How to play guide for Northgard

This page is a basic how to play guide for . Here are concepts and mechanics on Northgard, then a basic build order, game advice and ideas to keep in mind while playing! This guide allows a player to make resources, an army and have a plan while playing.

Basic Gameplay
Northgard's gameplay is focused on some simple terms: Economy, Military Power, Clans and Map Tiles! These four factors are what determine how a game of Northgard is played. Some clans are focused in a strong economy like Heidrun (Goat clan), other clans are aggressive and can harness brutal military power like Fenrir (Wolf clan) or Bjarki (Bear clan), there are also clans that work like a constant guerrilla like Sváfnir (Snake clan) or Huginn and Muninn (Raven clan) and some have early advantages like Nidhogg (Dragon clan) or Eikthymir (Stag clan)

Economy
Northgard's economy has several resources: Happiness, Food, Wood, Gold (Krowns), Stone, Iron and Population. (These are seen in the image below) It is extremely important to not run out of food, wood or gold. You will have consequences in your village (Buildings burn or your population gets sick and dies). Also a fun fact! The number in the resources tab is the amount lost or gained every 10 seconds.

The Holy Trinity

 * Food - used to feed your villagers, colonize territories and hold feasts.
 * Each idle villager can make 4 food.
 * Food can be produced by building Fields, Hunter's Lodge or a Fisherman's Hut if the tile has (field, deer or fish respectively) and assign a villager to the building.


 * Wood - keeps villagers warm and constructs/upgrades buildings.
 * Produced in the Woodcutter's Lodge or by scouting a shipwreck.


 * Gold - used to pay building upkeep, make upgrades, make an army or win by trade.
 * Can be produced in a Marketplace, Longship Dock or a Trading post. Assign villagers to make money.
 * Also gained through trading resources in a Marketplace.

Happiness and Population

 * Happiness - It determines how fast a villager arrives to your clan. It depends on the population and:
 * Increases by: building a Tavern, colonizing territories, certain Lore skills or bonuses of certain tiles.
 * Decrease by: 4 or more sick villagers, 4 or more wounded villagers, or a big population. (Causes people to want houses upgraded for 5 Stone).


 * Population - The amount of villagers you have and the people who gather food, wood, gold and perform tasks when assigned to buildings.
 * Increases with happiness, having +1 to +3 Happiness can produce a good amount of villagers.
 * Build a house to increase the limit by 5.

Stone and Iron

 * Stone - Used to upgrade buildings or trade for gold. Obtained from Stone deposit by building a Mine.
 * Iron - Upgrade your villager's tools, weapons or create relics! It is obtainable in an Iron Deposit.
 * Iron can be used in a Forge.





Military (Warband)
Northgard's military (in basic terms) is divided into Soldiers, Warchiefs and Special troops.

Soldiers (Basic Units)
The military of Northgard! Almost every clan can make any of these 4, when a villager is assigned to a military camp they become one of these 4 units depending on the military camp the villager was sent to. (Training camp for warriors, Skirmisher camp for skirmishers, etc)


 * Warrior -          Basic soldier, it has balanced stats and price. Recommended for new players
 * Axe Thrower -  Ranged soldier, high damage, but has a very weak defense and is pricey.
 * Shield Bearer - Anti-range soldier, highest defense, the most expensive and does the least damage.
 * Skirmisher -     The cheapest unit. Guerilla type of unit since it's invisible to enemies while it stands in a neutral tile, has decent damage but poor defense.
 * Dragonkin (Nidhogg only) - Expensive unit exclusive to the Dragon clan, it has similar stats to a warchief.

Warchiefs

 * Each clan has one warchief. An "elite" unit that costs 150 gold and 5 iron (in most clans), they can only be obtained from a Training Camp or a Skirmisher camp (Snake clan).
 * Pretty useful to clean other tiles due to the fact that training a warchief doesn't require any villagers so it doesn't affect the economy.

Special Troops

 * Certain clans have "special" troops such an Armored Bear or Signy or if you build the relic of Fenrir (Horn of Managarm) you can summon 3 White Wolves to fight for you.
 * Trading with the Jötunn which are peaceful giants that won't attack you. If you trade enough food with them, you will get 1 Allied Jötunn to fight for you.
 * The clan of the Raven can send Jötunn or Mercenaries to coastal tiles in the map (that they have vision of, usually to enemies) in order to harass the enemy.

Clans
Work in progress


 * Stag - Resources and Fame                                          Easy
 * Goat - Food, Resistance and trading food for Kröwns  Very easy
 * Wolf - Immediate fighting                                               Hard
 * Raven - Kröwns, Scouting and longship docks             Moderate-Hard
 * Bear - Winter resistance and fighting                            Moderate
 * Boar - Lore, production and population                         Hard
 * Snake - Hiding, Fighting and has no Fame
 * Dragon - Fighting, production                                       Hard
 * Horse - Gain Buildings, ores etc quicker, 2 relics, Defense towers
 * Kraken - Fishing, Sea, no trade victory
 * Ox - Fighting, Production, Hungry, Less housing
 * Lynx - Fighting, Feasts

Important Map Tiles
Fertile land-        Food in summer                                         Build fields and assign villager

Circle of stones - Lore                                                           Colonize and assign villager

Forest -              10% more wood                                          Build woodcutter lodge and assign villager

Ruins -               Kröwns and Lore. Colonize and assign scout

Shipwreck -        Kröwns and 200 Wood                               Colonize and assign scout

Stone/Iron -        Resources for upgrades and Relics           Build mine and assign villagers

Geyser -             +2 happiness and less wood consumed    Colonize

Ancient Graveyard - Gain spectral warriors and Lore           Assign villagers

Wyvren -             250 fame                                                    Defeat and colonize

Relic of the Gods - Lore (Erudition lore & build carved stone here) Assign villagers

What to do in-game?
Disclaimer: This may not be the most efficient strategy but it will be extremely effective between player from Wood rank ( 0 ) to Iron rank ( 300 ).

First
Build a Scout camp, Woodcutter's Lodge and a House. Then, make two scouts and scout nearby tiles. Try to colonize Fertile Land or Deer. Otherwise look for a Forest. As a last choice find Ruins/Shipwreck to get knowledge/wood and gold early. Build a Field or Hunter's Lodge, then a Woodcutter's Lodge, then a House, then a Longship Dock. You should have 3 Woodcutters, Two Sailors, 2 Farmers/Hunters and a couple of villagers left. In other words, you should have a great wood, food and gold production!

Domination - Destroy the other town halls

 * A quick attack/large warband is essential

Fame - Control 12 areas, gain 1200 fame and build the Altar of Kings

 * Food and resources

Wisdom - Unlock Ancestral Knowledge

 * Ruins (50 Lore), Relic - Jörmunr and 6+ areas, Erudition lore and Loremasters

Trade - Build a Lighthouse and reach 2000 Commercial Influence

 * Lighthouse, Great trade route and Kröwns needed

Other:


 * Magma Flow - Get 45 iron and forge the Sword of Odin
 * Gates of Helheim - A large army, Upgraded defense tower & Healer hut
 * Yggdrasil - 2000 food/Colonization lore (Colonization lore may not lower food cost, check if this is true.)