All difficulty options in Manor Lords: Which should you choose?

Difficulty options in Manor Lords affect a key aspect of the gameplay, providing a personalized experience. You must gather resources and develop territories from scratch in this city-builder game. It provides an immersive experience where the game settings like End Goal, Off-Map Adversary, AI Aggressiveness, Raider Frequency, and Scenario Templates affect the gameplay in various ways.

Due to such complex difficulty options in Manor Lords, you may initially find the mechanics confusing to comprehend. This article thus provides all the necessary information regarding the difficulty options in Manor Lords to help you choose the right setup for your campaign.

What are the difficulty options in Manor Lords?

Settings in Manor Lords (Image via Slavic Magic)

The difficulty options are divided into different categories. Each affects an aspect of the gameplay. For example, the End Goal option has four difficulty settings that will affect the final objective you must complete to finish the game.

Having said that, the title features certain scenarios (template settings) that you can choose without dwelling deeper into all the difficulty options in Manor Lords.

Scenario Templates

There are three different scenario templates that you select to start your journey. It includes a cohesive balance of the final objective and challenges as per the difficulty level.

Rise to Prosperity: It can be seen as the “Easy” difficulty level in Manor Lords. It is most suitable for players new to city-building games. You will need to meet the requirements of the inhabitants and build a large town without any external conflicts or challenges.
Restoring the Peace: Restoring the Peace is the “intermediate” level in Manor Lords. Apart from building a large town, you must take over the areas controlled by the Baron and defeat the Bandits to claim the unknown territories. This is suitable for players who have played city-builder games, but do not want hardcore challenges.
On the Edge: On the Edge is the “Hard” difficulty level in Manor Lords. It presents a real-world scenario where you must build an army, fight off raiders, and solve conflicts while building your areas in Manor Lords. It is most suitable for experts in the city-builder genre.

Template Difficulty

Although each scenario presents a difficulty level, the customizing Template Difficulty option lets you change the difficulty setting for each of them. These further enhance the gameplay according to your needs.

For example, if you’re looking for a beginner-level scenario but want to face subtle difficulties at the same time to learn more about the game, the Default option is the best choice.

The Template Difficulty options are:

Relaxing (Easy)
Default (Intermediate)
Challenging (Hard)

Other difficulty options in Manor Lords

End Goal
Growth	Reach "Large Town" to win
Conquest	Conquer all territories to win
Domination	Defeat other lords on the map to win
None	The game doesn't end
Off-Map Adversary
Absent	No adversaries on the map
Present	Adds adversaries to the map
AI Aggressiveness (Lords)
Reactive	AI Lords do not claim your territory
Balanced	AI Lords might claim your territory
Aggressive	AI Lords will try to claim your territories
Raider Frequency
None	No raids on your settlement
Medium	Adversaries raid once every two years
Frequent	Adversaries raid within one year
Raider Free Years
1	One year to prepare for enemy raids
2	Two years to prepare for enemy raids
3	Three years to prepare for enemy raids
4	Four years to prepare for enemy raids
5	Five years to prepare for enemy raids
Initial Bandit Camps
None	No present bandit camps during the start of the game
1	One bandit camp during the start of the game
2	Two bandit camps during the start of the game
3	Three bandit camps during the start of the game
4	Four bandit camps during the start of the game
5	Five bandit camps during the start of the game
Random Bandit Camp spawn-limit
0	Bandit camps do not spawn
3	Three bandit camps spawns
5	Five bandit camps spawn
Starting Season
Spring	Start the game with abundant amount of resources
Summer	Start the game with moderate amount of resources
Autumn	Start the game with a scarce amount of resources
Winter	Start the game with a scarce amount of resources
Random	Start the game during a random season
Starting Supplies
Nothing	Start the game with scarce construction materials
Standard	Start the game with moderate construction materials
Double	Start the game with abundant construction materials
Armament Delivery
No	No weapon delivery is available
Yes	Weapon delivery is available
Residential Requirements
Tolerant	Meeting requirements will be less challenging
Balanced	Meeting requirements will be moderately challenging
Demanding	Meeting requirements will be more challenging
Approval
Low penalty	Approval ratings affect minimal changes in population growth
Medium penalty	Approval ratings affect moderate changes in population growth
High penalty	Approval ratings affect substantial changes in population growth
Well Placement
Unconstrained	Well placement is unconstrained
Underground Water	Well placement can only happen above underground water
Weather Events
None	Weather only factors in-game as an aesthetic feature
Balanced	The weather might affect crop earnings and droughts
Difficult	Weather will drastically expose the game to frequent thunderstrikes, droughts, and rains

Which difficulty options in Manor Lords should you choose?

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For beginners, selecting Rise to Prosperity with Default settings is the best option to learn more about the city-builder genre before moving to higher difficulty levels. On the Edge with Challenging settings is the best option for players who want challenges.

Having said that, the best way to experience the gameplay is by choosing Restoring the Peace with Challenging Settings. You can opt for this setting to have a challenging aspect to your gameplay that doesn’t exceed the level where you cannot enjoy the different facets. This provides a balanced gaming experience for everyone in Manor Lords.

That concludes our guide on all difficulty options in Manor Lords. You can also check out our other guides:

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