Economics

Your economy is based around two currencies: gold and magical gems. How you protect the coffers and how judicious you are with your spending will decide whether you succeed or fail in your quest to become the one god.

Gold

Gold is produced through taxes and found in battle. As a result, every turn you will gain some gold and spend some gold. Ideally, the amount coming in should be more than that going out. There are no credit cards in this game, so if you run out of cash, horrible, horrible things will ensue.

Random events and troops are your primary avenues of lost revenue. Whenever fate asks you to aid your people, you'll have to weigh the theoretical costs of failing to act (unhappiness, possible revolt) against the actual costs of losing gold. In the same way, your armies can be stunningly powerful, but they may drink your banks dry while conquering lands on your behalf.

Tip #3: Gold is primarily used to hire and maintain the troops in your army. As those troops become more seasoned and increase their levels, they'll cost more. If you find yourself bleeding out gold, you might want to consider losing one or two veterans and replacing them with scrubs. But do this sparingly and only when absolutely necessary.

Tip #4: Assigning expensive troops to guard your castle is a great way to keep them from upgrading further and costing you more money.

Gems

Exclusive to magic, gems are easier to save up but also equally easy to blow through if you're not careful. While in combat, your hero can use gems to attack enemy forces using magic. However, you're going to want to save these opportunities for later in the game when you are facing the forces of other demigods. At the beginning, use magic only when failing to do so will cost you your hero's life.

You pick up gems after you defeat an enemy force.

Some of your magically-inclined troops also need gems as part of their payment schedule. If you hire too many of these powerful yet expensive units, you could find yourself depleted of gems -- which will cause a crisis in the later stages of the game.

Economics and Karma

Beware allowing your gold levels to dwindle. If you are approached during a random event by people who desperately need your help, failing to cover their needs because you have ignored your budget may cost you good or bad karma that you might need later in the game.