Manor Lords – Definitive Trading Guide

How to Trade

Manor Lords has a very important trading system and this system is one of the main components of the game. In this guide, we will tell you how to develop your settlement, which started its life as a small village, by using your merchants in the game. Did you know that in the game developed by Slavic Magic, you can grow your village even without any other production, just by shopping with your merchants? Let’s take a look at all the details together in our Manor Lords trading guide!

You Can Run a City with Only Trade

In Manor Lords, you can only grow your village by trading. With the income you generate from this:

• You can win the game without raising soldiers, using only mercenaries.
• You can import all the resources your city needs.
• You can provide all the necessary supplies to your people with regional wealth and increase their satisfaction.
• You can gain regional wealth by exporting your surplus materials.
• In other words, by simply building a merchant city, you can spend the labor you would have spent on production buildings more efficiently. But for this, you need to understand how this important system in the game works and use it correctly.

So How Does the Manor Lords Trade System Work?

While talking about trade, it is also necessary to mention a special asset unit in the game. This unit, referred to as “regional wealth”, is a parameter in the game just like food, firewood or production materials. However, it is not possible to increase this parameter without dismantling bandit camps or trading.

The first thing you need to do to activate the Manor Lords trade system is to build a “Trade Center”. The families you assign to this building will go to different regions to buy/sell resources and goods. Assigned families will make these purchases with the regional wealth unit. The game initially awards 100 regional wealth points for each settlement established. This is enough to start a good trade flow. However, if you unknowingly used the initial points to level up your houses, then there are better ways to start the game than starting from scratch.

How to Increase Regional Wealth?

In Manor Lords, first of all, you need to know your region’s strengths well. To increase regional wealth, you will also need the rich reserves in your region. Your city’s production and diversity of resources will determine your strength in the game’s trade ecosystem. Of course, it is possible to increase regional wealth without producing for export. For this, you can use the bandit camps around.

Bandit camps spawn in neutral, unclaimed areas of the map. These bandits will steal your resources over time and may also organize raids on your village in the future. You can therefore beat them to the punch to remove the threat early and gain some territorial wealth. When your soldiers approach the camp, the 16 bandits inside will come out and attack. Since bandits don’t fight very well, you can easily defeat them with the same number of infantry. Afterwards, you can go to their camp and add the loot to your treasure or to the regional wealth of your nearest village. In our Manor Lords trading guide, we advise you to direct this loot to your villages.

Balancing Imports and Exports Is Very Important

With your Trade Center building, you can both export and import. However, it is important to keep a good balance and keep the flow of regional wealth positive. Simply put, as long as you sell a little more than you buy, you win. To do this, you need to produce and have rich reserves.

For example, if your city has rich iron reserves, you can mine a lot of iron ore. You can process them into iron plates in the Rolling Mill building, and you can make tools in the Blacksmith’s shop. Selling a processed material is always more profitable than selling raw materials. Therefore, do not sell iron ores or clay materials without processing them. You can see the export and import prices of materials in the Trade Center building. Balance accordingly and never let your import costs outweigh your export revenues. This can lead to a gradual decline in your trade and eventually to its cessation.

The Difference Between Small and Large Trades

Small trades are items that your citizens can simply stuff into their bags and go. They do not require the creation of an additional trade route or the use of animals such as Horses. In general, they are easier to do, but their income is correspondingly low. If you don’t have the regional wealth to build a trade route in the beginning, you can make a living from small trades.

Large trades represent heavier and larger objects. They are logistically transported by horses and require trade routes to buy and sell these materials. You can create these roads in exchange for regional wealth. Once the route is created, a merchant will be assigned to trade only that material and will import or export on the same route as you request.

It is worth noting that you can also create trade routes for small trades. This is because the path you create for trading any commodity will systemize the logistics, allowing you to buy and sell more goods and generate more income.

What Needs to Be Opened in the Development Tree for the Merchant City

If you want your city’s main focus to be trade, you will need to spend development points to do so. There are currently 3 available branches in the trade branch of the development tree. You need to unlock these development branches, which make the Manor Lords trade system very efficient.

• Foreign Suppliers: Unlocks the Firewood Cart and Food Cart buildings. By placing these carts in marketplaces, you can allow your citizens to buy food and firewood in exchange for regional wealth. A lifesaver during the winter months.
• Trade Logistics: The cost of building a new trade route never exceeds 25 regional riches. If you don’t open it, you may have to spend 100-200 or even 300 regional wealth to create new routes.
• Better Offers: Reduces your import costs. All import fees are reduced by 10 units. Therefore, you can achieve the import & export balance mentioned in the previous title much more easily.

After unlocking these nodes, trade in your city will become much more efficient and you will start earning more income.

Manor Lords Also Offers an Animal Trade Option

In addition to buying and selling materials, you can also trade animals in the game. The “Animal Market” building unlocks the import and export of Oxen, Mules, Horses, Sheep and Lambs. Sheep and lambs can be raised in pastures and slowly reproduce when you unlock the “Sheep Breeding” node in the development tree. If you think you have more animals than you need, you can sell them in this way to bring regional wealth to your city.