Ways to Boost Subject Happiness in Elder Scrolls Castles

In Elder Scrolls Castles, maintaining the happiness of your subjects is a challenging yet crucial task that you must master. Unhappy subjects will be less productive and may even attempt to assassinate others. Here’s how to boost subject happiness in Elder Scrolls Castles to ensure your dynasty thrives!

How to Enhance Happiness in Elder Scrolls Castles

Examining the happiness status of subjects in Elder Scrolls Castles — Image Source: Bethesda Game Studios via Twinfinite

Here are some strategies to increase your subjects’ happiness in Elder Scrolls Castles:

Assign them to the Music Stage
Assign them to the Bookcase
Make Rulings that will make them happy

Music Stage

You’ll unlock the Music Stage at Dynasty level 26. Once built, you can assign two subjects to it, which will restore their happiness levels to the maximum allowed. After assigning, check the subject’s card to see how long it will take to completely fill their happiness meter. Subjects with the Sophisticated trait will regain happiness more quickly than those without. Be careful, as other rulings that affect their happiness will still apply. Therefore, regularly monitor your subjects to avoid unnecessary time spent in the Music Stage and to optimize production.

Bookcase

The Bookcase becomes accessible at Dynasty level 42 and serves a similar purpose as the Music Stage but does so at a much quicker pace. You can assign up to two subjects simultaneously to the Bookcase, and similar rules regarding the Sophisticated trait and happiness-affecting rulings apply here as well.

Rulings

Making a ruling that improves happiness for all subjects in Elder Scrolls Castles — Image Source: Bethesda Game Studios via Twinfinite

Making rulings can be straightforward, but you must be cautious as a single ruling can influence individuals, groups, races, and classes (commoners vs. nobles) simultaneously, potentially negating any positive impact you’ve achieved. To minimize risk, choose a neutral ruling, although this might cost you gold or resources. Generally, it’s wise to favor the subject with the lowest happiness rating when selecting a ruling.

Additional Methods to Enhance Happiness in Elder Scrolls Castles

Decorative items like the iron armor stand affecting happiness in Elder Scrolls Castles — Image Source: Bethesda Game Studios via Twinfinite

Besides the three primary methods to enhance happiness, you can also take actions to prevent happiness loss. One effective strategy is to build decorations, such as the Iron Armor Stand, which reduces the percentage of happiness lost among your subjects. The positive aspect of these decorations is that their effects are cumulative, allowing you to place them behind most crafting stations.

Examining a subject with a bossy trait in Elder Scrolls Castles — Image Source: Bethesda Game Studios via Twinfinite

In addition to building decorations, it’s essential to isolate subjects with negative traits, as they can diminish the happiness of their peers. Traits like Bossy and Heartless can negatively impact other subjects’ happiness levels. If isolated subjects can’t be paired with three Volatile subjects, it’s advisable to banish them to prevent a decrease in production efficiency at the Music Stage and Bookcase, as this can lead to higher production costs. Don’t worry—banishing subjects incurs no penalties, so feel free to take decisive action when necessary.

Now that you know effective methods to enhance subject happiness in Elder Scrolls Castles, you can avoid unwanted assassinations and boost productivity among your workers.