Mutare Drake, Elaine is needed for money, which people always need (not just in the game). It's not necessary to make her the main hero. She can walk alongside the main hero, collect various goodies, and take the peasants away at night. Knights have weak magic. Therefore, it's better to take skills that enhance soldiers rather than ineffective chaos and summoning skills, which are not very effective without strong magic. Everyone prefers upgraded units, but at the beginning, the main thing is money, which is needed in large quantities to train knights (against a human player) or monks (against the AI). In my opinion, Rutger is a good hero, but I prefer Dugal.