Steward housing budget is secretly the best part of homestead building

[NordOfSolitude]

I just realized I've been playing homesteads completely wrong. I always thought the steward was just there to manage stuff while I'm gone, but I started paying attention to how much gold they actually spend on materials and it's wild. Like, if you give them a decent budget they'll legitimately finish wing construction while you're off doing other stuff.

But here's the thing - I've been comparing notes with my friends and apparently nobody agrees on what the "right" budget actually is. I've been doing like 500 gold and it feels slow, but I also don't want to dump 2000 gold and come back to find they've somehow wasted it all on... I dunno, iron ingots they don't need? Does anyone else micromanage this or am I just being paranoid about gold?

Also has anyone figured out if the steward's skill level actually matters? Like, is Rayya better at managing materials than some random Dawnstar guard, or does it not make a difference? I feel like I've been picking stewards based on who I like rather than who's actually competent.

 

[RiftenWanderer]

I don't think the steward's skill level matters much honestly, I've had Rayya and a bunch of randoms and the construction speed feels the same. I think you're just picking whoever you like, which is the right call.

As for the budget - 500 gold does feel slow yeah. I usually do somewhere between 800 and 1200 depending on which wing I'm building, and they seem to knock it out pretty steadily without wasting stuff. The thing is they won't overspend if materials are already stocked, so it's not like you're gonna come back to a disaster. They just... buy what they need when they need it.

Honestly I think 2000 is overkill unless you're trying to speed-run the whole thing in one sitting. The steward just isn't that efficient - they're not gonna magically build twice as fast with double the budget. There's probably some hard cap on how much they can accomplish per day or whatever. I'd stick with your 500-1200 range and just check back every few in-game days if you're impatient.