agreed.  even just a "don't use magic" toggle would be useful.

A not use magic or having the option of deciding the max number of magic points that can be use in auto resolve would be great and easy to implement.

Anther question is whether to do it for all units in a battle or have the choice for every unit that can cast spells. The latter seeming best for having as much control as possible.

I agree.

Especially in the first part of the game, I lose heroes too often on auto combat, forcing me to battle manually even if the odds are very good.

The SP waste before I have enough essence is just as annoying.

I also think it should be kept simple.

Make it too complicated and you'll have to change settings before each combat, which will kind of miss the point.

I'm thinking of something along the lines of setting priority of 3 orders: magic, weapon, hold.

magic first means blast until you're out of essence.

If it reaches weapon, it will either charge or fire, depending on the weapon type.

Hold means avoid walking, attacking only if someone is on range.

For example: your hero has magic and is armed with a sword.

Set the priorities to: hold, weapon, magic

translates to "do not charge, blast with magic until someone comes close to you and then use the sword"

Set priorities to: magic, weapon, hold

translates to "blast with magic until you're out of essence, then charge using the sword"

I want this simply so I don't have to manually run away all my hero scouts early in the game. It would greatly reduce the nuisance of scouting.