Projects arcane power into the physical world. If you want to cast spells that are traditionally associated with magic, like fireballs and lightning bolts, this is the school for you. Lots of battle magic. – Illwinter.

The most iconic Evocation spells are those that do damage directly. Most paths, especially elemental ones, have battlefield evocations that do direct damage: some examples are Lightning Bolt, Thunder Strike, Falling Fires, Fireball, Pillar of Fire, Falling Frost, Blade Wind, Magma Eruption, Shadow Blast, Breath of the Dragon, Stellar Cascades, and Astral Fires.

Evocation is also home to powerful "battlefield wipes", such as Wrathful Skies, Fire Storm, Earthquake, and Acid Storm. These spells are fundamentally game-changing, since they allow a small force to inflict disproportionate losses on a doomstack.

Evocation rituals follow this same trend: the most iconic of them send some force to inflict harm on a distant province. Fires from Afar, Flames from the Sky, Murdering Winter, Hurricane, and even Mind Hunt fit this trend.

Evocation has some utility spells, too. There are battlefield enchantments to change the weather (Rain, Mist, Storm, Stygian Rain, Wailing Winds), rituals to change the weather (Breath of the Desert, Wolven Winter), some site-searching spells (Astral Probing, Dark Knowledge), Magic Duel (a truly unique effect), and even a gem generating global (Maelstrom).

Air nations often want to get Evocation early for Lightning Bolt, Thunder Strike, and Storm. Evocation is famously a trap for fire nations; Fireball is not as good as it seems, but Summon Fire Elemental is excellent.

• Fire gives you what you'd expect: a ton of fire-flinging spells. These do large amounts of Fire Damage, most of which is Armor-Piercing, and the spells get both more useful and more impactful as you Research deeper into the school.
• Air primarily gives you Lightning spells, which do Armor-Negating Shock Damage and have a significant chance of stunning foes. There aren't a ton of spells that deal directly with the air, but you do get some weather-affecting Battle Enchantments from higher levels and Gems.
• Water primarily gives you Ice spells, both on-land and underwater, which do Cold Damage. These spells generally aren't as powerful as the Fire or Lightning spells, especially since most of them can't get through armor, but they scale similarly to the Fire spells in the school. The path is a lot stronger underwater, where Water Mages will have a lot more to work with.
• Earth doesn't give you much in the Evocation school, though it allows you to spontaneously Create & fire solid projectiles at foes, dealing non-magical damage. Later on, you can project energy into the Earth to get a response, a bit like what low-level Water Mages can do in the water (but a lot less focused). It's a lot more effective when given more power from another path.
• Astral gives you Light/Positive Energy spells, but they're not straightforward damage-dealers; while Armor-Negating, this energy is generally rather bad at dealing damage to mundane beings, and is better used for giving them Fatigue or attracting Horrors to them – unless they're Undead, of course! It also has some Ritual-spell functions that aren't useful in battle, such as projecting your senses.
• Death gives you Dark/Negative Energy spells, but not a ton of them. It's not particularly easy to get something from nothing with this path, and these spells generally require a bit more knowledge/power than their counterparts. They don't harm Undead foes, but they certainly do a lot to living targets, and they're also Armor-Negating.
• Nature doesn't give you much in this school, and is limited a bit like Earth & Death. You get a Life Energy spell or two, a Poison spell or two, and a very-limited Creation spell or two.

• Fire & Air give you burning-hot Air spells (Sulphur Haze, Breath of the Desert, and Scorching Wind); the last of those is exclusive to two nations, and is also accompanied by Jinn fire (Smokeless Flame).
• Fire & Water give you Acid spells, which are all Armor-Piercing and damage Iron equipment; I should really say that Water & Fire give you these, though, since Water is the main path for this stuff. You also get a Hot Water spell called Geyser.
• Fire & Earth give you Magma spells, which do large amounts of Bludgeoning Damage and have added Fire effects. Two nations get Liquid Flames of Rhuax, which does Fire Damage in a wide area.
• Fire & Astral give you Astral Fires, which are Armor-Negating & ignore Fire Resistance but can be negated by Magic Resistance. Two nations get Strange Fire, which gets stronger when cast by better Astral Mages & deals extra damage to Undead foes.
• Fire & Death give you Bane Fire spells (Bane Fire Dart and Bane Fire), which ignore Fire Resistance & inflict Decay if the target's Magic Resistance doesn't work (but are still only Armor-Piercing).
• Air & Water give you Freezing Mist, which creates a cloud that can Freeze those who pass through.
• Air & Earth give you Rain of Stones, a Battle Enchantment that rains mundane stones on the battlefield.
• Air & Astral give you The Wrath of God, a Global Enchantment that makes lightning want to strike your foes outside of battle.
• Air & Death give you two powerful "Bad Air" spells; Wailing Winds is a notorious Battle Enchantment that can cause entire enemy armies to rout out of Fear, while Wind of Death quickly strikes everyone with Decay.
• Air & Nature give you Healing Mists, which creates clouds that Heal units within them.
• Water & Earth give you Rust Mist, which creates clouds that damage the Iron gear of those who pass through.
• Water & Death give you Stygian Rains, a Battle Enchantment that's like the Rain spell but also gives your friends Invulnerability.
• Water & Nature give you Celestial Rainbow, a Global Enchantment that gives you the Luck of the Irish.
• Earth & Astral give you Meteor spells (Gifts from Heaven & Meteor Shower), which will almost never hit their intended target but deal enormous amounts of Bludgeoning Damage to whoever they do hit.
• Astral & Death give you Nether spells (Nether Bolt & Nether Darts), Dark Energy spells that are only Armor-Piercing and negatable by Magic Resistance but also permanently damage the minds of those affected.
• Astral & Nature give you Healing Light, a "flashy" Healing spell with a decent range.