Manor Lords is a highly popular city-building game that was recently released in early access on Steam after being the most wishlisted game on Valve's gaming platform.
While the game features an expansive city-building premise, Manor Lords also lets players build their own armies and fight against others to grow their territory. Battles in the game let you direct various units against invaders, rival armies, and other forces that threaten your fledgling kingdom.
Manor Lords Combat Guide
(Photo : Slavic Magic, Hooded Horse / Screenshot taken from Steam)
Taking everything into account, battles in Manor Lords can be daunting, especially for players who are still relatively new to the game. Fortunately, there are various general ideas that you can keep in mind to help you get a better grasp of the game's fighting mechanics.
One of the most crucial things you should remember is to invest in defensive equipment and advanced weapons for your troops. Having a well-maintained army is key to winning battles and this can be done by upgrading your Burgage Plots, according to Rock Paper Shotgun.
This will allow you to unlock building extensions that will be crucial in helping your army grow stronger. These are the Blacksmith's Workshop, Joiner's Workshop, Armorer's Workshop, and Fletcher's Workshop.
Among these, the Armorer's Workshop is probably the most important because defense goes a long way in keeping your army alive.
Also, if you unlock Advanced Armormaking and Master Armormaking Developmental Upgrades, you will be able to create mail and plate armor, which are significant defensive options.
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Another strategy you can use to increase your chances of winning battles is to diversify your units. In Manor Lords, there are a variety of unit types, including Retinue, which is basically the elite class of the game.
Other powerful units are Militia Footmen, Spear Militia, and Archer Militia, which should all have some party in your army composition.
You should also keep an eye on your units' morale and fatigue as these directly affect their Effectiveness, which is a multiplier to attack, defense, and block capabilities. It is based on various metrics, including cohesion, surrounded, soaking, climbing, fatigue, and morale, said VideoGamer.
Various Useful Features
To make sure that Fatigue is at a reasonable level, you should have your troops avoid running across the entire map.
On the other hand, Morale is a factor that is affected by the overall Approval rating of the settlement where a military unit is rallied or drafted. To keep this high, you should aim to keep your Approval rating at 75% or higher before going into battle.
Another useful feature that can change the tide of war is battle commands that can be used even after a force has been mustered. This is done by clicking on units, which will show you the commands that are currently available.
These commands provide a variety of boosts while some also come with corresponding penalties to offset their power. By default, Balanced is selected which gives no bonuses or penalties whatsoever.
However, there are many battle commands to choose from, such as Give Ground which slowly pushes the link back, taunting enemies to move forward. Missile Alert doubles the chances of your units being able to dodge or block arrows but reduces melee defense by half.
On the other hand, Stand Your Ground doubles your units' defense stat but halves their attack frequency, making them more tanky. These and all other commands are useful in various scenarios and you need to learn which one to use to gain an advantage in battle, according to GameSpot.
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