How Do You Get More Merchants in Europa Universalis IV?

Europa Universalis IV is an insanely complex empire building game. One of the ways to keep your head up in this massive undertaking is by creating a powerful trading company. Here’s how you do it!.

The “how to get more merchants eu4” is a question that many people are asking. There are several different ways to solve this issue, but the most popular way is by building roads and ports.

In Europa Universalis IV, a merchant is a special envoy who helps you boost your trade revenue. They can conduct Trade Steering (directing trade to the desired downstream trade node) and Collect From Trade (convert the trade power in the node to ducats).

You may perform any of the following to increase the number of merchants you have:

National Concepts
Policy and Idea Groups
Reforms in the Government
Decisions
Companies that deal with trade
Nations that were formerly colonized
Debate in Parliament
Syncretic Belief
Scholar of the Sunni
Cult of Fetishists

We’ll go through each of these strategies in further depth in the sections below.

National Concepts

One way to get more merchants is to simply pick countries that have additional merchants in their National Concepts.

Typically, these are nations that have a long history of trade with other countries, such as:

Europe’s Holland and Portugal
In the Middle East, Oman and Hormuz
In Asia, you’ll find Java and Malaya.
Africa’s Mogadishu and Mali

However, there are more countries that also have additional merchants in their National Concepts aside from the examples given.

The full list of countries can be found in the EU4 wiki, or by just reading the National Concepts of a potential country at the country selection menu.

Policy and Idea Groups

Taking Idea Groups with an extra merchant in their ideas is another approach to gain more merchants.

These are the Idea Groups:

(1 additional merchant) Expansion
(1 additional merchant) Plutocratic
(+3 Merchants) Trade

You may activate a policy that corresponds to a pair of Idea Groups after they have been completely unlocked.

Aristocratic and Trade, Defensive and Trade, and Plutocratic and Trade all have an extra merchant in their policies.

Reforms in the Government

This is a quick and easy method to get an extra merchant:

Get either a Plutocracy or Venetian Government stage 1 government reform.

These can be done in the Reforms in the Government Tab, and it costs 100 reform progress.

It’s vital to remember that the Venetian Government reform is unique to Venice and is accessible from the beginning of the game.

Plutocracy is the sole option for other nations.

Merchants’ Decisions

You’ll need to make two unique choices to use this strategy.

“Confirm Thalassocracy” is the first choice. As the name suggests (thalassocracy = “rule by sea”), the nation must completely unlock the Maritime Idea Group and become the dominating trading power in all trade nodes in:

The Mediterranean Sea is a beautiful body of water (the Genoa, Venice, Tunis, Ragusa and Alexandria trade nodes)
Alternatively, in the Atlantic Ocean (the Lubeck, Baltic Sea, English Channel, North Sea and Novgorod trade nodes)
Alternatively, in the Pacific Ocean (the Goa, Gulf of Aden, Indus, Ceylon, Bengal and Mallacca trade nodes)

You’ll gain the following if you unlock this decision:

+0.25 years in the navy
a -10% reduction in the cost of a light ship
1 additional merchant
a 5% reduction in the cost of diplomatic technology

These advantages will greatly assist you in your marine commerce.

The second option is to establish a “Found Indian Company of Commerce.”

This option requires the country’s acceptance of the World Trade Organization and the ownership of at least one coastal province in China, India, the East Indies, or Japan.

You’ll gain the following if you unlock this decision:

a hundred ducats
a -10% reduction in the cost of a light ship
1 additional merchant
a 5% increase in global trade power

If you lose all of your coastline provinces in China, India, the East Indies, or Japan, you will lose these privileges.

As a result, it’s critical to protect these provinces in order to keep the advantages.

Company of Commerce

Making trade businesses is another option to obtain extra merchants if you have the Wealth of Nations DLC or the Dharma DLC.

Represented by a wooden box insignia in the vassal screen, a Company of Commerce is a group of provinces from the same trading node that you manually assign.

These provinces have more autonomy, smaller tax output, lower production revenue, and fewer people, but they have a lot more trading power.

Note that these provinces can only be made to a Company of Commerce from any trade nodes that are not part of the same superregion as your capital.

If your Company of Commerce in a certain trade node controls 51% of all trade power from all provinces in that node, it will grant 1 additional merchant.

You will lose the extra merchant advantage if your trade power falls below 51 percent.

Because there are so many different trade nodes to form a trading organization, this is one of the strategies to gain a large number of merchants.

Nation of Colonialism

If you have the Conquest of Paradise DLC, then you can alternatively make Nations that were formerly colonized.

Represented by a blue insignia with a wooden house in the vassal screen, a Nation of Colonialism is a special country that can be formed by having at colonizing or conquering, then coring at least five provinces in a certain colonial region.

Only North America, South America, and Oceania have colonial areas (Australia and New Zealand).

If the Nation of Colonialism has at least 10 provinces, then the overlord will get:

a 5% increase in global trade power
The land force limit is +5.
Limit of +10 naval forces
plus one more merchant

You can gain a lot of merchants if you conquer much of North and South America, since each colonial area may offer you one more trader.

However, it will be very difficult to maintain because each Nation of Colonialism increases the liberty desire of all Nations that were formerly colonized.

Debate in Parliament

Here’s another method to get some merchants if you have the Common Sense DLC:

Start and succeed in the passing of the “Charter Company of Commerce” debate when you have Parliament government reform.

If a nation has completed the Trade Idea Group and has a diplomatic technology of at least 10, this discussion will surface.

When fully implemented, this debate will provide you with the following benefits:

+20% of the trading range
+5% trading power in other countries
For a period of ten years, there will be an extra merchant.

This can be repeated indefinitely as long as it’s available & always successfully passed every time.

Syncretic Belief

If you have the Cossacks DLC then you can be Tengri and have Zoroastrian as a Syncretic Belief.

This is a tough mission to complete since Zoroastrianism was almost extinct at the start of the game, with just a few provinces in the Persian area remaining where it is the dominant religion.

Scholar of the Sunni

You may now have an Islamic religion (Sunni, Shia, or Ibadi) and the Shafi’i school of Islamic law in your nation if you have the Cradle of Civilization DLC.

There are two methods to get this:

By default, the Shafi’i school is present in the nation you’re playing.
Alternatively, you may employ the Shafi’i scholar for 50 administrative points and get the advantage for 20 years.

It’s worth noting that you must be an ally, overlord, or subject of a country with that Shafi’i school by default, and they should have a +150 view of you, with a -50 piety rating if you’re Shia or Ibadi.

Cult of Fetishists

You may have Fetishist as a religion and engage with a country that has the Zoroastrian faith if you have the Rights of Man DLC.

This will allow you to join the Mazdayasna cult, which will provide you access to two more merchants.

But much like the Syncretic Belief method, this is a very difficult task to achieve because Zoroastrian is a religion that has almost been wiped out, with only a few provinces in the Persian region left having it as a majority religion.

The “eu4 best trade route” is a guide to how you can get more merchants in Europa Universalis IV. It covers the best trade routes, as well as some other helpful tips that will help you make your game experience better.

Frequently Asked Questions

What do merchants do in EU4?

A: Merchants are people who buy and sell goods in the different markets of your empire. They trade among themselves, as well as with farmers or agriculturalists. If you have a surplus of one type of food, it might be profitable to ship that food over to another market where there is demand for it.

What are the best trade nodes EU4?

A: For trade nodes, the best ones are in Russia, China and Turkey.

How hard is Europa Universalis IV?

A: On a scale of one to five, Europa Universalis IV is rated as medium difficulty.

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