Transfer from Trader Downstream

[Satcho]

I can't find any detailed explanation for how exactly this works.

I thought it was as simple as: I have trade power in a node, therefore I have some power in all nodes upstream from that node. That doesn't seem to be the case.

Example: (this is not exhaustive)

Playing as Venice, I have merchants in Wien, Ragusa, Constantinople, Aleppo, and Alexandria. I have provinces in Venice, Ragusa, Constantinople, and Alexandria (this is exhaustive). I am getting the Transfer from Trader Downstream Bonus in Wien, Ragusa, Constantinople, Alexandria, Aleppo, and Gulf of Aden (maybe some other places). I am noticeably NOT getting Transfer from Trader Downstream in Persia, even though I have a Merchant and trade power in Aleppo.

It seems to me that the Transfer from Trader Downstream bonus is only given if you have at least one province in the upstream node. However, it also seems to be a percentage of all power, not just power provided by those provinces. For example, adding light ships to Venice trade node was very effective at spreading trade power all over the place.

So yeah, how exactly does this work? What percentage of trade power is added upstream? What criteria is needed to be met in order for this bonus to apply?

 

[chrnno]

20% of all trade power(so after all modifiers) is sent upstream from IIRC any node you have a province in.

 

[Satcho]

20% of all trade power(so after all modifiers) is sent upstream from IIRC any node you have a province in.

That's what I was suspecting, and everything I was seeing in game seemed to confirm that this was the case. Until...

I noticed that I suddenly have a very small amount of power in Krakow and Persia. It wasn't there before, now it is. I don't have any provinces in any of the nodes directly downstream from either of those nodes. Maybe I just have so much power in Aleppo and Wien (and merchants present) that a little bit passes even further upstream? My power share of Venice is >80%, so maybe that means a portion of its power goes more than one node upstream?

 

[Pilon23]

I think it will transfer from traders downstream if you have a province or a merchant present. Try placing your merchants in other trade nodes to see if you gain trade power upstream from that node.

 

[Satcho]

I'll try that when I get the chance. It's just weird, because I've had a merchant in Wien all game, but it wasn't until just recently that I had any power in Krakow. Same goes for Aleppo and Persia.

 

[Less]

What's important to know is that +trade power modifiers work double on the upstream trade propagation. e.g., if your lightships provide 4 trade power each, and you have +50% trade power, they'll provide 4*1.5 = 6 trade power in your home node, which then propagates upstream to give 6*0.2*1.5 = 1.8 trade power. If you have, say, 5 nodes that are receiving downstream trade power then your single trade ships is providing a total of 6 + 1.8*5 = 15 trade power.

However, trade power from upstream can't propagate more then one node down. e.g. you can put 1000 trade ships in Sevilla and dominate Ivory coast, but that power will never go up to the cape of good hope.

 

[chrnno]

Merchants also being included would make sense and so would ships I suppose. I do know that it is only one node stream but I am pretty sure the total also includes the transferred from below so if the node is transferring effectively you would be seeing something like you said.

Something to bring up is that I have also noticed delays on certain responses or updates when dealing with trade not to mention the occasional random glitch that screw things up until you reload.

Honestly it is all pretty confusing and I don't even bother since I can make plenty of money anyway by monopolizing things. For example for the longest time I thought 20% was divided between the upstream trade nodes instead of 20% for each one.

 

[Satcho]

Confirming what Less said, I found that the transfer is limited to what is produced in the node itself.

For example (let's assume 0% modifiers for simplicity),
I have 600 power in Venice, this turns into 120 power in Alexandria. Also, I have a total of 600 power in Alexandria, 120 coming from Venice, 480 locally in Alexandria. In Gulf of Aden, I would have 96 power, which is 20% of the 480 power produced in Alexandria.

I still haven't quite solved where my Krakow and Persia power is coming from, but taking the above into account, I know that if all the power in a node is coming from downstream transfers, then that power should not be transferred further. There needs to be some local power, so I must be producing some power in Wien and Aleppo. I'll probably update this if I ever figure that out.

 

[ChildeR]

You get it from downstream provinces with any of:

• Provinces.
• Trade fleet.
• Merchant steering inland.

The following don't seem to be enough without one of the above:

• Merchant present (not inland steering).
• Transfers from nodes farther downstream.
• Transfers from other nations.