Talk:Empire/@comment-77.159.187.254-20200518093838/@comment-2.105.48.9-20201021171140

I agree. Sage and Tinker are also my go-to for playing Empire, with Tinker being my favourite.

I do get the point of the Merchant(cheaper everything, and some income bonuses), but it does not make your character a decent fighter or caster, which you kind of need early game as Empire, in my opinion. And Alchemy has Charm which reduces costs anyway, so...