A Beginner S Guide To Europa Universalis Iv Learn The Game

Paradox is best known for their vastly complex strategy games, and Europa Universalis 4 is probably the deepest of the lot. Like the mighty empires it portrays, EU4 is enormous, ambitious, and impossible to sum up succinctly. If you're just starting out, it's possible you're overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information the game throws at you. This guide is meant to break down the basics of the game, giving you somewhere to start. Read on for all the information that is absolutely essential to play the game.

From there, you can learn the more complicated systems. Which Nation Should I Pick? Europa Universalis has a staggering number of nations to play as. For your first game, we recommend an established European power as they're powerful enough that you can afford mistakes. The best overall pick for new players is Portugal, since they start with an ally in England and a friendly, powerful neighbor in Castile. Portugal is in a great position to avoid getting dragged into foreign wars and focus on exploration and building their economy.

If you want a more military campaign, the Ottoman Empire has the strongest army in the game at the start. There's nobody in their region who can match their strength, letting you conquer and integrate provinces in all directions. If you choose to play as the Ottomans, be careful about pushing too far into Europe until you're very powerful. It's very easy to get the European powers to form a coalition against you, which can easily put an end to your dreams of conquest.

Resources All of your nation's resources are shown at the top of the screen. From left to right, they are: Monarch Power Below the main resource bar are three icons representing your Monarch Power. This is the most important resource in the game, and represents the ability of your nation's leader and their advisors to rule. Administrative Power represents organization and bureaucracy, and is used to manage taxes and integrate conquered land effectively. Diplomatic Power represents negotiation with nations and merchants, and affects international relations, trade, and naval power.

Military Power represents your nation's skill at waging war, and is used to enhance and lead your troops. Monarch Power is gained based on the skills of your ruler and their advisors (if any), and is spent on many things. If you can save up a large quantity of Monarch Power, you can spend it on Ideas and Technology to advance your nation's capabilities. Provinces The map is divided into Provinces, each of which has its own stats.

A powerful Province will provide more income and soldiers than a weak one. Armies and ships can only occupy one Province at a time, and when opposing armies occupy the same Province they will fight. A Province's total power is determined by its Development, which is shown at the top of its window. Provinces are developed by spending Monarch Power on them, with each type of Monarch Power affecting them differently: - Administrative Development (Tax) increases the income the Province's owner receives each month.

Diplomatic Development (Production) increases the income the Province's owner receives and improves the Province's shipbuilding capabilities, if any. - Military Development (Manpower) increases the amount of Manpower the Province contributes to its owner's maximum and makes the Province easier to defend. Every ten total points of Development in a Province unlocks a building slot. Buildings are expensive and have to be unlocked via Technology, but they provide powerful economic and military bonuses once finished.

Core Provinces A Province's window will show whether it is considered a Core by its owner. Core Provinces are seen as rightful territory, so ideally you want all of your Provinces to be Cores. A Province you own that isn't a Core can be made one by spending Administrative Power. If a nation loses one of its Core Provinces to another, they can easily justify a war to take it back later. Multiple nations can consider the same Province to be a Core, leading to conflicts over important land.

Failing to demand the return of your Cores can lead to a Prestige penalty if they're held by an enemy for too long. Nations can also claim Provinces, whether they are Cores or not. A claimed Province is easier to negotiate for during a peace treaty and is cheaper to make a Core once taken. Culture And Religion Each Province has one Culture and one Religion. These represent the majority of the Province's population.

A Province with a different Culture or Religion than its owner will be more likely to generate unrest, potentially leading to rebellions. You can change a Province's Culture by spending Diplomatic Power, but the process usually takes a long time. You can also change a Province's Religion, spending money on missionaries each month until the process is complete. Some Provinces - especially those that are of particular importance to a faith - are more resistant to conversion and may even be impossible to convert.

Technology, Ideas, And Institutions Each nation's advancement throughout the centuries is represented by Technology, Ideas, and Institutions. All three are related, and it's vital to keep up with your rivals whenever possible. Technologies When you've saved up a sufficient amount of a single type of Monarch Power - usually several hundred - you can spend it on a Technology. Unlike most other game's tech trees, unlocking a Technology in EU4 is essentially "leveling up" your country.

Administrative, Diplomatic, and Military Technologies can all reach a maximum level of 32, and it will take the entire game to get that far if you make it at all. Each level of a Technology is associated with a specific year, usually the real-world year in which it was actually invented or popularized. Leveling up a Technology costs more before the appropriate year, and progressivley less afterward. This prevents any country from getting too far ahead and allows those that fall behind to catch up.

Technologies represent important advancements, unlocking new buildings and unit types. As such, it's recommended that you always level up a Technology the moment you have the Monarch Power to do so. Institutions Institutions are global concepts that shaped the thinking of the world during the years of Europa Universalis 4. A new Institution appears roughly once every fifty years, starting in 1450. When an Institution appears, it begins in a single Province and slowly spreads.

Institutions spread faster in highly-developed Provinces, and developing a Province that doesn't have all the current Institutions will give it instant progress toward one that it's missing. When an Institution is present in one or more of your Provinces, you can spend money to embrace it, making it a permanent part of your society. The cost is usually very high, based on the total Development across your entire empire, but Provinces in which the Institution has fully taken root do not count toward the cost.

Embracing an Institution grants a permanent bonus. The longer an Institution exists, every nation that has yet to embrace it will receive a scaling penalty to their Technology costs. This means that holding off on embracing Institutions can severely hamper your leveling up! Ideas Ideas are the skill trees of EU4. As you level up your Administrative Technology, you'll be able to unlock and purchase Ideas. Like Technologies, Ideas are grouped by their associated Monarch Power type - Administrative, Diplomatic, and Military.

Ideas cost a flat 400 Monarch Power each to unlock, though there are some bonuses that can reduce this cost. Ideas allow you to specialize. For example, if you want impenetrable fortresses you might choose Defensive Ideas, while if you plan to aggressively colonize newly-discovered lands you might choose Colonial Ideas. Finishing an entire Idea Group grants an additional bonus. Each nation also has National Ideas, usually unique to them. Every three normal Ideas you unlock activates your next National Idea.

This allows nations to excel in areas that they did historically. Warfare Declaring war in EU4 requires a casus belli, a valid reason. You can technically declare war without one as a last resort, but you'll take some extreme penalties for doing so. The casus belli determines the War Goal, the objective you are trying to achieve.

Most wars are fought over land and require the aggressor to occupy the targeted Province(s), but others can require objectives like winning a certain number of battles or blockading ports for a set amount of time. Each war being fought has a War Score which shows how the war is going overall, either in favor of the attacker or the defender. Accumulated War Score is spent during peace negotiations for the winner to make demands of the loser (or the loser to offer concessions to the winner).

Hence, the greater the margin by which you win a war, the more you can take from your opponent. Completing and maintaining the War Goal is usually the largest source of War Score, but it can also be gained by winning battles, occupying territory, and blockading ports. Even if it isn't part of the War Goal, occupying an enemy's capital is always worth a large amount of War Score. Enemy territory can be occupied in war by keeping an army there long enough to overcome the defenses.

The army must have more infantry than the Province's garrison to be able to occupy it, and the presence of artillery can speed the process tremendously when besieging a fortified Province. Exploration Fleets consisting of three or more Light or Heavy Ships can explore uncharted waters if they have an Explorer commanding them. Explorers are only available to nations who have taken Exploration Ideas, but Portugal ignores this rule and even starts with an Explorer - another reason they're recommended for beginners.

A fleet commanded by an Explorer can be given a mission to chart new regions of the sea, revealing new oceans and coasts to explore. This mechanic is used heavily by Western European powers, and occasionally by East Asian nations looking to explore the Pacific, but can safely be ignored by everyone else. Now you know the basics - what sort of empire will you build?

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