PHOLUS MUTAGEN

• Reduces the effect of industry on Planet's ecology at all of your bases
• Fungus confers on all of your units the same combat benefits normally reserved for alien lifeforms
• Any alien lifeforms you breed gain a +1 lifecycle bonus

    The big pay-off to this project is the across-the-board cut to ecological damage. If you have a large faction with lots of highly developed, highly productive bases, you absolutely need this project, or sooner or later you'll be playing Mer-King of your globally warmed undersea kingdom. A word to the wise is sufficient. Do not give this one a pass, unless you're prepared to strictly limit the size and production capability of your faction late in the game.

    Oddly, with all its benefits to native life, the Pholus Mutagen's direct influence on a Green conquest strategy is suprisingly small. If you're playing Green conquest, most of your units are alien lifeforms, so they don't benefit much from the combat bonuses (although your formers and colony pods will appreciate it). Also, you're not breeding the bulk of your forces, you're recruiting them.

    Where this project comes in most handy in Green conquest is when you're up against a determined foe, and the supply of native lifeforms starts to run a little dry. Building this project can be an excellent preparation for augmenting your tamed units with home-grown reinforcements.