I don't think that if you choose to develop a specific path, you should completely abandon the use of skills from another path, and especially not the recruitment of units. Developing two paths goes hand in hand. You can earn the most reputation by killing/releasing units (even more in multiplayer), and for special scripted moments in the campaign.

So, the biggest problem in your playthrough is refusing to recruit joining units :). I don't understand that.

Could you provide more details about the cheat "up to 1000 per battle"?