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Game Info[]
A Great Person, specialized in trade.
- Actions:
- Construct a Customs House (Great tile improvement)
- Conduct Trade Mission (When in a city-state, can produce a large amount of
Gold and 30 Influence.)
The unit is expended after performing either of these actions.
Strategy[]
Besides constructing the special Customs House improvement which, when worked, produces loads of 
Gold, the Great Merchant can also journey to a city-state and perform a Trade Mission, which produces gobs of Gold and gains 30 points of 
Influence with the city-state. The Great Merchant is expended when used in either of these ways.
In order to use Trade Mission, you need to enter the target city-state's territory with the Merchant.
Again, you have the choice to use it for a long-term boost of the Gold production in one city (which you should choose carefully), or use its unique ability to get a large one-time boost of Gold and Influence with a city-state. Note that the trade mission may sometimes prove dangerous, especially if the city-state is far away.
Formula[]
The Gold gained from performing a Trade Mission is calculated with the formula
350 + (50 * era_number)
where era_number is a simple serial number starting with 0 for the Ancient Era. In addition, game speed also affects this number; Quick games modify this value by 0.67, Epic by 1.5, and Marathon by 3.
With Brave New World the formula changes to
300 + (100 * era_number)
In vanilla Civilization V and Gods & Kings, completing the Commerce policy tree doubles the Gold income from Trade Missions. With Brave New World, simply adopting the Entrepreneurship policy from the Commerce tree suffices.
Civilopedia entry[]
"Great Merchants" provide the goods and services civilizations need to survive. They import food, medicines, and luxuries, and they export a civilization's manufactured goods. They provide the financing needed for great works to be accomplished. They create a civilization's wealth.
See also[]
- List of Great Merchants
- Great Merchant in other games
| Civilization V Great People [edit] |
|---|
Great Admiral  • Great Artist • Great Engineer • Great General (Khan1 • Scourge of God2) • Great Merchant (Merchant of Venice  ) • Great Musician • Great Prophet • Great Scientist • Great Writer
|
1 Requires a DLC • 2 Fall of Rome scenario only
 Added in the Gods & Kings expansion pack. Added in the Brave New World expansion pack. |