Among the features added in the recent expansion for was the concept of Ages. Campaigns now progress through these four, distinct periods that each have their own rules, challenges to complete, and attainable rewards. While they add a new sense of pacing and of progression through a rapidly changing world to EU4 - quite fitting for the era - it can be tricky for both new and long-term players to come to terms with what they actually mean for your empire. This guide is here to lay out each Age and give you some advice on how to interact with the unfamiliar bits and pieces.Part Zero: The Era of Religion, The Era of the State, Absolutism, and SplendorPerhaps the most significant effect of the Ages system is that it breaks each game of EU4 into two, distinct phases with different rules (and no formal name, but we’ll refer to them as such for the sake of clarity). The first two Ages, the Age of Discovery and the Age of Reformation, belong to what I call the Era of Religion. During these Ages, the Pope can call crusades and excommunicate Catholic rulers. You will always have the Holy War CB against neighboring nations of a different religion.
New Christian Centers of Reformation can only spawn during this era, and having a different religion will affect your diplomacy with other nations. Most of these used to be features that persisted for the entire game, or were switched off once a specific year had passed - so you might not notice anything is different until the era is over and they are disabled. If you want to continue waging Holy Wars, you’ll need to finish Religious ideas before the Age of Reformation ends. If you’re the Papal States, make sure you take the opportunity to excommunicate and ruin your enemies while you still can. The final two Ages, the Age of Absolutism and the Age of Revolutions, belong to what I call the Era of the State.
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During these Ages, faith becomes less important than flags. Each nation will now have a value tied to their government called Absolutism, which represents how much power the state has over your nation’s affairs. In general, higher Absolutism is good - with a major exception that being above 50 makes your nation vulnerable to a new national disaster, which we’ll discuss later. The ramifications of this disaster will leave a permanent impact on your empire for the rest of the game, forcing you to either prove you have what it takes to be an absolute ruler or else submit to the demands of the many other groups vying for political influence. Absolutism itself grants a scaling bonus. It has no effect at 0.
At 100, it provides 5% Discipline, 40% Administrative Efficiency, and cuts the longevity of foreign cores on your territory (as long as they are not scripted to be permanent) by 50%. Not everyone can reach 100 right off the bat, though, as Absolutism has a cap based on how your government is set up. Increase the Absolutism Cap by:.
Eu4 Succession War
Having high Legitimacy. Having full Religious Unity. Having an Empire-rank government.
Being a Great Power ( Rights of Man expansion required). Having a certain government type (Despotic Monarchy, Ottoman Sultanate, and Shogunate give +5 Max Absolutism - this makes Despotic Monarchy a competitive choice well into the late game. Prussian Monarchy and Enlightened Despotism give +10 Max Absolutism.). Sweden and Prussia all have mid-late game DHEs (Dynamic Historical Events) that can grant +20 Max Absolutism if a certain option is chosen. France has a unique decision that can add +20 Max Absolutism, unlocked if they have a good ruler and are sufficiently wealthy in the Age of Absolutism. Decrease the Absolutism Cap (You don’t want this, so it’s more a list of what to avoid) by:.
Having low Legitimacy. Having a certain government type (Free Cities and Trading Cities give -20 Max Absolutism. English Monarchy, Constitutional Monarchy, Dutch Republic, Constitutional Republic, Elective Monarchy, Ambrosian Republic, and Administrative Republic give -30 Max Absolutism. Noble Republic gives -40 Max Absolutism.
Peasants’ Republic, Oligarchic Republic, and Merchant Republic give -50 Max Absolutism). Increase your Absolutism (up to a maximum set by the above factors) by:. Increasing Stability. Manually decreasing a province’s Autonomy.
Using Harsh Treatment against rebels. Using the Strengthen Government buttonNote that Absolutism normally does not naturally tick down over time. It can only be raised and lowered by events, decisions, player actions, or by the cap being lowered below the current value.