Unceremoniously exiled from their homeworld in millennia past by a strength far beyond theirs, the Drath have long brewed a powerful concoction of cunning and resentment: two skills vital to survival in a hostile universe, if harnessed in the correct way.
With access to the Ancient trait, like the Altarians and the Iconians, the Drath Freehold also have access to the Elemental Fabricator and the Tower of Procipinee, and for details of those two special Improvements, check out last weeks developer journal focusing on the Iconian Refuge.
But the Drath have another unique Improvement too, the Arms Expo, a base for the import and export of the Drath’s most lucrative trade resource: weapons of war.
The Drath Freehold make a good profit from Trade Routes when trading with civilizations at war, but now this powerful Civilization Achievement assists this goal even further: the +1 Diplomacy Bonus goes some way to offset the penalties incurred when convincing other civilizations to declare war on one another. Furthermore when employed as part of a wider effort to support relations with existing trade partners, this extra diplomatic ability reduces the likelihood of the Drath being on the receiving end of a declaration of war themselves.
But that’s not all! This is a powerful Wealth Improvement that not only grants a large +25% to the Core World’s Gross Income, but also boasts an impressive Adjacency Bonus: +3% per level to both Gross Income and to Research.
You’ve got a choice here: do you powerhouse your generation of credits or stack up your Research efforts instead? Fortunately, this incredibly useful Improvement will provide a centrepiece for either of these extremes, or a healthy mix of the two, ensuring your precious tiles on Dratha are always well utilised.
The Tales of Centauron DLC adds a homeworld Event that kicks in soon after the game’s start, as always presenting the Drath with a choice between three new homeworld Improvements.
First up is the Eldars' Council Chamber, where the very oldest Drath lecture the younger spawn on the deepest affairs of the ancients, alone granting a modest +1% to Research but also adding a hefty+3 Level to Research to all qualifying adjacent Districts and Improvements. A lucky placement can grant the Drath a huge Research bonus once it is fully developed to best take advantage of the arcane ramblings of these wizened old dragons.
Next up is the Warrior Training Grounds. Sometimes, even a shadowy collection of sneaky warmongering lizards need to get their claws dirty, and so once more the Drath Freehold turn to the wisdom of their long, dark past. The Warrior Training Grounds instil young Drath Soldiers with the martial history of their people and increasingly… draconian training regimes that grant Dratha a massive +20% to Soldiering, and a further +3 Level to Military Adjacency Level Bonus.
If you’re planning on a very war-focused playthrough, or you’ve got someone big and scary breathing down your neck in the early game, this might be a great choice to propel the Drath Freehold into the top tier of all military civilizations in the game.
When the younger, less educated Drath shut their ears to the lectures of their elders and refuse the honourable teachings of their ancient war philosophers, the temptation to indulge in extra-societal activities can take hold. Choosing to place the Dragon Mythos Preserve brings these wayward elements back into line by instilling in them the pride of their illustrious past, reducing Crime by 50% and granting a +1 Military Adjacency Level Bonus too.
With these new tools at their disposal, the Drath Freehold can be now be played in many new ways, whether that’s emphasising their traditionally Tall, secret trade-empire style, building them to be more militarily active or propelling them forwards technologically for a more Research oriented approach to victory.
Those sappy, do-gooding Altarians will never know what hit them, and a return to the ancient world of Elemental seems all but assured!
