[DemonSax]

When I first plunged into Dominions, I too wanted to know where the baseline was so I could try and gage how I was doing and what I still needed to learn. The game has so many nuisances that it can all seem a little overwhelming.

The bad news is that I don't belive there are any stock metrics to use as a baseline. They depend on a host of variables, strongly influenced by the faction and pretender you're playing, as well as the map conditions and your opponents. Some basics:

Research - Not all nations can hire good spell researchers, and a few don't even care a lot about research. This will require you to find mages you can hire from indy providence to bolster your research. There are also a few magical items that can boost a mage's research skill. Some nations allow you to hire good researchers outside your capital, but this requires that you conquer, find, or build a new fortress and then outfit it with a lab and possible a temple.

Gems - Your focus on gem hunting should directly relate to your need for gems. You will probably find it more effective to concentrate on the types of gems you want rather than trying to make due with the gems you end up with. You won't always find them, but expanding into the right types of providence and using the proper search plan will help a lot. There was a list of all the magic sites in dom2 as well as the magic paths required to find them. Not sure if that's in the new manual, but it's nice to know.

Fortress/Temples - Their need will largely depend on your strategy based on your nation and pretender. Some units can only be recruited from your capital, while others you can get from any fortress. If you plan is to focus on the capital only units, you will likely have less of a need for an early fortress. Taking a pretender with a low starting dominion can be dangerous, and will probably require early temples to offset. A high starting dominion can allow you to forego the initial construction of temples. Depending on my nation, I will often build a temple in a providence that can recruit indy priests early and use them as temple builders. They typically have much less upkeep than national priests and can make a cheap way to expand your dominion.

Advanced players will typically have an early, midgame, and late game strategy while they pick their nation and build a pretender. This is a fine art that will become easier as you learn the many spells, items, units, and nations in the game. A carefully crafted pretender can provide a bless to your sacred units that make them very powerful, or serve as the catalyst for a powerful global spell that will tip the tide of war in your favor. A 'rainbow' pretender, which has many magical paths can serve as gem hunting machine and provide a variety of magical options.

A) Early Game
Your early game will detail which units your nation has, if any, that you want to recruit for your initial expansions. Depending on your mid and late game, it will also layout your spell research priority. The magic paths available to your mages will be an important guide here.

I will typically want one of these things for my nation right away:
1) Combat spells
2) Summons
3) Thugs

The combat spells are the most straight forward. As a rule, merely sending some mages along with your army will not have the impact you might want unless you have the proper spells researched. And even then it may not yield the expected results. Typically my mages will serve to buff my combat troops, provide artillery support, or provide supplemental troops though combat summons.

Summons would include any ritual spells you want to spend your initial gem production. The conjuration 4 seasonal summons can be a popular choice.

Thugs are the precursor to super combatants. Single units that aren't powerful enough to attack entire armies, but that can make a worthy addition to your regular troops. I find thugs difficult to manage in the early game, since it can be depressing to find your hand picked heroes vanquished though the quirks of combat. Nonetheless, some nations might have national commanders, heroes, or summons that function as serviceable thugs with a small amount of work. With some early buffs or constructions items you can typically boost the protection and/or defense of a hero above 20, which will allow them to trounce lesser militia. The addition of luck, ethereal, and regeneration will greatly add their survival rate.

B) Mid Game

Having mastered the ability to conquer indy providence, you can now focus on the meat and potatoes of your war effort. This will be the point where you will push your spell research into the level 5 and 6 range. Depending on your gem requirements, you will likely want to start sending mages gem hunting, either by physically searching or using the various 2 gem scry spells. You will also want to start building temples to protect your dominion.

1) Combat spells
2) Summons
3) Thugs
4) Global Rituals

Merely handing gems to your combat casters without a plan will often result in them being wasted. Carefully managing their gem supply can be tricky, but allows you to cast those important battlefield spells which require gems. I like to use flying stealthy commanders which don't have any magical paths as gem couriers. They can sneak along with your army and measure out the required number of gems before each battle. A scout wearing boots of flying works well. With gems you can start casting those spells that enhance your entire army or doom your enemies. This can give you the edge you need to overcome a particularly nasty enemy army.

You may now have access to higher level summons, which can either be used to summon powerful combat troops, or to summon mages which offer new magical paths. This may require using some construction research to craft items to boost magical paths, or directly burning gems to empower a mage if required.

Thugs can now be very dangerous, with stealthy thugs serving as deadly assassins.

This would also be the point you launch those mid level global rituals to the dismay of your enemies.

C) Late Game

More of the same, with focus on building nigh-invulnerable army smashers. Your combat spells can now destroy entire armies, but may be expensive enough that you want to use them carefully. You can now summon elite units, turning your gem hoard into unstoppable armies. Your thugs are now true super combatants. The high level global spells bring ruination to your enemies.