I'll try it out today to prove my point.

Yeah, I respect that, bro! It would be interesting to discuss further the clearing of neutral creatures in the "Starting with the Elves" topic. I don't know how you play, and I can't imagine the level of your gameplay, as you wrote, that's true. But it seems to me that you might be able to assess the speed of the start with the Dire. It would be interesting if you wrote which neutral creatures you don't touch in the first and second weeks.
From what people write on the forum, I get the impression that people simply don't understand how to clear neutral creatures with the Dire, while I squeeze every last drop out of it. That's why there's a difference in the assessment of heroes. People prefer Ossir and Wing, and that seems strange to me.

By the way, against the undead, this start should be the fastest, in my opinion. I recently had an idea that against the undead, as a second skill, I would try to take Wisdom if it appears. Ideally, like this: level 2 - advanced summoning, level 3 - fire warriors, level 4 - wisdom, level 5 - attraction of magic and mana, which is already 1.5 times more, which means you can cast spells more often and move faster across the map.
The main thing is to get to the Necropolis earlier than it reaches level 25, so that it doesn't take the "Shriek of Horror" skill, and with the Dire, this is quite possible. With this skill build, you can try Leadership as the third skill, followed by Empathy. This will be ideal for both neutral creatures and fighting the Necromancer. Well, if Wisdom doesn't appear at the beginning, then, of course, forget about it.
NerVNotDeaD, what do you think about leveling up the skills like this?