The sovreign could have the chance at the beginning to be equipped with a wand that could allow the casting of spells up to level 3, then he would need a rod to cast higher spells. Also Rods could be of different kinds, thus allowing to cast only specific kinds of spell (a fire rod, an air rod etc...) there could also be universal rods or rods that increase the power of spells...they could also be researched in the magic tech tree...
In most fantasy books/films the wizard has a rod or a wand that allows him to cast spell. he doesn't cast spells with a sword or barehanded! Maybe certain swords should allow to both casts spells and fight, (sword of the sovreign, for example). Games always struggle to specialize champions, since that introduces new mechanics and strategies and most of all VARIETY!
In fact this suggestion comes from the general impression that this game needs variety. Add colorful objects (different looking rods and cloaks) and without ADDING stuff it would just be very easy to limit the possibilities of the stuff that already is in the game . For example: by holding the most lethal weapons a champion should not be able to cast spells. There is a lot of equipment available in this game, but everyone ends up using the same "best" stuff and the game becomes monotonous, while heroes wear the same armors, although a lot of work was clearly put into creating different items. - IE: as the game is now who would ever buy a short sword (knife)? but if that knife allowed you to both fight and cast all spells up to level 2 (of those available to the sovreign), it would become an interesting alternative to a good sword. Heroes would specialize in schools of magic or in becoming just powerful warriors - MOST OF ALL DO NOT MAKE ALL EQUIPMENT AVAILABLE EVERYWHERE. Specialize shops with bigger cities getting more chances to get the best stuff, but make availability random (as it usually is in RPGs!!). Heroes would have to shop around, when possible, in order to get the best stuff, or units should bring it to them (I noticed units can carry stuff, but that option for now has very little use).
