Want to know how to gain Influence in Manor Lords? Manor Lords starts players off in a lush and resource-abundant map, with little more than a handful of tents and starting resources. You can expand your settlement piece by piece over the first couple of years, but to truly become a Lord worth the title, you’ll need to expand into other territories. And to do that, you need Influence.
You can see your current Influence levels at the top-right of the screen in Manor Lords. And if you’re a bit mystified by what makes that number go up, then a quick read of this guide should answer all your questions. Below, we’ll explain all the ways to get Influence in Manor Lords, and then how to use it to claim new regions of the map.
How to get Influence in Manor Lords
Currently there are 4 ways to get Influence in Manor Lords. They are:
- Conquering Bandit Camps
- Building Manors
- Upgrading Churches
- Implementing Tithes
If you’re not sure what some of these methods mean, we’ll explain all of them below. For now, all you need to know is that gaining Influence is something you can only really start doing once you’ve reached around the “Medium Village” level at least. The best way to get an early boost in Influence is by raising an army and conquering Bandit Camps, but later on, as you conquer more regions, you’ll be able to get a healthy Influence rate through the other methods.
Conquering Bandit Camps
The best way to gain Influence early in your Manor Lords playthrough is by defeating Bandits in battle. Each Bandit Army you defeat will net you 20 Influence per Bandit in their army. So a group of 16 Bandits, when defeated, will earn you a tidy sum of 320 Influence.
Bandit Camps will continue to crop up throughout a playthrough in any region that isn’t controlled by a Lord. To conquer a Bandit Camp, you’ll need an army, and to create an army, you’ll need to build your village to the stage where you have at least 16-20 healthy male villagers. You can hover over the “Total Population” button on the top banner to see the breakdown of your Population.
You’ll also need weapons to give your soldiers. Making weapons yourself is a lengthy process which requires some Level 2 Burgage Plots with Workshops in their backyard. The faster way to get weapons early on is by importing them at a Trading Post. And, depending on your chosen scenario and difficulty, you may also get a free shipment of weapons the moment you build your first Storehouse and 5 Burgage Plots.
Bandit Camps are a great early source of Influence, so you should look to deal with Bandits the moment they crop up on your map.
Building Manors
You can build one Manor per region that you’ve claimed. Each time you construct a Manor, it will net you around 200 Influence. It’s not a huge amount, but every little helps.
To build a Manor, you’ll need to have reached at least the “Small Village” Settlement Level. After that, you can construct a Manor out of:
- 5x Timber
- 20x Planks
- 15x Stone
So you’ll also need to have at least one Logging Camp, Sawpit, and Stonecutter Camp set up. Either that, or import the resources you need from a Trading Post, of course.
Upgrading Churches
Another decent one-off payment of Influence is given whenever you upgrade the level of one of your Churches. To upgrade a Small Wooden Church into a Small Stone Church, you need the following resources:
- 5x Timber
- 20x Stone
- 10x Planks
- 10x Rooftiles
As well as the Logging Camp, Sawpit, and Stonecutter Camp, you’ll therefore need a Mining Pit over some Clay, and a nearby Clay Furnace that can convert the Clay into Rooftiles. That, or – say it together with me now – import it from the Trading Post.
It’s worth it though, because upgrading to a Small Stone Church instantly gives you 250 Influence, which is already a quarter of what you need to press a claim on a new region.
Implementing Tithes
Once your Manor is built, you can select it and enter the “Taxes” tab to set various monthly taxation options. Most of these taxation options increase your Treasury, but the second option – “Tithe” – will convert a percentage of your surplus food into Influence every month.
The Tithe only brings in a very small amount of Influence unless you really crank up the Tithe percentage, so it’s not a good primary source of Influence. It’s merely there to supplement the other Influence sources you’re benefitting from.
What is Influence used for in Manor Lords?
Influence is used for just one thing at the moment in Manor Lords: claiming new territories. The map in Manor Lords is split into 8 regions, and you can build a settlement in a new region by pressing a claim on that region at the cost of 1,000 Influence. to do this, simply open the map, click on the desired territory, and click the “Claim With Influence” button at the bottom of the screen.
If you’re playing a game with an AI ruler, you can also claim their territories as well, at the cost of 2,000 Influence. You can even declare war on the AI ruler at the cost of 500 Influence by opening the map, clicking on the ruler’s portrait, selecting the Declaration tab, and dragging the declaration of war onto the parchment.
However, the declaration and negotation aspects of Manor Lords are currently very incomplete, so we’d recommend steering clear of using your Influence in this way, because it essentially means nothing in the current version of the game.
And that wraps up this primer on how to gain Influence in Manor Lords for claiming new territories! If you want a bit of help getting up to the mid-game, you can check out our other guides on matters such as how to get more Population, how to get Regional Wealth, and how to make Ale.
