One of the first challenging quests in Pharoah: A New Era is called “The First Pharoah” and tasks players with building up the city of Men-Nefer and building their first Monument. However — it’s possible to get stuck on this quest if you’re not sure what you’re doing. This Pharaoh “The First Pharaoh” guide will provide you with a handy walkthrough in case you’re having trouble.
The First Pharaoh (Men-Nefer) Guide
The First Pharaoh mission is one of the first missions where players get full control over their settlement. Players must build a sustained economy and, eventually, a Monument to complete the mission. In addition, the following mission objectives must be met before the mission is successfully completed:
- 15 Culture
- 20 Prosperity
- 40 Kingdom
Players can access their current progress by selecting the Ratings Overseer icon on the left side of their screen.
Reach Spacious Apartment
The first task that this mission asks the player to complete is to “Reach Spacious Apartment” status on their housing. Players start with a barren map and can build their settlement anywhere. We suggest the top right corner next to the Nile River, as we’ll be able to grow crops and sustain our populace here. Start by building some Work Camps and Houses right next to the mud near the Nile. Then, build a few Chickpea Farms, as this will be your settlement’s main food source.
Once you’ve got your main setup, you’ll want to start building your other infrastructure buildings like your Village Palace, Granary, Storage Yard, Bazzar, Apothecary, and Firehouse. Once you have the foundation for your settlement done, you can start checking in on the needs of your homes by left-clicking on them. In this panel, the text on the bottom will explain what construction you need for the house to upgrade. They will need a place to worship, some entertainment, and access to fresh water.
Have a Running Scribal School
Once you’re somewhat set up, the mission will task you with building your first education building. To complete this portion of the mission, you’ll need to create a Scribal School, Reed Gatherer, and Papyrus Maker.
Also — this is somewhat important for later — make sure that you are creating Storage Yards for each finished good. Click a Storage Yard and click Accept None at the bottom. Then, select the dropdown menu for the specific good you want to be stored and select Accept All.
If you don’t have enough Storage in this part of the quest, it can stall out — as your workers will have nowhere to store the bricks required for your Monument. If you want to be safe, dedicate an entire Storage Yard just for Bricks so you have enough to finish construction.
Building the Monument
The last part of the quest requires players to build a Monument, which requires Bricks that are locked behind the mission. To obtain the necessary bricks for the construction, players must Trade with the neighboring city of Perwadjyt, which produces them. See our trading guide if you’re unsure of how to do it.
Once you have enough bricks, you’ll need to build a few Bricklayers’ Guild buildings and then place the Monument. If you’ve fulfilled the rest of the quest objectives, you’ll complete the quest once construction is complete.
It took me a few playthroughs to finally complete this one, as it’s also possible to stall out at the end if your Kingdom score is too low, as there doesn’t seem to be a way to raise it via the traditional means since many of the game’s options are locked by the campaign. We’re not sure if this was a bug or just us, but restarting the campaign from scratch and completing the objectives earlier helped us resolve the issue.
We will be covering more of Pharaoh: A New Era in our Guides Section.
