Slavic Magic and publisher Hooded Horse have released a new beta patch for Manor Lords on the pre_release branch. The patch notes cover Version 0.8.117, published on October 24, 2026 at 17:17 UTC. The beta follows the game’s last major update, Major Update 8, which pushed the title past 4 million sales. Players can access the build by right-clicking Manor Lords in Steam, opening Properties, entering the password “veryNiceBasket” in the Betas tab, and selecting the pre_release branch.
This release contains balance and bug fixes rather than new buildings or a fresh region. The most significant changes touch farming, beekeeping, AI settlement construction, and unit health regeneration. Slavic Magic has not announced a date for moving any of this to the stable branch.
Farming fertility now rewards fallow cycles
The farming rework changes how unplanted fields recover. A field that has crops selected but nothing planted now regenerates fertility as if it were fallow. Fallow fertility replenishment builds over time, and most of that regeneration happens near the end of the year cycle. Crops also get most of their growth in the final months, while other fertility types gain slightly less while a crop grows.
Continuous planting now drains fertility, so players must rotate fields and leave some land fallow before harvest. Because crop growth is weighted toward late in the year, the timing of planting and the decision to leave a field empty both matter more than they did before. A field left unplanted in spring can still recover meaningful fertility before the next planting window, but only if the player accepts the lost growing season.
Rye’s balance change supports that rotation pressure. The crop’s fertility bonus moves from x1.5 to x1.75 and its yield increases 7 percent. Since Rye becomes the better choice for bread making at the Bakery when Wheat is below 60 percent fertility, it is a fallback bread crop. A player who has drawn down Wheat fertility through repeated planting can switch to Rye and keep bakery production going while the Wheat land recovers under fallow conditions.
Beekeeping output now tracks woodland coverage
The beekeeping rework affects the Zeidler’s Hut. Zeidlers now tend a tree once and roll a chance to establish a beehive. That chance is called Honey Hunting Affinity, and it uses 50 percent of the Woodland Environment as the roll. A Zeidler working in an area with high woodland percentage has a better chance to set up a hive at a tree.
If a player clears forest to create more field space, the Woodland Environment percentage drops, and the Zeidler’s chance to establish a hive falls with it. Honey and wax output therefore scale with how much woodland the player keeps. Slavic Magic also fixed an inverted chance bug that previously produced less Honey and Wax the more Woodland a region had. After the fix, a denser forest should no longer work against beekeeping.
Foresters received a tree planting density reduction of approximately 66 percent. That change sits alongside the beekeeping adjustment and means reforestation is slower by tree count per area, which can keep woodland from returning too quickly and depressing the environment percentage.
AI settlements now place buildings more like a human
The AI settlement changes in this beta address building placement in neighboring towns. The AI now uses a rich mine as the center point when placing a Bloomery or a Clay Furnace. It waits until a Woodcutter’s Lodge is finished before building a Charcoal Kiln. Nearby buildings that are too far from a road are rotated toward the settlement center instead. The AI also tries to build enclosing roads around the central Marketplace and Churches, and rotates nearby buildings toward those structures.
These changes make AI towns read as more organic because they follow the same layout priorities a human player uses. A neighbor settlement now has a recognizable center and an industrial edge instead of a random collection of structures.
Health regen now requires real distance from combat
The patch adds a strict condition to fast unit HP regeneration. A unit now has to be at least 160 meters from the closest enemy unit before fast regeneration can apply. This closes a combat exploit where a unit could regenerate during a battle, including engagements with gaps in the action or where a unit stood just outside melee range while staying near the fight.
A wounded unit can no longer recover quickly while a fight is still developing nearby. The change rewards breaking contact and repositioning instead of relying on passive regeneration at the edge of combat.
Confirmed versus not disclosed
This is a beta branch patch on the pre_release channel. Slavic Magic has not stated when the changes will reach the stable or main branch, and the notes do not estimate a date. The fallow regeneration rate is described qualitatively rather than numerically, so players cannot calculate exact fertility recovery per month from the patch notes.
The beta also corrects several crash states. Loading a save with a dead soldier carrying a banner, starting the Gantry upgrade for tier 4 Butcher’s Shop plots, and using the castle planner road tool with uncommitted road or wall points can no longer cause crashes. Production limits no longer go negative in several workplaces, and workers no longer produce beyond storage limits.
