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EUIV - Development Diary - 12th of May 2020

Good afternoon! I’m back again with another content-driven dev diary. Today we’ll be taking a look at two of the new mission trees coming with the Emperor expansion: Germany and Lübeck.

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The German mission tree takes a lot of inspiration, as you might expect, from Imperial Germany and the accomplishments of Bismarck. Although very much outside of the period, we felt that it was an appropriate way to go given the ahistorical nature of a united Germany within our timeframe.

The conquest branch of the mission tree begins with Blood and Iron, which requires you to own at least 50 provinces across the North Germany or South Germany regions, essentially completing your early German unification. This mission rewards perhaps the most extensive set of permanent claims of any single mission in the game: the Low Countries, Italy, France, and Poland will all simultaneously become your next targets. This is pretty extreme for a single mission, but given the requirements not only of the mission but also of forming Germany in the first place, the player is likely already in a very dominant position by the time that they unlock this mission tree. Completing the Annex Poland mission gives even further permanent claims, this time on the Baltic, Scandinavia, and Carpathia regions.

Next we have an economic branch of the mission tree. You are charged with building manufactories to Industrialize the Rhineland, permanently improving local goods produced in applicable provinces by 15%. You must also Promote Urbanization by reaching at least 30 development in 10 German provinces, and achieve Protected Markets by reaching 75% trade share in all German trade nodes. Completing these missions unlocks the Dominant Economy mission, which requires you to have the highest income of any European nation as well as 10,000 ducats with no loans.

Next up, Germany has a branch of its mission tree dedicated to overseas expansion, beginning of course with the construction of an Imperial Navy. After building 30 heavy ships, you must Burn the Wooden Wall by ensuring that no British country has more than 5 heavy ships. Achieving this will grant you +10% naval morale for the rest of the game, as well as a permanent claim on London. Scramble for Africa and Overseas Empire see you building an empire in Africa and Asia respectively.

Germany and the Holy Roman Empire share a large portion of their missions trees, but each of them have a unique branch available only to them. The German unique branch focuses on state-building, for instance hiring skilled advisors, gaining Crown Land, constructing universities, and gaining absolutism.

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This is the Holy Roman Empire’s unique branch of the mission tree. It has been said that the HRE was neither Holy, Roman, nor an empire, but you have the chance to change that. You must become Defender of the Faith (giving you an opportunity to launch a final crusade for Jerusalem), become Papal Controller (if Catholic), and finally centralize the disparate states of Germany into a single nation. Completing the Roman Resolution mission as a Catholic nation fires the following event, representing victory of the Emperor in the dispute between Church and Emperor:

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Hi I’m @Alfray Stryke , a new addition on the EUIV team. Currently working as QA, although I have assisted with the design and implementation of Lübeck’s mission tree in the Emperor DLC.

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The four paths for their missions are:
  • End the Sound Toll, By forcing or convincing Denmark to end the toll and increasing your trade in the Lübeck trade node, you continue to increase your trade in the Baltic. This leads to gaining claims on the Jutland peninsula and then Norway (subjugation if Norway is independent, permanent claims if they are not).
  • Ties with England requires either strengthening relations with England or Lübeckian merchants or privateers having at least 25% of the trade power in the English Channel. Completing this will strengthen Lübeckian traders in the British Isles, granting claims in order to form trading cities in London, Edinburgh and Ayr. Setting up trade cities in Edinburgh and Ayr will lead to dominating the North Sea trade and recruiting an explorer to settle Newfoundland (giving a Center of Trade there) and founding the American colony of Neulübeck.
    • The London Steelyard was historically the main trading base of the Hanseatic League during the 15th and 16th centuries, thus either owning London directly or indirectly via a member of your trade league will grant you a substantial boost to trade.
  • Defend the City, although Lübeck starts as a relatively wealthy but militarily lacking nation, their first goal should be to ensure they have a standing army capable of holding their own against any neighbours inside the HRE. Complete this via your own soldier or recruiting mercenary companies and you will gain claims on the rest of the Mecklenburg area. After building up your own strength, it is time to return the cities of Visby and Novgorod to the Hanseatic League by either owning them directly or indirectly.
  • The Merchant Navy, by building up your merchant navy and increasing your coffers, you are then led to formalising bookkeeping and building the Lübeck Krantor (replacing the old decision). After increasing your ship building industry, commissioning the Adler von Lübeck (for owners of Golden Century, the decision now requires a flagship), and asserting naval dominance over the North and Baltic Seas Lübeck can be declared the Queen of the Hanseatic League. This rewards you with increased diplomatic reputation and decreased advisor cost.


The culmination of their mission tree after increasing the reach of the Hanseatic League is to unite the league into a solidified political entity - making any members of the trade league that own historically important trade cities into vassals, with a boost to their diplomatic relations in order to compensate for this. Then using the same system for the Kingdom of God and the Caliphate renaming you are rightfully termed the Hanseatic League!

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And that’s all for today! Join us next week for the last in our series of content-focused dev diaries.
 
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I BEG YOU, give some love to the only slovenian nation. Please Celje mission tree and national ideas <3 that dynasty had such an amazing story :O If you need help i'll even make the mission tree for you xD
 
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Will Austria and the Swiss now be able to form Germany and do we have to wait to get to tech 20 to form it?

I think the missions can't rebuild the huge militarization of Germany and their immense focus on the (land) military.

Will the national ideas of Germany get released? I'm really looking forward to see them :).
 
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Love the possibility to integrate the trade league. Or does the reward of "unite the Hansa" only the tags in the picture?

Will merchant republics be able to form trade companies in orthodox lands? Given the Hanseatic Kontor in Novgorod (Peterhof), the Venetian "stato da mar" and the genoese "Maona"/administration by the bank of St. George, it would make sense historically and would give them those sweet investment benefits.
 
If the mission tree is about the german empire then the black white red flag would be more accurate for the tag. It also looks better imo.
I dont think black white red is the right choice. The BWR flag was chosen to symbolize Prussia (Black&White) and the Hansa or Brandenburg (White&Red). Its not fitting for all the other German states. The flag of the German Confederation or one with the Eagle is more fitting, because its represents all German states.
 
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Annex Poland mission gives even further permanent claims, this time on the Baltic
I feel this is the wrong way around, The Baltic should come first and that should grant you claims on Poland and Scandinavia, Germany's claims to the Baltic is on much firmer ground than it's claims to Poland. The Carpathian basin could however be after Poland.
The four paths for their missions are:
  • End the Sound Toll, By forcing or convincing Denmark to end the toll and increasing your trade in the Lübeck trade node, you continue to increase your trade in the Baltic. This leads to gaining claims on the Jutland peninsula and then Norway (subjugation if Norway is independent, permanent claims if they are not).
  • Ties with England requires either strengthening relations with England or Lübeckian merchants or privateers having at least 25% of the trade power in the English Channel. Completing this will strengthen Lübeckian traders in the British Isles, granting claims in order to form trading cities in London, Edinburgh and Ayr. Setting up trade cities in Edinburgh and Ayr will lead to dominating the North Sea trade and recruiting an explorer to settle Newfoundland (giving a Center of Trade there) and founding the American colony of Neulübeck.
    • The London Steelyard was historically the main trading base of the Hanseatic League during the 15th and 16th centuries, thus either owning London directly or indirectly via a member of your trade league will grant you a substantial boost to trade.
  • Defend the City, although Lübeck starts as a relatively wealthy but militarily lacking nation, their first goal should be to ensure they have a standing army capable of holding their own against any neighbours inside the HRE. Complete this via your own soldier or recruiting mercenary companies and you will gain claims on the rest of the Mecklenburg area. After building up your own strength, it is time to return the cities of Visby and Novgorod to the Hanseatic League by either owning them directly or indirectly.
  • The Merchant Navy, by building up your merchant navy and increasing your coffers, you are then led to formalising bookkeeping and building the Lübeck Krantor (replacing the old decision). After increasing your ship building industry, commissioning the Adler von Lübeck (for owners of Golden Century, the decision now requires a flagship), and asserting naval dominance over the North and Baltic Seas Lübeck can be declared the Queen of the Hanseatic League. This rewards you with increased diplomatic reputation and decreased advisor cost.
You may want something relating to the partnership between the Hanseatic League and The Teutonic order too, they worked Hand in glove for a very long time, with each doing what the other could not. The League could not operate militarily above a certain point because they knew doing so would make the lords of Europe uncomfortable seeing as the order was a bunch of commoners, on the flipside the teutonic order was limited in how much it could engage in commerce because of it's monastic nature. A such both provided the other with something they needed. A partnership whcih lasted until the sack of Danzig by the order somethign which alienated the league and thus lost the Teutons their financial support which did a lot to weaken them and bring about their eventual downfall.
Consequently I think that Lübeck should get a mission for renewing it's ties to the Teutonic order.
The culmination of their mission tree after increasing the reach of the Hanseatic League is to unite the league into a solidified political entity - making any members of the trade league that own historically important trade cities into vassals, with a boost to their diplomatic relations in order to compensate for this. Then using the same system for the Kingdom of God and the Caliphate renaming you are rightfully termed the Hanseatic League!
First of I can't say how excited I am that this i finally happening. Secondly, is there any chance this could be made available to Hamburg too?
 
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@neondt is there any sort of liberty desire modification for the Hanseatic league? Otherwise just seems like you get a heap of unloyal vassals (especially if you have a large trade league)! Doesn't need to be like HRE (too exploitable) but maybe give the vassals the historical friend modifier so they're at least loyal with divert trade active :)
 
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Very interesting, Germany and the HRE are usually so underestimated, but now this incredibly powerful mission tree might make them well worth it, especially with those claims and the sweet 15% goods produced.
 
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In my honest opinion, using Bismarck's German Empire and its militarism as prototype of Germany and HRE's mission tree in EU4 is very boring, unsuitable and most importantly, lack of imagination.

Germany and HRE's mission tree in EU4 could focus more on how would Germany unified and what would Germany be during the period of EU4. It could be use to imagine how would Germany be unified in a way different to late 19th century (real) history. It could includes elements such as Landsknechts, the (HRE) Reichsarmee, the Lützow Free Corps, the Imperial Circles, the Rheinbund, the proposal of Greater Germany, the nation of poetry and philosophy (the nation of Goethe, Schiller and Kant rather than Bismarck and Moltke), the nationalism and liberalism movement in late 18 - early 19th century, etc.

I don't mind the "Bismarck" or "Prussian" theme Germany be a part/a branch of the mission tree, but it shouldn't be the whole of the mission tree.
 
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The missions are for Lubeck as the defacto head of the Hanseatic League.
Yes but what if Hamburg ends up the defacto leader?
Is it just me, or are the mission trees just becoming more and more "conquer everything?"

You go through the trouble of creating intricate HRE mechanics, and then if I conquer Germany straight up I get claims on all of Europe?
Creating Germany is not exactly quick though. It's a very late game tag.
"Hey Denmark, let's be buddies, come on man, lift the sound toll let's make some bro dosh together$$$"
"Ok"
"Haha fool! it was all a ploy to get claims on you!"
"Noooooooo sad Denmark noises"
Yeah I feel that perhaps the Lübeck mission tree is a bit to landgrabby. Taking all of Norway seems a bit to much.
@neondt is there any sort of liberty desire modification for the Hanseatic league? Otherwise just seems like you get a heap of unloyal vassals (especially if you have a large trade league)! Doesn't need to be like HRE (too exploitable) but maybe give the vassals the historical friend modifier so they're at least loyal with divert trade active :)
The core Haneatic cities are already historical friends unless I am mistaken.
 
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Thanks for this dev diary, I have a question, are you going to change the mission "restore the pentarchy" that Byzantium has? If the pope can convert Orthodox to catholic, could the Byzantines do the opposite ?? Thanks


No; because the Pope is inherently the Catholic religious head. If he were to be the head of Orthodoxy he would no longer be the Pope; he'd be the Ecumenical Patriarch.
 
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