Learning EU4: From One Beginner to Another

So you bought EU4. You are excited to get into Grand Strategy games, you relish the idea of World Conquest, creating the most enviable economy history has ever known, the very utterance of your empire's glorious name sending shivers down you rivals' spines! You open your first campaign, eager to dive in and then...

You think...

What the hell do I do?

So many buttons, numbers, countries, options. You panic and just do random things, then the next thing you know you are in crippling debt and get conquered.

You then decide that this game is too much for you and let it rot in your Library.

By you, I mean me. But probably you too.

I was frustrated with the game at first. I thought that the Learning Curve was too much.

But after coming back to the game and taking the right approach, I was building respectable campaigns in no time. Not expert masterclasses of min-maxing prowess or dazzling displays of military genius, but decent games for someone who only has 60 hours under his belt so far.

If you are new or someone who is willing to try to learn EU4 again, then read on.

The two snapshots are my two campaigns. Spain with decent conquest and colonization in Africa and the conquering of the Iberian Peninsula and Muscovy with a nice chunk of land and economy for 100 years in.

1. BE PATIENT! You will learn the game if you are willing to sink the time necessary to learn how the fundamental pieces work. My first 10 hours in game were spent on 10 years of In-Game time, two of which were spent before I even un-paused the game for the first time Your first goal is to read each stat in the top toolbar, each button in your country dashboard, mouse over each number to see its modifiers, click on other countries and see their relationships. Explore everything available to you. This is much more useful than blindly pushing buttons and see what sticks. Resist the urge to watch gameplay tutorials. You will get lost most likely. The best way to learn the game is through organic gameplay. How to efficiently conduct warfare and build economies will come with time. Focus on learning what the buttons and numbers mean and do on your screen is most of the battle, so push through it. You'll thank yourself.

2. Do not use country guides. In my opinion, they are more meant to be exercises for experienced players who have seen literal thousands of hours of gameplay and make them to share the smallest of optimum plays and min-maxing. If you are a beginner and are using country guides to play your campaign, you may learn one specific way to min-max a country in a specific game state, but you will not gain organic knowledge. The game is at its best when you are able to take whatever damn path you please and understand how to use the options the game gives you to achieve that.

If you are looking for a rough direction to go, use your missions tab. Not only does it give you sweet bonuses that are especially useful in the early game, but if also gives you easy early game objectives that help you learn the game, like how to build an army to max capacity, or conquer a small one province country to work through the basics of warfare, coring, and dealing with the inevitable rebels that will arise.

3. Don't be ashamed to use save-states. I know there is a taboo about 'save-scumming' and that the common opinion is that you need to learn from your mistakes. While I understand the perspective, I also understand that a new player that is a victim of rolling bad RNG and losing their monarch without an heir and are now PU'd or having the most powerful nation blitz you in warfare when you are just getting the hang of the game is highly frustrating. I do not think it is fair to a beginner to expect them to just accept bad RNG when they don't know how to deal with it. HOWEVER, this should only be reserved for DISASTROUS RNG that threaten you game, not just minor inconveniences that give you a negative tax modifier for 20 years.

Regarding mistakes, it is up to your discretion. If you are honest with yourself and you can take the time to reflect upon the mistake you made, how to avoid it in the future, and LEARN from it, feel free to reload the game and avoid a mistake that takes the wind out of your campaign's sails and your enthusiasm.

4. Recommended Countries : Castile and Muscovy. Both give you easily achievable first missions, decent starting stats, and a relatively safe first 150 years so you can focus on learning the game rather than sweating about if someone is going to ambush you and take your country like candy from a baby. They also both offer good early military campaigns and opportunities to annex
   small states through diplomacy rather than warfare.

Disclaimer: Muscovy's economy is a little harder to get off the ground, so I would recommend playing Castile first, then Muscovy.

In conclusion, embrace the learning curve. Be patient, learn the foundations and what the numbers and buttons mean, and do not expect too much from the start. Expect to make mistakes. Learn from them. And I promise you after dozens of patient hours the game will suddenly click in your head, and your enjoyment of the game will skyrocket. Take it from someone who quit the game after 3 tries to learn it and believing that I would never enjoy it.

If you push on, you will succeed.

If you want me to make other guides such as the tips and tricks I have acquired to playing the game. Please let me know. I will happily make them.

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