EU4 Luck : a too big factor

[DESTROYHUNTER]

Hi
As written on the pdf file, I'm a CK2 experienced player and recently bought EU4 together with almost every DLC.
And after 200+ hours playing this new game and understanding this complex game, i really felt like luck was a major factor which was to me the unenjoybable part of the game (i explain it much more on the pdf file). Thus, i was wondering if there was something to do to remove most of the chance factor and having a more "controlable" game.

Thanks a lot in advance for the answer ;-)

A PDX fan

 

[LordHoth]

I really like the concept of a general pool to recruit from (e.g., Rank 1, only internal; Rank 2, also neighbouring cultures; Rank 3, all same continent cultures or something?). The way right now where the general's stats are useless most of the time is quite annoying, especially when one should be able to invest in military schools and similar things.

 

[Pbhuh]

Hi
As written on the pdf file, I'm a CK2 experienced player and recently bought EU4 together with almost every DLC.
And after 200+ hours playing this new game and understanding this complex game, i really felt like luck was a major factor which was to me the unenjoybable part of the game (i explain it much more on the pdf file). Thus, i was wondering if there was something to do to remove most of the chance factor and having a more "controlable" game.

Thanks a lot in advance for the answer ;-)

A PDX fan

So you as a Crusader Kings 2 Player want less luck in Europa Univeralis? A game all about minmaxing already? Crusader Kings is all about freedom, random chance and shit going bad. I feel Europa Universalis 4 should take some stuff from Crusader Kings about randomness and also about making losses less harsh on the player.

When you loose a war in EU4, you might as well quit that save, when you loose a war in Crusader Kings, your guy might get imprisoned or pay war reperations, but hey, you have an heir and dont loose much territory.

 

[Horn and Ivory]

I started writing a big response to this PDF but quickly realised that it all basically comes down to one thing: luck feels like a big thing to you because you've only played 200 hours. EUIV is much more controllable than you are giving it credit for, but the control and mitigation takes place in areas where you are not currently looking for it.

Take battles, for example. There's luck in war, but this is realistic, sometimes battles go in unexpected ways. You say "all these modifiers almost get completely offset by DICE ROLL" - they're really not! I promise you that it will take many restarts to change the outcome of the kind of super-unbalanced battle you describe. It feels like a lot of randomness to you because other things are influencing the battles, and as you don't yet have a feel for what they are, you experience it as randomness. I say this as someone who was once a noob himself! The more you play the more you will realise that most of these kinds of randomness can be offset by skilful play: and to a great extent skill in EUIV just is the ability to mitigate and avoid the randomness that afflicts a less experienced or skilful player. The more you play, the more you will be able to prosecute a consistent strategy across and despite the various bumps and setbacks that the randomness throws your way.