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    Your Elvenar Team

Who Likes The Traveling Merchant Buildings?

I had mentioned I had the Traveling Merchant III in another post, and I got 4 or 5 negative responses to them. I now have Traveling Merchant I as well and I think they're pretty awesome. My Marble and Steel Manufactory Buildings produce far less product then the Traveling Merchants.

Is there anyone here who also likes and finds the Traveling Merchants very useless?
 
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crackie

Chef, Scroll-Keeper, Buddy's #1 Fan
The most precious commodity in the game is space. To me, Traveling Merchants are not worth the space it if your fellowship supports you in trades. Make boosted goods and trade your excess. You'll prob still get more unboosted goods faster from trading than harvesting from Merchants.
 

OIM20

Well-Known Member
I tried playing with a couple of them early in my elvenar adventure and got rid of them pretty quick. The idea is sound, but they are just not worth the space in my opinion.
This is very true. I currently have two of each in my Elcy city which will all be sold now that I've been accepted into an excellent FS there.

I'm waiting to do so until the FA starts only to keep myself from using the space for other buildings, because I haven't planned out my FA layout in Elcy yet.

I need to sell the pair in Sinya as well - they're more than outdated anyway.
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My Marble and Steel Manufactory Buildings produce far less product then the Traveling Merchants.
I think this might be the crux of the issue. When I first got mine, I compared them to the manus for the goods they produced for me as well and was pleased. But when I take that space and use it for another manu of my boosted goods, I can trade for the other two I'm not boosted in that the Traveling Merchant produces.

Unlike other event buildings, this one doesn't give culture. So when you're in an active FS or neighborhood with an active trader, they really do become space wasters. But if you happen to be in a dead zone, they may be essential. (They were for me, several times.)

As for the non-boosted manus, you won't need them for your T1+1 good until you get to Sentient Goods. Right now, they not only eat up your space, they're also eating up your gold and supplies when you manufacture goods with them rather than trading for them. I'm not sure whether the manus or the wholesaler is cheaper as I never sat and did the math on that to find out if someone in a true trading dead space would find them essential for that reason.
 
The most precious commodity in the game is space. To me, Traveling Merchants are not worth the space it if your fellowship supports you in trades. Make boosted goods and trade your excess. You'll prob still get more unboosted goods faster from trading than harvesting from Merchants.

No, not really. With my Traveling Merchants and other Buildings I'm getting from the Autumn Zodiac Event, I actually regularly have a lot more Goods than I ever had before!
 
This is very true. I currently have two of each in my Elcy city which will all be sold now that I've been accepted into an excellent FS there.

I'm waiting to do so until the FA starts only to keep myself from using the space for other buildings, because I haven't planned out my FA layout in Elcy yet.

I need to sell the pair in Sinya as well - they're more than outdated anyway.
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I think this might be the crux of the issue. When I first got mine, I compared them to the manus for the goods they produced for me as well and was pleased. But when I take that space and use it for another manu of my boosted goods, I can trade for the other two I'm not boosted in that the Traveling Merchant produces.

Unlike other event buildings, this one doesn't give culture. So when you're in an active FS or neighborhood with an active trader, they really do become space wasters. But if you happen to be in a dead zone, they may be essential. (They were for me, several times.)

As for the non-boosted manus, you won't need them for your T1+1 good until you get to Sentient Goods. Right now, they not only eat up your space, they're also eating up your gold and supplies when you manufacture goods with them rather than trading for them. I'm not sure whether the manus or the wholesaler is cheaper as I never sat and did the math on that to find out if someone in a true trading dead space would find them essential for that reason.

I've been cognizant about the necessity of Culture. I now have many Buildings in my town with high amounts of Culture. I've been playing for some time but I'm still getting a handle on some aspects of Elvenar.
 

Gladiola

Well-Known Member
Your fellowship looks like it's really short on steel production. You might consider either recruiting more steel players or finding another fellowship. A Traveling Merchant might help out temporarily, but as others have said the most effective strategy is to build the relic-boosted manufactories and trade for non-boosted goods. In fact, that is almost the only rule I can think of that is pretty close to universally true in Elvenar. (maybe along with don't try to fight dogs with mages)
 

OIM20

Well-Known Member
Yikes! @Frost Knight, I'd find another FS anyway - you've got 14 out of 24 players inactive. That's probably a huge part of the trading problem.

Per @TanaCS here, Atlas is willing to merge, so they might be looking to take on another Ceravyn player outside of just merging.
@JerseyMeeko76 posted here that their FS, Sovereigns' Rogue Pirates, is looking for new members, all levels. They're a 10 chest FS, too.
@Laochra has posted requirements for their FS here. It was updated yesterday, so they're probably still looking for players.
 

The Fairy

Scroll-Keeper, Buddy Fan Club Member
I won't say I like them, but I have some producing crystal/silk in my scrolls boosted cities cause no one wants scrolls thanks to the library set:(

They don't require residences like factories do so that helps on the space requirements, but I would prefer to just have scrolls factories instead so I look forward to the library change currently tested in beta.
 

crackie

Chef, Scroll-Keeper, Buddy's #1 Fan
Also...it's better to be in a mix fellowship with some larger cities instead of a fellowship of just baby cities. Large cities help out with trade faster. A FS of just baby cities could end up in a scenario of the blind leading the blind where the leadership doesn't know what its doing bc they're also new to the game.
 

crackie

Chef, Scroll-Keeper, Buddy's #1 Fan
I won't say I like them, but I have some producing crystal/silk in my scrolls boosted cities cause no one wants scrolls thanks to the library set:(

They don't require residences like factories do so that helps on the space requirements, but I would prefer to just have scrolls factories instead so I look forward to the library change currently tested in beta.
I have a scroll city where my scrolls sit and I still won't put down Traveling Merchants. It's faster for me to buy from wholesaler or cross-tier trade for my nonboosted T2s than produce it myself.
 

Lady Dastardly

Well-Known Member
I tried using them in my scroll city when I was having trouble getting my trades taken, but it just wasn't worth it. It was still a more efficient use of space to cross-tier or trade at a bit of a loss, if I was in a hurry. My scroll trades will get taken if I'm patient, but it might take a few days, so now I just make sure I never need them that urgently.

I actually hate seeing a bunch of Travelling Merchants in my fellowship member's cities. To me it indicates that they don't really understand how important it is to trade their goods for the benefit of the fellowship (and, yes, I do try to communicate that importance).
 

Huor

Guest
Very true about replacing buildings as you grow! One of the fun things about the game is seeing all the new artwork (and the goodies). Only bad thing is sometimes you hate to give up a building because it looks so darn good.
 

ajqtrz

Chef - loquacious Old Dog
I use traveling merchants for in my chapter 17 city during the FA to give that little extra boost to the amount collected for a bracelet. The one or two thousand they produce over a day has put my total over the total a few times so I don't have to collect the last 2k from my big T1 Steel boosted mfrs that are producing 25,000 and see 23,000 of that not going toward the next bracelet, but being just lost to that cause. I only use 2 as if I used 3 I could just put in another T1 Boosted (I have 15 at lvl 31 and seldom use them all). So they can come in handy several times during the FA. Other than that, everybody has pointed out the down sides and I agree pretty much with all the comments.

AJ
 
If you're in chapters 1-6, traveling merchants have a value. After that, pretty much nah. But that's okay. There are buildings that come and go in this game and you'll find you have to replace things quite often with better stuff. That's kinda fun.

True enough. I've replaced a lot of Buildings, changed the number of certain Buildings. I try to adjust the best that I can.
 
I tried using them in my scroll city when I was having trouble getting my trades taken, but it just wasn't worth it. It was still a more efficient use of space to cross-tier or trade at a bit of a loss, if I was in a hurry. My scroll trades will get taken if I'm patient, but it might take a few days, so now I just make sure I never need them that urgently.

I actually hate seeing a bunch of Travelling Merchants in my fellowship member's cities. To me it indicates that they don't really understand how important it is to trade their goods for the benefit of the fellowship (and, yes, I do try to communicate that importance).

Oh, I think you're quite wrong. Just speaking for myself, I'm very active in my Clan. In Tournament Events I tend to be in 1st or 2nd place. I trade with my Fellowship too. But they're not always able to help. It's good to have some alternatives.
 

SoggyShorts

Mathematician par Excellence
Oh, I think you're quite wrong. Just speaking for myself, I'm very active in my Clan. In Tournament Events I tend to be in 1st or 2nd place. I trade with my Fellowship too. But they're not always able to help. It's good to have some alternatives.
That means @Darielle is mostly right though...

A player with a lot of traveling merchants either
a) Doesn't trade as much as they should
b) Doesn't get as many trades as they should

Either one points to the owner not placing as much importance on trades as they perhaps should.

There are 14 abandoned cities, 3 cities that don't have a trader yet, and 1 empty spot in your fellowship. That almost puts you in position "b" above automatically. You aren't playing "wrong" (there's really no such thing in Elvenar), you're just missing out on a major aspect of the game: a healthy trading fellowship.
 
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