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I never played MoM before, mainly because it was released for DOS only when I still only had an Amiga and my gaming time was mostly spent on play-by-mail games anyway.
But now the time has come to try it, and I now see firsthand how much it inspired the Age of Wonders games. The map is also very similar to Civilization, but I actually think Civ 1's graphics looked crisper and less pixelated. Even the shareware game Athra Chronicles released at the same time as MoM has crisper graphics, so that was kind of a bummer.

I was thinking of playing all the 14 Wizards, from the easist to the hardest one, and then try some custom Wizards.
I'm also going to use the unoffical "Insecticide" patch.
So how would you (roughly) rate the 14 wizards? Which one should I start with?
You know, I don't think I've ever played a pre-generated wizard. Not even once.

That being said, here are a few guidelines:

1) Chaos and Death give you the best offensive spells, but at the cost of diplomatic relations with other wizards. (They're more likely to declare war on you sooner.)

2) Nature and Life give you the best asset management spells and a diplomatic bonus, especially if you share spellbooks in common with other wizards. Sorcery has the best meta spells, and neither a bonus nor a penalty.

3) If you choose a given wizard (or their portrait when customizing) that wizard cannot become one of your opponents.

Beyond that, your playing style is likely to determine how well a pre-generated wizard will mesh with you. Best of luck.
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TwoHandedSword: You know, I don't think I've ever played a pre-generated wizard. Not even once.
Same here as I truly think most of them are junk. There are just to many things you miss if you let the computer choose for you as it is quite dumb most of the time.
Chaos and Nature don't have a general impact on your diplomacy AFAIK - it's only Life and Death that do that. (Having Chaos or Nature books still gives you a boost with other Chaos or Nature mages though.)



As for which one to start with? The manual suggests Merlin and he's actually a pretty good option since Sage Master is a passive effect and the Life/Nature combination is a fairly easy one to work with. Horus (Life/Sorcery) has more eclectic support, but fewer productivity boosts compared to Merlin, and is also a reasonable option.

Still, if you stay away from the wizards who use death magic then you'll probably be okay, especially on Tutor difficulty. The only non-death wizard who might be challenging is Sss'raa because of the alien nature of Myrror - it's much easier to get used to things in the normal-looking (and normal-acting) Arcanus.
Specific advice for which wizard to play, and how best to play them, can be found at the <span class="bold">MoM Wiki</span>. (Scroll down a bit.)

Apparently choosing a pre-made wizard also determines your race, which is another thing I'd completely forgotten about.
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TwoHandedSword: Apparently choosing a pre-made wizard also determines your race, which is another thing I'd completely forgotten about.
This is not true. With the original version that comes from gog premade wizards still get to choose their race on any difficulty from Intro to Impossible as I just tested.

Going over the pre made wizards again I would have to say the easiest to start with would probably be Tauron/Freya as they go pure 1 element with mastery or Sssra and perhaps Ariel.
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TwoHandedSword: Apparently choosing a pre-made wizard also determines your race, which is another thing I'd completely forgotten about.
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EvilLoynis: This is not true. With the original version that comes from gog premade wizards still get to choose their race on any difficulty from Intro to Impossible as I just tested.
I stand corrected. A too-quick reading of the wiki had led me to believe otherwise, but I just double-checked it myself.
On easier settings, where diplomacy and peace are a viable option, I'd recommand "good guys" like Merlin and Ariel. They allow you to go "slow and steady" and focus on economic/magic growth and on defense. Red and black mages are more efficient for an aggressive gameplay.

Avoid anyone with the "Myrran" trait (The only default mage with it is the dragon guy), since Myrror is a much harsher environment.
The easiest I'd say is sss'ra.

I find starting on Myrran makes the game super easy. Any time I start on Myrran with a custom wizard, I always obliterate the other wizards into the void like no ones business. Since Sss'ra starts on Myrran, he's my choice for easiest.

Other than that, anyone with a lot of Life magic. I found Life magic spells to be very useful for a new player. I just started playing 2 years ago myself, and found that spell line good for an inexperienced player to use. I don't remember who has good Life magic.
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Kadlin: The easiest I'd say is sss'ra.

I find starting on Myrran makes the game super easy. Any time I start on Myrran with a custom wizard, I always obliterate the other wizards into the void like no ones business. Since Sss'ra starts on Myrran, he's my choice for easiest.
Once you know the game, probably, but for a first playthrough, with a player who is still learning his/her way around the game? Mirror world seems like a rough place to learn the ropes, no?
For a new player? This may sound odd to veteran players, but Tlaloc could be an interesting choice. I know Death magic is regarded as being a bit lightweight, but Warlord and Nature magic wouldn't be bad at all. Pair it up with one of the decent starting races, a more relaxed difficulty level, and you could do mostly fine with basic units and summoned sprites (brutal little things for some situations).
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Kardwill: Once you know the game, probably, but for a first playthrough, with a player who is still learning his/her way around the game? Mirror world seems like a rough place to learn the ropes, no?
Not at all! I started my first game on the dark dark cold world with Myrran. It's really not that tough for a new player. As a new player, you'd play on an easier setting... or at least you should, haha. You could also start with Dwarves, for example, they're an easy race to play, in my opinion of course, I'm no expert, but as a newish player myself, they are a easy race to play as. You also have less wizards to deal with right away, which lets you explore more and get a feel for the game without anyone bothering you right away.

Well it's just my suggestion from my own personal experience with the game. It's colourless and bleak, and isn't much fun to look at as starting on the normal side of the world, but it makes a good and easy start.
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Kardwill: Once you know the game, probably, but for a first playthrough, with a player who is still learning his/her way around the game? Mirror world seems like a rough place to learn the ropes, no?
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Kadlin: Not at all! I started my first game on the dark dark cold world with Myrran. It's really not that tough for a new player. As a new player, you'd play on an easier setting... or at least you should, haha. You could also start with Dwarves, for example, they're an easy race to play, in my opinion of course, I'm no expert, but as a newish player myself, they are a easy race to play as. You also have less wizards to deal with right away, which lets you explore more and get a feel for the game without anyone bothering you right away.

Well it's just my suggestion from my own personal experience with the game. It's colourless and bleak, and isn't much fun to look at as starting on the normal side of the world, but it makes a good and easy start.
I kind of agree with you Kadin re starting with Myrror. I choose that option 90% of the time which is kind of odd because at least 50% of the time I do not bother with a myrror race lol.

However there are a couple downsides to this and one of the most obvious is that pretty much all nodes/lairs etc are super tough which is really hard on a player just getting started. Also after playing on myrror it's so tough to settle for going back to Arcanus to start as you feel so deprived.
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EvilLoynis: I kind of agree with you Kadin re starting with Myrror. I choose that option 90% of the time which is kind of odd because at least 50% of the time I do not bother with a myrror race lol.

However there are a couple downsides to this and one of the most obvious is that pretty much all nodes/lairs etc are super tough which is really hard on a player just getting started. Also after playing on myrror it's so tough to settle for going back to Arcanus to start as you feel so deprived.
Me too, I always choose other races when I choose the myrran side, cause my favourites are not the myrran ones. I play to have fun, not to be the best, so my races aren't those that some might consider super powers.

If playing as sss'ra, they would have some life magic spells. I just checked, he has some life spell books. Build a good army(like of Hammerheads), cast some of those helpful life magic spells on them, and those nodes shouldn't be too much of a problem. Plus as Sss'ra, you have some offensive spells you can use. Overall, you have commonplace knowledge spells to use, like healing, defensive typs and fireball types, to help learn the spell workings in the game without thinking too much about it.

I don't know, I'd just say he was the easiest to play as. I couldn't put the rest in a list, that wouldn't really be possible for me to do ;).