The conflict that rages on in the background of This War Of Mine has destroyed the economy, so the game has no currency with which to buy and sell necessary goods. Instead, your s📖urvivors will need to barter with anyone who is willing. Essential supplies are in high demand, so expect to give up something valuable if you want anything worth𒆙while in return.
If you have to barter for a desperately-needed item, check your inventory for anything on this list - they're sure to catch the attention of most traders throughout the city.
Every trader in This War Of Mine has different needs and will value your offer accordingly. This list uses the base trade values for all items.
9 Food
- Canned Food
- Raw Food
- Vegetables
Food is scarce enough in This War Of Mine that you'd have to be pretty desperate to give it up for anything. If you really, really need something though, nearly every trader will give a high return on food. Canned food is worth the most since it's non-perishable and requires no preparation, but raw food and fresh vegetables will both do nicely as bargaining chips.
Vegetables can serve as a particularly useful trade good since you can grow them in the Shelter once you get a Vegetable Garden up and running.
8 Ammunition 🐈 𓆏
Bullets don't fetch much of a price on their own, but if you can stockpile a decent-sized stack of them they can generate worthwhile trade value. If you have plenty of ammo but no gun with which to fire it, you may as well trade the bullets for something you can actually use.
The trader who visits the shelter every few days will buy and sell anything, but he will gouge prices at every opportunity. You'll find better value with traders throughout the city, especially if you have something they want.
Ammunition can be crafted at an Advanced Metal Workshop for one each Components, Gunpowder, and Shell Casings.
7 Tools
Tool |
Crafting Bench |
Materials |
---|---|---|
Crowbar |
Metal Workshop |
|
Hatchet |
Improved Metal Workshop |
|
Knife |
Metal Workshop |
|
Saw Blade |
Improved Metal Workshop |
|
Shovel |
Metal Workshop |
|
Shovels, crowbars, and other handy items are valued higher than you might expect for how relatively common they are. If you're in a position to craft several more tools than you need, selling the extras can help keep the shelter well-supplied.
Alternately, if your scout for the evening unexpectedly encounters a trader and the route home is safe, you could give away their gear for goods that will be useful at home.
6 Electronics 💟
Item |
Crafting Bench |
Materials |
---|---|---|
Heat Lamp |
Advanced Workshop |
|
Mixer |
Advanced Workshop |
|
Thermo Regulator |
Advanced Workshop |
|
Just like tools, electronics can be crafted at a sufficiently advanced shelter. They require electric parts, which are rare and expensive in their own right, but the scarcity 𝓰of the finished product means you♑ should be able to get a good deal with them.
Electronics are used to create extremely useful shelter upgrades, so carefully weigh your nꦡeeds before offerin♚g one as part of a trade.
5 Medical Ite🐭♌ms
- Bandages
- Herbal Meds
- Medications
Medical items are one of the most-prized items in the game, and traders will offer high prices for them. The Hospital and t♔he Garage offer the best value for medical gear, so if you can safely reach them with items to trade you can ꦗcome back with a good haul.
If Katia is in your shelter, she should be the one to go out on bartering missions and answers the door when the trader arrives. Her haggling prowess allows you to get mor𓂃e value out of your trade goods.
4 𝕴 Shortage Items ♏
Coffee and cigarettes are both excellent for bartering, especially if you don't have any smokers in the shelter. They're best stockpiled until you need to make an important purchase so that you don't have to trade away more useful goods.
Be sure to listen to the radio every day for signs of an upcoming shortage. During shortage periods you can get much more value from the in-demand item, and coffee and cigarettes are the most likꦺely items to become scarce in the ci๊ty.
3 𝓰 Firearms And Armor
Military equipment fetches an enormous price to the right buyers in the war-torn city, and your shelter can often afford to part with guns more easily than they can medicine. The Shelled School is dangerous, but the trader there pays a premium for working firearms.
You're more likely to find broken and discarded weapons while scouting than intact ones, but with sufficient Weapon Parts and an Improved Metal Workshop you can repair them. If your shelter is capable of fixing broken guns, you can trade for just about anything.
2 Moonshine
A functional Moonshine Still can ensure that you always have something to offer traders in the form of homemade liquor. You'll need plenty of sugar and water (four each per batch), as well as firewood, to keep the stil🐈l operational, so p🌄rioritize those ingredients when scouting.
You can also refine Moonshine into Pure Alcohol. While it's not as valuable a commodity, it can be used to craft bandages for the shelter or for trade.
1 Jewelry
If you're lucky enough to find Jewelry in the city, take it immediately. It serves no other purpose than to be traded for goods, and it has a decently high𒉰 value despite being nothinꦿg but a luxury.
Jewelry is best used for buying large amounts of crafting materials or ammunition. Food and meds might be attractive, but at the end of the day a gem doesn't go far enough on its own to justify spending it on these pricey goods.