Hey! Can't be the only one doing a spot of trading to get ahead in the game, so might as well try and take some tips, opinions and ideas to brainstorm. I'm not the best trader (arguably I'm not even good), but I love me my caravans.
Tips
- Don't be a dummy like I was and dismiss the low value trade goods. Hardwood, grain, flax and fish can easily be a doubling of your investment, and sometimes you don't need to go as far as you'd need to with more expensive trade goods.
- The number on your Inventory (not trade screen) tells you the average price everything you have in there fetches in the surroundings. Wile the area is still unknown, and hard to test, it serves as a tell if a trade good is in demand around you!
- Don't sell your weapons! Smelt them and sell the resources, most of the time it's much more worth it. (Might be wrong on this one)
- Livestock doesn't count against your capacity and can fetch a pretty penny, keep an eye out for good deals in villages! Do be careful of the "Herd" speed penalty.
- Buy workshops in those cities with villages that produce the raw materials needed for the production of goods. For example, a linen weavery in a city with two flax producing villages. You can check what trade good need what raw materials here. (Not affiliated to that website)
- Keep track of prices your way. I personally have both a "spreadsheet" with minimum buy price, maximum sell price, maximum buy cutoff, and minimum sel cutoff, and a ledger where I track how much I have exactly paid for what. Doing it in a notebook to feel inside the game is optional but highly recommended for extra immersion.
- As you keep trading, you'll start to find that certain areas specialize in certain goods (northern lands produce fur and fish, vlandian lands have cheaper oil, olives, grapes...). Keep track of this, jot it down or something. Eventually, this will lead you to finding out trade routes that are profitable.
- Caravan and village prices don't fluctuate with stock, unlike city prices. If you see a nice price, either buying or selling, milk it to the max!
- Mind your capacity when trading. Don't buy things you plan to sell on the other side of the map. The economy is dynamic and you might not be able to turn a profit there, and you'll have wasted time and capacity.
- Careful when buying manufactured goods (leather, wine, etc.) and luxury goods (velvet, jewelry), since their prices drop off fast, and you might need to go to various cities to sell them for a profit.
Ideas
- I already suggested having a number in the trade screen indicating how much, on average, you've paid for a certain trade good. Might help determine if you could make a profit.
- Being able to hire extra security for your caravans, and improve them in other ways
- Right now, there are way too few money sinks in the game, and money can become quickly redundant. Ideas on money sinks are appreciated, related to trading so we keep on track here!
- Maybe have some differences in how villages, cities and caravans behave in trading (more details below).
- Carts and cart mechanics (like being able to hide some soldiers in them to take enemies by surprise...)
- Bigger bandit groups and other attacks. To spice things up. Mybe a rival wants you hurt to send a message, that sort of thing.
Known bugs
- Trade XP is gained by sellings items on a profit, tracked item per item. This tracking disappears on reloading, so no XP for the items bought in the last session.
- Sturgian towns have poor AI regarding what workshops to build.
So, what else do you think needs to be in the game? How are the roads treating you? Any wizened trader of many years got any tips for us newbies?
Pull up a chair and share with us!
Edit: thanks for the ideas everyone! Check the discussions below for more in depth details for all this
Tips
- Don't be a dummy like I was and dismiss the low value trade goods. Hardwood, grain, flax and fish can easily be a doubling of your investment, and sometimes you don't need to go as far as you'd need to with more expensive trade goods.
- The number on your Inventory (not trade screen) tells you the average price everything you have in there fetches in the surroundings. Wile the area is still unknown, and hard to test, it serves as a tell if a trade good is in demand around you!
- Don't sell your weapons! Smelt them and sell the resources, most of the time it's much more worth it. (Might be wrong on this one)
- Livestock doesn't count against your capacity and can fetch a pretty penny, keep an eye out for good deals in villages! Do be careful of the "Herd" speed penalty.
- Buy workshops in those cities with villages that produce the raw materials needed for the production of goods. For example, a linen weavery in a city with two flax producing villages. You can check what trade good need what raw materials here. (Not affiliated to that website)
- Keep track of prices your way. I personally have both a "spreadsheet" with minimum buy price, maximum sell price, maximum buy cutoff, and minimum sel cutoff, and a ledger where I track how much I have exactly paid for what. Doing it in a notebook to feel inside the game is optional but highly recommended for extra immersion.
- As you keep trading, you'll start to find that certain areas specialize in certain goods (northern lands produce fur and fish, vlandian lands have cheaper oil, olives, grapes...). Keep track of this, jot it down or something. Eventually, this will lead you to finding out trade routes that are profitable.
- Caravan and village prices don't fluctuate with stock, unlike city prices. If you see a nice price, either buying or selling, milk it to the max!
- Mind your capacity when trading. Don't buy things you plan to sell on the other side of the map. The economy is dynamic and you might not be able to turn a profit there, and you'll have wasted time and capacity.
- Careful when buying manufactured goods (leather, wine, etc.) and luxury goods (velvet, jewelry), since their prices drop off fast, and you might need to go to various cities to sell them for a profit.
Ideas
- I already suggested having a number in the trade screen indicating how much, on average, you've paid for a certain trade good. Might help determine if you could make a profit.
- Being able to hire extra security for your caravans, and improve them in other ways
- Right now, there are way too few money sinks in the game, and money can become quickly redundant. Ideas on money sinks are appreciated, related to trading so we keep on track here!
- Maybe have some differences in how villages, cities and caravans behave in trading (more details below).
- Carts and cart mechanics (like being able to hide some soldiers in them to take enemies by surprise...)
- Bigger bandit groups and other attacks. To spice things up. Mybe a rival wants you hurt to send a message, that sort of thing.
Known bugs
- Trade XP is gained by sellings items on a profit, tracked item per item. This tracking disappears on reloading, so no XP for the items bought in the last session.
- Sturgian towns have poor AI regarding what workshops to build.
So, what else do you think needs to be in the game? How are the roads treating you? Any wizened trader of many years got any tips for us newbies?
Pull up a chair and share with us!
Edit: thanks for the ideas everyone! Check the discussions below for more in depth details for all this
Last edited: