Did I get a good deal?

[roguebanshee]

So far I've basically been building Agrela temples/guilds ASAP so I could use the Heal spell, and babysat my heroes (I rarely use more than 12 at once, and often have the game speed turned down, which makes this much easier).

Fervus gives the healing spell too and it lets you recruit Warriors of Discord in your Warriors Guild and Cultists are quite good themselves too (then again it might just be me who likes to see a green, dagger-throwing bear called Luminous Puddle). The only heroes worthy of babysitting are imo the Wizards since they usually die in one hit from anything even at higher levels. Other heroes should usually only be healed if they are valuable, low on health, berserking and have run out of potions, otherwise it's either a waste of gold or they can handle themselves (at least for a bit more) imo.

And Rangers have a tendency to explore the map, which is great because I'm a compulsive explorer.  They're also relatively low-maintenance since they're good about keeping potions stocked and running away if they're in trouble.

It's not always smart to explore every part of the map too fast as some of the buildings you discover will force you down a path you don't want to take. But usually it's a smart enough choice.

Although, Paladins do seem to beat Warriors in every category (faster, stronger, tougher, spells...) even if they're horribly expensive.

Paladins beat Warriors all over the board, except for leveling speed. Paladins are worth every single gold coin you spend to recruit them. Still, I've yet to see either a Warrior or a Paladin kill a rock golem in one hit.

My biggest problem right now is getting cash.  I have a tendency to build a few guilds early on and fill out their rosters, so I can explore and defend my settlement (because guard towers get expensive fast), but by the time I do that and build a marketplace, blacksmith, research some things and upgrade the castle, I'm broke and don't have much of an income coming in.  Blah.

Build a marketplace as soon as you can, preferably your first hero should be able to buy a healing potion as soon as he is recruited. Usually an almost fully upgraded marketplace (teleportation amulets can wait) and a level 1 blacksmith should be up before you start pushing out heroes in ernest. Even so you shouldn't expect to have much gold left after you've gotten most of what you want, but if you don't throw out spells at every opportunity it shouldn't be bad.