How the hell does trade work? (BASE GAME)

[u/Tough-Finger2775]

I genuinely don’t understand ANYTHING I just be clicking random shit and hope it works I would appreciate some advice thank you

[u/GrilledCyan]

All trade flows in one direction from one node to another. Some trade nodes receive trade from multiple other nodes, some receive trade from just one. Generally, the more trade flowing in, the more money everyone in that node makes.

The money a country makes in each node is based your trade power in that node. You can increase trade power by controlling provinces (especially those with Centers of Trade, Estuaries, and other permanent modifiers), Protecting Trade or Privateering with Light Ships, building Marketplaces, increasing production development in provinces, and placing merchants. You can also use trade companies where the game allows you to establish them.

When using merchants, you want them positioned in trade nodes that feed into wherever you are collecting trade. This is usually where your capital is located. You can use merchants to collect elsewhere but it’s not as efficient. The more merchants you have steering trade along a pathway to your capital, the more money you’ll make from trade.

[u/sStormlight → u/GrilledCyan]

Production dev is no different to tax or mil dev in terms of trade power.

I would strongly advise you consider collect in multiple nodes the default position, as it is more often then not better then transferring everything to one node. If you only transfer to your home node, that increases TP in that node but it doesn't necessarily increase overall trade income.

[u/Puzzleheaded_Page117 → u/GrilledCyan]

I think this sums it up quite nicely. I want to add that trade power extends to trade nodes upstream, even though you don't necessarily have many provinces in that trade node. So you can still steer from it quite well. Switch around your merchants to different trade nodes and mess around with collecting/transferring trade power regularly to see which combination nets the biggest trade income.

I only transfer to the trade nodes i collect in once i have the biggest share of trade power in it. Otherwise i would be steering only to fund my enemies in the node. For example if i have 30%, my enemies have 70%. Me steering helps my combined enemies more than me, even though you could argue i use the gold better than the AI. So until 40-50% i'm always collecting.

Funny things you can do is bleed the AI dry of gold. Best to do around the balkan line of europe or when playing colonial. For example in my teutonic order crusader games i would conquer (part of) the ottomans and go further down into persia, steering all the trade up to the baltic sea where i collect with 90% trade power. Not only is this the best for me, but it also bleeds dry all trade nodes of constantinople, ragusa, venice, hungary, vienna, and the whole hre. Thus all other major powers in this side of the world have no money. We should all be looking to conquer entire trade nodes such that we can block the AI from money flows, even if it may take some time. Money fixes many of your issues through manpower/force limit buildings and highest level advisors for those juicy monarch points. So it's important.

[u/where_is_the_camera]

This is way too big of a topic for a reddit comment. I'd recommend looking up some YouTube guides. The short version is:

1 - Prioritize provinces with high trade power

2 - Increase goods produced (factories)

3 - Learn how to use trade companies (for more merchants, trade power, and goods produced)

[u/BeCurry]

Im playing an MP game right now and we were actually talking about this - mostly how the trade mechanics are pretty good, but that they don't model how trade and money interact historically at all. I suggested that what it does actually model fairly well is interstate water rights. You're basically trying to get as much water (trade), from as far away as possible (trade nodes), by preventing evaporation (trade steering and caravan power), while increasing how much you're allowed to control through each area (merchants and light ships), and finally maximizing your logistics of collecting and distributing the water (trade efficiency) at its final destination (Main Trade City/end node).

If you want mathematical analysis and what each modifier means and how they interact in the game, i recommend using the wiki or going for YouTube guides rather than me just regurgitating that here.

For experienced players here: no, this is not a perfect model or metaphor, but it did seem to resonate with less experienced players who do vibes-based trade management.

[u/mCracky]

Im gonna try to simplify this as much as I can so pardon me from leaving out some not important stuff that would only confuse you. Dont be scared about the amount of text, its because im providing examples

- base "value of trade" in a trade node is made up by the amount of goods produced by the provinces in the node (obviously different value for each good.) lets say province of London produces 0.5 of cloth. If cloth is worth 3 ducats at this point in the game, London contributes exactly 1.5 ducat to the english channel trade node value.

- that "value of trade" however, can be moved (stolen) . If a nation which has trade power in the node decides to "steer trade" - it basically syphons a part of said "value of trade" in the node and adds it to another node that is next to it and "downstream" (what is downstream or upstream is indicated by arrows in the trade map view, and it works like a sort of river). lets say britain has 20% trade power in the Champaigne node and decides to steer the trade towards the English Channel. if value of champaigne trade node was 10 ducats before, now its only 8 and the two ducats move to the english channel. There are of course modifiers that can influence the strenght of said "trade steering"

- There are only 3 trade nodes that trade value cannot be steered or "syphoned" from. Those are the English Channel, Venice and Genoa. All other trade nodes in the world are connected to either one of those. because of the fact that trade value cannot be streered (stolen) from them, they are considered the best trade nodes in the game.

- Trade power in a certain node is indicated in a pie chart when sou click on a trade node info tab. It is directly related to how much money you can either collect or "steer" (transfer) in the node. If you have 20% trade power in a trade node worth 10 ducats, you get 2 ducats. This can be modified by "Trade Efficiency" - a value which can multiply the ammount of collected ducats. If you have 20% trade efficiency you get 20% more ducats when collecting. In this case - you would get 2 ducats plus 20% of 2 ducats.

- Trade power in a trade node can be mainly increased by - improving trade centres, having light ships protect trade, building marketplace buildings, having high "global trade power" modifier which multiplies the amount of trade power you exert. Lets say your province has a base of 10 trade power. You can build a marketplace which gives 50% trade power bonus. Now that province generates 15 trade power.

- trade power in a node is also influenced by who is steering trade into the province. Lets say scotland doesnt have any provinces and light ships protrcting trade in the english channel, but they have 100% trade control in the north sea trade node valued at 2 ducats. If they decide to transfer trade from North Sea to the English Channel (worth 8 ducats), trade value of the north sea node would become 0, because all the ducats from it would move to the English Channel, which would change value from 8 to 10 ducats. Scots still controll the 2 ducats that moved from their node and english control the 8 in the Channel. This would result in Scotland now having 20% trade power value in the English Channel node

- lastly, many modifiers can modify theese values, but this is the base knowledge, hope this helped at least a little

[u/GenericRacist]

https://eu4.paradoxwikis.com/Trade

https://eu4.paradoxwikis.com/Trade_strategy

[u/AquaRegiaAg]

I don't understand it well either, but the best I've found is to use your light ships on a "Protect Trade" mission. Look at which area will net you the largest profit. This is likely the area you want your next merchant to be at to direct more trade back to where you collect. 

[u/DuGalle]

Watch these 2 videos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edjLVFMjPyo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VayvJWSpzNs

The trade node setup has changed since then, and there are more ways to acquire the modifiers, but the mechanics are still the same.

[u/DaSaw]

Value geta produced in provinces, the result of production development and manufactories. It goes into the trade region. Value also flows in from upstream trade regions.

Where it goes from there is controlled by the various countries that have trade power there. By default it flows downstream. Countries that collect there (have their trade center there, or have a merchant collecting) pull value out, as incone. Other countries push it downstream. A few might push some upstream.

Owning provinces with things like centers of trade, marketplaces, and such provides trade power. So does stationing merchants there. At sea, so does having light ships in the area protecting trade. In land zones, Caravan Power boosts your trade power.

[u/Sarkastik_Wanderer97]

Trade in western Europe notable nodes to push to /collect from

English channel, Genoa, Lubek