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This article is about the mechanic in Age of Empires IV. For the mechanic in other games of the series, see Trade.
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In Age of Empires IV, trade, or trading, is a secondary method of obtaining resources. Similar to other installments in the series, trade units must traverse between a player's building and another building on the map, generating resources that increase with the distance between the two buildings.

Trading mechanics[]

Trade is performed by Traders on land and Trade Ships on the sea. By default, Traders will return gold, whereas Trade Ships will return equal amounts of both gold and wood. Some civilizations have methods of returning other resources as well. Traders are created at the Market and similar landmarks, while Trade Ships are created at the Dock. Once created, they can be tasked, either manually or through rally points, to trade with another building. This can be another player's Dock or Market (even an enemy player), or a neutral Trade Post that exists on some maps. Docks and Coastal Trade Posts are valid trade targets for Traders as well as Trade Ships.

Trade Posts[]

AoE4 TradePost

(Standard) Trade Post icon

AoE4 CoastalTradePost

Coastal Trade Post icon

Traders assigned to a trade route with a Trade Post generate Gold. The further the ends of the trade route, the greater the Gold earned.

Trade Posts generate 20% more gold than player-owned Markets, and cannot be attacked or destroyed.
Age of Empires IV description

Trade Posts are neutral Market-like structures randomly distributed on random maps. They can be on land or on the coast, in which case they are called Coastal Trade Posts. There is no functional difference between coastal and standard Trade Posts. Some maps have more advantageously positioned Trade Posts than others, making them more suitable for trading. These maps, such as Baltic, Prairie, or Altai, will always spawn with a Trade Post within only a few tiles of a corner of the map and will spawn a player's main Town Center in such a way that a long trade route can be set up along the edge of the map behind the player, making it more easily defendable.

Trade routes[]

AoE4 Market UI

There are 4 total trade units, of which 1 is assigned to this Market.

Unlike in previous installments, trade units will generate resources upon reaching both ends of their trade route (either their trade target or home Market) depending on how far away the two buildings are from each other. The resource income is shown on the trade unit's UI and is always equal for both legs of the trip. By default, the home Market or Dock is the one that created the trade unit, but any other standard Market or Dock, as well as The Silver Tree, the Chamber of Commerce, the Sultanhani Trade Network, and the House of Wisdom can also act as home Markets. In its UI, each Market and Dock displays the total number of trade units as well as the number of units who have it assigned as the home Market. Both Traders and Trade Ships are combined in this UI.

Both the home Market and the trade target can be changed at any point. If a trade unit is traveling to the trade target, changing the home Market will only change the income and reflect it on the UI for the return leg, after the trade unit reaches the trade target. However, changing the trade target will cause the trade unit to immediately redirect to the new target and change the income received, regardless if it is higher or lower. The opposite holds true if the trade unit is returning to its home Market. That is, changing the home Market will immediately redirect the trade unit to its new home Market and change its income for that leg of the route, whereas changing the trade target will only be reflected in the income after finishing the current leg. As an example, if an Abbasid Trader is returning to its home Market in the corner of the map, but that Market is attacked, it is possible to re-task it to the safer House of Wisdom, thus continuing the trade route even if it is at a reduced income.

Whether traveling to a home Market or to a trade target, a trade unit will remember which leg of the route it is on if it is interrupted (for example by being garrisoned), and continue the same leg once it restarts trading. This can be done automatically by using the 'Restart Trading' command on the trade unit or right-clicking on either end of the trade route. For example, if a Trader is heading towards a Trade Post and it is stopped, right clicking on its home Market will cause it to continue traveling to the Trade Post, not cause it to return to the Market. Two special cases are when a home Market is destroyed, or when moving a Mongol home Market. In the first case, the trade unit will move to the location of the destroyed Market or Dock, and remain idle until it is manually re-tasked to trade with another home Market. Using the 'Restart Trading' command or right clicking the Trade Post will have no effect. In the second case, if a Mongol Market or The Silver Tree is packed and moved, a Trader will move to the building's original location and remain idle until the building is unpacked again, at which point the Trader will automatically continue towards it.

Trade income[]

The amount of resources received from trading is dependent on the length of the trade route, the trade target, and the map size.

Trader[]

Based on in-game testing, the 'standard' base formula - trading with a neutral Trade Post on a 1-vs-1 micro size map - for trade gold income is approximately 0.008x² + 0.1x where x is the number of tiles separating the home Market from the Trade Post (the income at a 0-tile difference is not exactly 0, but small enough to be negligible). This formula was tested on a straight line in a single grid direction from the Trade Post (which is a more common scenario anyway). When the trade route is on a diagonal, the formula will differ slightly because it is not clear from which points on the Trade Post and home Market the distance is calculated. Overall, if considering the number of tiles as the hypotenuse between the closest corners of each building, it will be marginally less. With a speed of 1 tile per second, this translates to approximately 0.48 gold per minute per tile. On a map with corner-placed Trade Posts, such as Baltic or Prairie, a full trip along one side of the map will yield between 69-73 gold, or ~47-49 gold per minute per Trader for a civilization with no trade bonuses. The maximum possible length trade route - from corner to corner - can theoretically yield around 130 gold per leg, but if a player has enough map control to reliably keep such a trade route safe, they are most likely already in such a winning position that the extra gold will not affect the result of the game. A trade route covering only 1/2 of the map edge will only yield approximately 25% of the full value, and even 2/3 of the map edge will only yield ~50% of the full value, emphasizing the importance of maximizing the trade route length.

Depending on the map size and trade target, the formula is scaled as follows

  • Each successively larger map size decreases trade income by ~15%.
  • Trading with another player's Market decreases the income by 20%.

Although the income per tile is decreased on larger map sizes, the overall larger map size still results in a greater potential trade income. The approximate maximum base gold income per Trader for a trade route along the edge of the map on each map size is summarized below:

Trade Post Allied Market
1-vs-1 49 N/A
2-vs-2 50 40
3-vs-3 53 43
4-vs-4 56 45

While these values are less than a typical upgraded Villager, the main value in trading lies in the ability to generate infinite gold at the end of the game when Gold Mines have run out.

Trade Ship[]

Because coastlines are irregular on most water maps and Coastal Trade Posts can be more randomly placed, it is more difficult to determine a 'standard' sea trade route return and calculate a formula based on strict linear distance. However, if assuming the tile distance is the hypotenuse of the right triangle formed by the X-Y tiles, the calculated formula from in-game testing ends up close enough to that of a Trader that it seems reasonable to conclude that it is the same. Additionally, Trade Ships follow the same scaling related to map size and trade target. Since Trade Ships return not only gold, but the same amount of wood as well, doubling the resource return per trip. Furthermore, because they have a base speed of 1.5 tiles per second, their resource return per minute is 3x than a Trader, making even significantly shorter trade routes well worth the investment.

Civilization bonuses[]

The following civilizations have bonuses that can improve their trade income or trade ROI.

Abbasid Dynasty AoE4 Abbasid Dynasty[]

  • Can research Spice Roads to increase trade return by 30%.
  • Can research Grand Bazaar to cause Traders to return either food or wood at 25% of their gold amount. The additional resource is selected at the Market.
  • Traders are 33% cheaper.

Ayyubids AoE4 Ayyubids[]

  • Traders are 33% cheaper.

Byzantines AoE4 Byzantines[]

  • Traders also return Olive Oil at 20% of their gold amount.
  • Each Trade Post can unlock two random mercenary units if the Mercenary House is built near. The mercenary units are created 33% faster at Trade Posts, than at the generic building for their respective civilization.

French AoE4 French and Jeanne d Arc AoE4 Jeanne d'Arc[]

  • All Trade Posts are fully revealed on the map (and minimap) at start of the game.
  • Traders can return gold, wood, or food, selectable on each individual Trader.
  • Trade Ships return 20% extra resources and can replace their gold return with either food or additional wood, selectable on each individual Trade Ship.
  • Can research Merchant Guilds to cause Traders and Trade Ships to generate 1 gold every 6 seconds.

Malians AoE4 Malians[]

  • Trade units generate up to 8% of their trade income in gold (and wood for Trade Ships) each time they pass a Toll Outpost as well as 4% of their trade income in food if the Saharan Trade Network is built. When passing the latter landmark, they generate 8% of their trade income in food.

Mongols AoE4 Mongols[]

  • Traders return extra food/wood/gold with 5/10/15 active trade units at 10% of the standard gold amount.
  • Traders move 15% faster when under the Yam Network aura.
  • Can research Stone Commerce (or its improved version) to cause Traders to also return stone at 10% (or 20% for the improved version) of the standard gold amount.
  • Traders cost -40% gold and are produced 40% faster from The Silver Tree.
  • Traders can be double produced from a Market or The Silver Tree in the influence of an Ovoo.

Ottomans AoE4 Ottomans[]

  • Can send the Trade Bags Vizier Point to increase trade return by 40%.
  • Can build the Sea Gate Castle to increase Trader speed.

Zhu Xis Legacy AoE4 Zhu Xi's Legacy[]

Changelog[]

  • With the Season Four Update, trade income was reduced by 10%.
  • With patch 6.1.130, Trader income was further reduced by 10%. Mongol silk road bonus trade income level requirements were increased from 3/5/7/9 active trade units to 5/10/15/20 active trade units per level.
  • With the Season Five Update, trade units now generate half the trade route income when they touch both the home Market and the target Market, as opposed to all of the income when completing a round trip. This resolved an exploit where it was possible to skip the first leg of a trade route and get the initial trade income after only traversing half the full route.
  • With patch 11.1.1201, Trade Posts can be selected through the Fog of War.

Gallery[]

Gameplay elements in the Age of Empires series
Age · Ability (II · M · III · IV) · Architecture set (II · III) · Area of Effect (Trample damage) · Armor/Resists (hack/melee · pierce/ranged · crush/siege)  · Armor class/Tag/Unit type (I - original · I - Return of Rome · II) · Artificial intelligence · Attack (IV) · Attack delay · Attack ground · Aura (IV) · Auto Scout · Building (I · II · M · III · IV · C · AoE:DS) · Civilization (I · II · M · III · IV · C) · Civilization bonus · Cheat code (I · II · M · III · IV) · Conversion · Counter · Diplomacy · Gaia/Mother Nature · Game modes · Garrison · Gather Point · Healing · Hit points · Hotkey · Line of Sight · Mini map · Mobile building · Pass-through damage · Player · Population · Range · Rate of Fire · Regeneration · Relic (II · M · IV) · Repairing · Resource (Renewable resource) · Scenario Editor (I · II · M · III · IV) · Score · Signal Allies/Flare · Soundtrack (I · II · M · III · IV) · Speed · Stealth mode · Taunt · Technology (I · II · M · III · IV · C · Unique) · Technology tree (I · II · IV · C) · Terrain (AoE:DS · AoM:DS) · Town Bell · Trade (IV) · Tribute · Unit (I · II · M · III · IV · C · AoE:DS · AoM:DS) · Unit formation · Unit stance (III) · Upgrade (I · II · III · IV) · User interface · Victory · Villager Priority
Genie Engine
Frame delay · Full Tech Tree · Team bonus
ReturnRome-AoEIcon Age of EmpiresRuins · Discovery
AoE2-DLCicon-0 Age of Empires IIProjectile duplication
Bang Engine
Autoqueue · Multiplier · Snare
Aom original icon Age of MythologyGod (Major · Minor) · God power · Settlement
3Icon48px Age of Empires IIIAge-up methods (Politician/Tribal Council/Wonder/Federal State/Alliance· Banner army · Consulate · Damage Cap · Home City · Home City Card · Inspiring Flag · Minor civilization · Promotion · Revolution · Target Lock · Trade Monopoly · Trade Route · Treasure
GameIcon-AoE4 Age of Empires IV
GenericFire armor · Influence · Landmark · Religion · Sacred Site · Variant civilization
Civilization-uniqueBounty · Dynasty · Golden Age · Imperial Council (Vizier Point)
If a gameplay element has different pages across games, like civilization, the individual pages are linked in brackets.
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