Nanban trading by collection/procurement by AliBayan

This Information has been added by a good friend of mine with a very unique style of play that I admire. AliBayan is a master collector and procurer which he uses to nanban trade with great success without much travelling involved, and with great profit using no Purchase Orders or buying from market keepers. So please see below the information carefully and skillfully collected by AliBayan :D

 

What's the point?

Collecting / procuring on field, in general, is one of the game's ways of acquiring goods, sometimes referred to as strip mining.

Its advantages include:
 - no (direct) ducat cost of goods, also zero purchase price set for them
 - no limitations on quantity (no Purchase Orders or trade skills needed to increase it)
 - adventure exp points, often described as hard to get
 - fresh air for your sailors, instead of sniffing the Market Keeper's farts, which might significantly decrease their morale

Its disadvantages include:
 - a very high vigour / fatigue food consumption
 - randomness of the goods picked up, possibly requiring disposal of their large amounts
 - often much time needed to acquire the desired amount and kind(s) of goods

If you're an unpatient kind, or tend to devote your constant full attention to the game, collecting / procuring might not really be good for you. I'd recommend it to people being often busy with non-UWO stuff, but still wishing to pretend, that they're playing the game.

This article's aim is to describe how we can use this method for the Nanban trade. By this I mean using the collection / procurement, possibly combined with production skills, to prepare trade goods to offer to the East Asia's merchants.

The actual point is, that a multitude of decent Nanban-tradeable goods can be acquired in landing areas / town outskirts across East Asia or nearby. You can come there with nothing - can use a liner, tow, or just turn there spontaneously, and leave full of da good stuff.

What do you need?

Necessary:

 - Collection skill
  or
 - Procurement skill

Almost necessary:

 - Oxford Field Activities skill(s) set on, best if both 1 & 2 (stackable). It'll mean each pickup to be at least 4 loads (with the limit of 5 it's good enough).
 - Production skills: Handicrafts / Casting / Cooking / Sewing / Storage. Having any of these can make a difference.
 - Vigour / Fatigue food, loads and loads and loads. Renders the Cooking skill critically important (we all know how idiotic prices people set for food nowadays).

Good to have:

 - Basic land battle gear / ability. NPCs around East Asia are 50-ish levels, some of them pretty tough.
 - Landmark ribbon items.
 - The Nanban trade rate helpers: Nanban Purveyor Certificates and a ship with the Nanban Trade Preference skill enabled (note: r10 Management needed).

Maybe just maybe good to have:

 - An NC Storage (given you're using that stuff), registered at one of the East Asia towns. It can be very helpful as a trade goods cache, while you fill up. The favorite town of departure to Europe could be a good choice for the registration.
 - An adventure job, if you care about the adventure experience points. There's a daily bunch of them you can get for procuring / collecting, adding up for about an hour of constant gathering. It resets at Server's midnight.
 - A trade job, if you care more about the trade points. Especially if you intend to be selling the EA goods somewhere where there's no sane job switching opportunity. It might as well be the way if you need to make certain production skill(s) favored.
 - Oxford Increase Production Success Rate skill(s), Aide on a Paymaster job, in case of producing stuff.

Where to go?

The only way I can think of to picture the idea, is on examples. Below I took a chance to describe what you can obtain in just few zones, across East Asia, Southeast Asia and India (all accessible without doing the adventure quests). Looking around you might as well find stuff and locations that'll fit you better - my aim is not to try determining what's best to go and pick up and where. It is only to give some idea and practical info, mainly to people who didn't bother doing that so far.

Here's how to read the drawings:

The Nanban trade values, given in tables under the drawings, are based on the UWO DB site. The MarcoS articles below explain very well, how to read those.

Caution: some of the goods might not be Nanban-tradeable, despite being listed there. For instance, I've tried with the Sweet Bean Paste, and it didn't work (wasn't appearing in the possible offerings window).
Some say, that only those goods can be traded in East Asia, which you can get from the Market keepers. It doesn't seem so to me though. Only to check it I've produced some Shochu (which doesn't seem to be sold anywhere), and this one worked.

Korean Penninsula West Coast

Trade goods	Type	Specialty	Value
			China	Taiwan	Korea	Japan
Beef	Foodstuffs	-	1136	852	852	-
Cotton Fabric	Fabrics		1670	-	-	-

COWIES!!!

Ya, there's also the cotton thing, supposedly better to sell in China, blahblah. But the catch is, most of their towns usually don't like Fabrics too much. Meanwhile you don't need to be concerned about the Foodstuffs backstocks in China at all.

To be fair, for the Beef you might normally get not much more EA goods than half of the quantity you offer (or, 1:6, without the Purveyor item). But it's easy and safe.
It's also quick - you should manage to gather about 1000 Cattle within not much more than an hour, and consuming about 2500-3000 vigour (around 40 fishnuts). Also, because of the Great Successes, you don't need to fill up on Cattle. With the Paymaster aide and at least some Oxford production success rate skills, around 70-80% of the target amount should be enough. Then you can move and produce Beef already in the town, where you intend to turn it over.

MOOO!!!

Yuntaisha West

Trade goods	Type	Specialty	Value
			China	Taiwan	Korea	Japan
Ham	Foodstuffs	-	752	564	564	-
Whiskey	Alcohol	Britain	994	552	552	-
Liqueur		-	-	-	-	952
Dried Apricots	Luxury Goods	-	1032	-	-	-
Iron Ore	Ores	-	568	568	1136	568
Crystal	Precious Stones	-	1120	1120	1120	1120
Two-handed Swords	Arms	-	1248	1248	2122	1248
Shamshirs		-	868	868	1736	868
Single-handed Swords		-	884	884	1768	884
Short Swords		-	-	-	1146	-
European Armour		Britain	2244	2244	2244	2244
Glasswork	Crafts	Italy & S France	1656	2760	2760	2760
Steel	Wares	-	-	972	1944	972
Iron		-	-	1408	1760	-

Yuntaisha West offers perhaps one of the quickest and most effective ways: producing Steel for Korea. The table rock in the center-North seems to be a good place to collect. Having found the right spot, you may be getting about as much Iron Ore and Graphite as you're getting Rocks and Veggie Oil.
You should be able to produce around 1000 Steel within an hour, at the cost of around 7000 vigour (100 fishnuts). If you'll decide to go in rounds and produce in the city's tavern, of course you'll use much much less food, but it'll also take more time.

Having filled up on Steel (and Iron, if you happen to gather lot more Iron Ore than Graphite), you should mostly be able to turn it over at any of the Korean towns, for slightly less than the 1:1 rate. If you have the Nanban Trade Preference ship skill active, you'll likely go over 1:1.

If you wanna go fancy, you can for instance try Two-handed Swords, also best if taken to Korea. Those take much longer to produce, but the exchange rate in Korea will be almost a firm 1:1 (with no Nanban ship skill). Also theres's 2 possible events apart from Boom (War and Flood damage), which lower the Arms backstock.

While we're at the events, both Wares and Arms are more or less immune to recession at Hanyang and Busan.

If you wanna get even more fancy, you can reserve the worst spot ever and collect the Rocks. After a whole day you might get like 1000 Crystals produced. After you make them to Glasswork (the only way it makes any sense), of course you'll likely get an awesome 1:1 trade with them. I've tried however, and do not recommend.

Oh, yeah, and there's that other stuff I've mostly put down just for the record. It could potentially make sense though, to procure in a good spot. Could get some useful stuff done, such as:
 - Food! You want food.
 - Beer to convert to water on your possibly long way back.
 - Whiskey, which is not best for the trade, but makes a good entry bribery gift.
 - Ham = low value trade, but a safe one.

Korean Penninsula North Coast

Trade goods	Type	Specialty	Value
			China	Taiwan	Korea	Japan
Iron Ore	Ores	-	568	568	1136	568
Crystal	Precious Stones	-	1120	1120	1120	1120
Two-handed Swords	Arms	-	1248	1248	2122	1248
Shamshirs		-	868	868	1736	868
Single-handed Swords		-	884	884	1768	884
Short Swords		-	-	-	1146	-
European Armour		Britain	2244	2244	2244	2244
Glasswork	Crafts	Italy & S France	1656	2760	2760	2760
Steel	Wares	-	-	972	1944	972
Iron		-	-	1408	1760	-
Western Books	Sundries	-	2574	2574	572	1144

Same, same. But! Here you can stand in the grassy field, look down a lot, and, somehow, write Western Books as you do it. And Chinese / Taiwanese love reading that crap!

A hint I've got few days ago (thanks, HeroForEver) - if your collection is beyond r5, and you wish to focus on collecting Hemp, you can fleet with someone or with your altie, and go mentorship on em. Your Collection skill (especially on job which doesn't favor it) might go low enough not to be getting you Iron Ore or Graphite. You'll still be getting Rocks, but Glasswork shouldn't hurt much either.

Another hint being, you can also collect Hemp at:
 - China Southeast Coast
 - Taiwan Southeast Landing
 - Japanese Archipelago Southeast Coast

I'm focusing on Hemp, since whichever landmark I've been trying here, drops me loads of Hemp / Graphite, and about half as much Iron Ore. Might not be the best place for making Steel or Arms, unless of course your observations are different. Myself I'm finding Yuntaisha to be more balanced and efficient for that.

If you need to open any of the regions for trade, Procurement might be the way. Feathers might not be too good for the Nanban-trading, but those are good enough for an entry fee. Tried them for all 4 regions, the amount needed varied from around 150 to 400-something.

Stacked Boulders (Northeast) worked best for me, as a collecting place.

Tamsui Southeast

Trade goods	Type	Specialty	Value
			China	Taiwan	Korea	Japan
Ham	Foodstuffs	-	752	564	564	-
Cotton Fabric	Fabrics	-	1670	-	-	-
Iron Ore	Ores	-	568	568	1136	568
Longbows	Arms	-	-	-	1044	-
Wood Sculpture	Artwork	-	872	872	872	872
Fine Furniture	Crafts	-	2460	1722	1722	1722
Iron	Wares	-	-	1408	1760	-

A convenient town-inland site again, which by Collection can get you some mid-value goods (and the decent Fine Furniture, if you can Handicrafts r12 at the moment).
Though buying stuff or bringing it from Europe are not a subject of this article, it might be worth mentioning, that this spot is good to bring Parchments and make the Oil Paintings. Fine Furniture or Wood Sculptures might be a good thing to craft to balance out the overflow of Lumber gathered.
I did it once or twice, it works, I know other people do that as well - to be honest though, the results didn't blow my butt away.

Also, strangely or not, I come here mostly for Procurement.
One reason is, that this way I actually restock on food there - Pho is a decent 50 vigour / fatigue food. It needs r10 Cooking, which means I don't need a Cooking job, or toys, or aide.
Another reason are piggies of course. Ham might be low value, but it's safe for backstocks (China loves food), and you only need to fill with Pigs like up to about 40% of the target Ham quantity, because of the Great Successes expected.

Hint: the Ham production is 1-3, but in this case it strangely means "1 or 3 if great success". There's no "2" output.

The only spot, which proved good for me, are the red flowers in the center-East.

Northwest Malacca

Trade goods	Type	Specialty	Value
			China	Taiwan	Korea	Japan
Sweet Potatoes	Foodstuffs	-	-	-	1444	1444
Shochu	Alcohol	-	-	908	-	-
Chillies	Spices	West S America	1344	672	2464	1344
Green Chillies		West S America	1760	1056	2112	1760
Gold	Precious Metals	-	1574	1968	1968	1574
Iron Ore	Ores	-	568	568	1136	568
Ruby	Precious Stones	India	2030	2030	2030	2030
Garnet		-	1840	1840	1840	1840
Cat's Eye		India	1795	1795	1795	1795
Topaz		East S America	1179	1179	1179	1179
Amber		Northern Europe	2024	1417	1417	1417
Longbows	Arms	-	-	-	1044	-
Cannon Shot	Firearms	-	1468	1468	1468	1468
Cannon		-	1949	1624	1624	1624
Arquebuses		-	2341	1672	1672	2508
Muskets		Iberia	1981	1981	1981	1981
Wood Sculpture	Artwork	-	872	872	872	872
Fine Furniture	Crafts	-	2460	1722	1722	1722
Sulphur	Wares	-	1680	1680	1008	1680
Coal		-	1664	-	1664	1664
Iron		-	-	1408	1760	-

Potateys! Going Procurement here should get you 1000 cargo (Sweet Potatoes and Chillies produced) within an hour and half, at the cost of a bit less than 5000 vigour (70 fishnuts). A quick and surprisingly decent way. Though the potatoes might seem not a groundbreaking value, with a favorable town status + Nanban ship skill on, you could even go beyond 1:1 with these.
If your Procurement is r6 or more, a skill-lowering mentorship trick might be an idea. I bet you could fill up on just Sweet Potatoes the a lot quicker this way.

Stacked Boulders in the Northwest appear to be a decent spot.

Procurement here could offer much stuff you possibly didn't order, but at the same time it needs a quite high rank to obtain, which means 2 things: good adventure exp, and a very good place to rank Procurement. Don't bother with the +20 Rice paper food though, unless you either love saving, or hate your mouse.

Oh yeah, and there's all the nice collection stuff woohoo where to start where to start, maybe on that I never bothered much with it. But it's there, looks good, gathers well.
I was even thinking of making cannons here (bringing Graphite from East Asia), but concluded not the best idea. Waters hostile / lawless too often.

North Calicut

Trade goods	Type	Specialty	Value
			China	Taiwan	Korea	Japan
Turnips	Foodstuffs	-	1476	1116	-	-
Silk Cloth	Fabrics	-	1757	1757	1757	1757
Taffeta		Persia	2080	2080	2080	2080
Frankincense	Fragrances	Arabia	1706	1312	1968	1968
Aloeswood		-	1716	1716	1973	1716
Sandalwood		India	1993	1812	1993	1993
Camphor		Indo-China	1088	1088	1088	1088
Western Books	Sundries	-	2574	2574	572	1144

Calicut outskirts, combined with the Nanban trade, are what in my understanding gives any actual use for the perfumery handi book.
Fragrances have good backstocks around East Asia, and ones collectable / craftable here have a good Nanban value. What I mostly do is crafting Frankincense, for its decent value, and little usage of veggie oil vs fragrant wood (it's veggie oil I tend to run out of first).

Of course, there's also the generally valuable and useful Silk Thread, and Hemp if you feel like making a pile of the Western Books.
And, most of all, it's Calicut. Thesis, job change, Nanban backstock checkup guy, all there for ya.

The nearest decent collecting spot seems to be the Giant Dead Tree in the Northwest.

If you'd decide to go Procurement, filling up on Turnips will be slowed down by Eggs. Making them Feathers could help squash the cargo a bit - could either use them to open any remaining East Asia region, or to sell at Calicut for some change, or just throw the Eggs at the nearest Gahtz Bandit lv25. Please don't forget to register Eggs as a land battle item first.

East Ceylon

Trade goods	Type	Specialty	Value
			China	Taiwan	Korea	Japan
Turnips	Foodstuffs	-	1476	1116	-	-
Silver	Precious Metals	-	2132	2006	1756	1254
Gold		-	1574	1968	1968	1574
Saltpetre	Ores	-	2462	2462	2172	2462
Iron Ore		-	568	568	1136	568
Copper Ore		-	1972	1730	1384	692
Ruby	Precious Stones	India	2030	2030	2030	2030
Garnet		-	1840	1840	1840	1840
Sapphire		India	2268	2268	2268	2268
Lapis Lazuli		Persia	1445	1445	1445	1145
Emerald		-	2117	2117	2117	2117
Aventurine		India	1095	1095	1095	1095
Malachite		-	1648	1648	1648	1648
Cat's Eye		India	1795	1795	1795	1795
Topaz		East S America	1179	1179	1179	1179
Amber		Northern Europe	2024	1417	1417	1417
Diamond		West Africa	1943	1943	1943	1943
Crystal		-	1120	1120	1120	1120
Longbows	Arms	-	-	-	1044	-
Gunpowder	Firearms	-	2688	768	768	768
Wood Sculpture	Artwork	Artwork	872	872	872	872
Fine Furniture	Crafts	-	2460	1722	1722	1722
Glasswork		Italy & S France	1656	2760	2760	2760
Silverwork		-	2684	1879	2684	1879
Iron	Wares	-	-	1408	1760	-
Lead		-	-	-	1168	-
Copper		-	1744	1744	1744	-
Sulphur		-	1680	1680	1008	1680

The Ceylon rock (just a bit East from the gates) is where you'll often meet people collecting stuffs. Not without a reason - it's a great collecting site for the casters and handicrafters, leaving as well many options for the Nanban trade.

If you wish to be throwing away as little as possible, crafting Precious Stones might be the way.
It is a long way however, and requiring a bit of attention, because of the 15 cargo kinds limit (once hit, the collecting stops, which can be pretty annoying). Lately I usually approach it by producing all in field (without the town rounds), throwing away the least promising gems.

A quicker and still decent way could be Ores or Wares for example. It might be an idea in both cases to carry the raw materials and produce only at the target location.

Going again a bit off the subject I should mention, that there's more to do in Ceylon, even for the sake of not throwing out the collected ores. You can for example:
 - gather the White Ore (Saltpetre) / Blue Ore (Copper Ore) for the Nanban trade, and use the Yellow Ore (Gold) and Logs (Lumber) to make the Tribute goods for brigands; or
 - gather the Blue Ore (Copper) / Yellow Ore (Sulphur) for the Nanban trade, and use the White Ore / Logs (Lumber) / Red Ore (Iron) to produce the Master craftsman's carpentry tools.

In both cases you might have a bunch of Green Ore and at least some Red Ore (Iron Ore) remaining. If your Private Farm is Diego Garcia nearby, those could be used there for producing the Improved steel sheets. If you don't need them for yourself, these things can be easily / profitably sold to players.

Yepp...

Hope it's any useful.

Drop by the Shackleton's site with awesome maps I used for the pictures.

Yours sincerely
AliBayan