Starting Mandate Order can feel like being handed control of an entire kingdom and then being told, “Good luck.” There are workers to manage, crews to house, food to produce, forests to maintain, storage chains to organize, workshops to run, weapons to manufacture, armies to equip, retainers to satisfy, policies to issue, rituals to prepare, and eventually diplomacy and war to worry about.
And the funny thing is that most of these systems aren’t really separate. Your workers need food. Food needs farms, hunting or foraging. Farms need tools and eventually fertilizer. Buildings need wood and stone. Wood needs logging and forestry. Weapons need metal. Metal needs mining and processing.
Armies need those weapons and armor. And suddenly the small settlement you started with has turned into an entire production machine.
The trick is not trying to build everything at once.
If you understand how workers, storage, transportation and basic resource chains fit together first, the more complicated systems become much easier to manage.
This beginner guide walks through the important mechanics of Mandate Order, explains what each major building is actually doing, and gives you a practical idea of what to prioritize as your settlement grows.
Mandate Order Beginner Guide – City Building, Resources, Workers, Trade & War
When you’re starting a new settlement, resist the urge to immediately build every interesting building you unlock.
Your early priorities are much simpler:
- House your crews
- Provide water
- Provide food
- Establish wood production
- Create storage
- Set up transportation
- Start basic metal production
- Keep your workers satisfied
- Follow the Stele/progression requirements
- Gradually build toward military production
Think of the settlement as a chain.
If one important link breaks, everything downstream starts suffering.
For example, building a fantastic forge doesn’t help much if you don’t have charcoal.
And producing huge quantities of weapons doesn’t matter if your workers are starving.
Get the basic economy stable first.
Understanding Crews and Workers
One of the first things that makes Mandate Order different from a lot of city-builders is the way workers are organized.
Instead of individually assigning every worker to every task, you generally manage crews.
A crew contains roughly nine or ten workers and can be assigned to buildings or tasks.
This makes workforce management much easier once you get used to it, but it also means you need to think about how many crews you actually have available.
Build Enough Housing
New crews can join your settlement over time, but they need somewhere to live.
That’s where tents come in.
If you have no vacant tents, new crews won’t be able to join.
So if you’re looking for more workers and nothing seems to be happening, check your available housing before assuming something is wrong.
You should also keep an eye on worker satisfaction.
Your people need things such as:
- Water
- Food
- Housing
- Other basic needs
If those needs aren’t being met, satisfaction drops.
And once satisfaction gets bad enough, you can start losing workers rather than gaining them.
That creates a nasty cycle where fewer workers produce fewer resources, which makes it even harder to satisfy the remaining population.
So population growth isn’t something you should chase blindly.
Make sure your settlement can support the workers you already have before expanding aggressively.
Water and Food Come Before Everything Else
Your workers aren’t going to care about your beautiful industrial district if they don’t have anything to eat or drink.
Build wells in useful locations so your crews have access to water.
Likewise, establish reliable food production before your population becomes too large.
You can usually see unmet needs through the interface, so get into the habit of checking those indicators whenever your settlement starts behaving strangely.
If satisfaction suddenly drops, don’t immediately blame the workers.
Something they’re supposed to receive is probably missing.
Wood Production – Your First Real Industry
Wood is one of the most important resources during the early game.
You’re going to use it for construction, fuel, workshops, tools and a long list of other production chains.
The basic process starts with logging.
Logging Workshop
The Logging Workshop sends workers out to nearby trees and turns them into logs.
It’s a straightforward building, but there’s an important long-term problem:
Trees run out.
If you keep expanding without thinking about forestry, your wood production will slowly become less convenient as workers have to travel farther to find usable trees.
That is where Forestry Sites come in.
Wood Workshop
Logs aren’t always the final product you need.
The Wood Workshop processes them into more useful wooden materials.
Depending on the recipe, you can produce things such as:
- Lumber
- Wooden parts
- Clubs
- Other crafted wooden goods
This becomes particularly important once you’re producing weapons and more advanced structures.
Forestry Site
Don’t wait until you’ve chopped down your entire starting forest before thinking about replanting.
Forestry Sites help maintain a renewable source of wood.
It’s one of those buildings that doesn’t feel particularly exciting when you first unlock it, but you’ll be very happy you established sustainable production before your settlement becomes enormous.
Storage – The Problem You’ll Eventually Notice
Most production buildings have some internal storage.
That’s convenient at first.
Then you build more production buildings.
Then those storage areas fill.
Then the workers stop producing.
This is one of the easiest bottlenecks to overlook.
A production building isn’t necessarily broken because it stopped working.
It may simply have nowhere to put its output.
Build Dedicated Storage
Use Storage buildings for general goods and Granaries for food.
And remember that storage isn’t completely passive.
You’ll need crews assigned to these buildings so they can actually handle the movement of goods.
If a workshop is full of products while your main Storage is empty, check whether the Storage has workers and whether transportation is set up properly.
Transportation Makes Your Economy Much Better
As your settlement expands, manually moving everything becomes increasingly inefficient.
That’s where Transport Stations come in.
They help workers carry larger quantities of goods between buildings within their effective range.
But there’s a catch:
Transport Stations require wheelbarrows.
Producing Wheelbarrows
You’ll need an Artifice Workshop.
The Artifice Workshop processes lumber into wheelbarrows.
Once you have those available, Transport Stations can significantly improve the movement of goods.
Placement matters too.
A Transport Station has limited range, so don’t throw one down randomly and expect it to solve every transportation problem in your settlement.
Use them around clusters of production buildings and storage.
A well-planned production district can save your workers a huge amount of walking.
Fuel – Don’t Let Your Production Chain Go Cold
Fuel comes primarily in forms such as:
- Firewood
- Charcoal
Firewood is produced from logs, while charcoal is made by processing firewood.
Charcoal is more valuable and more efficient for many advanced production chains.
Your workers also consume fuel periodically, so you need a steady supply rather than producing it only when you suddenly run out.
Charcoal is especially important because industrial buildings and recipes can consume significant quantities.
The lesson is simple:
Wood production and fuel production should grow alongside your settlement.
Don’t wait until your forge shuts down to start thinking about charcoal.
Farming and Food Production
Food is another system where planning ahead saves you a lot of trouble.
Farms produce crops seasonally, with harvests occurring once per year.
That means farming isn’t an instant source of food.
You need to think about the future.
Choosing Farmland
When placing farmland, pay attention to fertility.
A fertile area can produce well initially, but repeated farming can gradually reduce its effectiveness.
Eventually, you may need to move your farming operation or manage your land more carefully.
Don’t build your entire food economy around one patch of ground and assume it will remain equally productive forever.
What Can You Grow?
Depending on what’s available, you can grow things such as:
- Millet
- Medicinal herbs
- Other useful crops
You can plan what each farmland area will grow for several years.
That gives you a chance to prepare your food and medical supply chains rather than reacting at the last second.
Kitchens and Feeding Your Settlement
Growing crops isn’t enough.
Your residents need prepared food.
Millet can be processed into porridge in the Kitchen.
Porridge can then be used to feed workers.
Retainers have different food requirements and may require stew instead.
That means your food economy eventually becomes more than just:
Farm → Food
It becomes:
Farm → Crop → Kitchen → Meal → Workers
The more complicated your settlement becomes, the more important it is to make sure each step has enough production capacity.
Hunting and Meat Production
If you need meat for stew, you’ll need to establish a hunting chain.
Start with a Hunting Camp near a suitable hunting reserve.
The hunters bring game back to your settlement.
Then the game can be processed through a Slaughterhouse to produce meat.
The Kitchen can then turn that meat into stew.
So your Retainer food chain looks something like:
Hunting Camp → Game → Slaughterhouse → Meat → Kitchen → Stew
It’s worth planning these buildings reasonably close together because unnecessary transportation distance means more worker time spent carrying goods around.
Foraging and Jujube
Jujube is another useful food source.
A Foraging Camp can collect it from a suitable reserve.
Unlike some food products, Jujube doesn’t need to be cooked first.
That makes it a convenient supplement to your normal food production.
If you’re struggling to keep your food economy balanced, don’t assume the only answer is building more farms.
Look at all the food sources available to you.
Understanding Reserves and Deposits
You’ll encounter different resource deposits throughout the map.
These aren’t infinite.
Some deposits are small.
Others contain considerably more resources.
When you place a gathering building near a deposit, workers can collect the resource until the reserve becomes depleted.
Once it reaches zero, the deposit can eventually begin replenishing.
This creates an important habit:
Don’t keep a gathering building active against an empty reserve forever.
If the resource is exhausted, disable the building and give the deposit time to recover.
Otherwise, you’re tying up workers in a task that isn’t producing anything useful.
Copper, Iron and Metal Production
Copper and Iron are particularly important because they form the foundation of much of your military production.
You mine the raw resources from deposits and then process them.
The Forge
The Forge turns raw materials into useful metal products such as ingots.
You can also refine materials further and unlock more complex recipes.
One particularly important combination is Copper and Tin, which can be used to produce Bronze.
As your military becomes more advanced, your metal production chain will become increasingly important.
If you’re preparing for war, don’t just count your finished weapons.
Count the raw materials and processing capacity required to produce them.
Jade, Silver and Other Valuable Resources
Not every mineral exists purely for military production.
Jade and Silver can be mined from their respective deposits and then processed in a Precious Workshop.
These resources can have economic and trade value in addition to their production uses.
Don’t automatically turn every valuable resource into a finished product without checking what your settlement currently needs.
Sometimes selling or trading a resource is more useful than stockpiling it.
Salt – More Useful Than It Looks
Salt is an important luxury resource.
You can mine it from deposits and store it for later use.
One important use is connected to your leadership progression.
Salt can also be valuable in trade.
So if you discover a good salt deposit, don’t dismiss it just because it isn’t immediately needed for basic construction.
Some resources become more important as your settlement advances.
Stone and the Tin Confusion
Stone is used to produce building materials such as stone slabs and square bricks.
One small but surprisingly annoying problem is that the resource icon for Stone can look similar to Tin.
Before placing a Quarry or other gathering infrastructure, double-check the actual deposit.
Otherwise, you may spend time building a production chain for the wrong material.
It’s a small mistake, but one that can waste a lot of early resources and worker time.
Waste Is Actually Useful
Waste doesn’t sound like something you’d want to collect.
But in Mandate Order, it can become a useful resource.
A Latrine allows you to gather waste.
You can then process it into different products.
Two notable options are:
- Liquid Fertilizer
- Siege Filth
Liquid Fertilizer
Liquid Fertilizer can improve agricultural production.
This makes it particularly useful when you’re trying to maintain high farm output as your settlement grows.
It can also have trade value.
Siege Filth
Siege Filth has a more military-oriented purpose and can become useful when you’re involved in warfare.
So don’t simply think of waste as garbage.
It’s another production input.
Weapon Production
Eventually your settlement needs more than food and buildings.
It needs weapons.
Weapon production begins with basic materials and gradually becomes more complicated.
Wooden components can be produced through the Wood Workshop, while metal components come through your Forge and related production chains.
Weapon Workshop
This is your main building for producing weapons.
Depending on your unlocked recipes and available materials, you can create increasingly advanced equipment.
Archery Workshop
If you want ranged weapons, you’ll need an Archery Workshop.
This adds another production chain to your economy, so don’t build it until your basic resource infrastructure can support it.
Siege Workshop
Siege warfare requires specialized equipment.
The Siege Workshop can produce things such as:
- Siege towers
- Battering rams
- Mobile trebuchets
- Other military equipment
These are expensive projects, so make sure your economy is stable before trying to mass-produce siege equipment.
Armor Production
Weapons alone don’t make an army.
Your soldiers also need protection.
The Armor Workshop handles this side of military production.
Basic leather armor starts with animal hides from your Slaughterhouse.
More advanced armor requires considerably more complicated materials.
For example, refined metal armor may require:
- Nails
- Refined ingots
- Crafted leather
- Other processed components
This is why military preparation should begin well before you actually need to fight.
An army takes more than just a button click.
You need the entire industrial chain behind it.
Raising an Army
When a threat appears or you decide it’s time to expand your influence, you can recruit an army.
The army needs appropriate weapons and armor.
Once you’ve prepared those supplies, you can gather an army at the location you want and issue commands.
One useful feature is that armies recruit workers from existing crews.
That means you don’t necessarily need to maintain a completely separate permanent military workforce.
Once the military task is complete, you can disband the army and return those workers to their normal duties.
This is particularly useful when you’re responding to a temporary threat.
What Determines Army Strength?
The equipment your soldiers have matters.
Better weapons and armor produce a stronger army.
So military power is ultimately tied back to your economy.
If your army is weak, the answer isn’t always “build more soldiers.”
Sometimes you need:
Better mines → better metal → better weapons → better armor → stronger army.
That’s the production chain you should be thinking about.
Retainers and Why They Matter
Retainers are another major layer of management.
Every month, potential retainers can visit your settlement.
They belong to different factions, and each one can provide different bonuses.
You’ll need a Commander’s Tent before you can properly hire and manage them.
Each retainer also requires a residence.
Retainer Bonuses
Retainers aren’t just expensive residents.
You can assign them to buildings, where their bonuses can improve the building or its associated production.
This means choosing where to place a retainer can matter just as much as deciding which retainer to hire.
If a retainer provides a bonus that perfectly matches one of your most important production chains, consider putting them there.
Retainer Needs
Retainers have their own requirements.
You’ll generally need to provide things such as:
- Salary
- Knife Money
- Stew
- Appropriate housing
If those needs aren’t met, the retainer may eventually leave.
So don’t hire more retainers than your economy can comfortably support.
A smaller group of happy, useful retainers is better than a huge group draining your resources.
State Policies and the National Policy Board
State policies are one of the systems that can look confusing until you understand the basic idea.
During the relevant part of the year, you can propose a policy through the Commander’s Tent.
Your retainers debate the selected topic.
The result gives you a symbol associated with a faction.
You then place that symbol on the national policy board.
The board contains nine spaces, although some can remain locked until you reach higher ranks.
The interesting part is that faction symbols can work together.
Placing symbols belonging to the same faction near each other can produce additional bonuses.
So don’t treat the policy board as a simple “pick whatever looks strongest” menu.
Think about the arrangement.
If you’re repeatedly receiving symbols from a particular faction, you may be able to create a stronger policy combination by grouping them.
Once you’re happy with the layout, issue the policy.
That policy then provides its benefits going forward.
Rituals
Rituals are another system that requires preparation.
They take place at particular times of year and require specific buildings and materials.
You can’t simply decide at the last second that you want to perform one.
You’ll need to prepare the required resources over the course of the year.
When the ritual date approaches, make sure the appropriate crews are available and the required facilities are ready.
Why Perform Rituals?
Rituals can significantly increase public approval.
They can also provide a chance of preventing or mitigating certain natural disasters.
So even though they require preparation, they’re not just decorative events.
If your settlement is growing and your population is becoming increasingly difficult to manage, maintaining public approval becomes more important.
Trade and Diplomacy
You don’t have to produce every resource yourself.
Trade is one of the best ways to solve temporary shortages.
You can trade with countries that aren’t hostile toward you, but you’ll need enough favorability first.
A useful target is 40 favorability.
You can improve relations through tribute, which can be paid periodically using Knife Money.
Once relations are high enough, you can negotiate trades.
Why Trade Is So Useful
Different countries produce different goods.
That means trade can save you from having to build an enormous production chain just to obtain a small quantity of something you currently need.
For example, if you’re missing a specific material for a military project, trading for it may be much faster than establishing a brand-new mining and processing industry.
You can also use Knife Money to cover differences in trade value.
Think of trade as a pressure-release valve for your economy.
You don’t have to produce everything domestically.
How to Deal With Plagues
Plagues are one of the natural disasters that can hit your settlement.
They can last for several months, so you need to prepare for them rather than simply hoping they disappear immediately.
A basic anti-plague setup includes:
- Hospitals
- An Apothecary
- Medicinal herb production
The better your medical infrastructure, the easier it is to keep the number of affected residents under control.
Once the affected period ends, the situation can gradually return to normal.
The important lesson is that disaster preparation should happen before the disaster.
Don’t wait for the plague notification to begin constructing your entire medical system.
Quelling Rebellions
Worker dissatisfaction can eventually become more serious than people simply leaving.
Rebellions can occur when worker needs aren’t being met and the rebellion chance becomes high enough.
When rebels appear, you’ll want a Constabulary nearby.
Select the Constabulary and make sure its effective range covers the affected worker.
The Constabulary crew can then handle the situation.
This is another reason to pay attention to worker satisfaction.
A rebellion isn’t usually an isolated random event.
It’s often a symptom of a settlement that has allowed its population’s needs to deteriorate.
Ranks and Why You Should Keep Advancing
Your Rank represents the broader progression of your settlement and your position as a ruler.
You can access the Rank menu through the portrait in the top-left corner.
Each rank requires certain objectives and resources.
Increasing your Rank can unlock:
- New buildings
- Additional resources
- More retainers
- Greater influence
- Other progression benefits
This means Rank progression should be treated as one of your major long-term goals.
Don’t simply expand your settlement outward forever.
Make sure you’re also meeting the requirements that unlock the next stage of your administration.
A Good Beginner Settlement Layout
You don’t need a perfect city layout on your first attempt.
But you should think about districts.
Try keeping related production chains reasonably close together.
For example, a basic industrial area might eventually contain:
Wood production → Wood Workshop → Artifice Workshop → Transport
A food area might contain:
Farm/Hunting → Processing → Kitchen → Granary
A military area could contain:
Mining → Forge → Weapon Workshop → Armor Workshop → Army
This reduces unnecessary transportation and makes it easier to understand where your resources are going.
Don’t obsess over making everything perfectly compact.
Leave room to expand.
Your settlement will change significantly as new buildings and systems unlock.