Travian Second Village Tips

Your starting village in the online game "Travian" supports a finite number of residents and troops, so you'll have to settle additional villages to expand your empire. Examine your first village's position on the map, the nearby villages and oases, and the available resources on unsettled map squares before selecting a placement for your second village.

Requirements

You need three settlers to form a second village. Settlers can be trained in a level-10 residence or palace, and they must be equipped with 750 units of each type of resource before they set out. The precise cost and timing of settler training depends on your tribe; the Gaul tribe creates settlers the fastest and for the lowest amount. Also, you need 2,000 culture points before you can settle a new village.

Proximity

When you click on the "Map" button, you'll see a seven-square-by-seven-square grid with your starting village in the center. Ideally, you want to place your second village somewhere within this grid. The closer your two villages are, the easier it will be to transfer resources and troops between them, so you may want to locate your second village in one of the four squares adjoining your first. However, if your first village is in a particularly crowded area of the map or the region features strong players who frequently attack you, place your second village approximately 100 squares away from your first in a less-populated region. This will allow you to grow your second village at a more leisurely pace and provide you with a fresh set of villages to raid.

Resource Fields

Every square on the map has 18 resource fields in some combination of lumber, clay, iron and wheat. Place your mouse cursor over a square on the map screen to see its resource breakdown, expressed as four numbers separated by dashes. For example, "3-4-5-6" indicates that the unoccupied square has three lumber fields, four clay fields, five iron fields and six wheat fields. Most map squares feature six or seven wheat fields, but you may find ones with nine or even 15 wheat fields. These high-yield "croppers" are coveted for their ability to sustain larger-than-normal populations and armies, and would serve as an excellent location for your second village.

Oases

Your armies can raid oases for resources, allowing you to avoid the wrath of active players. With a hero character, a nearby oasis can be conquered, providing your village with a bonus to resource production. The appearance of the oasis determines its bonus -- an oasis covered with trees grants you a 25 percent bonus to lumber production, while one with trees and tan wheat images increases both lumber and wheat production by 25 percent. Your hero can conquer three oases within three squares of your village, so your second village should be within range of at least three oases.