Anybody else missing the Embassy?

[grommile]

Genuinely curious to know what people are using all these diplomats for.

Building up relations for various purposes. Annexing vassals. Supporting rebels. Being able to conduct diplomatic actions at a reasonable tempo even when the capitals of the countries you're interacting with are 60 days envoy travel time away from your capital.

It is my understanding that coalitions are a response to AE, not general opinion,

AI countries who have not designated you as a Rival will not enter coalitions unless their attitude towards you is Outraged, no matter how much AE you have towards them. AI countries whose opinion of you is positive cannot enter the "Outraged" attitude (and countries which are in the Outraged attitude towards you will leave it if you raise their opinion of you to +50).

so aside from shoring up opinions for the sake of alliances here and there, my armies typically do most of the talking. Even keeping relations high for the sake of avoiding conflict seems pointless since your neighbor could be +200 one month then -200 from "Wants your provinces" the next.

There are remarkably few cases where you can actually have that happen, and they usually involve missions.

 

[Mattimeo78]

Building up relations for various purposes. Annexing vassals. Supporting rebels. Being able to conduct diplomatic actions at a reasonable tempo even when the capitals of the countries you're interacting with are 60 days envoy travel time away from your capital.

AI countries who have not designated you as a Rival will not enter coalitions unless their attitude towards you is Outraged, no matter how much AE you have towards them. AI countries whose opinion of you is positive cannot enter the "Outraged" attitude (and countries which are in the Outraged attitude towards you will leave it if you raise their opinion of you to +50).

There are remarkably few cases where you can actually have that happen, and they usually involve missions.

I appreciate clarification on national attitude and how it effects coalitions. On the third point, it has been my experience that in almost every game I play any great power bordering me eventually decides it wants all my stuff. In last week's Castile game France was my ally for centuries, then one day they decided they wanted Nevarra, then shortly afterward decided that, screw it, they wanted my whole country and declared me a rival.

I've restarted a lot of games due to sudden, inexplicable diplomatic shifts and it has conditioned me to prefer Quantity over Diplomacy, as it were. To that point and more on topic, the unique buildings I miss most are the War College and the Admiralty.

 

[Bavarian Steve]

I appreciate clarification on national attitude and how it effects coalitions. On the third point, it has been my experience that in almost every game I play any great power bordering me eventually decides it wants all my stuff. In last week's Castile game France was my ally for centuries, then one day they decided they wanted Nevarra, then shortly afterward decided that, screw it, they wanted my whole country and declared me a rival.

I've restarted a lot of games due to sudden, inexplicable diplomatic shifts and it has conditioned me to prefer Quantity over Diplomacy, as it were. To that point and more on topic, the unique buildings I miss most are the War College and the Admiralty.

this will happen if they have a claim on you and they have low enough opinion of you. I tend to play Bavaria and usually my first moves are to take out salzburg and augsburg. As I'm in wars with both of them I am building my relations with austria. If austria gets claims on either of them, I vassalize them and do not annex them until austria loses the claim. If austria and i have good relations, and they get the modifier they want my provinces, but have no claims, then the relationship hit isn't all that large actually. I'd suggest that if you have a large negative penalty to the wants your province, check to see which of your provinces they want, and see if you can release a vassal that includes the province they want. that should lower the relationship hit quite a bit.

 

[zemuzil]

Not as much as 2 free leaders without upkeep from old buildings