Best Possible Cultural Settlement Layout

[DeletedUser36624]

Out of curiosity, does everybody have a build time of 7:46:40 on their Mead Hall?

 

[Triopoly Champion]

The shacks are providing the population needed for the shrines. When I go to unlock the totem, I will have to delete three shacks to put down enough runestones, and because the shacks are populating three shrines, they go down being replaced by runestones to replace their diplomacy. Once the totem is bought, I restore my roads to get everything working again, and put down 12 totems in the space vacated by the shacks/shrines. Once they build, the roads turn into runestones again, and I buy the market. Then my whole city gets redesigned for lots of markets instead of lots of shrines.

If there's a better plan, I'm all ears.

I prefer to have 2 Beast Hunters, then unlock more lands first, accumulating more goods instead of keep redesigning the whole thing.

 

[DeletedUser36624]

9d 19hr to first deadline
13 quests complete
6 expansions unlocked
5 huts
3 markets
4 shacks
2 shrines
2 axe smiths
2 beast hunter

The transition to markets is done (well, they are still building, but otherwise complete). Markets are a 16% improvement in coin output both on a per square and a per pop basis, which would let me get a 5th goods building in 2 expansions except for those darned impediments, so it will probably take three. Wool farms will be unlocked this evening, at which point it will be spamming wool for expansions. Clan houses are a significant improvement over huts for pop per square, but they need space, and I only need 10 wool for them. The shacks are there only because they are crammed into spots I can't put a hut in.

 

[DeletedUser31397]

9d 19hr to first deadline
13 quests complete
6 expansions unlocked
5 huts
3 markets
4 shacks
2 shrines
2 axe smiths
2 beast hunter

The transition to markets is done (well, they are still building, but otherwise complete). Markets are a 16% improvement in coin output both on a per square and a per pop basis, which would let me get a 5th goods building in 2 expansions except for those darned impediments, so it will probably take three. Wool farms will be unlocked this evening, at which point it will be spamming wool for expansions. Clan houses are a significant improvement over huts for pop per square, but they need space, and I only need 10 wool for them. The shacks are there only because they are crammed into spots I can't put a hut in.

I have the same strategy though you're about half a day ahead of me (should unlock wool farm by tomorrow). I only need
21 wool for all advancements so the rest will be spent on unlocking expansions. I could unlock some now with the horns, but I need over 300 horns for the advancements so better to wait for now.

 

[DeletedUser35753]

9d 19hr to first deadline
13 quests complete
6 expansions unlocked
5 huts
3 markets
4 shacks
2 shrines
2 axe smiths
2 beast hunter

The transition to markets is done (well, they are still building, but otherwise complete). Markets are a 16% improvement in coin output both on a per square and a per pop basis, which would let me get a 5th goods building in 2 expansions except for those darned impediments, so it will probably take three. Wool farms will be unlocked this evening, at which point it will be spamming wool for expansions. Clan houses are a significant improvement over huts for pop per square, but they need space, and I only need 10 wool for them. The shacks are there only because they are crammed into spots I can't put a hut in.

Another +1 on this, slightly behind where you're at (but probably started a bit later, my countdown clock is right about where yours is), and following pretty much the same progression. I stuck with buying only expansions for 1 of the latest good until I hit beast hunters, then bought 4 expansions there. I have to get markets up and running, and once that's done I'll be at 4 goods buildings, which based on my calculations means I'll coast in well before the deadline.

 

[DeletedUser36624]

I will post a full report in the morning after I buy expansions with the wool made overnight, but after getting everything rearranged for the wool farm, I counted my roads, and realized that all of my buildings are served by only 10 roads, 1 of which is unnecessary. This is really starting to remind me of tabletop games where you try to cram as much stuff into as little space as possible.

 

[DeletedUser36624]

8d 16h to first deadline
15 quests complete
8 expansions unlocked
6 huts
4 markets
1 shack
2 shrines
1 axe smith
1 mead brewery
1 beast hunter
1 wool farm

Finally had to bite the bullet and deal with the expansions with the nasty impediments. The larger size of the wool farm and mead brewery squeezed out some shacks (no longer needed because they also need less population), and a hut and market went into the two new expansions. The next expansion will be slated for a wool farm to drive more expansions, even though I really need axes for tech expansion (my old willow is over 80% axes). Planning ahead is very key, so at this point it seems like a good idea to plan exactly what I will have to end the settlement with, buy the expansions needed, and push to the end.

At this point, I'm a bit over a week from starting, so I feel pretty confident that I can hit first deadlines without the pedal to the metal approach in future runthroughs. With the x4 bonus chance ramping up, that should even help make the really tight deadlines doable.

And the sound of a wool farm starting up? BAAAAAA!

 

[Emberguard]

I may have gone a wee bit overboard on the whole "shrine" thing.

 

[Triopoly Champion]

View attachment 11667

I may have gone a wee bit overboard on the whole "shrine" thing.

Time to switch for more goods productions, so you can finish the quests on time.

 

[DeletedUser36624]

7d 17h to first deadline
16 quests complete
11 expansions unlocked
2 clan houses (building)
6 huts
4 markets
1 shrine
1 axe smith
1 mead brewery
1 beast hunter
2 wool farm

I got my first x4! It appears as a larger gold 'x4' floating up after the normal production amount. The best part is that it came on a 8 hour wool production overnight, so 40 instead of 10! This enabled me to buy an extra expansion so I could put down 2 clan houses after unlocking them. They take 8 hours to build, but the 2 clan houses will provide almost as much population as all 6 huts.

At this point I need to complete the tech tree:
36 cycles of axes
3 cycles of mead
12 cycles of horns
8 cycles of wool

A cycle is a four hour production of five goods. A cycle costs 1,000 coins, so 59,000 coins. Another expansion would be 9 cycles of wool. When the mead finishes up, the mead brewery will get axed. A third axe smith will further hustle things along, and satisfy the end requirement of six goods buildings. After that, spamming Old Willows for the 1200 diplomacy. I will need space to put down the Mead Hall, but it doesn't have to complete. Hope to not need to buy another expansion.

 

[DeletedUser36624]

6d 13h to first deadline
16 quests complete
11 expansions unlocked
3 clan houses
1 hut
4 markets
6 shrines
5 axe smith
1 beast hunter

Mead and wool are done (unless for some unforeseen reason I need another expansion), old willow unlock will happen in about 6 hours. 19K coins to finish, of which I have 10K now. The 4 markets have the same diplomacy/square that totems do, and are worth 432 diplomacy, leaving 768, which can be provided by 32 totems, which take 64 space, or 4 expansions. Assuming it won't be necessary to wait for the old willow and mead hall to complete for quests 18 and 19, I may be able to finish tonight. One thing I want to test before finishing is whether cancelling a goods build gets you your coins back.

 

[RazorbackPirate]

6d 13h to first deadline
16 quests complete
11 expansions unlocked
3 clan houses
1 hut
4 markets
6 shrines
5 axe smith
1 beast hunter

Mead and wool are done (unless for some unforeseen reason I need another expansion), old willow unlock will happen in about 6 hours. 19K coins to finish, of which I have 10K now. The 4 markets have the same diplomacy/square that totems do, and are worth 432 diplomacy, leaving 768, which can be provided by 32 totems, which take 64 space, or 4 expansions. Assuming it won't be necessary to wait for the old willow and mead hall to complete for quests 18 and 19, I may be able to finish tonight. One thing I want to test before finishing is whether cancelling a goods build gets you your coins back.

Yes, you get your coins back. I've done it several times.

I'm about a day behind you I'd say.

 

[DeletedUser36624]

With almost 6 days to spare, it's done!

I have planted my new Ygg. Aw, it's cute!


So, Ragnar said it would grow to be a mighty tree with many benefits. Have to see if I can trade up for some fertilizer... oh, hi Ragnar.

Ragnar: Yggdrasil is a holy Viking tree. It will not grow with earthly food.

Oh?

Ragnar: It will only grow with heavenly blessings. Viking blessings.

Oh? (smelling a scam here) So... how do I get these Viking blessings?

Ragnar: We will require many more settlements.

(Of course.) So I build another settlement for you, then I can get a blessing?

Ragnar: Not yet. Here, meet Harald. He has learned your language and is a skilled scribe.

Hi Harald, nice to meet you.

Harald (thumps chest): Yggdrasil gut tree!

Oooookay. So, what, Harald knows how to do blessings?

Ragnar: Oh, no. But you build another settlement, then Harald can come to your lands as emissary.

(Great. Chest thumping around the Town Hall all day.) Well, I'm not at all sure that's necess...

Ragnar: As I said, Harald is a skilled scribe. While he is with you, he will translate and scribe our knowledge for you.

About Yggdrasil and blessings?

Ragnar: About many things. His writings will improve your knowledge and help your city advance and grow powerful.

Okaaay... (What about the damn ble... Oh! He means forge points!) Hey Harald, buddy, pal. You gonna come stay with us, ya?

Harald (thumps chest) Ja!

Ragnar: Only after the next settlement is built.

Okay, but let's get back to those blessings.

Ragnar: After Harald, you build another settlement, and then blessings will come upon your Yggdrasil.

How much will it grow? Full size?

Ragnar: Yggdrasil is a great tree grown full size. It will need many blessings.

And many settlements I am sure.

Ragnar: But of course.

 

[Emberguard]

@Roxana 1184 the Wise I'd like to subscribe to when you continue your writings about the settlement (Aka notify me if you write more - they're awesome!)

 

[RaveWolf]

OMW, you guys are on a roll... I am failing miserably with mine. Lol

 

[DeletedUser36624]

@Roxana 1184 the Wise I'd like to subscribe to when you continue your writings about the settlement (Aka notify me if you write more - they're awesome!)

Got you riiiight here:

Seriously, I'm old, and getting senile, and will probably be drunk at the time. Yer on yer own.

People should not feel bad that they're not done yet. I pushed it very hard, doing lots of 15 min cycles on coins, and did 5 min cycles for several hours one day (never want to do that again). I also had the good fortune of not having any impediments in my starting area, and not much need for wool, so I could spend a lot of wool on expansions, allowing me to ramp up goods buildings to finish earlier. My goal was to establish a lower bound on what was possible (without diamonds) to gauge my progress in later runthroughs.

Some final notes and random thoughts:

• I had two x4's, both towards the end. One was extremely helpful as it allowed me to buy an expansion much earlier. The other didn't change anything except allow me to stop production in some of those buildings earlier to squish the roads out.
• I expect there will be wildly divergent opinions on what to do with the proceeds of an x4 when it allows you to buy an expansion with that good when you would normally wait to buy it with the next up good.
• Things you build in the settlements count towards your achievements. I've gotten achievement procs on roads and expansions when building things in the settlement.
• You get your coins back if you cancel a production in a goods building. (h/t @RazorbackPirate )
• If you want to take a break from doing a whole settlement, you can use the settlement to farm 25 forge points by completing the first five quests, and then abandoning the settlement (you must wait 24 hours after that to start a new one). 3 shacks, quest, 4 runestones, quest, axe smith, quest, 1 hour for axe smith to complete, do an 8 hour production for 10 axes, spam runestones until you have 10, quest, unlock shrines, 2 shrines, quest, boom, Bob's yer uncle. If you have a clear starting area, or impediments that don't interfere, you can do 2 axe smiths on a 4 hour cycle. You'll need 6 shacks for the pop for the axe smiths. I will probably do some of this on the way when I get a starting area where I can do 2 smiths.
• If you can play on mobile (even if you prefer to play on desktop) install the client, log in and turn on mobile notifications. You will get notified when any productions complete in the settlement. This makes it easy to do 15 minute productions when you're watching TV or something.
• It says on the fan wiki that for the final quest, you can't do 6 goods buildings and then remove some to get the 1200 diplomacy. I'm not sure if that's true, but I had the 6 buildings when I completed the previous quest, and this requirement was checked off. I've never seen green checkmarks get undone, but I didn't feel like deleting one of my buildings to test it.

Have fun and enjoy your Yggs!

 

[Emberguard]

Fine, I'm following you now But that doesn't alert me to anything you post anyway. All it does is make it obvious you're online and let you PM me if I change my settings so no one can PM me

 

[Emberguard]

It says on the fan wiki that for the final quest, you can't do 6 goods buildings and then remove some to get the 1200 diplomacy. I'm not sure if that's true, but I had the 6 buildings when I completed the previous quest, and this requirement was checked off. I've never seen green checkmarks get undone, but I didn't feel like deleting one of my buildings to test it.
Have fun and enjoy your Yggs!

Correct.

1200 diplomacy is a "achieve once" condition while the 6 goods buildings are a "have alongside completion of diplomacy quest"

Found this out in Beta in one of my own runs

 

[DeletedUser36624]

Fine, I'm following you now But that doesn't alert me to anything you post anyway. All it does is make it obvious you're online and let you PM me if I change my settings so no one can PM me

Really? That's lame. Here, I fixed it:

 

[UBERhelp1]

Ya know, a few interesting things about the settlement:

1. There's a snowman.
2. If you look closely, you can see the tip of the tail of the orcas after they jump. This spot stays there until the animation resets.
3. Yggdrasil level 9 looks like it was TP'ed.
4. People walk through each other on the streets.
5. The guy in the beast hunter shooting arrows misses every time.
6. There are markets, and even in the quest the Ragnar says it's for trade, but you can't trade.
7. The Vikings can't learn how to make a good village no matter how many times you show them.