General Extreme Mode Tips:
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-=Efficiency=-
1. Be a save-scrub champion. Whenever youre on a tricky mission, save every other
month. Since Northgard implements semi-random events and world hostility, going back
to an earlier save may change where / when Wolves and Draugr invade, which bad event
(Rats, Blizzard, Earthquake) comes up, etc. In some levels, you need to do as well
as you possibly can throughout the mission in order to beat it. The idea is to save
as soon as youve done a perfect iteration of gameplay; that way, if something happens
in the next couple months, you have a near-perfect save to go back to.
2. Time is of the essence. You are allowed to relax in Skirmish, but in Extreme, you
should always be micromanaging your military or villagers to be as efficient as
possible. Pay attention to notifications, especially idle villagers. Turn scouts and
warriors into villagers when you can; dont retain an army unless necessary or you
cant afford to disband them.
3. Maximize efficiency. Make sure you leave room for silos on food tiles, place Markets
and Trading posts on the same tile, and leave room for a Mine when Stone / Iron is on
the tile. Pay attention to each clans Lore when planning out what to colonize.
4. You should almost never need to develop land (paying 100 Krowns) unless you are
Goat and can do it for 20. Instead, push food production and expand to a new tile.
-=Resource Management=-
1. Expand until you can have a steady supply of everything you need. On Extreme,
you rarely need to take more than 5-6 territories besides your home province.
2. Make sure you store nothing but the bare minimum of resources! Food is good for
colonization and not starving; nothing else. Wood should be used immediately; if
you cant use that 150 wood immediately because you dont have building space, you
need more food to colonize another tile. If you have over 300 food or 200 wood and
Winter isnt coming, youre not spending your resources in a timely fashion. Pretend
youre a project manager, and your boss is going to take your budget away if you
dont spend it.
3. Krowns are nice, but unless you are playing Raven, you only need enough for
upgrading buildings and hiring a few military units. Try to keep about 100-150 in
reserve with at least +2 production and only push Krowns if you need them for
Upgrades or Military.
4. Mine Stone and Iron as early as possible on most maps. Upgrading buildings is vital.
5. Trading Posts are the Great Equalizer. If you have a map rich in forests, or food,
you can sell off the excess from your efficient, upgraded buildings instead of posting
villagers as Merchants. Depending on the map, you can get 2-6 trade routes going at
once, though you rarely need more than 2.
6. Dont buy resources from the Market! Its almost a guaranteed sign you havent
expanded properly or in the right order. The campaign ensures that you are near all
vital resources, so dont buy from the Market unless absolutely necessary!
-=Upgrades=-
1. Upgrade buildings relative to what you need as quickly as possible. If youre
running low on Food, upgrade a Food building.
2. There are 3 essential tools to upgrade with Iron every level: Woodcutters, your
biggest group of Food Gatherers, and Axe Throwers.
-=Other Tips=-
1. Never fall below 0 on happiness. If you notice youre getting close, build a brewery
immediately! Low happiness means no new villagers, which puts an end to your dream of
expansion.
2. Never hit your population cap! If youre at 10/11, 15/16, etc. its time to build
a house. That said, there are times when excess population creates drag if you dont
have an efficient use for them. So unless you are intentionally limiting your population,
make sure you never hit those unmagical red numbers.
3. Generally, turn Villagers into Healers in the Winter when you have wounded, since
Villagers are less efficient in Winter.