Is it better to build lots of them and keep level 1, or build 1 and upgrade it to max and then move to the next and do the same? What are the downfalls / benefits of each? Thank you.
You should upgrade them one at a time. If you are talking about guilds, upgrade them to level 3 then wait until you have 19 lands to upgrade them to level 4.
Well, I know that initially when you replace, a guild with an SoS your plunder drops. However, I don't know much about plunder on a Volary. I need to learn the rules on those buildings.
Unlock a few highlands and convert guilds to Volary or store enough to convert a mass amount of guilds to fully upgraded SoS's in the Lowlands. Either way, it isn't going to be cheap.
Lol. The amount of gold you have out. Usually 2b is enough also keeps your plunder high. Btw, you can't build Volary on LL. So keep Guild L4 on LL, continue building Volary on HL until Land 15, at this point you should start converting LL to SoS. Then continue Exploring HL n build Volary L1 to L2. Once your next land cost is 120b, upgrade all your Volaries to L3. Good luck. Long hard road
iJacob, what were you attacking? The plunder drop can usually be explained by the fact that the enemy is no longer WAY stronger, just much stronger.