Aerial
Refugee
That's... silly. They listened to their fan base that pointed out that level gates push players into the same progression every game and removed them. They're simply trying a different system that now allows players to put all of their early points into a single attribute/perk line *if they want* but attempts to still make critical technologies not a first week thing.Great tactics from TFP. They give us a build we hate and then convert it into something we hate even more to make us wish the old build back![]()
How many points does it take to get Int 5 and buy hammer and forge? 10-ish? (I don't remember the numbers exactly.) So you could easily have a forge in the first few days, if you're willing to sacrifice other things for it.
I think it sounds like a completely reasonable alternative to try and see how it works.