Pros:
1. Constant tech lead (~7 years ahead of time).
2. Abundance of MP to spend on ideas, buildings and culture conversion.
3. You can blob your vassals instead of spending ADM points on coring.
4. You can hold stability on 0 and enjoy no rebellions\unreast
5. When you are surrounded by loyal vassals, some wars are instawins against minors, since vassals do all the job for themselves
6. You don't need those humanistic or religious ideas, freeing slots for military ones. Diplomatic and Influence are obligatory.
7. Vassals usually take the hit, so for centuries you not a single enemy troop may step on your lands.
8. Vassals contribute to your FL, so you can build a decent army.
Cons:
1. Extremely vulnerable start as OPM or TPM
2. Feeding vassals transfers all AE to you.
3. Unless fed, vassals are quite dumb and useless, also you will have to deal with their internal problems (whisch is still better than to deal with your own ones)
4. You must have a good production and control a valuable endpoint trade node to have a serious income.
5. Fed vassals don't bother to build serious upgrades in their provinces, meaning you will have to resiege their captured provinces.
6. If you have a hostile superpower power or blob near you, you will have to wait for decades to strike them when they are at another war.
7. Your army\fleet in early game suck hard.
Tips:
1. Find a nearby OPM\TPM with stron ideas, annex it, convert religion and release for further feed.
2. Try to make your vassals control as much trade nodes as possible
3. Try to control your own trade node.
4. You get all AE hits for feeding vassals, not them.
5. Aristocratic ideas may be a good choice if your neighbor wants your provinces
6. Buildings are your saving grace.
7. Mercs are your best friends, since your manpower will be quite low at start.
1. Constant tech lead (~7 years ahead of time).
2. Abundance of MP to spend on ideas, buildings and culture conversion.
3. You can blob your vassals instead of spending ADM points on coring.
4. You can hold stability on 0 and enjoy no rebellions\unreast
5. When you are surrounded by loyal vassals, some wars are instawins against minors, since vassals do all the job for themselves
6. You don't need those humanistic or religious ideas, freeing slots for military ones. Diplomatic and Influence are obligatory.
7. Vassals usually take the hit, so for centuries you not a single enemy troop may step on your lands.
8. Vassals contribute to your FL, so you can build a decent army.
Cons:
1. Extremely vulnerable start as OPM or TPM
2. Feeding vassals transfers all AE to you.
3. Unless fed, vassals are quite dumb and useless, also you will have to deal with their internal problems (whisch is still better than to deal with your own ones)
4. You must have a good production and control a valuable endpoint trade node to have a serious income.
5. Fed vassals don't bother to build serious upgrades in their provinces, meaning you will have to resiege their captured provinces.
6. If you have a hostile superpower power or blob near you, you will have to wait for decades to strike them when they are at another war.
7. Your army\fleet in early game suck hard.
Tips:
1. Find a nearby OPM\TPM with stron ideas, annex it, convert religion and release for further feed.
2. Try to make your vassals control as much trade nodes as possible
3. Try to control your own trade node.
4. You get all AE hits for feeding vassals, not them.
5. Aristocratic ideas may be a good choice if your neighbor wants your provinces
6. Buildings are your saving grace.
7. Mercs are your best friends, since your manpower will be quite low at start.
