So one of the changes in the recent patch was Dutch East India Company moving to age 1 and allowing envoys to build banks.
I have asked for this before but the envoy thing is interesting cause it also means you dont have to allocate vils to build banks and they can gather
Now you can do a TP start (will need to chop additional 100 wood) to get an additional shipment in transition for Dutch east india company and then bank boom with envoys (envoys can also be trained by the explorer to further boost the bank boom without using TC time)
You save like 100 res for every bank you build so its like net 500 res saving on the normal 5 bank but now coffee trade also doesnt reduce speed so its a better deal so thats another 200 res
In addition banks becoms more tanky so your base walling is better.
5 Likes
I dont get why dutch need that much buffs, they have received them for several patches in a row now when is one of the favourite civs to play due to their safe economy.
We are getting a 2nd Japan step by step.
1 Like
this is not really a buff, and dutch is currently not in a great position, atleast on the ladder.
You are spending time chopping wood in age 1 to get the TP which slows down your age up.
you kinda have to forgo the 1 bank wagon card with is worth 700 res and you are saving only 500 so on boom terms you are kinda down 200 res compared to just sending bank wagon.
Its benefit is arguably a smoother boom and better shipment curve with the TP and slightly more efficient eco, but you will be slower then normal dutch
2 Likes
this feels like it may be more viable in teams since most civs already know you cav just spam heavy cav into dutch to win games early often
im waiting for a callen 8 minute 5 bank age1 or eq stream to confirm its viability in 1v1s tbh
I think the coffee trade change is a far bigger deal than the envoys. For Dutch East India Company, assuming you do gather 500 extra res, that’s in line with an Age1->Age 2 card value of 300 and 700 res, so the card isn’t busted, will require much tighter builds to get it to work, and sets you back on the shipment curve. It probably won’t see much use outside of niche builds.
Coffee trade on the other hand… Prior to now, it was virtually never used, since the speed penalty wasn’t worth 2 banks. But now, losing 20% bank hp is way more than worth 2 extra banks. If we look at the math, assuming Age 2 through 4, and assuming three cards have been sent; Religious freedom, bank of Rotterdam, and bank of Amsterdam, without coffee trade, you can build 7 banks, each with HP of 3,500, for a total of 24,500 HP and 19.25 c/s. With coffee trade, bank HP drops to 2,800 but max banks increases to 9, for a total of 25,200 HP and 24.5 c/s. Even in age 5, it would be 31,000 hp with 9 vs 30,800 hp with 11. So essentially the destructibility/raidability of your bank eco remains the same, but your bank eco improves dramatically by a base 5.5c/s, while your military is unchanged.
This is a massive boost in all circumstances. For Boom play, there’s no longer a reason to not use the tech. If you want to try something different for Dutch and do a military focused build, this allows you to drop the 2 "bank of " cards and keep the same eco. This is basically 2 free cards in your deck, since you’d probably have the church card in your deck for Blue Guards or Red Lancers anyways if you’re playing like that.
3 Likes
hmm looking around something like that already exists but using 300 wood card instead
might be better then going TP
1 Like
Agreed, the new coffee trade is awesome. Maybe a bit too strong.
1 Like
Agreed. It’s probably too safe.
The Dutch East India Company’s card movement in the first era was not as strong as imagined. The comprehensive cost of a bank was 700 resources, and a 15% reduction in cost was equivalent to saving about 105 resources. Compared to 300 wood, it would take about three banks to build this card to make its revenue greater than that of a 300 wood card
