Newbie question: Best army buff paths/schools?

[MaxWilson]

I seem to have worded that unclearly. By that I mean that when I'm looking through the manual for battlefield spells, I mentally adjust my nation's "maximum Earth level" upwards to account for Summon Earth Power. Magma Eruption is E3F1, but fire Svartalfs are effectively E3F1 so they can cast it without items. It's obviously true that you can get item boosters to let particular mages cast spells above your normal, national limits, but Summon Earth Power applies to pretty much all your earth mages, as does Phoenix Power to fire mages. Since you always have tons of mages in your research forts, it's nice for them to have access to powerful spells without needing item-boosters.

-Max