Ottomans Mission - Engage in the Spice Trade

[Shinobi]

Does anyone have any suggestions for completing this mission? I'm not sure how to increase my trade power in all the SEA nodes - do I just need to conquer stuff around each node?

The requirements:

    Bengal trade node:
        Our country controls at least 35% of the trade in the trade node
    Malacca trade node:
        Our country controls at least 35% of the trade in the trade node
    The Moluccas trade node:
        Our country controls at least 35% of the trade in the trade node
    Philippines trade node:
        Our country controls at least 35% of the trade in the trade node
    At least one of:
        Bengal trade node:
            Our country has an active merchant in the trade node
        Malacca trade node:
            Our country has an active merchant in the trade node
        The Moluccas trade node:
            Our country has an active merchant in the trade node
        Philippines trade node:
            Our country has an active merchant in the trade node

It should be noted that my grasp of trade mechanics is tenuous at best.

Thanks!

[Marquoz]

The best way to control trade is to conquer. My EU4 mantra is "Let trade guide your expansion." I always advocate conquering lands whose trade you can send home to your collection point, not wasting resources on provinces whose trade can't be routed where you want it. This is because trade is the game's biggest money maker by the mid game.

With that in mind, expanding into India and southeast Asia makes perfect sense for the Ottomans. Their trade can be sent to Constantinople (or Venice or Genoa, if you've conquered Italy) with no trouble as long as you also wiped out Persia and the Mamluks. And if you didn't, you're playing very badly, lol.

So, conquer. Smash your way all the way to the eastern coast of Asia. Set up trade companies everywhere for the extra merchants, and route all that high-value trade home. You'll make thousands per month from trade alone when you do.

[Shinobi]

Originally posted by Marquoz:

The best way to control trade is to conquer. My EU4 mantra is "Let trade guide your expansion." I always advocating conquering lands whose trade you can send home to your collection point, not wasting resources on provinces whose trade can't be routed where you want it. This is because trade is the game's biggest money maker by the mid game.

With that in mind, expanding into India and southeast Asia makes perfect sense for the Ottomans. Their trade can be sent to Constantinople (or Venice or Genoa, if you've conquered Italy) with no trouble as long as you also wiped out Persia and the Mamluks. And if you didn't, you're playing very badly, lol.

So, conquer. Smash your way all the way to the eastern coast of Asia. Set up trade companies everywhere for the extra merchants, and route all that high-value trade home. You'll make thousands per month from trade alone when you do.

Cheers, I figured that would be the answer but wasn't sure if there was another since previous missions didn't give claims or anything and I wondered if I was missing something.

[Totally Innocent Chatbot]

There are other methods of getting SOME trade power in distant nodes (simply assigning merchants, sending Light ships on Protect Trade missions, buying a province outright using the "Charter Company" diplomatic action), but direct conquest is by far the most effective and reliable way of doing so. Charter Company may be worth looking at anyway (requires Dharma DLC), especially if you don't have any land near India yet - you can buy a decent province from somebody there, then immediately use it as a staging point from which to fabricate claims and start invading people.