Ways To Maintain A High Approval Rating In Manor Lords

Highlights

Approval rating impacts population growth and militia morale, so players should keep it high to attract families and conquer new territories.
Players should provide a variety of food in the market to boost Approval and consider importing goods like apples and honey for extra benefits.
Clothing and a well-upgraded church are also key for high Approval.

Every settlement in Manor Lords has an Approval rating, which pretty much reflects how happy the population is and how well provided they are with resources and commodities. If a village has at least 50% Approval, one new family will arrive each month as long as there is living space for them. An Approval rating above 75% will instead result in two new families a month, and inversely, if the Approval falls beneath 25%, families will begin to leave.

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The Approval rating also affects the overall morale of the militia raised from the settlement, so if players are looking to conquer new territory, it's best to have their men in good spirits. Thankfully, there are many ways to maintain a high Approval rating in Manor Lords, including providing a wider variety of goods and avoiding certain negative pitfalls.

6 Avoid Homelessness

Families Remember Being Homeless For Months On End

Homelessness is primarily an early-game worry in Manor Lords, and it can result in a damaging loss of Approval while trying to survive the first year. To avoid this, players will want to build at least five Burgage Plots fairly early on but only after they have built a Granary, Storehouse, Logging Camp, and Woodcutter's Lodge. It's also a mistake to upgrade the initial Homeless People's Tent to a Worker's Camp.

Later on, if players are unfortunate enough to encounter fire-related disasters, families can temporarily become homeless and lower the Approval Rating once again. To avoid this, players should prioritize the rebuilding of homes.

5 Provide A Wide Variety Of Food In The Market

There Is A Continuous Bonus To Approval For Each Food Type Available

One of the most important aspects of Approval in Manor Lords is not only making sure all families are fed but also providing them with a variety of food types. There are currently seven different types of food in Manor Lords, and as long as a good variety of them is readily available in market stalls, players will notice a healthy increase in the Approval rating, which scales with the number of food types.

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To supply Burgage Plots with food, players will want to build their Marketplace in a central position and assign plenty of workers to the Granary. These Granary workers will then set up stalls on their own and start distributing food to the nearest houses. As apples and honey require players to spend Development Points to be able to produce them, those who have focused on other areas of development could consider importing these goods for an additional bonus to the Approval Rating.

4 Provide Different Clothes In The Market

Each Unique Clothing Type Comes With Extra Approval

On top of food, one of the big requirements for a high Approval rating in Manor Lords is clothing. The wider the variety of clothing available in the market, the better. To produce clothes, players will need to invest in all sorts of industries. For example, by growing flax in the fields, weavers can create linen, which is then used by tailors.

Shoes are made by cobblers using leather from hides, and yarn is used to make cloaks, but to get yarn, wool taken from sheep must be spun at the Weaver Workshop.

3 Upgrade The Church

Villagers Like Having A Church & Prefer A Better One

Small Stone Church: x5 Timber, x10 Planks, x20 Stone, x 20 Roof Tiles

One of the residential requirements for all villagers is access to a church, and having a simple Wooden Church will satisfy all inhabitants of level 1 Burgage Plots. However, for a bonus to the Approval rating, players will want to upgrade to a Small Stone Church.

To do this, players will need 5 Timber, 10 Planks, 20 Stone, and 10 Roof Tiles, which all take quite some time to transport and build. Having a superior church is also a requirement for upgrading houses to level 3 Burgage Plots, which process of leveling up the entire settlement and unlocking new Development Points for the region.

2 Don't Tax The Population Too Harshly

Tax Is Used To Hire Soldiers & Settle New Regions, But It Lowers Approval

In Manor Lords, each region and settlement has its own regional wealth, generated primarily by trade, and can be used to install backyard extensions and import livestock or commodities. By building a Manor, players can tax this wealth to fund their treasury, which is seen in the top right corner.

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The treasury is used to purchase mercenaries, expand the lord's retinue, and settle new land. However, for obvious reasons, the population does not like being taxed, and depending on the percentage levied, the Approval rating will go down by a certain amount. Therefore, if players are having trouble with a low Approval rating, the easiest fix is to lower the taxes by heading over to the Manor.

1 Avoid Corpses Being Left Out To Rot

Players Need To Bury Bodies In The Church Graveyard Or Build A Corpse Pit

For those playing Manor Lords one one of the harder difficulty modes, being attacked by bandits or even full armies is a constant threat. When skirmishes or battles occur on home soil, the fallen are the responsibility of the lord, and failure to bury the bodies will result in a prolonged loss of Approval.

To avoid this, players can preemptively assign gravediggers to their church, so that when the time comes, there is space for the dead to be buried in hallowed ground. When there are too many fallen to deal with, especially when they happen to be bandits, players can construct a Corpse Pit, and assign workers to dig and carry the corpses.