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EU4 - Development Diary - 27th of September 2016

Hello everyone and welcome to another Europa Universalis development diary. This time we’ll take a look at the most important balance changes for 1.18, with a quick explanation on why we did them..

Setup
  • Lucky nations are now down to 8, sorry Poland, Brandenburg & Sweden.
The balance of having 10 lucky nations made the likelihood of a strong Russia too uncommon for us, and especially having those 3 as likely lucky nations was too much for Muscowy.

  • Lots of National Ideas have been changed, but most importantly Knights lost their tolerance for heretics, but can instead do slave raids.
As usual, we keep changing the ideas as we add new functionality, and giving people new abilities. There was a rather large following for giving the Knights access to Slave Raiding, as they were rather fearsome pirates, so they gained that ability.


Navies
  • If you have a port, now you get at least 5 sailors per month.
This was also requested, as some nations with 1 port just could never get any sailors at all.

  • Ships now engage in a priority order from heavy, galley, light to transport, up to a maximum of the engagement width (for which heavies count as 3 rather than 1).
This creates a more interesting naval combat experience, as you’ll all notice on October 11th.


Espionage
  • Reworked foreign spy detection & counter espionage. Counter espionage have less impact on discovery, but both now impact the spy network buildup of the target in your nation.
Basically, being able to defend against spy activities is now possible, even if stopping them entirely might be impossible.

  • Reduced unrest and Republican Tradition impact from Sowing discontent spy action
And many tears have been shed over this ….

  • Spy network bonuses will now apply to the target's subjects.
No more micromanagement and extra hassle! Rejoice!


Subjects
  • Breaking vassalage with a vassal that has over 50% in liberty desire no longer gives a relation penalty.
In the “duh?” category right?

  • Increased Liberty Desire from tariffs, up to 50% LD at 100% tariffs
Tariffs are no longer no-brainers to increase..

  • Colonial nations only lose half the money the overlord is getting in tariffs.
But this makes it so you can’t cripple your colonial nations..

  • Large colonial nations now gives you +5 land force limit each
And now you also want LARGE colonial nations :) ie, buffing Portugal..

  • There is now a scaled penalty to Liberty Desire up to +25% at max Mercantilism.
Aka, the longer the game goes, the more likely subjects get rebellious.

  • Vassals fighting each others (i.e. in Japan) now always accept Enforce Peace requests of overlord, but all vassals except the defending peace target get +10 Liberty Desire.
More power to the Emperor! or.. The Shogun!

  • All subjects now get reduced AE from your actions, not just vassals & marches.
No longer will your union-partners hate you for conquering their cores!

  • Subjects now have land and naval access to other subjects of the same overlord.
No longer will your subjects units get stuck!


Religion
  • Patriarch Authority no longer reduces tax income.
It all belongs to Mother Russia!. Sorry, I meant all orthodox nations..

  • Sanction Commercial Monopoly now costs 50 PI, instead of 100.
And we boost Catholics!

  • Defender of Faith now gives you +10 opinion of all with that religion.
Clearly this was our most important tweak in 1.18.

  • Theocracies, especially the Papal State, have an increased alliance acceptance penalty towards different religions now.
  • When you change religion as a Monastic order, Devotion is now decreased to the resulting Religious unity
These above are in the “this will improve immersion while improving the balance”-category.



Forts
  • If you are enter battle while in an enemy province with a fort, you will be treated as the attacker in battle and incur that province's terrain penalties.
Building forts is now a strategic decision. Where can you stop your enemies the best?

  • Penalty for not occupying forts in an area will no longer apply if the enemy does not control any forts in the area.
This will make it possible to sign a peace that you as a player likes far easier.


Misc
  • There is now an increase in efficiency of embargoes for a nation scaled by its Mercantilism up to +50%.
This is also another change that makes Mercantilism more powerful, while at the same time improving immersion.

  • Trade Companies is now open to all technology groups.
With the new technology changes, this just makes sense. However, you can not have trade-companies on the same continent as your capital.

  • All countries should now have access to at least one skill 2 advisor at start.
Just for you to have a choice!

  • You can no longer move capital to a continent that has less than a third of your total provinces, unless your capital is the last province you own on its continent.
There were a few exploits where you could swap continents back and forth a few times, that this solves.


Technology

We already talked about the changes to technology in a previous development diary, but here is a quick recap!

  • In 1444, all non-tribal nations start without tech penalties.
  • Primitive Status is now tied to starting techgroups.
  • Institutions will appear in certain provinces at key dates and spread from province to province.
  • Once 10% of your development has this Institution present, you can embrace that Institution for a monetary cost scaled on how much that institution has spread throughout your nation
  • If you have not embraced an Institution, you will have a tech penalty. This penalty grows by 1% each year up to a maximum of 50% penalty per non-embraced institution.
  • American Natives reforming their religion gain all the institutions from their advanced neighbour
  • Many existing ideas have been altered to give faster Institution spread and cheaper embracement costs.
  • Increasing development in provinces will also boost institution presence in that province

Culture

Cultures were also mentioned in a previous development diary, but here is a quick recap.
  • Cultures are now promoted manually, and any culture of at least 20 development can be promoted for 100 DIP.
  • All nations can promote 2 cultures in addition to their primary culture, and additional cultures can be promoted from ideas and Diplomatic technology
  • Old modifiers to Accepted culture Threshold now affect number of promoted cultures
  • Promoted cultures can be Demoted. This will give +5 unrest in all provinces of that culture

Stay tuned, next week we’ll show off new achievements and national ideas..
 
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zeredek said:
What kind of paradox logic makes you think exchanging up to 75% more liberty desire for FIVE DUDES is "buffing Portugal", the country least capable of keeping CNs loyal?
Click to expand...
Do CNs take their combined power to increase LS or do they function like PUs, where individual military might is counted? If it's the latter, you can at least reduce that factor quite a bit, if you control mupltiple CNs.

I wish they would rework trade nodes and separate most of Portugal and Castile into 2, so you do not feel forced to go max mercantilism. MEIOU & Taxes split it into the Portugal (west coast ) TN and Andalusia (north to south coast of Castille) TN. That feels so much better as Portugal and as a Castillian player I also do not feel forced to crush Portugal anymore, because of the trade rivalry.
 
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Sweden and especially Brandenburg are the only tags where the lucky status made sense from a gameplay perspective, as the AI really needed to be lucky to achieve anything close to resemble their historical conquests (England would fit in that category, too, but we all know how well AI England performs no matter what). Now you removed it?! Poland made sense, it's way too strong anyway. IMHO, either continue using lucky status to boost small but successful tags in favor of their neighbors or remove it altogether. Now all of the remaining lucky nations are tags who really don't need to be lucky because they start way stronger than their neighbors anyway with the exception of Muscovy and Portugal.
How does a weakened BB strengthen Russia anyway? More often than not it was one of the few decent allies AI Russia could call their own.

I like all other changes though.
 
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i think counterspionage is useless in this form and i bet never ever used it or will use it

it would be MUCH better if counterspionage isnt used on OTHER countires but on ur own country and then have the effect on all who spy on you (maybe make it weaker then) so u basicly use 1 diplomat slot for a counterspionage, whats counterspionage vs 1 country good for ... useless
 
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Sanction monopoly cost 50PI?? Hahhahahahaha thank you for making my GB campaigns easier. My free 3 merchantilism has now increased to 6 and more. With these new embargo mechanics I'll be swimming in Europoor ducats. Sorry France, Castile and Portugal, paradox just made you broke :)

Can't wait to see how naval battles work.
 
I love the cutting of lucky nations, I rather see the concept removed for iron man. Lucky nations could stay as an option IMO. In my current game lucky PLC and Sweden teamed up to eat Muscowy in war after war. Muscowy couldn't even find a single ally.
 
  • Penalty for not occupying forts in an area will no longer apply if the enemy does not control any forts in the area.
This means I can't have 0 forts in my nation so if they don't take my capital fort, they can't demand provinces.
 
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Johan said:
  • Penalty for not occupying forts in an area will no longer apply if the enemy does not control any forts in the area.
This will make it possible to sign a peace that you as a player likes far easier.
Click to expand...

Can I assume that "area" refers to the areas visible on the area mapmode?
 
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WeissRaben said:
Which to be honest, for a chain of events as likely as needles falling exactly one standing on the other, is way too much. Prussia was a chain of absolutely unlikely events.

I've already commented on the healthy Prussian soil that makes soldiers disciplined and militaristic, and how of course Prussia never flopped and Napoleonic Wars not real, but apparently it's not common sense.
Click to expand...

i believe in EU4 its due to time travelling space marines that prussia is succesful 100% of the time it appears
 
Pretty solid change log this go around.

I have a feeling that fort rule will see further revisions though. Scales are probably tipped in favor of defender a little too far, but we'll see.

RadRussian said:
This means I can't have 0 forts in my nation so if they don't take my capital fort, they can't demand provinces.
Click to expand...

The problem it solves is a 3rd party occupying just the capital, or even placing a single regiment on a nation's lone fort. If you do that in 1.17, you can block the AI from ever taking anything as a 3rd party attacker, or get screwed because you have occupations on 90% of their land, over 70% war score...but can't take a single province because somebody in another war holds their capital (and only) fort.

It's one of those cheese outcomes where it is annoying to be on the wrong side of it and feels awkward to use. I doubt anyone will miss it.
 
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A probably useful change is that if a province is consecutively occupied for some years (maybe 5) the controlling country will have to accept losing said province in a peace deal or take stab hits (in the case of players). Could help against some players who hold a war going for 100 years because only some fortless provs are occupied that provide low enough as which can be managed by DOTF or innovative idea.
 
Loss of lucky status for Sweden and Poland is awesome. Both of those countries didn't "historically" deserve it anyway (Of 380 years of game period each of them had "imperial period" of maybe a 100 years? And both ended the period with complete loss of any meaningful power status, even in their reigon) and this change will finally nerf PL and buff Russia.

Also,
  • If you are enter battle while in an enemy province with a fort, you will be treated as the attacker in battle and incur that province's terrain penalties.
FINALLY
 
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Homusubi said:
Horrendously ahistorical Ashikaga power ahoy! You do realise this is pretty much the opposite of what the Japan lobby (I say "the Japan lobby"... it's pretty much
@Grand Historian and myself, or so it seems...) has been campaigning for, right?
Click to expand...

Short of a full-blown mechanic, I've come to accept that anything that will be done to Japan will probably further just mess it up.

But this just seems counterproductive.
 
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Bradenburg and Sweden should keep their Lucky status (though sth should be done with Denmark being eaten all the time by the Swedes - I'm not implying anything or am I?).

Poland almost always chooses the PU with Lithuania so it's already too strong.

With respect to PA, not enough. I will still choose the stab, monarch points and money rather than having increased PA.
 
Release it already!
 
Mortheim said:
Wikipedia states, that they sell ship's crew alongside goods. So, you practically contradicted yourself ;D
Click to expand...

It's not that the Knights were pirates that are off here, it's how they're represented as being Pirates that's off. The Knight's didn't go on slave raids and actively ravage coastlines and decimate villages in the same way that the Barbary Pirates did - their targets were almost always ships, which is already represented due to their Piracy Efficiency bonus. Honestly, I can't say I like this change much at all, especially considering that the Knights had an exceptionally tolerant rule during their tenure in Rhodes (even admitting Orthodox Greeks into their ranks) - not to mention the loss of +4 Heretic Tolerance might leave them vulnerable to local revolts.
 
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