How to play Tradewinds 2 (hints)

I enjoyed Tradewinds 2, although I’m a little burned out by the long Adia Azul scenario. Here are hints I gathered from that run and from earlier attempts.

• Save Game: Be sure to save frequently. Alternate between at least two save slots, so that you can recover if you accidentally save from an untenable position (e.g. low ship health and in non-repair port). Also see Contraband below.
• Trade: The basics are simple: buy low, sell high. Commodity costs are essentially reset every time you change ports, so you can just sell what you have (except Gems) and buy whatever offers the most profit in each port you visit. In general, your potential profit is the difference per unit between the port price and the median price. You will find that trading the cheaper commodities isn’t worth your time in the mid-to-late game.

Commodity Median Low High
Fish 32.5 10 80
Cotton 65 10 150
Cocoa 125 50 250
Sugar 350 150 575
Arms 1525 1025 2475
Textiles 3225 2050 4700
Tobacco 4000 3000 5500
Wine 7000 5000 9500

• Tasks and Travel: The Tasks list will keep track of where you need to go, so you don’t need to keep notes. You can generally just follow the line to your next task destination. Always check with the governor in each port. However, if your ship is seriously damaged, go to a port with a shipyard, even if you have to delay your task progress. Don’t forget to replace any cannons which were destroyed in combat, and replace ammunition.
• Combat: Click on your biggest opponent to target it. In general, you should stick with an opponent until you destroy it. However, with land batteries, it can be hard to know which will be the biggest, so you can retarget just after starting combat if you see that another land base is firing more heavily. Land batteries are generally your most dangerous opponents. As you go through tasks, your opponents will become increasingly dangerous.
• Ammunition: Ammunition does additional damage on top of what you inflict with your cannons. Use your ammunition by tapping on the icons at the bottom of the screen. Use ammunition liberally if you are concerned about the outcome of the battle. Using ammunition can be cheaper than letting the battle run longer and repairing additional damage, especially in the late game. Once you have destroyed your largest opponents, you can generally let your cannons take down the small fry. Fire pots and tiki cannons are easy to see, but if you look closely, you can see two cannonballs linked by a chain when you fire chain ammo.
• Ship upgrades: Check the shipyard in each port to see if a ship upgrade is available. I would avoid borrowing money just for a ship upgrade. Don’t forget about the costs for additional cannons and working capital for trade. Also note that repairs cost more per unit damage on bigger ships – the largest ships can cost upward of 500,000 if heavily damaged.
• Gems: Hang on to gems until a port offers you $19,000 or better. You cannot buy gems, they are rewards for defeating land batteries in combat.
• Contraband: If you bring Tobacco or Wine to a port where it is currently illegal, they will be seized. You can buy drinks at the tavern to laboriously collect information on when this will happen, but in practice it’s easier to just save before travelling with Tobacco or Wine, and reload from the save point if you get unlucky.
• Warehouses: You can buy and upgrade the Warehouse in your home port (mid-late game) to multiply your trade profits. An upgraded Warehouse holds far more goods than even the largest ship, so you can rake in profits if you have lots of working capital. Also, warehouses are immune to contraband seizure – you just can’t buy or sell that item until the ban is lifted. If you own a Warehouse, you will probably want to visit that port more frequently to take full advantage.
• Bank: The bank offers modest interest income. On the other hand, some ports do not have banks, so you won’t have access to bank funds from there. Only bank cash which you will not need.
• Moneylender: The moneylender doesn’t really charge that much interest. The amount he will lend is proportional to your current cash holdings. You cannot take a new loan until you have paid back the entire previous loan. So – before you borrow, build up as much cash as you can, borrow the maximum amount, and keep working capital on hand in order to avoid cashflow problems and be ready for emergencies.
• Items: It is generally worth your while to pay to keep items which help in combat. The guy who gives you free drinks in the taverns, not so much.
• Tavern: You can buy drinks and get information about commodities which are cheap/expensive/contraband in specific ports during specific months. This is great if you have great memory or are taking notes, otherwise you don't need to bother.