By: FireAnt | 3x | Athens
What is Trading?
As you turn level 20, you can be a Trader. Trading has a lot to do with SilkRoad, but if you don't know what it is, here's a brief explanation. Traders take goods from one town, and bring them to the next for a profit. Doesn't sound too bad, eh? Well, theres much to worry about. Player thieves "popping" or killing your transports, and not to mention all of the npc creatures which cling to you until you kill them. Trading is a dangerous job, but does have its benefits.
How can you trade?
Well, you'll need some supplies to get off you're first trade, which is most likely going to cost the most.
You'll need:
White Flag (can be bought from the specialties shop for 10,000 gold)
Transport (I'll get into this later)
Vehicle Potions (I reccommend at least 100 Large for your first trip)
Vehicle Abnormal Status Recovery Potions (They're cheap, but handy)
Potions for your character (just in case)
About 50k cash (for starters)
Optional:
A high level hunter to protect you
A wolf
I bet you're thinking, how can a cute wolf benefit me in a trade run. Well, a wolf can attack monsters while you're on your transport, saving potions and gaining experience for you. A wolf can also divert a thief away from you, which is especially usefull when a cold thief is freezing you while a "1-star popper" gets on you.
One-Star Poppers? What?
If you are carrying a One-Star load (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED) Player Thieves cannot attack you or your convoy, but they can be dangerous. If these thieves are carrying a load of goods and get slightly in front of your convoy, when that thieves NPC thieves spawn, they may attack your horse. Some of these thieves are 30 levels higher than you and will murder your poor convoy, leaving the thief to loot your goods and run away. Some helpful things to do if you are being "popped" are: let its convoy get ahead of yours then pull a 180 on it (turn around). This may give you the edge you need to slip away from him. If you want to get down and diry, you can repeatedly bombard the thief with exchange requests, party invites, etc to divert his attention from getting ahead of you. I have seen thieves back off just because they get tired of the messages.
So I'm all geared up, now what?
There are 3 towns in SilkRoad, and you can go to any one of them (except the one you're in, silly) If you start in Jangan, you can go to Don Whang or Hotan, and visa-vera. The order of the town goes:
Jangan--->Don Whang--->Hotan
Jangan is the safest town, and Hotan the most dangerous, as far as Creatures go, but I have found in my many trade runs that most to all One-star poppers lurk in Jangan and Don Whang. If you are under level 30, I recommend you don't try the trip to Hotan, level 50+ monsters are there.
If you can, try to acquire a Scout to look ahead at what lies or a hunter to fend off you're thieves.
Camels Vs. Horses
There are many things to consider when deciding whether to use a camel or horse. Heres the facts:
Horse are faster than Camels by 1m/s
Camels have more HP than Horse by almost double
I almost always use a horse though, to avoid One-Star Poppers. If you're not faster than the convoy of what's popping you, it just makes it that much easier for them to kill you and your convoy.
My Recommendation: The Horse's lower HP is worth not losing your load!
What you REALLY want to hear, money!
I've ran some figures...
I was level 30
Thouroughbred Horse
Bought 59 of the 277 gold item (16343)
I went from Jangan to Don Whang (Don Whang to Jangan yields the same profits)
I Made....63,248 gold! (A whopping 49,905 gold profit!)
If anyone has any other figures, please post them and I'll give you some credit
Routes to go:
The most time consuming route is always the safest route. Heres some sample pictures of routes you can use:
Yes, it is hard to hold a steady hand at 6:44am and you haven't slept but you get the point
ALWAYS stick to as much cover as you can and try to stay off the roads. Experience is the best key to trade runs. These pictures are just some sample ways I have tried on trade routes. Change it up a little, add some life to the game.
Final Thoughts:
Trading, In my opinion, is one of the funnest aspects of this game, but don't do too many trade routes in a row, you'll get bored
Have fun and make sure to post some stories/routes/anything that is on this topic.
If you need to contact me, give me an email at hacker.cory@gmail.com (no I don't hack lol)
Credits:
spitfire8
Nano3D
WeeZyBaBy
