  The Lord is by far the most powerful melee unit in the game and he can withstand a fair amount of damage as well! In this tutorial we'll find out how to get him back if you have accidentally deleted him in the map editor, display any Lord on a map, tell him to attack things or go home and much, much more. We've also made a table that shows how strong he is against all units and buildings with some interesting findings on pikemen and swordsmen...
Submitted by Aubergine, Earl Listibald, KoenFrancois, Lord_Michael, Jalis and Lord_Gray
Adding the Lord to your map In the map editor, simply place a Keep of the desired colour and the Lord will appear. By default, the players' Lord will be a European Lord. In Stronghold Crusader you can provide the player with an Arabian Lord using our Arabian Lord tutorial. Should your Lord get killed in the map editor or you accidentally erase him, press "Alt" + "V" to respawn him. Sometimes you need to press this key combination a few times for the editor to notice and respawn the Lord. To respawn a non-player Lord, simply choose their corresponding shield in the castle building part of the map editor then press "Alt" + "V". Finding the Lord In Stronghold Crusader, some handy shortcut keys exist for finding your own Lord and the enemy Lords - this is particularly useful in multiplayer games where the enemy Lord might flee for his life... - To display your own Lord, press "L".
- To cycle through the enemy Lords press "Shift" + "L" repeatedly.
As the Lord usually inhabits the Keep, you can often find him by displaying the Keep with "H". Identifying the Lord 
| This is the original European Lord from Stronghold 1, recognisable by his full body armour (including helmet), cape and long sword. | 
| This is the Crusader Lord from Stronghold Crusader, recognisable by his helmet, cape and battle axe. | 
| This is the Arabian Lord from Stronghold Crusader, recognisable by his clothing, head gear and sword. |
Addressing the Lord From our article on Medieval Salutations we see that the Lord must be addressed in one of the following ways: The Scribe addresses you, the Lord, with all of these salutations at one point or another, for example: - "I would stay inside and hide just now, Sire" - when popularity is very low
- "We are loosing a little money, My Liege." - when your gold stocks are getting lower
- "My Lord, you have not slept for days!" - when you have been playing for a very long time, usually past midnight
Tax Collection In Stronghold 1 and Stronghold Crudsader, the Lord is in charge of taxes. You can display the tax settings panel by clicking on the Keep or pressing "H" (which will also center the display on the Keep) or pressing "Ctrl" + "H" (which displays the tax panel without moving the display). 
Note that in Stronghold 2, a special "Tax Collector" unit will be responsible for tax collection. Job Center The Lord is responsible for giving peasants their jobs. Peasants seeking employment make their way to the Keep door, take a bow and then patiently wait by the campfire for a job. 
Plague Immunity The Lord is immume to plague which is useful as most plagues tend to put at least one green cloud near the Keep as shown below: 
Mangonell, Catapult and Trebuchet Immunity The Lord is immume to anything launched from a mangonell, catapult or trebuchet, including diseased cows! Lord Descriptions The Lord always keeps a keen eye on his affairs and you can see at a glance how your castle is doing by looking at the Lord description: 
Wandering Lord If there are no enemies on the map, the Lord will wander out of the Keep to visit troops and just generally roam around the castle. There seems to be no particular rule to which troops or buildings he visits first or in which order other than perhaps the order in which they were placed on the map. Usually the Lord will stay in the castle but sometimes you'll spot him heading off in to the wilderness to visit some remote troops (eg. crossbowmen guarding your farms). This, however, can be a real problem if an invasion occurs - you could end up with the Lord taking on an entire army if he can't get back to the castle in time! Sending the Lord Home In most cases, the Lord will head for the Keep as soon as enemies appear on the map but by then it might be too late as he's not the fastest walker on the planet due to all that armour! If the Lord is outside the Keep then he is more vaulnerable to attack. Loosing the Lord means loosing the game so knowing how to get him home safely is important. If your scribe warns you of an impending invasion and you notice that the Lord has gone wandering it's worth telling him to set off for the Keep sooner rather than later. To do this, first click on the Lord and then position the mouse over the bottom right corner of the Keep (and also the roof of the larger Keeps) until you see the green movement cone: 
As soon as the green cone appears you can click the Keep and the Lord will start his journey home. Moving the Lord In skirmish maps you can tell the Lord where to stand in the same way you can with any other military unit. Select the Lord then tell him where you want him to stand: 
There are several reasons why you would want to do this, but the two most common are as follows: On some maps your Keep will quickly be overrun and there won't be much you can do to protect your Lord if he is still standing on top of it. The only option is to abandon the Keep by moving your Lord to a safer locaiton - once you manage to secure your Keep from enemy attack you can send him home. Some excellent examples of this tactic can be seen in our Skirmish Trial walkthroughs: In the early stages of a mission, the Lord is the perfect unit to defend the stairs to towers - it's difficult enough to balance everything at the start of a game without some pesky macemen or swordsmen climbing up in to your towers and killing all your archers and destroying your ballistas! The Lord will stand guard and fend off any early attackers while you focus on strengthening your castle and economy. 
Using the Lord as a Melee Unit In the tutorial summary we mentioned that the Lord was the most powerful melee unit in the game. To make him attack a unit or building, first select him then click on the desired target: 
He can also attack animals and this is a great way to clear the map of wolves, bears and lions a the start of a game. Remember that the Lord can get damaged when he fights military units or animals so always keep a check on his health bar - if he dies, you usually lose the game! To show you just how powerful, here's how many swipes of his axe or sword it takes to destroy buildings and people: European Military Units - Ladderman - 1
- Engineer - 1
- Tunneler - 1
- Archer - 1 to 1.5
- Spearman - 2
- Monk - 2
- Crossbowman - 2
- Maceman - 2
- Knight - 3
- Swordsman - 4
- Pikeman - 8
Pikemen are remarkably strong against the Lord but they are slow and expensive to recruit. Having said that, always use them in preference to swordsmen! Arabian Units - Slave - 1
- Horse archer - 1
- Slinger - 1
- Fire thrower - 1
- Arabian bowman - 1 to 1.5
- Assassin - 2
- Arabian swordsman - 3
As you can see, the arabian swordsman is weaker against the Lord than his european counterpart. The Lord also makes short work of Horse Archers (if he can catch them) and his near-immunity to arrows means that there is very little they can do about it! Don't be fooled by the apparent weakness of slingers though - we'll discuss these chaps later in this tutorial. Siege Equipment - Shield - 1
- Fire ballista - 1
- Mangonell - 1
- Tower ballista - 1 (he will only attack it if it is manned)
- Catapult - 1
- Battering ram - 24
- Trebuchet - 2
- Siege tower - 38
Because the Lord is almost immune to arrows, bolts and rocks, he is sometimes the ideal unit to send after that pesky fire ballista or catapult - always make sure there are no nearby threats to the Lord before sending him in though (remember he walks a lot slower than most other enemy units). Animals, Workers and Peasants - Rabbits - 1 (he can kill up to 3 rabbits in a single blow)
- Chickens - 1
- Peasants, Children, Mothers - 1
- All workers - 1
- Deer - 1
- Lions - 2
- Seagulls, Crows, Camels - he can't target these
If you don't mind getting a few scratches, sending your Lord to kill animals at he start of a map can make setting up your castle economy faster and easier. Castle Buildings - Hovel - 2
- Farms and the Hunters' post - 2
- Good things and Bad things - 2
- Wood cutter, Pitch Rig, Iron mines and Ox tether - 2
- Water pot - 3
- Well - 5
- Weapons and Armour production biuldings - 5
- Granary, Bakery, Brewery, Mill and Inn - 5
- Apothecary, Quarry and Market - 5
- Stables and Oil smelter - 5
- Chapel - 6
- Armoury, Barracks, Tunnelers' guild and Engineers' Guild - 8
- Normal wall - 10
- Low wall - 10
- Crenellated wall - 12
- Church - 12
- Cathedral - 18
- Lookout tower - 42 swipes to ruin, 44 swipes to destroy
- Perimeter Turret - 177 swipes to ruin, 179 swipes to destroy
- Small Gatehouse - 100
- Square tower - 267
- Round tower - 334
- Large gatehouse - 200
Attacking the Lord If you want to kill an enemy Lord with melee units, Pikemen are the strongest against him. However, they will be wounded as they slowly walk towards his keep and they are expensive to recruit. If you are looking for inexpensive melee units in large numbers then try monks (unless there are ranged attackers defending the Lord) or better still, tunnelers: 
In Stronghold Crusader, try using slingers if there are no enemies nearby. Use your assassins to capture a gatehouse allowing your slingers to get up on to the castle walls and towers, especially on the side of the Keep where the door is located so the Lord has nowhere to hide. From their vantage point, they can sling hundreds of stones at the Lord and any unit, worker or pesant near the Keep. Although the Lord is almost immune to rocks, arrows and bolts from all the other ranged attackers, he has a particular weakness when it comes to the little stones from the slingers! ("David and Goliath"?) Their accuracy and attack rate will eventually wear him down without the need to engage in a costly melee fight. You could also wear down the enemy Lord and then send in your own Lord to finish the job off! But be careful to check for the Lord Strengths in Stronghold Crusader as the enemy Lord might be stronger than your Lord and could win the fight! Killing Pits (Wooden Spike Traps) In multiplayer games, if you think your opponent might send their Lord after you then place some wooden killing pit traps. In Stronghold 1 the Lord will die after crossing 4 traps (Jalis is checking this value) and in Stronghold Crusader he will die after crossing 9 traps - nothing else can kill him so quickly! Defending the Lord The most honourable way to defend the Lord is to place him on the roof of the Keep with several pikemen and swordsmen as his personal body guards. Remember that the Keep is indestructible so it's the safest place, especially when catapults and trebuchets are in the neighborhood. If you copy the AI lords tactics you would also want some archers and crossbowmen to fend off ranged attackers and even some fire throwers or engineers with pots of burning oil to set fire to the land around the Keep as a last resort - by the time enemy melee troops get to your Keep you will not be bothered about setting your castle on fire - the Lord must be protected and the Keep will not burn down! Although the Lord is almost immune from ranged attacks, they will eventually kill him - if you are having problems with ranged attackers try placing your Lord in the Keep doorway as this will give him more protection than if he stood on the roof. If you want to make the Keep even stronger than it usually is, take a look at our tutorial on Multi-tiered Keeps. In extreme cases when playing skirmish maps, move him away from the Keep until you are able to secure the locaiton as we discussed earlier. Well, hopefully this tutorial will help you make more use of your Lord. Have fun! Long live the Lord!
Note: Thanks to Lord_Gray for finding the missing info!
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