What buildings to focus on?

[Flammehav]

As Norway I moved my capital over to north America. It's 1496. I took over all of the natives land exept the Incas in south america. All is converted exept for 4-5 provinces up north where my missionaries is still at work. I've just started colonicing the caribian isles, later I will connect my provinces and start securing the coast. Don't have to many cores yet, but they will come a few years apart over the next decades.

Atm, I've build lvl 1 fort in all my provinces. All of my captured provinces exept from the once up north have a constable, about 1/3 have workshops and about 2/3 have marketplaces. I've also buildt docks in most of my navalprovinces, but no drydocks. Also got 5-6 armories and 2-3 churches. about a dusin also have the lvl 2 trade and production buildings and about half of them also the lvl 3 trade building.

As for the future I plan to develop 2-4 provinces on each side of the america to full naval for cheaper ships. But I'm in a bit lost of what to do next? I get 2,6 magistrates pr year atm, and that isn't enough to develop more than about a dusin provinces to their full potential. So what would you do?

Choose a few provines for trade and some for production and naval and ignore the rest?
Build atleast constables and marketplaces in all provinces and then focus on other things? 25% more money is never a bad thing as I'm constantly short and marketplaces drives up the price of a lot of goods worldwide). Build some colleges for the magistrates(takes 100 years to earn in the 5 buildings, but you also get some extra tax with townhall and increased value of goods)?

What is a good strategy in this situation?

Also does it matter much financially if I got a landconnection or not, when all provinces are considered to be in North America?

 

[unmerged(465279)]

Personally my plan is the following:

-Build the best forts you can in your coastal provinces
-Build at least a Church/Temple in every province you own
-Never build anything higher than a Canal, I feel that Production buildings in the end will net you so much more ducats. Highest tax buildings first for production, highest trade value first for trade.
-Have a little part of my empire dedicated to pumping out ships and soldiers, just because it's easier clicking a few provinces in a cluster to train/build soldiers/ships than to click all over the map to get the most out of what you do.
-Build more government buildings when you have spare cash, although I feel Constables, Spy Agencies are just a bother trying to get to Town Halls

I have to say though every single one of my games has been about map painting, I can't say anything about being a small country although I imagine you can just build everything you can in every province?

I might be completely incorrect though, but this is what I've been doing and I haven't done that bad.

 

[Ranger Blue]

Trade 5 and 6 buildings are by far the best high level buildings in the game for large empires. The +1% trade value applies to every single province you own, so that + the TE bonus stacks up pretty quickly. Even better is that trade value directly affects production income, so two boosts for the price of one. If you plan to be smaller (unlikely, from the sounds of it), production might be a better bet.

Temples are great, and easily pay themselves off quickly (~12 months of <3 stability and it's done), so you should probably build plenty of these. Specialising a few provinces as you are planning can also be helpful, although 2-4 on each side for naval might be overkill. Generally, once you've built a fleet, it lasts a while, and it's rare you'll need to build lots of ships at once, so 1 or 2 might be better. A similar thing with land recruitment is also helpful, particularly in keeping costs down, as maintenance is directly related to recruitment cost, so a couple of recruitment centres dotted around might help.

As a general building strategy, you seem to be on the right track. If you're a while off trade 5/6 buildings, keep going as you are, with a focus on level 2 production (it's actually a 1.25 increase as 25% bonus from constable applies to +1 to workshop), then trade/production, depending on where you want to go with your empire.

 

[brifbates]

In areas "connected to the capital" what I tend to do is fully develop all the provinces in my NF area with gov 1-4, prod 1-4, and trade 1-4. Add in docks if applicable and military buildings if desired as well as level 5-6 buildings if you do so (I never use l 5/6 because they are stupidly broken in large numbers). When magistrates are the roadblock building in the NF area is best due to the .25 magistrate refund when buildings are completed. I usually go fort 1, constable, then dock, trade line, govt while waiting for the free workshop (Bureaucracy ftw). If I don't have Bureaucracy then it depends on trade good whether to go prod or trade first. Once an area is fully built up, move the NF and rinse/repeat. While the clock is ticking on the NF move just focus on the richest provinces, areas that placing NF is unappealing (due to neighbors, limited province connections, etc.), or other priorities. You can also mix this in the process as most locations will max on buildings a few years before the NF can be moved.

Having a direct land connection increases the benefits of a province towards force limits and may have some other, less noticeable effects. An example is you must have a land connected port to send colonists or traders to another continent-as I was rudely reminded in my current Bavaria game. The more eligible provinces you have, the less likely you are to lose them due to an inconveniently placed rebellion.

BTW it takes ~12 stab hits for a temple to pay for itself, not 12 months of reduced stability-they reduce the required cost for a stability level, they don't increase your stability investment. They are still reasonably likely to pay off in the long run due to the frequency of stab hits but it is a longer term thing for nations that don't need to westernise.

 

[unmerged(487181)]

Quick building guide:

Government: Temples are good; the whole line is good in your capital in multiplayer to prevent nasty spy missions.
Army: All of them are good; stop at 4th level buildings.
Navy: Docks are good; further investment in the line is useful for your coastal provinces but not an especially high priority.
Production: All are good; stop at 4th level buildings.
Trade: All are good. Get these to 6th level.
Forts: Upgrade where you can.

 

[brifbates]

Quick building guide:

Government: Temples are good; the whole line is good in your capital in multiplayer to prevent nasty spy missions.
Army: All of them are good; stop at 4th level buildings.
Navy: Docks are good; further investment in the line is useful for your coastal provinces but not an especially high priority.
Production: All are good; stop at 4th level buildings.
Trade: All are good. Get these to 6th level.
Forts: Upgrade where you can.

Govt 4 is good in any high tax province as well as the capital. Particularly a large CoT and the like. A few colleges can help ease the magistrate crunch in larger empires as well.

Army 1-3 is good in the province(s) you build your military in. Otherwise none are particularly useful unless you have manpower problems and/or a number of copper/iron provinces. If you have manpower concerns then all are good, if you own a lot of copper/iron they are also worth building.

Navy-agreed. Docks are particularly good if you want to increase the demand of colonial goods as well as the production bonus. If you aren't going to be trading in colonial goods they are a pretty low priority in bad trade good provinces. I always build up the fleet construction province to at least 4 and often 6.

Production-agreed although 5/6 are not a bad choice for super wealthy (tax-wise) provinces.

Trade-1 is good, 2-4 aren't terrible but would be much lower priority if 5 and especially 6 weren't so ridiculously overpowered. Delay building 2-4 in gold provinces as they provide 0 benefit until you subsequently add 5 & 6 for the global modifiers.

Forts-1 always, there is absolutely nothing good about a province not having a fort, no matter how far from the front, low RR, etc. it is. The a.i. nations love spy spamming and the headache of losing a province or more because you thought they were "safe" just isn't worth it. Beyond that, if I have the resources to spare I'll beef up the capital and border areas of concern. Particularly things like a capital on the border but most provinces will be 1 and done in any sort of expansionist game.

 

[unmerged(487181)]

Govt 4 is good in any high tax province as well as the capital. Particularly a large CoT and the like. A few colleges can help ease the magistrate crunch in larger empires as well.

Problem is shelling out 2 magistrates a province for the more or less useless courthouse and spy agency first. -1 revolt risk and marginal spy defense isn't a big deal unless we're talking about provinces that absolutely cannot afford to get hit by spies or rebels, and the capital is the only such province I can see that fits the bill. You're right that Govt 4 is good for high-tax provinces but how high justifies the comparatively bad buildings that are prerequisites?

Army 1-3 is good in the province(s) you build your military in. Otherwise none are particularly useful unless you have manpower problems and/or a number of copper/iron provinces. If you have manpower concerns then all are good, if you own a lot of copper/iron they are also worth building.

Depends on version you're playing. 5.1 makes having obscene manpower numbers a big deal if you want manufactory spam. Otherwise I'd agree that they're a lower priority.

Navy-agreed. Docks are particularly good if you want to increase the demand of colonial goods as well as the production bonus. If you aren't going to be trading in colonial goods they are a pretty low priority in bad trade good provinces. I always build up the fleet construction province to at least 4 and often 6.

Eh. I don't usually bother with getting to Navy 6 buildings. Usually end up running out of magistrates spamming to Trade 6. But yeah, that's not a bad idea if you get the maigstrates.

Production-agreed although 5/6 are not a bad choice for super wealthy (tax-wise) provinces.

True. Depends on how many provinces you have; larger countries -> more trade income from trade buildings -> could be more profitable even with higher tax provinces to go Trade 6.

Forts-1 always, there is absolutely nothing good about a province not having a fort, no matter how far from the front, low RR, etc. it is. The a.i. nations love spy spamming and the headache of losing a province or more because you thought they were "safe" just isn't worth it.

this a million times

 

[Junuxx]

Temples are great, and easily pay themselves off quickly (~12 months of <3 stability and it's done)

I think you misunderstand temples. They do not give +5 stability investment/month, they reduce stability cost by 5 (4 actually, nowadays). So they pay themselves off after regaining 10 (12.5, nowadays) stab levels. Ignoring the income difference if you regain stability earlier thanks to the temples.

 

[Ashantai]

Because they reduce the base stability before modifiers are applied they can save you a lot in the long term though.

 

[knul]

I go for full naval line in 1-2 provinces to construct a cheaper navy. I build up to lvl 6 Land in 3-4 provinces, again for cheaper units. I build up to lvl 3 Land buildings if I need extra manpower (the lvl 4 Land building is not worth it unless you go for lvl 6). Docks are great in provinces with good production income. For the rest I build trade buildings. Government buildings I only build in the capital. That’s including temples: I much rather have trade buildings for income than a temple.

Lvl 5 and 6 trade buildings are immensely powerful and IMO it’s entirely worth it to concentrate on them. While production buildings are quite nice at low levels, later on they are completely eclipsed by trade buildings.

*EDIT* Production buildings are very much worth it in CoT provinces, the income they provide their makes them competitive with trade buildings.

 

[unmerged(465279)]

*EDIT* Production buildings are very much worth it in CoT provinces, the income they provide their makes them competitive with trade buildings.

With this, do you mean bordering provinces to that CoT, or any provinces thats trading through a CoT you own, since clearly I've been doing it all wrong.

 

[brifbates]

With this, do you mean bordering provinces to that CoT, or any provinces thats trading through a CoT you own, since clearly I've been doing it all wrong.

Pretty sure he's talking about provinces that contain a CoT. The level 5 and 6 production buildings benefit greatly if the province has a high tax value and CoT provinces get a tax bonus of +1 for every 50 ducats of trade value. With level 6 production buildings I've seen tax numbers well in excess of 100 ducats in large CoT provinces like Lubeck or Venice.

 

[Hatkah]

100 is nothing. I had over 300 with lvl 6 production buildings and i could have made it higher...

 

[knul]

Pretty sure he's talking about provinces that contain a CoT. The level 5 and 6 production buildings benefit greatly if the province has a high tax value and CoT provinces get a tax bonus of +1 for every 50 ducats of trade value. With level 6 production buildings I've seen tax numbers well in excess of 100 ducats in large CoT provinces like Lubeck or Venice.

This is indeed what I meant.

 

[glen55]

I have a different approach than a lot of people in this thread. It's not quite accurate to say I try to build everything everywhere, but it's not far off.

The big difference is at level 5, where I focus on government buildings, not trade. I may build a few trade buildings, but it's usually not money I need to spam buildings everywhere, it's magistrates. With a large empire I will spam 50 or more colleges. I also try to take 50 spheres of influence. I am maxing out magistrates: it's my top priority. The extra spies from the colleges are not the main thing, but a nice extra treat. The level 6 government building is also very sweet. +10 stability investment means it happens every month. That's 120 a year from a single building! Spam out a bunch of cathedrals and suddenly you change governments or national ideas with relative impunity.

Early on I concentrate on constables, docks and workshops like everybody else, but once the money situtation gets comfortable I start fully building up provinces.

Manpower: I wish I had a better understanding of the connection between manpower buildings and manufactury cost, but it does seem to be significant, and nothing will power you up like spamming manufacturies. I really can't be precise here, because I don't understand it well enough, but I tend to build level 1-4 almost everywhere. Level 5-6 in a few large pop provinces with grain or fish. More level 5-6 if you really need force limits, but that's rarely a problem in my games.

Navy: This is the one that you don't necessarily spam everywhere. Instead, you only build these to give you the naval force limits you need, plus anywhere from one to several provinces that you build up to be your fleet production provinces. If you have a large colonial empire you may need to build a lot to give you the fleet size you need for your tariffs. But again, these are only for building up your naval force limit, so just figure out what you need and then stop.

Production/Trade: All the level 1-4 buildings work together to increase the income you receive from the province, and they're really all worth building everywhere.

Production: Level 5-6 buildings only in my richest provinces, e.g., COTs and gold or maybe big boomers like Barcelona. I will just have a handful of these.

Trade: Yes, you make a killing off level 5 and 6 buildings, but I usually don't build that many because I building 5-6 government instead.

Government: Churches are OK. Courthouses suck. Build a spy agency DOUBLE ASAP!!!!! in your capital when it becomes available, but otherwise spy agencies suck. Despite all this suckage, I start cranking these bad boys out everywhere as soon as my economy is healthy enough not to demand more constables and workshops because I don't want to fall behind. I want to be ready to spam out 20 colleges in a decade once I hit level 23 gov tech. Also the level 4 town hall is very nice.

 

[cotwell]

So I guess I am still misunderstanding the trade line. In my current game, I haven't been building it up, because I have no overseas provinces, and so no tariff income at all (0.00) The second-level building would give me 1 trade income, but the rest of the pre-level-5 buildings are all trade-income modifiers, no? So are you building the line to get to post offices? (would that be the point of building them "everywhere"?) I already have three times the income of, and higher tech levels than, any other nation, so I haven't given trade much priority. (gold and wine, baby)

 

[glen55]

So I guess I am still misunderstanding the trade line. In my current game, I haven't been building it up, because I have no overseas provinces, and so no tariff income at all (0.00) The second-level building would give me 1 trade income, but the rest of the pre-level-5 buildings are all trade-income modifiers, no? So are you building the line to get to post offices? (would that be the point of building them "everywhere"?) I already have three times the income of, and higher tech levels than, any other nation, so I haven't given trade much priority. (gold and wine, baby)

It's quite viable to pretty much ignore trade and focus on production, and in fact if you are playing as a conqueror and usually running around with high infamy, forgot about free trade because you can only trade mercantilist in your own COTs.

But even if you ignore trade, there are a couple of very nice NIs that require it: the one that gives a 10% tech boost (forgot the name) required trade 30, and improved foraging (50
% less attrition) requires trade 53. If you are willing to forego or postpone those, you can set your trade tech slider to zero, lock it, and do just fine.

 

[Slym]

Particularly if you're playing a western country, just let all those HRE OPMs drag you along behind them.

 

[Gedierond]

Sorry for necroing this thread (although it´s not that old, actually).
Continuing with this discussion, which I find very interesting, I have a question regarding overseas provinces. Is there a different building priority for overseas and same-continent provinces? I´ve been placing production buildings in my overseas provinces, but not trade ones, since tariffs are more directly increased by taxes than by trade, or am I getting this wrong? (I have accessto level 2 buildings so far)

 

[George LeS]

About 5.2b, in addition to reducing MP greatly, it also leads to fewer sunk ships, and more damaged, in naval combat. Therefore it's a good idea to have at least one big naval base in a given theater.