Hello and a question

[Kyphra]

I've been on NO a week or two and thought it was time to say hello. Also, I've recently upgraded to a level 5 palace, when is the right time to think about building a second city? My first city is cedar, I've looked around for advice on second city lux mats but haven't found much. Anyone have any tips on that? Thanks!

[DustysMomma]

Usually, people so for something that compliments their capital resource. But, since you are on cedar, it might be a good idea for you to go for gold or emeralds, since cedar and jewelry are almost always in high demand. Whatever you go for, having a good jewelry source is essential. You can always pick up a little here or there, but being able to have either a daily trade with a jewelry producer or being able to scroll and ask for what you need makes this game so much easier. A really good trade allowance will allow you to go out on a limb every now and again, trading for a bit more than you have knowing you are good for it within a day or at most two. This is especially handy when you are in a pinch for an upgrade.

[Kyphra]

Thanks for the answers!

[abana]

And there is nor "right time" to do anything.

[GaSplat]

But L5 is a very reasonable time to go for city 2. I say this because it does not take that much more in total resources (measured in labor hours to produce them) to get city 2 than it does to go to L6, and city 2 is actually cheaper than L7. Plus the long term rewards of a second city are much greater than a single palace upgrade. I have seen people do it from a L4 capital.

[Keranik]

Try and plan out the reason why you'd like to make a second city first IMO.

For instance, when I only had one city, I couldn't make bricks/baskets/pottery fast enough and still have my Jewelry production going while trying to keep the Bakery running.

So, I decided that in my second city, it would do nothing but baskets/pottery and then my first city could be dedicated to tons of bricks. So now, between the two cities, I never run shortages on pottery/baskets when I need them.

Of course I can always find new ways to use bricks, so I still wait sometimes for them but not a lot.

You could also do something like having your secondary city bake as much bread as you can and run deficits in your first city and support it that way.

Or, you could just play and enjoy the game without all this thinking and planning stuff :p

[darlingBri]

I did my 2nd city at L4. The guy across the river from me did it at L3. I think L6-8 is more common, but even though it took me what seemed like forever to build up the resources for it, I have never had any regrets.

When you're bored or frustrated enough to get a 2nd, get one :D

There are a couple of strategies and they all conflict, like "If you start with emeralds, get gold! You'll be that much more self-sufficient!" and "If you start on emeralds, don't do gold - diversify!"

You have a more interesting scenario in that you cannot make a lux and there is no complimentary material to consider. I have often thought that were I a cedar player, I would forget the lux completely and do my 2nd city on a highly tradeabale raw like henna or kohl. The advantage to you is that while you are going to be doing a LOT of shipping - 300 raw for every 100 lux you trade for - you have a virtually unlimited supply of ships.

I'm not sure if it seems that way to you at the moment and I don't know what your production capacity is like right now, but by say L8 you should be turning out at *least* 1K cedar a day. 2K in total raw from two cities gives you a lot of trading leverage. (The only reason I bother to make cosmetics in my kohl city is to save on shipping capacity - I could trade raw kohl all day long but I'm *not* made of cedar and the ship requirements would be annoying for me.)

Alternatively, you can do "all war materials, all the time" and choose leather or bronze, too.

And finally, you could decide that not having a lux to trade is a PITA and do gold or emeralds to make jewels.

Having said all that about strategy, the only reason I chose kohl is because that's what was over the river from me.