Incontestable recipe for Buildings

[Wildcat_PL]

I was wondering If there is a commonly agreed solution in the community on what is worth spending you monarch points and money in colonies?

Colonies works different then your homeland becasue the tax income, tarrifs and production works different there. Lets assume that you are able to steer the trade from colony to your home collecting node. AFAI understand I want to maximize production to maximize trade value and trade power to send it all where I want. But when do I stop spending money/monarch points for optimum effect. What's your strategy?

 

[Stategem161803]

I was wondering If there is a commonly agreed solution in the community on what is worth spending you monarch points and money in colonies?

Colonies works different then your homeland becasue the tax income, tarrifs and production works different there. Lets assume that you are able to steer the trade from colony to your home collecting node. AFAI understand I want to maximize production to maximize trade value and trade power to send it all where I want. But when do I stop spending money/monarch points for optimum effect. What's your strategy?

Always build manufactories EVERYWHERE. Other than that T4 mil buildings in homeland, mints and stock exchanges as well. If you are a trading nation build naval bases in every single overseas coastal province. Every other colonial holding build trade buildings to at least T3.

Edit:and T7 government buildings in capital.

 

[Alblaka]

That depens on what you call 'optimum effect'.
If you just say "you want to reach the highest amount of income possible", then all you have to do is calculate the different possibly build orders and figure out which ones give the biggest gain first. But in the end the difference is minimal (assuming you actually got the tech and money to pull it through), so you may as well just build the upgrades in no particular order.
However, if you want to say "I want to have the most possible cash in x years" things become complicated. F.e. for anything below ~25 years the answer would be "don't build anything".

My current favourite strategy is one of the most basic ones you can employ in a strategy game vs AI: Spam and stack economy to no end and then faceroll lategame. I build all upgrades that provide any sort of income gain, and usually just pick province/building by checking what provides (approximately) the highest net increase in income. Production & Trade on Trade Nodes I control with a high majority, Taxes & Production on mainland, Taxes on colonies if I got nothing better to invest into.
Albeit I'm playing with Portugal's Capital relocated to South America, controlling Brazilia, Panama, Ivory Coast and Cap with ~98% each, so I'm probably not the best person to ask in regards to more complex strategizing.
But I hope my oppinion could help, nontheless.

 

[ceteris.paribus]

Its situational for me. I usually put Tech > Ideas > Culture / Buildings in order as priorities. If I can't culture because its too expensive or I have a dumb monarch that gives me less than 3 Dip, then I only allow trade buildings in provinces that are like "Important Centers of Trade."

Only when I find my conquest opportunities stalled due to unfavorable rival and hostile nation alliances for years do I start planting a ton of buildings otherwise.

 

[Wildcat_PL]

I was more looking for an asnwer like this one:

G1 Temple is max on colony
no army buildings in colonies
N3 Shipyard is max on colony - +5basetax will give me more forcelimits
P6 Stock Exchange I max out production and taxes + a factory when I can afford it
T3 Canal for trade value on inland colonies
T4 Road Network on coastal colonies
T6 Customs House on colonies with centers of trade or estuary modifier
T2 Star Fort is enough imho for a colony

 

[Red John]

Star fort for a colony is a bit much. It's a complete waste to blanket south America in Star forts. Instead, maybe place them in either colonies you REALLY want to hold, or colonies that will get attacked first.

 

[Jorlaan]

My general rule is: if it increases income build it. Things that increase the most or are most efficient get built first, then the rest. This tends to leave me rich and prosperous, so it seems to be working.

 

[dstarsboy]

I actually have no building rules other than Temples (increases base tax to help with diplo-vassalization/etc) and certain unique buildings.

After that, I don't build anything at all unless I'm "ahead" on technology and don't have any Ideas to feed. Only then do I build whatever the associated monarch point buildings.

I don't think buildings are worth as much as they cost, so they're typically bottom of the list for me.

 

[unmerged(26764)]

While in home continent provinces most buildings are good, in colonies I build almost nothing. Even temples aren't really worth the cost plus monarch points when all the penalties are taken into account.

I therefore only build:

1. Naval buildings up to 3 to get the extra force limit.

2. Arsenals because they're cheap and I have the mil points going to waste and the manpower is useful.

3. Trade buildings and only if I'm really competting for the node.

Anything else is mostly overkill. In theory the production buildings are useful to up the trade value if you dominate the node, but I don't even do that.

 

[GamingHUD]

Depends on who you are playing as, when colonising. For a smaller country like Portugal, you might need increased forcelimits to maintain your empire. In that case, investing in the army and naval lines of buildings will give you the most bang for your buck in colonies (where as production line with stock exchanges are "best" in homeland).

In Spice, tea and Chinaware provinces I tend to build custom house, treasury and appropriate manufactory.