God-path of Ra
Here are Ra’s bonuses:
1. Pharaoh Resource Empowerment Rate: +5%
Not an impressive bonus, just that you get 25% more resources instead of 20%, meaning you will have 125 Food instead of 120. This bonus will be useful in long games, when you are facing someone who likes booming because you will get a lot of those +5% and make a large difference.

2. Priests can empower:
+30% Build Speed
+100% Building Attack (Doubles amount of arrows fired)
+25% Research/Unit Train Speed
+15% Resources
If you ask me, this is one of the best bonuses in Age of Mythology. It gives Ra the speed he needs in resource gathering and building creation. This is the reason I selected him as my main God. The resource bonus is awesome because during the game, if you need your Pharaoh in combat to fight Myth Units, unlike Isis and Set, you can send him there with no worry that your economy will suffer too much. It is true that their empowerment is worse but the most important fact is that you actually get that bonus instead of nothing. Isis and Set get only one Pharaoh, meaning that they will always keep him at their base, empowering Gold Mines or Town Centre. It’s true that they have Nephthys Priests but they aren’t good in combat against something else than Myth Units. That 15% bonus means you will get 15 more Food for each 100 Food you collect, or each time a Laborer drops 15 Food at your Granary in Archaic Age you get 17.25 instead. If you have 10 villagers on hunting it gives you a 25 Food bonus. I mentioned Food so often because at the start of the game I put my Priest and two villagers to build a Granary and hunt right after, while I look to see if there is any cool relic around and send my Pharaoh to get it. Sometimes it’s important to get relics like Tusk of the Iron Boar because if my opponent will get it first his cavalry will have 10% more hit points, when mine could have it. The Priest empowerment allows me to send the Pharaoh and get them.
The reduction of building time is also awesome because, as everybody knows, Egyptian Laborers work very slowly and it takes 30 seconds for 3 villagers to build a single tower, while if you have a Priest to empower it, they will build it in 20 seconds ( meaning more than a villager ). The importance of this bonus grows as you have more villagers building something. Another important thing about the bonus is that you can empower a Titan Gate with it. While Isis and Set cannot empower it at all, you can send a Priest and release that giant bird 30% earlier. The difference from Isis becomes larger when you thing that she will have to send Son of Osiris in battle, and after all she won’t have the chance to empower it at all. I can’t say the same thing about a Wonder, as her Pharaoh can empower it.
The research time and unit train time is not important because I’ll never waste two population slots on a Priest that will just make some soldiers train faster. But I can find it useful sometimes, when I empower a Migdol Stronghold that it’s situated near the frontier of my main base. In that case it becomes useful because it will give me two bonuses at one time: My units will train faster / the technologies will research faster and my building will fire 50% faster. Otherwise I don’t bother using this bonus.
You can also empower Monuments to gain more favor. It’s very useful if you have all the Monuments and you want to make a lot of Myth Units, or you need it to research something. I put a Priest on each one and I gain almost 2 Favor each second. That means Favor is no longer a problem. However, that means you will waste 10 population slots and 500 Gold on them, considering you empower all five of them. Unless you have enough free population slots, you should empower only 3 of them ( the ones to Villagers, to Gods and to Pharaoh because those have the best Favor generation rate ). If you empower all of them you will get the Favor needed to train a Mummy in just 15 seconds.
All these bonuses cost just 100 Gold and 2 population slots each, and make one of the largest differences between Isis and Ra.

3. +22% Chariot Archer and Camel HP and +10% speed.
It’s an awesome bonus. It gives the Camels 27.5 more hit points and the Chariot Archer 19.5 more hit points. That means your soldiers will survive to attacks longer and they will do more damage before being killed. Chariot archers can now survive to infantry that already got to them because not only that they won’t die so easily, but they will also fire for about two or three more times, considering it’s 1 versus 1 battle. The bonus it’s even better for Camels because they now resist for a longer time against a Crenellation Tower fire. It’s almost like having 2 more Camels or Chariots for each 10 you produce. I use this bonus for raiding my opponent’s base heavily and kill some villagers and them run back to get healed. I eventually go back to attack his base if he doesn’t attack me back right after I left the battle. It will save you a lot of resources during the game because you don’t have to make more of them as you still have some Camels to attack the enemy. With this bonus for their hit points you opponent won’t do a lot to your army because Camels beat Cavalry like Jarls or Hippikons and Archers and Chariot Archers take care of Spearmen and Katalpetes. Even Prodomos won’t such a big problem because of Camel’s bonus against them, but still watch out for them because they can cause much damage to you. The biggest problem should be Katalpetes because they have a very good speed and your Chariots will have problems in shooting them properly, especially if they have the Weightless Mace technology researched. Another problem is Huskarls because Camels are pretty much useless against them and Chariots are even more useless. In that case I retire a few meters back and shoot them and repeat until they are gone.
The speed bonus is one of my favorite because it makes Camels perfect raiders with original 6.60 speed, not to mention you will research Desert Wind later that will make them ever faster ( 7.80 ).
With their speed they can do many things in short time. You can rapidly find and raid his Gold mines and kill many Gold villagers, if not all of them; you can go to his base where the economy is situated and kill some Farmers. But one of the best uses of their speed is raiding his Titan Gate heavily with Camels; you can get to his base in no time, kill the builders and then try to break the gate. Of course you will need several of these attacks to destroy it completely and some support because your opponent will obviously try to protect it with any price. You can make some Elephants and send them a few moments after you sent the Camels to attack and right after he killed all those, you come with them because his forces will be weakened and the Elephants will have their path clear.
If you also find one of the Cavalry Relics (Tusk of the Iron Boar and Mithril Horseshoes) you will have a major battle advantage because either their speed or hit points will dominate your opponent. Not to mention if you get them both…well that happens… once in a blue moon.

4. Monuments cost 25% less and have 20% more hit points.
It’s a decent bonus. It basically allows me to build my first monument in Archaic Age with minimal economic effort, preparing me for Bast’s techs that cost Favor. They also last longer against enemy God Power and attacks, but to be honest, Monuments aren’t the priority in conquering an opponent base.

Now I’m going to explain the God Path of Ra, in a scenario where I want to boom and start Farming in Archaic Age. I’ll start obviously with Classical Age:

Bast:
Eclipse (Myth units get +50% attack/special attack (half recharge time), and +20% speed). Monuments gather favor 30% faster for that time) . It’s one of the most versatile God Powers in the game for sure. You can use it in more than one way. The first, and the most obvious it’s massing Sphinxes or Petschutos in Heroic Age and devastate your opponent’s base. If you also have those two Sphinx upgrades you have a major advantage in that battle...you can basically destroy half of his base with about 5 Sphinxes and some support like Slingers or Axemen. The Sphinxes aren’t hard to get in late Classical Age because if you go for Archaic Farming and Rain use ( my favorite Ra strategy ) you will have plenty of Food to spare. I usually get one of the two upgrades for it until I go to Heroic Age because it’s quite useful if I face Atlanteans/Egyptians. The other main use it activating it in a Titan Fight; it guarantees you a win as you Titan has much higher attack strength. I think it’s the best use for Eclipse, especially in one versus one games, as your Titan stays alive with about 3000 hit points and you go to his base after and devastate everything with him and some support, like Chariots and Spearmen for defeating Heroes and Siege weapons that would eventually hurt you a lot.

Adze of Wepawet (Villagers +10% wood gather speed and drop trees 500% faster) : It’s not a so important bonus because Egyptians don’t use Wood a lot; still you will need it when you will train Chariot Archers, Siege and Slingers. And because those are quite important for your strategy, especially Chariots, I recommend getting it if you have resources for it. I like this bonus because it approaches Egyptian villagers to Greek and Norse ones in terms of gathering speed. The second effect it’s not important because most of the times you will have more than five villager to cut one tree down, so the drop time will be even lower. If one villager cuts a tree down with this tech, he makes it like two seconds faster than normal. But, as I said, it’s not important because you will have more than one villager tasked on a tree.

Sacred Cats (Villagers gather food from farms 10% faster) : It’s the reason I go with Bast most of the times because I get even more Food. At the cost of 110 Gold and 10 Favor I can make my Farmers work 10% faster. This bonus makes my villagers work faster than the other civilization’s ones with 10%, meaning I will always have the upper hand on economy, unless my opponent is Norse and goes with Skadi. Food is my priority during the game because all my units except Chariots and Slingers cost Food. Also a part of my strategy, Sphinxes, cost only Food and Favor, and with Plow, Rain and Sacred Cats I have plenty of it. It also ensures me I have enough resources to train a lot of Camels, Spearmen and Elephants, especially Elephants in late game, when I destroy my opponent with them; and they cost me a lot of Food, 180. It’s most useful on low hunting maps like Oasis where you start farming early, or on Alfheim. Overall I think it’s an excellent tech that you must always get as soon as possible.

Sphinx: It’s one of my favorite Myth Units in the game because of its look and its price. It’s almost as cheap as an Automaton, costing Food and Favor. The resource difference it 32 but Food shouldn’t be a problem for a Ra player that goes with Bast as his Classical Age God. It’s best against Atlanteans because they all mass those pesky Turmae that have pierce attack and won’t do much damage to him, unless he heroizes them. In that case you are in major trouble, unless you bring some Spearmen to kill them quickly. They are good against buildings also as they deal crush damage, but not so much of it. When he uses his special attack he turns into a sand vortex that deals 20 Hack damage to human soldiers and 60 Hack Damage to Myth Units. The Sphinx also has a 2X multiplier against Myth Units. Be careful against Loki’s Hersirs and Egyptian Pharaoh and Priest. I usually make two or three in Classical Age to defend my base from enemy attacks, but in late game Mummies are way more useful, and Sphinxes are not useful at all because most human soldiers are better than him (considering they are fully upgraded). If you upgrade them with those two techs (that are quite expensive) they get 17 attack points, quite good, but not that impressive considering the resources you spend on those techs. Still they are better than Automatons, also having two upgrades, in terms of hit points and attack. It’s also nice that his special attack hurts more than one unit, dealing splash damage. Overall, the Sphinx is an excellent Classical Age Myth Unit that it’s worth its price.

Ptah:
Shifting Sands (Teleport all allied units in a range of 5. Shift up to 1000 hit points of enemy military and 250 hit points of enemy civilians. (Ships, stationary and Bronzed units not affected)) : It’s one of the most versatile God Powers in the game, if not the most of them. You can use it in a lot of ways like transporting your opponent’s army somewhere where he will die quickly, between your Tower’s fire, on hills when playing on Alfheim, etc. Another good use is scouting your opponent’s mining operation and transport his villagers near your Town Centre for a sudden death ( this one works the best for Set though, as he has the Vision God Power to reveal their base ). If you are being attacked while your army is far away you can transport them back with this power and your base is safe, for the moment. Also, if you are on Alfheim, you can transport you Catapults on the top of the hills, or Petschutos, to devastate his base while being safe from Hack attacks. Shifting Sands it’s a powerful God Power if used right after all.

Shaduf (Farms cost 34% less gold, Villagers build farms 100% faster) : Extremely useful tech if you are going with Ptah. It will save you a lot of Gold in early game, but compared to Sacred Cats it’s worse because it only affects your economy on short time, while Bast’s tech affects you until the game is over. Also it is most useful if you plan to start farming exactly after this tech is researched, you should activate Rain immediately to lower the chance it affects your opponent will get a bonus from it. But to be honest, this is the only reason I go with Ptah sometimes, because his other techs are not good for what they cost. If you make 25 Farms after this technology is researched it will save you 600 Gold, while it costs 160 resources. It’s a pretty cool fact but as I said, Sacred Cats it’s better.

The military techs (Axemen hack attack increased by 10%, Spearmen pierce armor increased by 10%, Slinger pierce attack increased by 10%): To be honest, I don’t research these techs until late Heroic Age because they cost way too much for what they do, especially the Slinger one as it doesn’t do much at all. The ones I like are the remaining ones, the one for Axemen and Spearmen because they have higher stats and those techs actually raise them a little, while the Slinger one just adds 0.3 to his pierce attack. The best one seems the one for Spearmen because they lack a decent Pierce Armor, and this tech gives them what they really need, the resistance against Archers. The one for the Axeman is decent; in the end you will see a 1 difference in the attack points, so that’s not bad.

Wadjet: He costs 150 Wood and 15 Favor, a little bit too much I say, because it’s not a powerful Myth Unit. His advantage is the range of attack and relative high attack for a Classical Age Myth Unit, being 16 Pierce Damage. I once made about 5 of these in Classical Age and they were extremely effective against raids and rushes because they eaten infantry alive with that venom attack. If you plan to go with Ptah I recommend putting some villagers on wood in Archaic Age, and when you hit Classical Age you can afford making multiple Wadjets as you only spend some Wood on Plow and Pickaxe upgrades, meaning you have lots of wood to spare, even with 4-5 villagers tasked to chop trees. The problem of Wadjet is his range, even if it’s 18, still less than the one of Arcus, Cheiroballista, Towers, or even Chariot Archers in Heroic Age. In most cases I don’t take him to attack my opponent’s base, I just let him home, behind the walls to defend my base from eventual surprise attacks. Just like the Sphinx I would only make these Myth Units in Classical and Heroic Age, because in Mythic Age they are trash compared to other Myth Units. His hit points are decent, 260, better than Anubite’s ones, but he has another advantage: he heals himself with 1 hit point per second. It’s a pretty good thing and it lets your Priests heal other units too, or just do their empowering job. I think Wadjet it’s an underrated Myth Unit in Age of Mythology because of his stats, but we must look at his price too, as Egyptians don’t really use Wood anywhere and you’ll have much of it in your Stock pile, meaning you can afford making some of these.

Overall: I think both gods are very good, especially Bast, which is my favorite Classical Age God in Age of Mythology, and they both support Ra’s strategy no matter which one you choose to play. But I think Bast should be your choice in most cases as her economic upgrades will give you the upper hand, especially as you have the Empowerment Priests everywhere. Ptah’s Shaduf is really cool but for me, that tech come too late, as I start farming in Archaic Age, and in Classical Age I just make about 10 Farms. Both Myth Units are very good, but Sphinx is better because he can take down buildings and units as well, unlike the Wadjet.

The Heroic Age:
Hathor:
Locust Swarm (Target enemy villagers/farms/fishing ships, lasts 20 seconds (20 hack, +100% vs. farms)) . Extremely useful God Power, and also versatile. You can use it in about three ways, or even more. The first use is the most obvious: you search his Farms with your Camels; you activate Locust Swarm and destroy his Food Economy completely, as Camels take down the remaining hit points of villagers and Locust Swarm kills the Farms instantly. That happens while his Food is transferred to your stock pile. It’s the best strategy available with this God Power in my opinion, because it both destroys villagers and Farms, so he has to create new villagers and spend Gold on new Farms. The second use for Locust Swarm is activating it on a Gold Mine with a lot of villagers working at it, after you scouted them with your Camels, obviously. It is most effective against Egyptians because they need Gold the most. The third use is placing the God Power upon villagers working on a Titan Gate, stopping its summoning and killing the villagers. Then you can destroy the Titan Gate pretty easily with Camels or Elephants, and then attack him with your own one. Ra also has a combo involving Locust Swarm, with Rain. It’s pretty simple: when you find his Farming operation you activate Locust Swarm and then Rain, to stop other God Powers and let your villagers farm 3x faster.

Sun-Dried Mud-Brick (Building hit points increased by 10%, Building gold cost decreased 15%): This a very useful tech for Ra, as he has to spend a lot of Gold for his Migdols and this tech gives him back 15% of their price in Gold, while it makes them stronger and harder to breach. I find myself in many situations where I don’t have enough Gold to build my Stronghold and I have to wait until a villager drops something. Now, with this tech not only that I don’t have to wait for that to happen, but I get s stronger fortress that will protect my Gold Mine better. This tech gives my building 260 more hit points, enough to hold your enemy down until you come with fresh forces. The cost is pretty cheap, considering you don’t use much Wood on anything but Chariots. Though, the Favor cost is pretty expensive, 20, but suitable for Heroic Age as you can afford considering you have your Monuments empowered (at least two).

Medjay (Mercenary and mercenary cavalry last 30 seconds longer) : Extremely useful tech, you will need mercenaries a lot if your opponent is aggressive. Usually, when my opponent wants to destroy my forward base and I don’t have an army right there at the moment, I make mercenaries and they wipe his army out. But it’s not good they die right after they finish that job. When I research this tech I can actually send them to harass some villagers on his base, take some hit points off a building, basically anything I have in mind then. Its importance grows as the number of mercenaries I make at one time. If I go to attack him, he will need to use his army to take them down, wasting precious soldiers and weakening some of them at the cost of taking down some monster that already paid for themselves. It forces my opponent to misplay, in my opinion. It is also vital if you want to attack you opponent with Mercenaries only…well not them only, but swarm the battlefield or his base with them and some support; that considering you actually have enough Gold to spare. Overall, it’s a must-get immediately if you go with Hathor.

Petsuchos: I think it’s safe to say that they are the best Heroic Age Myth Unit, maybe second, after Battle Boar. It’s basically because of their 50 Pierce Damage, and long range. You can use them both ways; they can be extremely good support units by placing them behind your army and let them attack infantry, that are generally weak to ranged attacks. If you attack a fully upgraded Turma with this beast from maximum range you will take him 30 hit points per hit ( not per second, as his attack rate is lower ), and you will probably kill it before he evens attack with it, considering Turmae have a low range, with 10 meters less than an upgraded Petsuchos; so he kills a fully-upgraded Turma in 5 hits ( that 1 hit point rule saves him for a short period ), and unless he will micro it to attack, he will be untouched. His long range is a great advantage because he will be long behind your main army and your opponent will notice him a little harder. The second use is defending your base against attackers…this might be his best use because, upgraded, he will beat every soldier without even being touched behind walls; this is why I always get that upgrade if I don’t plan to attack immediately. Also because he deals Crush Damage (12), it’s decent against buildings, especially against Towers, as they have lower Pierce Armor and weaker hit points when not heavily upgraded. And they can tear them down without a scratch thanks to the upgrade available. That tech is kind of expensive and many think that it’s not worth 400 Wood and 20 Favor, and it might be true; still I always get it as soon as possible because I have resources to spare and I plan to make lots of them. Petsuchos is also a relatively cheap Myth Unit when compared to the Scarab, its competitor Myth Units, costing more than 100 resources less. I think that Petsuchos is one of the best myth units in the game and it’s worth its cost, in Heroic Age..in Mythic Age I make mostly Mummies.

Roc: If Petsuchos is the best Heroic Age Myth Unit, the second one Hathor offers you is by far the unit with the best strategic power in the game. You can use it in so many ways and I don’t think I know them all…though I will tell you about the ones I found out myself (I don’t pretend finding them first, as obviously many players found them long time ago). My favorite one it’s the Catapult Drop, used by garrisoning Catapults, Siege Towers or Elephants and transporting them across the map, directly in your opponent’s base, destroying their buildings in basically no time. But if you play on Alfheim, Roc is a…flying…Gold Mine (don’t know anything better to compare with). You can drop the Catapults, Petsuchos or any other ranged unit on the top on the hills. There they are immune to hack attacks and Pierce Attackers with longer range will be dead before they deal some damage. It’s obviously the most useful if there is actually a hill near his main base. When I play on Alfheim I like to build many towers and Migdols on hills just for fun, as that method is not very effective regarding the micromanagement. Also when my opponent makes a Titan and I want my Priests, Pharaohs and Catapults safe from his tremendous force and Roc gives me exactly what I need because the Titan can’t attack flying units. I drop them and when the titan approaches I garrison them back; just keep the bird away from archers and buildings that have a ranged attack. The Roc is useful on water maps too, and may be one of Ra’s few advantages on these places as you can transport your units much easier to his island; the Catapult drop is even more effective here while his troops are away because they will come back to defend the base much later. I’m sure there are more ways to use Hathor’s great Myth Unit but these are all of those which I experimented.

Sekhmet:
Citadel (You or allied town center targeted has +50% hit points, +10 pop slots, 10 track rating and +3 attack (Atlantean citadel gains no favor)) : I think this is my favorite God Power in the game. Sekhmet’s Citadel is much more powerful against attacks and you gain 10 population slots. Those 50% more hit points mean you will have more time to react against Siege Weapons and if his main attack target is the Citadel you will have more time to make Mercenaries. The 10 population slots are extremely useful especially Isis as you will have even more soldiers than her, like 3 more Camels or 2 more Elephants or 3 more Chariots or 5 more Spearmen or even 10 more Villagers/Caravans. I think that’s the most useful aspect of this God power because the population slots are some of the most important factors in the game. The 3 attack points are not that important; they will just deal like 2 more damage to soldiers with average pierce armor. Citadel also has a downfall, the maximum garrison is 20, with 5 less than the original Town Centre; it’s not a big deal as you will have Towers ready to garrison the villagers that don’t fit there. A possible advantage is the fact you can place the Citadel on one of your allies Town Centre when they really need it and they get the population slots. Not really necessary but might be useful when he might lose if you don’t protect him enough. Overall Citadel is a very good and defensive God Power that can be used pretty offensive too if you place it on a forward Town Centre (I don’t recommend that as you can risk losing all its advantages).

Bone Bow (Chariot Archer range increased by 4) : Costing 250 Wood and 20 Favor, this technology is pretty expensive for what it does. But the truth is that it’s very useful; 4 more meters where the Chariot Archers can attack -with less accuracy but they still hit the target pretty often at that distance- are extremely important if you want to be safe from archers on the other side of the walls or you want to take down building, especially Towers, from long distance without even being touched once. Ra Chariot Archers already were extremely good raiders, now they are even better and they will take down buildings too (when Burning Pitch is researched). As Ra you can have more Chariots because you have more population slots with Citadel and more Wood with Adze of Wepawet and Pharaoh/Priest empowerment. That means you can totally overpower a Set player that went with Anubis and Nephthys and doesn’t use Slinger that much. Even if he uses those units, they are outranged badly by your Chariots; also they can eventually run away faster with their great speed and attack when they are safe from Slingers. This tech is the second reason I mostly go with Sekhmet because my Chariots will be even better than they were by playing with Ra. Now they have more hit points, better speed and longer range.

Slings of Sun (Slingers get a 30% damage bonus vs. Infantry/Norse Heroes) : It’s a very useful tech if you plan to use a lot of Slinger against Atlantean gods that use Turmae and Murmilllos combo, Norse that use Infantry and Throwing Axeman, Zeus Players, etc. But usually it’s not one of my priorities because I don’t make many Slingers, except if I’m playing Atlanteans. I usually make Spearmen and Axemen because they are good against Cavalry and Turmae and they actually have a chance against other Infantry. If you have the resources needed and you made Slingers, research it; if not don’t do it because it’s not worth and Chariots are much better archers.

Ram of the West Wind (Siege tower hit points increased by 20%, Siege tower crush attack increased by 20%); Stones of Red Linen (+20% Catapult or Siege Ship Crush attack) : I absolutely love these techs because they make the best Siege Weapons in the game even better. At the cost of 250 Gold and 20 Favor / 300 Wood and 25 Favor, expensive I say, you will destroy your opponent’s buildings much faster and Siege Towers will actually have a chance against Katalpetes as they have more time to shot at them. Also a Titan will die faster and you will have to spend 20% less resources on Siege to take away his hit points. They have 60 more hit points, like twice better than Ra’s bonus for Camels and Chariots. That means they will resist to 3 more Katalpetes/Prodomos hits before they die, and those three hits might have destroyed the Tower completely. The second tech is not that good because not only it’s more expensive, but it just increases Catapult’s and Siege Ship’s Crush attack. I can understand that as a range increase or a hitpoints one would overpower completely Siege Ships and even Catapults and you could destroy an entire city with them on water maps like Mediterranean and Islands. But ‘’thanks’’ to their very expensive costs I only research them in Mythic Age, together with the other two Siege upgrades, when I have plenty resources to spare. If you research them all, your siege will be significantly better than any opponent you may have.

Scarab: This Myth Unit might be a better choice than Siege Tower/Catapult because of several reasons; a scarab deals 109 damage per hit to a fully-upgraded Migdol Stronghold by example. But unlike Siege Tower, the Scarab is harder to counter; of course there are heroes to do the job, but Priests are half good against them due to the 75% Pierce Armor, and melee units will suffer to Scarab’s acid explosion, so even when they are dead they are kind of useful… Another advantage is the cost: he only takes you Food and Favor, resources you have lots of. That’s why I go with Bast, because she gives you that 10% faster farming that will allow you to make extra Sphinxes and Scarabs. The Favor shouldn’t be a problem either as you have the empowered Monuments. Unlike Siege Tower, that costs Wood and Gold, resources that are needed in more important sectors of your army, the Scarab doesn’t take away your precious Gold, he just uses the resource you excel in gathering. Unless I use it to take out those Turmae in Heroic Age if my opponent rushes, I use the Scarab to take out the important buildings my opponent is going to use in Heroic Age: Migdol Stronghold for Isis and Ra, Hill Fort for Odin, and even Fortress to stop Greek Gods from using Siege even from Heroic Age. The Sphinx Scarab combo is very powerful especially when supported by a few units because it takes down many buildings with minimum of damage taken. Your opponent will send some Heroes to take them down but you can easily defend from them with some Archers that can kill Hersirs or Greek heroes. If he uses melee or pierce normal units to defeat your Myth Units you can simply micro your Sphinxes to attack them. Anyway it will be very hard for your opponent to take down these with Archers or Priests, so that’s why you should take some Chariot Archers with them. Petsuchos are overall a better option than the Scarab, but Sekhmet’s beast can be much more effective at surprise attack and you can slowly kill the archers that attack your home due to his high armor. If you go with Sekhmet I would recommend making 4-5 over the game, because they are enough for taking down a large part of his base. They are even good against Titans as they deal Crush Damage, they are good meat shields and will save you Gold to use for Priests.

Overall: I think this is the hardest god choice for Ra. In most of my games I went with Hathor because of her incredible techs and myth units that give you a lot of strategic power. But lately I discovered that Sekhmet is a better choice in many cases because of her God Power and her Myth Unit. Ra can have a great combo with Rain and Locust Swarm to cause a major resource advantage, but Sekhmet gives you the upper hand in military force. I think that both are extremely good goddesses and you have nothing to lose if you choose either. I personally like Sekhmet more because I’m a more defensive player, I love her God Power and I don’t need Locust Swarm to take Rain advantage as I start farming in Archaic Age, but when I play of maps like Alfheim or Water Maps I always go with Hathor because of her Rocs that can transport units easily over anything.

The Mythic Age:

Osiris:
Son of Osiris (Transforms Pharaoh into a super-empowering, lightning wielding demigod. If cast on New Kingdom Pharaoh, a 3rd Pharaoh will respawn.) : This is one of the reasons I go with Osiris because it allows you to have a third Pharaoh and as well the most powerful unit in the game after the Titan. The Son of Osiris is one of the very few units that can change the result of a battle (the others being Bellerophon, Heka Gigantes, Nidhogg, the Battle Boar and obviously, the Titan) alone. He has an immense Pierce Attack (60) that hits up to four units. That may be the reason why he will be the target of most enemy attacks, obviously, and it’s one of the reasons I rarely take him in battle. I mostly keep him behind walls, to destroy pesky Myth Units like Automatons or Fire Giants, Collosi, etc. But he isn’t useless against normal units at all, especially against Infantry with low Pierce Armor that try to break a wall or a Migdol Stronghold. I just attack with his lightning and when some enemy units are approaching to him, I just garrison him into that Migdol or a Tower, then take him out and let finish the job he started. But be very aware of Pierce Attackers like Toxotes or Arcus because they will take him down pretty easily. If you don’t want to use him in battle you can send him to empower a Market or a Town Centre. Keep in mind that his empowerment isn’t better than a Pharaoh’s one. Otherwise he will give you same advantages as a normal Pharaoh. But if you keep him safe from attacks you will have three Pharaohs, while if you let him die in a battle you will have only two; so decide what’s better for your game. I mostly send him to empower my Market and send my Pharaohs to battle, as a 24 Pierce Attacker can deal a lot of damage to Infantry, not to mention you will have absolutely no problem in defeating Myth Units. And because you are Ra, your Priest can take those two’s place on empowering, so your economy doesn’t suffer a big downfall. And for the two persons in this world who still didn’t find out, always use this God Power on your second Pharaoh to get the third one.

New Kingdom (Gives a respawning second pharaoh (3.6 speed, +700% vs. myth units)) : This is one of the best Mythic Age technologies because it gives you a respawning extremely powerful unit for the price of 300 Gold and 25 Favor. That second Pharaoh means you can have 15% more resources than before, when your Priest was empowering your Gold Mine, Granary or Lumber Camp. Even more; when you cast Son of Osiris on this new Pharaoh you will gain another one, so you have a total of 3 Pharaohs ready to overpower your economy. Ra already had an awesome economy because of Bast’s techs and Priest empowerment, now with Pharaohs for every resource you can make it even better. Its price is extremely expensive but it’s worth its price and you will gain much more than that in no time. If you don’t want to use them on empowering, as your Priests will successfully replace them, you will send them in battle because they are more than normal soldiers, being two 24 attackers with 20 range that can change the tide of the battle especially if your opponent uses a few Myth Units in his army. If I choose to use them in this way, I always put them in the back of my army and let them attack weak units and eventually heal each other, or other units. It’s another reason why you should go with Osiris most times, especially because Ra’s Pharaohs are slightly better than other God’s ones and you should profit.

Desert Wind (Camel speed, hack attack, and hit points +20%): This is the best upgrade for Human Soldiers in the game and I think it’s safe to say that. Improving unit’s hit points, speed and hack attack is incredible, especially if the God you worship gives that unit more hit points and speed. In my opinion, Desert Wind Ra Camels are among the best units in the game because they are by far the fastest units in the game with 7.9 speed, they have 233 hit points, almost doubled from their original value and the attack of 14 and a very good bonus versus cavalry. Desert Wind Camels are the perfect raiders in Age of Mythology because of their incredible speed that saves them from Crenellation Towers fire in many cases and they can cross the whole map is minimum time, allowing you to counter anything your opponent wants to do. It will be almost impossible for him to build that Titan Gate unless he walls his base and he builds a lot of Towers to protect it. Otherwise just kill those villagers with Locust Swarm and destroy the Titan Gate with the Camels, as they are pretty good against buildings, though not excellent. Also his Gold mining operations, if he still has them, will be compromised, as well as his Trade Route. Basically, if he doesn’t use Prodomos or Oranos Oceanus Katalpetes, his economy will be pretty much destroyed. In conclusion, use Camels!

Mummy: These are the best Myth Units in the game, arguably. Some people may say that Collosi are those, buy I continue to believe Osiris’s Myth Units is much better than that. Ra creates Monuments for Myth Units, while Set and Isis make them for different purposes such as God Power Shield and Animal creating. For that he has the lower cost and Priest empowerment. And this is why you should empower your Monuments as I said before. They cost 200 Gold and 25 Favor, less than most Mythic Age Myth Units, but you should have no problems with your economy by Mythic Age. The have a weak, 12 Pierce attack, so it’s not powerful in battle at all. But his special attack makes it the best Myth Unit. If you have at least 3 Mummies in your army it will be very hard for you to lose, even if you have a smaller army. They automatically destroy 3 units in his army, no matter what they are, obviously excepting Heroes (Hippolyta can be converted however). You better micro them, so they target powerful Myth Units like Collosi, Chimerae, Heka Gigantes, Fire Giants, Elephants, etc. But the Mummy not only produces and instant -1 to your opponent, it also gives you a very useful Minion to fight other units around, meaning you get a +2 with that Myth Unit. So if you have 3 Mummies in your army, you will start the battle with 3 more soldiers, while your opponent will have 3 less than he thought he would have. Not to mention that if the battle lasts so your Mummies recharge their abilities you get an instant win. The Mummy also has an upgrade available, Atef Crown that boosts their attack with 40 percents, increases their hit points with 20%, and doubles the life span of your Minions. It’s not that important because all that matters regarding Mummies it’s their ability to create advantage. As I said before, use Mummies more than any other Myth Units in Mythic Age because they are incredible. The only downfall I find it’s the fact they take 5 population slots.

Horus:
Tornado: Well, here is the only Destructive God Power Ra gets trough all his God Path. This is like the best Horus has to give to you, although his other techs are extremely good too, just a bit too expensive regarding Favor, even for Ra. Tornado is one of the best God Powers in the game because it destroys your opponent base, better said a part of his base. In regular a 1 versus 1 battle this can mean the end of the game because it deals an enormous quantity of damage to buildings and units as well. Strangely, Tornado doesn’t deal any damage to farms, I really don’t know why, maybe because it would be another Farm killer other than Locust Swarm. I obviously use it just before I start an assault and cast it in the middle of his city, where many buildings like Fortresses, Barracks or Houses are placed so I can severely affect the fate of the battle. It’s not as effective as Meteor because of its randomness, so that’s why you should be careful where you place it, as you may waste it completely if it goes in a wrong place. Also it’s downfall it’s the fact it affects your units too, meaning you should cast it a few seconds before you attack, by gaining Line of Sight with a Camel, or whatever you like. Obviously use it against Norse of Atlantean buildings, as they have fewer hitpoints. You better not use it on regular units that attack your base because it will do more damage to you than hurt your opponent. Also don’t use it on a Titan as he is apparently not affected by this God Power, just use ot in that Titan Gate when you get the Line of Sight for a few seconds (much harder to use on online play obviously).

Axe of Vengeance (Axemen gain +200% damage vs. buildings.) : I think that this is Horus’s best tech because now Axeman become extremely effective not only against Infantry, but against buildings too. Now you can seriously think of switching between Migdol Stronghold and Barracks units, as they become more effective when fully upgraded. If I actually go with Horus, I will mass Axemen more than Spearmen because of this tech. It’s also significantly cheaper than the other techs he offers you, especially regarding Favor, even if you’re Ra, because they cost 95 Favor in total, meaning you will have no Favor remaining for Myth Units and Techs. Also if you’re fighting Norse opponents you better go with Horus because of this technology, as Axemen will not only counter most his soldiers, but they will destroy his weak buildings too much faster than they did before. I mostly bluff with some Camels and he will begin to train Infantry that counters Cavalry, like Katalpetes, Bragi Ulfsarks or Spearmen that will fall to your Axemen very easily, then you will destroy his forward base quickly with their new bonus. Basically it makes those extremely cheap Infantry extremely effective against non archer units.

Greatest of Fifty (Spearmen hack armor increased 15%, Spearmen gain 100% bonus vs. cavalry), Spears of the Horizon (Spearmen hitpoints increased by 30%, Spearmen hack attack increased by 10%): These two techs are incredibly good and effective and also incredibly expensive too, unfortunately. Both costing a total of 300 Food, 300 Gold and 70 Favor, they might be very hard to get at the same time, especially if you want Axe of Vengeance too. But they are rather cheap for what an advantage they grant you. Now Spearmen are some of the best units in the game, and also some of the cheapest ones, allowing you to have an extremely powerful army with very low costs. The only real counter to a Axeman Spearmen is an army of Toxotes or Arcus, because Cheiroballistas fail against Spearmen’s multiplier versus Siege Weapons. Odin Jarls and Isis Elephants will be dead immediately and Hypasists, that should counter all your army, will fall to your Axeman. These techs may allow Ra to have the largest army diversity because he can regularly switch between Migdol units to Barracks ones to disrupt any enemy strategy he might try to use. If they see Camels, they will immediately make Katalpetes, Ulfsarcks, or even Camels that will fall to your Chariots, and then you switch to Spearmen Axeman combo, and even Sekhmet Slingers. You will have the advantage either way because of Ra’s upgrades for Migdol units, meaning all your units, except Elephants are upgraded with more than usual Armory/Military Champion upgrades. This fact will also save your economy much more resources that the regular Migdol Unit spam and will be much more effective. If you research these techs and actually manage to maintain a continuous flow of Migdol/Barracks units you will probably win the game easily, especially you have the best Siege as well.

Avenger: To be honest I never made more than 3 of these in a game. They are very good Myth Units, but they don’t offer me any reason to spend resources on them, as they do what a regular unit does. Though, in those situations I made them, they were very effective, killing 1 Fire Siphon and about 4 other Arcus or Murmillos. The only reason why I would prefer this over the Mummy would be its price, more expensive but consisting in Food, resource I should have in abundance by Mythic Age. Ra has the ability to create more Food than any other civilization, so if you want to go heavy of Myth Units after you research Horus’s three expensive techs you should make Avengers over any other Myth Unit you can make. That’s good because of their force, a brute 28 attack, high Hack Armor and a Special Attack that will dismantle all the units around him, especially Myth Units. Also they are the Egyptian Myth Units with the most hit points after Scarab and those useless water Myth Units Ra doesn’t get, so he is the best meat shield you can get. That’s because he will attract all the attacks in the upper corner of a battle, resisting for a longer time than an Elephant and dealing way more damage than one of those. If I actually think better, considering I don’t really like Elephants before the end of the game and they cost only 30 resources less than the Avenger, while having 150 less hit points, I will make more of these Myth Units during the game. The only problem in getting a constant flow of Avengers is the fact they cost 30 Favor, very much even for Ra. I will try to use more Avengers next time I play with Horus because I realized they are extremely effective.

Overall: It’s hard to decide which god it’s the best God. While Osiris was probably designed for Ra and He offers you extremely good economic boosts, Horus allows you to surprise your enemy with new units every time you attack. I really think both gods are extremely good and I never go with one of them just because ‘’one its better’’. Go with any of them because you have nothing to lose. Maybe if you fight someone who is relying on Myth Units like Automatons or Prometheans, Osiris would be a much better choice. Horus is better against Norse Gods because his techs basically counter them.

I think Ra has one of the best god paths in the game after making this. Tl;dr version: discuss how awesome Ra is here ;o

[This message has been edited by Endless Rain (edited 03-03-2008 @ 08:02 AM).]