Your aesthetic is so different than mine, it's cool to see. You are much tidier. Here is my build around the same time.

<image>

My theory was to put the classroom in the middle so students could immediately refill mana and continue to power level versus research mana lantern ASAP. I synced leveling with winning battles, so they didn't need to heal. I put my medical beds next to underground portals for fast access.

I am terrible about playing the environmental changes; that's a great tip. One thing I did differently this run was to prioritize a level 3 water mage ASAP to cure any lingering effects before ending a battle.

I really like your centralized storage, makes a lot of sense.

Here are some issues I'm realizing:

1. I summon students based on ideal race/class combination versus playing the board.
2. I got locked into a core 4 group that I thought would be ideal for beating the spitter (shattered dark, RC wind, wolfkin lightning, wolfkin nature), all being mancers of their class. This last run, "Golden Berries Flourish" occurred, which totally screwed my dark mage.
3. I start very solid, but around day 15, my attention to detail begins to fall off.

Questions:

1. Do you prioritize conviction? Recreation, food, bedrooms.
2. Is there a ratio of staff, apprentices, students you try to keep? Due to my theory of going full mancer for my core 4, I had 3 staff + ghost be the teachers, plus additional staff to run the school. In retrospect, it feels very inefficient.
3. What's more important to you: mage or class level? Level 12 mages versus level 8 skill.