I'mAWhosoever
For God so loved the world, that he
gave his only begotten Son, that
WHOSOEVER
believeth in Him should not perish,
but have everlasting life. John 3:16
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Newb help & Strategies
Starting Illyriad-an alternative newbie guide
10 Things new players should remember
Step by step guide to harvesting resources
City development for new players
Moving your capital and why not to do it now
Week 1 Checklist
Goals for first week, based on guides by Tallica and The_Dude
Buildings
- Storehouse, Level 10
- 3×Lumberjack, Level 7
- 3×Clay Pit, Level 7
- 3×Quarry, Level 7
- 3×Iron Mine, Level 7
- Library, Level 10
- Marketplace, Level 5
- Mage Tower, Level 3
Research
City
- Timekeeping
- Craftsmanship
- Agriculture
- Milling
- Bureaucracy
- Safeguard
- Architecture
- Bookbinding
- Pioneering
Diplomacy
- Negotiation
Quest
- Brewing
- Bartending
Magic
- Arcana
- Runes**
- Mark of Seeking
- Mark of Slaying
- Runes**
Military
- Militia
Trade
- Haggling
- Bartering
- Improved Loading
- Chain Gang
- Cotters
- Foraging
- Grape Picking
For self-defense it is further advantageous to have:
Buildings
- Vault, Level 3
- Mage Tower, Level 7
Research
- Magic > Arcana > Runes > Death Rune
Other players recommend using one of the Seeking runes to target
Thieves, which are the biggest threat to a new town. If you build spies
and scouts, they can look out for their incoming counterparts.
Consider these buildings for the second week. Some veterans argue
further that the vault is unnecessary for any beginner.
Bootstrapping: The "Growing Settlement" Stage
In the very first part of the game your very highest priority should be to
build up resource plots and storage space to put your resources. The
most important resource is food.1 At this point you're like a babe in the
womb or in arms: you just need food to grow, both literal ("food") and
figurative (wood, etc.), and 'fat' to store it.
Fortunately the veteran players are very willing to nurse you with
resources--be sure to introduce yourself in general chat (GC) and
ask good questions, and you'll be showered with resources to the
point of straining your storage space. Be polite and say thanks to
your benefactors.
You have seven days before you need worry about self-defense, and
then the need is mostly theoretical: even then if any big player attacks
you, you can seek help on GC from the veterans.
Keep your taxes low (no more than 5%).2 Actually strongly consider 0%
taxes for the first week. At this stage of the game, you don't have soldiers
or 'diplomats' to support, so you don't need gold. Besides, even if you
did have a high tax rate, you'd glean little in taxes and only succeed
in depressing what precious little resource production you have.
In some ways even more basic than resources is research: make sure
your library is producing enough research points so you can conduct
the research for the more specialized buildings.
Your marketplace is important to enable caravans that gather
resources from outside your city. These gathered resources will
make a significant contribution to the resources available for building.
Always: keep your gold and food levels well above zero. You might
be able to get away with net gold and food hourly increases negative,
but only for a short time: best to keep these positive at all times.
Notes
1. NB: your town's population is equal to the food consumption of
your buildings.
2. Taxes: City Map > Castle > Taxes
Time, the Invisible Resource: Keep Resource Production Going
This section is more appropriate for later, once you're not so much
resource-limited.
The most important resource in Illyriad is the one least obvious on
your screen: time. But time is like water from a spigot: use it or lose
it (also true for life in general). You only have so many plots in a
town and each plot carries an opportunity cost: you could very well
have another building on that site. So you want to make sure to make
the best use of what you're 'paying' here. It's the same reason movie
theaters discount matinees: if they didn't, all that real estate would be
vacant for all the daylight hours, wasting its potential.
What this means for Illyriad is that you should have production going
at all times for your buildings. I usually fill out production orders for
about 3 days at a time (when I'm not actively building up that plot).
So for example, if my paddock production rate is 0.82/h, I order
0.82/h x 72 h = 59 horses. (And of course I can adjust the time so
production completes at or just before I can log on and put another
order in.)
You have a lot of space to store these production resources (unlimited
it seems), so why not stockpile them? Such a strategy allows you
eventually, once you've got a surplus and need another resource,
to replace that building with another whose resources you need.
Mysteries & Quests & Discoveries
Helpful Profiles
