Grinding trading skills
There two major ways of getting trading skills profficiency:
1. Buying trading goods related to the skill
2. Performing Nanban Trade exchange
Performing Nanban Trade exchange is quite straightforward - relevant skill profficiency goes up each time you receive EA good from nanban trade merchant. But don't count solely on Nanban Trade since amount of profficiency from single exchnage is quite small and it would take ages to rank up any trading skill to a decent level if you relied solely on Nanban.
This guide will focus on gaining trading skill profficiency from buying trading goods since there are certain locations in game that help you to get profficiency much more quickly than others. Please note that you may limit port hopping if you get Purchase Orders. However bear in mind that you would need hundreds of them if you would like to skip port resetting entirely.
Here are the best grinding spots for particular trading skills:
Category 1 trade goods
 |
Food trading |
| Nantes | Bordeaux | Porto |
| Beef | Duck meat | Fish |
| Wheat | Lamb | Wheat |
| Sausages | Bacon | Sausages |
| Onions | Beef (invest) | Cheese |
| Poultry | Pork |
 |
Seasoning trading |
| Athens | Candia |
| Olive Oil | Olive Oil |
| Honey |
 |
Medicine trading |
| Stockholm | Riga |
| Wormwood | Heathers |
| Heathers |
 |
Livestock trading |
| Zadar | Ancona |
| Chicken | Chicken |
| Goats |
| Buenos Aires | San Antonio |
| Cattle | Cattle |
| Sheep |
 |
Sundries trading |
There is only one sundries good in game at the moment. It can be bought in 3 major cities. Port hopping is required to grind it.
| Amsterdam | Lisbon | Istanbul |
| Western books | Western books | Western books |
Category 2 trade goods
 |
Alcohol trading |
| Marseille | Genoa |
| Brandy | Liqueur |
| Wine |
| London | Dover |
| Whiskey | Brandy |
| Beer |
| Bordeaux | Nantes |
| Brandy | Fruit Brandy |
| Wine |
| Jamaica | Grand Cayman |
| Tequilla | Tequilla |
| Rum |
 |
Dye trading |
There are no nearby ports that allow easy grind. There are however 3 ports that sell more than 1 dye - so you can do port hopping from any of them
| Candia | Pondicherry | Pattani |
| Tyrian Purple | Indian Indigo Dye | Tumeric |
| Persian Berry | Tumeric | Mangosteen |
 |
Mineral trading |
There are no nearby ports that allow easy grind. There are however 2 ports that sell 4 ores - so you can do port hopping from any of them
| Hamburg | Lubeck |
| Lead Ore | Lead Ore |
| Iron Ore | Iron Ore |
| Copper Ore | Copper Ore (18k develop.) |
| Tin Ore | Zinc Ore |
 |
Wares trading |
| Beirut | Jaffa |
| Paper | Oil |
| Steel | Steel |
| Lumber |
 |
Luxuries trading |
| Santiago | Jamaica |
| Cacao | Coffee |
| Pineapples | Tobacco |
| Peanuts |
Category 3 trade goods
 |
Textile trading |
There are two options to grind this skill. One is sailing between nearby ports. The other is port hopping.
Nearby ports option:
| Stockholm | Visby |
| Flax | Flax |
| Fur | Fur |
| Leather |
Port hopping option:
| Oslo |
| Flax |
| Fur |
| Leather |
| Wool |
 |
Fabric trading |
| Genoa | Pisa |
| Woolen Fabric | Woolen fabric |
| Knitted Fabric | Velvet |
| Velvet |
 |
Weapons trading |
| Beirut | Jaffa |
| Damascus Swords | Shamshirs |
 |
Firearms trading |
The only way to grind this skill is port hopping in Iberia. There are 2 ports that offer several firearms goods:
| Barcelona | Seville |
| Gunpowder | Arquebuses |
| Cannon Shot | Cannon |
| Muskets | Shot |
| Cannon (invest) | Muskets (invest) |
 |
Crafts trading |
| Naples | Syracuse |
| Glasswork | Ceramics |
| Ceramics | |
| Jewellry |
| Genoa | Pisa |
| Silverwork (24k develop.) | Ceramics (12k develop.) |
| Fine Clothing | Eye-beads (70k develop.) |
 |
Art trading |
| Athens | Candia |
| Marble Sculpture | Marble Sculpture |
| Antique Art |
| Genoa | Pisa |
| Marble Sculpture (70k dev.) | Marble Sculpture |
| Antique Art |
Category 4 trade goods
 |
Spice trading |
| Palma | Valencia |
| Oregano | Rosemary |
| Celery | |
| Thyme | |
| Parsely | |
| Corriander (invest) |
 |
Metal trading |
It is quite difficult to grind this skill. There are general not many ports that sell more than 1 precious metal or that are close. There are two options however - nearby ports with 1 precious metal each and port hopping.
Nearby ports option:
| Jamaica | Santiago |
| Gold dust | Gold dust |
| Buenos Aires | San Antonio |
| Silver | Silver |
Port hopping option:
| Veracruz | Massawa | Natal |
| Gold (55k development) | Gold (60k development) | Gold (24k development) |
| Silver (32k development) | Silver (18k development) | Platinum (62k development) |
 |
Perfume trading |
| Mombassa | Zanzibar | Malindi |
| Orange Oil | African Shell Perfume | Ambergris |
| African Shell Perfume |
 |
Jewellry trading |
There are two options to grind this skill. One is basically Africa western-coast focused and includes sailing between 4 ports. The other is port hopping in South-East Asia. Latter one however requires quite high port development.
Nearby ports option:
| Luanda | Sao Tome | Saint Georges | Abidjan |
| Malachite | Coral | Ivory | Ivory |
| Coral | Pearl (18k develop.) | Diamond (50k develop.) | Diamond (40k develop.) |
| Diamond (12k develop.) |
Port hopping option:
| Pegu |
| Pearl (32k development) |
| Ruby (50k development) |
| Jade (40k development) |
| Tortoiseshell (32k develop.) |