Anno 117 takes the classic Anno formula and pushes it into the heart of the Roman world. Whether you’re stepping into endless mode or the story-driven campaign, the early hours can feel overwhelming. This ANNO 117 Pax Romana Beginner Guide walks through every essential system, from city planning to production chains, diplomacy, research, safety, and long-term expansion.
By the end, you’ll understand not just how to survive, but how to grow a prosperous Roman province.
ANNO 117 Pax Romana Beginner Guide Wiki –
1. Settings
When you start a new game, you’ll choose your emperor, rivals, and starting province. These decisions shape your entire opening pace, so it’s worth choosing carefully.
Recommended beginner setup
Difficulty mix: Easy + Normal
Emperor: Julia (she offers a more forgiving start)
Rivals: default governors work fine
Starting province:
- Latium is the easiest and most stable
- Albon is harder due to harsher terrain and cultural complexity
Choosing Latium gives you a smooth introduction to the core systems without being pressured by early risks or resource gaps.
2. Explore
The pause button is your most valuable tool. Anno allows you to pause the world while planning every decision, and doing this early prevents fast-growing upkeep costs from draining your money.
While paused, explore your starting map:
- Identify rivers, forest clusters, and mountains
- Look for areas that support early production chains
- Plan where your first housing blocks should go
- Send your flagship to explore surrounding waters and discover governors and trade partners
This calm start sets the foundation for efficient growth later.
3. Early Production Chains
Production is the backbone of Anno. Every building, good, and population tier depends on balanced chains.
Your first chain: Wood → Timber
You’ll need timber for nearly everything, so begin with:
Woodcutter’s Lodge
- Produces raw wood
- Processing time: 30 seconds
- Place inside or near forests
Sawmill
- Converts wood into usable timber
- Same processing time, creating perfect 1:1 balance
- Build near the woodcutter for short travel times
Roads and connectivity
Every building must:
- Touch a road
- Connect to your Trading Post
- Have access to a warehouse or processing building
Distance affects how fast goods move, so compact layouts are essential.
4. Build Housing and Meet Population Needs
Your population provides both income and workforce. Without workers, production stalls instantly. So build early residential blocks around your trade post and warehouses.
Liberty Tier (Tier 1) Needs
Residents expect:
- Basic food goods (such as sardines and porridge)
- Public services like markets and taverns
Needs determine:
- Population growth
- Workforce levels
- Income per household
- Eligibility for upgrades to higher tiers
Example: Creating porridge
- Build a wheat farm
- Build a porridge kitchen
- Maintain processing balance
- Supply nearby houses
A single missing need blocks upgrades and slows your economy.
5. Use Public Service Buildings Correctly
Unlike goods, public services work in a radius. Their placement matters just as much as their type.
Early service buildings
- Market: boosts income
- Tavern: boosts happiness
Place these near housing clusters so their coverage overlaps the maximum number of homes.
Service coverage heavily impacts growth speed, so avoid scattering houses far apart.
6. Upgrade Populations Carefully
Once you meet enough needs, you can promote residents to higher tiers.
How upgrading works
- You do not need every need fulfilled, only the required number
- However, providing complete needs is ideal because they carry into the next tier
- Higher-tier homes consume more goods
- Upgrades reduce your available workforce from the previous tier
This means you must watch your workforce balance closely. If you upgrade too quickly, your production may collapse due to worker shortages.
7. Cultural Differences Between Provinces
If starting in Albon instead of Latium, your population and building style changes dramatically.
Albon population paths
You can choose between:
- Romano-Celtic alignment
- Focus on knowledge and learning
- Research-oriented needs
- Traditional Celtic alignment
- Focus on religion and nature
- Cultural needs centered on spiritual buildings
These choices affect:
- Goods required
- Production chains
- City aesthetics
- Long-term strengths
Latium is far simpler, while Albon is designed for players who enjoy deeper cultural specialization.
8. Manage Economy, Safety, and Happiness
As your city expands, three major risks rise:
- Fire danger
- Health issues
- Unhappiness
These can be monitored anytime through the island health menu.
Examples of risk
- A bakery generates strong income but increases fire risk
- Dirty or dangerous buildings near houses cause unhappiness
- Lack of health structures leads to disease
Early safety solutions
- Vigil buildings reduce fire risk
- Latrines, then aqueducts, improve overall health
- Researching new building types expands your safety tools over time
Balancing risk management prevents revolts and disasters.
9. Research, Deities, and Advanced Development
Research is where Anno 117 begins to open up.
Research system
Unlocked through the Grammaticus, research provides:
- New religions
- New deities
- Productivity bonuses
- Military tech
- Economy boosts
- Population happiness improvements
You unlock research gradually by generating knowledge, which comes from specific workers and buildings.
Deity system
By providing religious buildings, you can adopt local gods that:
- Grant island-specific bonuses to production
- Provide global buffs based on follower count
- Unlock unique buildings and attributes
Choosing deities strategically can reshape your entire economy.
10. Diplomacy, Prestige, and Politics
Your relationships with rival governors and the emperor strongly influence long-term gameplay.
Prestige
Prestige spreads from your villa and other luxury buildings. High prestige can:
- Improve negotiation outcomes
- Make rivals more cooperative
- Unlock specialist opportunities
Diplomacy
Rivals track:
- How you treat them
- Trade interactions
- Conflicts
- Prestige levels
The emperor functions similarly, but failure in his quests can lead to war. If you intend to fight the emperor, prepare heavily.
11. Specialists and the Governor’s Villa
Specialists are powerful characters you can assign to your governor’s villa. They provide:
- Wide-area bonuses
- Boosts to production
- Culture and happiness benefits
- Military enhancements
You can unlock more specialist slots by expanding your villa complex.
Specialists come from diplomacy, events, or trade, adding long-term strategic depth.
12. Trading
Trade is essential because your island cannot produce everything. Fertilities differ across regions, forcing you to either expand or trade.
Types of trade
Manual trade
- Load goods onto a ship
- Travel to another governor
- Sell or exchange manually
Automatic trade routes
- Assign ships to recurring routes
- Buy and sell goods passively
- Support internal or external trade
Trade treaties
- Unlock better prices
- Gain access to rare goods
- Strengthen diplomatic ties
Trade keeps your goods balanced and prevents shortages across your population tiers.
13. Expansion and Multi-Island Management
As your city grows, you’ll eventually need new resources or fertile lands. This is where expansion begins.
How to expand
- Load a ship with building materials
- Find a coastline on a new island
- Build a trading post
- Begin local production or ship resources back home
Each new island has:
- Its own population
- Unique fertility
- Local religious needs
- New production possibilities
Expansion allows advanced goods, complex supply chains, and higher-tier growth.
14. Military, Defense, and War
Combat becomes necessary when:
- Diplomacy fails
- Raiders attack
- Rival governors expand aggressively
- The emperor declares war
Military structure
- Melee units
- Ranged units (catapults, etc.)
- Naval ships for transport and combat
- Coastal defenses like towers and walls
Your navy is often your first priority, both for defense and transporting troops between islands.
Just remember: military growth has high maintenance costs, so only build what your economy can support.