At the heart of Anno 1404's gameplay is the necessity to provide for your people's Needs. Every Inhabitant, including Beggars, has a variety of Needs that need to be satisfied for them to stay in your Cities. These Needs start off simple, but tend to become more complex as your Inhabitants become more sophisticated and reach higher Civilisation levels. Higher level Inhabitants also develop new Needs at certain Inhabitant thresholds.
Knowing when these thresholds are approaching can help you be better prepared, as your Inhabitant satisfaction can suddenly drop when these Needs are developed, until they are satisfied again. This page contains all the Needs for each Civilisation level, both the initial Needs and those that develop at certain Inhabitant thresholds. Studying these tables will help you to become familiar with how Needs develop so that you can plan and provide for them sooner in order to maximize your growth and tax revenue.
We make a distinction between Goods-based Needs and Building-based Needs. Building-based Needs are satisfied by placing the required Needs building in your Settlement and creating a Road connection from the building to the Houses in its Influence area. Goods-based Needs require a steady supply of Goods available in the Warehouse of your Settlement, as these are consumed by your Inhabitants.
Not all Needs are essential for keeping your Inhabitants satisfied, but ultimately all Needs need to be at least partially satisfied for Inhabitants to be able to advance to the next Civilisation level. In general, all the Needs of the previous level become essential after advancing, and the new Needs that are developed by that level are non-essential until they advance again. In addition to allowing Inhabitants to advance, better satisfying the Needs of your Inhabitants also increases the tax income you receive.
Needs types[]
The Needs of Inhabitants are shown in the Housing menu after clicking on any House. The Housing menu identifies 8 types of Needs. The individual Needs are displayed by clicking on one of the eight Needs bars. Note that not all Civilisation levels require all 8 Need types, and will only show the Needs they require. Patricians and Noblemen are the only Residents that display all 8 Need types. When other pages refer to Needs, they generally mean the Need types, instead of the individual Needs. However, on this page we will make a clear distinction between the two.
- Need for Food: Fish, Spices, Bread, and Meat (Occidental) | Dates and Marzipan (Oriental).
- Need for Drink: Cider, Beer, and Wine (Occidental) | Milk and Coffee (Oriental)
- Need for Clothing: Linen garments, Leather jerkins, Fur coats, and Brocade robes (Occidental) | None (Oriental).
- Need for Property: Books, Glasses, and Candlestick (Occidental) | Carpets, Pearl necklaces, and Perfume (Oriental).
- Need for Company: Marketplace or Imperial cathedral (Occidental) | Bazaar or Sultan's mosque (Oriental).
- Need for Faith: Chapel, Church, or Imperial cathedral (Occidental) | Mosque or Sultan's mosque (Oriental).
- Need for Amusement: Tavern or Imperial cathedral (Occidental) | Bath house or Sultan's mosque (Oriental).
- Need for Security: Debtor's prison or Imperial cathedral (Occidental) | None (Oriental)
Need fulfilment levels[]
How well a Need is satisfied is expressed using a percentage-value and a fulfilment level. Building-based Needs are always either 0% satisfied or 100% satisfied; They either have access to them, or they don't. Goods-based Needs can range anywhere from 0% to 100%, depending on how much of the Goods are being made available. The fulfilment level is described using three levels: Not satisfied; Adequately satisfied; and Very well satisfied. The threshold for each fulfilment level depends on the Need, the Civilisation level, and the number of Inhabitants of that level. This means the margin for error shrinks as your Population grows.
Realistically, you can basically ignore the exact percentage values, since you generally want to overproduce Goods anyway. Still, it's worth understanding that this game mechanic exists, and how to play around it.
Needs development[]
Below is a breakdown of all the Needs types for each Civilization level, including the milestones at which new Needs are developed and the Needs percentages for each Satisfaction level. If a threshold indicates 0%+ for Adequately satisfied, this means this Need is non-essential. If the threshold for Adequately satisfied higher than 0%, this means you must meet this Need for at least that much or risk your people moving out or rioting. Together with the Inhabitant support page these thresholds can be used to find the minimal amount of production needed to satisfy the population, though it's generally always better to overproduce and provide all Needs at 100% to maximize Tax income.
Beggars[]
Distribution | Thresholds | ||
---|---|---|---|
100% Fish | 40%+ Adequately satisfied 95%+ Very well satisfied | ||
100% Cider | 0%+ Adequately satisfied 95%+ Very well satisfied | ||
100% Marketplace or Cathedral | 90%+ Adequately satisfied 100% Very well satisfied | ||
100% Chapel, Church, or Cathedral | 90%+ Adequately satisfied 100% Very well satisfied |
Peasants[]
Distribution | Thresholds | ||
---|---|---|---|
100% Fish | Increasing from 1 to 960+ Peasants: 10% to 40%+ Adequately satisfied 40% to 95%+ Very well satisfied | ||
100% Marketplace or Cathedral | 90%+ Adequately satisfied 100% Very well satisfied | ||
60 Peasants | |||
100% Cider | Increasing from 60 to 960+ Peasants: 0%+ Adequately satisfied 50% to 95%+ Very well satisfied | ||
90 Peasants | |||
100% Chapel, Church, or Cathedral | 0%+ Adequately satisfied 95%+ Very well satisfied |
Citizens[]
Distribution | Thresholds | ||
---|---|---|---|
40% Fish 60% Spices |
Increasing from 1 to 2000+ Citizens: 15% to 55%+ Adequately satisfied 55% to 95%+ Very well satisfied | ||
100% Cider | Increasing from 1 to 2000+ Citizens: 20% to 60%+ Adequately satisfied 60% to 95%+ Very well satisfied | ||
100% Linen garments | Increasing from 1 to 2000+ Citizens: 0%+ Adequately satisfied 50% to 95%+ Very well satisfied | ||
100% Marketplace or Cathedral | 90%+ Adequately satisfied 100% Very well satisfied | ||
100% Chapel, Church, or Cathedral | 0%+ Adequately satisfied 95%+ Very well satisfied | ||
355 Citizens | |||
100% Tavern or Cathedral | 0%+ Adequately satisfied 95%+ Very well satisfied |
Patricians[]
Distribution | Thresholds | ||
---|---|---|---|
20% Fish 35% Spices 45% Bread |
Increasing from 1 to 4000+ Patricians: 15% to 60%+ Adequately satisfied 60% to 95%+ Very well satisfied | ||
30% Cider 70% Beer |
Increasing from 1 to 4000+ Patricians: 20% to 40%+ Adequately satisfied 60% to 95%+ Very well satisfied | ||
35% Linen garments 65% Leather jerkins |
Increasing from 1 to 4000+ Patricians: 25% to 40%+ Adequately satisfied 40% to 95%+ Very well satisfied | ||
100% Marketplace or Cathedral | 90%+ Adequately satisfied 100% Very well satisfied | ||
30% Chapel 70% Church or 100% Cathedral |
20%+ Adequately satisfied 60%+ Very well satisfied | ||
100% Tavern or Cathedral | 20%+ Adequately satisfied 100% Very well satisfied | ||
940 Patricians | |||
100% Books | Increasing from 940 to 4000+ Patricians: 0%+ Adequately satisfied 45% to 95%+ Very well satisfied | ||
1190 Patricians | |||
100% Debtor's prison or Cathedral | 0%+ Adequately satisfied 95%+ Very well satisfied | ||
2850 Patricians | |||
40% Books 60% Candlestick |
Increasing from 2850 to 4000+ Patricians: 0%+ Adequately satisfied 45% to 95%+ Very well satisfied |
Noblemen[]
Distribution | Thresholds | ||
---|---|---|---|
20% Fish 20% Spices 25% Bread 35% Meat |
Increasing from 1 to 4000+ Noblemen: 30% to 60%+ Adequately satisfied 95%+ Very well satisfied | ||
40% Cider 60% Beer |
Increasing from 1 to 1499 Noblemen: 25% to 30%+ Adequately satisfied 95%+ Very well satisfied | ||
50% Linen garments 50% Leather jerkins |
20%+ Adequately satisfied 95%+ Very well satisfied | ||
100% Books | Increasing from 1 to 2199 Noblemen: 20% to 33%+ Adequately satisfied 95%+ Very well satisfied | ||
100% Marketplace or Cathedral | 100% Adequately satisfied 100% Very well satisfied | ||
100% Church or 100% Cathedral |
100% Adequately satisfied 100% Very well satisfied | ||
100% Tavern or Cathedral | 100% Adequately satisfied 100% Very well satisfied | ||
100% Debtor's prison or Cathedral | 0%+ Adequately satisfied 95%+ Very well satisfied | ||
950 Noblemen | |||
30% Linen garments 30% Leather jerkins 40% Fur coats |
Increasing from 950 to 4000+ Noblemen: 20% to 60%+ Adequately satisfied 95%+ Very well satisfied | ||
1500 Noblemen | |||
20% Cider 30% Beer 50% Wine |
Increasing from 1500 to 4000+ Noblemen: 30% to 60%+ Adequately satisfied 95%+ Very well satisfied | ||
2200 Noblemen | |||
43% Books 57% Glasses |
Increasing from 2200 to 2999 Noblemen: 34% to 42%+ Adequately satisfied 95%+ Very well satisfied | ||
3000 Noblemen | |||
30% Books 40% Glasses 30% Candlestick |
Increasing from 3000 to 4000+ Noblemen: 43% to 55%+ Adequately satisfied 95%+ Very well satisfied | ||
4000 Noblemen | |||
15% Linen garments 15% Leather jerkins 20% Fur coats 50% Brocade robes |
60%+ Adequately satisfied 95%+ Very well satisfied |
Nomads[]
Distribution | Thresholds | ||
---|---|---|---|
100% Dates | Increasing from 1 to 2100+ Nomads: 10% to 40%+ Adequately satisfied 40% to 95%+ Very well satisfied | ||
100% Bazaar or Sultan's mosque | 90%+ Adequately satisfied 100% Very well satisfied | ||
145 Nomads | |||
100% Milk | Increasing from 145 to 2100+ Nomads: 0%+ Adequately satisfied 40% to 95%+ Very well satisfied | ||
295 Nomads | |||
100% Carpets | Increasing from 295 to 2100+ Nomads: 0%+ Adequately satisfied 40% to 95%+ Very well satisfied | ||
440 Nomads | |||
100% Mosque or Sultan's mosque | 90%+ Adequately satisfied 95%+ Very well satisfied |
Envoys[]
Distribution | Thresholds | ||
---|---|---|---|
100% Dates | Increasing from 1 to 4359+ Envoys: 10% to 17%+ Adequately satisfied 95%+ Very well satisfied | ||
30% Milk 70% Coffee |
5%+ Adequately satisfied* 95%+ Very well satisfied | ||
100% Carpets | 15%+ Adequately satisfied* 95%+ Very well satisfied | ||
100% Bazaar or Sultan's mosque | 90%+ Adequately satisfied 100% Very well satisfied | ||
100% Mosque or Sultan's mosque | 90%+ Adequately satisfied* 95%+ Very well satisfied | ||
1040 Envoys | |||
40% Carpets 60% Pearl necklaces |
15%+ Adequately satisfied* 95%+ Very well satisfied | ||
2600 Envoys | |||
20% Carpets 30% Pearl necklaces 50% Perfume |
Increasing from 2600 to 7950+ Envoys: 15% to 35%+ Adequately satisfied 100% Very well satisfied | ||
100% Bath house or Sultan's mosque | 0%+ Adequately satisfied 95%+ Very well satisfied | ||
4360 Envoys | |||
33% Dates 67% Marzipan |
Increasing from 4360 to 7950+ Envoys: 17% to 30%+ Adequately satisfied 95%+ Very well satisfied |
*The thresholds for these Needs types are incorrectly displayed as 0% in-game. Values listed are observed thresholds.
Needs wheel[]
All eight types of needs are represented by needs wheels. There are also different needs wheels for each population level. The complexity of the needs wheel grows at each civilization level as more and more diverse needs make up each needs type. To view a needs wheel, left-click on any type of house and then left-click on any of the possible eight needs that are displayed.
The wheel itself can be anywhere from 0% and 100% full and is broken down into distinct portions when multiple factors affect a type of need. For instance, Citizens' food need requires both fish and spices, with fish making up 40% of the need and spices making up 60% of the need. If only fish was provided, the entire food need would only be met at 40%. The wheel gradually fills when either a good is in stock in the warehouse or a house has access to a needs building. The wheel is drained when a good is out of stock or access to a needs building is cut off.
An item can be denied to a population class by left-clicking the item on the needs wheel so that a red X appears on top of the item image. All people of that class will no longer have access to that item, even if it is in the warehouse, and that needs portion of the wheel will drain. Denying access to a good can be useful if you are not producing enough of that good to cover all your people. So you block access to a good that is only a minor need to one population class (as indicated by being a small portion of the wheel) to allow the good to not run out for other population classes that more highly value that good. Note that denying goods reduces the taxes you bring in, so it is not an advisable strategy and should only be used in emergency situations to prevent rioting.