Magic For Dummies?

[Micah]

I find Ulm is usually much better served by destruction as opposed to blade wind, actually. Their flail troops (or massed archers if you meant EA ulm...late isn't good with the earth magics) do pretty well taking out anything that blade wind would do a ton of damage to (with some exceptions of course, Jaguar warriors come to mind...Maybe elephants to force morale rolls, though I'd probably want bonds of fire instead of BW). Destruction works great on stuff that flails/bows aren't so good on, like anything with good prot values.

I also wouldn't go after elephants before you get to paralyze, mind burn isn't gonna do nearly enough damage to em, whereas paralyze is as almost good as killing them (and you will kill them as long as you win the battle). Communioning for mind burn is also...umm, yeah, just don't do that.

[Lazy_Perfectionist]

In multiplayer, diplomacy is involved, and my research is often decided by my opponents.

Destruction is good for Ulm's flails, yeah, but if you a low-prot, chaff-heavy nation like R'lyeh to wage war, Blade Wind is great. Destruction's generally more versatile, though.

In the early game, I won't go beyond four just to counter a specific opponent. In the mid game or an overly long early war, I'll consider going from 3/4 to six just for one opponent.

I generally get the essentials for my race up to level 3 (site seeking, earthpower, for instance) and then focus on a school of magic that gives me a lot of options and/or dovetails with a specific strategy (yomi - darkness, ma agartha earth blood deep well with lots of golems). I deviate every now and then to get a lesser school up to two, or counter a specific opponent. Or, I focus on the essentials, then focus on the basic spells. For instance, I want at least Attentive Statues to be available for MA Agartha before I waste time and gems on remote site searching.

[HJFudge]

Not the best player around, so take with a grain of salt.

I'd say that your research strategy should NEVER be general. There are some general rules of thumb to follow in certain situations, but in order to use magic effectively you have to take into account who is around you and what kind of enemy you are likely to be facing.

If you are near an aggressive player, going for research/magic boosters or Site Searching magic is a risk because if they decide to attack you early and have researched some nice battle spells it doesnt matter if you have the long term advantage of better research/more gem income because you will be dead.

On the other hand, if you are good at 'keeping the peace' you can get a decided gem income and research advantage by going for those paths first.

Everything depends on your neighbors, your nation, and your overall strategy.