Manor Lords is a game centered around managing resources to make sure that a player’s settlement not only survives but also thrives in the harsh medieval reality the game is set in. The main way to do so is by taking up the mantle of a town planner, building structures, assigning families, and trading with the neighbors.

Most buildings in the game are fairly self-explanatory. Storehouses store supplies; logging camps cut down trees; stables house Livestock; and so on. The Pack Station, however, is a bit harder to figure out. Although players can build it right from the start of the game, learning how to use it is not so simple.

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How to Use Packstations in Manor Lords

Here are the steps a player needs to take to get a Pack Station to work as intended:

  1. Claim and conquer a new Manor Lords region.
  2. Build a settlement in the new region.
  3. Gather a surplus of goods in both settlements that they want to transfer between the two regions.
  4. Build a Pack Station in one of the settlements (either will do).

Once all the prerequisites are met, players can assign a family to the Pack Station, choose which materials to send and receive, and let the game handle the rest. Only one Pack Station is needed for this to work, but building two — one in each settlement — will make things go faster and allow the opportunity to set up multiple trades.

Make sure there is a straight road connecting the two settlements to ensure the workers travel as quickly as possible.

Players cannot specify the quantity of goods being bartered at a Pack Station. The trade happens in batches of however much the worker or the pack animal (mule) is able to carry in one trip.

Pack Stations typically transfer resources faster than they are produced in the parent region. Keep a close eye on total stock to avoid mishaps.

How to Assign a Mule

ordering a mule in manor lords

Players will be able to assign Livestock to a Pack Station to allow the assigned workers to move more goods between regions. To do so, open the Pack Station, go to Livestock, and assign a Permanent Livestock animal to the Pack Station.

If a free pack animal is available in the settlement, it will be assigned to the Pack Station, and workers can make use of it. If none are available, players can order a Mule directly from the Pack Station menu. Mules can carry 20 goods per trip but don’t walk any faster than the average worker, so while employing a mule increases the cargo per trip, it does not reduce the travel time.

High Value goods like commodities and Military goods cannot be bartered without a Mule.

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What is a Barter Partner?

barter partner in manor lords

When players first build a Pack Station, they’ll notice a drop-down in the General tab where they can select a ‘Barter Partner.’ By default, this drop-down will only show ‘No Barter.'

A Barter Partner can only be another settlement built by the player in another region. After you conquer a region and settle there, the drop-down will be updated with the name of that settlement, allowing players to set it up as the Barter Partner.

Other Lords cannot be set as Barter Partners.

What is the Barter Value?

barter value in manor lords

The barter value represents the ratio of goods being transferred according to their market value. If, for example, you send a region some Cloaks and ask for Wool in return, a one-to-one trade wouldn’t be fair. A single piece of Wool sells for 2 while a single cloak sells for 8. That’s a 4x difference, and the Barter value shows that.

To further the example, the region that is sending one Cloak will receive 4 Wool per Cloak to keep things fair. The Barter value multiplier not only serves as a means of fairness but lets players estimate how much stuff they’ll be sending vs. receiving once a barter route is up and running.

Players cannot send items from one settlement to another without receiving something in return.

manor lords
Manor Lords

Released
April 26, 2024
Developer(s)
Slavic Magic
Genre(s)
Strategy , City Builder