Candles, introduced in Stronghold 2, are used to increase your popularity and gain honor from church services. This tutorial covers all aspects of production including ranks, buildings, job roles, resources as well as providing a detailed production and use flowchart followed by hints and tips...

Submitted by Aubergine, SimRPGplayer, SirVictortheGreat, WitchHazel, Mehmet

Ranks

Ranks usually o­nly relate to Kingmaker maps, but some custom map develpoers may incorporate them in to other types of map. They affect which buildings you can place:

Emblem	Rank	Notes
	Freeman	You can place a stockpile and market, which will allow you to buy and sell candles (useful when trading with other estates).
	Knight	You can place beehives and a chandlers' workshop in order to start producing your own candles.
	Knight Bachelor	You can place a church and start consuming candles during mass to gain popularity and honor.
	Baron	You can place a carters' post and start transferring candles between estates.

Buildings / Estates

The following buildings and estates are linked to candles, their production and consumption, trading and transportation:

Picture	Name	Notes
	Bee Hive	This unmanned building houses a queen bee and thousands of worker bees. Wax is produced by the bees and pours in to pots placed under the beehive.
	Chandlers' Workshop	This building requires a chandler (candle maker) and is used to convert bees wax in to candles.
	Stockpile	This unmanned building is used to store candles until they are used at the church, transported to other estates or sold at the market.
	Church	This building requires a priest and is used to convert candles in to popularity and honor.
	Market	This building allows you to buy and sell candles in exchange for gold.
	Carters' Post	This building requires a carter and is used to transfer goods between estates.
	Village Estates	Most maps contain an estate that produces candles.

Roles

The following people play a role in the produciton, consumption, trading and transportation of candles:

Person	Notes
Chandler (candle maker)	Collects wax from 6 beehives which he then takes to his workshop: Click for bigger picture He melts the wax and forms two candles: Click for bigger picture He then delivers the candles to the stockpile: Click for bigger picture
Priest	Holds mass at the church in order to increase popularity. Click for bigger picture
The Lord	If the Lord attends a church mass, 150 honor will be gained. Click for bigger picture
Trader	The market trader helps you buy and sell candles in exchange for gold.
Carter	The carter transfers candles between estates with the help of his trusty horse and cart. Click for bigger picture

Resources

The following resources are discussed in this tutorial:

Icon	Resource	Notes
	Wax	Wax is created by bees in the bee hive and it pours in to pots under the hive. It is then used at the chandlers' workshop to produce candles.
	Candles	Candles are taken to the stockpile and later used by the priest during church mass which produces popularity and honor. They may also be transferred between estates or bought and sold at the market.
	Popularity	Popularity generated by the church mass and is used to keep your peasants and workers happy.
	Gold	Gold is exchanged whenever you buy or sell candles at the market.
	Honor	Honor is generated when your Lord attends church mass and is used for promotions, troop recruitment and purchasing estates.

Flowchart

This flowchart shows how candles are produced and used as well as traded and transported.  Buildings are shown with their related drawing and the rank required to build them in Kingmaker maps:

Click the image above for a bigger picture

Hints and Tips

Bee hives should be placed as close to chandlers' workshops as possible to reduce the amount of time it takes for the chandler to collect wax.

Bee hives are useless without chandlers' workshops in the same estate - o­nly the chandler will collect the wax and he'll o­nly collect from bee hives in the same estate!

Chandlers' workshops should be placed relatively close to the stockpile to reduce the amount of time it takes for the chandler to deliver candles to the stockpile.

Alter the length of the church mass to gain the desired balance between candle usage and popularity:

Mass Type	Candles Used	Popularity
None	0	0
Simple	1	+2
Standard	4	+4
Special	10	+6
Exulted	25	+8

If your Lord attends the church mass, you will gain 150 honor regardless of how long the mass lasts.

On Kingmaker maps, you can start producing candles as soon as you become a Knight but cannot biuld a church to consume them until you are promoted to a Knight Bachelor. However, you can sell them at the market to generate 4 gold!

If you don't have enough room to place beehives and chandlers' workshops, consider buying candles for 8 gold at the market. The popularity and honor that can be gained from the church can make all the difference to your game!

Most maps will have at least o­ne village estate that produces candles. Buy or capture the estates then use carters' posts to transfer candles to your own estate where you can either sell them or use them at the church.

You can also place bee hives and chandlers' workshops in to estates that don't have them and as long as those estates have enough peasants they will start to produce candles! You can then use the carters' post to bring the candles to your main castle estate if desired.

You can place churches in village estates as a means of increasing popularity in those estates.  If the estate does not produce candles, either deliver some using a cart or place some bee hives and chandlers' workshops so that the estate will produce it's own candles.

Have fun!