Merchant Alliance

"Trading Trust For Greater Prosperity"

- Merchant Alliance motto

The Merchant Alliance is one of the major Trading Companies in Sea of Thieves. Every Outpost Dock houses a Merchant Alliance Representative willing to recruit new Merchants and send them on increasingly challenging Merchant Alliance Voyages for various Commodity Crates. The Alliance will accept any Crates, Gunpowder Barrels or Mermaid Gems for Gold and Reputation with the Company, willing to pay almost 10 times as much for any Commodities that are sold on Commission.

Lore
The Merchant Alliance is one of the longest standing companies on the seas. They mostly deal in Trade Goods, either living or other valuable commodities, which are purchased from adventuring pirates who pick them up during their voyages. Their business model consists of customers making an order to the alliance, and the alliance getting the wares by ordering it from pirates. Some of the alliance merchants also take orders of "Special" wares, but it mostly depends on whether or not the salesperson wants to deal in illegal goods rather than what the company stands for.

NPCs
These are all the Senior Traders who represent the Merchant Alliance at Outposts:
 * Senior Trader Mollie - stationed at Sanctuary Outpost
 * Senior Trader Meg - stationed at Galleon's Grave Outpost
 * Senior Trader Mavis - stationed at Golden Sands Outpost
 * Senior Trader Mandy - stationed at Dagger Tooth Outpost
 * Senior Trader Maureen - stationed at Plunder Outpost
 * Senior Trader Mildred - stationed at Ancient Spire Outpost
 * Senior Trader Matilda - stationed at Morrow's Peak Outpost

Offered Services
The following services are offered by the Merchant Alliance Traders on the docks at every Outpost:
 * Accepting Trade Good Crates, Cargo Crates, Gunpowder Barrels, filled Resource Crates, filled Animal Crates, Commodity Crates, or Mermaid Gems for Gold, Reputation and Emissary Value (if a Merchant Alliance Emissary Flag is raised)
 * Providing empty Animal Crates and Resource Crates when Crews have active Commissions for them
 * Selling Merchant Voyages and Cargo Runs
 * Selling Merchant Alliance Promotions
 * Selling the Merchant Alliance Emissary Flag (at Rank 15)
 * Providing a Merchant Alliance Emissary Table.
 * Offering the Merchant Alliance Emissary Quest to any Emissary Grade V Merchant Alliance Representatives.
 * Selling Merchant Alliance themed Cosmetics for Promotions:
 * Upgradable Merchant Alliance Pocket Watches and Spyglasses
 * The Merchant Alliance Costume
 * Merchant Alliance Set Ship Cosmetics

Voyages
Merchant Voyages can be bought from Senior Traders on the docks at every Outpost. The Merchant Alliance sends Player Pirates on three types of Merchant Voyages: Trade Good Commissions, Cargo Run Voyages, and Lost Shipment Voyages. The First requires Players to find and deliver specific Trade Goods to specific Senior Traders at Outposts in a set amount of time. These can either be Animals or Gunpowder Barrels. There are three types of commissioned Animals: Chicken, Pigs and Snakes. These have to be caught in Cages provided by the Senior Trader NPCs and taken care of until delivered. Gunpowder Barrels can be found on Fortresses or randomly on Islands. The Second requires Players to pick up Cargo Crates from a Seapost, Outpost or Large Island NPC and deliver it in time and good condition to another NPC. The Third requires Players to track down lost ships using the ship's route and recover the manifests onboard.

Players can have up to 3 Merchant Voyages in their Voyage Inventory at one time and put them up for a vote at the Voyage Table. The Voyages are counted complete as soon as the Goods are picked up or delivered.

In addition to Voyages sold by Senior Traders, Trade Good Commissions and Cargo Crate requisitions can sometimes be found from beached or floating Messages in Bottles or as Mysterious Parchments in Barrels. The Cargo requisitions act identically to Cargo Runs. The Trade Good Commissions, however require the Players to either find or get one of the three Supply Crates from Senior Traders and fill them with Resources or just bring in a Gunpowder Barrel. Animal requisitions are unique to Voyages purchased from Senior Traders, whereas the Supply Crates are unique to Voyages found from other sources.

When sold to Senior Traders or the NPCs, The Goods gathered during these Voyages reward the player with Gold and Merchant Alliance Reputation.

Goods that have not been requested can still be sold, but are worth far less gold. Trade Good Crates cannot be requested and have to be sold individually.

Players can also buy Ashen versions of Cargo Runs from the Representative at Morrow's Peak Outpost. These Voyages take players on islands throughout The Devil's Roar, where they have to deliver more fragile, but valuable Ashen version of Cargo Crates.

Treasure
The following are all the types of items that can be sold to Senior Traders for Gold and Merchant Alliance Reputation:


 * Animals - Pigs, Snakes, Chicken (need to be caught in specific Cages)
 * Trade Good Crates - Various Crates filled with exotic Goods found all over the Sea of Thieves. Not a part of Merchant Voyages or Quests.
 * Supply Crates - Crates of Supplies capable of holding up to 50 of a single type of Resource Item. Can only be sold when filled up.
 * Cargo Crates - Crates of Plants, Rum or Cloth that can deteriorate in bad conditions. Only sold to specific NPCs within set deadlines marked on the Crates.
 * Gunpowder Barrels - Both regular and Stronghold Barrels can be sold to Senior Traders.
 * Mermaid Gems - These rare Gems can be sold to any of the main Trading Companies, including the Merchant Alliance.
 * Ammo Crates - These Resource Crates are found shored on Islands and can be sold to the Merchants at any state
 * Merchant Manifest - These are books found on sunken Merchant Alliance ships and are a part of Merchant Voyages. Can be sold to Senior Traders when the Voyage is completed.

Reputation
Merchant Alliance Reputation is used to level up and earn higher Promotion Ranks with the Trading Company. Merchant Alliance Reputation is earned every time a relevant Treasure Item (See above) is sold to the Senior Traders on the Docks of Outposts (Crew-wide). Each Treasure item is worth a set amount of Reputation, which is separate from the item's Gold or Emissary Value. Players can also earn Reputation with the Merchants by completing Commendations for the Company (Individual) or lowering a higher than Emissary Grade II Merchant Alliance Emissary Flag at the Merchant Alliance Emissary Table (Crew-wide). Crews representing the Merchants as an Emissary will get increased Reputation gains with each Emissary Grade. The Merchant Alliance has 75 Reputation levels in total.

Players who progress through the Merchant Alliance Reputation Ranks can also unlock the Ceremonial Admiral Set Items for purchase at Outpost Shops.

Promotions
The following is a table of all the Merchant Alliance Promotions and the Items that are unlocked for purchase after achieving them:

Merchant Alliance Emissaries
Any players wishing to represent the Merchant Alliance on the open seas can do so by becoming a Merchant Alliance Emissary. To hoist a Merchant Alliance Emissary Flag, Players must first purchase it from any Company Representative for 20000 Gold once they have achieved the level 15 Rank of Merchant Cadet. Player Crews can vote to raise a Company Emissary Flag at the Company's Emissary Table. Merchant Alliance Emissary Tables can be found inside every Merchant Alliance Dock at Outposts. Once voted upon, the Crew's Ship will receive two Company themed Flags on their Ships to designate their Emissary status: a big Flag on the back of the ship and a Pennant on top of the Crow's Nest. These Flags will signify the Emissary Ship's current Emissary Grade and will change as the Crew progresses through these Grades. Merchant Alliance Emissary Flags are Blue and Silver and will play a distinct tune when viewed from a Spyglass by other Crews. When an Emissary Ship sinks or is scuttled, the Emissary Flag will be lost along with any earned Grade progress. The Broken Emissary Flags that float up from the sunk ship can be sold to The Servant of the Flame at The Reaper's Hideout. When Crews vote to lower their own Emissary Flag, they earn large sums of Gold and Reputation with the Emissary Company (only after Grade 2).

Emissary Grades
Every Merchant Alliance Emissary will start out at Emissary Grade I and be able to progress up to Grade V. These Grades are displayed on the Ship's Emissary Flags. Players can also check their Emissary Grade progress by using the Equipment Radial Menu or opening up their Reputation tab at the Pirate Menu.

When reaching Grade V, Merchant Alliance Emissaries are eligible to claim a special Merchant Alliance Emissary Quest from any of the Order Representatives.

With each Emissary Grade, players will receive greater Rewards, Merchant Alliance Reputation and Emissary Value for any sold Crates, Gunpowder Barrels or Mermaid Gems. Note that Players do not get Emissary Grade Reputation from selling Items to the company, unless the items are to be delivered as a part of a Quest or Voyage. The following is a chart of the reward and value multiplier of Emissary Grades:

Emissary Reputation
Merchant Alliance Emissaries can gain Emissary Reputation and progress through Emissary Grades in the following ways:
 * Capturing Animals inside Animal Crates (only for the first Animal caught inside a crate)
 * Delivering Animals to Merchant Representatives (only Commissioned Animals)
 * Delivering Cargo Crates
 * Picking up any Trade Good Crates, Resource Crates, filled Animal Crates or Mermaid Gems for the first time (reset after another Crew claims the Treasure by picking it up)
 * Putting Trade Good Crates, filled Animal Crates, Resource Crates or Mermaid Gems on your Ship
 * Completing World Events
 * Defeating Megalodon or Kraken
 * Sinking Emergent Skeleton Ships
 * Sinking rivaling Reaper's Bones Emissary Ships
 * Acquiring a Merchant Manifest from the respective voyage

Things that do not give Emissary Grade Reputation for Merchant Alliance:
 * Selling non-commissioned Treasure
 * Completing or progressing through Cargo Maps
 * Picking up or selling un-commissioned Gunpowder Barrels
 * Sinking Skeleton Ships that are a part of a Skeleton Fleet
 * Picking up or putting Collector's Chests, Ammo Crates or Storage Crates on your Ship
 * Killing Reaper's Bones Emissary Crew members
 * Killing or Sinking any other Trading Company Emissary Ships or Crew members
 * Killing Emergent Skeleton Captains
 * Progressing through Skeleton's Orders Quests

Emissary Quest
Once Crews have reached Emissary Grade V when sailing as an Merchant Alliance Emissary, they will be eligible for an Merchant Alliance Emissary Quest. Only one Quest can be claimed per Crew per Emissary Run. This means that if players want to receive more Emissary Quests, they will have to reset their Emissary progress and work their way back up to Grade V again.

The Merchant Alliance Emissary Quest gives all Players of the Crew 2 Cargo Maps with 10 Cargo Crates each that need to be delivered within a month in-game time. Players can easily work their way back up to Emissary Grade V with the Quest alone if they decide to turn in their previous Grade V flag to the Company and start over from Grade I. Once back at Grade V, the crews can claim another Emissary Quest and repeat the process.

Emissary Value & Ledger
Merchant Alliance Emissary Value is earned every time a Crew sells a Treasure item to any Order Representatives while flying a Merchant Alliance Emissary Flag. Each Crate and Mermaid Gem has a set base Emissary Value (which is increased for items sold on Commissions or in better conditions). Crews get increased Emissary Value the higher the Grade of their Emissary Flag. When selling Treasure as a Grade V Emissary, the Emissary Value is doubled (see above chart for the multipliers). Emissary Value acts as a Player Pirate's individual scoreboard with a Trading Company.

A player's Emissary Value is counted in their Emissary Ledger, which divides all of the Company's Emissaries into four Ranks based on their total Emissary Value. Each Emissary Rank accounts for a percentage of the Company's total Emissary Value holders. A single Emissary Ledger scoreboard remains active for one month, after which it will be closed and reset. At the close of a Ledger, every Player Pirate to place in the first or second top tier will be rewarded with exclusive Company Sails.

The Merchant Alliance Emissary Ranks are as follows:
 * Tier 1 (bottom 25%) - Sailor | No Reward
 * Tier 2 (bottom 25-50%) - Cadet | Rewards the Emissary of Merchant Cadets Title at the close of a Ledger
 * Tier 3 (top 50-25%) - Commander | Rewards the Merchant Alliance Inaugural Commander Sails and the Emissary of Merchant Commanders Title at the close of a Ledger
 * Tier 4 (top 25%) - Merchant Admiral | Rewards the Merchant Alliance Inaugural Admiral Sails and the Admiral of Merchant Emissaries Title at the close of a Ledger

Commendations
The following Commendations are achievable for the Merchant Alliance. The majority of these Commendations unlock same named Titles for the Players to show off.


 * Grade I - 1 times
 * Grade II - 25 times
 * Grade III - 50 times
 * Grade IV - 75 times
 * Grade V - 100 times


 * Grade I - 1 times
 * Grade II - 20 times
 * Grade III - 40 times
 * Grade IV - 60 times
 * Grade V - 80 times


 * Grade I - 1 times
 * Grade II - 10 times
 * Grade III - 20 times
 * Grade IV - 30 times
 * Grade V - 40 times


 * Grade I - 1 times
 * Grade II - 5 times
 * Grade III - 10 times
 * Grade IV - 15 times
 * Grade V - 20 times


 * Grade I - 120 consignments
 * Grade II - 240 consignments
 * Grade III - 360 consignments
 * Grade IV - 480 consignments
 * Grade V - 600 consignments


 * Grade I - 60 consignments
 * Grade II - 120 consignments
 * Grade III - 200 consignments
 * Grade IV - 240 consignments
 * Grade V - 320 consignments

Trivia

 * The ambient music of the Merchant Alliance is always accompanied with some high-esteem strings, alongside harpsichord notes (18th century instrument), to add to the prosperous, and high-standard appearance of their Trade.
 * Only the first Animal caught inside a crate will provide Emissary Grade Reputation, presumably to prevent infinite Emissary Grade Reputation from being acquired with one crate by repeatedly catching and killing animals. However, Emissary Grade gains can still be maximized by catching the highest value animal with a crate, killing it, and then catching the one required for your contract.
 * The Merchant Alliance is currently the only faction to not have a Curse associated with them.

Alianza Comercial