I play EU4 for sometime but i still have problem with understanding the trade concept

[PawelK198604]

I mean whole that "trade power" and how all this work.

[antrahk36]

In each trade node you'll have a certain percentage of the trade power going through it. You'll typically have the most trade power in your home trade node but you can inrease your influence in it by using merchants to transfer trade power from other areas of trade. The percentage and value of the trade node is shown in the box over each collection point. The arrows and the direction they flow show you which trade nodes connect and flow towards each other.

[Laladen]

So is it better to use two merchants to send them two different nodes upstream one trade node away OR one merchant at a node which goes to another node that your second merchant is at, which goes to your home node? (basically two merchants in the same line)


I really wish I understood how to analyze this part of the game and make better decisions.

[saintsfan36]

You aren't the only one confused by it. I see people saying things, and read the guides, and none of it makes any sense. They say to line up the merchants, pushing the trade forward, because it gains 10 percent(?). However, unless you have the vast, VAST majority of control at every node along the way, this makes absolutely no sense at all. If you have 20 percent of the node at node B, then you only get 20 percent of what you pushed from node A. It makes more sense to just collect at node A and have 100 percent(of whatever you can grab), rather than an extra 10 percent added, then reduced by 80 percent at the next node.

Obviously, I'm missing something in how the mechanics work.

[Black_Rat]

Your missing the fact that you you take a HUGE pentalty if you collect from any node other then your home node. The pentalty is a base of -50% trade power and is modified by your trade power modifier. So if you have a +40% bonus trade power then when you collect from non home nodes you have a -70% penalty.

This makes it more efficient to push the trade toward your node, as even with the loss to other countries you still make more money off it over all, unless you own a massive amount of the node its generally not worth collecting from anything other then your home node.

http://www.eu4wiki.com/Trade

[Alpaca Rotorvator]

Messaggio originale di Fedaykin:

So is it better to use two merchants to send them two different nodes upstream one trade node away OR one merchant at a node which goes to another node that your second merchant is at, which goes to your home node? (basically two merchants in the same line)


I really wish I understood how to analyze this part of the game and make better decisions.

Really, watching Arumba do a(trade-focused) and doing things largely by trial(and ofc experience), with just a bit of calculation, I more or less gave up on making absolute sense out of the trade mechanics.
From what I saw without good trade steering efficiency bonuses it's usually not worth to send merchants to steer, collecting nets you more anyway.
As for steering on the first or second hop away from your home node, don't think I ever messed much with that.

[Kupferdrache]

The real question is in which nodes can you accumulate enough power to be worth sending in your mecheranchts, are there multible outputs on that node, so your trade will be spread all over the place if no merchant is in that node, have you send ships there and if yes how many? As far as I have seen it ingame adding more than 5 ships to a trade node usually costs more ship maintaince as the extra ships are able to pull extra. and sometimes the AI get crazy amounts of upstream trade power and I can't figurger out where this tradepower comes, the nodes next in line don't have a trader or much tradepower of that particual AI as well.