Strategy Guide - Guide for The Settlers 2

The Settlers II


Here are some tips for The Settlers II.  This is not meant to be an official 
FAQ, and has not been created in conjunction with BlueByte or anyone other 
than myself.  Please contact me if there are any gross errors in here, on 
100734,1751.

I will not go over the basics of the game - I will assume that everyone has 
read the manual (if you haven't, do so!).  I assume that you are familiar 
with the essential dynamics of getting resources in order to construct 
buildings, make food etc.

Please note that I may sometimes not use the correct word for some of the 
buildings or people (especially the tree-planter, called a Sylviculteur in 
French!) - this is because I am playing the French version.  It should, 
however, be obvious what I am talking about.

Without further ado, here are the tips:

General

Use the Observer to scout, especially in enemy territory as he will not be 
attacked and he is cheaper than building the observation towers.  Place a 
flag as close to the border and send him to explore there.

For wood, 1 tree-planter and 1 sawmill will serve 2 lumberjacks.  Build the 
sawmill between the lumberjacks and the nearest warehouse.  Make sure that 
you don't place a farm near the tree-planter, because he will happily plant 
trees in the middle of the crops.

If you are notified that the Emergency Plan is in effect, construct a 
tree-planter close to a lumberjack who is no longer productive (use the S 
key to show the productivity of all buildings, and C to show their names).

For stone, quarries are better than granite mines because they do not 
require food.  OK they run out - but then so do the mines.  Quarries also 
clear ground for more buildings.

Destroy most buildings when they are no longer productive.  Exceptions may 
be the lumberjack and the huntsman's cottage, which may be brought back into 
service by building a tree-planter.

Unstock items from warehouses if you want to keep certain items in other 
warehouses where they are closer to the buildings which require them.  In 
particular, keep stocks close to the periphery of your territory (although 
be careful if a warehouse is vulnerable to attack).

Your supply of colonists is inexhaustible - however, they need the tools for 
the job (a scythe for the farmer etc).  If new buildings stay unoccupied, 
you need to make more tools (note that you can determine the priority of 
tool production if you need one type in particular).

Control the distribution of goods to buildings using the Distribution window 
if certain buildings are inexplicably unproductive and you have all of the 
requisite resources.

All levels in Campaign mode end when you find the Magic Portal.

See Appendix 1 for a table showing material requirements for all buildings.

Roads

Flags should generally be placed as frequently as possible; however, turn on 
the Building Help (space bar) to ensure that you do not remove useful 
building sites by placing them badly.

Much-used roads will be automatically paved and will become quicker - you 
have no control over this.

In busy areas (eg around warehouses), build a complex network of roads so 
that there are multiple routes for your goods.  This will speed up 
transportation.

Choose flat ground for roads if possible - the transporters are slowed down 
by hills.

Build a Mule farm to speed up transport.  For this, you will require 2 farms 
and a well in order to provide the necessary wheat and water.

A maximum of 8 items can be kept at a flag.  If your flags are blocked, you 
are losing production from your buildings - get mules or build additional 
roads.  If absolutely necessary, you can remove the flag, thus losing the 
items at the flag but possibly freeing up a blocked route.

Food

Build the huntsman's cabin close to a forest, preferably where you see game 
roaming around on the screen.  He will eventually exhaust the supply, but if 
there is forest around it will return (make a tree- planter to regenerate 
the forest).

Fish will always be found in the sea, but only sometimes in lakes.  Destroy 
the cabins when they exhaust the supply - fish never return.

Farms must be built with open space around them for the fields.  You can 
readily see if there is enough space by checking out the productivity level, 
which corresponds only to the space available.  Remember to keep them away 
from the tree-planters!

For efficient production, build 3 farms to 1 well, 1 mill and 1 bakery.  As 
you see, you will need lots of farms!

For 1 pig-farm you need 3 normal farms (again), 1 well and 1 butcher.  Is it 
worth it?  Don't know - but you need food to keep your buildings going.  I 
don't yet know what the most efficient means of food production is - if 
anyone knows, please tell me (obviously the fisherman and huntsman are the 
easiest, but they don't last forever).

Mines

The size of the coloured portion of the signs indicate the level of 
resources available for mining.  The signs disappear after a while, but this 
does not affect the availability of the resource.

Destroy mines as soon as they are exhausted - they still take food, and you 
will free up the miner for another mine.

Militia

To make one soldier, you need a sword, a shield and a keg of beer in a 
warehouse (not in separate ones).

Soldiers go up in rank according to the supply of gold coins, and this 
affects their strength.

Use the military settings to send troops towards the frontiers rather than 
the middle of your territory (unless you have a good reason for not doing 
so).

Attack enemy military buildings which protect production buildings - if you 
take it, he will lose all of the buildings within it's radius.  Even if it 
is taken back, he will have to rebuild.

Catapults are often more useful than soldiers and military buildings - 
crucially, destruction of an enemy building by catapult is not seen as an 
act of war.  Each catapult attack consumes 1 stone and, if successful, 
reduces the garrison of a building by 1 soldier until the building is 
destroyed.  Change the transport priorities if you need the catapults to 
fire quicker.

You can affect the use of gold by selecting the "no gold" icon in military 
buildings which are away from the conflict zone.

Seafaring

Ships hold up to 40 items (colonists and goods) and can only be built in a 
shipyard - suitable sites for building shipyards are very rare.  You also 
have to build a naval port in order to supply ships - remember to take 
planks and stones with you to build on your new islands.

Appendix 1 - Material Requirements for Buildings

Building	       Planks  Stones
Headquarters		-	-
Huntsman's Cottage	2	-
Fisherman's Cabin	2	-
Quarry			2	-
Tree-planter's Cabin	2	-
Lumberjack's Cabin	2	-
Sawmill			2	2
Farm			3	3
Well			2	-
Pig-farm		3	3
Butcher			2	2
Mill			2	2
Bakery			2	2
Mule farm		3	3
Mine (any)		4	-
Foundry		2	2
Mint			2	2
Workshop (tools etc.)	2	2
Forge			2	2
Warehouse		3	3
Shipyard		2	3
Port Warehouse	4	6
Boat			1	-
Ship			13	-
Watch Tower		3	-
Barracks		2	-
Guard House		2	3
Guard Tower		3	4
Fortress		4	7
Catapult		4	2

Appendix 2 - Dependency Chart

This chart shows which buildings and resources are required for which 
products.  See the manual for details of how to find the resources.

I have this chart as a PowerPoint presentation, in both English and French 
versions, which could be uploaded if there is sufficient interest.