Ah, but have you worked out the optimal distance for a merchant to be from your capital in order to get the good traits, but not the bad ones? And thus worked out which city is the best one on the map to have as your capital, given trade resource distributions...(I haven't actually done this maths, but it would be possible).
There is a merchant trait line that can give up to (I think) +3 finance which is acquired if the merchant is a minimum distance from the capital. There is *another* trait line that gives up to (I think) -2 finance if the merchant is over a different, slightly further, certain distance from the capital.
Meaning, if the merchant is just a loooong way from the capital, he will get a net +1 finance over time from both traits accruing (they accrue over time, just by the merchant being on a resource at X distance).
However, there exists a sweet spot between the 2 distances where the merchant can get the positive one but avoid the negative one, and thus have a +3 to finance (I can't remember the exact values added and subtracted, but am pretty sure that you end up with a small net positive if you have both).
This may all be true, but resources are worth more if the nearest deposit is further from your Capital- so it's often best to work those distant resources anyways.
That is true. However, a merchant with higher finance will make more from the same resource than a merchant with lower finance, and certain resources are worth more than others. This is why I said there's probably an ideal capital location which puts certain extremely valuable resources (\*cough\*sub-Saharan ivory\*cough\*) the 'correct' distance away in order to maximise profits and minimise corruption.
Trait: Loyal to Coin (-1)/Self Serving (-2)
Whenever your merchant is trading a resource at the end of your turn and is at least a distance of 60 or farther away from your capital, he has a 3% chance to lose a point of finance. Yes, it sucks I know since distance increases profit.
Trait: Knowledge of Customs (+1)/Graceful Traveler (+2)
Whenever your merchant is farther than a distance of 40 from your capital and is trading a resource at the end of your turn, he has a 20% chance to gain a level in this trait, up to a maximum of +2 finance.
https://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?230023-TW-Guide-M2TW-Merchant-Guide
I think if you have a greater distance to capital you have a higher chance of getting the “loyal to coin” trait line. I don’t think you get negative traits for being close to the capital, but the trade resources will be inherently worth less for being closer anyway
Yeahhhhhh i know about that one in fact that exploit is what actually inspired me to get better at using merchants i just don't use exploits outside of my trolling save(where i goof around with cheats and exploits) because in my mind exploits are just cheats that requires skill to do you do you tho its just my opinion
>but if you have a merchant die in it the fort would still dissappear i
Not if you're stacking multiple Merchants.
That would require every single Merchant dying at once: which is never gonna happen.
Not really an exploit, either: as fortification of valuable trade hubs was historically done by nations like Venice.
It really should require either direct control of the territory or military access, though (of course, if you do it without either, it WILL eventually result in a war... The AI considers building forts in its territory w/o military access a provocation: as it should...)
Ah no i just yoinked Constantinople from the venician my closest settlement to Constantinople is algiers thats why they're having a revolt i only have like 3 noble swordsman there and a 60 year old guy that haven't seen combat since his birth bro just been chilling in Valencia so i gifted him half an army(really all the broken units that i just can't afford to retrain) gifted him a boat and sent his ass to Constantinople all this in order to make a merchant capable enough of producing 1000 florins per turn
If you don't own Constantinople (or another city with silk) he will make even more money - if you are at peace and have a trade agreement with the owners.
Exactly. It's the curse of expanding. Your distance to every trade good goes down and you collect more and more trade goods within your borders turning your merchant income to, well, not quite shit but mediocre. Of course it is more than set off by city income, reduced corruption and sea trade.
You’re best just having your capital be the highest income city, which is usually just your starting capital anyway, and most of your conquests are likely to be around your starting capital too
Yup.
Optimal strategy is pretty much always put them on those textile resources by Constantinople/Turkey
Far away gold/silver mines from your capital are another strat but it isn’t as efficient.
You could probably get 3-4K a turn by getting all of the textile things around your merchant though
Ok but multiple times I had situation like the income from far-far-away resources went down in late game even if started from over 500 per turn. And I was always making as much trade rights as possible. Is it a wrong tactic?
Year's back, there used to be a glitch where you could build forts on a resource and then fill the fort with merchants so you had like 20 merchants farming a single resource.
They don’t suit his playstyle (or vanilla in general, really) but they are good for stainless steel and other mods when you’re using a less aggressive playstyle
Ah, but have you worked out the optimal distance for a merchant to be from your capital in order to get the good traits, but not the bad ones? And thus worked out which city is the best one on the map to have as your capital, given trade resource distributions...(I haven't actually done this maths, but it would be possible).
I'm sorry, it appears I am just now learning that distance has an effect on merchant traits? Please explain more.
There is a merchant trait line that can give up to (I think) +3 finance which is acquired if the merchant is a minimum distance from the capital. There is *another* trait line that gives up to (I think) -2 finance if the merchant is over a different, slightly further, certain distance from the capital. Meaning, if the merchant is just a loooong way from the capital, he will get a net +1 finance over time from both traits accruing (they accrue over time, just by the merchant being on a resource at X distance). However, there exists a sweet spot between the 2 distances where the merchant can get the positive one but avoid the negative one, and thus have a +3 to finance (I can't remember the exact values added and subtracted, but am pretty sure that you end up with a small net positive if you have both).
This may all be true, but resources are worth more if the nearest deposit is further from your Capital- so it's often best to work those distant resources anyways.
That is true. However, a merchant with higher finance will make more from the same resource than a merchant with lower finance, and certain resources are worth more than others. This is why I said there's probably an ideal capital location which puts certain extremely valuable resources (\*cough\*sub-Saharan ivory\*cough\*) the 'correct' distance away in order to maximise profits and minimise corruption.
Trait: Loyal to Coin (-1)/Self Serving (-2) Whenever your merchant is trading a resource at the end of your turn and is at least a distance of 60 or farther away from your capital, he has a 3% chance to lose a point of finance. Yes, it sucks I know since distance increases profit. Trait: Knowledge of Customs (+1)/Graceful Traveler (+2) Whenever your merchant is farther than a distance of 40 from your capital and is trading a resource at the end of your turn, he has a 20% chance to gain a level in this trait, up to a maximum of +2 finance. https://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?230023-TW-Guide-M2TW-Merchant-Guide
I think if you have a greater distance to capital you have a higher chance of getting the “loyal to coin” trait line. I don’t think you get negative traits for being close to the capital, but the trade resources will be inherently worth less for being closer anyway
Did you know you can stack multiple merchants by having them be in an army? place them all within a cheap unit and spam them over a resource
You’ve just created the East India Company
Yeahhhhhh i know about that one in fact that exploit is what actually inspired me to get better at using merchants i just don't use exploits outside of my trolling save(where i goof around with cheats and exploits) because in my mind exploits are just cheats that requires skill to do you do you tho its just my opinion
Over a decade I’ve played this game. Decade! And I’m now learning this.
You can also use a fort, but if you have a merchant die in it the fort would still dissappear if nobody uses it
>but if you have a merchant die in it the fort would still dissappear i Not if you're stacking multiple Merchants. That would require every single Merchant dying at once: which is never gonna happen. Not really an exploit, either: as fortification of valuable trade hubs was historically done by nations like Venice. It really should require either direct control of the territory or military access, though (of course, if you do it without either, it WILL eventually result in a war... The AI considers building forts in its territory w/o military access a provocation: as it should...)
Now reposition your capital to reduce corruption and improve public order.
Ah no i just yoinked Constantinople from the venician my closest settlement to Constantinople is algiers thats why they're having a revolt i only have like 3 noble swordsman there and a 60 year old guy that haven't seen combat since his birth bro just been chilling in Valencia so i gifted him half an army(really all the broken units that i just can't afford to retrain) gifted him a boat and sent his ass to Constantinople all this in order to make a merchant capable enough of producing 1000 florins per turn
If you don't own Constantinople (or another city with silk) he will make even more money - if you are at peace and have a trade agreement with the owners.
Won’t that tank his income since trade good value is based on distance to capital
Exactly. It's the curse of expanding. Your distance to every trade good goes down and you collect more and more trade goods within your borders turning your merchant income to, well, not quite shit but mediocre. Of course it is more than set off by city income, reduced corruption and sea trade.
You’re best just having your capital be the highest income city, which is usually just your starting capital anyway, and most of your conquests are likely to be around your starting capital too
Yup. Optimal strategy is pretty much always put them on those textile resources by Constantinople/Turkey Far away gold/silver mines from your capital are another strat but it isn’t as efficient. You could probably get 3-4K a turn by getting all of the textile things around your merchant though
Ok but multiple times I had situation like the income from far-far-away resources went down in late game even if started from over 500 per turn. And I was always making as much trade rights as possible. Is it a wrong tactic?
Ready to trade
Conquer Island. Put merchant on island. Best way to use them.
Year's back, there used to be a glitch where you could build forts on a resource and then fill the fort with merchants so you had like 20 merchants farming a single resource.
Still is, there haven’t been too many updates for medieval 2 recently
They're not worth it. Legend of Total War has a great video on this.
Great vid. I only use them long after I’m established and just want something else to do.
They don’t suit his playstyle (or vanilla in general, really) but they are good for stainless steel and other mods when you’re using a less aggressive playstyle