sounds interesting...

well the problem is lairs come in weaker shape at start so if they are too easy to get it would be another huge rng

not only CTRL N for shards then we would CTRL N to have a troll lair close

maybe there should be tiers of lair like 4 tech one following the other providing different tiers for the same lair

also bigger lairs would require the later techs only

so recruiting 1 normal troll, normal ogres

recruiting 2 troll warrior, etc

recruitint 3, giant rock spider troll stronger

recruiting 4 troll king and drakes

this should be easily moddable though

While I agree with most points. Yithril is not the monster faction. That would be the Urxen that are no longer playable in the game.

I think it would be fun if you could upgrade the lairs, in a similar fashion to how outposts are upgraded.  The upgrade could allow a variant of the basic monster.

In my last game I have been trying to use the lairs more.  I find they are useful to plug some gaps, or get an occasional ogre tanker, but I still primarily depend on my faction units.

I made a custom Urxen race and they tend to do quite well.

I really think the direction of recruited monsters need to be altered. Recruited monsters should not be automatically spawned up to limit X like they do now. Having a limit is fine, but automatic spawning is not. The player should continuously be spending influence to recruit monsters, production to actually make them, and gildar to keep them paid.

These "monster lair improvements" should also be upgradeable as you progress in the game. Instead of a single troll camp there should be one or two upgrades that give us access to troll shamans and/or troll warriors. Same for ogres, wildlings and so on. These should be roughly balanced according to technology investment equal to warfare or magic tree.

The world also needs many more of these monster recruitment places to make it a viable strategy to pursue. They should face the same restraints that other resources do, don't get me wrong. Sometimes you should get many, sometimes you should get too few to use well. But right now for every ten crystal crags I find, I find one monster recruitment place. It makes it a no-brainer to not research access to them.

Managing the civilization tech tree in this manner would make it an interesting choice for the player to pursue. A player starting near lots of influence may decide to skip magic and warfare altogether, and build mighty cities instead that pay off monsters to keep them safe. High influence and gildar costs ensure that the recruitment centers do not bleed over to other tech trees, just like metal pegs a player in warfare and crystal/mana pegs a player in magic.

Hired monsters should be interesting. Upgradeable their homes is a good option. Maybe they should add in a unit constructor like jugernauts when studied in the right technology . And for them will have their own unique perks and weapons with armor.

This is very much work for developers, but it can be interesting. 

I agree with this thread but the main thing is that they should be available earlier, upgrade would be cool to.

I agree. My mod has four major types of units: Trained, Champion, Monster, Summons.

Monsters should be paid in -growth (food for the trolls). 

I agree with much of the rest of this.

I don't think a troll rush would work because you'd need to rush to wildland allies, which isn't early game.

yeah pretty much this, different level of lairs and a cost to recruit them