Beginner’s Guide for Beginner Players

First released by Paradox Interactive in 2013, Europa Universalis 4 has become a favorite of strategy war game fans over the years. In a game that represents 15th century Europe, the Ottoman Empire has become critical with the latest DLC. In this article, we’ve included the details that first-time Europa Universalis 4 players should know. Here’s what new Europa Universalis 4 players need to know👇

Which nation should I choose?

Europa Universalis 4 has a huge number of nations that you can play as. If you are playing for the first time, we recommend choosing a recognized European power, as they are strong enough to make mistakes.

One of the best options for new players is Portugal. After all, Portugal begins with such an ally as England, and a friendly, strong neighbor in Castile. Portugal is in an excellent position not to get involved in foreign wars and to focus on exploration and economic development.

If you are looking for more military operation and game play, Ottoman Empire will be the best choice. The Ottoman Empire originally had the strongest army in the world. There is no other force in their region that can rival the Ottoman power and army. In this way, you will be able to conquer provinces in all regions and include them in your lands.

Despite having the strongest army, there are important factors to consider when playing as the Ottoman Empire. You have to be careful heading deeper into Europe until you are strong enough. It’s pretty easy to get the European powers to form an alliance against you, and it could easily put an end to your dreams of conquest.

Resources: what does it mean and where did it come from?

All resources of your country are shown in the upper left corner of the screen. You can find resource definitions in the game (from left to right) and where they can be obtained from below as an item/items👇

Gold (Ducats)

Money can be used for almost anything.

• Obtained from trading every month.
• Spending can lead to negative monthly income.

work force

It is spent on training and strengthening ground troops.

• It gradually replenishes as a percentage of your maximum power every month.
• The maximum labor force is provided by the provinces.

Sailors

It is spent on the crew and resupply of the ship.

• It gradually replenishes as a percentage of your maximum power every month.
• The maximum number of marines is determined by the coastal provinces.

Stability

It shows the overall level of satisfaction of your people. It ranges from +3 to -3.

• Administrative power can be used to increase stability.
• Certain events and decisions will affect stability, often lowering it.

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Corruption

He receives monthly income from your treasury.

• Corruption increases if you have a lot of land outside the center.
• It can be reduced by spending money in the economy tab on fighting corruption.

Prestige

It ranges from +100 to -100. It symbolizes the reputation and prestige of your country. If it is positive it results in a bonus, if it is negative it results in penalties.

• Winning wars and battles is the main way to gain prestige.
• Certain events can cause you to gain or lose prestige.

legitimacy

The name varies depending on the type of government. Legitimacy is used by monarchs. It represents the overall strength of your government. High numbers give a bonus, low numbers incur a penalty.

• It tends to increase over time, but some events can affect it.
• It tends to drop sharply when there is a change in government or leadership.

force projection

He represents the strength of your country. Higher numbers give bonuses, especially during combat.

• Having a large army or attacking your opponents is the best way to keep a high show of force.

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The power of the monarch

Below the main resource panel are three icons representing your ruling power. These are the most important resources in the game. It represents the ability of your country’s leader and advisers to govern.

• Administrative power: represents organization and bureaucracy. It is used to manage taxes and efficiently integrate conquered lands.
• diplomatic power: symbolizes negotiations with nations and merchants. It affects international relations, trade and maritime power.
• military power: represents your country’s ability to wage war. It is used to develop and manage your military units.

Sovereign power is earned and spent on many things, depending on the skills of your monarch and any of his advisors, if any.

If you can gather a large amount of reigning power, you can spend it on ideas and technologies to improve your nation’s abilities.

Districts

The map is divided into provinces, each with its own statistics. A strong province will bring much more income and troops than a weak province. While armies and ships can only occupy one province at a time, rival armies will also fight when they occupy the same province.

The overall strength of a province is determined by the progress displayed at the top of the window it is in. Provinces are developed by spending the power of the monarch on them, and each type of ruling power affects them differently:

• Administrative development (taxes) This increases the income of the provincial manager every month.
• Diplomatic development (production) Increases the province owner’s income and improves the province’s shipbuilding capabilities, if any.
• Military development (people) It increases the maximum amount of manpower a province provides to its ruler and makes it easier to defend the province.

Every ten development points in a province unlocks a building slot. Buildings are expensive and must be unlocked with technology, but once completed they provide strong economic and military bonuses.

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Technologies, ideas and institutions

The progress made by every nation over the centuries is represented by technology, ideas and institutions. All three are interconnected and it is very important that you follow your competitors whenever possible.

Technologies

Once you accumulate enough unified power, you can spend it on technology. Unlike tech trees in other games, unlocking a tech in EU4 essentially levels up your nation. Administrative, diplomatic and military technologies can reach a maximum of 32 levels. Once you reach this level, you will win the whole game. Each technology level is associated with a specific year. Technology upgrades cost more up to the respective year and less and less after it.

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Institutions

In Europa Universalis 4, institutions are global concepts, and a new institution appears approximately every 50 years, starting in 1450. Institutions spread slowly and grow faster in the more developed provinces. The development of a province that does not have all the institutions helps to move towards the one that does not.

If you have an institution in one or more of your prefectures, you can spend money to host it and make it a permanent part of your community. The cost is usually very high depending on the overall development of your entire empire, but the provinces in which the establishment is fully rooted are not included in the cost.

Opinions

Ideas are EU4 skill trees. As you level up your administrative technologies, you will be able to unlock and buy ideas. You can choose defensive ideas if you want impregnable castles, or develop colonial ideas if you plan to aggressively colonize newly discovered lands.

wars

To declare war on EU4, you need an “obvious spy” reason, that is, a good reason. You can technically declare war for no reason, but you may incur some penalties for doing so. The spy war defines the objective of the battle, i.e. the objective you are trying to achieve. Most battles take place on land and require the attacker to occupy the target province(s), but others may require objectives such as winning a certain number of battles or blocking ports for a certain period of time.

Each war earns a battle point, which is used by the winning side to determine their demands in peace negotiations. Completing and maintaining a combat objective is usually the largest source of combat points.

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