The question of how many buildings one needs in Elvenar is a common one. Many of us wonder if we’ve found the right balance in the number of buildings we’ve chosen for our city.

How do we know if we have “enough” residences? What’s the “right” number of workshops to have? What’s the “best” number of factories to have?

There is no single right answer to these questions. The ideal number for each is different for each city and each player, and is highly subjective depending on several factors.

This overview can’t tell you exactly how many of each building type you should have, but we can tell you some things about each building and raise some questions to consider that may help you in finding the right balance for your city.

SUMMARY OF CONTENTS

• Residences
• Workshops
• Armories
• Manufactories
• Conclusion

RESIDENCES

Residences are the building you will usually need the most of. Without residences, you can’t build much of anything else; you need population!

With residences, it is often not a question of how many you need but how many you can fit while still leaving plenty of space for your other needs.

Elves will tend to have more residences than humans, for the simple reason that elven residences are smaller.

Between each race, the population per square values are similar for most levels.

CONSIDER

​♦ How many factories, armories, and workshops do you need to support?
​​♦ How much space do you have?

BEST PRACTICES

​​♦ Upgrade before you add.
♦ Try to always stay ahead of your population needs by a couple of hundred
♦ The further you have progressed in research, the larger cushion you’ll need.

• For chapter I – III – keep a cushion of at least 100
• For chapter IV-V – at least 300 will be more comfortable
• For chapter VI and later – less than 500 and you’ll be feeling crunched and hunting for population quite often!
• Advanced Chapters, IX+ – 1,000+

♦ Plan ahead for size changes.

Know when they will change size and plan your layout accordingly to make sure you have room for them to grow before deciding to add.

​Elf residences grow to advanced (2×3) at level 4, and superior (3×3) at level 8.

Human residences grow to advanced (3×2) at level 5, and superior (4×3) at level 9.

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WORKSHOPS

There are many sources for supplies besides workshops.

Neighborly help, and especially quests, are just as valuable if not more valuable than the amount of supplies they can potentially add per day.

For these reasons, it is generally best to try to rely on as few as possible if your primary goals include maximum efficiency and/or maximum score.

The fewer you have, the more efficient your city will be, but the more challenging it will be, as well.

The “right” number of workshops for you can be as low as 4 or as high as 14. Most will generally fall around the middle, around 6-8.

CONSIDER

♦ How often do you play?

The more often you play and collect supplies, the more efficient your production is, and the fewer workshops you need.

The more often you visit your fellows, the more supplies you can collect. Daily visits add a nice bump to supplies.

If you play less often, and only collect once or twice a day or less frequently, consider the higher end of the range.

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♦ How often do you care to cycle your quests for extra coins and supplies?

If you don’t mind the little bit of extra effort here and there, questing on every collect round can earn a lot of extra supplies, making it possible to get away with far fewer workshops.

If you don’t want to be dependent on this strategy for supplies, consider at least 8 or more.

​♦ How important are “score” and “rank” to you?

Workshops offer very low relative points compared to other choices.

If you are after a higher score, you’ll want to focus on how to get by with fewer workshops so you can use that space for other higher score choices.

♦ How far is your magic academy upgraded/how much do you participate in tournaments?

​If you can make or earn more Power of Provision and Ensorcelled Endowment enchantments, you can get by with far fewer workshops.​

Combine these spells for the maximum benefit!

Use several culture spells at a time; apply them to culture buildings that have already been polished so you know you can get an immediate benefit! The enchantment bonus only applies if the culture item it is applied to has been polished.

Before you collect from workshops, apply a Power of Provision enchantment to each one. Using Power of Provision enchantments often, one does not need nearly as many workshops, and this allows more space and population for you to produce more goods with more manufactories.

​ARMORIES

Armories are needed to increase the number of units you can train at once in a single training slot in your barracks.

If you fight even a little, you will want at least a couple of armories in your city.

The ideal number of armories can fall anywhere in the range of as few as 2 to as many as 5 or 6 depending on a player’s goals.

The average tends to be 3-4.

CONSIDER

♦ How often do you fight?

​If you fight at least half of your encounters, you’ll need to keep your barracks as busy as possible, which will take more armories!

If you don’t fight as often, you may not need as many, and may prefer to reserve more space for higher production.

♦ How often do you play?

​If you play less often, you’ll need a longer total training time to keep your barracks busy, so you’ll want more armories. Go for the higher end of the range.

If you play at least every few hours or more, you may not need as many.

♦ How important are points to you?

​Armories are a relatively cost effective way to earn points. They use a lot of culture, but not a lot of population, so many find them easier to upgrade but for the heavy cost in supplies.​

MANUFACTORIES

The least straightforward question to answer is how many manufactories to have.

Manufactories can vary widely in sizes and production rates. Where for some types, 10 or more wouldn’t be excessive, for others, just 5 may be more than enough.

The average or ideal ranges can vary quite significantly based on the race and the type of manufactory.

For each manufactory type, a range is provided, followed by considerations for deciding where in the range to target.

With manufactories, ask not how many do you need, but rather how many goods do you need, and how many does it take to produce that amount?

While manufactories are not all equal in size and shape, what they are relatively well matched on within each tier is cost and production per square. This is why there can be a wide disparity among the types for recommended ranges. Some factories are half the size of others – this matters!

Each manufactories have its pros and cons.

Note: The assumption is used throughout that one is only building manufactories for their boosted goods, because, well, why waste space and resources on anything else!

RECOMMENDED RANGES FOR MANUFACTORIES

The following recommendations are based on the number of factories it would generally take to produce enough goods to meet the following goals:

• Min – can easily hit chapter quest amounts on 9 hr cycles by mid-chapter
• Average – can easily hit chapter quest amounts on 9 hr cycles by the beginning of each chapter. Can work up to hitting chapter quest amounts on 3 hr cycles by mid to late chapter.
• High – can easily hit chapter quest amounts by the beginning of each chapter on 3 hr cycles.

CONSIDER

♦ How often do you negotiate vs. fight?

​The more you negotiate, the higher production you’ll need.

You’ll want to steer towards the higher end of the ranges if you’re not much of a fighter.

You can get by with the lower end of the range if you fight often.

♦ How often do you play?

If you play more often, your cycles are more efficient at lower run times, but it also takes more supplies to keep them going as often.

If you are trying to keep a high production while also trying to rely on fewer workshops, you’ll want to be able to hit your chapter quest amounts on each collect round.

If you collect every 3 hours more often than every 9, you’ll need more factories to hit the quest amounts. And you’ll need to hit them, ’cause you’ll need the supplies from them to keep them in production. Target at LEAST the mid-range.

If you collect every 9 hours or less often, it doesn’t take as many to hit the quest amounts, and you may not desire to have as many. The lower end of the range may be plenty.

♦ How important is speed of progression and score to you?

​The more you can produce, the faster you can progress.

Manufactories are a primary score booster as they require high population and culture.

If you want to grow at maximum speed, target the higher end of the ranges, but keep in mind the cost for doing so.

♦ How many can you afford to support?

​Do you have space for not only the extra factories, but also for the extra residences you’ll need to support the population requirements?

Do you ever spend diamonds on expansions?

• If no or hardly ever, you may have a hard time affording more than the lower end of the range unless you work a lot of provinces, or unless you’re making up for it elsewhere, such as fewer armories and/or workshops.
• If at least some, you will likely be able to afford the middle to high end of the range.
• If quite a few, you can likely easily afford the higher end of the range.

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CONCLUSION

Striking the right balance of buildings for your city will be a constantly evolving process. Throughout every chapter, you will face new challenges that might give you reason to re-evaluate your needs and choices for the number of buildings that you need.

​We hope you found this article helpful in choosing the right balance for your city!

~Happy Gaming~