First let me say, this mod is pretty amazing! I think you have to go into it expecting a very different experience from vanilla Dominions, but it's really cool. The experience is much more geared toward a role-playing game, with powerful heroes facing off, and local rivalries make the game vastly different for each race. A game as one race will feel completely different than a game as another race.

If you set indies to a higher difficulty (I'm on 6), a large part of the game in the Underdark is actually against the map, which is pretty cool as a solo game. I'm playing right now as Gracklstugh, and it's been a really interesting experience. As my first play through, my expansion was definitely slow to start. Things are crowded in the Underdark, and it took me quite a while to explore around and figure out what options were available. I ended up pushing toward Menzobarrenzan and the drow there, drawn by what I assumed where riches in gems and magic sites. The drow put up heavy resistance, but in the end my imprisoned Asmodeus returned and was able to carry the day against the Queen of the Demonweb Pits. Menzobarrenzan is mine, and the gems are fueling an army of darkness. I've now recruited one of the Matron Mothers to my side and she in turn has given access to Vampires and more.

Figuring out the various intricacies has been fun. I didn't realize until late in the game that I had access to slaves, which would have made a big difference. In fact, unit generators seem to be very strong in the game, generating hordes of chafe you can throw at the enemy without feeling the loss.

I tried pushing hard against the myconids, but lost hundreds and hundreds of troops to the Green Eyes before realizing I would have to bring in mindless troops. Finally an army of Clockwork Horrors carved through the mushroom people, and they were powerless to stop me. All in all pretty cool.

After reading something in the comments about forming an adventuring group, I did just that, equipping two Blackguards, a Stone Reaver, and a Kavalrachni with adventuring gear and a few other items. With easy access to Astral Shield and Body Ethereal, they make a formidable strike group.

All in all this has been a really enjoyable game, but I do have a few suggestions.

First, the balance of some things seems to be off. The golem summons are terrible, with no offense to speak of, and they die easily.

Damage on troops seems to be sky high in many instances, with some doing 25+ AP damage on multiple attacks.

The Ogre has an 18 Str, while the Hill Giant Brute only has a 15?

Removing some of the vanilla spells is cool and definitely helps change the feel of the game, but the Glamour path seems to have been particularly hard hit by losing useful things to do. I have 200+ Glamour gems with hardly any use for them. I've been forging Pixie Boots out the wazoo and that's about it.

Finally, I think the magic access for commanders is just over the top and unnecessary, both in terms of how many paths they get and the power level. An Infernal Barghest, a L2 blood summon for 15 slaves, gives 1A1S1D2G1B. That's ridiculous. A Master Artisan has 3F4E3S2D1G2B+1 random. Unbelievable. That's better than a lot of pretenders. I would recommend first, having fewer paths on commanders. Restricting access to the different schools more will make the races play experience more unique. Second, I would trim away a few levels of access here and there. I think the intent is to create a feel of earth-shaking heroes, but it honestly feels like too much to me.

So after all that, thanks for this mod! It's been an awesome game so far, and I'm totally addicted! The Duergar will complete their domination of the Myconid lands and consolidate their hold over the nearby thrones of power. As long as the surface nations don't interfere, nothing will stop me!