Discussion about Dungeon (Dark Elves).

Let's figure it out. Hero - Sinistar. Difficulty - Hero. Map - let's say, the Dragon's Passage. Start: 9 Scouts, 3 Beasts, city level, hero level - 1.

If you want to be consistent, you wrote about witches in the first week, but that definitely isn't level 1 for the city. Oh well, let's analyze your example.

Day 1: we build Scouts and take the mine - 4 squads of 22 peasants each. With Magic Arrow, no losses.

Even on Hero difficulty, it's definitely worth taking another hero. I'm used to Veteran, where you can buy both right away. We attack the peasants with 25 (not 16) Scouts and 6 Beasts (I assumed that the main hero has the same strength as Sinistar), and don't forget about the dolmen; it might be useful, but we definitely destroy it without losses and WITHOUT casting spells.

As a result, we have 16 Scouts, we take the lumber mill, 2 squads of 15 Dryads guard it, mana hasn't recovered yet, there's no well, so we lose 2-3 Scouts or lose a day in the city.

With 25 Stalkers, we attack the Dryads, we don't wait a day, because the mana is full, the losses can be zero. 1 cast (maximum) with Magic Arrow. The second hero has already run up to capture a level 1 dwelling, picking up chests along the way. It's time to buy the other hero; he can bring additional Stalkers (caravan) and run down for the chests.

and we attack the sulfur mine. 4 squads of 16 Spearman guard it. With 16 Scouts, you're dead.

After the lumber mill, we head towards the arena, we see what guards the money and gems to the east; if it's slow or fought with 25 Stalkers and 2 casts, we can go there. By the time we reach the sulfur mine, we already have 32 Stalkers (the caravan arrived) and at least 20 mana (Whirlwind is nearby), and the Spearman are resting in peace. It's time to explore the northwest corner; there are money, mines, and a key master. It's important to know who is guarding it. In general, the Engineers and Leto on this map (at least on the usual Veteran difficulty) often come to the center by day 8. The others are doing a little worse, but not as you described.

In the first week, it's unrealistic to capture all the mines you listed, and not only because the guards are strong, but also because you simply won't have time to reach them.

You should at least check; in a week, the hero definitely has time to take 5 mines (and maybe even 6) and reach the key master. In 8 days, all the mines can be captured without any problems.