Re: Magic For Dummies?
It really is best if you're focusing on a specific nation, but here's my attempt to be general.
1). Focus on construction if you one of the following a). have a melee commander with over 30 hitpoints available b). a good gem income, easily produced boosters, and mages who can benefit from another level c). a supercombatant pretender d). easily available forge bonus
2). I focus on conjuration after considering the following factors: a). surplus of gems b). lack of gold - lots of wastelands. c). versatile mages versus very focused mages d). specific national lack e). national gem income f). special national summons
It's two different decisions to focus on conjuration before and during a game. The more versatile your mages are, the more successful a conjuration strategy is going to be. For instance, LA Atlantis reliably gets only two paths of magic, water and death. But that's no guarantee you're going to get a high death or water income in your first fifteen provinces. Eventually, you'll have a solid income, but early on it may not be there for you at the necessary mass for conjuration- especially if you wasted gems on unsuccessful dark knowledges. On the other hand, EA Yomi has ready access to fire, earth, death, and some nature. With minors in air. You're almost guaranteed to have a surplus in at least one type of gem- especially with EA's site density.
During the game, one of my priorities is often to get a few (three, four at very most) cheap, sacred, versatile low-level mages (WD Tungalik for Atlantis) searching every territory I own physically. As Yomi, however, I send just a few high level mages to search all the immediately adjacent provinces to my capital - approx. six, - see the income, and then think about remote site searching.
Once I see where I've got surplus gems, I see what conjurations I could cast, which will mesh with my forces, who I might be at war with, and analyze from there. Regardless of my decision, I almost always research up to level two or three at least, for site searching and spells like Summon Earthpower.
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