[Jasper]

I see what you mean now. This will be compounded in multiplayer too, as you're extremely likely to face opponents with Misfortune.

As you say though, you don't really need a strong dominion -- just enough to keep opponents dominion at bay. Cheap Temples helps a bunch here.

The spells you mention are pretty much what I do, although I concentrate less on Earth Magic (however you're forgetting Charm!). My problem is that while Panii can cast some nice spells, they're also very expensive.

Perhaps I should check out Iron Bane and Earthquake more... I'm still used to Panii only having 1 Earth in Dom1.