Random questions

[Seravy]

1. The AI does not get a resource boost at Normal or Fair difficulty, other than a small reduction in maintenance costs. Hoarding a lot of mana is not relevant because even 15000 MP is only equal to one very rare spell (15000 RP). So keeping 15000 unused mana does not slow research much, it's the difference of one spell.

2. They should cast Disjunction. However it's possible that
-They don't have it researched yet
-They are an ally of the wizard who has those spells so they can't target them until the alliance breaks
-Too many AI players, so everyone is waiting for the others to dispel it instead
-They tried but the spell resisted the attempt (Chaos wizard with Specialist or Runemaster?)

3. Both get the effects. The effects usually stack, except for Evil Omens which does not.

4. CoM II will have smarter AI, but making them waste mana will always be an effective tactic to some extent because exactly when to spend it is difficulty to know, even for a human player.

5. It offers better replayability if the races are entirely random, so I consider this a feature, not a problem.

[Suppanut]

2. They should cast Disjunction. However it's possible that
-They don't have it researched yet
-They are an ally of the wizard who has those spells so they can't target them until the alliance breaks
-Too many AI players, so everyone is waiting for the others to dispel it instead
-They tried but the spell resisted the attempt (Chaos wizard with Specialist or Runemaster?)

They have disjunction due to no option for me to offer this spell to them. And they are clearly not ally with and actually at war with him. Too many player maybe the case, everyone wait to see others lose patience and spend precious mana. And that chaos wizard is not runemaster, I could disjunction spell with minimal amount of mana with aether binding. I didn't do that due to I have better option and priority something over that as I allies with all of them and plan for endgame survival at that point (I have alliance pact with all other players. I later disjunction his global enchantment 10 times or more without breaking alliance with him due to I have aura of majestic enchantment and charismatic retort) I admit that some of my plans really go wrong but I still win at the end but I have not enough time to cast spell of mastery but win by actual whole map conquest instead.

[Seravy]

By the way you can use Detect Magic to see if other players are casting Disjunction.

[Suppanut]

How to not fall behind in magic research? I really fall behind in magic research last playthrough by time chaos wizard casting spell of mastery, I still 6 spell behind him. (properly that majority of his power coming from Armageddon's volcanoes as even he has only 1 city left, his power producting still around 1500-2000). And playthrough before that when I play with sagemaster, I still in middle research spell of mastery when my last major enemy cast this spell in middle of war against me (which I have already turned her table) which likey due to her usage of altar of peace and I have good relation with her for very long time before she break alliance and declare war on me after settlement count reach 99.

Also, how amount power spend on increase casting skill calculate? And how much should I spend on it?

[Suppanut]

By the way you can use Detect Magic to see if other players are casting Disjunction.

I always cast detect magic which is how I know ai not attempt to cast disjunction in the first place. My only regret is that I decide to not get spellblast due to I have no ability to hoarding mana enough to burn with it.

Too bad that I could not see how many turns left before finish casting spell of mastery. In my last playthrough, I am 9 turns behind after enemy finished this spell. (enemy seem to spending time around 25-30 turns to finish it and after I finished researching it I cast it immediately, I need only 15 turns to cast but due to my research is much slower so I could not do it in time). Maybe I set wrong priority.

In the end, in last turn before he finished casting, I finished him off with military solution and could not get score for spell of mastery.

[Suppanut]

Random questions

Is there any spell which give stoning immunity or protect from stone/bullet projectile?

How to protect my units from gazing attack?

Out of most surprise attack spells, I found that I fear mystic surge most (ordinary chaos channeled halberdier with mystic surge could easily kill a sky dragon if they have fire breath or flying) is there any way to counter this spell?

[Seravy]

Resist Elements adds 4 resistance against Stoning.
Resist Magic adds 5.
Magic Immunity gives full immunity.

Mystic Surge can be countered by Dispel Magic or save or die spells (it lowers resistance) in most cases tho if you are very unlucky they can roll enchantments that protect from both. Illusion or Doom damage can help too if you have access to either.

[Suppanut]

so stoning immunity is not for defense against slinger bullet? am I misunderstanding here? Magic immunity give defense against slinger bullet?

[Seravy]

Stoning immunity is immunity vs Stoning Touch, Stoning Gaze, and the Petrify spell. Magic that turns you into stone.
Against slingers you use Missile Immunity.

[Slingers]

so stoning immunity is not for defense against slinger bullet? am I misunderstanding here? Magic immunity give defense against slinger bullet?

Slinger bullets are in the same pot as arrows, so Missile immunity is needed or the spells Guardian Wind, Wall of Darkness ...