Rainbow Sages: Site-search vs. Re-search

[AreaOfEffect]

Originally Posted by sansanjuan

Important nuance... Graphs off. I hadn't even thought of the graphs on angle. Must be getting old..
-SSJ

I think it's still the same with graphs off. The key to the early game is survival. More research doesn't just give you the appearance of being dangerous, it actually makes you dangerous.

However, research can be made up for in easier ways. Early gem income is technically better in the long run. Therefore, if you are a confident diplomat and/or shrewed tactician, you might be able to get away with site searching.

My personal preference is to keep the rainbow mage at home and send mages out with your armies. A great sage can usually do the job of several mages in the lab, but can't outperform multiple mages on the battlefield, at least not with your starting research. Have the casters aid in expansion and site search the paths they have access to. When you have reached your preliminary research goals you can then take that sage out to the provinces that didn't turn up anything. This will save much of his valuable time.

[JimMorrison]

Personally what I would tend to do is spend most of the first year searching the provinces adjacent to the capital. After that's done, then it's research time. That way he's never in danger, and you get a little gem income early on that will allow to remote search a lot of provinces at once, when you get around to it.