View source for Population and housing

'''Population''' limits how many units a player can have at once in ''Dawn of Embers''. Every unit uses some population, and buildings provide the capacity for it.

== How population works ==
* '''Population used''' is the total population cost of every living unit you own. It is recounted from your living units, so it always matches what is actually alive.
* '''Population capacity''' is the sum of the population provided by your '''finished''' buildings. A building under construction provides nothing.
* Capacity can never rise above the match's '''population limit''' (see below), however many houses you build.
* A unit can only be queued if it fits: ''used population + population already reserved by queued units in all your buildings + the unit's cost'' must not exceed your capacity. Otherwise the game tells you: ''"Population limit reached (used/cap) - build more houses."''

=== Losing housing ===
If a house or your [[Town Hall]] is destroyed, your capacity drops at once, but '''no units are removed'''. Your population can therefore stand above your capacity for a while. Until it falls back below the limit (for example as units die), you cannot train anything new.

== Buildings that provide population ==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Building !! Population provided !! Cost !! Build time
|-
| [[House]] || +25 || 200 Wood || 25 s
|-
| [[Town Hall]] || +30 || 275 Wood, 100 Stone || 90 s
|}
No other building in the current balance sheet provides population.

== The population limit ==
* In a skirmish the default population limit is '''200'''. It was 400 for a short time before the October 2026 demo build and was set back to 200.
* A story mission sets its own limit (200 unless the mission says otherwise).
* A loaded save keeps the limit it was saved with.

== Population cost of units ==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Unit group !! Population each
|-
| [[Villager]]s || 1
|-
| Infantry (Infantry, Swordsman, Spearman) || 1
|-
| Archers (Shortbowman, Longbowman, Crossbowman) || 1
|-
| Cavalry (Knight, Lancer, Cavalry Archer) || 2
|-
| Siege (Battering Ram, Catapult, Trebuchet, Ballista) || 3
|-
| Mages (Fire, Water, Earth, Lightning) || 2
|-
| [[Trade Cart]] || 1
|-
| Fishing Ship, Trade Ship, Transport Ship || 1
|-
| War Galley || 2
|-
| Cannon Ship || 3
|-
| Captain || 1
|-
| Warden || 3
|}

== Tips ==
* Each House supports 25 population, so a 200-population army needs the Town Hall's 30 plus seven Houses (30 + 7 × 25 = 205).
* Because lost housing does not kill units, protecting Houses matters most when you still need to train.

== See also ==
* [[House]]
* [[Town Hall]]
* [[Buildings]]
* [[Resources]]

[[Category:Gameplay]]
[[Category:Economy]]