Northgard Introduction for Complete Beginners

This guide is for anyone completely new to the game and just wants a quick crash course on how to play. It will go over the basics of game mechanics, base building, and unit management.

Introduction

Northgard is a real-time strategy game; there are no turns and everyone plays at the same time. The objective of the game (in multiplayer) is to achieve victory through one of four 'victory conditions'. While playing, you will need to focus on resource management, worker assignment, and expansion. Let's begin with your base:

Workers and Buildings

When you start a game of Northgard, you start with a Town Hall and 4 workers. Your base will be composed of workers and buildings.



Workers

Workers are essential units that help you collect resources so your base can grow. Workers are created automatically from your town hall, you do not need to actively build them. The rate at which workers are created is based on how happy your people are. The happier they are, the faster you will generate new workers. If your people are unhappy, you will not create new workers.

Worker Roles

Whenever a worker is created, it will be assigned to a default 'villager' role. Villagers collect food from the surrounding area automatically but can also build and repair buildings. As your demand for other resources grows, you can re-assign your workers into different roles to collect those resources. For example, if you require wood you can change some of your villagers into woodcutters. They will stop harvesting food, and instead start chopping down trees.



In order to change the role of any worker, you must send them to the appropriate building for assignment. So if you want to turn a Villager into a Woodcutter, you simply send them to the lumber camp for re-assignment. Keep in mind that most buildings have a maximum capacity for workers (e.g. each lumber camp can only have two lumberjacks assigned max).

Buildings

The purpose of most buildings is to grant you the ability to assign workers to them, changing them into a new type of worker. As in the example above, when you build a Lumber Camp, you can then assign villagers to the Lumber Camp to start collecting wood instead of food.

Some buildings turn your villagers into fighters, while others do not require any villagers at all (e.g. Food Silos, Defense Tower). For a full list of buildings, see the link below:
https://northgard.gamepedia.com/Buildings

Some important early game buildings to know are:

1. Houses - Increases population capacity, allowing you to have more max units
2. Lumber Camps - Assign workers here to collect wood
3. Scout Camp - Turns your villagers into scouts, letting you explore the map which is very important

Any building can be upgraded into a better version of itself. Once upgraded, you can assign one additional villager and each worker assigned produces a bit more than it did before. To upgrade any building however, you MUST upgrade the Town Hall first. Also, you cannot build the same building twice in the same area!

The Map and Areas

Every time you start a game, a map is randomly generated. Your base will always start on a coastline along the edge of the island. The map itself is made up of several different 'areas' that each have their own unique traits, sometimes good sometimes bad.

At the beginning of the game, you only have access to one 'area', your starting one. In order to explore the world, you must train scouts at a scout camp and send them to explore the unknown areas hidden by darkness. To create scouts, simply send a villager to your scout camp.



Here are some areas you might find early on:

• Fertile Land - This area contains one patch of fertile land that you can build a 'field' on which will generate a lot of food. Fields can only be built on fertile land.
  
• Forest - This area contains a lot of wood and any woodcutters here will produce 10% more wood
  
• Wolf's Den - This area contains a pack of wolves that will keep spawning wolves until it is conquered
  
• Plains - This area contains nothing special

In order to claim a new area as your own, you must colonize it first. To colonize it, simply click the area you want and click the colonize button in the bottom right. Colonization requires food so make sure you have enough to do so. In addition to needing food, all hostile units (wolves, bears, other players) must be removed from the area before you can colonize it.

Why should you colonize other areas? Access to more land means you can build more buildings and gain access to more resources. Each 'area' you control has a maximum amount of buildings it can support. Conquer more territory so you can increase your building count and overall output!

Basic Resources

Northgard features four basic resources that will be important to know about at the start of your game. They are shown at the top right and if moused over, you can see how much you are producing versus how much you are consuming. The four basic resources are:

1. Food
   
2. Wood
   
3. Happiness
   
4. Kröwns

Food

Food is essential to feed your 'clan', if you do not harvest enough food your people will starve, become sick, and become unhappy. Food is harvested by villagers, the default worker role, but can also be harvested by Farmers, Healers, and other specific roles.

Food is also used to colonize new areas and to host feasts. Feasts cost a lot of food but boost production greatly and provide a bit of happiness. These boosts are temporary however, so don't rely on them to stay afloat.

Wood
Wood is collected by Woodcutters and serves two very important functions:

1. Necessary resource to build new buildings or repair damaged ones.
2. Keeps your people warm during winter

If you run out of wood during winter, your people will freeze and become sick. Also, keep in mind that you can place your lumber camp anywhere and wood will be collected, do not worry about trying to place it near trees as this does not matter. This applies to any resource gained, placement of the building will not affect how fast the resource is harvested.

Happiness
When your people are happy, new villagers will be generated faster. When your people are unhappy, you will not gain new villagers and your workers will produce less. It is important to keep your clan happy. The most straightforward way to do this is build a Brewery and assign workers there to become brewers. Brewers create happiness.

Happiness is quite possibly the most complicated 'resource' to manage. As with any resource, you can mouse over it to see how your happiness is calculated (production minus consumption). To learn more about happiness, see the link below:

https://northgard.gamepedia.com/Happiness

Kröwns

Kröwns are money. Money is used to build certain buildings, recruit military units, upgrade things, etc. Early on, generating money isn't much of a priority as most basic needs will require just food or wood. As your clan advances however, Kröwns are essential to mid to late game mechanics. To learn more about Kröwns, see the link below

https://northgard.gamepedia.com/Kr%C3%B6wns

Summer and Winter

As you play Northgard, the map will cycle between two 'phases': Summer and Winter. During summer, your food and wood production act as normal and this is a good time to be stockpiling both in preparation for winter.

Winter occurs every 'year' for three months (Dec - Feb). For these three months, food production is reduced and wood consumption goes up as your people try to stay warm. In addition to these losses, all units lose some fighting power. One way to reduce the harsh effects of winter is by placing sheep in your areas, this will reduce the need for firewood during winter.

It is always important to keep track of the calendar in the bottom left and make sure you're ready when winter comes.

Military and Fighting

In order to create military units, you must first build a Training Camp. Each military building allows you two military units to be created. To create a military unit, just send a villager to a military building and pay a small cost of Krowns. Once your villager is a military unit, you can send them into neutral territory to fight wolves or bear or into enemy bases to fight enemy clans.



There are three different types of fighter:

- Warrior (basic melee unit)
- Axe Thrower (strong ranged unit)
- Shield Bearer (tough melee unit resistant to ranged attacks)

Each unit has their own pros and cons, the warrior deals bonus damage to shield bearers, the Shield Bearer takes reduced damage from Axe Throwers, and the Axe Throwers deal more damage than the Warrior.

While warriors are created at the Training Camp, you must build an Axe Thrower Camp to make Axe Throwers and a Shield Bearer Camp to make Shield Bearers. Every military building you create increases your max military capacity (Warband) by 2. Houses will not increase your military capacity, but they will increase your overall unit capacity.

If you ever want to turn your military unit back into a civilian, simply send them to any civilian building and they'll go back to collecting resources for you. Keep in mind however, that every time you recruit a new military unit it costs money so you shouldn't switch too often.



Warchief

The Warchief is a powerful unit created at the Training Camp and costs 150 Krowns and 5 Iron. Warchiefs are powerful units and you are only allowed one at a time (does not count towards pop limit). With many clans, the Warchief is sometimes replaced by their own unique unit.

Advanced Resources

In addition to the resources mentioned earlier, there are other important resources that will help you achieve victory. They are:

1. Lore
   
2. Military Experience
   
3. Fame
   
4. Stone
   
5. Iron
   
6. Commercial Influence

Lore



Lore is a resource that allows you to unlock new 'knowledge' from the 'lore tree' after collecting enough. After unlocking a new 'knowledge' the lore cost for the next one increases. To learn more about the 'lore tree' and how lore is generated, see the link below:

https://northgard.gamepedia.com/Lore

Lore is important for winning a Wisdom Victory (see victory conditions below)

Military Influence
Similar to lore, you gain military influence from fighting battles, either against neutral factions or enemy clans. Once you've gained enough military influence, you can choose a bonus. After unlocking a new 'military upgrade', the next one will cost more 'xp' to unlock.

Fame
Fame is granted whenever you perform certain actions. For example, you gain fame when you destroy a wolf's den, colonize a new area, upgrade a house, etc. Whenever you collect 200 fame and 500 fame respectively, you gain huge bonuses based on the 'clan' you've chosen. Fame is important for winning a Fame Victory (see victory conditions below)

Stone
Stone is a necessary resource for upgrading your buildings. To collect stone, you must build a mine in an area with a source of stone and assign workers to the mine.



Iron

Iron is a resource that serves three purposes:
1. Recruiting a Warchief, a powerful unit created at the Training Camp
2. Upgrade tools for specific workers at the Forge
3. Forging a Relic, a powerful late game element



Commercial Influence
Commercial influence is a late game mechanic that can only be generated by spending Krowns on a great trade route. A great trade route can only be established at a Longship Dock with the 'Lighthouse' extension. You must unlock the 'ship building' lore in the lore tree to build a Lighthouse. This resource is important for winning a Trade Victory (see victory conditions below)

Selecting a Clan

Before starting any game, you must choose a 'clan' to lead. Each clan comes with it's own starting bonuses and fame bonuses. For example, let's take a look at the proud Eikthyrnir (Clan of the Stag).



Eikthyrnir

Starting Bonuses:
- You Start with +75 food, Wood, Kröwns and +40 Lore.
- The Brewery is replaced by the Hall of Skalds and produces additional fame

Fame Bonuses

• 200 Fame (Thane)

You gain +150 Food, Wood and Kröwns, +75 Lore and +10 Stone.

• 500 Fame (Jarl)

Upgraded buildings gain an additional 10% production bonus.
All productions gets +1% per 100 Fame.

Every clan has a starting bonus. In this example, if you play the stag clan you get extra resources at the start of the game. Many clans also replace normal buildings, or units, with their clan-specific versions which are usually better. The Brewery normally hires Brewers that produce happiness. With the stag clan however, the Brewery is replaced by the Hall of Skalds, where the Brewer is replaced by a Skald and produces Fame in addition to the normal happiness.

Each clan also has fame bonuses after achieve 200 and 500 fame respectively. So whenever you gain the title of Thane (200 fame) or Jarl (500 fame) you get a nice bonus specific to the clan you're playing.

Understanding clan bonuses is essential to playing them effectively, increasing your chances of winning. For beginners, these clans are recommended:

- Eikthyrnir (Clan of the Stag)
- Bjarki (Clan of the Bear)
- Slidrugtanni (Clan of the Boar)





For a full list of clans and their bonuses, see the link below:

https://northgard.gamepedia.com/Clans

How to Win (Victory Conditions)

There are four ways to achieve victory in any game:

1. Domination
2. Fame
3. Wisdom
4. Trade



Domination means that when you defeat every other clan on the map, you win; Plain and simple. To defeat an enemy clan, simply conquer their starting area.

Fame victory requires you to:

1. Control a certain amount of areas (12 or 14 based on map size)
   
2. Obtain 1200 fame
   
3. Build the Altar of Kings.

Once you've achieved these three conditions, you win the game.

Trade Victory requires you to build a lighthouse, attached to longship dock, and reach 2000 commercial influence. The only way to gain commercial influence is by initiating a Great Trade Routes. Great Trade Routes cost krowns and provide happiness and bonus resources from time to time. See 'commercial influence' in the advanced resources section for more info.

Wisdom Victory requires you to earn Lore and progress through the knowledge tree, unlocking the four blessings of the gods. After you unlock the fourth blessing, 'Ancestral Knowledge', you win the game.



Some maps can also contain a special victory conditions; for a full list and more details regarding victory see the link below:

https://northgard.gamepedia.com/Victory

Conclusion

This guide should hopefully give you a basic idea of what to expect when starting a game of Northgard. The best way to learn how to play is of course by playing the game, making mistakes, and learning all the little things about the game.

If you have any questions or suggestions on how to improve this guide please let me know!

Have fun out there.

[xKilroyx]

Just picked this up. Thanks for the guide.

[Felipe]

Thank you Daedalus

[Daedalus]

Ofc feel free to translate! @FQueirozM

[Felipe]

Hello Daedalus. Do you allow me to translate it to Portuguese-BR? We don't have any portuguese guide and it would be very good to have some. If you allow it, add me as a friend, so I can add you as the author.

[slipjeem]

Except one slight mistake a good guide, you can build more then 1 house in a area AS houses have only the total building limit ;o)

[potato fanatic 27]

help im going crazy i straight up can not find the start button for when i am ready to make a game

[BUTTERYKRACKER]

nice guide thanks

[dsorcic]

Help!! I can not get thru Chapter 6- Intervention in story mode! I have tried multiple times!! Any secrets or ideas that will help please?? Thanks for the walkthrough!

[Rooster]

Thanks

[Daedalus]

@Rooster Each building will have a demolish button in the top right of the info box at the bottom (red fire symbol).