Merchants and Assassins

[TeutonicKnight]

How in the world do I make these functionaries better?

My merchants are total shite. If I send them to a resource, they are smacked down by enemy merchants. If I send them after enemy merchants, they are smacked down too. What can I do to make them better? I am training them all in one city to get Merchant Guild bonuses, but it doesn't help much at all.

My assassins are not much better. When I spam them, I can get enough to have one or two survive through my arsonist training program. That's where I burn buildings repeatedly trying to get their subterfuge up. They still can't kill people though. If I build twenty or thirty of them, I can maybe end up with one assassin that will pull off a single assassination of a diplomat or some other minor functionary before he gets whacked on the next one. Once again, I'm using a Thieves Guild. Despite my repeated attempts, I've not been able to get an Assassin Guild offer.

I'm currently playing my first long campaign as Spain on M/M. I'm about to end that and start a Dane campaign where I hope to use any hints you can give me. The Merchant issue is of particular concern, since I can't find a way to keep my merchants alive.

[Midnight]

I don't bother with either - IMO they're both more trouble than they're worth.

I pretty much only use Spies (very, very useful) and religious agents (indispensable) as my non-military forces. From what I've seen, Merchants get taken over far too easily and regularly, and Assassins don't do their job very well. It is possible to make both work (and work well), but it's just so much easier to use an army...

[FactionHeir]

Always train merchants in a settlement with at least a town hall, that gives them the LegalDealer trait.
Then move your merchants around expending all movement points every turn without stopping on a resource. This you can do with an aim of reaching far away resources which tend to be more profitable. They get the WorldlyMerchant trait that way. This already allows a total of +3 finance and they won't get attacked this way.
Once you settle down on a resource, keep them there without enemy merchants in the same area as long as possible to get the Monopolist line of traits.
Use them to acquire enemy merchants only if you at least have a 60% chance of doing so.

As for assassins, arson is good. Once they get GoodConspirator up to 3rd level, use them to target skill 0 diplomats and captains with small regiments. Parking them in settlements with high level brothels also gives them useful ancillaries

[TeutonicKnight]

Do they gain increases in Finance skill sitting on a resource? I don't think mine have ever lived long enough to do so.

I'll try the movement thing tonight, see if that bumps them up any at all.

[FactionHeir]

They get Monopolist for sitting on a resource when no hostile merchant is in the same region on a resource only.

Merchants can get following good skills:
NaturalMerchantSkill (oncreation)
GoodMerchant (takeovers)
SecureMerchant (stopped takeover)
WorldlyMerchant (expend movement)
Monopolist (alone in region)
MerchantsGuildTrained (from merchant guild in town)
MerchantsGuildMember (from master or grandmaster guild in faction)

[Gingivitis]

I just keep making them so I get the guild HQ's, if they die/get taken over it's an excuse to make another one. Merchants/Assassins that have no guild training are almost useless. You''ll be wasting a bunch of turns blowing up churches and other things before you can even think about actually assassinating anybody. A 1 star merchant holds up a big flashing "seize my assets" sign where ever he goes. If it's your only option make sure he's somewhere in your own land with a watchtower looking over him so you can move him off a resource whenever another merchant gets close.

On the other hand if you have a guild HQ and are popping out 4-5 star merchants/assassins you can come out with a good chance of being able to kill rebels or at least just spending a few turns sabotaging to get a 7 skill assassin. For merchant's any new one will have a 95% shot at taking over any 1 star merchants that meander by and will be skilled enough to risk sending away. I love guild HQ's, I have a theologians guild HQ with a huge cathedral and it popped out a 25 yo bishop with full piety.

[vonsch]

I use a fort or escort unit to pre-train my merchants a little on a resource near home. Then I send them off into the world. I usually pick up monopolist a level or three this way. The guild REALLY helps, as does the town hall. Not having the latter significantly increases the chance of the negative "crooked trader" line. That really hurts. When a new trader has that, I tend to just feed it to the competition and recruit a new one.

I don't bother with assassins, though I keep promising myself to try them in a campaign I really role-play. Hungary maybe.

[Didz]

My merchants are total shite. If I send them to a resource, they are smacked down by enemy merchants. If I send them after enemy merchants, they are smacked down too. What can I do to make them better? I am training them all in one city to get Merchant Guild bonuses, but it doesn't help much at all.

These questions have been answered in more detail in other threads and guides.

This is my favourite, if you want to read one:
http://forums.totalrealism.net/showthread.php?t=2798

However, to answer the two keys issues you raise above.

If I send them to a resource, they are smacked down by enemy merchants.
Yes...They will be....the AI specifically targets merchants standing on a resource. So ,as soon as you stand a merchant on one consider it a target.

The solution is micro-management unfortunately, never leave a merchant standing on a resource blind. If it is operating in foriegn territory it has to be accompanied by a spy with a decent sight range so that you can see the hostile merchants closing on your location.

When an hostile merchant gets within striking distance, simple move your merchant off the resource. The hostile merchant will instantly lose interest and wander off. Once he has 'pissed-off' stand back on your resource point and carry on trading until he returns.

If I send them after enemy merchants, they are smacked down too.
Well there's no excuse for that. You should get a clear statement of the % odds of success before you send the merchant in, but the AI is notiously fickle about its resolution. My own advice is to basically cheat....I check the combat odds for a successful takeover and if its 85% or 95% I don't expect to lose my merchant doing the dirty deed. So, I do a CTRL+S quick save just before the attempt and if the AI thinks its being funny by killing my 8 Star merchant with its 1 Star noob trader I teach it whose really boss by reloading and making it think again. I have a sort of unwritten code of honour that says that if I get a NIL-NIL result I let it stand, and if the AI kills my merchant 3 times in a row on the re-rolls I accept it as a rare result. But having your Alan Sugar super-merchant taken out by some Dell Boy from the local market is just some computer programmers idea of a laugh, but I don't think its funny so I won't accept it.

[Captain Pugwash]

On the same vein its just as bad when your 8* merchant is taken out by same said 2*merchants

[Didz]

On the same vein its just as bad when your 8* merchant is taken out by same said 2*merchants

Well as I say if you are micro-managing your merchants then this should not happen as you just move them off the resource and the hostile merchant loses interest.

[_Tristan_]

Well as I say if you are micro-managing your merchants then this should not happen as you just move them off the resource and the hostile merchant loses interest.

Without going as far as the fort exploit (search forums for explanation), you can anyway join your merchant with an army stack thus making it attack-proof from enemy merchants...I tend to use remnants of units to do this...

Of course, this only works on hostile territory when at war or on your own...On neutral territory, leaving even a 5-man unit will sorely lessen you reputation with the owning faction...

[Didz]

Without going as far as the fort exploit (search forums for explanation), you can anyway join your merchant with an army stack thus making it attack-proof from enemy merchants...I tend to use remnants of units to do this..

Never thought of that, in fact it never occurred to me that merchants could join armies.

I had a look at the 'Fort Expliot' thread and it looks like quite an interesting idea. Building a fort on the resource and then inserting a merchant in it sounds like an expliot to me, but then if one is going to protect ones merchants by moving them off the resource everytime an enemy merchant comes close, paying 500 florins to get the AI to protect them instead does not sound too much of a cheat. It would certainly help in the early stages of training merchants ready for dispatch to foriegn lands.