If you’re looking to sharpen your Northgard skills, these seven essential tips will help you improve your economy, military efficiency, and overall strategy. Whether you’re playing against AI or real opponents, mastering these key insights will give you an edge.

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1. Build a Longship Dock Early

The Longship Dock is one of the most important early-game buildings, providing both crowns and lore or fame.

• It costs 80 wood and can be built on any shore territory.
• Ideally, place it in your second or third tile, but it can also work in your starting territory (especially for Raven Clan).
• Lore production is often the best use, as early-game lore is scarce.
• Fame collection is useful if you’re close to hitting 200 or 500 fame milestones for bonuses.

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2. Resource Gain Calculation

Understanding resource gain is essential for planning your economy.

• Every +1 to resource gain is approximately 5-6 units per month.
• Use this estimate to calculate how long it will take to gather necessary materials.
• Avoid overcomplicating the math—this simple rule of thumb works well on the fly.

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3. Manually Control Your Scouts

While Scouts automatically explore new areas, it’s far more efficient to control them manually.

• Direct them to scout important tiles first, such as food, stone, and iron sources.
• Once all adjacent tiles to your territory are revealed, convert your Scout back to a worker.
• An extra villager gathering resources will contribute far more to your economy than a Scout wandering aimlessly.

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4. Build an Altar of Kings for Long-Term Benefits

The Altar of Kings is an expensive but powerful late-game structure.

• Provides +2 food, wood, lore, and crowns per month.
• Grants a one-time 50 fame bonus and is required for a Fame Victory.
• Costs 300 crowns, 10 stone, and 200 wood, but pays for itself in two years.
• Doesn’t require staffing, making it ideal for population-limited clans.
• Absolutely essential for Boar Clan, as their top lore tree upgrade doubles its income.

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5. Gather Stone and Iron Quickly

Although food often feels like a top priority, collecting stone and iron early is just as important.

• Iron upgrades for farmers, hunters, and fishermen dramatically boost food output.
• Stone upgrades improve buildings like food silos, increasing efficiency.
• A well-upgraded economy requires fewer workers to sustain food needs, allowing more flexibility.

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6. Double Marketplaces and Trade Posts for Bonus Crowns

Unlike resource buildings, you can build multiple Marketplaces and Trade Posts in one tile.

• Most upgraded buildings add +20% production to a single unit type.
• Marketplaces and Trade Posts don’t require resources, allowing you to stack bonuses.
• This is especially useful for Negotiations lore players who need to buy stone or iron.
• Generates huge amounts of crowns when fully optimized.

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7. Always Plan for Expansion

Many players make the mistake of turtling rather than expanding.

• Expanding into more tiles grants higher happiness, population growth, and resources.
• Constantly look for new areas to claim, rather than overdeveloping a small territory.
• Attacking enemy players for land is often necessary—press V to check Victory Progress.
• If an opponent is ahead, attacking them disrupts their growth while strengthening yours.

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Final Thoughts: Mastering Northgard Strategy

By applying these seven fundamental tips, you’ll build a stronger economy, expand efficiently, and maintain a competitive edge in both PvE and PvP matches.

Key Takeaways:

• Build a Longship Dock early for lore or fame income.
• Estimate resource gain using the +1 = 5-6 per month rule.
• Manually control Scouts to explore important tiles first.
• Invest in an Altar of Kings for long-term economy boosts.
• Prioritize stone and iron for early-game upgrades.
• Use multiple Marketplaces and Trade Posts to maximize crown income.
• Constantly expand your territory for sustainable growth.

With these strategies in place, you’ll be well on your way to dominating Northgard. Good luck, and may your clan thrive in the harsh northern lands!