[Taqwus]

Hm. Earth also lets you find Firbolg Fortresses, possibly the most common free fort type. That's valuable since you won't have much income.

For the same reason of low income -- you do need to be careful with temples. 400 Au is a lot more of your income than it is of anybody else's. True, you don't spend it on troops... but a temple loss will hurt a lot.