The NPC merchant is a non-playable character that you can trade 1-for-1 in the Marketplace. It is used to balance out your resources.
- E.g - You have 100 Wood, 400 Clay, 300 Iron and 800 Crop. You want to build a sawmill (520 Wood, 380 Clay, 290 Iron and 90 Crop) but you don't have enough Wood. Using this service you can trade 420 Wood for 420 Wheat. The NPC has immmediate effect as opposed to trading with other players. Problem Solved.
Note:
You MUST trade at least 50 resources with the NPC merchant or they will not accept the offer.
You MUST pay 3 gold to use this service.
If you have gold, and you want to NPC a building, or troops, you simply go to the item you wish to build in game, and if you have enough resources, as well as gold to do the NPC, an small icon appears. Clicking this will automatically take you to the market place as well as having the right information automatically entered in, all you need to do is balance the remaining resources, and click on NPC.
For troops, this is highly effective, as the system automatically works out the most troops you can build and performs the NPC calculation for you. BUT for building multiple troops, or if you have negative crop, or if you want to build / npc several buildings at the same time then you need to use a calculator to help with the calculations.