REWORK for the Academy. Is it needed or not?

What made you laugh so much? The fact that players will be able to dig up the necessary spells from the early guilds? Slow, bless, haste, blind, dispel, etc. I don't think anyone will mind spending wood and stone for slow, especially since that's how it's done in Warlords, and it's only for control purposes, right?

To dig up the desired spell, you'll have to spend some resources. Maybe spending 4,000 on 2 level 1 upgrades is nothing for some, but for me, it's equivalent to 4 castle units. And the cost of upgrading to levels 4-5 becomes astronomical; upgrading a level 5 guild 8 times costs 90 resources and 9,000 gold. Consider that instead of building and upgrading archons twice, you get the entire level 5 guild.
On the other hand, water and fire will be used more often, as there will be an opportunity to dig up prayer and berserk. The game will become more diverse. That's a good thing.