Expert's Corner (by ThE_HyDrA)

The Sylvan follows Necropolis' model in terms of gold, putting it into the lower half of gold demand. However, wood is obviously the higher of the two primary resources, where ore is only required in small concentrations aside from the Druid/Druid Elder dwellings. Of the precious resources, gems and crystal are the ones needed in most abundance, while sulfur is not too far behind either. Mercury is still required, but only a relatively small amount of it. Not including the Stonehenge, you may be able to get by until the Treant Arches without having to search hard for mines or do any extensive trading. However, the business end of the deal are any dwellings above level 5 and the Stonehenge, and if you're considering purchasing the mage guilds, you'd better make sure there are enough resources to go around. It is usually more beneficial to stick to either magic or creatures in this case.

Attempt to build the marketplace before the end of the first week to take an early advantage of the Mystic Pond's benefits. The Blooming Groves can also be built fairly soon to boost early Pixie numbers. The level 2 and 3 structures are cheap and can be built early also. You can also opt to go for Unicorns instead of Druids if your resource numbers aren't too healthy. If your ranged numbers are strong through Sprites and Elves, then you may decide to go for Unicorns too, but if you decided to develop War Dancers, then Druids are the best complementary choice.

Treant Arches are cheap for their level, and are especially important to acquire due to the Treant Saplings building, greatly justifying their purchase. Green and Emerald Dragons are now easier to acquire, but your gems and crystals may take a severe hit after the Dragon Altar. However, the miniscule 8000 gold for the Dragon Altar is reachable as long as the other requirements have been met. On a resource rich map, with trading posts and magic gardens, Sylvan should have little trouble developing.