New Player Looking for Tips.

Hey there! Like the title says, I'm a totally new player to Dominions. I got roped in by that Kleaper video which was posted a couple days back, and put a few runs into Conquest of Elysium before deciding to try and take a shot at learning this game.

So far I've read through the manual (for the core rules that is, haven't gone over the spells or factions sections yet) and have put a decent amount of time reading some threads and watching a couple videos to get an idea of what I should be doing, but I figure I'm getting to a point where I need to actively put a run or two into the game to actually have all these systems "click" for me. My biggest hangup right now is really just the magic system, I'll see someone mention using your pretender or finding a nature mage to break into a new path, and I don't totally get how that ends up being useful in game. Is it just a matter of having that path exist in the first place so that you can work towards buffing it up with items and all that for higher spell and crafting access?

Right now the nations that I've really been attracted to the most are the Mekone and Niefelheim faction lines, particularily LA Phlegra and LA Vaettiheim since I find their theming and general gimmicks pretty rad. I do worry that I might just be setting myself up for failure by starting with more complicated factions though. (Or maybe they're not complicated and all factions are kind of wild, I haven't had time to read them all through.) Either way, would love any advice anyone has to give.