How do you use trade routes?

LOL I'm the only one who Trades exclusively with City States. I'm going to kill everyone else I can trade with anyway, so what's the point. And, I really can't see advantage of internal trade routes over the gold you get from City States.

Cheers.

manu-fan said:

LOL I'm the only one who Trades exclusively with City States. I'm going to kill everyone else I can trade with anyway, so what's the point. And, I really can't see advantage of internal trade routes over the gold you get from City States.

Cheers.

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Early game trade routes with CS are like 4-6 gold. Internal trade route is 4 food, I'll take that any day.

HiroProtagonist said:

Is there any point in playing trade routes defensively. For example forgoing the highest gold paying route because it gives that civ too much science and instead picking a route that pays less but doesn't give as much to the other civ. I've selected TR's solely on what's in it for me and haven't paid much attention to what I'm giving away, but am starting to wonder if selecting TR's defensively has any merit.

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I would say this is isn't necessary as to science, but may be an issue as to gold for a serious rival or enemy. The science bonus is proportional to how far behind they are, so if they're getting more than 1-2 science from your trade route (which is negligible in mid-late game), they're too far behind to care.

With cash, it's situational. In a multipolar world, it probably doesn't matter; in a 2-3 power world, it's zero-sum enough that you may want to take a small hit in your gold to put a big hit in your opponent's gold production.

Started out primarily internal and as much gold as I could make. Last couple of games I've shifted away from internal trade routes and have focused on gold.

About mid game I have enough gold generating buildings and lux trades so I start to use them for other things. CS quests comes to mind as once my gold buildings are up is right around when city states come into play in World Congress.

Usually a little bit later I'll start to shift away from just looking at the routes that give me the most gold and will put priority on denying my main competitors gold.

Playing immortal I've had to replace my first early internal food trade routes with international for the science, not the gold. Those first two trade routes from AH/Sailing can gain you 10+ beakers, that's more than a planted GS gives at the time. And can really get you moving in the right direction in catching up and eventually overtaking the AI in science.

The best use of the first trade route is for peaceful relations if possible. The second or third route is usually for food back to the cap. Then, its the richest routes to as many different civs as possible.

I opt for the hybrid option myself, gauging the various factors of gold, science, and religion on diplomatic relations, competitive edge, and other objectives. I know a lot of forum users have complained about the steep learning curve on trade routes, but I love them, from a historical perspective. Trade routes were more than just making money, historically-- important scientific, religious and cultural ideas crossed distant continents via trade routes, without which, civilization would be greatly impaired.