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EU4 - Development Diary - 30th of June 2016

The skies are blue, the sun is shining and Sweden is very nearly shut down for Summer. I'm not kidding, this whole country just turns off in July like you pulled out its batteries. None the less, before the great productivity purge we're here for one more development diary for Europa Universalis IV.

A fair few forumites were clairvoyant enough to predict this after we added Ruler Personalities. Indeed, as part of the upcoming expansion we will have Leader Traits

Gainint trait.jpg


At the conclusion of any battle the leader involved has a chance to gain a trait. This trait will, unlike Ruler Personalities, always be a bonus. Current chance of gaining a trait is set to 2% multiplied by the Army Tradition gain from a battle (this, like most numbers during development, is subject to balance changes) which can be set in the defines.

Leaders are limited to one trait each and that trait will affect all units under their command. In battle, the trait of the commanding general (the one whose shock/fire pips are used) will affect all units on their side.

Some of the traits:
Goal Orientated:+10% Movement Speed
Hardy Warrior: -20% Attrition
Siege Specialist: +15% Siege Ability
Born to the Saddle: +50% Cavalry Flanking Range

leader trait battle.jpg


Of course, Admirals can gain traits too. Same rules as generals except the chance is based on naval tradition from battles.

Buccaneer: +25% Privateering Efficiency
Prize hunter: +5% chance of capturing enemy ships
Ironside: +5% Ship Durability
Extortioner: + 15% Light Ship Trade Power

naval trait.jpg


There are 22 traits in total, many with combat modifiers which have been added to the game for use in modding (and in National Idea changes which we will show later). It's worth noting that Heirs, Monarchs, Conquistadors and Explorers can also gain traits from combat.

Leader Traits are a paid feature in the upcoming [name removed] expansion. There are many more features and changes to come but you're going to have to hold out for 5 weeks on more news since as I mentioned, this country is going to shut down for a month. I'll be back with the next dev diary in the first week of August.

Leader death.jpg


Great generals are like Swedish Summer, never lasting quite as long as you want.
 
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nice, I think this is a good sign of the kind of flavourful mechanics that can help build up the personality where some Paradox games can feel a bit overly mechanical.
 
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FINALLY! This is why I get up on Thursdays, and you made me wait half an hour for this! But now that it's here, I'm so moved that I'm about to shed some tears ;(.

EDIT: It's the last dev diary? It's like Christmas just ended.

It's not bad, but disappointing nonetheless. I was hoping for some changes with the actual 'battlefield' like it was promised in last weeks dev diary. I was hoing for some battlefield change that gave an actual meaning to the choice between offensive and defensive units.
 
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Will historical generals and admirals have corresponding traits as well when you get them through an event or at a certain historical starting point? For example, I'd expect Napoleon to have a fitting trait when I play the 1793 starting date.
 
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How is it determined what trait is gained? Random chance or some connection to the type of action your leader is taking part in? Does ideas have any impact?
 
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I spy something new modifier amongst the army interface buttons. Can't for the life of me figure out what that icon is supposed to represent, though.
 
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I spy something new amongst the army interface buttons. Can't for the life of me figure out what that icon is supposed to represent, though.
Army defecting to the enemy perhaps? It's on minus and coloured green, so the equation has positive effect. If that's the case, I imagine that regular soldiers have based -1 defection chance, where mercenaries might turn against their former remployer.
 
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Great news!

Now all we need is advisor traits.
That's the first thing that came to my mind, so it's a great idea^_^.
 
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Army defecting to the enemy perhaps? It's on minus and coloured green, so the equation has positive effect. If that's the case, I imagine that regular soldiers have based -1 defection chance, where mercenaries might turn against their former remployer.
Looking closer into the picture, it's... a rebel flag. OH MY GOD, maybe there's a chance of a general turning his army against the monarch in a coup or something along these lines?! Maybe Jake hasn't told us everything about the changes in generals' "personalities" yet!
 
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Army defecting to the enemy perhaps? It's on minus and coloured green, so the equation has positive effect. If that's the case, I imagine that regular soldiers have based -1 defection chance, where mercenaries might turn against their former remployer.
. . . wait a minute, that's a rebel flag behind the green line. Rebel suppression modifier?
 
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Taking the idea of advisor traits from Milith and combining with the idea historical traits from Krebsig would make me very happy. It adds more flavor and can help keep things interesting. Also, the modability of it could lead to some interesting results! Just excited for this next expansion and to find out its name.
 
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Also, would there be a way to train a modifier and maybe it be a bit weaker than earned in battle? I tend to forget certain things (Admirals) and it might be more beneficial for me to just train one and assign it.
 
Wouldn't that be a bit redundant?
After all, some of the traits rulers and generals gain are based on the advisor bonuses.

I think if it's done properly it can enhance gameplay. So say your advisor gives 5% discipline. Perhaps he could also decrease recruitment time from his home province since they managed to high discipline in that location. You wouldn't want to make things too powerful but it could end up being more interesting.
 
Would leaders in the nomad tech group be more likely to get cavalry traits, or leaders in the later stages of the game more likely to get fire traits? Nice addition to the game!
 
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