Introduction:
Well this is a trade run guide from the trade runs I've been doing since lvl 30 till now, lvl 50.
It is divided into 3 sections: Trade Lv1, Trade Lv2 and Trade Lv3, Trade Lv1 is from lvl 30-39, Trade Lv2 is 40-49 and Trade Lv3 is 50 onwards.
Trade Lv1 and Trade Lv2 are pretty much the same, just 1 trade run difference.
But let's start with calling for a properly introduction, and well, don't you see? I'm the narrator and this is just the prologue.
Trade runs: unlocks at lvl 30, under the name of "Merchant Runs, Solo Business", the main point of the bussiness runs is to take goods "commodities" from one place to another, sell them for a higher price, buy more and eventually reach a capital limit, settle the business and receive the following rewards:
1- EXP
2- from lvl 40 onwards, Merchant Job EXP
3- Mercury Union reputation: used to redeem 1
[Mercury Coupon] into 1g for each 100 mercury reputation
4- Soul coins at a ratio of 1g = 10000 Mercury Coins
This are the real number of the rewards:
- 1 soul gold for each 10000 coins of profit you make (profit = final number - initial capital)
- 1 merchant EXP for each 1000 coins of profit.
The currency used in trade runs is of Mercury Coins, a special type of currency only available during trade runs.
Christopher, the chairman of the mercury union, and the same one who gives you Midas Touch quests, will give you the merchant runs aswell.
So let's start: Trade Lv1
Number of runs: 2 per day
Level: 30-39
Required: just lvl 30
Properties of runs:
1- Capital Target = 15000 Capital Limit = 18000 Starting: 3000
2- Capital Target = 20000 Capital Limit = 26000 Starting: 2000
Walkthrough: It's very simple at this stage, the regular route would be the following:
Buying and Selling the following commodities:
FH- Wheat Bread to
1- Sell Wheat Bread and buy Cloak to
2- Sell Cloak and buy Agaric Mushroom to
3- Sell Agaric Mushroom and buy Bear Liver to
4- Sell Bear Liver and buy Wheat Straw and/or Green Rum to
FH- Sell both commodities and rinse and repeat
BASIC TRICK- the whole point of this guide is to help you reach the capital limit of each run and get maximum rewards from the business, here is a very basic trick to do so: instead of selling every single commodity you carry, sell 1 stack and use the freed space to immediately buy a new stack of a different commodity, sell the next stack and buy yet another stack, this way you'll get closer to the target capital, without reaching it, and instead carry a lot of commodities with you still, having them available to sell for more profit.
This way, doing the normal route you should be more than able to reach the limit for all 2 runs without problem.
Trade Lv2
Level: 40-49
Number of runs: 3 per day, after reaching 40 you learn the merchant job and you can learn Knowledge of Goods Lv1 and Bargain Lv1 skills, knowledge of goods lets you have an extra trade run and Bargain lets you use bargain when buying goods to lower its prices, but without a big difference.
Properties of runs:
1 and 2- same as before
3- Capital Target: 25000, Limit = 35000 Starting: 1000
Walkthrough: there is exactly no difference with the Trade Lv1 trades, you might find difficult to get to the limit on the 3rd trade run, trust me, it's not. Green Rums buys for the highest price but makes the biggest profit, with those and using the basic trick you should be able to do it.
If you still have problems, you can use
ADVANCED TRICK #1:
This is not very necessary until you do Trade Lv3s, but either ways I'm throwing it here: in order to be able to sell A LOT at the last run to boost it up until the limit, you can "gather" goods, this is, start doing the normal way the trade run, up until the point where you have some coins saved, then buy down a stack of 50 of a valuable good (most recommended and pretty much mandatory, GREEN RUMS) and keep it there without selling it, use the rest 3 spaces to continue with the trade run, until you can afford a new stack of 50.
Each time you make a trade action, the number of goods resets for every merchant, so don't worry about them not having goods in stock.
there will be a point where you'll have 3 stacks of 50 of a good, and you'll have closed to the capital limit so much using that last space you'll sell a good and you'll hit the limit irremediably, be sure ot have enough of the valuable goods to sell right off the bat and reach the limit.
Trade Lv3
Level: 50 onwards (lol @ aquatic 150% mount)
Number of runs: 4 per day, you learn Knowledge of Goods Lv2 at lvl 50 and Merchant lv2
Run properties
1- Capital Target: 20000 Limit: 24000 Starting: 4000
2- Capital Target: 30000 Limit: 39000 Starting: 3000
3- Capital Target: 40000 Limit: 56000 Starting: 2000
4- Capital Target: 50000 Limit: 75000 Starting: 1000
As you can see, things starts to get very complicated, now with the 2 tricks you learned from the previous trade stages, you should be able to do it quite well until trade run 4.
TRADE RUN 4: this one deserves its own section due to its complication.
This trade run requires you to hit a limit of 75000 with a target of 50000, this means you must, at the end, sell goods for the value of 25000+
The best way to do this is to have 49999 coins and 3 stacks of green rum. Green rum sells for 193/189 coins per unit at FH, i.e 28950/28350 coins for 150 units (aka 3 stacks of 50)
so how do you get SO close to the capital without hitting it?
here we go
ADVANCED TRICK #2:
Following the basic trick and the advanced trick #1, you reach a stage where you have 2 stacks of 50 green rums, 1 stack to bought and 1 stack to sell, if you sell that stack, you hit the limit, but you'll still have a stack of not so valuable goods that won't make you reach the limit if you sell it together with the green rums.
So do this: left click on the stack of goods you just bought, sell 1 unit and buyback 1 unit of that same good, this way you lose tenths of coins (not much). do the math, sell until the point where you can sell a stack of 50 to the next trader without hitting the cap, then go ahead and buy down the last stack of 50 green rums.
After you get the trick, it should be a lot easier for you to get perfect trade runs.
Just to give you an idea: I gain 19.2 soul gold, 192 merchant EXP and 900+ Mercury reputation everyday after I complete all my 4 trade runs.
UPDATE: Guild Trade Runs.
Guild trade runs are the same as normal trade runs, the only differences are the following:
1- the giving NPC is inside the base's trading post.
2- you take the profit in soul gold and divide it into 2, take that sum and add it as guild funds.
3- The starting point and ending point is the guild trading post.
4- you can buy 200 units of regular goods from your guild trading post instead of the regular 120, 150 of the expensive goods. They're tax free for guild members, and the tax can be set for outsiders.
5- you gain guild merit when you finish the trade runs.
apart from that, there's nothing different, you still get the same rewards in soul coins, reputation, EXP and merchant EXP.
