where to find the best sources of mana

[Darth Lothlorien]

hey gang, so i recently started ch.9 (wood elves), n am trying to familiarize myself with how the whole mana process goes. apparently it's a research good needed to pay off techs in the research tree, similar to portal goods, but i don't like how freaking much space weeping willows take up. i don't have a single "large space" culture building in my city, n never will, n the ones i was forced to build in order to satisfy storyline quests, i sold as soon as they were built.

n after doing some research, i found several buildings that offer a HELLUVA lot more mana per square (hereafter referred to as mps). i realize that all but a couple are event-only prizes, but what i really need 2 know is what other high-mps buildings are there that i haven't listed here, and i heard that festival merchants can be crafted in the MA...if anyone can confirm this, i'd really appreciate it, thx:

BUILDING (all based on ch.9 stats)	SIZE	MANA PRODUCTION	MPS (mana/square)
festival merchant/burning pool (same stats for both)	4x3	5400 every 24 hours	450
mana sawmill	2x4	2880 every 24 hours	360
magical mana hut	2x2	2200 every 24 hours	550
pond of autumn	2x2	1800 every 24 hours	450
black lotus	2x2	1440 every 24 hours	360

this is compared to the weeping willow, which at 5x5, gives 4480 mana every 24 hours, resulting in 179 mps...so it's easy to see why i'm looking for mana-producing buildings to replace weeping willows. n again, please lemme know if there are other high-mps buildings not listed here that i'm not aware of...thx

 

[Henroo]

@Darth Lothlorien The Festival Merchant and Mana Sawmill can be crafted in your Magic Academy. Keep an eye out for chances to make them. I don't think the others listed are in the crafting rotation.

 

[Pheryll]

The woodelves buildings are high culture, but not mana dense. You will have better luck in the sorcerers and dragons chapter with the arcane library. Until then event buildings will typically do better mana wise than the chapter buildings.

 

[Henroo]

Some of the evolving buildings produce fairly good mana. If you have any highly evolved buildings in your city from earlier chapters, it might be worth checking to see what they will produce if upgraded to Woodelves level. Assuming you have access to a good enough supply of Royal Restorations to do the upgrades.

 

[qaccy]

I'd recommend just pushing through to later chapters, honestly. The best way to get mana ends up being using a Dragon Abbey and gaining mana whenever you cast a spell from your inventory, especially because the only space required is the 20 squares for the Abbey, and the mana you can gain from it is only limited by how many spells you have. Works against the decay mechanic too, as you can just save up spells until you need mana and cast a whole bunch at once to cover whatever cost you need.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

I was in the minority when it came to the start of the mana chapters. I did minimal weeping willows in chapter 9 or arcane libraries in chapter 10. Instead, I invested in the Woodelves Habitat, I think it is called, the one that gives pop with the mana. I accepted the lower mana production because the pop freed up space for other things. But then, I also got to these chapters over 2 years ago, well before crafting existed and before most of the most efficient mana-producing event buildings even existed. I currently have a Beta city in chapter 7, so I am sure my experience with that one will be quite different when I hit chapter 9.

 

[NightshadeCS]

Something I do for extra mana, if I have some free squares floating around, is to place Wood Ghosts Housing (1x1) at ends of roads, or along one side of a building at a road corner. Or even to back large buildings off of a road by one square, if I have empty room behind it, add one road square to connect it and fill the 3-5 other spots a long the road with those. It can really add up.

 

[GlamDoll]

unpopular opinion here....but if you are scouting like mad, build Enar's AW asap and you will be flooded with mana. Probably will want to sell it off asap, if not yesterday, once you have other buildings that are better, once you acquire them. No doubt, it is not the best...BUT, it is the fastest & easiest way to manage your mana, well, at least for me.

my one cent.

 

[Darth Lothlorien]

Something I do for extra mana, if I have some free squares floating around, is to place Wood Ghosts Housing (1x1) at ends of roads, or along one side of a building at a road corner. Or even to back large buildings off of a road by one square, if I have empty room behind it, add one road square to connect it and fill the 3-5 other spots a long the road with those. It can really add up.

so where n when do these wood ghosts housings become available? n what's their mps? n i appreciate the input @ElegantZara , will keep it in mind; tho ur rite, i have heard "not so favorable" opinions about it...guess i'll see 4 myself once it becomes available; at the end of ch.9 i assume?

 

[GlamDoll]

@Darth Lothlorien Sure thing, and yes. I have mine at lvl 7 so I get 45,500 per scout from it. Because I did have a fair amount of time boosts, sometimes I would scout 3 provinces in 1 day so I could get enough mana to unlock a tech or to use to neg/convince with in Spire.

 

[samidodamage]

where n when do these wood ghosts housings become available?

They are in the culture tab of the regular building menu. The research tech you have to unlock for them is in the 1st column of techs after Adv Scouts and is called 'Greetings, Housings, and a Well'. Wood Ghosts is 1x1; gives 50 mana every 10hrs with an early collect at 5hrs. Autumn's Greetings from that same tech will have a quest to place them, but I'm not sure it's a good use of space. It's 2x1 and gives 25 mana every 5hrs. I never used the small bldg strategy, so I'm not sure.
Mana strategy I used: Fill up the guest race space with the highest mana producer available (willows in woodelves; libraries in S&D) using the resources from selling off the old guest race buildings to jump start mana inventory. As I needed the space back for the guest race bldgs, I sold off the mana producers and used the resources from selling them to build the guest race bldgs.

 

[kctanzen]

Watch for Festival Merchants in crafting -- smaller than an arcane library and produce quite a bit more mana.
Trade off on those is less culture, but that is fairly easy to make up other places.
Festival Merchant is a 12 hour production timer, with early collect at 6 hours.

If crafted / upgraded with RR spells to halflings+, they switch from mana to seeds .. which are also not bad outputs.

 

[DeepTerminal]

https://www.elvenarchitect.com/buildings/compare/mana/

daily prizes in events are your best bet.

 

[Lelanya]

I am sorry, you just missed the Pond of Autumn, it is from Autumn Zodiac. Perhaps you have one in inventory and can upgrade it. The Black Lotus is an event item, also offered as a prize in Fellowship Adventures to fellowships who score around 10th to 20th; there is some variation in this. Again, you may have one that could be upgraded. Magical Mana Hut is periodically offered in events you just have to keep your eyes open

 

[Darth Lothlorien]

I am sorry, you just missed the Pond of Autumn, it is from Autumn Zodiac. Perhaps you have one in inventory and can upgrade it. The Black Lotus is an event item, also offered as a prize in Fellowship Adventures to fellowships who score around 10th to 20th; there is some variation in this. Again, you may have one that could be upgraded. Magical Mana Hut is periodically offered in events you just have to keep your eyes open

you're telling me...i just saw the 2x2 building for this halloween event...ONLY 720 FOR THE 2X2 BUILDING THAT GIVES MANA...SERIOUSLY???!!!

 

[Lelanya]

you're telling me...i just saw the 2x2 building for this halloween event...ONLY 720 FOR THE 2X2 BUILDING THAT GIVES MANA...SERIOUSLY???!!!

It was a better rate than tomorrow's daily

 

[Lelanya]

I have some lava eggs that give such a disgustingly huge amount (64k per day) I've discarded my Torch Fountains. You really should look in inventory and upgrade what you have.

 

[Malagar]

Moonstone gate, mana plant, gum tree combination are by far the best per square for mana. You need all three touching to max them out. They can be won fairly frequently in the Spire. My mana plants (I'm in Elementals) are giving 3300 mana on one square per 18 hours, essentially per day. Should give well over 1000 in Woodelves. Of course the gum tree will later give, well, gum, and the Moonstone gate, well, moonstone, but by then you'll have Dragon Abbey. They are also easy and desirable to upgrade at 1 RR.