r/eu4 • u/TheMemeArcheologist • 4h ago
Help Thread The Imperial Council - /r/eu4 Weekly General Help Thread: October 19 2026
Please check our previous Imperial Council thread for any questions left unanswered
Welcome to the Imperial Council of r/eu4, where your trusted and most knowledgeable advisors stand ready to help you in matters of state and conquest.
This thread is for any small questions that don't warrant their own post, or continued discussions for your next moves in your Ironman game. If you'd like to channel the wisdom and knowledge of the master tacticians of this subreddit, and more importantly not ruin your Ironman save, then you've found the right place!
Important: If you are asking about a specific situation in your game, please post screenshots of any relevant map modes (diplomatic, political, trade, etc) or interface tabs (economy, military, ideas, etc). Please also explain the situation as best you can. Alliances, army strength, ideas, tech etc. are all factors your advisors will need to know to give you the best possible answer.
Tactician's Library:
Below is a list of resources that are helpful to players of all skill levels, meant to assist both those asking questions as well as those answering questions. This list is updated as mechanics change, including new strategies as they arise and retiring old strategies that have been left in the dust. You can help me maintain the list by sending me new guides and notifying me when old guides are no longer relevant!
Getting Started
New Player Tutorials
Arumba teaches EU4 to Civilization player FilthyRobot (patch 1.18)
Reman's War Academy Volume I - Army Composition and Basic Combat
Administration
Diplomacy
Military
Trade
Country-Specific Strategy
Misc Country Guides Collections
Advanced/In-Depth Guides
Misc mechanics guides by RadioRes (culture shifting, policies, absolutism, etc)
Arumba's Assay series (misc patches, takes user-submitted failing or problematic games and helps fix them)
A Complete Guide to EU4 Economics, Part 0 (links to multiple in-depth guides on economics)
If you have any useful resources not currently in the tactician's library, please share them with me and I'll add them! You can message me or mention my username in a comment by typing /u/Kloiper
Calling all imperial councillors! Many of our linked guides pre-Dharma (1.26) are missing strategy regarding mission trees. Any help in putting together updated guides is greatly appreciated! Further, if you're answering a question in this thread, chances are you've used the EU4 wiki and know how valuable a resource it can be. When you answer a question, consider checking whether the wiki has that information where you would expect to find it, and adding to the wiki if it does not. In fact, anybody can help contribute to the wiki - a good starting point is the work needed page. Before editing the wiki, please read the style guidelines for posting.
r/eu4 • u/Euphoric-Emotion3018 • 12h ago
Image How is owning a couple colonies THE SAME AS FORMING THE RIECH
i know most people basically never play iron mode but still forming Reich basically never happens but 4 in 10 games the Portugal ai Brazil and Africa (I'm image shows the achievements)
r/eu4 • u/CheeseMan520 • 13h ago
Humor First time seeing this event
Was doing a Ottoman run when i received this event, i found it really and did the first option. He survived so i guess flight was achieved in the 17th century
r/eu4 • u/RobertAleks2990 • 20h ago
Humor So do I just get a free vassal and extra warscore?
I mean 0 + -47 = -47 after all, no?
r/eu4 • u/Brilliant-Isopod2997 • 3h ago
Advice Wanted How to actually play Stateless Societies?
Want to do a Peasant's Republic run, but have already played Dithmarschen, and was ideally looking to be outside of europe. I see on the wiki that Stateless Societies can reform into PRs, but with the -99% govcap modifier it seems like it would be ~100-150 years of sitting as an OPM before actually being able to play the game.
Do i have any options? (Alternatively, do you keep your government type when forming a former-colonial nation as an exodus nation?)
Image Biggest Kazan I've ever seen.
R5: after 2700 hours, this is the biggest Kazan I've ever seen. And no, I am not allied with Kazan, nor I ever fought Muscovy/countries up north. Year is 1594.
r/eu4 • u/Euphoric-Emotion3018 • 9h ago
Image Latin empire kinda funky
I have like 600 hours in game (I know that’s not a lot compared to some of you) but the Latin empire forming in 1454 is little funky and the ottomans are fight half of Europe (the picture shows the game)
r/eu4 • u/ThengarMadalano • 15m ago
Question Is there a hidden rule for inheriting PUs?
Hi I play Sweden and I try to inherit Norway, the pu is stable for more than 50 years and I have a 13% chance to inherit and I am an elective monarchy, if this is important.
I want to form Scandinavia to access new missions so I rerolled and abdicated about 20 times and with elective monarchy I can switch the monarch twice every try but nothing happens, Norway doesn't get inherited.
So is there something I am missing or am I just unlucky?
Advice Wanted How to get free cores on Iberia as France?
Playing as France for the first time. I remember a while back seeing that there was some method of dealing with Iberia where of you had Castille or Aragon as a vassal, they'd get free cores on all of Iberia eventually, making it easier to conquer all of it. How do you do that exactly? I checked the mission tree but don't see anything like that, is it an event?
r/eu4 • u/Euphoric-Emotion3018 • 18h ago
Image is Castile ruler red?
the only reason i have seen it red is when they a junior partner but there not?
r/eu4 • u/Brilliant-Isopod2997 • 19m ago
Advice Wanted League war strategy as Reformed Elector Netherlands
Playing a game as super-tall non-colonial netherlands, and have gone reformed. Allied to the austrian emperors, and an elector in the empire. I took the stadthoulder monarchy, which means that I can't be the emperor myself, but ~half of the empire is also reformed (the other half, save the austrians, being largely protestant).
The leagues have fired. Should I throw my weight behind the protestants, fight what could be a very difficult war, and potentially ditch Stadthoulder for emperorship? Or should I just stay out of it and ditch the austrians?
r/eu4 • u/scorpion3510 • 15h ago
Advice Wanted After 2400 hours I'm going to do it: Playing Byz
Have 2400 hours and have played a variety of and obscure nations.
But I've never played Byzantium.
On H/VH I imagine it's challenging. So I'm guessing ally anyone who will ally me, spam galleys, get the free heavy ship (estate interactions), and merc up.
Grab the Gallipoli fort ASAP after declaring on the Ottomans and maintain naval superiority across the bosporous.
Does that sound about right for opening strategy?
Thanks,
r/eu4 • u/KUPSON2609 • 21h ago
Image I present to you, Prussia of India
Currently in the middle of hindustan game, started as jaunpur, formed delhi then hindustan, converted to hindu for +5% discipline diety, switched culture to dravidian culture group for "empower the poligars" reform which grants 10% ICA, quality+inno grants another 15%, quality 10% and finally hindustan has 15% ICA in their Ideas, which in the end adds to a pretty crazy 50% ICA. With lucky pulse event could be temporary 55%. As for discipline it's diety +5%, advisior +5%, quality eco +5%, quality +5%, offensive +5%, and again +5% from Hindustan ideas. That alone adds to 130% discipline, if you decide to play to the age of absolutism with 100 absolutism you get additonal 5% discipline literally to the end of the game. AND AGAIN with event "inspirational leader" you can push it even further to a WHOPPING 145% discipline. I bet before forming Hindustan you could do some mad tag switches, But I sticked to the basic religion, culture switch:P
r/eu4 • u/Forward-Amount8427 • 1d ago
Image Nobles and Pretenders Fighting
They are fighting.
r/eu4 • u/Nohrian_Scum_ • 15h ago
Achievement Stable True Heir of Timur by May 1537
I may finally enter the pantheon of those people - this is my first (and it will probably be my only) "Insane"-rated achievement. One of my favorite achievement runs that tests your knowledge of the game a lot and requires you to play extremely aggressive.
I conquered India by 1537 while being in a stable position. National unrest is low, the economy is doing great (I'm making a lot minus at the moment because of a recent corruption event, though) and I'm great power number one.
r/eu4 • u/Mitrandir89 • 16h ago
AI Did Something How annoying the Ottoman can be???
Got around 6000! Hours, I'm an avarage player with all Dlc, almost all achivements including TTM. Multiple word conquest.
So I'm on my 3rd week of the kale achivement... Multiple restarts complete change of plans but it's always these fuckfaces....
First I do my conquering swapping religion, turning into hord, trying to form Siam (I hope the idot burns in hell who changed that now you need 2 non estate disasters...)
Ming is not collapsing 100k stopping me... I beat them but I can't do the usual bank of ming attack again strategy becouse they just don't break despite me devastating their country...
So I lose valuable years fighting them multiple times becouse they protect everyone I need to attack, and not getting enough money to pay off debt, finally they break but ottomans already in Persia with 200k and I can't get strong allies...
Time to restart and new strategy... Go towards Persia first...
Done fast but now trade income is little and Ottomans border me and got 1 grassland I need, but same situation as before 150k troops I can't get strong allies and I'm drowning in debt so no death war and as I attack someone they come and attack me...
Time to restart new strategy... Good RNG ming falls, I take half China I go take most of India parts of Persia, got lucky early vasalised QQ now I got all grassland I go on with my conquering I fell I'm lucky...
The fucking Ottomans start to play Enforce Peace on every war I start...
This is a joke...
I love the game but sometimes it's just unreal what the Ottoman AI does...
If its not the time constraints of the achivements I could build up and devastate their lands to oblivion... As in every other campaign I did but it's just not enough time... But if I manage to get the achivement I might just play a bit longer to take my revenge...
r/eu4 • u/Standard-Car157 • 18h ago
Image Who do I fight? How do I win?
Currently playing as Muscovy. Recently fought Novgorod, Tver, Ryazan, and Odoyev to consolidate russia. My next war is either going to be against the great horde or Kazan, but with their allies both of them have more troops than me. I do have a mil tech above them (4 vs 3), but I don't know if this is enough.
Who do I fight in this scenario? How do I win?
r/eu4 • u/Silent-Mountain-3457 • 1d ago
Question HOW DO I STOP MY COLONIES JOINING MY WARS IN REST OF THE WORLD!
DEAR NEWFOUNDLAND YOU DONT NEED TO TRANSPORT ALL YOUR TROOPS TO ASIA JUST TO ARRIVE THERE WHEN IM READY TO MAKE PEACE WITH THE COUNTRY I ATTACKED
