Black market
Wait until 2:00 a.m. and go to the item shops at the
ports. The Crusader Sword may be found at the shop at Timbuktu.
Easy money
Accept the Collect Debt job in the Venice guild after
starting a new game. Get the five gold ingots, deposit in the
bank, and return to Venice. According to the banker, you have
failed the job and reduce your fame, but the gold will remain
in the bank.
Easy experience
Locate the weak pirate in Tunis and bombard him when
he leaves. Challenge him to a duel and weaken him to 50 hit points.
After the duel ends, challenge him again to another duel to gain
more experience. Repeat this as needed.
New ship types
Place $50,000 a month for five months in the Bristol
shipyard to gain additional ship types, including a barge. Place
$50,000 a month for five months in the Hamburg or Antwerp shipyards
to eventually get the full-rig ship.
Better ships
You can find better ships to fight with in Sakai and
Nagasaki. The easiest way to get there as soon as possible is
to trade carpets and arts until you have around 10,000 gold pieces.
Then, buy glass beads in Venice and sell them at the port of Madeira.
The beads will cost 2 or 3 gold and can be sold them for about
50 gold. In Madeira, buy sugar for 12 gold and sell it at the
port of Santa Cruz (1 day of sailing south of Madeira). Buy flax
from Santa Cruz and sell it in Amsterdam. From there you can buy
glass beads and repeat the process. Do this until you get to 20
gold ingots. Then get some balm in Barcelona and cruise to the
far east with a small ship (preferably with rows like a LaReale)
with high velocity (such as a Caravella Redonda). First, stop
in Nagasaki and invest 50,000 gold at the shipyard. You should
do this when you reach the end of a month, as it is faster that
way. When the month changes, you should find an Atakkabunde (cheap
and efficient). Buy it and remodel it to only support 30 crew
members and no cannons. If you have mates that can pilot ships,
then buy a couple to speed up things. In Nagasaki, buy silver
and sell it in Changan, Zeiton and Sakai. These ports have silk
items; buy some to sell in Nagasaki. If there is no silver, buy
porcelain. You will get fair price for porcelain in India -- the
clove and pepper are cheap in India and sell for ten times higher
in the Far East. Five months in a row, invest 50,000 in Sakai
or Nagasaki. When they reach 1000 points in the shipyard, you
will find a new boat: Tekousen. This is the ultimate battle ship.
It is row powered, which is good when the wind dies, and can reach
up to 20 knots in speed. Remodelling the Tekousen only permits
you to hold 300 crewmen and up to 100 cannons. Another trick:
buy a used Tekousen. It will hold 360 crewmen and 80 cannons.
It is easier to maneuver in battle, and it has more speed than
a Venitian Galeas. It also has as much cargo capacity as a full-rigged
ship or even a barge.
Errol's Plate armor
Go to the Black Market in Copenhagen to get Errol's
Plate. That is the star class armor, which is even better the
Pull Mail Armor.
Crusader's Armor
Go to Naples at 2:00 a.m. and purchase the Crusaders
Armor. It is also star class armor, but it is a lot better then
the Errol's Plate, which is cheaper.
Carronades
Head towards Bristol and invest in both Shipyards and
Trade Market. Keep them both invested with the same amount of
money, $50,000. After you have gotten the Barge ship, invest once
more in the Shipyard and Trade Market. Return next month and remodel
your ship's guns. The message "Your in luck, we have a new
specialty today" or something similar should appear. If this
does not happen, leave the Shipyard menu and keep returning to
remodel guns. The new gun is Carronades. Its attack power is as
strong as a Cannon, and its range is as far as a Culverin. This
is the most powerful guns in the game.
Merchant discounts
The Merchant will always discount the price of his
goods at the rate of 75.0% of the full price. For example: If
you were buying Porcelain for 108, do not pay more than 81. You
will be able to get this discount even if you do not have a good
bookkeeper. The key to getting this discount is to make sure the
port is allied with your country (and also not a neutral port).
You do not have to have a Tax-Free Permit, but it will reduce
your price even more. Also, if you have a bookkeeper, they will
do all the work for you. This is a rather short list of the bookkeepers:
Esteban Ortega, Jacob Walweik, Antoine Fitch, Benito Gomez, and
Tristan Seillo.
Shipbuilder discounts
Any Shipbuilder will always give a you discount of
83.6% of the full price. For example, if a ship costs 10,000 to
build, you should not pay more than 8,360. He will accept the
price.