Its like riding the bicycle. You just gotta do it.
And then use some brain.
Then after a while it gets easier and starts to make sense.
And then use some brain.
Then after a while it gets easier and starts to make sense.
How Do I Learn this Game?
- Thread starter gandre
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Play with diferent countries and in a diferent way of play.Play a comerce power, a continent power, colonial power, etc etc.Start in easy, then normal and in the end ironman this is pretty nice,sometimes you get pissed off, but you learn a new tip of the game.
Two areas in particular IMO separate the best players from the mediocre. One of which I have mastered, one of which I have not:
(1) Fully utilize vassal mechanics - some people would just prefer to conquer and core, but using vassals is the key to efficient conquest, minimizing AE and coring cost/time. (This is the one I've (mostly) mastered.)
(2) Figure out how to exploit the ai's combat deficiencies - this one I have only partly mastered, but is IMO vital. Not just to beat up on "superior" foes, but to minimize manpower losses which tend in my experience to be one of the most severe limits on early expansion (outside of the HRE where AE/coalitions tend to be the limiting factor early). As that last point probably demonstrates, this is something I have not mastered.
(1) Fully utilize vassal mechanics - some people would just prefer to conquer and core, but using vassals is the key to efficient conquest, minimizing AE and coring cost/time. (This is the one I've (mostly) mastered.)
(2) Figure out how to exploit the ai's combat deficiencies - this one I have only partly mastered, but is IMO vital. Not just to beat up on "superior" foes, but to minimize manpower losses which tend in my experience to be one of the most severe limits on early expansion (outside of the HRE where AE/coalitions tend to be the limiting factor early). As that last point probably demonstrates, this is something I have not mastered.
Best you beginn with a country which you like a lot. That helps to keep your motivation high. Apart from that, trial and error strategy.
I just saw a lets play series of the country I wanted to play from youtube. It took me several days from start to finish but I did get the basics.
If you want to learn the game, play portugal and only ally castille. When you want to do something but don't know how just google it.
Truce break in 2 wars. It gets you some coalition heat with other hindus of course, but it also gets you the single greatest threat in India under your thumb, instantly. The religious/culture split there means that somewhat comically the Muslim rulers won't care...like at all ^_^. Of course, neither will any allies you pull into the war...
The biggest downside to this is, of course, that if you're an Indian sultanate the Hindu zealots will break you into Hinduism, so they might hold off to avoid having to truce break.
The trick in this case is, of course, to jump them while they fight Bahmanis.
The Wiki helps. It also has a few strategy suggestions.
Personally, I'm very much a dominant coloniser and vassaliser, so I almost always go Exploration->Expansion->Trade->Military.
If I had to give some crucial advice, it would be to conquer gold producing provinces early (Georgia, Morocco, Mali, etc). They can give your economy a real boost and help pay for standing armies, mercs, buildings, and so on. Just don't forget to build workshops and other buildings that increase % goods produced in them.
I'm not sure I'd ever describe EUIV as "intricate". Dominions is intricate. EUIV is extremely streamlined and simplified (though not to the extent of, say, Civ V).
As to how you make "good decisions", well, you're the only judge of that because the game has no victory conditions. You set your own goals. If you want to learn the game, pick a large, safe(ish) nation, and just experiment and have fun. Read the hints and tooltips.
I learnt to play both EU3 and EUIV by watching Shenryyr2 on youtube. Watching someone else play is, in my opinion, the better way to learn the game.
I did it with a nation that is smaller militarily, depending on the fact that Bahmanis was "helping". If they rebuilt, they'd still have been stronger, and I'd have had patriot rebels up the butt.
If I cared about religion a bit more and didn't convert just to not deal with it, I'd have just sat on the OE possibly, but keep in mind that if peasant rebels break you and no others are present you don't lose anything, get STAB reset to 0 (WE also), and lose a bunch of prestige. The tax income lost compared to having a giant vassal isn't so much, and on top of this, by doing truce breaking ASAP Vijay is unlikely to find new allies after their previous treaties just got annulled.
All in all the prestige hit is probably worth the easier time, if you can stomach the AE problems. I didn't have much issue though...pretty much all of India was my vassal or annexed before 1500, and then some.
Watch some youtubers when they start a new series with a new nation, and get an idea of what they do first. Then, after watching, go into the game and slowly look at everything, read everything from tooltips to various screens of different nations. Pause button is your friend. One of the reasons I suggest this is that many youtubers like Quill play too fast - he waves his cursor around like a spaz and clicks, clicks, clicks, and all the while talking rapidly and not really conveying what it is he is doing or why. Guys like him tell you what their overarching goals are, but don't really get into the details of how to achieve them. That's why I say - get an idea of what someone like him is doing - watch what he clicks, and what his intentions are, and then, go into the game yourself and observe all that is there.
as others have said, Lets Play Videos on Youtube are a great source of info, also some ARR reports can be helpful. I spent days at work reading the OMAN ARR (called something like Arab gold - google it if you want)
the best thing about reading ARR's and watching lets play videos is you learn things that would take months to learn in game, little tricks and the like,
I learnt CK2 and EU4 this way.
But also just getting in and playing is a great way to learn things too. Remember you cant really "lose"
the best thing about reading ARR's and watching lets play videos is you learn things that would take months to learn in game, little tricks and the like,
I learnt CK2 and EU4 this way.
But also just getting in and playing is a great way to learn things too. Remember you cant really "lose"
My first Paradox game was Hearts of Iron III. Now that was a learning curve. I still give thanks, and all the credit, to Myth and his Italy AAR for showing me how it was done. After that it was trial and error, emphasis on error. Play, try different things, fail, learn and grow better. That seems to be the best way to master Paradox games IMHO.
Forgive me if someone has already said this (I can't be bothered to read all the posts), but I think reading the Quick Questions/Quick Answers thread can be really helpful albeit time consuming.
I'm pretty damn good at EU4, but I didn't know crap about Victoria II when I bought it 2 weeks ago. I went through the tutorials, watched a few youtube videos, read the QQ/QA thread, tried and failed a couple of games and now I feel like I have a pretty good grasp of it. EU4 is significantly less complex than Vicky II so it shouldn't be that hard to learn.
I'm pretty damn good at EU4, but I didn't know crap about Victoria II when I bought it 2 weeks ago. I went through the tutorials, watched a few youtube videos, read the QQ/QA thread, tried and failed a couple of games and now I feel like I have a pretty good grasp of it. EU4 is significantly less complex than Vicky II so it shouldn't be that hard to learn.
Thanks a BUNCH for all of your suggestions. It makes me feel so much better to see trial and error mentioned so much. Being new to this style of game, I thought that there may have been a "master strategy guide" somewhere that I was not aware of. I'll keep reading, watching, and most importantly - playing. Cheers.
Nthing that it helps to start big. This isn't like Crusader Kings II, where starting as an OPM is particularly helpful way to learn, and instead is just an exercise in frustration compared to starting big.
Some general rules for who to choose as a newbie: Don't start in the HRE (save perhaps as a border nation who can fight non-members) until you know what you're doing, as the AE is killer. Don't start as a horde (steppe nomads) except for Qara Qoyunlu (can form Persia), Timurids (can form Mughals), and Manchu (can form Qing), and if possible, form these sooner rather than later as the horde mechanics can be harsh on a newbie. Don't start as a vassal or PU junior, getting out of that can also be hard on a new player. Don't play as a Sub-Saharan, Mesoamerican, South American, or (without CoP), North American state - the tech penalty is slow and you'll basically be waiting for Europeans to come and take your stuff.
One of my personal favorite starts is Vijanagar. Vijayanagar is one of the biggest players in India in 1444, has a convenient reconquest CB on Bahmanis, and once you defeat Bahmanis, it's unlikely that anyone will be a serious threat until the Europeans come. However, you're also in a good position to colonize Africa and the Pacific and find the Europeans before they find you, and thus westernize early. Additionally, Vijanagar has some of the best NIs of any country in India.
Some general rules for who to choose as a newbie: Don't start in the HRE (save perhaps as a border nation who can fight non-members) until you know what you're doing, as the AE is killer. Don't start as a horde (steppe nomads) except for Qara Qoyunlu (can form Persia), Timurids (can form Mughals), and Manchu (can form Qing), and if possible, form these sooner rather than later as the horde mechanics can be harsh on a newbie. Don't start as a vassal or PU junior, getting out of that can also be hard on a new player. Don't play as a Sub-Saharan, Mesoamerican, South American, or (without CoP), North American state - the tech penalty is slow and you'll basically be waiting for Europeans to come and take your stuff.
One of my personal favorite starts is Vijanagar. Vijayanagar is one of the biggest players in India in 1444, has a convenient reconquest CB on Bahmanis, and once you defeat Bahmanis, it's unlikely that anyone will be a serious threat until the Europeans come. However, you're also in a good position to colonize Africa and the Pacific and find the Europeans before they find you, and thus westernize early. Additionally, Vijanagar has some of the best NIs of any country in India.