Play against Necropolis.

1. The supposed "power creep" of Prizrak's faction doesn't seem to be happening.

This only speaks negatively about his opponent. If Prizrak plays better, he will win, and no advice is needed. As is well known, the main advantage of any faction is the skill of the player controlling it.

2. If I'm playing as Orc and see that the available Cyclops won't be able to reach the enemy in one turn, I'll take Bloodeyes – I won't lose much.

Then the probability of a single attack will sharply increase, undoubtedly. But I'm not sure if that will help.

3. Don't idealize secondary dwellings so much. In 2.5 months, you'll have 400 skeletons from them... that's not scary, and the more creature dwellings on the map, the better it might be for the Orc, depending on how it turns out, because his army is stronger...

Please answer me, how many times have you played as Necropolis on XL, obviously using the GSC (Grand Strategy Campaign) rules? On what week did you consume the first secondary dwelling, and the second? Did you build them? And did you capture the other two dwellings? Yes, 2 peasant huts will bring 400 skeletons. Of course, there is a dungeon that is not very convenient for conversion, but many castles can bring you more troops than the native Necropolis or the same amount, namely the castles of the Orc, Dwarf, and Knight.