Share your build order for second town

the main thing I can say is if you rush to do expansion research your chieftain hut is not big enough to allow for building a gathering point.

So a quest to make sure it is level 10 is a must. Also you may find your domain is not big enough. It used to be simple to get it that way if you just built up houses but now there is a need to build more culture buildings.

Yes, that's obvious caveat, however I think experienced players have it nailed down and build structures / order tech in specific orders to minimize idle times and have second town in proper spot as fast as they can. That's what I want to see - a complete strategy guide / build order for second town :)

I do it different every time. so it is hard to put it down here.

Find a good balance between upgrading defense and fields. When you found your second town you want to be able to protect it.

In the best case scenario, ahem, with room to expand normally, once I finish researching supplies and horses I will go straight down the left hand side of the tech tree for stone age, completing fortification, archery and expansion.  Then I go back up and do the rest in no particular order depending on need.

That being said, however, I never settle a new town if my dwelling culture is lower than 330-365, and that is usually my rule for every town thereafter.  Sometimes I wait until culture is nearing 400 for the dwelling and usually over 400 in all towns for third, fourth etc.   Of course, while I'm doing this, I max out my production and huts as fast as possible so I can upgrade the chieftain hut to level 10 so it is ready when I need it.   I tend to alternate builds depending on need.

I also won't settle new towns if my existing dwelling or second town are not fully defended.

I see too many players with too many small towns they are obviously not building up for defense leaving them wide open for attack and elimination.

The quickest way to get a second town is to get researching Expansion as soon as possible and get the Gathering Point built.  I research the exact same way as Diana.  I work on upgrading Chieftain Hut as I am able to, which involves also upgrading forests and wood storage in between each level of the Chief Hut.  I also have my culture at about 350 before I build the second town.   

It's hard to remember exactly step by step what I do because it's been awhile since I've had to do it.  

First town should be well built before second town is established. The problem is that first town experience potential is low, and many items/quests are not available in the first town. So, until second town is built, hero is at a standstill.  Leveling potential is low, boredom potential high. It makes the building of a second town very attractive, and therefore commonly built as early as possible. .. instead of when it is the optimum time.

I want a build order to make second town as fast as possible. Defending it a little bit later is not an issue.

"Any building level 10" to complete quest for Zweistein can be altered to read "Chieftain hut level 10". This will prepare hero for expansion when tech is learned. It will also force the increase of levels for some sheds.  This will in turn increase culture needed to expand domain.

As first town not offer much to get some experience and upgrade your hero, the second town is essential. Never have a specific order, just try to finish researching gathering point same time as my chieftain hut gets to level 10. In the meantime, I make a lot of scouting to clear as much area as I can and see who my neighbors is and if there is some place I can expand better.

I don’t have a standard culture, from which above I build usually. When I see a good spot, I just push thinks to reach it. I recognize that that strategy hasn’t always the best result, but who hasn’t delete heroes before finally settle.

                Usually I prefer spots with lot of food plots, or a spot near see or river. Both of them is the best combination. Even a collectivist can have food problems, especially when the monsters are getting bigger and tougher faster than in previous alpha (or that is just my impression) and you have to keep a bigger army to hunt them. No need to spick about defense. Also lot of buildings needs a lot of food to build, especially in later ages.

                So if you want to alternate the tutorial, ask for a chieftain hut level 10, a second city established with certain amount of population or culture, make the gathering point obligatory for finishing the tutorial. That way you will get new players to build a second city quickly. From my experience, new players tend to follow the tutorial, before start ask where the sun is...

I'm not sure this is what you are looking for, but here's a trial version to get to a "new town building guide"

The fastest way to expand your domain by building a new town, is by focussing on the best culture/resource cost investments on top of the basic needs like enough research and the Chieftainhut L10 to build the Gathering Point for training settlers. The needed storage (Sheds) to get there and the fastest route through the tech tree to the Gathering Point building are your main focus.

From there it will depend on the surroundings of the dwelling. Near a sea you will have more benefit for expanding fast (have low settler costs, less competition for space), but you will also have less chance to find a good spot for a town.

Besides the obvious: Upgrade resources as fast as you can, sothat you can build and research likewise, you need some fast growing culture buildings, that use as little resources as possible. Also upgrade your huts and sheds as much as you can afford. Upgrading huts is very important to reduce building times. You will be in red figures for these building times on your dwelling, but try to keep it as close to 100% as possible. Any military building and it's upgrades will reduce both your culture and building time, but Walls won't. Together with Towers, Walls will help your defenses without loss of culture, but Towers will increase building times.

Don't forget to do the missions with your hero and upgrade by meditation. It will help you to get more perks, that give you extra bonus for culture or research, for example.

For expanding by growing culture fast, you can invest heavily in Totempole, Altar or Shrine of knowledge to name a few, but don't underestimate Marketplace and Obsevationpost. Shrine of knowledge helps boosting the research on top of the resources you make. Marketplace gives you the tools to trade excess of resources produced. But maybe the best is the Observationpost. You'll need explorers from the Observationpost to clear the fog and see which spots are in your reach to build a town. Later you can replace the explorers by spies to help you defend against other players, trying to spy on your defenses or resources to plunder.

This new town you are planning to build, will help you find more means to raise the level of your hero by fighting monsters, giving you more perks etc.

Once you have established this town, you need to focus on defenses fast, because this town can be destroyed, where this doesn't apply to your dwelling!

Yes, that's obvious caveat, however I think experienced players have it nailed down and build structures / order tech in specific orders to minimize idle times and have second town in proper spot as fast as they can. That's what I want to see - a complete strategy guide / build order for second town :)

Food production is first on my list in the second town, gotta feed everyone. So level 2 garden, build the storage for it, then repeat for Lumber and Stone. The next is the Chieftain hut to level 10, and then the houses, then back to resources, and the Shrine of Knowledge. Keep upgrading the resources and storage buildings to keep the storage full so I can build everything plus research.  

I guess that was what you were asking for.

I would like to bring attention to Bers' prior request for suggestions regarding protection for beginners. It appears that my responses for protection for new players and my responses to this thread (building first town in a manner that hastens second town?) has brought to my attention a conflict of opinion. We either limit or encourage. Which should it be?  

When I build my first town I always complete tutorial and then move on to raise levels of buildings and resources - with faster learning being a priority. By the time my learning gets down to expansion, many of my buildings are ready for the classic age, which is usually the next step. My suggestion - since my first priority is completing the tutorial - is to include all that you would like to see heroes accomplish within the tutorial ... so, if a second town is what you would like to see heroes accomplish, then make that the final tutorial item. Until a hero finishes the tutorial, give them the protection  you are seeking in the prior thread - for NEW heroes.

I would also like to see the achievements match the incentive for 1) protection of new hero 2) expansion of hero, or 3) any other accomplishment you would like to encourage.

My first steps in a second town are usually:

Chieftain's Hut (even if I can build a residence)

Other buildings I can build instantly (build time < 5 minutes) including Hunter's Hovel and Hut of Braves so that I can build a shelter.  This will usually include a marketplace, if not build one early so as to be able to ship out surplus resources and keep all producer buildings active.

Food resource 2 (often possible in < 5 minutes), food storage.

Other resources 2, storage.

Stash (and another if I'm in Classical)

Other resources that can be built in < 5 minutes (using resources trucked in from my dwelling).  More food production as needed to support the buildings, but don't worry if army consumption sends the total negative.

If in classical, destroy Chieftain's Hut and replace with Residence

Concentrate on building up HQ and huts/houses, aiming to get build modifier as low as possible.  Build Palisade-1 and one tower.  Watch for buildings where the build time drops below 5 minutes during this process.

If a port, build harbour as soon as possible.

While all this is going on my hero and army will be clearing the fog and dealing with the initial wandering monsters.  I aim to build the second town at a time when I can spend an hour or two uninterrupted online so as to complete the clearance and get my army out of there to somewhere it can be fed while I'm offline.

This process uses a lot of resources.  It's important to have good stocks available at my dwelling before I start.

He wants to know what do you do to get a second town. Not what you do once you have one.

He wants to know what do you do to get a second town. Not what you do once you have one.

Sorry. I get the Chieftain hut to Level 10, build up the storage, build up the market to 10, train army so I can fight Monsters, upgrade the resources, and Shrine of Knowledge, build the gathering point, pick a spot that has a lot of wood, get as close to a river or ocean as I can get.  

I started a new hero to test this with the changes in culture in huts and resources. It is possible to be able to settle a new town with one settler in 5 days. However, it requires not only a very specific build order but additionally a specific, and aggressive, research order. Both of which deviates from the paths set out by the current tutorial. There are also a couple of additional factors that an individual player has little control over that can affect the length of time required to build a second town. Before settling a new town you must have a gathering point, which requires a level 10 Chieftan hut, 650 food, 2600 wood, 650 stone and 1 blueprint. You also must have a minimum of 198 culture to obtain 13 cells to build with only 1 settler (if a neighbor is pushing your border and taking cells you will need more culture).

Build Order:  Follow the tutorial guidance from hut, shrine, chieftan hut, lvl 1 gardens, lvl 1 forestry, hunters hovel and observation post. I build the marketplace next, before going to heralds home, so that I can send the required resources immediately to save time.  Build the Hut of the Brave next. (Note: this is where the first game lag occurs but the exploration, both inside town and on the world map, puzzles and garden can sufficiently occupy you will you are waiting).

Next, build your stone mines and upgrade all of them to level 2. Upgrade all forestry and gardens to level 2. Build all storage sheds based on available resources. Upgrade shrine to level 3 and max science spending. I then upgrade observation post to level 5 and train 5 explorers so that they can be sent out in groups. *In my experience it is key to clear the fog around you and find your neighbors as quickly as possible.

Upgrade your Chieftan Hut to level 3, hut to level 5, shrine to level 5 (again max science spending). Upgrade all resource spots to level 3. Build 2 huts to level 1. Build altar, upgrade crop shed to level 2. Upgrade gardens to level 4 and one to level 5, turn off science and complete 200 food tutorial. Turn science back on. Upgrade all forestry and stone to level 4. Upgrade all sheds to level 3, crop shed to level 4. Build marketplace to level 3. Upgrade shrine to level 6, max science. Upgrade chieftan hut to level 5 and build huts to have a total of 5. Upgrade forestry to level 6 then upgrade lumber and stone sheds to level 4, level 5 crop shed. Build chieftan hut to level 6 and lumber shed to level 5 then upgrade forestry to level 6, gardens to level 5.

Upgrade shrine and chieftan hut to level 7, max science and build 2 more huts. Upgrade lumber shed to level 6, forestry to level 7, lumber shed to level 7. Upgrade crop shed to level 6, stone shed to level 5. Upgrade chieftan hut to level 8, stone shed to level 6, lumber shed to level 9, crop shed to level 7, altar to level 3. Build additional hut, upgrade marketplace to level 5, altar to level 4 then upgrade all forestry to level 8. Upgrade stone shed to level 7 and lumber shed to level 10. Next I upgrade altar to level 5 and uprade a hut to level 3. Upgrade lumber shed to level 12, stone and crop sheds to level 8. Upgrade 3 garden spots to level 6 and turn off science to meet tutorial requirement of 250 food, then turn science back on.

Upgrade crop shed to level 10, stone spots to level 5. You should now be able to build Totem pole if you have followed the research order (listed below) and shrine builds. Build totem pole to level 3, upgrade stone shed to level 9, crop shed to level 11 and upgrade totem to level 4. Upgrade observation post to level 9 and altar to level 7. This should provide you with the res to train a settler and the culture to start a new town.

As stated above, this requires a specific research order which is:

Labour, Collecting, Prim Society, Agriculture, Carpentry, Hunting, Observation, Bartar, Warfare, Stone, Supplies, Taming, Mysticism, Fortification, Expansion, Herbalism, Meditation, Wheel, Pottery and Alpabet.

*Clearing fog/neighbors – it is essential to locate and contact your neighbors as quickly as possible. You will likely have at least one neighbor whose border touches yours very rapidly. As this will affect your ability for growth you should reach out to that neighbor and see if negotiation is possible. In my case my neighbor was very gracious and agreed to delete and relocate. If your neighbor refuses you will need to decide if you want to delete and restart, share the space (realizing it is going to slow and imped your growth potential) or fight for the space.

Other notes: this does not allow for using resources for any quests other than at heralds home. You can do that but it will slow your process due to limited resources.

I noticed that the above build scenario does not include any towers, wall/palisades, or stash.  These are essential to Collective players.  otherwise it seems very efficient.