Posts from Dark Elves vs. Mages.

Against mages, I think a surprise attack is necessary. The teleportation of hydras and minor elementals can be quite unpleasant for them. Also, summoning is a viable option – use the Fog Cloud spell.

In my opinion, when playing against the Academy, the two most common mistakes that players make when using the Tower faction are:

1. Neglecting troops and city development. A small group of Archers and a Mage cannot win, and that's a fact – especially if the enemy hero is Nasir. As a result, in the final battle, the Tower faction's army is quickly defeated by the Academy, while the Necromancer doesn't have time to eliminate the enemy army.

In general, it's quite amusing to watch a battle between two heroes who have focused on magic – the armies line up against each other and wait for the heroes to exchange magical attacks. :)

Therefore, the Necromancer should not forget about combat skills (Leadership, Luck – which may be useful for the Lucky Charm spell, Logistics, etc.).

2. In my opinion, a very serious mistake is to stay locked inside the city when the Mage comes to visit. The Academy's troops are focused on ranged and magical attacks, so you need to catch him in an open field, rather than waiting for your own walls to hinder access to his units.

Naturally, the League's troops huddled inside the castle walls and their small numbers are simply a gift for Nasir.

The wizard should be eliminated BEFORE the appearance of tier 3 or even tier 2 miniatures. The more time passes from the start of the game, the better it is for the wizard. Miniatures consume a lot of resources, so the wizard will have to choose between building a castle or producing miniatures. This is where we will catch him.

What to do against a mage (with a Hafiz, with Retribution, and very strong minor artifacts for initiative, speed, and morale)? His Titans have -28 Yin, and his Rakshasas have +54 under pressure!! (+ plus he has a ring of speed and other speed-boosting items).

There's not much left to do here. You could try Darkness, slowing effects, and so on... And get an attack somewhere. It also depends on what army you have...

Added 2 minutes later
1. Obsidian golems attract magic towards themselves and also heal, so if archers are in one corner and the golems are nearby diagonally, it's difficult to use area-of-effect spells. (A good option is the Ring of Cold).
2. You can create mini-artifacts with 80% magic resistance (for example, against a Warlock).

I have a small question – in the description of the "speed magic" skill, it says that when casting the "Haste" spell, the hero won't spend mana, but is 8 normal mana still deducted from Elai each time?

Or maybe you can just manage to defeat them with Chaos, but that's unlikely.

It depends on how long the game lasts... but you definitely need to eliminate the Mage early on. Mini-artifacts that grant resistance – that's the end for Chaos (unless, of course, the Amulet of Skill is nowhere to be found). In general, I don't even know, but 20 knowledge points equal a lot of resistance. If you play into the late game, Chaos's chances of success approach 0. However, you can surprise the Mage with summoning magic or something else!

Yeah, I always thought that Warlocks were superior to Wizards in every way!

Indeed, Warlocks have a particularly hard time against Mages! The higher their knowledge, the stronger their minor artifacts become, providing around 80% resistance. However, Mages have a denser and more resilient army, so the Warlock will be in trouble.

It is difficult for Mages to fight against Warlocks.
On a small map, choose Chaos, and the Mage will hardly have time to reach the minor artifacts, and even if they do, they will have few skills.

If the game drags on (which Warlocks should avoid), switch to Dark Elves and focus on summoning.
However, here, minor artifacts that boost initiative and luck for ranged units are crucial. Mages are very strong here, but the same scenario will occur with any opponent of Mages; Warlocks are not to blame.

I understand – the main question is, up to what level? You can even get around 15 knowledge points by level 16 if you try. I recently tried it against a mage, but the AI is too simple (veteran difficulty), and it only works sometimes (when the hero is chosen thoughtfully). It's better to rush into attack as soon as you've captured a few rare resources and have a good amount of gold. This strategy is designed for this type of hero, but sometimes it doesn't work out.

I'm a newbie, but I'll say you need to throw the Lizardmen into the thick of the fight and split the Fury stacks into 3-4 and attack creatures near the Lizardmen, or just take a Healer and learn Armageddon).

sorry, I didn't read it from the beginning, maybe someone already mentioned it...
here, you can use mini-spells for any purpose, because:
I encountered a well-leveled hero with a half-dead mage (before that, he had slaughtered an orc), and the first thing he did was cast a counterspell! The mage had plenty of mana, but the hero, without magic, was doomed! In short, I barely managed to defeat him, and that was thanks to the orc, which had reduced his army by half!
From this, I can draw a bold conclusion: if the Knight has any chance, it's solely due to his combat skills!