classic* Of course, all of this is just my opinion (IMHO).