[licker]

Originally posted by Pillin:
Yes thats basicly it, you have to set mages with nature of atleast 3 to summon them, thats pretty high magics compared to the creature you get. Those mages could instead be emplyed to search for sites, do research or perhaps support your armies.

PS. Im still a newbie too, so this might not be correct.

This is definately one of those gray areas, in the realm of 'it depends'.

Certainly there are times when you have better things for your mages to do, but there are also times when having a few dozen vine ogres will be really useful. I doubt that many people base a game strategy solely around the creation of vine people (does anyone ever use the Master Druid?), but it can fill in the gaps where you need this kind of fodder, and you have the time and gems to spare on it.