Is there benefit to change castle to city?

[scotten]

I think I have too many castles and am not generating enough taxes. Is it worth spending the 6000 coins to convert a castle to a city? Seems like I should be able to pay back that investment in just a few years.

[JorisofHolland]

You probably are able to pay back. Especially coastal cities will quickly return the money, if you build the right buildings at least. With all of Britain turned into cities, I made about 5 K more. I can't be sure about how much it was, as I was modernising my garissons at the same time, as well as preparing for war. But it certainly is worth the money.

[Landtuber]

Absolutely, yes. The city conversion will not pay itself off immediately, but add in some trade improvements and it sure will. Just be careful to not strip the interior of your empire to heavily of troop producing capability, in case of revolts/rebels or unexpected naval invasions. Usually I go with one castle/fortress/citadel per 5 or 6 surrounding cities. This also means you can levy militia armies from your cities and stiffen them with some elite units from various castles scattered around your empire.

[DeliCiousTZM]

look at the region resources before u change a region with commen gods and without an port is not worth making a city check at the resources.

[gluteus maximus aurelius]

Some castles are definitely worth converting, but don't leave a large swathe of area without a castle, otherwise you could come unstuck later on. Useless castles (like Rhodes, Nicosia, Embi etc) might be worth turning into cities for that extra trade boost, but you're gonna have to keep castles in some places. For instance, even though Toulouse and Hamburg earn a fair amount of money for themselves, and would earn at least triple what they make if you turned them into cities, they are of extreme strategic importance, and therefore are best left as they are.

If it's just the 6000 cost that's bothering you, you can always cheat and give yourself back the money

[Ichon]

Some castles are definitely worth converting, but don't leave a large swathe of area without a castle, otherwise you could come unstuck later on. Useless castles (like Rhodes, Nicosia, Embi etc) might be worth turning into cities for that extra trade boost, but you're gonna have to keep castles in some places. For instance, even though Toulouse and Hamburg earn a fair amount of money for themselves, and would earn at least triple what they make if you turned them into cities, they are of extreme strategic importance, and therefore are best left as they are.

If it's just the 6000 cost that's bothering you, you can always cheat and give yourself back the money

It can be worth it not only for the extra money but the growth boost. If you are playing an early campaign you can switch small castles to cities and grow them to minor cities then switch back to castles, the higher trade as cities should almost pay for the switch and if you build carefully you won't waste much time on structures which can't exist in both and you get more powerful castles faster. Especially since in the early game there is not a huge difference between the castle units and other units available. Cavalry will smash either fairly easily. About 20-30 turns is all you need and you can make a profit even if you make a couple trade buildings just tear them down before switching back to recoup some money.

[meese]

I'd argue that Rhodes and Nicosia might not be useless if they're the only settlements you have in the area. They're good places to launch crusades into the Holy Land from.

[jman47]

I'd argue that Rhodes and Nicosia might not be useless if they're the only settlements you have in the area. They're good places to launch crusades into the Holy Land from.

depends. starting from the early era as byzantium, you should be focused on pacifying the hungarians and venetians and pounding out the turks before you go to the holy land, if that is your goal. i would prefer nicosia and rhodes be converted to cities as islands make great economic boons. from there id use the extra money to make a strong enough army to crush the turks, consolidate anatolia, and come into the holy land from the north.

however if you are playing as a western catholic faction, like england or france, nicosia makes a great castle to get large amounts of quality troops to jerusalem fast, if you have the navy for it, which you should as england

[Mega Tortas de Bodemloze]

Is there benefit to change castle to city?

As stated, cities are more lucrative economically. So then Strategically if your in a difficult spot, you may benefit from changing certain cities to Castles...

[DeliCiousTZM]

Most of the time thou its just a waste of time typical settlments i convert thou is Nicosia adana

[Mega Tortas de Bodemloze]

I concur, I don't think Adana should ever be left a castle after the early, struggle for life crisis is over. Waaay more profitable to a kingdom as a city...

[jman47]

Adana is a good example of one you always convert once its safe.

However i dont thinks its a waste of time usually. In order to have a healthy economy you should have a ratio of roughly 4:1 cities:castles, at least.

many, if not most, factions require a certain amount of converting in order to field an effective fighting force yet be able to afford it. the strategy part however is deciding what should be converted and what should stay as it is.

The question is not so much "when to convert" as it is "what to convert"

[Halbard]

for example, winchester should be always converted to city, since you have nottingham to protect the southern zone of britain.

[Amon Amarth]

As Roman Empire my first move is to convert Castles like Rhodes, Isparta and Cannakkle to citys after some turns are some of my best income machines, also after capturing Arta and Adana i do the same expect Nicosia that i use as Mourtatoi factory to face Kwarazians, Fatamids,Turks and Mongols.