#Manor Lords
13 Stories
Manor Lords has consumed most of my time with its satisfying gameplay loop of building cities and fighting other lords from various regions. However, as I continue playing the game, I feel the game can benefit from certain changes and balances. There are a lot of additions the game can make including farming adjustment, production control adjustments, QOL additions and more!
Ale is a commodity heavily used in the Tavern, and it ensures your citizen's entertainment needs are fulfilled. As such, to produce it, you'll require Barley, a Malthouse/Brewery. Then, let the citizens perform their magic and see their happiness going up at the Tavern.
Manor Lords is the one strategy game I had been dreaming about for ages, with RTS combat combined with free-flowing city building. The game returns some of my favorite features from old strategy games, controlling armies in real time and engaging in battle, being able to build anything anywhere, and the ability to scout enemies. Add the hyper-realistic graphics and it ticks every box I have been looking for in a new age strategy game.
Hunters in Manor Lords stop hunting when there aren't any resources on the map. Since wild animals are a finite resource, ensure you've assigned hunting limits to your hunters. Also set up a hunter's camp near the hunting zone, if they migrate. Furthermore, you need to ensure that the camp is connected to the road, and your hunter hasn't set-up a shop in the market. If otherwise, assign a family to a storehouse, and another to the camp to fix the issue.
In Manor Lords, lack of Entertainment can tank your villager's approval rating every year, and if you don't address it, it will cause issues down the line. To fix it, you have to build a Tavern, which runs when there is Ale available for distribution. To get Ale, you need a Malthouse, that processes Barley either imported through trading, or through farming. Once everything is in place, your villagers should be happy and contempt with their day-to-day life.
A Forester Hut helps in regrowing barren patches of land with trees. As such, this structures stands between you and your Logging Camp like a glue, ensuring the Log production stays intact in the region. The best way to use this structure is by assigning it a work region, and letting it do its job. Then, you assign the Logging Camp a work region on the exact same spot where the Forester's Hut grows trees, once available.
Storehouse and Granary helps with stockpiling and storing resources in Manor Lords. If you build one, the villagers will start stockpiling construction resources into a storehouse, while building a granary will make your villagers stockpile the food resources into them. Later, you can upgrade the structure to increase the storage, and even instruct your citizens to store only a particular type of item in the structure.
Emmer is an old crop that could produce Wheat in the medieval times. As such, it features in Manor Lords, and holds quite a high importance. Build Emmer farm on fertile grounds, which you check by pressing the Emmer fertility option after opening your construction screen. Furthermore, to ensure your Emmer fertility, only build on soils fertile for Emmer, and fallow them every so often between each growth season.
A common issue Manor Lords players are facing is the sawpit not working. To ensure the sawpit functions, you'll require timber from the logging camp. This timber will be transported by Ox. And, if you don't have free Ox, you won't get timber at sawpit. To fix that, upgrade the hitching point to a small stable, and use your regional wealth to order another Ox. That will add an extra one to the pool, speeding up the timber transportation process.
In Manor Lords, technology development points help you improve the overall population happiness and production performance. With many options available, I thought to sit down and suggest the best of the lot in game. Keep in mind that the game currently only allows a maximum of six development points. Hence, focus on unlocking the ones you absolutely want to specialize in.
The Vegetable Garden is a part of building a Burgage, and to create one, you have to build one with a backyard. Once done, select the Burgage, click on the cog wheel drop-down, and pay 15 gold to start building yourself a vegetable garden.
The Approval Rating system in Manor Lords is your standing among the villagers. To maintain a good approval rating, you have to meet your villager's needs by providing them with proper food variety, clothing, a Church to pray, a Tavern for entertainment, and tax them in a smart manner. If your approval goes higher than 50%, a new family moves into an empty Burgage per month. If it is 75% and above, two new families move into the village.
Playing Manor Lords early-on can throw you off-guard and even clueless. After all, a lot of systems and features in place can be difficult. If you are starting Manor Lords for the first-time, then follow some of our beginner's guides and tips to ensure that the first few seasons of yours are pleasant and hassle-free. After all, a healthy and large region is what is stopping between you and your ultimate map domination in-game.