Where to build trade hub

[Dorim]

Hello, I didn't understand well the trade hub, we need to build one at all colonized planed or just on the system where is the ring icon on the map?

[HappySack]

Starbases collect trade from the system they're in.

Trade hubs only extend the collection range by one system and should all be on the same station so you can combine it with a Offworld Trading Company building.

[Cerodil]

All starbases, even those without trade hubs gather the trade in their system. Trade hubs extend the distance that the starbase can pull trade from. So a starbase with one trade hub pulls the trade from its own system and all the connected systems. All you have to do is make a few trade hub filled stations in strategic positions to cover all your systems with trade/planets.

Edit: Thanks Captain403 fixed

[captain403]

Originally posted by Cerodil:

All starbases, even those without trade hubs gather the trade in their system. Trade hubs extend the distance that the starbase can pull trade from. So a starbase with one trade hub pulls the trade from its own system and all the connected systems. All you have to do is make a few trade hub filled stations in tragic positions to cover all your systems with trade/planets.

Strategic is probably the word you're looking for. Though a misplaced trade hub can be tragic.

[Kalemenos]

You don't "need" to put them anywhere, but if you do, they only go on starbases as a "module." As said above, their only function is to extend trade collection, one system per hub. Most systems and trade planets produce trade value, and you can see it if you hold the "alt" key down in galaxy view. The starbases collect that and send it on to your home planet.

You can add a building to your starbase, once you've researched the tech, an "Offworld Trading Company," and it adds 2 ene per hub. Another tech/building is the "Hyperlane Registrar," which gives you reach of one more system to the starbase.

Pirates will appear trying to interrupt your trade routes, so I often build starbases in tandem: one full of trade hubs, one full of hangars, so that they overlap many systems (even reaching through Gateways).

[captain403]

Originally posted by Kalemenos:

Pirates will appear trying to interrupt your trade routes, so I often build starbases in tandem: one full of trade hubs, one full of hangars, so that they overlap many systems (even reaching through Gateways).

A well built gateway net removes the need for more than one trade station, and removes piracy as a problem completely. You don't need internal bases for piracy control as well as gateways.

[Geoff]

Originally posted by captain403:

A well built gateway net removes the need for more than one trade station, and removes piracy as a problem completely. You don't need internal bases for piracy control as well as gateways.

You can turn gateways off, though. Set them to 0 on the opening slider and they won't appear which will prevent anyone from getting the tech to build one until at least the awakening of Fallen Empires.

So, not a bad idea to understand the basics of how trade works.

To the OP, a trade hub has a collection range, depending on how may trading bays you use on it. So it is wisest to put them in the center of densely populated clusters of stars. The exact best logic for that depends heavily on the type of map you decide to use. A fully equipped citadel with six trade bays and a hyperlane register has a collection range of 7 systems, which means you should only need a few, even if you have a very large empire.

Upgraded starbases cannot spawn pirates so it is usually wisest to "chain" your trade lanes. You can do that through a gateway or through the L-Gates or through a wormhole, but in the early game before you have those options, usually spacing the stations 2-3 jumps apart works best, alternating between a trade hub to collect within the nearby radius and a middle hub with hangar bays to suppress piracy. Your starbases get bigger and bigger as you develop tech, at which point you need fewer close to home and more far away, so you will usually start dismantling some of the "extra" ones near your homeworld and rebuilding them in more important places further out.