Not all maps are equal. Not even close. What makes a good map?
1. Swamps and Forest towns: Cultists and Wildmen are two of the best recruits in the game. Period. They spawn in forest and swamp towns. The more the better even if you are save scumming.
2. Closeness of Cities: maps with close cities vs maps with far apart cities you will find by day 75 you are worlds apart- money, exp, everything. If you have a tight pack circle of cities that belong to the same faction it will make things A LOT easier. If you zoom in and can't see at least five cities your map is crap. Zooming in and seeing ten cities in a circle means amazing map.
3. Forges, Blast Furnace, etc.: Your castles will have these sometimes and they mean better items to buy. Some people swear by these but I found that getting 55K (for unique armor) was no small feat to reproduce over and over again and so having multiple good set ups it just meant I SAW more awesome red items but was unable to buy them. This is an EXTREME late game bonus. IMO you need to have a couple of these set ups but unless you are planning on playing a map between 365-1000 days it shouldn't be a top priority.
4. Starting Brothers: You start with three, but they are all not created equal, not by a long shot. Most important of the three is your crossbow brother (most commonly called) as he is the most likely to be taken to the end game, the other two need some amazing rolls + a lot of traits to make them worthy of the end game.
a. Most important traits for crossbow: Eagle Eyes ***, Strong **, Iron Lungs**, Bright*
b. Most important traits for the other two: Strong ***, Dexterous**, Sure Footing **, Iron Lungs **
5. Survivability of towns: During invasions and escort missions the more troops that float around the better. Barracks, wooden towers etc spawn them. Also, the connectivity of roads means faster travel as well as connectivity for ally troops to make it to the city.
6. Trade items: Quality wood is a must (IMO) because finding unique bows/crossbows seems to be BY FAR the hardest to come by and quality wood is needed. If your map doesn't spawn with a "lumber yard" next to a settlement it is strong negative in my view. Everything else is just valued based on its actual value with things like gems costing a lot but also giving the best profit. If your map has a lot of high end value trade-able items to sell it is good, if it has none or very little it is bad.
1. Swamps and Forest towns: Cultists and Wildmen are two of the best recruits in the game. Period. They spawn in forest and swamp towns. The more the better even if you are save scumming.
2. Closeness of Cities: maps with close cities vs maps with far apart cities you will find by day 75 you are worlds apart- money, exp, everything. If you have a tight pack circle of cities that belong to the same faction it will make things A LOT easier. If you zoom in and can't see at least five cities your map is crap. Zooming in and seeing ten cities in a circle means amazing map.
3. Forges, Blast Furnace, etc.: Your castles will have these sometimes and they mean better items to buy. Some people swear by these but I found that getting 55K (for unique armor) was no small feat to reproduce over and over again and so having multiple good set ups it just meant I SAW more awesome red items but was unable to buy them. This is an EXTREME late game bonus. IMO you need to have a couple of these set ups but unless you are planning on playing a map between 365-1000 days it shouldn't be a top priority.
4. Starting Brothers: You start with three, but they are all not created equal, not by a long shot. Most important of the three is your crossbow brother (most commonly called) as he is the most likely to be taken to the end game, the other two need some amazing rolls + a lot of traits to make them worthy of the end game.
a. Most important traits for crossbow: Eagle Eyes ***, Strong **, Iron Lungs**, Bright*
b. Most important traits for the other two: Strong ***, Dexterous**, Sure Footing **, Iron Lungs **
5. Survivability of towns: During invasions and escort missions the more troops that float around the better. Barracks, wooden towers etc spawn them. Also, the connectivity of roads means faster travel as well as connectivity for ally troops to make it to the city.
6. Trade items: Quality wood is a must (IMO) because finding unique bows/crossbows seems to be BY FAR the hardest to come by and quality wood is needed. If your map doesn't spawn with a "lumber yard" next to a settlement it is strong negative in my view. Everything else is just valued based on its actual value with things like gems costing a lot but also giving the best profit. If your map has a lot of high end value trade-able items to sell it is good, if it has none or very little it is bad.
Best Maps- Pre-DLC
These maps are completely different after installing the DLC.
#1. 7b591d
1. A: Map has two swamps, four forests and lots of hybrids.
2. B+: Red has four cities tight, yellow has 8 tight, black has 5 wide
3. C+: Map has surface iron vein, ore smelter attached to large city, ore smelter and blast furnace attached to fortification, ore smelter and blast furnace attached to a citadel
4. A: Spear Bro: athletic, fearless Axe Bro: quick, pessimistic Crossbow Bro: eagle eye and strong
5. B-: Map has one barracks, militia barracks, three stone watchtowers, two wooden watchtowers. Other than a couple cities in the center of the map which are surrounded by forests during the Undead Invasion the map is relatively defendable. The only large drawback is the large spread of black.
6. B+: Map has fur, salt, lumber, peat, amber, and dye. The yellow faction comes with 4 of the 6 tradeable items and is in a tight circle.
Conclusion: A
There are a lot of good things happening on this map and not a single fatal flaw.
2. B+: Red has four cities tight, yellow has 8 tight, black has 5 wide
3. C+: Map has surface iron vein, ore smelter attached to large city, ore smelter and blast furnace attached to fortification, ore smelter and blast furnace attached to a citadel
4. A: Spear Bro: athletic, fearless Axe Bro: quick, pessimistic Crossbow Bro: eagle eye and strong
5. B-: Map has one barracks, militia barracks, three stone watchtowers, two wooden watchtowers. Other than a couple cities in the center of the map which are surrounded by forests during the Undead Invasion the map is relatively defendable. The only large drawback is the large spread of black.
6. B+: Map has fur, salt, lumber, peat, amber, and dye. The yellow faction comes with 4 of the 6 tradeable items and is in a tight circle.
Conclusion: A
There are a lot of good things happening on this map and not a single fatal flaw.
#2. 55f1d9
1. A: 2 swamp towns, 2 forest towns, plus some other hybrid settlements that can spawns wildmen as well as cultists
2. B: the white faction extremely spread out, the black faction is small with medium spread, red faction is solid with 7 cities in tight circle.
3. A: Two citadels with ore smelter and blast furnace, one stone keep with ore smelter, one small fortification with blast furnace
4. A: Spear Bro: strong, dexterous, Axe Bro: strong, iron lungs, Crossbow Bro: eagle eye
5. D: one city with no road in the mountains, another city in the swamp- both easily fall during invasions. The map has three wooden towers, one barracks, two stone watchtowers. Two wooden and one stone tower are in a tight three city pack for red which is the only defensible place. A barracks and a stone tower protect the black capital which is so isolated it almost never comes under attack. Every other city is vulnerable.
6. C+: Map comes with fur, lumber, peat pit, amber, dye, and cloth but nothing in large quantities.
Conclusion: A-
A great map to start out on. Has THE best overall starting brothers I've seen on any map. The crossbowman specs into a perfect Master Archer and the two melee's spec into great Swordmasters, all of which are solid end game material. Has a lumber yard and enough trade items (dye) to make a great amount of coin. The cities being spread out and one being in the mountains without a single road are its biggest draw backs. It has enough forges and blast furnaces etc. to make it work but nothing special.
2. B: the white faction extremely spread out, the black faction is small with medium spread, red faction is solid with 7 cities in tight circle.
3. A: Two citadels with ore smelter and blast furnace, one stone keep with ore smelter, one small fortification with blast furnace
4. A: Spear Bro: strong, dexterous, Axe Bro: strong, iron lungs, Crossbow Bro: eagle eye
5. D: one city with no road in the mountains, another city in the swamp- both easily fall during invasions. The map has three wooden towers, one barracks, two stone watchtowers. Two wooden and one stone tower are in a tight three city pack for red which is the only defensible place. A barracks and a stone tower protect the black capital which is so isolated it almost never comes under attack. Every other city is vulnerable.
6. C+: Map comes with fur, lumber, peat pit, amber, dye, and cloth but nothing in large quantities.
Conclusion: A-
A great map to start out on. Has THE best overall starting brothers I've seen on any map. The crossbowman specs into a perfect Master Archer and the two melee's spec into great Swordmasters, all of which are solid end game material. Has a lumber yard and enough trade items (dye) to make a great amount of coin. The cities being spread out and one being in the mountains without a single road are its biggest draw backs. It has enough forges and blast furnaces etc. to make it work but nothing special.
#3. 1339d9
1. C+: Map has one forest, one swamp, and a lot of hybrids.
2. A-: Red has 7 cities, 5 in a tight pack and the other two off near each other. White has 4 cities in a medium spread. Black has 6 in a tight spread.
3. A: Map has a two citadels with blast furnace and ore smelter, fortification with an ore smelter, and a surface iron vein.
4. B: Spear Bro: gluttonous, brave Axe Bro: fearless Crossbow Bro: nothing
5. A+: Map has one barracks, four wooden towers, three stone towers, one militia barracks. Lots of friendly troops travelling roads with the most exposed cities both being citadels.
6. B-: Map has peat, lumber, dye, amber, cloth. There are a ton of dye and amber on a route connected by ports.
Conclusion: B+
Overall one of the best maps found. Average starting bros with one fighting bro (Ivar) who comes with fearless and can build into an end game Zweihander. Multiple good spreads of cities. Two citadels with ore smelter and blast furnace attachments. Plenty of trade. Comes with lumber yard. And comes with a ton of wooden/stone watchtowers, barracks etc
2. A-: Red has 7 cities, 5 in a tight pack and the other two off near each other. White has 4 cities in a medium spread. Black has 6 in a tight spread.
3. A: Map has a two citadels with blast furnace and ore smelter, fortification with an ore smelter, and a surface iron vein.
4. B: Spear Bro: gluttonous, brave Axe Bro: fearless Crossbow Bro: nothing
5. A+: Map has one barracks, four wooden towers, three stone towers, one militia barracks. Lots of friendly troops travelling roads with the most exposed cities both being citadels.
6. B-: Map has peat, lumber, dye, amber, cloth. There are a ton of dye and amber on a route connected by ports.
Conclusion: B+
Overall one of the best maps found. Average starting bros with one fighting bro (Ivar) who comes with fearless and can build into an end game Zweihander. Multiple good spreads of cities. Two citadels with ore smelter and blast furnace attachments. Plenty of trade. Comes with lumber yard. And comes with a ton of wooden/stone watchtowers, barracks etc
#4. 8fa3d4
1. A+: three swamps, three forests plus hybrids
2. C+: Red has 6 cities in a tight spread but 2 are separated by water and one by mountains. Green has five in a tight spread. White has 6 in a wide spread.
3. B-: Map has a citadel with ore smelter, large city with ore smelter and blast furnace, two surface iron veins, fortification with blast furnace
4. C-: Spear Bro: irrational Axe Bro: nothing Crossbow Bro: spartan
5. C-: Map has three wooden towers, two militia barracks, two stone towers. Three cities are not accessible by road and the white is extremely spread out.
6. B+: Map has amber, peat, wool, lumber, furs, copper. What the map doesn't have in expensive trade makes up for in quantity. For example, there are 4 peats in a tight area, all of which can produce 3 each (sell for a profit of 20 + gold a piece= 20 x 12 = 240 gold a run) which is amazing early game.
Conclusion: B
Starting bros are average. Cities are average. The amount of swamp and forest towns (ie. Cultists and Wildman) and their spread (10+) are phenomenal. Amazing early game trade with tons of cheap trade items available. Comes with lumber yard.
2. C+: Red has 6 cities in a tight spread but 2 are separated by water and one by mountains. Green has five in a tight spread. White has 6 in a wide spread.
3. B-: Map has a citadel with ore smelter, large city with ore smelter and blast furnace, two surface iron veins, fortification with blast furnace
4. C-: Spear Bro: irrational Axe Bro: nothing Crossbow Bro: spartan
5. C-: Map has three wooden towers, two militia barracks, two stone towers. Three cities are not accessible by road and the white is extremely spread out.
6. B+: Map has amber, peat, wool, lumber, furs, copper. What the map doesn't have in expensive trade makes up for in quantity. For example, there are 4 peats in a tight area, all of which can produce 3 each (sell for a profit of 20 + gold a piece= 20 x 12 = 240 gold a run) which is amazing early game.
Conclusion: B
Starting bros are average. Cities are average. The amount of swamp and forest towns (ie. Cultists and Wildman) and their spread (10+) are phenomenal. Amazing early game trade with tons of cheap trade items available. Comes with lumber yard.
#5. 958fae
1. C-: one swamp, one forest plus a few hybrid cities
2. B-: Black faction has medium spread of 6. Green has a medium spread of 6. Black and green combined have a medium spread of 12 in a tight area. Red has 6 cities extremely spread out.
3. A+: Map has two surface iron veins, one citadel with blast furnace and ore smelter, large city with blast furnace, and fortification with ore smelter
4. A: Spear Bro: iron lungs Axe Bro: tough, iron lungs Crossbow Bro: iron lungs, dexterous
5. D: 3 wooden towers, 3 stone towers, two barracks, two militia barracks. There are four cities with only a single road going into them. Multiple cities exposed to wilderness with zero protection. Red is completely indefensible. That being said, there is a tight knit group of 6 cities surrounding the mountains where you spawn at the beginning of the game that is pretty much impervious.
6. D: Map has amber, dye, copper, cloth, peat, fur. Does not come with lumber and nothing else comes in high amounts.
Conclusion: B-
Another easy map, the crossbowman can even spec into an arbalester very well. The spear bro can be a viable end game sergeant and the axe bro can be a viable zweihander. Cities are amazingly close at the bottom with a simple but solid trade. Lots of easy caravan missions with a lot of solid settlements attached to surface veins which means lots of chances for solid loot. Lots of drawbacks to this map with the biggest drawback being it doesn't have any lumber. Also, it has the "black clan" which means I get some of my favorite colored armor.
2. B-: Black faction has medium spread of 6. Green has a medium spread of 6. Black and green combined have a medium spread of 12 in a tight area. Red has 6 cities extremely spread out.
3. A+: Map has two surface iron veins, one citadel with blast furnace and ore smelter, large city with blast furnace, and fortification with ore smelter
4. A: Spear Bro: iron lungs Axe Bro: tough, iron lungs Crossbow Bro: iron lungs, dexterous
5. D: 3 wooden towers, 3 stone towers, two barracks, two militia barracks. There are four cities with only a single road going into them. Multiple cities exposed to wilderness with zero protection. Red is completely indefensible. That being said, there is a tight knit group of 6 cities surrounding the mountains where you spawn at the beginning of the game that is pretty much impervious.
6. D: Map has amber, dye, copper, cloth, peat, fur. Does not come with lumber and nothing else comes in high amounts.
Conclusion: B-
Another easy map, the crossbowman can even spec into an arbalester very well. The spear bro can be a viable end game sergeant and the axe bro can be a viable zweihander. Cities are amazingly close at the bottom with a simple but solid trade. Lots of easy caravan missions with a lot of solid settlements attached to surface veins which means lots of chances for solid loot. Lots of drawbacks to this map with the biggest drawback being it doesn't have any lumber. Also, it has the "black clan" which means I get some of my favorite colored armor.
Best Maps (Post DLC)
Objectively the best
How do I make sure the maps are objectively the best? I use a standardized grading scale for each 6 points.
1. Cities
This has to do with recruitment. A lot of the best people in the game ie. witchhunters, sellswords, hedgeknights etc will spawn in citadels which will always appear on the map. Other useful classes such as hunter, wildman, cultist, raider etc are not guarenteed to have solid spawning points. Swamp towns, Forest towns, towns with a Hunter's cabin attached and Harbors spawn these useful classes.
2. Countries
Having cities tight means less time wandering aimlessly, quicker and more fruitful trade routes and also easier to increase areas opinion of you which is extremely important (if they like you, you buy for less and sell for more). There are also some quests such as patrol which require at least 3 cities so kingdoms with 3 or less will not spawn these quests. These are some of the best quests as they in theory pay you to go plunder camps. Any of the end game crisis' will be made more difficult with countries vastly outnumbering other countries. So in conclusion a tight pack of cities is important for each faction and factions being roughly equal strength is important.
3. Merchants
More important than most other things on a map save for countries and cities is"are there things to buy on the map with my money?" If there is a ton of trade and you are worth millions of dollars but you can't find good recruits or good items to buy what's the point? The best items spawn in citadels with a blast furnace and ore smelter attached. Next is large cities and stone keeps with blast furnace and ore smelter. The grading is scaled with the the things providing the best items worth the most.
4. Starting Bros
Recruiting can be a pain and now with the elimination of save scumming recruits it is even more of a pain. You can edit your bros (I'll get to that later) but if you are not interested in doing that, having 3 bros that have the potential to go into the end game means 3 less needed recruits. Spear Bro builds best into the Sergeant ("Banner Man"), the Axe Bro builds best into the Zweihander and the Crossbow Bro builds best into Master Archer. Because of that there are certain traits they can spawn with that can help them greatly or hinder them greatly. Depending on how much the trait hurts or helps them towards their build is how they are scored.
5. Military
You will find on some maps you seem to be swarmed with raiding parties and end game crisis' will wipe out cities. This is almost entirely tied to the military presence of the map. More things that spawn more friendly troops mean less danger. This also provides more friendly units in the world to help you cheese enemies (ie. drag fights into allies).
6. Trade
This one is simple, it is the amount of trade-able items and their worth on the map. Having one gem and one gem only isn't even half as effective as having 4 salt etc.
How to Grade each Map
| 1.Cities Harbor: 1 point Forest City:1 point Swamp City:1 point City + Hunter’s Cabin:1 point 12+: A+ 11: A 10: A- 9: B+ 8: B 7: B- 6: C+ 5: C 4: C- 3: D+ | 2. Countries Starting Score is 10 Per Faction: 6+ tight: 0 5+ tight: -0.2 4+ tight: -0.4 3+ tight: -0.8 2+ tight: -1.6 6+ cities: 0 5 cities: -0.2 4 cities: -0.4 3 cities: -0.8 2 cities: -1.6 1 city: -3.2 A+: 9.6-10 A: 9.4 A-: 9-9.2 B+: 8.6-8.8 B: 8.4 B-: 8-8.2 C+: 7.6-7.8 C: 7.4 C-: 7-7.2 D+: 6.6-6.8 D: <6.4 | 3. Merchants Citadel + Ore + Furnace: 1.5 Citadel + Ore/Furnace: 0.75 Large City + Ore + Furnace: 1 Large City + Ore/Furnace: 0.5 Stone Keep + Ore + Furnace: 1 Stone Keep + Ore/Furnace: 0.5 Keep + Ore +Furnace: 0.5 Keep + Ore/Furnace: 0.25 Surface Iron Vein: 0.25 Leather Tanner + Citadel/Keep/City: 0.25 Arrow + Citadel/Keep/City: 0.25 6.25: A+ 6.0: A 5.75: A- 5.50: B+ 5.25: B 5.0: B- 4.75: C+ 4.25: C 3.75: C- 3.50: D+ <3.0: D |
| 4. Starting Bro Starting Score 7.5 A+: 9.75+ A: 9.5 A-: 9-9.25 B+: 8.75 B: 8.5 B-: 8-8.25 C+: 7.75 C: 7.5 C-: 7-7.25 D+: 6.75 D: 6.5 D-: 6.25 or below See file below for what to add or subtract for starting traits 
| 5. Military Wooden tower: 1 point Stone tower: 2 points Militia Barracks: 1 point Barracks: 2 points 18+: A+ 17: A 16: A- 15: B+ 14: B 13: B- 12: C+ 11: C | 6. Trade Gems: 5.2 Dye: 4.0 Salt: 3.4 Fur: 3.0 Amber: 2.6 Copper: 2.2 Lumber: 1.8 Wool: 1.4 Peat: 1.0 48+: A+ 44+: A 40+: A- 36+: B+ 32+: B 28+: B- 24+: C+ 20+: C 16+: C- 12+: D+ <12: D | ||
For each map go through the 6 points to get a A+ to D for each. Add up total using the overall scale:
Overall
A+ = 0
A= 1
A- = 2
B+= 3
B=4
B-=5
C+=6
C=7
C-=8
D+=9
D= 10
Overall
A+ = 0
A= 1
A- = 2
B+= 3
B=4
B-=5
C+=6
C=7
C-=8
D+=9
D= 10
Any map that has a final score between 0-10 is Godly, 10-20 is great, 20-30 is good and 30+ isn't close.
#1. IHQUBWILAA (9)
1. Cities: (12) (A+)
-Harbor: 4
-Forest City: 4
-Swamp City:
-City + Hunter’s Cabin: 4
2. Countries: (9.2) (A-)
White: 6 tight (7 total)
Black: 4 tight (4 total) -0.4, -0.4
Blue: 6 tight (8 total)
3. Merchants: (5) (B-)
-(1.5) Citadel + Ore + Furnace: 1
-(0.75) Citadel + Ore/Furnace: 1
-(1) Large City + Ore + Furnace: 1
-(0.5) Large City + Ore/Furnace:
-(1) Stone Keep + Ore + Furnace:
-(0.5) Stone Keep + Ore/Furnace: 1
-(0.5) Keep + Ore +Furnace:
-(0.25) Keep + Ore/Furnace: 1
-(0.25) Surface Iron Vein: 1
-(0.25) Leather Tanner + Citadel/Keep/City:
-(0.25) Arrow + Citadel/Keep/City: 3
4. Starting Bros: (10.25) (A+)
Spear: strong, fearless 0.5, 0.75
Axe: huge, brute 0.5, 0.5
XBow: tough 0.5
5. Military: (17) (A)
-Wooden tower: 4
-Stone tower: 4
-Militia Barracks: 3
-Barracks: 1
6. Tradeable Items: (44.6) (A)
-(5.2) Gems: 1
-(4.0) Dye:
-(3.4) Salt: 2
-(3.0) Fur: 4
-(2.6) Amber: 5
-(2.2) Copper: 1
-(1.8) Lumber: 3
-(1.4) Wool:
-(1.0) Peat:
-Harbor: 4
-Forest City: 4
-Swamp City:
-City + Hunter’s Cabin: 4
2. Countries: (9.2) (A-)
White: 6 tight (7 total)
Black: 4 tight (4 total) -0.4, -0.4
Blue: 6 tight (8 total)
3. Merchants: (5) (B-)
-(1.5) Citadel + Ore + Furnace: 1
-(0.75) Citadel + Ore/Furnace: 1
-(1) Large City + Ore + Furnace: 1
-(0.5) Large City + Ore/Furnace:
-(1) Stone Keep + Ore + Furnace:
-(0.5) Stone Keep + Ore/Furnace: 1
-(0.5) Keep + Ore +Furnace:
-(0.25) Keep + Ore/Furnace: 1
-(0.25) Surface Iron Vein: 1
-(0.25) Leather Tanner + Citadel/Keep/City:
-(0.25) Arrow + Citadel/Keep/City: 3
4. Starting Bros: (10.25) (A+)
Spear: strong, fearless 0.5, 0.75
Axe: huge, brute 0.5, 0.5
XBow: tough 0.5
5. Military: (17) (A)
-Wooden tower: 4
-Stone tower: 4
-Militia Barracks: 3
-Barracks: 1
6. Tradeable Items: (44.6) (A)
-(5.2) Gems: 1
-(4.0) Dye:
-(3.4) Salt: 2
-(3.0) Fur: 4
-(2.6) Amber: 5
-(2.2) Copper: 1
-(1.8) Lumber: 3
-(1.4) Wool:
-(1.0) Peat:
Master LIst
Here is a text document of all scored map seeds. Use Ctrl F to see if your map has already be scored. If you have a map seed that hasn't been graded and you think it has a chance drop a comment with the map seed.
| Scored Map Seeds |
RSS Feed