[Endovior]

I tend to like recruiting whatever indy mages become available. A lab (and a temple, where relevant, though I do tend to temple spam just for the dominion, so that's not asking a lot) is much cheaper then a fortress... and the indy mages will usually offer some new magical paths that you'd not normally have access to... even if only by niche chance. Even if you don't get the particular niche you wanted, you can always use the extras for research/support.