@Frost Knight
Oof...that hurts! The multiwave fights are challenging. For me: range is king in those fights. As an elf, the only long range Heavy Range unit you have access to is the Frog. Unfortunately, they're a later game unit and you don't get the research for them until Halflings: Ch11! In the meantime, you can look for event bldgs that give them. In addition to the training bonus the Brown Bear is praised for, it also provides Frogs, but not until evolve lvl 4. It's in crafting and the artifacts will eventually come to the Spire again, so it's probably a longer term project (but that's relative since we're talking Ch11!). Witches Hut evolving bldg also gives Frogs, and it'll eventually show up in crafting and those artifacts will come to the Spire. I think
@Enevhar Aldarion (?maybe) is the poster that is tracking the artifact schedule in Spire. I'll definitely be before you reach Ch11, though, lol! Getting the Orc Strats early is a plus; at least you have 2 HR units to use instead of just the Golems. Still, in this early part of the game, I think you're going to need to make sure you have extra resources to cater/convince encounters that are all but impossible to fight. Progressing in the Spire provides so many benefits to your city, MW's and MR's are a huge help, but so are the coin/supply/CC/spell frags, etc at your level, so I think it's worth it.
The Winter Event is coming; I have no advance knowledge of any of the dailies there, but iirc, there is usually a really good (for pop) pop/culture bldg in that event. By really good, I mean outperforms a regular house at max lvl on a per square basis. Factoring in that it gives at least some culture (instead of using it) and doesn't require a road, you can gain some space in your city by placing that bldg and selling off a house. Both my cities are currently running with zero houses and 2 magic workshops. That's after 2 years of diligently playing the spire and all the events during that time. My tactic was to save all my event currency for those amazing pop/culture bldg days and win as many as I possibly could. I was also careful to
not just place them for the added pop, but to decrease that additional pop by removing a house. I've even teleported my magic houses (not selling those at this level!). In events with lackluster pop/culture bldgs, I went in on mana/seed producers (mana comes in Ch9, seeds in Ch11) instead which helps keep balance in those productions.