Posts from Help! I'm playing against human players with mages, and my hero is Orac, while theirs is Laslo.

Mentor in education... You probably made a mistake :)! It happens...

Yes, sorry, I made a mistake! And how do you develop your hero against human players? Also, which hero do you usually play as, Oro?

So, when I was playing, I chose Oru and focused on developing her Chaos skills. But I realized (after the game, although I still won) that Chaos skills have some significant drawbacks (no mass spells, a weak early-game build, etc.). So, against a human player, I would choose the following:
1) Darkness (Mind Lord and everything related)
2) Light (Seal of Light) / Summoning (simply Expert) - you need to adapt based on the spells available in the guild
3) Education (on the path to Mentor)
4) Sorcery (anyway)
5) You can choose Logistics/Attack/Defense, depending on what you get, but I would delay developing the 5th ability and focus on maxing out the top 4 first (if Logistics appears, you should take it... well, if you reach level 10, of course).
Only develop additional perks in abilities if you have time left!!!! If the human player isn't stupid, they should rush to the Academic as quickly as possible...

Added 3 minutes later
A hero like Oru, with Razazak for hit-and-run tactics, with 7 stacks of 2 golems each, with Battle to the Last and Armageddon (Expert Chaos), Sorcery, and Education... The human player has little chance, and if you also prolong the game, the Academic's chances of winning are 80% (if the player is skilled)....

Yes, definitely :) but there are factions that can overwhelm mages even in the early game.

Yes, everyone can overwhelm mages at the beginning... you just need to level up skillfully!
1. No Engineers! This class won't work against mages! Goblins will defeat them...
2. Maximize magic resistance; they don't have any overwhelming magic, which is a big disadvantage, by the way. Of course, there's the Staff of Jesus, but it's not guaranteed to appear in the shop.
3. Try to rush the mage so that he doesn't cast any spells.
4. If you drag out the game, you might encounter problems.
This is just a general overview...

Jesus, make sure this serious conversation doesn't happen again. ...and 1 - absolutely no machinists! That strategy won't work against mages! Goblins will take care of them...
2 - maximize magic resistance; they don't have any overwhelming magic, which is a big disadvantage, by the way. Of course, there's Jesus's staff, but it's not guaranteed to appear in the shop.
3 - try to rush the mage so he doesn't cast too many spells.
4 - if the game drags on, there might be problems.
But he's right about that; mages can still manage to win.

Of course, you can find a way... take Hafiz (with Gremlins) if a rush strategy is a threat. And go for it!

In the early stages of the game, Mages are threatened by the Warlock faction, but after 2 in-game months, they can be defeated with almost no losses!

And not just Warlocks, by the way, could you please share a strategy for a rush build with Mages?

Against which factions and in which game era?

A rush is around weeks 4-6. Against Sylvan. Of course, playing against everyone is interesting, but for now, let's limit ourselves to that... Mention the heroes, and everything else needed for victory... ;)

I'm a beginner, but maybe someone will find it interesting, and I'll learn something myself.
Hero:
Mag-Nazir
Chaos Magic: Fire Mastery, Chaos Secrets, Pyrokinesis
Sorcery: (If you have enough mana, you don't need to learn it) Mana Regeneration, Wisdom, Secret Revelation (if you don't have mana problems), Diversion
Education: Further development depends on your preference.
Troops: Much depends on how lucky you are with resources.
Goblins: An essential unit; they work very well in combination with Golems.
Gargoyles: They enhance fire magic and are a very good shield for absorbing attacks; many battles are won solely due to these glorious creatures. Golems: Upgrading them is often impossible due to a lack of resources, but if you're lucky, they should become the foundation of your army. Djinns: An extremely weak unit. Usually, you won't reach Rakshasa in a 1-on-1 battle.

Playing as Nazir is difficult at the start because mana runs out very quickly. But once you have +5-7 knowledge in your stats, everything improves. Ideally, you shouldn't build a library higher than +1 in your city. You already have a core skill; you just need to develop it to Pyrokinesis. I develop it in conjunction with Sorcery. Once you leave the city, you don't need to return to it. Use Goblins to bring reinforcements. Head to the center of the map and disrupt the enemy. If you succeed (and you should), you can try to storm a Castle. If it doesn't work on the first try, fly back home, learn new spells. If the city is empty, but the enemy has gathered a significant army, it's not worth defending the city; it's better to buy another hero and have your main hero engage the enemy in battle.

Added after 22 hours 13 minutes
Another hero is very good for rushing, although in that case, I prefer Elves, but he's also very good. The start is very easy, and with a bit of luck, you can achieve very good results.
So, the hero is Hafiz.
At the start, you get a lot of Goblins, but after my experiments, it's better to buy mages first and then upgrade the Goblins. And it's best to upgrade mages at the beginning. There are some nuances when leveling up against fat but slow mobs; mages run out of MP very quickly, which can lead to losses that shouldn't happen. I like to develop Summoning magic the most in this case; you can easily get Elementals without even approaching a Castle and without wasting time. Summoning Magic, Master of Summons, Fire Wars, and your skill.
Also, you often find a ring with Elementals. I don't see the point in developing Light Magic; buffs don't apply to Ballistas, and the mage's army isn't very good. Dark Magic: If possible, there are often problems with spells, so why not? Although I tend to favor Summoning Magic.
So, here's what you should aim for:
Expert Mechanical Engineering: First Aid, Ballista, Rapid-Fire Ballista
Expert Summoning Magic: Master of Summons, Fire Wars, Earth Lord
And about 140 Goblins ^___________^, which will fight very well.

.... And it's generally better to upgrade mages early on....

But will you have enough resources for them? It seems to cost about 10 gems and 5 sulfur (not sure, correct me if I'm wrong) – that's just for building, and upgrading costs crystals and so on. As a result, you'll end up with archmages but without rare resources... I'd rather upgrade golems with cannons and build a Fortress. (and even that probably won't happen until week 2)
Unless you're only playing in War mode, it might work... :smile54:

Do you have enough resources for them? It seems like it costs about 10 gems and 5 sulfur (not sure, correct me if I'm wrong) – that's just for building them, and crystals and other things are spent on upgrading. As a result, you'll be left with archmages and no rare resources... I'd rather upgrade golems with ballistas and build a fort. (and probably on the 2nd week)
If you only play for war, it might work... :smile54:

Still, I prefer to upgrade them first because they deal the main damage, and besides, they always go first, so you don't have to worry about archers. Although, to each their own; you can use a combination of gremlins and golems, but I can't calculate it, and I constantly lose golems. Although separating the gremlins also helps. But still, I prefer the combination of gremlins and archmages/mages. Gargoyles are a super unit, but there's not much benefit to them. Besides, what are the rare resources for? Gremlins, ballistas, mages, golems – that's all you need. You can use genies to know where the enemy will attack in the first three turns. But seriously, there are mines that you ideally need to capture, and there are often archers or some strong unit there; archmages will look better than an extra ten gargoyles with minimal attack, and besides, the tent doesn't repair iron golems.

I advise against practicing playing as the Engineer (in my opinion, it's cheating). Because of this, I prefer playing as the Mage, disabling ballistas or catapults. I'd rather play as Faiz against Laslo; then we'll see how his knights will fare. It will be challenging, but what a joy it is when these difficulties are overcome! :D