[Agema]

Note...

Drain has been advocated as a design option for EA Agartha here. I think it's actually a really bad idea. Your capital only mages (Oracles) should have 5-6 paths so 7-8 research. That seems pretty good for a drain strategy. The problem is what is what happens outside your capital - your Earth Reader mages have only E1?1, for 4 research. Once you're outside the early game and setting up secondary forts, drain is ruinous as your non-capital mages are such poor bookworms.

Added to this, your capital mages are in high demand, so you'll have fewer than you think to research. Firstly, those Earth Readers have minimal to low usefulness: you'll need capital mages for useful spellcraft, unless you can find good indy mages (not guaranteed). Secondly, EA Agartha is a prime bless nation, so every army you have in addition to your prophet's needs an Oracle for divine bless. Finally, due to the enormous cost of Oracles, you simply might not be able to afford one every turn, especially early on.

Agarthan Giants are certainly pretty weak compared to other giants (e.g. Niefleheim). However, it's worth dropping those Fire & Water blesses a little. By and large, your giants don't die, so they gain experience, and each XP gets you Att & Def. Take them around a few battles, as you've got (or should have) Nature bless and so regeneration they should pick up 2XP mostly without afflictions (unlike your average mortal), making Agarthan giants much more useful than they initially look. Maybe take +1, even +2, Fire/Water bless, but your research is probably worth more than big +3/+4 blesses in the long run.