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• Settlers of Catan
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  • Strategies
    • 6 Basic Strategies
      • 1 Expand Early
      • 2 Brick by brick
      • 3 Trading to win
      • 4 Robbing the crown
      • 5 Settlement placement
      • 6 Three roads to victory
    • Advanced strategies

Trading for fun and profit

Being a shrewd trader in Settlers of Catan is a big part of winning. To do this you should trade intelligently and trade aggressively.

Intelligent trading entails ensuring that you're progressing further thanyour opponents. So it's fine to do pretty much any trade with a player with 3 or more victory points behind you. A trade with a player who has more victory point than you should be regarded carefully because you do not want to him them more than you're helping yourself. Intelligent trading also requires that you watch all your opponnts and keep track of what resources they have (to the best of your ability) and what resources you think they desperatly need.

Trading aggressively means that you trade as often as you can, without enabling your opponents. Everytime you trade you should be helping yourself. When two of your opponents trade with each other, that is two people you are competing with whom have just been given advantages. If you are part of a trade only one opponent is helped, so you should always try to be part of a trade before an opponent (as long as the trade benefits you in the end [Intellegent Trade])

Trading in general also requires that you evaluate the board and see which resources are going to be rare, and which will be abundant. Then make sure to treat the rare resources as more avluable in order to get a great deal for them. Don't be afraid to ask for 2 or even 3 resources in return for a single rare one. Trading wel is a skill you will acquire over timem but remember ot be intelligent and aggressive and your progress will be much quicker.