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Envoys are a special type of agent which help a country undertake certain actions. Each country has a limited number of each envoy, depending on its technology level, idea groups and other factors. It takes a certain amount of time for an envoy to complete assigned missions. There are four types of envoys: diplomats, missionaries, merchants, and colonists.
Missionaries are religious envoys that can be tasked (for a monetary cost) with converting the religion of a province a country owns to that of the country's official religion. The default number of available missionaries is one.
Gaining missionaries
Traditions
Ideas
Bonuses
Policies
+1
Asturian traditions
Bamberger traditions
Colognian traditions
Divine traditions
Sindhi traditions
Religious idea 1: Missionary Schools
Ajuuraan idea 3: Gareen Imams
Castilian idea 2: Spanish Inquisition
Circassian idea 4: Franciscan Missionaries
Ethiopian idea 5: The Ark of the Covenant
Fulani Jihad idea 1: Wandering Scholars
Herzegovinian idea 2: Saint Sava
Jerusalem idea 4: Land of the Heathen
Lotharingian idea 6: Land of Bishops
Münster idea 3: Founding of Monasteries
Mushasha idea 2: Messianic Legacy of Muhammad bin Falah
Najdi idea 2: Hanbali School
Otomo idea 5: Christian Converts
Perugian idea 5: Heartbeat of Christianity
Teutonic idea 6: Promote Prussian Bishops
Tyrconnell idea 4: St Patrick's Purgatory
Utrecht idea 5: City of Churches
Bremish ambition
Leinster ambition
Munster ambition
Najdi ambition
Northumbrian ambition
—
+1 missionary from being Defender of the Faith (Christian or Muslim only)
+1 with parliament and ‘Propagation of State Religion’ as active issue for 10 years.
Merchants manipulate the flow of ducats at trade nodes, where they can either transfer trade on to the next node in the route, or collect trade for their country's treasury in trade nodes other than their capital's. If collecting in their capital, they will increase the ducats collected by +10%, but are not needed to collect trade in the capital. The default number of available merchants is two.
With the Wealth of Nations DLC, Western nations get +1 merchant for each trade company they control with the majority of the provincial trade power in a region.
With the El Dorado DLC, Western nations get +1 merchant for each colonial nation they control with more than 10 provinces.
Colonists are sent to uncolonised provinces to govern and expand a colony. They can be kept in a colony in order to increase the chance of gaining extra settlers each month, but can also be recalled from a colony in progress for other missions after setting up a colony (such as setting up an additional colony, although each colony over the number of available colonists will rapidly grow in cost). With , colonists can be sent to provinces to allow the province to increase development; when and which area (base tax, production, and manpower) the increase in development occurs is random, with chances decreasing as the province becomes more developed.
The default number of available colonists is zero; unlike the other types of envoys, countries generally do not begin the game with colonists, and instead gain them by taking ideas or as part of their national ideas.
Gaining colonists
Traditions
Ideas
Bonuses
Policies
+1
—
Expansion idea 1: Additional Colonists
Expansion idea 6: General Colonization Law
Exploration idea 2: Colonial Ventures
American idea 3: Manifest Destiny
Andalusian idea 6: Expeditionary Sentiment
Asturian idea 4: Voyage to the New World
Australian idea 1: Outback Stations
Canadian idea 3: Settling the Interior
Carib idea 5: Carib Seafarers
Castilian idea 4: Inter Caetera
Leonese idea 3: Conquest of the New World
Nizhny Novgorod idea 5: To The East!
Norwegian idea 3: Pioneer Spirit
Russian idea 2: Siberian Frontier
Spanish idea 2: Inter Caetera
Hadramhi ambition
Icelandic ambition
Kiwi ambition
West Indies ambition
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Mesoamerican religions also gain additional bonuses. Passing a Mayan, Inti, and Nahuatl religious reform allows a nation to select a Colonist as one of the five options. Selecting the Clan Migration Native idea, for nations with a Native Council government, also provides a Colonist. Parliaments also may pass a bill granting an extra colonist for 10 years.
Please help with verifying or updating this section. It was last verified for version 1.31.
Travel time depends on the distance envoys must travel from the player's capital. It differs between the different envoy-types:
A diplomat performs (or, for maintained actions, begins) their action instantly, then spends time travelling back.
A merchant spends time travelling both to and from the destination. A merchant can be sent directly between trade nodes without having to return to the capital.
A missionary is both sent and recalled instantly.
A colonist spends time travelling to the destination, but is recalled instantly after waiting one day.
Envoy travel time influences the travel speed of diplomats, merchants and colonists (since 1.28.3). (See Colonization#Travel_time for further information on colonist travel time).