There are three main types of transport animals in Manor Lords, and because they seem so similar to each other in terms of function, it can be hard to determine which you should use. If you’re wondering what the difference is between horses, oxen, and mules in Manor Lords, here’s what you need to know.
Horses vs. Ox vs. Mules in Manor Lords
As mentioned above, there are three types of transport animals in Manor Lords. They all help to ferry resources and goods around, but they also all serve rather different purposes from each other. Here’s a brief explainer on what each one does:
| Animal | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Horse | Used to travel across trade routes to trade with other regions. |
| Mule | Used to ferry goods and resources between your own controlled regions. |
| Ox | Used to ferry resources within a region to help with logistics. |
The oxen are the easiest to explain in Manor Lords, so let’s start with that one first.
When to Use the Ox
The ox is the very first animal you’ll gain access to in Manor Lords. It’s used to help with construction within a region, and your families will use it to move timber and planks around as they’re building new structures. In fact, certain structures like the sawpit won’t even work if you don’t have an ox to help move things around.
To get an ox, you can build a hitching post, then click on it and choose to order an ox.
When to Use the Horse
While you don’t need horses to trade with other regions, they will help your traders move a lot faster, thus making your trade routes more efficient. You can also purchase one through the hitching post or small stable for 30 regional wealth, making it one of the more expensive luxuries you can buy in Manor Lords.
Horses will travel across the King’s Road between regions, letting you import and export goods.
When to Use the Mule
Not to be confused with the horse, the mules are used for packing stations. Once you’ve gotten enough Influence to take over another region, you can use the mules to ferry goods and resources between the regions that are under your control.
Which Is Best?
As you can see, all three animals serve very different purposes in Manor Lords, though it can be confusing to determine which one you need at any given point in time. I would argue that the ox is easily the most useful animal in the game, simply because you need it to get a lot of things done within a region.
The mules and horses are more of mid to late-game animals, and are heavily dependent on how far you’ve progressed. For instance, if you never engage in trade, you’ll probably never need the horse. And even if you do, traders can still take the trade routes without horses, even if that takes a longer time.
And that’s everything you need to know about horses, oxen, and mules in Manor Lords.
