The more the game continues, the more damage or destructive spells become less important for me. I prefer spells like
Phantom,
Trap,
Magic Shackles,
Slow,
Bless or
Teleport. For me it is important to slow down the enemy to take the stacks out with ranged troops. That's why I prefer
Distortion Magic. I always try to get this to Level 3 as soon as possible.
Some spells, e.g. the
Dragon Arrows become very effective/strong, when you choose a certain skill (
Quickdraw in the Might-Tree). Or the combination of
Awaken Dragon and the way you skilled you pet Dragon.
Regarding troops, it depends on the way you like to play...aggressive or passive, melee or ranged...weaken all or taking out one by one?
From what I see is, that you have a lot of weak (HP) troops, except the
Ancient Bears and the
Inquisitors. Do you have the chance to get
Archmages and/or
Royal Snakes.
Griffins might be worth a try, too.
The
Bowmen will be very effective with the corresponding skill in the might-tree (
Quickdraw), because then, their initiative is higher, they make more damage (esp. with
Dragon Arrows) and their Fire- and Frost-Arrows are very useful.
All in all Initiative is everything! There is a skill in the might-tree,
Onslaught, that increases the initiative for you troops in the first round, which will often make the difference in losses or not, or in winning a hard battle or not. Secondly have a look on useful interactions/combinations of skills, spells, troops and your pet Dragon....the game offers a lot of them. Just a few examples:
Crushing Blow (Pet Dragon) &
Trap,
Inquisitors &
Phantom,
Dragon Dive/Fiery Phantoms &
Awaken Dragon,
(Royal) Griffins &
Glot's Armor,
Dragon Dive,
Teleport &
Knights Surrond Attack, etc..
Try to check out the might-tree and the mind-tree as well for useful skills. Playing a Mage does not mean, that you should ignore skills from the other trees.
Maybe this link might help you to plan a little bit ahead the building of your character:
http://www.celestialheavens.com/kingsbounty/hs-en.htm
BR
J.B.