Settlement management | Nation management Total War: Attila Guide

Last update: 11 May 2016

Taxes

Although the taxes level is set for whole country, it is possible to exclude some provinces from paying. Excluding a province from paying taxes reduces the corruption and immigrants to zero, gives none profit and excludes a province from nation feeding system. A province stops producing food for the rest of the country, no longer exports or imports it.

As one could guess, excluding province from paying taxes improves public order. Specifically, it removes the negative impact of taxes on order, but not increases it. There is no no taxes condition that gives bonus to the order. If a province had too little food, its negative impact will worn off a turn after excluding it from taxes.

Excluding a province from tax system is the right option in three situations. First - when you're unable to give it enough food, from import or local production. When shortage is a level 50 and more it is a good moment for that, if shortage is at level 100 and more it means the province is in catastrophic state.

Secondly - when the income from a province is small, and you're not in a desperate need of money. If a province gives you five thousand coins each turn, and you're profit equals eight thousand, then excluding it from taxes will take away most of your profits and thus will slower growth of other provinces. Additionally, one large war or crisis will be enough to change profits into loses. But if profits from a province are 500 per turn and the whole country earns ten thousand, then the treasury won't feel drastic change after excluding province.

Thirdly - when taxes are at level four or five, and order in a province is at brink of collapsing. With taxes at level third public order depletes by four points per turn which isn't much. Such reduction might be caused by events, religion or game difficulty level, so excluding province from taxes won't make much difference. Taxes at level four causes order to depletes by ten points, and on level five by twenty five points. Those are enough amounts to completely destabilize situation in province in few turns.

On other hand, large taxes cause order to drop in the whole country. In most cases, it is more profitable to lower them than exclude a single province from paying them. Especially since taxes level has an impact on growth, and excluding a province does not.

Immigrants

Immigrants are people running away from provinces consumed by war or crisis, traveling to the neighbor, much calmer places. Immigration level depends on what happens in your country and surrounding countries. Your country might enjoy peace for years and immigrants from surrounding countries that are in the middle of war will show in your provinces. Similarly, if a war wages in one of your province, people will move deeper in the country, where there is more peace. In other words, where is crisis, there migration occurs. Both migration types - inside a country and between few of them - by the game is considered as the same type. So it doesn't matter from where immigrants are coming and to which faction or culture they belong. It is important that they are immigrants.

Every 1% of immigration increases province income by 1%. It might seem it is much, but it isn't. In case of large country that wages lots of wars a lots of immigrants might give you profit of slightly more than one thousand coins per turn. It's an amount equal to the one that can be gained by looting two not wealthy cities. More money can be gained from tributary states, and those aren't impressive amounts as well. When thinking about nation finances, don't bother with them since they are not important in big picture.

Immigrants lower your public order as well. The loss of order depends on amount of immigrants in a province. Up to 24% loss equals one point, up to 34 2 points, more than 34 means loss of three point and so on. It isn't much so you don't need to worry too much about it. Especially since you don't have much influence on immigration - even if you're not waging wars, you are susceptible to it. You can limit it to zero only by excluding a province from taxes, but because of small penalties to order and tax bonuses it isn't the best move. It is better to assume that every province has a constant, small penalty to order and find other ways of increasing that variable.

Corruption

Corruption size is constant for whole country and it increases as the empire grows. The larger the country, the greater corruption and thus the lower tax income. Every 1% of corruption lowers tax income by 1%.

Problem with corruption can be resolved in three ways. First, by excluding a province from paying taxes, which is completely pointless in long term. Excluding a province doesn't lower the corruption, just limits it to zero, which with the lack of profits doesn't matter anyway.

Second, by buying the right abilities for the governor. The trouble is, an ability works only for a province, not the whole country and will never completely remove corruption. In case of large countries corruption can have tremendous size. Even the best governor can't completely eliminate it, only limit it a bit. Some technologies works in similar manner, reducing the corruption in country by few percents. Sadly, not every faction has access to them, and bonuses offered by them are, similarly to governor case, not large.

Third, thanks to income from trading and tributary states. Income from that source is smaller than from taxes, but corruption doesn't affect it.

Corruption is a trouble which every nation must face and all that you can do is limit its size. It is one of reasons why it is a good idea to start playing with a small country. Large, like both empires, will be affected by large corruption since the very beginning. For example, Western Roman Empire starts the game with corruption at level 80%, which greatly reduces tax income in all provinces and makes it much harder to protect the nation from barbarians. In such extreme situations every technology and governor ability that reduces corruption become very valuable. Reducing corruption by 1% isn't much, but if it is a t level 80%, then even 1% can be crucial for the survival of the country.

Growth

This indicator is responsible for creating population surplus. Population surplus is needed to remove ruins and taking over empty territories for new buildings. This factor refers to whole province, not single settlements, so a large growth in capitol of the province will have influence on both cities that are part of it as well.

Population surplus gained from growth is one of rare limited resources in the game. Each province has fourteen spots for placing buildings - six in the capitol and four in small cities. After using them growth stops working. It means that buildings and edicts that increase it stops working. Luckily, there are no buildings in the game that works only on growth, so there is no need to sell them after filling a province.

You shouldn't focus on increasing growth, that is placing building and giving edicts for increasing it. The exception are newly settled and rebuild settlements, which without growth bonus, and thus population surplus, will remain empty for a long time. But the choice of edicts and buildings that gives you population surplus should end when all settlements have at least three spots for buildings. Five remaining ones will require so much growth that you might be unable to gather it before the end of the game. Especially if a settlement has been rebuild around year 410 or 420. But if a province has been resettled or you want to improve it rather early, then you should invest into raising the growth.

Public order

Public order affects three things - growth, taxes and the risk of rebellion. High order increase growth and tax income. Medium level order doesn't do anything. Order on low level gives you some financial losses and reduces growth. But you should learn the difference between two things - current order level, that influence taxes and growth, and the estimated change. Low order gives you losses even if its overall level increases. A province can have order on level -100, but as long as it grows for at least one point per turn, there won't be a rebellion in the province. If the order drops, then the risk of rebellion depends on its current level. If you have on hundred or more, it takes dozens of turns for a rebellion to start. If the level is minus 80 or lower, rebellion is a matter of few turns.

As one can guess, order is a variable that should be increased and kept on high level. But be ready that you will never be able to sustain increasing order in all provinces. Too many factors influence it, some of them random, and most negative, to do it. It is much easier to limit those factors, so that each turn a province will lose a few, not more than a dozen of public order points. Complete elimination of those is simply impossible.

First and most effective way to increase order is a large garrison. A general with twenty formations is capable of giving even twenty and more points, especially if he have the right abilities. Two armies stationed in one province will almost for sure increase order level, and maybe even make it at plus. The trouble is with costs, since forty even cheapest formations require constant supporting, which with six or more armies is a great burden for the budget. Additionally, army can go to war at any moment, which will greatly lower the order. Army must stay in the settlement to influence order level. Its presence in the province isn't enough, even if an army is stationed outside the walls of the settlement.

The second way, which too requires large financial costs, is placing the right buildings. Their greatest weakness, except for costs, is often great increase of food consumption in province. It affects mostly buildings from the settlement category, but religion is expensive as well. Usual effect is that with the expansion of a settlement you must buy new premises as well. Otherwise the order will drop once again, this time because of lack of food. But if you're capable of delivering enough money and food, then buildings can have great positive impact on order level. When combined with armies, they can raise it to a very high value. Additionally, food surplus automatically increase order.

Third way is about manipulating taxes, internal politics and religion. Low power indicator increases order, just as the advantage of ruling religion in the province and taxes on level three or lower. All those indicator have in common that are constantly changing and can cause both raise and drop of order. High taxes lower order, low raises it, just as power indicator. It is important, since the change of order from -2 to +2 in fact means a +4 change. After combining few such indicator you can get as much bonus as from a large army.

Fertility

Each province has a basic fertility level. Cold and desert provinces has it low, other accordingly higher. The greater the Western Roman Empire fertility, the more food can a province produce. The bonus mostly affects agriculture, but breeding will profit from it as well. It is important in case of countries in which not every province can feed itself. In those cases the more fertile ones work as a granary for the rest. Losing them might cause food crisis in the country.

Fertility can be temporary lowered by burning a city or random events. After a specific number of turns it will return to regular state.

Sanitation, squalor and disease

Sewers, wells and other sanitation buildings increase sanitation level. Expansion of cities and workshops increase squalor level. As long as both indicators are on same level, you don't have to worry. If squalor starts to be higher than sanitation, then there is a chance for disease to occur in the settlement. Usually the chance is from 1 to 3 %, in extreme situations 5%.

Province in which disease starts gives you few percents less income from buildings and receives penalty to public order. The penalty is small, but might increase as in each province up to three diseases might start, one per city, and the penalties for them are summed.

Disease doesn't affect armies stationed in a province until an information about its spreading is shown. In such case infected army will lose many people each turn until the disease is stopped. It will be impossible to replenish the numbers of army as well. Because of that, it is safe to move armies to settlements which have large, stable level of sanitation. Especially during war, when loosing half of the army because of disease might decide about winning or losing. But if an army is already infected, don't move it elsewhere, especially not to settlements without disease. There is a great probability that you move the disease with you. Let the infected army wait in the settlement that has disease for the disease to end. You can wait outside the walls as well, but by staying inside you will increase order of the settlement.

Religion

Religion affects public order of the province. The less citizens believe in the official religion, the greater loss of order. But high religion level doesn't increase order. If 100% citizens of province believe in the official religion, influence on the order is none. In other words, only thing that affects order is the difference between followers of the official religion and others and it is either negative or neutral. For a religion to increase order, there must be an active priest or a building from the religion category in the province.

Increase or drop of amount of followers depends on few factors, from which the most important is religious osmosis, which is mostly affected by buildings, presence of priest and local traditions. Additionally, some religions, like Catholicism, have increased spreading radius.

Edicts

You can give one of four edicts in a province that has a governor. They are cost free and become active one turn after giving. Edicts type depends on culture, but all of them offer useful bonuses to things like research rate, growth or religion influence. Edicts work on whole province and became inactive only after a province loses its governor.

The choice of edicts should depend on situation. For example, Barbarian kingdoms can choose resettlement, which will be very useful when expanding a province, but during war it is better to select Might of Tiw, which increase the amount of formations possible to create in a province during one turn. Judgment of Wodan is good for uneasy provinces, as it offers bonus to public order.

Edicts are the weapon of governors, which forces you to manage them with caution. If you have a province, in which effects of one of edicts would be greatly needed, move one of governors you have there or appoint a new one. If none of edicts is needed in a province, it might be a sign that you should move its governor someplace else. Remember that you can have a limited amount of governors, which increase the value of edicts given by them.