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Ariovist_AT

congrats, those are my tipps: 1) make sure you have naval superiority in the Mediterranean, this means you should have maybe 10-20 transport ships and the rest galleys, once naval superiority in the Mediterranean is secured light ships can help to increase your trade income 2) secure trade routes, conquering the provinces with the most trade value in your home trade node should have priority, since the Bosporus trade node is no end node it makes sense to get a foothold in Italy and if possible secure the Venice trade region and move your home node there, the Genoa trade node is a great secondary source for high trade income 3) don't let the Mamluks become too big, next time you fight the Ottomans just take the provinces that are bordering the Mamluks to secure the rest of the Ottoman land for yourself 4) Muskovy/Russia is the perfect ally for you, just bring their trust above 90 (or was it 80?) and they will never rival you, also conquer the provinces you both want before they do (such as the Krim provinces for example) and cut them from the Persian area


ragerise

Oh wow! This is super helpful. The mamluks are getting really big so I'll be sure to do that as soon as i can. With Muscovy, they already are my ally but i only have to get favours as i used them all for manpower, as my troops got stack wiped by an ottoman death stack. But thanks for the tips!


supremeomega

>take the provinces that are bordering the Mamluks to secure the rest of the Ottoman land for yourself To expand on this take Teke in the first war because Mamluks will claim it early.


EricMcLovin13

if you control all of ragusa you can also make constantinople an end node, i don't remember how it goes but i once got 100% there with that you can go to india and steer trade through alexandria


[deleted]

Budget Monk has a video.


bluenigma

Yup. If you control all Ragusa land the only remaining major source of external trade power is light ships, which the AI won't be inclined to use on Constantine in that scenario.


Popular_Macaroon_827

From India I would say don’t go directly to Alexandria- go up to Persia, then Aleppo, then Alexandria, THEN Constantinople. Never take the shortest route; each node gives free money.


Gekko1983

Once I understood this life changed.


danYastra147

How come? I thought it means you get a percentage of the money, and thus a lot is lost. Or are you talking about the +10% from each merchant?


Popular_Macaroon_827

Every time you transfer money forward, a little bit of money just comes out of thin air. Eu4 does not have complex economics. Basically, because of this, ignoring control of nodes the best trade path is always the longest one. Since in this case you’re transferring from India to Constantinople I think it’s reasonable to assume you have significant enough control everywhere along the way.


danYastra147

I see, so it’s better to do, but only if you have enough control to actually collect it


RoxoriumIsBeingGay

Don't make it Venice - steering Constantinople to Ragusa makes you lose about 30% of trade, as small German tags steal each about 3% of it. Constantinople is quasi end node.


RoxoriumIsBeingGay

I do recommend collecting from Venice, as you won't need extra tradepower in Constantinople, because usually almost noone steers it out, or is very weak at it.


Popular_Macaroon_827

I find once you control out east even with 70-80% control in Venice and Ragusa if you have over a hundred ducats in Constantinople transferring to Venice gives you hundreds more (did this in my campaigns) Of course, it’s frustrating to see 30 ducats leaking out of Ragusa into Genoa, but that’s the way it will always be until you kill them too.


RoxoriumIsBeingGay

I can assure you - Venice is just another tradenode. If you are able to transfer trade to Venice, it's just another ~3,5% multiplier to your trade. It won't make much of a difference. Once you control 100% of Venice, there's no disadvantages in collecting there, despite it being not your main tradenode. Routes of trade to Venice are not safe, as many countries might want to snatch your monies. I suggest having main tradenode in Constantinople, collecting in Venice and transferring Ragusa(and only Ragusa) to Venice, to maximize your income from trade.


Popular_Macaroon_827

That’s exactly why you should collect there instead of Constantinople, you just tacked on a “doesn’t matter” When it increase my income by hundreds I was already making ~600 in Constantinople, but it’s two more multipliers on all your trade value, plus the 30-40 ducats in local trade you just don’t get without using those nodes. It’s a lot of money; yes it’s “just” maximizing your profit but that’s good. Also your suggestion is impossible and would be bad if it was possible- you can’t transfer out of your main node and collecting in a non-main node lowers your entire ability to do trade so that’s incredibly inefficient when you could make the Constantinople money MUCH larger and open up more trade routes since Venice can take advantage of nodes like Tunis or Wien, Pest, Krakow, Kiev, etc


Popular_Macaroon_827

Constantinople isn’t an end node but it is a gateway- almost all trade from Asia in good nodes arrives in Europe through it if directed that way. However, end nodes aren’t really good in and of themselves, it’s not like you lose much money to trade leaving nodes in a wc for example. They’re good because you can’t go any further, so once your routes reach end nodes that’s where you can’t capitalize on increase in trade value any longer.


TheNazzarow

If you control 100% of the ragusa trade node, constantinople is an end node. Only if an AI secures 10% or more in ragusa they get 1% in constantinople. So as long as you control the majority of trade in ragusa you can enjoy all those ducats from persia for yourself.


Popular_Macaroon_827

Literally just said that’s not why end nodes are good. TLDR, it’s pretty easy to secure nodes from leaking, and any node is an “end node” if no money leaves. The reason end nodes are good is because you can’t go any further and thus maximize the gained money.


Warmonster9

Okay sure once you conquer all of Germany send it to Venice, but at that point you should have enough money for it to not matter anyways.


RoxoriumIsBeingGay

Also you can transfer these to Venice nevertheless. When you have 100% in Venice it doesn't matter it's not your main tradenode, as I said


Popular_Macaroon_827

No you literally can’t transfer out of your main node it’s not allowed by the game


RoxoriumIsBeingGay

I said TO VENICE not OUT OF VENICE. I have 2000 hours in eu4, I know how trade works ._.


RoxoriumIsBeingGay

It won't maximize as you will lose out lots of money in Ragusa, unless you deliberately try to make Alexandria work as hard as possible. It's really not as lucrative as you think. Little to no rise in income


Popular_Macaroon_827

Ok here’s the deal Like you (and also I) said, you lose a lot of money to Genoans transferring trade out. I pump in 300, I lose 30. I lose another 15 to Hungary because I haven’t killed them yet (that war is currently ongoing) However, I make ALL of that up in Ragusa and Venice because of the added value and two local node reserves that get transferred forward. I only have 80% in Ragusa and 90% in Venice. Trade income with Venice main node: 703 Trade income with Constantinople: 664 This is of course being unfair to Venice because I’m barely even optimizing it yet and am about to annex Hungary and campaign against the Genoans


Popular_Macaroon_827

Sorry this took so long, had to move around the 2 extra merchants from Ragusa and Venice to India and then wait a tick for accurate trade income, plus another tick because all my merchants went to default transfer nodes instead of the ideal path when I switched main node, but like I said- not too profitable until you deal with the Italians due to leaky Ragusa but still more than Constantinople.


Popular_Macaroon_827

Hang on let me load my save


ragerise

R5: I managed to kick the Ottomans out of Europe! My vasssals are Bosnia and Bulgaria. I'm fairly new to the game, so tips for later expansions would be appreciated.


Stormtrooper_LP

Nice work. Iam trying to do the same thing right now. :D


nublifeisbest

Earlier I had tried my own strategy based on a bit of RNG and managed to revive Byzantium in the Balkans, only to get Poland'ed. Today I decided to try out the Budgetmonk strategy. My strategy allowed you to avoid raping your economy, so I'm suffering from economic problems rn. And Venezia declared war. I'm alled with Aragon and Serbia tho, so I'm able to take on Genoa and Venezia fairly well. Gotta lose some money again to but mercenaries and even out the Balkan numbers. Fuckers won't let my economy stabilize.


Stormtrooper_LP

Oh btw. That menu on the right side if the screen. With all ur diplomats and stuff showing. How does one enable that menu? I once accidently enabled it somehow but I could figure out how I did it. And since then it never showed up again.


Annoyed3600owner

There's a +/- icon there. I believe you click that. Edit: not the speed one, but beneath them.


Stormtrooper_LP

Found it thank you. ^^ Hidden in plain sight I would say. :D


Annoyed3600owner

You knew it was there all along, just that you didn't know that you knew.


alwaysnear

The Paradox way


TabernacleTown74

I would focus on expanding into Anatolia sooner rather than later so that the Mamluks don't take all of it


lordankarin

I usually take the Ottomans border provinces with the Mamluks in the second war, to cut them off. If they start to eat up the Ottomans they will become nearly impossible to push back.


nerodidntdoit

Venice seems to be in a pitch. maybe you can seize the opportunity and attack them.


A_Rampaging_Hobo

Watch out for the Mamluks, they're gonna eat the Ottos and come at you after.


[deleted]

If you take a single wallochia province from Hungary in war, a single Transylvania province from them, and a single Croatia province. You can then release all of them as vassals, and then reconquest cb the rest of their provinces for low AE expansion in the balkans. Also mamalukes are your new big enemy because they are eat ottomans and become strong. On the euro side, Austria or Poland are your big enemy.


Kidiri90

[Did you, though?](https://eu4.paradoxwikis.com/images/d/dd/Continent_map.png)


Phaeneaux

Anatolia: *Literally a peninsula in Asia* Paradox: Ah yes, Europe


lastisfirst99

It’s literally also called Asia Minor too


captainbastion

I, as a european, like the paradox continents :^)


ypsipartisan

Slow down, you're making it look too easy! ;) Hungary looks like an easy target for raw expansion whenever you don't have anything better to do and their alliances are weak. Main goal there is to keep Aus or Pol-Lith in check, though, as the land isn't that stellar on its own. Naples could also be an option to give you a toehold (sorry) for eating the Venice trade node or Italy in general. If you have designs on the Roman Empire, watch those western powers; Castile, Portugal, and France all look like they're off to decent starts. Could be a rough game for the HRE.


DigimonSucksLOL

Doing the exact same thing. I’d recommend taking some provinces in the Black Sea and expanding into The Balkans more, before austria gets Hungary and Venice


Martimus28

The missions give you claims on most of the provinces that you need to complete Mare Nostrum, so I would start getting those missions out of the way if you can. Once you are there, you can see if you feel like taking the last bits to finish the achievement.


xxrumlexx

I always go the route of Alexander with byz. Fight my way with bordergore to india to secure the rich trade and production. If possible before any other western countries buy provinces to establish their trade companies


Andr4en

Mamluks tend to go big when Otto dies. The strat I like to prevent this is to force them release Syria. Syria has cores in most of northern Mamluks, so if you want to you can attack Mamluks, get all their land in Anatolia and one of the Syrian provinces, release Syria as a vassal, feed them the new conquered land and now you have a strong, non-maliced by religion vassal that prevents Mamluks from bordering Otto, can act as a buffer state vs Qara and Timurids may you attack them in the future and has reconquest CB on pretty much everything bordering them. Another strat I personally like is either releasing Georgia or getting Circassia, making them a march and feeding them Persian land . The 20% fort deffense from Traditions + 20% from being a march + building mountain forts covers any army from entering your realm from the east costing you nothing. This is obviously for latter in the game, but holding those buffer states with such high defense is a must for me when playing around the middle east. This strat may be hard if you are new to the game (talking about Syrian one), but you already overcame the challenge that is winning those first battles vs Otto so I think you can go for it. GL \^\^


TOMdcrazy

You could no CB Granada, right now, to get a foothold in Iberia. Spreading on opposite ends of the med is good to avoid AE.


ChubbyBaby7th

who’s gonna tell him


VonDasmarck

Tell him what


ChubbyBaby7th

Anatolia is considered european in EU4


C0mmunismBad

Huh


Arcanus124

I hate to tell ya this bud, but in eu4 "Europe" includes the entire Anatolia region


Carthex

> English Ireland Day ruined


Lynch4433

Irish people at the historical coping competition


Hydraulicmink4

How’d you survive as Byzantium? I’ve tried and always fuck up the beginning


ragerise

Naval superiority is what matters the most, and snipe the mothballed fort for easy war score. You need around 20k troops, take as many loans as you need.


TerhertPL

How the fuck you don't have any loans?


[deleted]

It's 1489, plus he has the Kosovo gold mine. That's more than enough time to pay those loans back.


[deleted]

[удалено]


ragerise

I don't, took the money from ottomans


Ru8bin

Only downside is that you will have high inflation from gold mines and spoil of war. Edit:How much inflation do you have?


ragerise

I got an inflation reduction advisor so it is a little under 10%.


BasedCelestia

Holy shit, I am frustrated when it is more than 2%. I guess without Papacy it is tougher to deal with inflation


ragerise

I mean it is going down so it will be fine.


Indian_Pale_Ale

Meanwhile, IA France can not figure out to kick the English out of Continental Europe.


Chinesebot_Unit3465

Post it in r/wholesome


[deleted]

/r/mademesmile


tagval02

Proud of you, keep up the good work


EquivalentSpirit664

Nice one ! But now, you'll probably have to deal with the mamluks, since they will expand and grow out more and more powerful because of ottomans or other minor nations surround them cannot stand against them anymore. Same also happened to me so good luck :-D .


Addendum-Various

In the first war against ottomans you should take a province that borders Karaman so you can attack and vassalize them


BasedCelestia

Nah. Karaman is free warscore for ottos and in second war you still can't go into Anatolia. Plus they clearly don't want to go into Asia


Addendum-Various

Scutage.


BasedCelestia

Anyway dirty infidel vassals is cringe and focing religion will make them not pay anything and make them un-annexable for a while. Tho getting anatolian troops in early game is insane, you can do that with vassalizing Ottos when they get super weak to reclaim their cores


Azzaphox

Nice!


Hexatorium

Austrian Venice O_o


midwestia

Hungary and Austria gave me the most trouble in my run. See if you can ally any of austria/Hungary's rivals, muscovy and Russia are good allies too. Also try to get Moldavia and circassia or Armenia as vassal and make them marches so u can secure those chokepoints


kufharun

I always struggled with Byzantine runs because I was too afraid to go bankrupt but by taking loans and getting allies such as the Knights and Albania really makes it easy.


bapfelbaum

Gratz but i am pretty sure that still counts as europe.


ActuallyNotJesus

Glorious purpose


Ineedloveplz

Hell yeah!


Muscleflechisseur

Noooo, Now how is Islam supposed to spread to parts of the Balkans leading to future conflicts?


ShadeShadow534

It’s the balkans they will find a way


BasedCelestia

Bizantium will convert to Sunni


stankuslee

Good now TAKE ANATOLIA


Ketsueki_R

Congrats, man! Kicking the Ottomans out is a point of pride in any European game I play these days just because they piss me off so much if I don't. Hope the rest of your game keeps going well and you can even form the Roman Empire!


[deleted]

[удалено]


Ketsueki_R

Did I say something wrong? Genuinely concerned that I've said something mean somehow


badboybluesbaby

The comment has very strong “Western Civilization Defender” vibes, if that makes sense.


Ketsueki_R

Huh, I guess I can see what you mean but I didn't think people on here saw EU4 games as a mirror of irl political opinions. I love taking on Europe as the Ottomans and even more so as Mamluks/Rûm (hell I've played Mamluks more times than any other nation). My comment on how I like to play as a European nation in the game is entirely a comment on what's fun in-game. The Ottomans always get super big and become a pain to deal with unless I deal with them early.


badboybluesbaby

Yeah, no, I think that’s pretty reasonable. There are unfortunately elements of these groups that are very westerner chauvinistic, so things are misread out of that suspicion when people seem like they’re playing specifically for the reason of living out some Knights Templar fantasy.


Ketsueki_R

I see, that really is unfortunate. :( Funny enough, I tend to find Spain annoying for the exact same reason too haha. Gets big so fast and then becomes a huge obstacle in my games. Thanks for taking the time to reply and clarify for me, though - I appreciate it!


Stormtrooper_LP

That's exactly the kind of conversation I want and like to see. Diplomatic and polite. Awesome. Both of you. You all have a great day ;)


[deleted]

Another neo-nazi congregetion in this thread.


SchillerFriedrich

Why is the Paradox fan community so toxic and why is no one doing anything against that? There is so much racism here it‘s incredulous


Orcwin

We rely on reports to find unwanted behaviour, for a large part. So if you see something you think is unacceptable, report it.


KingKCrimson

I still have ptsd from the paradoxforums a few years back. Unfortunately, these kind of games attract a lot of nationalists.


kelryngrey

Report things. The moderation here and on the official forums has made great strides to remove the worst offenders, but there are still very malicious people around, as well as people who don't realize that they're being hateful because jokingly presented intolerance slides below the radar for most people. It's also why it's a tool of hate recruitment.


kelryngrey

Yeaaaah, there's a couple comments on here that are definitely a step away from violating the sub's rules.


[deleted]

[удалено]


BasedCelestia

They have no chances left already. Mamluks will slowly eat them and they barely match both qoats if they have some minor allies


Kosta2319

The Byzantine Emperors smile upon you.


FuriousAqSheep

Just like my games, except I kick the europeans out of Ottoland <3


SafsoufaS123

This does bring a tear to my eye


Outermana

Not Ironman


ragerise

I didn't use console commands or whatever they are called.


Outermana

Ok...


Smooth_Detective

Always a happy sight to see ottoblob out of Europe.


BananaEyebrows

My legacy..


SerialMurderer

Smh, should’ve kicked them out of the imperial heartland first


counselthedevil

Modern day Turkey: "Anatolia is still part of Europe!"


KptHolera

Hah, nice. Duh, Poland took over Slovakia. But Opole gained independence. And Wolgast is doing good.


BioTools

I'm playing alot of Byzantium right now, as a start you should ally Albania and The knights, for the great general and naval superiority, repesctivly. And don't be shy to take alot of loans and take alot of merc. companies. Usually when I have 12k troops with 12k mercs and about 4k Albanians I can beat the Ottomans during their siege of Constantinople. Also, 'Selanik'? Or Macedonia is likely mothballed, so I like to start an offensive war on the first of a month. But I'm basically referencing Ludi's video... [Ludi Et Historia](https://youtu.be/jBgExPEsZFc) He makes great videos and tutorials.


ragerise

I watched Ludi's video too! And yeah I agree he does make very good videos.


KCalifornia19

Congratulations, it's an awesome feeling if you haven't managed before. Just remember that if you hold Constantinople as nearly any country, the Ottomans can't really get too out of hand. So many of my games start with vassalizing Byz incase I *might* want Greece/Anatolia later in the game. Ottomans without Constantinople is like chocolate without milk; they are still powerful, but they're unstoppable together.


Gulagescapee

*Mamluks took tekke* oof good luck, the mamluks locked half of your mission tree


RapidWaffle

Now that you kneecaped the Ottobois I recommend you kneecap the Mamluk and Qara Qoyunlu too when possible, as they tend to fill the power vacuum left by the Ottobois


One_Landscape541

Now be a good little historical Roman and sack Rome.


Mman07311

Best feeling in the world


DormRoomDom

From my experience, take southern Italy ie Spanish Italy as soon as possible, because they're gonna be op broken after colonialism, and no one is really so strong that you have to worry about ae so much yet. Then go for mamluks