No, the mage units are actually quite good! Rakshasas and Titans, for example, are among the strongest creatures of levels 6 and 7, respectively.
Honestly, I disagree about the Titans.
190 HP is very little for a level 7 unit, and their lightning attack isn't very good. In Heroes 3, there were REAL Titans, and they almost always carried the battle on their backs. Let me tell you a story:
Heroes 3, I'm playing as the Swamp faction. I gathered 5 full stacks of Swamp creatures (unupgraded Hydras). A crowd of Giants is guarding the Pandora's Box and the Sword of Justice. My hero has high Earth magic skill, and the plan is to use slow, blind, and shoot down the Giants with a bunch of Lizardmen with golden bows.
So, I attack... And there are 2 packs of Giants, 13 each, and a pack of Titans(!) 14 of them. I lost the battle, and decided to do without the artifacts and the box =))
Rakshasas are very good, retaliation is a very useful ability.
Golems are always a good choice, they are simply very strong warriors:smile47:.
But all the others...:smile48: (no offense to fans of this faction). Magic is useful, but it doesn't always decide the outcome of the battle