Most Efficient Researcher

[PhilD]

IIRC, the base RP of a Sage is 7, for a cost of 80 Gold.

The Daughter of Avalon has only 5 RP in a neutral dominion, for the same base cost, but since she's Sacred, she only costs half the upkeep.

It takes Drain 3 for two Daughters to have the same research potential as a single Sage, otherwise they are always higher. So, unless you're doing your research in a Drain 3 environment, Daughters of Avalon are always better in the long run (for research) than Sages. Plus, 2 Daughters will eventually get experienced and get a +1RP each, while the Sage will get a single point.

Of course, Daughters are capital-only, but in my book, anything that makes Sages uninteresting for research is a good buy (but that may be biased by the nations I usually play).

The Vaetti Hag of Jotunheim (55 Gold, not capital-only for 4 RP in a neutral environment) is also a good researcher; she will have a slightly better RP-to-cost ratio, since 7/80 is slightly less than 5/55, as soon as you're not in a Drain environment.

(I hope I don't have my numbers wrong...)

It would be nice to have a chart that lists, for each Nation/theme and each possible Magic/Drain scale, the best RP-to-cost mage available. Of course, you'd have to balance this against the upkeep-free undead (mostly, take initial costs into account)...

[Sandman]

A contender for best researcher has to be the Arcoscephale Golden Era philosopher, with 5 research for 50 gold. They've not got any magic, however, so they're useless for anything else.

Note that sages are worth buying even for a maximum drain Ulm. 4 research for 80 gold is considerably better than 5 research for 140 gold.

[PhilD]

Originally posted by Sandman:
A contender for best researcher has to be the Arcoscephale Golden Era philosopher, with 5 research for 50 gold. They've not got any magic, however, so they're useless for anything else.

Note that sages are worth buying even for a maximum drain Ulm. 4 research for 80 gold is considerably better than 5 research for 140 gold.

Hmm, Master Smiths should have 6 RP, since they have 1 Fire and 2 Earth. But the Sage is still better (and is a source of magic variety for Ulm, although a limited one).

And of course, the Philosopher is a good researcher. And he's not completely useless for anything else - he's got a small leadership value.

[Edit: typo]

[ March 24, 2004, 12:01: Message edited by: PhilD ]

[Nagot Gick Fel]

Originally posted by PhilD:
Hmm, Master Smiths should have 6 RP, since they have 1 Fire and 2 Earth.

Neither Fire nor Earth magic give research bonuses as far as I know. Master Smiths are worth 5 RP just like any other standard 3? mage in Drain 0.

[tinkthank]

Phil makes an excellent point however:
Experience matters. So this is another factor which will favor lots of smaller mages as opposed to fewer powerful mages in general. I often forget this, but it is true; in longer games, you will get 2, 3, and even 4 stars on some mages.

[Ragnarok-X]

For me its definitly Sages. ^^ Forge a couple of Skull Mentors (?) and there u go.

[Torvak]

Originally posted by Ragnarok-X:
For me its definitly Sages. ^^ Forge a couple of Skull Mentors (?) and there u go.

If you have access to sages there is no reason to use skull mentors. They are better off with gem generators.