Buddy/Ignore List
02-09-2026, 10:08 PM
I have always enjoyed standing orders and finding ways to get the most out of them. Here are my thoughts on this manner.
# 50 – Cancel Standing Order
I do wish this were a free order. I often end up with stale standing orders in the mid to late game and can’t spare the order to cancel them.
# 60 – Create Standing Order
The turn result does a poor job of indicating how many standing orders your kingdom has available. And the rulebook is out of date (sigh). It works as follows:
Supposedly, the system will automatically remove extra standing orders if you lose a region and have too many to support. I’ve never actually seen this happen, and I’ve carried extra standing orders for at least two turns.
Note that there are a handful of commands that cannot be designated as standing:
The order entry system will catch these. Note that the system DOES allow orders that are clearly not valid, such as the 511 example above, or something nonsensical, such as group movement or an agent searching for encounters. Be careful with that checkbox!
Creative Use of Standing Orders
I’ve identified some patterns that I use to maximize standing orders.
Using 500 to train an agent is a common use case for standing orders. Conveniently, one can use the agent to counter-espionage (54) or guard prisoners (299) without having to cancel the training order. Useful if the protection is needed for a single turn. The agent can also be moved (via 350) and then resume training at the new location. This is useful for when an agent reaches the maximum level without a Thieves’ Guild (9) and needs to be moved to where one exists.
Titling an emissary (390) is another example. The 390 order comes after all other emissary actions. Thus, the emissary can be promoted to a prince and then proceed to be utilized without needing to cancel the 390 order. (The 390 fails without consequence)
Setting a standing order to Increase Influence (480) is something I do every single game, sometimes as early as turn one. This one is nice as every other commonly used king order (enamor, denigrate, and move capital) comes before 480. I have had games where I never remove this order. Another nice perk is that the 390 (title emissary) order comes first. Thus, you can use one or more 390s to lower the king’s influence to below 19 and allow the 480 to execute.
Merchant Trading (711) comes after Sea Movement (710). One can transport fleets without breaking the merchant trading standing order. This also works for Sea Patrol (705); however, it sadly does not work for Sea Movement Search for PC, as this is order 715.
Using the 600 orders to raise gold/food is fairly common. As the orders come rather late in the turn, in the off-season, it is possible to plan to spend your food/gold before these orders and simply let them fail. This allows you to maintain them even when you can’t afford them.
I'd love to hear about use clever ways to use standing orders.
# 50 – Cancel Standing Order
I do wish this were a free order. I often end up with stale standing orders in the mid to late game and can’t spare the order to cancel them.
# 60 – Create Standing Order
The turn result does a poor job of indicating how many standing orders your kingdom has available. And the rulebook is out of date (sigh). It works as follows:
- Base of six standing orders (eight with Forethought trait)
- Three additional standing orders per region controlled (four with Forethought)
Supposedly, the system will automatically remove extra standing orders if you lose a region and have too many to support. I’ve never actually seen this happen, and I’ve carried extra standing orders for at least two turns.
Note that there are a handful of commands that cannot be designated as standing:
- #510 – Hire New Figure (Tavern) (Curiously, 511 is allowed)
- All victory checks
- All one-time orders (Kingdom Customization, Set ESO, Claim ESO)
The order entry system will catch these. Note that the system DOES allow orders that are clearly not valid, such as the 511 example above, or something nonsensical, such as group movement or an agent searching for encounters. Be careful with that checkbox!
Creative Use of Standing Orders
I’ve identified some patterns that I use to maximize standing orders.
Using 500 to train an agent is a common use case for standing orders. Conveniently, one can use the agent to counter-espionage (54) or guard prisoners (299) without having to cancel the training order. Useful if the protection is needed for a single turn. The agent can also be moved (via 350) and then resume training at the new location. This is useful for when an agent reaches the maximum level without a Thieves’ Guild (9) and needs to be moved to where one exists.
Titling an emissary (390) is another example. The 390 order comes after all other emissary actions. Thus, the emissary can be promoted to a prince and then proceed to be utilized without needing to cancel the 390 order. (The 390 fails without consequence)
Setting a standing order to Increase Influence (480) is something I do every single game, sometimes as early as turn one. This one is nice as every other commonly used king order (enamor, denigrate, and move capital) comes before 480. I have had games where I never remove this order. Another nice perk is that the 390 (title emissary) order comes first. Thus, you can use one or more 390s to lower the king’s influence to below 19 and allow the 480 to execute.
Merchant Trading (711) comes after Sea Movement (710). One can transport fleets without breaking the merchant trading standing order. This also works for Sea Patrol (705); however, it sadly does not work for Sea Movement Search for PC, as this is order 715.
Using the 600 orders to raise gold/food is fairly common. As the orders come rather late in the turn, in the off-season, it is possible to plan to spend your food/gold before these orders and simply let them fail. This allows you to maintain them even when you can’t afford them.
I'd love to hear about use clever ways to use standing orders.