How to protect my merchants?

[Marcus Ulpius]

In my HRE campaign it got to a point where merchants are becoming a waste of time and florins. My merchants usually come with 1-3 stars. Mostly it's 1-2 stars. Problem is - they are getting nearly immediately "killed" by AI merchants which are 3-5 stars. What is amazing is that the AI has nearly 100% success rate on my merchants while I was able to successfully drive out competitors only twice and twice lost my own merchant.

Is AI "cheating" here or something can be done?

[robbo]

Many consider it a cheat but you can always build a fort over important resources and then just garrison as many merchants as you like inside the fort. Enemy merchants are then unable to attempt to put your merchant out of business.

Another option is to send an assassin along with your merchants to kill enemy merchants rather than attempt to seize their assets.

[richieelias]

Many consider it a cheat but you can always build a fort over important resources and then just garrison as many merchants as you like inside the fort. Enemy merchants are then unable to attempt to put your merchant out of business.

I forget what fixed it, the stainless steel mod or the Kingdoms upgrade, but either way this is no longer possible. You cant build forts on top of resources anymore.

[Marcus Ulpius]

I'll wait and see if the trend will stop. As HRE I can survive without merchants (controlling all of N. Italy trade centers gives a good boost to the economy), some merchants also were able to get more stars and are not so easy targets anymore. What bothers me is that 100% success of AI when it comes to "killing" my merchants as that looks like a bug.

[richieelias]

If your merchant has zero or only 1 rank then anything with 3 or more ranks is almost garunteed to take him over. Also if you are trading a resource in an area where you do not have a trade pact that makes it even easier for enemy merchants to sieze his assets.

The reason it looks like they have 100% success rate is that the ai will only ever attempt it if they already have high % chance of success.
AI merchants will almost never attack a merchant with 3 or more ranks that are inside a territory you have a trade agreement with.

A good strategy is to:

1. Train all of your merchants in your largest city to get a merchants guild and all of its upgrades asap.

2. Get rid of any merchant you produce with zero ranks in finance. They are practically worthless and will get taken over the instant they touch a resource. Just stockpile them until you've maxed your merchant count and send them out on a death ship.

3. Park all of your rank 1 and 2 merchants in one area with a spy or two and a high rank merchant or assassin to kill off any merchants that attempt to sieze them. I cant be 100% sure, but it seems like merchants have a better chance of improving in rank if they are far away from your capitol, trading rich resources, and inside a territory (not your own) that you have a trade pact with.

4. Leave your rank 3 and 4 merchants on the best far away resources so that they can get to rank 5 and up. You dont need to babysit these as the AI will not attempt to take them unless they have a very high ranked merchant (possibly 7 or more). However, beware high rank Byzantine merchants near Jerusalem and Constantinople. They often have one with 6 or more ranks that will make a beeline to anything with 4 or less around there.

5. Send anything with 5 or more ranks out to rich areas paired with spys to attack any AI merchants you see with 3 ranks or less. Two places with a high conentration of AI low rank merchants are the Venice reigon and the Jerusalem reigon. AI merchants also seem to flutter around the northern edge of France & HRE.

Thats how I play and I never lose a merchant unless they are trash (rank 0 or 1)

[Stark of Winterfell]

Merchant Guild Headquarters + Great Market/Merchants Quarter-you probably won't ever have a merchant that starts out with less than 4 stars.

[Rugin84]

If your merchant has zero or only 1 rank then anything with 3 or more ranks is almost garunteed to take him over. Also if you are trading a resource in an area where you do not have a trade pact that makes it even easier for enemy merchants to sieze his assets.

The reason it looks like they have 100% success rate is that the ai will only ever attempt it if they already have high % chance of success.
AI merchants will almost never attack a merchant with 3 or more ranks that are inside a territory you have a trade agreement with.

A good strategy is to:

1. Train all of your merchants in your largest city to get a merchants guild and all of its upgrades asap.

2. Get rid of any merchant you produce with zero ranks in finance. They are practically worthless and will get taken over the instant they touch a resource. Just stockpile them until you've maxed your merchant count and send them out on a death ship.

3. Park all of your rank 1 and 2 merchants in one area with a spy or two and a high rank merchant or assassin to kill off any merchants that attempt to sieze them. I cant be 100% sure, but it seems like merchants have a better chance of improving in rank if they are far away from your capitol, trading rich resources, and inside a territory (not your own) that you have a trade pact with.

4. Leave your rank 3 and 4 merchants on the best far away resources so that they can get to rank 5 and up. You dont need to babysit these as the AI will not attempt to take them unless they have a very high ranked merchant (possibly 7 or more). However, beware high rank Byzantine merchants near Jerusalem and Constantinople. They often have one with 6 or more ranks that will make a beeline to anything with 4 or less around there.

5. Send anything with 5 or more ranks out to rich areas paired with spys to attack any AI merchants you see with 3 ranks or less. Two places with a high conentration of AI low rank merchants are the Venice reigon and the Jerusalem reigon. AI merchants also seem to flutter around the northern edge of France & HRE.

Thats how I play and I never lose a merchant unless they are trash (rank 0 or 1)

Thanks alot for this, I apllied your advice to my Danish campaign, and am becoming an economic titan. Out of the 6-8 merchants I have, at least half are 5+ stars and doing great in Venice and the high value recources in the baltic and western greek area (Epirus, and Zargosa) I also find that my merchants do get attacked every once in a while, but they usually aquire the attacking merchant. Using spies with them is a great tip, along with the "training" of low level merchants close to home. And I really dont mind the micro managment. So thanks man, great tips about merchants.

[Navajo Joe]

In my HRE campaign it got to a point where merchants are becoming a waste of time and florins. My merchants usually come with 1-3 stars. Mostly it's 1-2 stars. Problem is - they are getting nearly immediately "killed" by AI merchants which are 3-5 stars. What is amazing is that the AI has nearly 100% success rate on my merchants while I was able to successfully drive out competitors only twice and twice lost my own merchant.

Is AI "cheating" here or something can be done?

I had this in my campaign, playing as Norway, I put many merchants out and lost most of them. This happened for 70-80 turns and then it stopped. My merchants are not being bothered by anybody. Infact in my various Assassin's travels I don't come across many AI merchants. The amount of Princesses has alslo reduced, come to think about it

[caralampio]

I send my weak merchants to backwater resources, that way they seem to draw less attention.

[moosey]

Enemy merchants tend to leave youre merchants alone if theyre of equal or lesser rank to youre own merchants so if i have weak merchants i tend to send them off to islands, sardinia for silver, etc... until theyr ebetter

[Notimeforaname]

1. Choose a resource that is high in value.
2. Put a LOW UPKEEP unit on it, like peasant archers or pilgrims.
3. Merge as many as 20 merchants onto that unit.
4. Rake in heaps of cash.
5. If the unit rebels, no sweat, you've got twenty merchants that have been making you rich for many turns. And the unit is easy to kill with any nearby cavalry.
6. Rinse and repeat as necessary.

[Spartan90]

1. Choose a resource that is high in value.
2. Put a LOW UPKEEP unit on it, like peasant archers or pilgrims.
3. Merge as many as 20 merchants onto that unit.
4. Rake in heaps of cash.
5. If the unit rebels, no sweat, you've got twenty merchants that have been making you rich for many turns. And the unit is easy to kill with any nearby cavalry.
6. Rinse and repeat as necessary.

Does this work still? I notice the strategy of building a fort on the resource no longer works, maybe this bug has been fixed as well?

[Marcus Ulpius]

I see this trend is waning now. I train all my merchants in Genoa (already have Merchants Guild there) and most merchants have 3 stars. The AI doesn't mess with them too much now. I have one 6 star Sicilian merchant who is wondering around Northern Italy and attacks my merchants from time to time, but I guess my assassins will have to deal with that problem

[Notimeforaname]

forgot the quote! lolz

[Notimeforaname]

Does this work still? I notice the strategy of building a fort on the resource no longer works, maybe this bug has been fixed as well?

Yep, it works

[caralampio]

1. Choose a resource that is high in value.
2. Put a LOW UPKEEP unit on it, like peasant archers or pilgrims.
3. Merge as many as 20 merchants onto that unit.
4. Rake in heaps of cash.
5. If the unit rebels, no sweat, you've got twenty merchants that have been making you rich for many turns. And the unit is easy to kill with any nearby cavalry.
6. Rinse and repeat as necessary.

Risking to lose 20 merchants in one fell swoop...

I don't think these sleazes are necessary anyway, in SS merchant "wars" have been toned down considerably. It is very rare for my merchants to get taken over. I think the OP's experience is unusual.

[Marcus Ulpius]

Those attacks have stopped completely. After turn 50 I hardly had any attack on my merchants regardless of merchant quality. It looks those "hostile takeovers" were so abundant in the beginning of the campaign only.

Now my empire faces a far more serious threat - the Moors, who had destroyed Spain and Portugal, made Aragon a vassal state and are attacking France now. What is strange, the Papacy had made France their target from the beginning. They are excommunicated nearly all the time and are finally crumbling after 2 crusades and war with England. So I can't allow Moors to take over Southern France - it's time for a great war!!!

[Notimeforaname]

Risking to lose 20 merchants in one fell swoop...

I don't think these sleazes are necessary anyway, in SS merchant "wars" have been toned down considerably. It is very rare for my merchants to get taken over. I think the OP's experience is unusual.

I don't think you'll lose any merchants. If you lose a city that has agents in it they are kicked out. Likewise with a stack.... or a single unit of peasant archers...You lose, well, nothing. And gain security from enemy merchants and can stack merchants on a profitable resource making it worthwhile.
Good to do when you have very few (low level) merchants and are wary of predation.

[Oddball_E8]

Risking to lose 20 merchants in one fell swoop...

I don't think these sleazes are necessary anyway, in SS merchant "wars" have been toned down considerably. It is very rare for my merchants to get taken over. I think the OP's experience is unusual.

naah... happens to me alot too... usually about 75% of my merchants gets "eaten" by other merchants... and i very very rarely manage to take over other merchants (even when the odds are in my favor)

[Harris2000]

1. Choose a resource that is high in value.
2. Put a LOW UPKEEP unit on it, like peasant archers or pilgrims.
3. Merge as many as 20 merchants onto that unit.
4. Rake in heaps of cash.
5. If the unit rebels, no sweat, you've got twenty merchants that have been making you rich for many turns. And the unit is easy to kill with any nearby cavalry.
6. Rinse and repeat as necessary.

7. add one of your worst generals to the stack and it will never rebel
8. replace the general wend he died