Expert's Corner (by ThE_HyDrA)

The income structures in Heroes V are almost exactly the same as those of the third iteration - barring some small pre-requisites, 500 gold difference in the cost of the Town Hall, and the now-cheaper Mage Guilds, with their costs fluctuating depending on the faction. The main change in gold produce is that each stage requires a new feature in Heroes V - the Town Level. This restricts more powerful buildings being built early on in development, even if all other pre-requisites have been met. The aim of the town level pre-requisite, in this case, is to prevent players from building up their money early on (not exactly the best gameplan anyway) and focus on a balance of structures. In some maps, the City Hall can be built before the end of the first week, depending on difficulty and gold availability. In most towns, the Mage Guild Level 1 has already been built, so essentially there are no pre-requisites aside from town level for these structures. They are the backbone of your economy, though you may be better off, if you have two towns, to develop both fairly simultaneously, as one falls behind in development if you concentrate on building the capitol (of which only 1 can be built, anyway).

Following a similar development plan to the Halls, the fortifications of the castle are also valuable in so far as they also increase creature growth in towns. They are easier to afford than the income buildings, and they are also of a fairly comparative cost. However, they are once again restricted by the town level, wherein it would be favourable to construct the Citadel before the end of the first week to give an early boost towards creature growth for the following week, in which the income can be worked on. Due to the relative affordability of the castle, the situation seldom arises where there are insufficient funds to purchase it in the second week.

The Resource Silo is a luxury item or a structure only required when there aren't enough precious resources on the map. Obviously, the more marketplaces you own, the better, unless there is a trading post nearby, in which case marketplaces may only need to be built to fulfil a pre-requisite. The Blacksmith is useful for bolstering an army, and is a cheap investment, though not a high priority early on due to the high number of low Hit Point creatures. The Tavern is of course an obilgatory construction, and also aids in sieges.