on which buildings should i focus? and where is the break even point for some others?

[Zomp]

I watched a few youtube guide videos about the game, i understand the game so far, but i find it really really hard to decide what i should build, for me thats the most difficult task of the game.
I can not even absolutly say which buildung is usefull, or at which time buildings become usefull. I understand that trading hast has a large impact, so i should focus on those buildungs that support trading ?

At some time i thought to myself, it would be the easiest way to focus a few 20 or 30 years only on money, disable all Advisors and build everything, first trade supporting buildings and than production/taxation, but is it realy that simple?


I would find it a much more satisfying experience if i had known which buildung had which impact, which is great and absolutly a must buy and which is more secondary.
It would be really nice if someone could help me with this tastk.

Thanks

 

[grommile]

Temples everywhere you can spare the admin points for; the +1 tax counts as part of your Tax Base, so for every four temples you build you get +1 Land Force Limit.

Production line (Constable / Workshop / Counting House / Treasury) in high-value provinces.

Army buildings in a small cluster of provinces, from which you will then do all your subsequent army recruiting; the discount to recruitment also applies to maintenance on any regiment whose home province currently contains army buildings (even if it didn't contain those buildings when the regiment was built).

Trade buildings are a more involved decision, but start by building them in provinces that have a natural Trade Power bonus.

 

[KiLaNova]

From my experience, production and trade go hand in hand. You can't be a powerful trader without goods. Don't neglect one or the other overall.

I would see which tech I want to advance, and then build buildings that use other tech points, until I advanced that tech then switched.

 

[Rubidium]

If you expand decently, money will quickly become less important than monarch points, so it's usually best to prioritize advisers over buildings. That said, some buildings are worth more than others.

-Temples are very good (a flat +1 to base tax for each one you build, and also affect calculations for things like relative size of nations).
-You'll want at least a couple provinces to have the armory, training camp, etc. line of buildings, to serve as your recruiting grounds (since the first several of these reduce the cost of units). If you have low manpower, you can build these in more places to improve it, just don't neglect your military tech.
-Trading buildings are actually somewhat inefficient in improving trading power in nodes with sea access; you're better off building lots of light ships and having them protect trade. On the other hand, the later naval buildings can improve your naval force limits. And of course, if the node you're in is completely landlocked, then trading buildings become much more important. Also, a couple of the trade buildings improve trade value, which is much more useful than trade power.
-The production line of buildings is also surprisingly nice for a trading nation, since you get the income for producing the good, and it increases the value of the trade at the same time.

But all that said, don't overemphasize buildings; a large empire early on will be in a better position to develop than a small one will.

 

[Contiguous]

I usually build temples and constables in my home provinces, and fill up on trade buildings in colonies. Anywhere liable to revolt I put a courthouse. That's more or less it.

 

[Jaol]

One note on trade buildings: they are most useful in your capital node (since you collect there without penalty).

 

[synthshadow]

That said, would a lvl-6 trade building trump a lvl-6 production building in your capital?

(I am thinking of London while typing this but not necessarily exclusively.)

 

[cholliman]

That said, would a lvl-6 trade building trump a lvl-6 production building in your capital?

(I am thinking of London while typing this but not necessarily exclusively.)

I think you should put the lvl-6 trade buildings primarily in provinces that have a trade feature tied to them - important center of trade or estuary. When I'm swimming in money sure I'll spam more buildings, but as I feel like I always need more diplomatic points, I'll typically go to trade post in all provinces and save canal/road/etc for important provinces or later on when I'm avoiding an ahead of time tech penalty.

 

[Calbrenar]

I build tax stuff in provinces with like base tax 6+ and I build Production stuff in provinces that are 3 or lower (sometimes in higher ones if they have a very good trade good). This vastly reduces the amount of money I spend since I'm more specializing my provinces instead of building everything everywhere.

For trade buildings I generally only build the 2 that increase trade value (in production provinces only) but i rarely play trading nations

 

[unmerged(465279)]

is there a rule of thumb for forts or fort levels? those are in most cases (i play humble empires) the first new buildings i build

 

[JimboOmega]

I build tax stuff in provinces with like base tax 6+ and I build Production stuff in provinces that are 3 or lower (sometimes in higher ones if they have a very good trade good). This vastly reduces the amount of money I spend since I'm more specializing my provinces instead of building everything everywhere.

For trade buildings I generally only build the 2 that increase trade value (in production provinces only) but i rarely play trading nations

Production stuff IS tax stuff, isn't it?

I also am wondering if you ever build manufactories. I noticed the AI seems to build them everywhere, but honestly... at 1000d a piece, even capturing +5 in production income +5 in trade income... is 10 total, or a 1% return per annum.

Though I suppose in terms of diplo points/income, it's 1d/1 point (in that example), which is quite efficient.

Sadly it's only quite late in the game that I have the income for such things...

 

[cholliman]

Production stuff IS tax stuff, isn't it?

I also am wondering if you ever build manufactories. I noticed the AI seems to build them everywhere, but honestly... at 1000d a piece, even capturing +5 in production income +5 in trade income... is 10 total, or a 1% return per annum.

Though I suppose in terms of diplo points/income, it's 1d/1 point (in that example), which is quite efficient.

Sadly it's only quite late in the game that I have the income for such things...

I think that manufactories are great for the manpower. Also, from older posts in the forums about manufactories:

http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?717380-Manufactories-in-EU4

 

[JimboOmega]

I think that manufactories are great for the manpower. Also, from older posts in the forums about manufactories:

http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?717380-Manufactories-in-EU4

I had no idea whatsoever they improved manpower. This changes how I See them immensely.

 

[SweetHalcyHS]

As long as you have the spare MP, the military-line of buildings are great since they raise the value of a bunch of trade goods, including grain, which means it's one of the best investments once large enough.

 

[unmerged(26764)]

What you need to understand about buildings is that they're often complementary. Or at least, the production and trade line compound with each other.

Here's some rules to keep in mind:

1. Army buildings are great for boosting manpower. The first three in the series add a flat bonus -- an armory in a high manpower provinces does the same thing as one in a low manpower province. Because military points are usually cheap, there's no reason not to build the first two in every single province as you can afford them. I almost always build barracks everywhere too. The fourth building is only good in very high manpower provinces, so you can skip it. The unique ones are usually a waste. This will vastly increase your manpower and is a very high early game priority for me. Only build army units in provinces with your best army buildings because the cost reduction affects maintenance too.

2. Forts are forts. It's pretty clear how these help. If you're going to be on the defense, forts are great. Build the best ones you can in border provinces and on every single one province island. But the AI will move in a few provinces to seige low fort provinces if it can, so you're going to end up building up to at least level 3 everywhere. If you're rich, max them everywhere. It can't hurt.

3. Temples are cheap and amazing. Spam them everywhere as soon as you can. The rest of the government line you can pretty much skip.

4. Production and trade are more complex and complementary. A few things to keep in mind:

a. Production money both goes into your budget and adds to the trade value. So focus not just on high value provinces but also nodes in which you control trade.

b. Trade power is invaluable if you're fighting to control trade. If you own all the trade, it's almost useless. Trade value on the other hand means the provinces makes more trade AND production money. See, it's complementary. If you build a trade building that increase value, your production income goes up too. It's a flat rate is it works everywhere the same.

c. Production increases both money and manpower. Base tax increases money and forcelimit. Even if you're rich, it's still useful to build these to make your army stronger.

d. Stock exchanges are amazing. They increase 5 base tax which gets multiplied by your tax efficiency and modifers and then adds vastly to force limit. BUld these everywhere you can when you can afford them. But in provinces where you're fighting hard for a trade node, build post offices instead.

5. Manufacturies are great. Spam them when you can.

6. Build naval up to 3 in every coastal province to get an extra navy force limit. In about 5 provinces build to level 4 and build all your ships there.

Bottom line: Almost every building is good. If you have infinite money and monarch points, build everywhere everywhere but government. Build up trade buildings where you've build production improvements because they compound -- no more trade value ups production which bonus production buildings increase further. Focus improvements first on nodes in which you get all the trade.

 

[Calbrenar]

Production stuff IS tax stuff, isn't it?

I also am wondering if you ever build manufactories. I noticed the AI seems to build them everywhere, but honestly... at 1000d a piece, even capturing +5 in production income +5 in trade income... is 10 total, or a 1% return per annum.

Though I suppose in terms of diplo points/income, it's 1d/1 point (in that example), which is quite efficient.

Sadly it's only quite late in the game that I have the income for such things...

I build temples and everywhere because of reasons mentioned above.


For production provinces I build all 4 production buildings+ manufactories + stock exchanges + trade buildings -> canal for the trade value.

For great tax provinces i may pick mint (for example danzig) instead of stock exchange and will probably skip the trade buildings

Obviously with enough money and time you build everything everywhere but I like to prioritize what i perceive to be the fastest return on my money to jump start my games.

 

[Djoums]

Temples are cheap and amazing. Spam them everywhere as soon as you can. The rest of the government line you can pretty much skip.

If playing a catholic country then a few provinces with max government buildings will give you a massive boost of yearly papal points, very helpful sometimes. For other religions I agree though, you can mostly skip that line.

 

[Evil4Zerggin]

That said, would a lvl-6 trade building trump a lvl-6 production building in your capital?

(I am thinking of London while typing this but not necessarily exclusively.)

I would actually build the Government line in the capital---College + Cathedral there improves your spy defense 35%, which translates to about a +3% chance (additive) per month to discover any spying activity other than Fabricate Claim. Make sure you have a high provincial base tax in your capital, though, so you can build the Tax Assessor later since by maxing out the Government line you can't build the Stock Exchange. It's no problem for London, but if you're playing e.g. Malaya you may want to relocate to Coromandel or some such first.

 

[Zomp]

Nice Thanks,

that was helpful.

I love the overal atmosphere of the game, its really relaxing and feels very simulation like.

But i must say that the buildung part feels a bit to gamey for me. Are there in game any hints that buildings gain manpower and forcelimit?

So far im happy with the overall experience.

 

[unmerged(780209)]

That said, would a lvl-6 trade building trump a lvl-6 production building in your capital?

(I am thinking of London while typing this but not necessarily exclusively.)

You build trade buildings to dominate a trade node if there's competition, and also improve the trade value of the province.

If there's no competition in the London node, then you complete the production line.

Naval buildings, including 5 & 6 are highly necessary if you are a trading power, since you want to build hundreds of light ships tp dominate trade, and need to dramatically increase your forcelimits to avoid the excessive over limit penalties.

Colonizing lots of small islands that have low tax bases is a good idea -- you can build Naval Bases on them all.