Crappy Merchants

**Ishiro** · September 09, 2012, 09:00 PM

I'm getting crappy merchants every time i recruit them, with one or none finance, with 2 are rare. I have seen merchants of other factions freshly recruited pass from none finance to 3 or 4 finance, and i say to myself WTH? how in the world that happend?

Can anyone explain to me please?

**Ichon** · September 09, 2012, 09:05 PM

High trade buildings, merchant guilds, libraries, etc can produce better merchants. With everything built new merchants should start at 4-6 skill. Merchant guild alone brings it normally to 3 skill usually.

**MikeNice808** · September 10, 2012, 01:24 AM

Also depends on playing level...I live by merchants and always see them getting beat over the head....keep making them...keep making merchant guilds and build buildings...they help in the long run...

**Chazz1225** · September 10, 2012, 02:19 AM

try and make one of your citites a primary merchant hub, be sure to invest in trade building and law as well but never invest in churches, try and stay at a normal church but never go higher than an abbey, this will drstically reduce the chance of getting the religiously intolerant trait which will cut down your finance. Also try and scout out rival merchants, never push above your weight if you want to make an aquisition. Also if there's a rival merchant with outrageous levels of finance heading towards your weaker merchant and you don't want to move from a resource, you don't have to run away, just step off your resource. Enemy merchant only do acquisitions on merchant who are currently on top of a resource. Either w8 for them to move on or get an assassin to deal with it. The most merchant i run with are 5 at highest i make sure they are at least at lvl 5 in finance and then move them on super resources.
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A final tip is to always move on a resource that you can't properly see due to fog of war. Usually a resource such as silk will have a merchant sitting on top of it. If they're out of your league to do an acquisition then simple move on the resource as long as you can't see the merchant on it and you'll move the other merchant aside

**Strengelicher** · September 10, 2012, 05:04 AM

Look here:

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...merchant+guide

**Ishiro** · September 28, 2012, 07:15 PM

Read it, now i get it, thanks.

**Steward Denethor II** · September 28, 2012, 09:43 PM

Well now that this thread has been bumped I might as well ask a question.

The guide says that merchants can have more than 10 Finance, even though they can only show 10. Does this count for other attributes, such as command, piety, etc?

**Ichon** · September 28, 2012, 10:55 PM

Originally Posted by Steward Denethor II

Well now that this thread has been bumped I might as well ask a question.

The guide says that merchants can have more than 10 Finance, even though they can only show 10. Does this count for other attributes, such as command, piety, etc?

As far as I understand it the game won't use anything beyond 10 for bonus but the additional levels exist so negative trait might exist but not reduce the skill level less than 10.