I read a lot about trading in the ingame hints, but still cannot figure this out.
When I send a merchant to a trade node, I have the option to collect money from the node or to steer the trade 'uphill' to another trade node.
What advantages do I get by trade steering? If I send someone to this trade node, is it not equally good to collect the money there right away?
Does it always make sense to steer trade between two nodes I have merchants in?
magnatticmagnattic
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4 Answers
Trade steering is used for two primary purposes. To move trade from areas where you have low power to areas where you are dominant, and to move trade from a node to the node where your capital is to avoid taking a trade power penalty. Trade being pushed downstream occurs wihtout a merchant in nodes other than your capital, but you cannot change which direction trade flows downstream unless you have a merchant there.
Here is an example of a game where trade steering is useful:
In this game I have roughly 50 percent power in both the Tunis and the Sevilla nodes, but my capital is in Sevilla. Because of this, the best course is to move trade downstream from Tunis, which sends 2.5 gold out of 5 to the Sevilla trade node. In Sevilla, I can capture 50 percent of that trade and get a total of 1.25 gold from the tunis node, times my actual income modifiers. On the other hand, if I tried to collect trade in tunis, i would take a 55 percent penalty to trade power, leaving me with only around 25 percent power. That would let me collect only .66 gold times Actual income. Trade steering is twice as good here. If I had no merchant at all, my power would push trade downstream, but aragon would make that travel to genoa instead of Seville. I would lose out on ALL income.
This is what the trade map looks like with no merchant:
I get absolutely nothing from the Tunis trade node, because I have no merchant there. This is caused by Aragon steering trade toward Genoa.
While it is possible to steer trade upstream, it is virtually useless to use a merchant to do so because the trade power penalty is severe. Steer trade downstream, not upstream.
Instead, you should relocate your capital to a the node that is furthest downstream which you dominate, and then direct trade there.
Should you always steer trade to your capital? NO!
Usually you will want to direct trade downstream, but not always. You don't direct trade through nodes where other players/AI have a lot more trade power than you, especially your enemies.
One good example of a situation where directing trade would be a bad idea occurred in my most recent game as Netherlands. I had a large number of colonies in the Chesapeake bay node. However, if I directed trade downstream, it would have been collected by England or Norway, in The North Sea and London nodes between Chesapeake Bay and Antwerpen. Instead, it was better to just collect trade.
Many people will tell you that you should extract trade only at your capital. This is FALSE. Here is an example of how much you can pull out of a non-capital trade node, without investing any ideas in trade. This is more than even in my capital.
The key to note is that I control 93.5 percent trade power, even with the large penalty to trade from collecting without a capital present:
This is because the trade penalty for collecting from a non-capital node is a trade power penalty, which means if you still have a higher percent power in a non-capital node than in your capital after the penalty, you should definitely collect there
LawtonLawton
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Mal's answer is correct. However the more important factor is that collecting trade is only efficient in the trade zone with your capital. If you try to collect anywhere else, your trade power in that node is reduced by between 50 and 85%.
ErikErik
Sending trade downstream is beneficial as more trade value is added to the trade node downstream than is send from further upstream. Therefore steering the trade as far as possible and then collecting from it is, in theory, more profitable.
MalMal
I think it depends on geography, I don't think that sending trade up or down itself affects your income, because up is good and down is bad or opposite. due to my small and incomplete experience of this game, u want to place your merchant in way that they transfer power (money) from one point to place where u can collect it. In my example where I play Venice, I start from Crimea, transfer it to Constantinople, then to Ragusa and from there to Venice, notice when u open trade map view u can select sending destination. At default my merchant would transfer trade from Crimea to Kiev, which then would go to Poland and I would not benefit from it. I also think in theory longer your trade combination is more u should get in the end of the line, of course that would require number of merchants. I am sorry if i am wrong and did not get it right, just shearing my findings. Respect.
KharichKharich
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A trader can amass money or send it further, in hope of making a larger profit
To control trade, you use merchants. There is a base number of two per each country. This number can be increased through ideas (especially Trade that provides three extra merchants) and decisions. Furthermore, merchant republics have one more base merchant. You dispatch merchants to trade nodes (only within your trade range modified by diplomatic technology and ideas), where they attempt to seize as much control over the local trade route as possible.
You can order a merchant to do either of two things:
The larger your control over a given trade node, the larger percentage of the money, coming from the total, you receive. What you want to do, then, is establish a transfer route from the starting point A, through B, to C, where you have great control and where you are going to collect the money (much more than if you collected it in points A and B, where your share in the market is low). How much money you are going to collect for yourself, depends on the current trade power.
Trade Power is a key factor of how much you actually are going to get. Note that it is not a value that has bearing on the amount of money in a node (that is what trade value is for). Trade power determines how much of the entire pie you are going to get. This value varies for each trade center (although some modifiers, e.g. for high stability, are global for all nodes). Trade power depends on the following factors:
You should collect money where it is most effective after the establishment of the entire node, i.e. it is the ideal situation when it is a trade node with high trade value from production and from steering, and also very high trade power coming from market control (the more negligible the competition the easier it is to control, you will receive a lion's share in the market, somewhat by default, in the nod that your Capital belongs to.
Eventually, the game puts a merchant in the trade center of the capital to collect money there. Money in the capital is always collected automatically and the merchant presence modifies it only by 10%. Therefore, the most effective solution is to remove the merchant from there and put him in another node that you have strong control over. You need to take into consideration the fact that this will pretty much decrease the local trade power there but, if it still stays on a high level, this will be anyways more effective than the additional 10% from the capital. In general terms, a good solution for trade are two transfer routes, one that ends in the center that the capital belongs to and the other ending in another center, which you exercise vast control over.
Embargo
To maximize your share in a trade center, you can consider imposing embargo on another country. Embargo will decrease this country's trade power in nodes, in which both of you have trade power. This will increase the income of the remaining countries from these nodes. The imposed penalty is a half of the owned TP in any other trade center. I.e. the more power you have over a given center, the more effective the embargo is. Embargo effectiveness can be additionally increased by 33% by the Privateers idea from the Espionage group. Furthermore, England has a national idea that increases the effectiveness of embargo by 100%.
Embargo wil come with the decrease in the opinion of the other country by 15. Furthermore, each imposed embargo decreases trade effectiveness by 5%. This penalty can be avoided if you name another country your opponent.
Strategic goods
Controlling the market comes with very nice bonuses.
For controlling the market of certain goods, you can receive special bonuses. If you are the leader of the world production, you will receive a 10% rise to the production of these goods. If you, on the other hand, control at least 20% of the world trade of these goods, you will receive a special bonus, which depends on the type of the goods. These bonuses are really big and worth obtaining. For example, controlling grain market, will increase the limit of the army by 25%, and controlling wine market wil decrease stability cost by 25%. Gold is the exception here because it provides no bonus. You can find detailed information about that in the log (Hotkey -L).
Trade is one of the main sources of income generated by the country. It is also, seemingly, one of the most complicated elements of the game so, learning it thoroughly is a must for the economic domination in the world.
The world is divided into trade regions, i.e. the so called Trade Nodes. The entire production from each province in a given region makes it into the Center of Trade. From there, it is sent further on, in accordance with the arrowheads shown in the map (the above screenshot). Note that the transfer on the European routes is permanent and never changes. Unlike in the third Europa the trade routes can be neither destroyed, taken over, nor established. The map of these is permanent and it will only grow in size with new geographic discoveries. There are two 'end stations' for all of the routes, which do not send goods any further. These are Venice and Antwerp.
Eu4 End Nodes
The amount of money in a Trade Node depends on the amount and the price of the goods produced within its boundaries. This value is called trade value and it is calculated by multiplying the product price by its amount manufactured in a given province, and then by the modifier that is influenced by e.g. the Canal building which increases it by 25%. The total trade value o all the provinces is the sum of money that you can put your hands on by controlling a given trade route. Of course, there will be other countries that will want that money also.
In each Center of Trade there are merchants responsible for goods and money transfer. The larger the trade power at your disposal, within a given center, the more profit you are going to generate.
Institution is a game mechanic introduced in Europa Universalis IV introduced in 1.18 and the Westernization mechanic was removed. It is a mechanic which nations embracing institutions can avoid technology penalties. For every non-embraced institution, the penalty of raising a tech level can be increased annually by 1% and up to 50% per institution. It is possible for a primitive nation without any of the seven institution after they had spawned and bearing 350% cost penalty on raising a technology level. Institution can be spread from provinces to provinces with varied speed determined by friendliness of neighboring provinces, development, peace/war status, and stability.
The first institution Feudalism existed in the beginning in most part of the world except hordes in the Steppes, primitive nations in Africa, and the native tribes in the new world. The second institution Renaissance will guaranteed to be spawned in Italy by the 1450s and spread across the world. Nations which are far from Italy can choose to raise development to have Renaissance. In addition, Common Sense DLC is needed to raise development in provinces.
The third institution Colonialism can be spawned by having a colonial nation in the new world (except for Australia, so East Asian nations has to sail across the Pacific and land on the West coast of the Americas). In most cases, Castile/Spain or Portugal will have this institution first in the 1500s, but anyone with a colonial nation can have it. (Tip: if Colonialism never spawned, the latter institution will never spawn and the world will be more technologically advance)
The fourth institution is Printing Press and spawn in a German Protestant/Reformed nations in the 1550s. For non-Protestant or non-reformed nations outside of Europe, it is a must to develop provinces to have this institution. Since Catholics and Protestants/Reformed usually won’t get along easily, it will take a while to spread outside of Europe.
Eu4 Trade Company
The fifth, sixth, and seventh institutions are Global Trade, Manufacturies and Enlightenment. Global Trade will spawn in the capital city which is a trade center in with the highest trading node. Manufactories seem to spawn randomly in a capital city with more than 20 development and a manufactory. Enlightenment seem to spawn randomly in an European capital city with more than 20 development, member of a parliament seat and an university with in Europe. Everyone with marketplaces, manufactories, and universities in their provinces can have these institutions.
In conclusion, for non European nations, in order to have Renaissance and Printing Press before their neighbors, it is essential to raise development. And here are some tips about raising development:
Here is a YouTube video of more detailed analysis and information (I didn’t make this video)
Eu4 Best African Trade Node
PS: For the achievement of City of Cities which require a 60+ development province, it is easier to obtain as an non-European nation because provinces that were used to raise development usually have more than 30 developments already. With the bonus in late game like university and parliaments, and excessive amount of monarch points, it is fairly easy to have a 60 development province.
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