In later game. I actually use sicker if I need to build up weapons before going off to war to earn money.
I'm doing a lot better once I switch off between smarter, stronger(although later game wood stops being a limiting factor), aggressive, and effective. Effective is kind of annoying but extremely necessary as cash is a limiting factor. I think effective should just be a baseline effect.
I hate the effective gene. Are you expected to put all your genes into effective every time before you buy buildings? Seems like something for unnecessary grind. All the other genes have effects over time. But this one you just have to switch back and forth.
What's the point of rebirthing? The level 50 at 10 reward isn't that good. As long as you start with age 10 all stats are good and you'll get skill point anyways, so why keep nuking your stats for a few extra ap?