[Squirrelloid]

Monstrums are a really bad caster chassis. That said, the afflictions are a feature of tart gate and not governed by '#aff (%)' attribute of the creature? Interesting. Did you actually test that? They're still less efficient *as a caster chassis* than Lamia Queens. And the magic is totally random. But they might require some tweaking - i was thinking of them as a troop summon and not a target for GoR, so maybe i'll just clearmagic them. That should solve any balance problem. They do still have shattered soul, fwiw, that's a feature of teh creature.

At 40 gold for every magical path they have, the *new* Oracle is only slightly undercosted (2x + 3e + 2.1r + 3H = 10.1x4 = 404, so we're a whole 54 gold shy of your ideal). He's also capital only, which should carry with it a cost reduction. And he's also literally the only thing Agartha has going for them. He should be better than a Bakemono Sorceror by any logic (Both because the Bakemono Sorceror is recruit anywhere, and because Shinuyama has other things going for them). But if people think they should be 400g, I'll also make them recruit anywhere.

We can compare to other mages too.
*Marveni Druids are probably about as useful as Agarthan Oracles despite having fewer total paths (now). (Similarly, Ermor's Augur Elders, when you consider they're 100g cheaper, pull about the same weight as the Oracle in terms of battlefield/lab/remote usefulness, and they're also recruit anywhere). Total paths is not always the best metric of 'usefulness'.
*Lanka has the sacred 270g raksharaja with 8.1 total paths, a base encumbrance of *2*, and actually good stats - making him a good thug and slightly more efficient in gp/path. (And Lanka actually has good units too, and can afford to use its pretender for a big blessing). Other thug units aren't nearly so efficient, but again, actually good stats are a significant difference, and they often have other really useful attributes like *not being cold-blooded* or *Awe*.
*TC has the 250g Celestial Master with 9.1 total paths. The Oracle just gets blown out of the water on efficiency when it comes to other mages that are both capital only and are primarily used for non-thuggery.

I mean, yes, a lot of thuggable mages are less efficient magically. But the ones that actually do get thugged also have good to great stats. Oracles will never be good thugs because their stats are bad. The proper comparisons are casters, not thugs. And in fact, its hard to find a capital-only non-thug/SC mage in EA near the same price range as the Oracle whose stats are anywhere near as bad. Closest is Mictlan's High Priest of the Sun clocks in at only 8 total paths for 300g, which is still below 40 per (its 37.5 per), and well, its *Mictlan*, they have quite possibly the best sacred troop in the game and those sacreds are *recruit anywhere*. If they get to clock in under 40/path for a capital-only mage, then the nation with the absolute worst troop line-up in any age (with the possible exception of MA Ulm) should get even more 'consideration'. (And fwiw, Mictlan's other cap-only mages clock in at ~29g/path and ~26g/path, ie, really cheap).

The stat bumps just make Agartha's infantry not totally suck against indies. They're still useless against *players*, and they still have no shields. Even *Marveni* has better troops than Agartha *after* the improvements. And that's saying something.

Honestly, I'm not convinced I went far enough in boosting Agartha. They still have no good answers to many early bless rushes (Lanka and Mictlan will absolutely destroy them), and they still depend on their pretender for far too many things.

Basically, inter-nation balance has to be considered holistically as well as on straight-up unit comparisons. But even in the straight mage-mage comparisons, the currently statted and costed Oracle looks pretty reasonable when you're comparing it against the stuff it should be compared against.