[Jasper]

I agree with Alex, although I've been biting my tongue up to this point. The bless effects completely underwhelm me, especially when combined with the limited production of Sacred Troops. It's simply way too much cost for little benefit.

Dominion and castles are far more important. The major benefit of getting additional magic skills is access to missing magics and gem income, and past skill 3 these benefits taper off steeply -- while the costs rise.

Harsh experience in Dom 1 taught me that it just didn't make sense to get more than 3 in a skill, unless it was Astral. Perhaps a 4 if you started with a 3.

The new bless effects are thematic, but at most might convince me to boost a 3 to a 4, and this is only for races that have really good Sacred Troops.

I'm eager to see the demo and try this out first hand; I hope I'm wrong about this aspect of balance.