How Much Mana/Day is Reasonable?

[DeletedUser17455]

Hello!

When Woodelves started I thought "gosh, I'm going to need a lot of mana!" At first I built ten or so weeping willows, but later I was able to replace them with 15 or so burning pools. My burning pools produce 225/hr, so 15 of them produce 81k per day. Throughout the chapter I never once wanted for mana, so this is probably "too much" (though I'm not sure by how much).

Does Dragons & Sorcerer's require more mana than Woodelves? Or less? They make a big deal of the mana requirements in the gems article, saying that the research alone will be 3 million mana. My 81k / day gets me 2.5 million in 30 days and I don't expect to be able to finish in 30 days (most chapters have taken me longer than a month).

Thanks!

 

[Ashrem]

You're probably a bit rich at the moment, but the requirements do increase. I think I had 12 burning pools through the end of Halflings and that took care of it with a little patience. personally I'd be inclined to sit on the burning pools for now and not rush to add more unless you can pick up a little that's higher density.

 

[Deleted User - 3932582]

Hello!

When Woodelves started I thought "gosh, I'm going to need a lot of mana!" At first I built ten or so weeping willows, but later I was able to replace them with 15 or so burning pools. My burning pools produce 225/hr, so 15 of them produce 81k per day. Throughout the chapter I never once wanted for mana, so this is probably "too much" (though I'm not sure by how much).

Does Dragons & Sorcerer's require more mana than Woodelves? Or less? They make a big deal of the mana requirements in the gems article, saying that the research alone will be 3 million mana. My 81k / day gets me 2.5 million in 30 days and I don't expect to be able to finish in 30 days (most chapters have taken me longer than a month).

Thanks!

Are you sure you're counting all your mana production? Do you have any set buildings that produce mana?

Whether mana rate is high or low depends on how fast you're moving through the chapters and if you have other constraints. For Woodelves, I finished Woodelves with 120K mana/day, and that was barely enough to finish in 34 days. This was just Willows and Winter Market set. But I did have larger settlement than most people (9/9/6 grafting sites) which was expensive to construct, and more importantly I didn't have 120K/day from the beginning.

Now, for S&D I finished with 210K mana/day rate, with one extra set and 10x Burning Pools, but the average thoughout the chapter was probably closer to 180K. This was just enough to finish the chapter in 34 days, upgrade the Main Hall (those upgrades cost a lot of mana, don't forget those), upgrade all the roads to Woodelves roads (was the only frivolous expense) and save just enough to unlock first several techs in Halflings not to get stuck. Don't forget mana decay if you're running a surplus, and want to maintain that.

You may need a lot less daily production if you move slower.

Overall, you'll need 4-4.5mm mana for S&D. More if you need/want a decent stash for beginning of the Halflings

 

[Socrates28]

Don't forget mana decay if you're running a surplus, and want to maintain that.

Mana decay is the self-regulating mechanism for how much mana you can have on hand. If your production is 81K a day, you will eventually have 810k of mana and no more for what you collect will be equal to what decays.
I am in Elementals and producing almost 190k a day. I find that sometimes I move too fast and have to wait for a cycle or 2 to finish a research even at that level. When you start to spend it, it goes very quickly.
Look at the tech tree to see what is coming (many 200K+ mana requirements). "I" would not want to wait for more than 2 daily cycles for the mana that I needed to mature. Again remember mana decay, the first days production will be 10% less the next day.
Also remember that in coming chapters mana becomes a requirement for production of needed goods as well.

 

[NightshadeCS]

I felt "rich" in mana up until Elementals, when I suddenly did not have enough! I had gotten rid of a lot of mana-producing buildings, though, to make room for seeds and b/c I felt like I had such a bank full.

Don't forget that you can place those small little mana producers at the ends of roads or move large buildings back one square and fill up the road-side with the little guys. It helps when you are short.

 

[Deleted User - 3932582]

I felt "rich" in mana up until Elementals, when I suddenly did not have enough! I had gotten rid of a lot of mana-producing buildings, though, to make room for seeds and b/c I felt like I had such a bank full.

Don't forget that you can place those small little mana producers at the ends of roads or move large buildings back one square and fill up the road-side with the little guys. It helps when you are short.

I am one of the people who do not believe in small mana buildings They're just a pain to collect, especially if spread out. And when your overall production is 200K+ a day, they really don't move the needle.

Mana Huts might be the only exception.

I think a much better option for the times when you're a bit short is a Dragon Abbey. Just run some spells and poof - you have mana, just in time, so no issues with decay.

 

[NightshadeCS]

I am one of the people who do not believe in small mana buildings They're just a pain to collect, especially if spread out. And when your overall production is 200K+ a day, they really don't move the needle.

Mana Huts might be the only exception.

I think a much better option for the times when you're a bit short is a Dragon Abbey. Just run some spells and poof - you have mana, just in time, so no issues with decay.

OP is at the point where that can be useful, but I like to throw a little helpful general info in for others who may read this thread.

Depending on Chapter, the Dragon Abbey may not be available for quite a while, when the Wood Ghost's Housing or several other small mana-producers are. If you are running on plenty of mana-production, then there would be no reason to place those small ones, if you find them annoying.

However, if you are in need of mana, 4-5 squares of road may be wasted running alongside a factory in some instances. It all depends on your city layout, of course, but I rarely get everything to fit in perfect rows and would much prefer filling in a few extra squares with mana producers than straight culture.

I also find them wonderfully useful at 90-degree road intersections. Instead of wasting roads on two sides of a building at the corner, I can line one side with the little guys.

 

[DeletedUser17455]

This has been helpful, thanks everyone!