As a new player in Illyriad you don’t need Livestock. But established players need lots of Livestock – they use their hides for leather armor and saddles, by the thousand.
Basic economics: there is a high demand for cows – all the established players need them – so price is high. You, as a starting player, can supply Livestock to meet that demand, and make a pile of cash. You can then use that cash to fund yourself without raising taxes (0% tax rate boosts productivity, remember!) and to buy raw resources (timber, iron, clay, stone, food.)
If you want to try this, here’s what you do:
- Build your Food and Timber production up slightly ahead of your other resources
- Build your Common Ground up (maybe to 4 or 5 at first, then higher as you get more resources)
- Use the surplus Food + Timber you are generating to breed Livestock
- When you get to 100 Livestock, sell it on the Market (place a Sell order, or look for a Buy order that offers decent cash)
- Start building up your Storehouse, so you can accept incoming resource deliveries
- When you’ve sold the Livestock (and the money arrives) buy Timber, Stone, Iron and Clay in the market (either accept an offer, or place your own Buy order)
- For a few weeks, your first 5 caravans should be employed this way – one delivering cattle, four delivering cash for resources.
- Keep this up until you feel you want to start building an army, or a large number of diplomats – at which point you’ll be needing your cows for saddles and armour
The Wisdom of Kurdruk 