Best Development Points in Manor Lords

In the strategic management simulation Manor Lords, mastering the use of Development Points (DPs) is crucial for effectively building and expanding your settlement. As a player, earning these points becomes vital as they unlock advanced technologies and capabilities within various development trees – Farming, Trade, Industry, and Gathering. Starting with a modest village, your challenge lies in transforming it into a bustling town, a process that hinges on your adept management of these DPs.

Acquiring Development Points is intricately linked to upgrading Burgage Plots, further emphasizing the need for strategic thinking regarding resource allocation and amenity provision. Since these points allow for customization based on regional strengths and resource availability, the growth trajectory of your settlement can be significantly shaped by the decisions you make early on.

Importance of Early Game Development Points

Choosing the appropriate Development Points in the early stages of Manor Lords lays the groundwork for thriving or struggling settlements. Here’s why initial choices are crucial:

• Efficient Resource Utilization: Early game DPs like Forest Management allow for optimal use of surrounding resources, vital for sustenance and initial growth.
• Strategic Focus: Selecting DPs based on regional resources equips your village to prosper by leveraging its natural advantages.
• Technological Foundations: Certain advanced technologies require earlier DPs. For example, unlocking Charcoal Burning is a prerequisite for Deep Mining, adding strategic depth to planning.

Strategic Selection of Technology Trees

Players start from a modest village, gradually expanding into a flourishing town, where choosing the right development points from Farming, Trade, Industry, and Gathering becomes crucial. As settlements upgrade, informed decisions become increasingly vital:

• Industry and Gathering: Early investments in Charcoal Burning and Forest Management secure fuel and food sources.
• Farming: Technologies like Heavy Plow and Fertilization establish efficient agriculture to sustain a growing population.
• Trade: Leveraging regional specialties and strategic trade development points drive economic progress.

Players must adapt strategies based on available resources and local geography. Each decision should balance immediate survival with long-term prosperity, aligning with the community’s broader needs. By focusing on these strategic priorities, players can maximize the impact of early development choices, paving the way for a thriving settlement in Manor Lords.

Key Early Game Development Points

Forest Management

Managing forest resources effectively is vital for sustaining your settlement in the early stages of Manor Lords. The Forest Management development point is particularly valuable as it doubles the capacity of all berry deposits, a crucial resource during the initial year. Berries serve as a primary food source, alleviating early food insecurity faced by your town’s inhabitants. Implementing Forest Management ensures a greater availability of berries, which are gathered in spring and used throughout the seasons until they perish in winter. Assigning workers to the Forager Hut is a strategic move, essential for keeping your population well-fed and stable during the early phases of town development.

Advanced Skinning

Acquiring the Trapping development point opens up the opportunity to unlock Advanced Skinning, a strategic choice in areas rich with wildlife. This upgrade is invaluable as it doubles the amount of meat obtained from hunting expeditions. Manor Lords requires careful management of hunting to allow animal populations to recover, and Advanced Skinning ensures that each hunting trip yields maximum returns. Meat not only adds variety to the diet, essential for a content population, but also complements other food sources obtained through farming and gathering. Prioritizing Advanced Skinning early in the game can secure a reliable food supply, laying a solid foundation for your settlement’s growth and long-term sustainability.

Strategic Development Choices for Agriculture

Heavy Plow

Ensuring efficient agricultural practices is crucial for the growth and prosperity of your settlement in Manor Lords. The Heavy Plow development point is a pivotal step in this endeavor, enabling the utilization of oxen for plowing fields and transporting crops, thereby significantly accelerating agricultural processes. By introducing these powerful beasts of burden to the fields, crop cultivation becomes swifter and more efficient, ensuring that all plowing tasks are completed before the harsh winter conditions render the soil unworkable. The Heavy Plow not only enhances productivity in large-scale farming operations but also serves as a gateway to other vital advancements in agriculture, such as Fertilization techniques. Adopting this technology early on can considerably alleviate the agricultural workload and pave the way for more sophisticated farming methods, ultimately contributing to the overall growth and prosperity of your settlement.

Fertilization

Fertilization, unlocked after acquiring the Heavy Plow, transforms how you utilize fallow fields in your farming strategy. It allows converting these fields into temporary pastures for housing sheep, whose dung naturally fertilizes the soil. This eliminates the need for dedicated pastures, saving space and resources, while enriching the soil for better crop yields in subsequent seasons. Integrating livestock into crop rotation creates a self-sustaining cycle of soil fertility and food production. Strategically implementing Fertilization after the Heavy Plow maximizes agricultural output and sustainability, driving your settlement towards a thriving agrarian economy.

Enhancing Economic Efficiency through Industry

Charcoal Burning

Charcoal Burning plays a crucial role in economic growth within Manor Lords. Those aiming to enhance their settlement’s efficiency must consider its significant advantages. As a more efficient fuel source than raw firewood, charcoal boosts the settlement’s industrial capacity by providing a critical resource for heating and operating various industrial buildings.

Once Charcoal Kilns are constructed, they double the output of converted firewood, effectively reducing the strain on wood resources and ensuring a more sustainable approach to fuel consumption. This increased fuel efficiency is vital, particularly during cold seasons when the risk of villagers freezing increases significantly. By ensuring a steady and enhanced supply of charcoal, players can better manage their resources during demanding periods.

Furthermore, this development opens the door to further advancements such as Deep Mining. Unlocking Charcoal Burning early on allows players to take advantage of rich mineral deposits, thereby setting the stage for sustained economic prosperity. This approach not only supports the immediate needs of the village but also paves the way for future industrial expansions, making it one of the best early decisions in a player’s developmental strategy in Manor Lords.

Conclusion

Proper planning during the early stages of Manor Lords is essential for long-term success. Allocating development points to Forest Management in areas abundant with berry resources ensures a reliable food supply in the critical initial phase. Additionally, prioritizing technologies like Charcoal Burning from the outset promotes sustainability and economic efficiency, crucial for keeping villagers warm and powering industrial endeavors.