Perks: Dark magic, summoning, spellcasting, logistics, defense...
IMHO...leadership is definitely out... because it's not very useful (unless you're playing hot-seat with a friend on very large and larger maps).
New here? I'm Roha — want a quick tour?
I have a question. In what order should I take abilities and perks (and which ones, of course) to get the maximum benefit at the start when fighting neutrals or humans, especially if the latter decides to rush me!?
P.S. To get perfect necromancy, you'll need an art pendant of mastery.

Now, evaluate my build:
1. Necromancy and all related skills.
2. Defense: depends on who you're playing against.
3. Darkness: and all related skills.
4. Education: you can go up to Mentorship and then develop Necromancy in your heroes to generate a lot of dark energy.
5. Sorcery.
(If you're playing with logistics, then you definitely need to develop it from the very beginning.) And the last ability can be Light/Luck/Attack.
Yes, perfect necromancy requires Arcanum! It increases dark energy and allows you to resurrect more troops! In my opinion, logistics are needed for Necropolis; levels are gained quickly! Summoning magic is useless in the late game and isn't very effective anyway! And luck is great, but it doesn't fit. It's better to take defense! shddr, take logistics, immediately level up necromancy, then darkness, education, and defense (attack:smile19:). Okay, take sorcery or luck! It's better to level up the guild and expert darkness faster! And then you can crush any neutral with mind control and berserk!:smile26:
And even royal griffons? Which will always take off before you can cast a spell...