Mass Archers: they are cheap and reasonably good at anything that isn’t melee, especially magic and enemy ranged combatants
Mass Huntresses: about 50% more expensive per person than an archer, but comes with a drastic uptick in mobility and a modest improvement in melee efficacy, at the cost of a shorter range
Wisps: start grabbing any spirit members of the retinue that aren’t making the cut and turning them into more wisps. Compensate for lack of essence with more essence. Notably, has no essence cost at all
Moon Well wisps: Small upfront essence payment, but the moonwell can be used for all sorts of useful things, and then we can buy more wisps
Hero #2: actually pretty expensive, but it’s *more* expensive in terms of energy.
Scrolls of Town Portal: one use magic scrolls that let the user and all of their nearby allies evacuate back to Twilight Grove at the same time. Good panic button, no essence cost
Staff of preservation: a magical staff that can teleport one member of the retinue back to twilight grove every 30 seconds; infinitely reusable, and half the cost of the scroll
Hold off on unit upgrades, keep unlocking new unit types and building more buildings.
Float the excess gold until you have the most fully upgraded archers and huntresses possible, and *then* you start churning them out at a ridiculous pace with all of your essence going to this every day.