Just like your crew members can level up and get stronger with new skills and perks, ports level up and get better with time and investments. Here are the basics to get you started. Also check; Sailing Era Beginner’s Guide.
Sailing Era Port Growth and Guilds
- All ports have 3 factors that determine their development status; Population, Trade and Tech. As these numbers go up the port will offer new and better things such as more trade goods, premium goods, more equipment, better ships and ship components, etc.
- All ports will naturally grow over time. These ports will naturally grow no larger than 30,000 population, 600 trade and 600 tech. Some cities grow at different rates and natural growth is very slow. They need to invest in a city in order for it to grow larger. Maximum effective value is 40,000 population, 1000 trade and 1000 tech.
- To grow a city faster or beyond its natural maximum you need to establish a private guild. You need to have a guild established in each city that you want to grow. To establish a guild you must contribute to the port and unlock permits.
- To contribute to a port you can do any of the following: sell large quantities of goods to the port, perform commerce guild missions or bounty hunter missions or turn in discoveries.
- When your contribution to the port is high enough you can go to the governor’s office (palace, etc) and unlock permits. Keep unlocking permits until you have enough to establish a guild and start making investments (that’s two different permits). You can continue to contribute for more permits (like tax exemption), but it is not needed.
- Once you have the permit to make a guild, you then have to build it. Talk to the governor again and ask to establish a guild. This action will require 5 units of two different goods (usually rare and expensive goods like silk, pepper, art, velvet, etc) and a 50,000 gold down payment. Once established, you will have a new option available on the main port menu.
- With your guild established, you can invest money into trade, population or tech of the port. The more money you put in the faster that aspect grows. Over 100,000 gold will give you the fastest growth rate. investing is expensive so make sure you have a strong financial status before you begin.
- Getting a port to maximum can take millions of gold and years of investment (this is the game’s main money sink), and is needed in order to unlock the best items and ship materials. But, that is more of an advanced strategy for a different guide.
- Try focusing guilds in ports with shipyards and ship material stores first as those will be of the best benefit early on. Mid game, when you know what commodities you like to trade, build guilds in major ports to get a tax exemption permit and unlock new trading commodities. In the end game you may want to invest in ports with bookstores to gain more skill points.
