Trading

The Trading skill factors into many merchant systems, adjusting the resulting prices of goods.

To deter silver farming, there is a cap on the trading bonus (including racial bonus) to the first 1 million silvers of non-self-looted treasure. Any loot personally received from hunting doesn't count towards this cap. It is extremely difficult to reach this cap and thus applies to very few players.

Type	Square			Semi			Pure
Profession	Rogue	Warrior	Monk	Bard	Paladin	Ranger	Cleric	Empath	Savant	Sorcerer	Wizard
Max Ranks Per Level	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	-	2	2
Training Point Cost	0/3	0/3	0/3	0/2	0/3	0/3	0/3	0/3	-	0/3	0/3

Trading chart

The following matrix shows the bias merchants in a given town area have towards a given race. Each entry in the matrix represents a percentage from baseline modifier.

Table: Trade Bias Factors

Location	Human	Elf	Dwarf	Giantman	Halfling	Half-Elf	Dark Elf	Sylvan	Burghal Gnome	Forest Gnome	Half-Krolvin	Erithian	Aelotoi
Wehnimer's Landing	0	0	0	+5	+5	+5	+5	0	0	+5	0	0	0
Icemule Trace	0	0	0	0	+5	0	0	+5	0	0	+5	0	0
Solhaven	+5	0	0	0	0	+5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
River's Rest	+5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+5	0	0
Ta'Vaalor	0	+5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ta'Illistim	0	+5	0	0	0	0	0	+5	+5	0	0	+5	+5
Cysaegir	0	0	0	0	0	0	+5	0	0	+5	0	+5	+5
Kharam Dzu	0	0	+5	+5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Zul Logoth	0	0	+5	0	0	0	0	0	+5	0	0	0	0
Mist Harbor	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Kraken's Fall	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
This table provided during the Power of Currency. Corresponding communities receive the pricing of their partnering towns.

Trading formula

The trading formula contains a few input variables.

Skill boost

Defined as: SkillBoost = Trunc[(TradingSkill + INFBonus)/12] where INFBonus is the bonus to influence.

NB1: Truncate. -0.9 is 0. 0.9 is also 0. -1.1 is -1, and 1.1 is 1. This means that the effective range of '0' is far larger (from -11 to +11, so that's 23 possibles, instead of the usual 12).

NB2: You MUST have 1+SkillBoost ranks of trading to make it count. For example, a player with 35 INF but no trading would have 35/12 = 2.91 = 2 SkillBoost, but in order to enjoy a SkillBoost of 2 you would need 3 (2+1) ranks of trading to make it count, or you get nothing. So, you train up to 3 ranks, which gives you a total SkillBoost of (35+15)/12 = 4.166... and yet you still get just 2% SkillBoost, because 3 ranks will not ever grant more than 2%. In practice, this minimum requirement is only important for the first 5 or 6 ranks, after that you will always meet this requirement.

SkillBoost is applied as a percentage increase or decrease, depending on if you are buying or selling. For example, a player with 100 ranks of trading and 32 INF bonus has SkillBoost = Trunc[(200 + 32)/12] = 232/12 = 19.33333 = 19. The final skill boost is 1.19 / 0.81, depending on if one is selling (1.19) or buying (0.81).

Spells that increase INF (such as Assume Aspect (650)) will thus also increase your SkillBoost.

Max Trading Bonus Chart based on Influence bonuses ranging from -2 to 45. Click on [Expand] just below and to the right for the Max Trading Chart. Alternatively, you can also download and run ;tradingranks from the Lich repository to show you the various Trading rank training thresholds for your character's current INF bonus.

INF Bonus for 25 Skill Boost	INF Bonus for 26 Skill Boost	INF Bonus for 27 Skill Boost	INF Bonus for 28 Skill Boost	INF Bonus for 29 Skill Bonus	Trading Bonus	Trading Ranks
-2	10	22	34	46	302	202
-1	11	23	35	47	301	201
0	12	24	36	48	300	200
1	13	25	37	49	299	199
2	14	26	38	50	298	198
3	15	27	39	51	297	197
4	16	28	40	52	296	196
5	17	29	41	53	295	195
6	18	30	42	54	294	194
7	19	31	43	55	293	193
8	20	32	44		292	192
9	21	33	45		291	191

Selling gems

RawGemValue * [SkillBoost + RaceBiasFactor]

RaceBiasFactor reflects the opinion about your race by the shop owner. For example, an elf in the Elven Nations has a RaceBiasFactor of +0.05 (read: 5% bonus). So if our player with a 19% SkillBoost is an elf in the Elven Nations, a gem with a base value of 5000 silvers earns 5000 * [1.19 + 0.05] = 5000 * 1.24 = 6200 silvers.

Buying from the pawnshop

[RawItemValue * 2 * PawnItemClassFactor] * [SkillBoost + RaceBiasFactor]

RawItemValue depends on the item and can not always be known (well, now you can back it out!). However, for some items it is easy: The raw item value of a gem is simply that which you can easily calculate from selling to the gemshop.

PawnItemClassFactor refers to how much the pawnshop you are at 'likes' the class of item you are trying to buy. While the different classes are unknown, gems are different from weapons which are different from 'gem-like imbeds'. Each pawnshop has its own unique set of PawnItemClassFactors, and each item class has its own unique PawnItemClassFactor at each pawnshop.

Selling to the pawnshop

[RawItemValue * PawnItemClassFactor] * [SkillBoost + RaceBiasFactor]

Buying from other shops

[RawItemValue] - [SkillBoost * 2 * RawItemValue * RaceBiasFactor]

Buying from merchant shops

The bonus at certain merchant (i.e., irregular) shops is unknown. It is known that one merchant cares more about trading than the next, and they may have race biases as well. It is thought that that the formula is very similar to gem selling.

Selling skins

RawSkinValue * [SkillBoost + RaceBiasFactor]

Appraising items

Current research suggests that RANKS + d100 > 100 for a successful appraisal, but this formula is uncertain.

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