Manor Lords: What to build first

What to build first in Manor Lords seems like a pretty overwhelming question, with so many options available from the start. Not everything is helpful, and quite a few buildings are a total waste of resources until you have a decent bit of infrastructure set up, which is where this comes in.

Our Manor Lords what to build first guide explains, well, what to build first in the strategy game to get you off to the best start possible.

Manor Lords: What to build first

You have access to most buildings from the moment you upgrade your settlement tent, but limited resources and building power means you should plan carefully and only aim for what you need at the time. For example, you can hold off on mines until you've got some foraging and hunting going, since you don't need stone or clay until a bit later in your settlement's life.

The essentials

I mentioned this in our Manor Lord beginner tips guide, but what you need most of all is a logging camp, a sawpit, and a woodcutter’s lodge. Build a foraging hut should be next on the priority list, and make sure to add an herb gathering specialty when you can. A stock of herbs helps keep people from falling ill and dying.

For even more efficient fuel use, unlock charcoal from the development screen, and build a charcoal kiln. It’s twice as good as firewood.

Burgage plots

You can’t have a village without places for people to live, so start laying out burgage plots pretty sharpish. You’ll want to build burgage plots a little separate from everything else, so there’s room to expand them with add-ons. They can back up to forests and unused land, but make sure there’s space between them and other buildings. Add-ons make it easier for your people to sustain themselves, and they can provide goods and passive income as well.

Burgage plots need access to a well – which means a road that leads to a nearby well – and, ideally, a market and a church for maximum approval.

A market

It’s easy to completely miss building a market, thanks to how Manor Lords handles its tutorials, but you should do it immediately. It takes up space – a lot of space, ideally – but costs no materials. It also gives your citizens a place to buy and offload goods without you having to get involved. It makes them happy and is the cheapest way to increase approval early.

A church

Once you have enough materials, make sure to build a church. It’s the easiest, fastest way to increase your population’s approval rating, and aside from the required materials, it costs absolutely nothing. The approval boosts from a church are about three times as high as the ones from a healthy market, and you can upgrade it with clay roof tiles for even higher gains.

Compare that to a tavern, which is pretty useless until you supply it with ale, and church is a clear winner.

One more hitching post

Hitching Posts – and their upgraded small stable variants – house working animals, and you need them to effectively transport goods. Construction and general life will slow down dramatically if you don’t have enough oxen, so when the game yells at you to get more, make sure you do. And don’t forget to order another ox.

You should have three or four oxen by the time you become a mid-sized settlement.

A Hunting Camp and a Tannery

Assuming there’s an animal habitat nearby, you need to build a hunting camp. One habitat won’t provide enough meat to support your settlement – you need the Trapping development skill for that – but it will give you a source of hides.

Build a tannery to turn those hides into leather. The tannery family will open a market stall selling leather, and that will satisfy the burgage plot need for a clothes stall. That, plus a well, a church, and at least one fuel stall, means you can upgrade your plot levels and move toward higher settlement status.

Trading Post

A trading post isn’t quite as essential in your first six months, but it should be a priority once you have your basics down. It’s the only way in the early game to create regional wealth, and you can’t tax the peasants if they don’t have any wealth. It’s also a handy way to import goods you can’t produce yet, including weapons for your militia.

Your manor

It’s a pretty big deal, but there’s no notice in Manor Lords to actually build your manor. You get this option once you reach small settlement status, and it unlocks a new layer of strategy. You can tax people and land once your manor is up and running, gain influence to aid you in conquering nearby lands. Look under the administration tab to find it.

A farm and fields

If you’re planning on any kind of crop farming, you need to lay out your fields and get planting as soon as possible. Pretty much all of the crops you initially have access to take at least a full in-game year to germinate and grow, and harvesting happens in the fall. That’s a long time to wait, so while you won’t get any bread or crop action in your first year, good planning means you’ll be well set for the years to come.