[PvK]

I think the Skeptics reduce your own people's faith in you, too, and the thing to do is send them abroad quickly!

Use them to reduce enemy dominion.

For research, I suggest looking for powerful-looking target spells which your mages can use, and trying to achieve those deliberately.

All the paths have good things, but it helps to decide what you're going to do and how you're going to use it to good effect.

PvK