Agree/Disagree - Naval improvements should be in the next expansion.

[tman144]

Just curious. I think naval should be next expansion. I'm a little surprised we haven't seen a naval overhaul yet as it feels like the least developed part of the game. Everyone using the same ships is weird and the AI has to cheat because it can't use the system in place.

I tend to play as a naval power in my games and fighting a naval war against an equal AI country is maddening. It seems once the AI starts to lose it takes its ship and hides in the middle of the open ocean where I have to take 10-20% attrition damage just to run them down. Plus, that little open ocean zone in the Bay of Biscay is the bane of my existence. You would think that during the golden age of exploration someone could sail from Ireland to Portugal without wrecking their ships.

P.S. I will not be offended if you disagree with the topic, just trying to gauge thoughts on this. Also, this is whether you think naval should be next, so if you would like to see a naval overhaul, but have something else you think is more important, feel free to disagree.

EDIT: By "next" I am referring to the expansion after Cossacks. I assume Cossacks is mostly done since we are getting DDs about it.

Here is a screenshot to illustrate my point:

 

[WSnova]

Well, many posters have asked for a Naval overhaul for quite a while. Hopefully they can do it sooner rather than later.

But tbh I feel the naval side was never that well done in any of the Paradox games I´ve played. In most of them there is nothing that is worth fighting for in the seas and Naval invasions are too easy to sneak by so you don´t really need to win naval dominance to land troops.

And yeah the ping pong naval battles are as infurating as the ping pong land battles.

I don´t mind the cheating naval AI because it can barely use its fleets right so it needs all the advantage it can get.

 

[melkor88]

Yeah, I am also keen for some Naval improvements, features but also the naval ideas could do with a shake up. As even when playing Naval countries I find the ideas not worth taking.

 

[tman144]

Well, many posters have asked for a Naval overhaul for quite a while. Hopefully they can do it sooner rather than later.

But tbh I feel the naval side was never that well done in any of the Paradox games I´ve played. In most of them there is nothing that is worth fighting for in the seas and Naval invasions are too easy to sneak by so you don´t really need to win naval dominance to land troops.

And yeah the ping pong naval battles are as infurating as the ping pong land battles.

I don´t mind the cheating naval AI because it can barely use its fleets right so it needs all the advantage it can get.

Ideally, we would have a system that the AI can understand so it doesn't have to cheat, and that naval dominance means something so that it isn't so easy to sneak landings. My thought is to replace all of the "open ocean" with some kind of ocean wasteland and then use "sea lanes" to move across the ocean. Like, in order to get from the new world to the old world, there would only be 3-4 places you could cross, so if you had naval dominance, you could lock down those spots and prevent someone from just hiding all their ships somewhere and then try to ninja your blockades. For example, there would be a sea lane from Brazil to west Africa and a sea lane from Azores to the Caribbean, so if you're fighting Portugal, you lock down Azores and West Africa and Portugal can't send three cogs to stage landings everywhere and drag out a war it already lost.

 

[OBRkenobi]

Definitely looking for improvements to the naval system. Agreed.

 

[QuestingMod]

At first I though "I'd love to see improvements to the naval system, but I rarely even have a navy, they're pretty useless in EU4." Then it occurred to me that that is precisely the problem.

I would love to see a navy overhaul, but I'm not expecting it anytime soon. I wouldn't even know where to begin, and I imagine there'll be a lot of trial and error before the devs get it right. If we don't see a navy overhaul until EU5, I wouldn't be too surprised.

 

[Ixal]

I really hope so. Considering how important Naval dominance was in the later years this game covers the naval system is woefully underdeveloped. That naval (and maritime) ideas rank only slightly higher than espionage is telling.

I hope that there will be varied roles for ships instead of only having heavy ships for fighting, light ships for trading, trade ships for transporting (wtf?) and galleys. Light ships should also have a use in war for hunting trade ships and cutting the enemies supply.

And while you are at it, please also change piracy. It is nearly never useful as you have to use the same ships you use for trading but the other nations can defend themselves with otherwise useless (in peacetime) heavy ships.

 

[Alright Withers1947]

Agreed m8.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

I don't think it could be done justice as a tack-on, but would like to see it improved at some point.

 

[PanosB3]

MISTS AND CARIBBEAN HURRICANES NEEDED!!!

 

[maitrecarotte]

Naval, espionage, China. These are probably my top 3 desired overhauls. Espionage is getting changes in Cossacks, but I can't help feeling it won't become fun enough until it gets its own agent instead of using diplomats and a major overhaul.

 

[DrLulz]

While I agree that naval needs an overhaul, I can hardly think of any expansion, where naval would be a worse thematic fit than "Cossacks."

 

[DEEPGAME]

That would be nice. I think nomads are not that much important in eu4 era but naval battles are.

 

[Bella Gerant]

Could make those weather events more relevant. Little Ice Age->Protestant Wind
Imagine, the Protestant Wind...

"My King, our marshal reports that we have lost 120 ships in the treacherous waters of the North Sea"

Honestly, I'd probably rage quit after I lose all my trade ships or my transports to a hurricane because I wasn't paying attention.

 

[khardinal]

I just think that Paradox don't know how to improve the naval mechanic of the game. It is the same as EU3, copy paste, and still a joke and a nonsense. It's more than a shame to have this void for a game .... of this timeframe.
But anyway, combat in general has plenty of limits in Eu4 ...
Paradox should have a competitive rival in the videogame world, in order to stimulate their brains to really think about the game. Don't forget that EU4 is a copy paste of Eu3 for a large part. You just have to look at the files of the game.

Fort system apart, what's the improvement for the pure battle / combat mechanic beetween Eu3 and Eu4 ? Nothing.

 

[lolada]

Would like to see some larger rework on naval importance. It would be refreshing to redo combat system. At least we have lots of information on land combat system, its quite transparent. Naval is a mess where you just send more ships, the bigger the better. Sea weather system would be nice addon.

 

[migalhone]

Wiz said in end of last week's DD "Tune in again next Thursday when we'll be talking about recruitment and shipbuilding."

Maybe there are some improvements to the whole naval system in the works?

 

[grommile]

There is one specific naval improvement I would like to see.

I would like to see the AI stop suiciding its fleets when a large fleet blockading a harbour starts to move away.

 

[Beagá]

Some sort of rally point for allied navies would be very welcome.

 

[Chlodio]

Wiz said in end of last week's DD "Tune in again next Thursday when we'll be talking about recruitment and shipbuilding."

Maybe there are some improvements to the whole naval system in the works?

You're being too hopeful, perhaps they've just improved the navy builder.

Secret Denmark expansion is already quite big, I don't think they had resources/time to implement significant changes to navy.