Manor Lords Game Setup Guide: Best Difficulty Options

Discover the best difficulty options and scenarios for your Manor Lords playthrough with our game setup guide.

Published May 4, 2024 2:00 pm by Ash Singh

Manor Lords Game Setup Guide: Best Difficulty Options — Slavic Magic

Manor Lords, the highly anticipated medieval strategy game, offers players a wide range of customization options to tailor their gaming experience. With the game's early access now available, players can dive into the world of Manor Lords and start building their settlements. However, before embarking on this journey, it is important to understand the various difficulty options and scenarios available in the game setup.

Scenario Templates

Manor Lords offers three scenario templates, each with its own unique premise and victory conditions:

Scenario	Premise	Victory Conditions
Rise to Prosperity	Focus on building and developing your settlement	Reach the "Large Town" settlement level
Restoring the Peace	Challenge the illegitimate Baron for northern territories	Conquer every region
On the Edge	Defend your town from frequent raids and grow quickly	Survive all attacks and reach the "Large Town" settlement level

These scenarios provide different gameplay experiences, catering to players who prefer peaceful town management or those who seek a more challenging and combat-oriented playthrough.

Difficulty Settings

In addition to the scenario templates, Manor Lords offers three main difficulty settings: Relaxing, Default, and Challenging. These settings determine the overall difficulty of the game by adjusting various factors such as enemy raids, weather effects, and AI behavior.

Players can further customize their game setup by tweaking individual options, including:

Option	Choices
End Goal	None: Endless Play Growth: Reach "Large Town" settlement level to win Domination: Eliminate all other Lords by claiming their territory Conquest: Claim all regions to win
AI Opponents	Not Available in Early Access
Off-Map Adversary	Absent: No Adversary Present: Adds an AI opponent located off-map, controlling 2 regions and bringing soldiers to the main game when challenged
AI Aggressiveness	Balanced: AI Lords may press a Claim towards the player's Regions after running out of neutral regions to claim Aggressive: AI Lords may press Claims towards the player Regions at will Reactive: AI Lords don't press Claims towards the player's Regions but will protect their own
Raider Frequency	None: No random raids Medium: No more than a single raid every 2 years Frequent: Possibly less than a year between each raid
Raider Free Years	1: Raids start to appear after a year 2: Two years before raids start happening 3: Three years before raids start happening
Initial Bandit Camps	None: No Bandit Camps present when the game begins 1: One Bandit Camp present when the game begins 2: Two Bandit Camps present when the game begins 3: Three Bandit Camps present when the game begins 4: Four Bandit Camps present when the game begins 5: Five Bandit Camps present when the game begins
Random Bandit Camp Spawn Limit	0: No Random Bandit Camps spawning during play 3: Random Bandit Camps stop spawning if there are already 3 of them 5: Random Bandit Camps stop spawning if there are already 5 of them
Starting Season	Random: A random day of the year Autumn: Challenging start with approaching winter, dwindling Seasonal Deposits, and frequent rains Summer: More difficult start with no time to start farming and average Seasonal Deposits, but less frequent rains Spring: A Balanced start with available Seasonal Deposits, room to start farming early, but frequent rains Winter: A challenging start with no Seasonal Deposits, risk of Freezing, and decaying supplies due to snowfall
Starting Supplies	Nothing: Just some barebones construction stuff Standard: A balanced amount of starting supplies Double: More starting supplies for a more relaxed experience
Armament Delivery	No: No free weapon delivery Yes: A free weapon delivery for militia as soon as the player builds a Storehouse and 5 Residential Plots
Residential Requirements	Tolerant: Requirements triggering loss of Approval are shifted by 1 level to be less demanding Balanced: Town will not grow if requirements are unfilled Demanding: Requirements triggering loss of Approval are shifted by 1 level to be more demanding
Approval	Low Penalty: Approval factors have a low impact on population growth Medium Penalty: Approval factors have an average impact on population growth High Penalty: Approval factors have a significant impact on population growth
Well Placement	Underground Water: Players may only place wells on top of Underground Water Unconstrained: Players may place wells everywhere without constraint
Weather Effects	None: Weather is cosmetic only and won't do any harm Balanced: Players get a warning if supplies are soaked, and when the next rain comes, they may get destroyed. A chance of random Droughts in the summers may kill crops. Rare fires caused by thunderstrikes Difficult: Droughts may happen in the summers, thunderstrikes cause fires, and rain instantly damages exposed supplies

This table provides an overview of the various game setup options available in Manor Lords, along with the choices for each option. Players can customize these settings to create a unique playthrough that suits their preferences and desired level of challenge.

Choosing the Best Game Setup

For players new to the strategy genre, the Rise to Prosperity scenario with the Relaxing difficulty setting is recommended. This combination allows players to focus on learning the game's mechanics and building their settlement without the added pressure of combat or frequent raids.

More experienced players or those seeking a challenge can opt for the On the Edge or Restoring the Peace scenarios with the Default or Challenging difficulty settings. These setups introduce combat, enemy raids, and other obstacles that require careful planning and resource management.

Ultimately, the best game setup in Manor Lords depends on the player's skill level and preferred playstyle. Experimenting with different scenarios and difficulty options can help players find the perfect balance between challenge and enjoyment.