Embarking on your journey in Manor Lords can be daunting, especially when it comes to mastering the intricacies of farming. Many newcomers find themselves perplexed, echoing sentiments that farming is arduous and unrewarding.
However, within the verdant fields of Manor Lords lies a hidden bounty awaiting those who dare to delve deeper. In this guide, we’ll unveil the secrets to transforming your farming endeavors from a struggle into a thriving success story.
With a handful of essential tips, you’ll soon find yourself reaping the rewards of your labor with bountiful harvests that rival even the grandest estates.
The Ultimate Farming Guide For Manor Lords
Despite what many players think, farming in Manor Lords isn’t inherently bad. However, the lack of tutorials and the game’s unintuitive design, coupled with buggy AI behavior, can make it quite challenging to farm efficiently in the beginning. Drawing from my own experience of over 100 hours in the game, I’ve discovered the fundamentals of farming and strategies for achieving successful harvests, which I’m eager to share with you.
Seasonal Fluctuations
Understanding the seasonal cycle is crucial for success in Manor Lords’ farming system. The game operates on a realistic premise, where harvesting and sowing take place during autumn.
September marks the beginning of the harvest season, during which villagers assigned to the farmhouse prioritize harvesting crops that have reached over 15% growth.
Sowing is postponed until October and November to ensure crops have time to mature before winter arrives. However, delaying sowing until spring isn’t advisable, as it leaves insufficient time for crops to develop before the next winter.
Despite the conventional wisdom, you’re not bound by strict seasonal restrictions—you can plow, sow, or harvest at any time outside of September or winter.
Utilizing the “force early harvest” feature for fully grown crops incurs no penalties. This flexibility allows for strategic planning, such as plowing and sowing before autumn, to extend the farming window. Later, we’ll explore the advantages of harvesting and sowing at different times throughout the year.
Optimizing Field Layout in Manor Lords
Creating efficient fields is essential for maximizing productivity in Manor Lords. It’s recommended to design fields in a rectangular shape for optimal efficiency.
This choice is based on the fact that oxen, which are used for plowing, can only move in straight lines and plow along the lengths of fields, not the widths. Therefore, rectangular fields allow for uninterrupted plowing and minimize wasted space.
Additionally, the size of the field directly impacts its yield, with yield scaling linearly with size. However, it’s advisable to aim for medium-sized fields, typically ranging from 1 to 3 morgens. Larger fields may take too long to plow, and harvesting becomes inefficient as villagers struggle to reach crops at the edges. Maintaining a balance between size and efficiency is key to optimizing your farming operations.
Understanding Fertility in Manor Lords
Fertility plays a crucial role in Manor Lords’ farming dynamics, but its impact differs from common expectations. Surprisingly, fertility doesn’t directly influence yield as long as it remains above zero during crop growth.
Planting in a field with approximately 30% fertility ensures maximum yield potential. Fallow fields gradually regain fertility over time, returning to their original maximum levels. Plowing a field doesn’t alter its fertility, but cultivating crops depletes it.
Even on fully grown fields, fertility continues to decline, emphasizing the importance of timely harvesting to prevent depletion. Mastering the management of fertility is essential for maintaining the long-term productivity of your fields.
Mastering Ploughing Techniques in Manor Lords
Plowing serves as the crucial first step in Manor Lords’ farming process, laying the groundwork for successful harvests. While villagers can plow manually, this method proves slow and inefficient.
Opting for the heavy plow upgrade significantly boosts efficiency. Achieving this upgrade requires enhancing your farmhouses and assigning an ox to each.
Once equipped, idle villagers, led by a designated worker, will handle plowing tasks, freeing up valuable time for other endeavors. Increasing the number of farmhouses and assigned oxen expands the scope of plowing operations, allowing for the simultaneous cultivation of multiple fields.
A key strategy to master is “pre-ploughing.” With an upgraded farmhouse and a dedicated ox, you can initiate plowing operations on multiple fields in advance, even while villagers attend to other tasks. This proactive approach streamlines the farming process, ensuring readiness for sowing when the time is right.
Sowing Strategies for Efficient Farming in Manor Lords
Sowing may seem straightforward in Manor Lords, but mastering it requires attention to detail, especially regarding field priority. Without proper management, the AI can become indecisive, wasting valuable time by wandering aimlessly between fields.
To avoid this, it’s crucial to establish field priority settings. Set all fields to “lowest” priority, except for six designated fields, ranging from “highest” to “very low” priority. As villagers reach each field with “low” priority, elevate its priority to “highest” and continue this process until all fields are sown. Ensuring villagers take the shortest possible routes between fields enhances efficiency.
Encountering difficulties in selecting a crop for sowing? Utilize the “burn field” option to reset the field, enabling seamless sowing operations. By implementing these strategies, you can streamline the sowing process and optimize your farm’s productivity.
Optimizing Harvesting Techniques in Manor Lords
Harvesting in Manor Lords mirrors the process of setting field priorities during sowing, albeit with a few essential considerations. If harvesting outside of September, remember to click “force early harvest” to initiate the process.
Once your villagers complete harvesting a field with zero yields, resetting its priority to “lowest” and deselecting “force early harvest” prevents unnecessary transportation of produce back to the farmhouse, allowing oxen to manage the task efficiently.
Produce harvested is automatically stored in your farmhouses. However, transferring flax or barley to your granary/warehouse is restricted to malt workers and weavers, highlighting the importance of strategic farmhouse placement. Additionally, note that the “yield” indicator may be inaccurate in September but functions reliably in other months.
During wheat threshing, optimize efficiency by ensuring workers are located in the farmhouse where the wheat is stored. Transporting wheat between farmhouses significantly slows down the process, emphasizing the significance of proper worker placement. By adhering to these guidelines, you can streamline your harvesting operations and maximize productivity on your farm.
Strategic Seasonal Planning for Farming Success in Manor Lords
Once you grasp the fundamentals of farming, you can strategically time your sowing and harvesting activities for optimal results. For instance, conducting a mid-summer harvest involves continuous harvesting throughout summer and into September. To facilitate this approach, it’s advantageous to pre-plow numerous fields, allowing villagers to transition from harvesting to sowing without delay seamlessly.
This method offers several benefits. Firstly, it ensures all villagers are available in spring to harvest berries. Moreover, it prevents interruptions in September, a critical period where sudden changes in tasks can disrupt workflow.
However, harvesting and sowing earlier in the year isn’t necessarily disadvantageous. Early activities provide additional time for sowing and plowing, potentially leading to larger harvests. You could even opt to sow in spring, although crops would mature in winter, impacting soil fertility without the ability to harvest them.
Ultimately, the best approach depends on individual circumstances. Understanding the nuances of seasonal timing empowers farmers to adapt their strategies accordingly, maximizing efficiency and productivity on their land.
Conclusion:
By implementing the strategies outlined in this guide, achieving over 1500 items of produce in a year with just 8 farming families and assistance from oxen is entirely feasible.
With careful oversight and attention to detail, along with effective field planning, you can optimize your farming operations and debunk misconceptions about its difficulty.
Manor Lords’ farming system, while requiring some micromanagement, offers ample opportunities for success and prosperity. So, embrace the challenge, tend to your fields diligently, and enjoy the bountiful rewards of a well-managed farm. Happy farming!
Last Updated on May 8, 2024
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