The Manor Lords 0.8.117 update has been promoted to the default branch on Steam, and its biggest story is a farming overhaul. Crops are now split into Winter and Spring varieties, crop rotation is permanently on, and a new Dunghill building lets settlements turn dung into fertilizer. The patch also adds a Fishmonger artisan and a fresh set of Rural Foundations perks, so players who rely on their fields will need to rethink their seasonal plans. If you followed the testing phase, our coverage of the 0.8.117 beta bugfixes shows how the build got here.
Manor Lords 0.8.117 Update: Seasonal Crops, Fertilizer and Crop Rotation
The most significant change is how fields behave across the year. Wheat and Rye are Winter crops that can optionally be sown in Spring for a faster return at a lower yield, while Flax, Barley and Oats are Spring crops that can only go in during Spring. Farming tasks are now strictly tied to their appropriate months.
Crop rotation is no longer optional. It is always on for every field and cannot be disabled, since not using it had no benefits. Rotation now happens across Autumn and can be triggered on September 1st for fields with nothing to harvest (including Fallow ones), after a harvest completes, and on November 1st for fields whose crops died unharvested.
Unharvested crops in October no longer force a rotation. Instead, they slowly die and lose yield, giving you a window to salvage the field. Fallow fertility recovers mostly toward the end of the year cycle, and crops likewise gain most of their growth in the final months.
Fertilizer adds another layer. Farmhouse workers can apply it to a Fallow Field during Summer to raise its Maximum Fertility, and the effect lasts just over two years. The refactored Field UI now includes a timeline of the next 12 months of field activities, making it easier to plan ahead.
Rural Foundations Perks and New Buildings
A new Rural Foundations perk category adds six perks, unlockable at Settlement Level 3. The perk set spans Experienced Forestry, Woodland Beekeeping, Fish Husbandry, Livestock Provisioning, Practical Tillage and Pastoral Practice.
- Experienced Forestry upgrades the Charcoal Kiln with “Tight-Sealing” and allows tree planting in Winter.
- Woodland Beekeeping repurposes the Forester’s Hut into “Zeidler’s Hut” to tend hives and harvest Honey and Wax.
- Fish Husbandry boosts shoal capacity and Fishmonger efficiency and enables Winter fishing.
- Livestock Provisioning adds the “Butcher’s Gantry” upgrade.
- Practical Tillage adds the “Cobbled Threshing Floor” for the Farmhouse and home dung collection.
- Pastoral Practice introduces the “Stone-Lined Pit” for the Dunghill.
The new Dunghill is central to the fertilizer system. Assigned families act as Dung Collectors, gathering dung from Pasture Animals, which produce it at rates that vary by animal. Dung and Fertilizer can only be stored at the Dunghill. The patch also introduces a Fishmonger artisan who turns Fish and Salt into Smoked Fish.
Balance Changes: Crops, Livestock, Military and Environment
Crops now grow 2.4% slower, and Fallow Fields regenerate fertility at a much lower rate, so fallow cycles are needed to keep fields sustainable. The Rich Fertility regional boost is cut by 30%. Rye gets a bigger fertility bonus and a 7% yield increase, making it the better Bakery choice when Wheat falls below 60% fertility.
Livestock breeding for Cows and Sheep rises to a 40% chance, and Sheep no longer die at high elevation in Winter; instead they gain +1 wool there. On the military side, Warbows deal 23% more damage while Crossbows deal 16% less, and squads can now be ordered to follow roads. Double maintenance labor speed drops from +100% to +25%.
Environment calculations also changed. The Hunting Camp, Forager Hut and Woodcutter’s Lodge no longer count toward the Rural Environment, and lakes, rivers, ponds and cliffs are now ignored in environment percentages.
AI, UI and Bugfix Highlights
The AI receives a range of improvements, including recalculating region strategy at least once a day, earlier focus on the Granary and trade, and the ability to build multiple Hunting Camps around Wild Animal nodes. On the interface side, the Field, Storage and Productivity tabs have new layouts, and there is a new farming tutorial and wiki entries for Farming and Crop Rotation. A long list of bugfixes covers production limits, logistics, livestock workers and perk effects.
For the full list of changes, see the official Manor Lords patch notes on Steam.