Need Hard mode mage tips, Never played other KB's.

[Nevar]

Having the same problem. Damage spells aren't scaling enough. They'll destroy the level 4 and 5 stacks, but they don't do enough versus swarms of Imps. Also, despite the fact that I have the items for it, I don't have good Summon spells. Damn randomness sometimes.

A few things:
* Ancient Phoenix is an amazing summon and is probably worth getting Order Magic 3 if you already have Summon Phoenix.
* High initiative is a must. You want those big spells out before the opponent can do something nasty.
* Bring units with crowd control abilities: Dryad lullaby, Engineer Flashbomb, Soothsayer Loki's Touch (although maybe not all together as elves are racist in this game).
* Because your army is smaller, your rage skills will level up more quickly.
* Never use Call of Nature. That spell is probably the worst summon in the game right now (since Book of Evil, which is normally THE worst summon, is bugged and overpowered right now)
* Always try to get your intellect to at least be a multiple of 7 (i.e. 14, 21, 49, 63) as this gives an extra 10% to your spells.
* Last piece of advice: Try to make your equips specialize in doing something. If you have different items that do similar things (like boosting intelligence, boosting the power of certain spells, or increasing physical resistance), then wear those together and build a strategy around that.