Former Target Employee
Recruit
Route 230, or "The Salt Road", is a trade route to help get you on your feet financially in the early stages of the game. There are more efficient methods out there for sure (Floris' AAR, Chapter 29), but Route 230 is easy to learn and remember, adaptive, will help you understand the trade function more, and does not require a lot of starting capital. It only takes one paragraph to explain it, but I will provide more information below it for those more interested.
The Basics: It is best to start in the Kingdom of the Nords or the Sarranid Sultanate. All you have to do is travel clockwise around Calradia (ignoring Yalen), checking the marketplaces for salt and linen. If you can buy it under 230 denars, do it. If you can sell it over 230 denars, do it. And that's it! That's Route 230! But I have more information below if you want to make this trade route more lucrative.
More Information
I researched what goods each town produces and came up with a total of 12 goods (excluding food items like bread and grapes). There are 22 towns and every single one produces wool cloth and tools; 19 of them produced leather and ale; 17 produced pottery and oil; 13 produced wine. I consider these Common.
Salt is only produced in 5 towns, spice in 4, velvet and linen in 3, and iron in 1. Of those, velvet and linen require raw materials: dyes and raw silk, and flax, respectively. We can say these 8 are Rare.
If you use the Route 230 rules you will notice a trend. Linen and salt is bought in the northwest, sold in the northeast, then bought again in the southeast, sold again in the southwest, repeat.
You will start off buying salt and linen in the northwest, then move on to the northeast. I found raw silk in Rivacheg, and everybody knows Curaw is the only place that produces iron. So while you're in the northeast selling the salt and linen, pick up raw silk and iron in those two cities.
Your next stop is the southeast, where you can sell the iron and restock on salt and linen; you will find that these places are also stocked with dyes - so pick them up while you're at it. Your next stop is the southwest to sell the salt and linen, but since Jelkala, Veluca, and Suno produce velvet you can sell the dyes and raw silk there on your way back to the northwest. You can pick up the velvet they make and sell it in the northwest too, and I found some places (like Praven) have flax which you can buy and sell to the linen northwest.
A general summary:
Northwest (Tihr-->Sargoth-->Wercheg): Buy salt and linen. Sell velvet, spice, iron, and flax.
Northeast (Rivacheg-->Curaw): Buy iron and raw silk. Sell salt, linen, spice, and velvet.
Southeast (Ichamur-->Tulga-->Sarranid Towns): Buy salt, linen, spice, and dyes. Sell iron and velvet.
Southwest (Jelkala-->Veluca-->Suno-->Praven): Buy velvet and flax. Sell spice, salt, linen, iron, dyes, and raw silk.
Where did '230' come from? All goods have a base value, but you rarely see this because of supply/demand and other modifiers. The base value for salt is 255, and linen's is 250. A character with no trade skill only sells at 90% value, so salt=230 and linen=225. But salt is abundant and that's why I called this the Salt Road, and thus Route 230.
My strategy was to always buy under the base value and only ever sell over the base value. I took 10% off the base value of the Rare goods and they are as follows:
Enterprises?: I divided the map as follows: The Iron North, the Spice East, and the Velvet South. Velvet is exclusively produced in the south (Veluca, Kelkala, and Suno), so it's no wonder the dyeworks profits so well in Curaw. where velvet is not produced and thus is in demand. Once you can afford a 10,000 dyeworks in Curaw, buy it! Now as you follow Route 230 and pick up raw silk an dye like you normally would, just hang onto it and drop it off in your warehouse in Curaw when you make it back there.
The Basics: It is best to start in the Kingdom of the Nords or the Sarranid Sultanate. All you have to do is travel clockwise around Calradia (ignoring Yalen), checking the marketplaces for salt and linen. If you can buy it under 230 denars, do it. If you can sell it over 230 denars, do it. And that's it! That's Route 230! But I have more information below if you want to make this trade route more lucrative.
More Information
I researched what goods each town produces and came up with a total of 12 goods (excluding food items like bread and grapes). There are 22 towns and every single one produces wool cloth and tools; 19 of them produced leather and ale; 17 produced pottery and oil; 13 produced wine. I consider these Common.
Salt is only produced in 5 towns, spice in 4, velvet and linen in 3, and iron in 1. Of those, velvet and linen require raw materials: dyes and raw silk, and flax, respectively. We can say these 8 are Rare.
If you use the Route 230 rules you will notice a trend. Linen and salt is bought in the northwest, sold in the northeast, then bought again in the southeast, sold again in the southwest, repeat.
You will start off buying salt and linen in the northwest, then move on to the northeast. I found raw silk in Rivacheg, and everybody knows Curaw is the only place that produces iron. So while you're in the northeast selling the salt and linen, pick up raw silk and iron in those two cities.
Your next stop is the southeast, where you can sell the iron and restock on salt and linen; you will find that these places are also stocked with dyes - so pick them up while you're at it. Your next stop is the southwest to sell the salt and linen, but since Jelkala, Veluca, and Suno produce velvet you can sell the dyes and raw silk there on your way back to the northwest. You can pick up the velvet they make and sell it in the northwest too, and I found some places (like Praven) have flax which you can buy and sell to the linen northwest.
A general summary:
Northwest (Tihr-->Sargoth-->Wercheg): Buy salt and linen. Sell velvet, spice, iron, and flax.
Northeast (Rivacheg-->Curaw): Buy iron and raw silk. Sell salt, linen, spice, and velvet.
Southeast (Ichamur-->Tulga-->Sarranid Towns): Buy salt, linen, spice, and dyes. Sell iron and velvet.
Southwest (Jelkala-->Veluca-->Suno-->Praven): Buy velvet and flax. Sell spice, salt, linen, iron, dyes, and raw silk.
Where did '230' come from? All goods have a base value, but you rarely see this because of supply/demand and other modifiers. The base value for salt is 255, and linen's is 250. A character with no trade skill only sells at 90% value, so salt=230 and linen=225. But salt is abundant and that's why I called this the Salt Road, and thus Route 230.
My strategy was to always buy under the base value and only ever sell over the base value. I took 10% off the base value of the Rare goods and they are as follows:
- Velvet = 923
- Spice = 792
- Raw Silk = 540
- Salt = 230
- Linen = 225
- Iron = 225
- Dyes = 200
- Flax = 135
Enterprises?: I divided the map as follows: The Iron North, the Spice East, and the Velvet South. Velvet is exclusively produced in the south (Veluca, Kelkala, and Suno), so it's no wonder the dyeworks profits so well in Curaw. where velvet is not produced and thus is in demand. Once you can afford a 10,000 dyeworks in Curaw, buy it! Now as you follow Route 230 and pick up raw silk an dye like you normally would, just hang onto it and drop it off in your warehouse in Curaw when you make it back there.
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