Really the Egyptians are the best all round culture, its probably just that your approaching them incorrectly after learning how to play the Norse - it was the exact opposite for me. I’ll try not to ramble for too long, but here, hopefully this will help;
Overall goal in multiplayer should be to reach the 2nd age with a sub 6 time. At least the first 9-10 villagers on food always, in every situation. Always research hunting dogs, and always hunt first or as soon as possible, unless you’ve a specific strat. Build at least 3 barracks if your planning to do any fighting at all in classic (and if your behind be sure to empower each of them in turn to build them faster), more if you’ve got a specific strategy in mind. Add a couple myth units for their good damage and high hit points. Centralize production around your empowering Pharaoh as much as possible, i.e, over-produce resources ahead of time in anticipation of their use, and use empowerment to overcome any specific resource deficits. Remember classic age fights usually revolve around foodless units like Throwing Axemen or Slingers, only the Greeks will regularly build masses of units that cost food in their Hippikons (cavalry).
Some general starts and strats for the three major gods;
Isis
Isis relies upon her priests building obilisks to scout, which means getting hunting dogs first is difficult without crippling your early game scouting. Instead build the Monument to Villagers at the very start of the game, and then live off of forage bushes/chickens and sheep/cows as long as you can by sending more vills to gather food from them than you would normally. Stay at home and start farming in the 1st age - 2nd age transition or go hunting if its safe. Use Prosperity when you need extra gold for farms, or save it for later after youve a couple gold mining upgrades. A ‘typical’ Isis player goes Isis-Anubis-Nephthys-Osiris since the Ancestors and Serpents god powers are so useful in their respective ages. Isis has a strong economy but few tricks.
Set
Set has the best scouting of the game, of any culture or major god. Use vision to reveal the center of the map towards your opponent, and shift-queue your priest to convert several animals, prefering predators to prey species. You can research Feral before reaching the 2nd age but do this only with great caution (if you use it at all). Remember you get several free animals at the start of each new age, which you can either use in combat or as a source of food; also remember these animals take pop space so be sure to overbuild houses. Since Set tends to have so many animals hunting is a guaranteed payoff as a food income source. Set has by a slight degree the best slingers, and gets Anubites, so is the strongest classic age culture in Egypt/Egypt battles.
Ra
Ra has the worst scouting of the game. You have to use the Pharaoh to scout and your priest to empower; the one advantage is that you can afford to pick up the odd relic you come across. Send your Pharaoh back home eventually. Ra has a nice 3rd age rush by organizing their econ to build farms in the 1st Age- 2nd Age transition, often by staying in the first age longer than one would normally, then hitting the Rain god power to boom your food income; this is ideal because rain gives your opponent a boost as well, but only Egypt civs can build farms in the first age, so this will catch your enemy, hopefully, with few or no farms. Try to research plow, and if you can, the Cats of Bast, before using rain to really bring the food in.
A nice trick strategy with Ra or Set combines a fast 3rd age with Ptah’s Shifting Sands and Sehkmet’s Citadel god power - find a settlement as near to your opponent as you can, rush to the third age, use shifting sands on several villagers and your pharaoh or a Ra priest and send them to that settlement (be sure to have LOS of the area), empower build it and a Midgol behind it (not in front it has fewer hitpoints). When your enemy inevitably send his large 2nd age army to stop you, use Citadel to buff your foward base. Go on from there with your grand plans.
Phew, lots of words. Hope this helps some.[/i]
