Salutations, Colonisers!
Last time, we talked about the Keepers’ units. Today, we’re diving deeper into some of the buildings essential for the growth of your colony. And the one with the highest importance is the Homestead.
The Homestead is your base, used to recruit colonists and research upgrades related to them. You’ll want to spawn as many colonists as possible and order them to collect nearby resources. Sometimes these resources are located a bit farther from your Homestead, which can slow down gathering and early expansion.
Fret not - you can build dedicated drop-off buildings where colonists can deliver resources. The Lumber Yard is for trees, the Stonepit for stone, the Ore Shaft for ore, and the Granary for food like berries and meat.
In addition to being drop-off points for harvested materials, each of these buildings has its own upgrade paths, allowing you to enhance your colonists’ efficiency and unlock more advanced technologies over time.
When it comes to the colony’s population expansion, you’ll need to build Shelters. Shelters increase your population cap. While they don’t offer the same bonuses as other structures, protecting your Shelters is critical throughout the game - their destruction, combined with the loss of your units, can put a significant strain on your colony.
Food management is just as important. Resources can become scarce due to the sheer size of the map and the number of players sharing it. That’s why you can build Farms to generate a steady, renewable supply of food. Keep in mind, though, that you’ll need to assign a colonist to each farm. Could that colonist be used elsewhere? That decision is up to you.
Once you’ve established your base, set up resource management, and built some basic structures, it’s time to prepare for battle. The key building here is the Garrison, your core frontline military structure. From the Garrison, you can train Footmen and research various upgrades for them. It also unlocks research for other military buildings, like the Archery Range, and additional defensive options.
The Archery Range recruits ranged units and trains them to unlock new methods to strike down foes from afar. In Era 1, you’ll only be able to train Bowmen, but as you progress, you can upgrade them to become tougher and faster, with improved attack speed.
When it comes to defenses, you can build palisades as basic protection against enemies. Stockades, a stronger wooden defense, need to be researched in the Garrison. Place a Wall Gate in a section of your Stockade to allow easy passage for your units and allies. And to stay alert, be sure to construct Outposts in strategic locations - they reveal surrounding terrain and expand your line of sight.
Once you have a functional base and defenses, your next goal is to gain Valor - a critical resource earned by fighting and defeating enemy units and buildings, and for the Keepers, also by constructing fortifications.
When you’ve gathered enough resources, return to your Homestead and advance to the Era of Abundance, unlocking new buildings, units, and technologies. But more on that in an upcoming blog.
Stay tuned, wishlist Coloniser, join our playtest and talk to you more next time.
Cantos Games
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