Ooh, ooh, new info on patch page!

[Sombre]

Originally Posted by ano

In my opinion, it is a very serious nerf for R'lyeh. Unlike Ermor, they REALLY need that gold as all mages are very expensive and so is research. x5 multiplier is a bit much, imho. I can't say for sure but I strongly suspect that this change will cripple your economy much earlier than the late game when R'lyeh really starts shining. All that chaff is nearly useless unless properly buffed.
It may sound very strange but this change may very well turn the undoubtedly strongest nation into the unplayable one. You may say that I'm exaggerating the effect of this change but my words are only based on my experience.

While I think rlyeh's freespawn should have their goldcost for upkeep purposes taken to 0 gold to compensate, I also think Rlyeh needed a /serious/ nerf. They were reckoned to be the strongest nation in LA by far, if not the game. They're extremely difficult to invade, they get free troops and potentially horrible summons, they have great magic and their dominion pretty much hurts others as much as them. This just forces them to be a little bit more aggressive, rather than turtling and winning the game through weight of astral. At least I believe it will. We'll see I guess.

Happy they were nerfed a bit though.