6) Empowerment is actually something you want to use rarely, being as it's vastly expensive. I just used it in a game to get an air-1 mage to air-2. Previously I had no access to air-2, and having air-2 will allow me to (a) cast Auspex to remotely site search (the main reason), and (b) make boots of flying, which I like. So, to allow you to get access to a new path it is handy, but otherwise should be used sparingly. Maybe once or twice per game.
Empowering your pretender can be fun of course, so I wouldn't want to stop you if you're enjoying it.
Oh, and I think the remote site-searching spells are very worthwhile (hence wanting the air-2 mage). They can be frustrating of course, because you could cast them ten times without finding anything, but ultimately it pays off. Other people prefer to send mages around on foot. I think an OCDish tendency prevents me doing that, unless the mages have level 4 in paths, because I might be missing some sites (the hardest sites to find are level 4 so the level 9 search is slightly confusing). In any case, one way or another you want to search every province in your empire in every path you can, eventually. That does take some doing of course.
Re: More newbie questions II
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