Stuck at Verona...

[TemjinGold]

1) Why can't you cast Shield/Stone Skin on cyclops? Offhand I know for sure you can with Shield. Can't remember for Stone Skin but I don't see why not.

2) The issue with the paladins is that they are basically not contributing (dead weight.) If you have a tank in their face (either Black Dragon/Cyclops or a summon), the enemy will not go after your archers. You may say, "But they help when the enemy breaks through." However, it's a self-fulfilling prophecy as they are better able to break through BECAUSE you have fewer stacks that are actually killing. For my game, once I hit 1900 leadership and ditched the inquisitors, I've never had to use any form of resurrection. If you are afraid of losing units, Healing is a great spell to get to Level 3 because it's cheap and heals a load.

3) Phoenix is great early game but it is absolutely horrible mid to late game due to how expensive and weak it is. An Ancient Phoenix is weaker stat-wise than ONE dragon, yet it costs a crazy amount of mana to cast. I skipped this spell as I tend not to sink resources into stuff that gets obsolete if I can help it but I cannot deny that it is powerful in the beginning (if you don't mind wasting the crystals, go for it.) Summoning however is useful for the whole game.

4) As mentioned trap does a lot of damage but even if it were weaker damage-wise than fireball/poleaxe/etc., it is STILL superior for a mage because a mage's goal should be to drag the fight out and trap stops units. This is why shooters work so well for mages because you get to do damage without taking any in return. Trap can also increase the effectiveness of your fireballs and whatnot by basically making the enemy stand in a certain position.

In any case, if you have access to Tekron (map should be unguarded in Montero), you should go do the Abyss quest in the Grand Channel. That gives you the Living Book, a 20% boost to Demon Portal and a guaranteed scroll of the spell for 1 crystal. The quest itself only requires that you kite 2 stacks (normal kiting, not map kiting.) With it, you won't need to touch Phoenix again.