Quote:
Originally Posted by quantum_mechani
Pythium has a number of big boosts from dom2, though old age is a problem. The biggest boost is the angelic summons, which use the huge astral income Pythium had a very hard time leveraging until late game in dom2. Then there are the hydras boosts.
Some more subtle effects have also helped them out. Nerfing the magic scale and boosting gold income means they can afford to pump a theurg elder every turn, giving them a quite the comparative research edge.
Also, growth scale plus some astral healing field trips can save all but a very few mages from old age.
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You seem to be cherry picking here, and over stating the effect of some of the boosts Pythium has gotten.
1. The really useful angelic summons were already in Dom2 (although I do not recall if their stats were as good, IIRC, the harbinger, the real workhorse got his air boosted from 2 to 3 which is very nice).
2. Whether the hydra modification was a boon or a bane is an open question (it really depends upon the foes, mundane troops do far better against the new hydras, save-or-die spells much worse).
3. The ability of pump more Arch Theurgs (although I like calling them elder theurg's just due to their very substantial old age) is an interesting advantage. While they are not efficient researchers it is true that there are few 9RP/turn mages in the world. I do think this is a very thin advantage unless you are relying on a one to two turn advantage to getting that all important buff for your SC.
4. As for astral healing, that is a comical and expensive, way to deal with old age. Comical in that all old age mages get teleported to the front lines. However, expensive in that you would figure that 3 gems on the ubiquitous shroud would be better spent (note: you do not have the gems for hammers, so it could cost 5, which is pricey).
I did not even go into the subtle changes which have affected Pythium. The one that leaps to mind is the change to quickness. While this affected a good number of nation it was a massive nerf to those nations (it was justified in my mind, but still it must be considered when comparing Dom2 to Dom3 nations).
Anyway, I think that the love for Pythium (my Dom2 favorite, or at least one of my Dom2 favorites!) is a holdover from the old days when they were one of the elite nations.