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It could even be as wacky as establishing Portuguese Japan and asserting the Catholic religion to the island nation. You could aim to control trade in a certain trade node, or dominate the production of a particular produced good.
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Your EU4 goals can be anything, from establishing colonies on certain continents, or having the most colonies in the game. Your best bet every game is to establish a personal goal for your nation and work towards it. Most players can play hundreds of hours and still not achieve world domination. You will not achieve world domination in your first few campaigns. You might have more provinces or troops than another nation, but that won’t mean much when its advanced military wipes your armies out and you’re forced to cede the provinces you worked so hard for. The major trick in most cases is to take it slow and steady, and try not to fall behind in technological advancements. You’ll never make it far if you’re not prepared for the shock waves of a successful war. There isn’t a Europa Universalis IV beginner guide, YouTube video, or Let’s play that can truly teach a spectator the stress of serious overextension quite like personal experience. We’re talking about Army, Navy, and Fort maintenance costs, rebel uprisings, and the cost to core provinces. With that said, bigger nations come with bigger problems. Blobbing is fun in EU4 because it means you have conquered other nations and absorbed provinces. It’s beyond thrilling to see your nation grow to a giant blob on the map. It’s difficult to learn this game when you’re sitting on 1-5 provinces waiting for Admin, Diplo, and Military points while running on loans. Just make sure to keep yourself involved and learning. France, Burgundy, and Britain are great choices too. Ottomans and Austria are absolute powerhouses from 1444-1821. Portugal and Castile offer a safe and exciting game. Your best bet is to keep to the Great Powers in Europe. If you do, you will get demolished the instant colonists arrive. The worst thing you can do in your first EU4 game is to pick a nation in North America, South America, or a small nation in Asia on your first few campaigns. Green is passive alerts, Yellow indicates warnings, upgrades, or timers, and Red indicated urgent and nation-threatening events. Those notifications will point you to key interests that you’ll have to address depending on their urgency. Keep an eye on the notification banners at the top left. It also gives you a month headstart to prevent wars by improving relations with hostile nations. If you hit pause at the beginning, you give yourself an opportunity to create Royal Marriages and Alliance with key partners, establish merchants, and mothball forts to keep your income flowing. The EU4 AI won’t wait for you to play around with troops or get lost in the dozens of tabs. It’s so important to hit pause at the absolute beginning of every campaign. We’ll keep it light in this EU4 beginners guide, starting with some good general tips to keep you moving through to January 3rd, 1821.
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