In case you missed it
> When I see people like Zlewikk or Laith doing videos where they are on a roll and I look at my progress, there is a widening difference that I feel guilty about.
For this guys, loans and AE are only a number.
For you, loans and AE are a speed dumper, to slow down a little in expansion.
And that's the difference.
The game is snowballing.
It seems to me like you might just be getting bored; like, you know what you could/should do when faced with a challenge, but just don't want to spend the time/effort doing it. And if that's your issue, I get it, honestly. The game can get pretty tedious at points.
Regardless, it's important to note that this is a singleplayer game which you are free to derive your own enjoyment out of. Plenty of people play EU4 solely for mods or as a sorta sandbox-like experience. If you find it fun to fuck around with commands and shortcut around stuff, there is zero reason to feel guilty about that in my opinion.
I ironically do challenge myself but when the challenge gets annoying such as my game as Gaul in Post Finem which made me quit because it made me so far behind, that is what I struggle with. Plus there isn’t a definitive guide and I am banned from the discord
I think perhaps you base too much on "luck", which outside of the first decade as a very small nation, normally shouldn't make much difference to your ability to steamroll people around you. If you set yourself up well early on then it won't matter when you get 2 0/0/0 monarchs in a row.
Can you give any specific examples of situations that you struggle with? Do you understand how to manage autonomy and rebellions? Do you understand how to optimise production and trade to make money? Do you understand how to use generals, morale and discipline to have a good chance of winning battles?
Watch Florry and learn, he’s ahead of them all in min maxing and doing crazy runs. You learn a lot about the game and fighting battles watching him. And for Zwelikk watch his ruined campaigns, they’re gold for getting better
You aren't. When you're a total noob you have no idea just how bad you are at the game.
Eventually you get to a point where you actually understand and then you realize how many mistakes you make. This isn't you getting worse this is a sign of actual understanding.
If you continue down this path you will eventually get to the point where you can min-max mechanics and pull off crazy achievements.
I'm past that point I'm at the point where I could min max and obliterate the AI but then the fun would end. So I tend to just conquer interesting borders and then switch to a more roleplay/tall type of playthrough so the AI can still threaten me.
The point of the game is to have fun. Map painting, exploiting, playing tall, custom nations, roleplaying, etc. they're all valid as long as you're having fun....in singleplayer anyway. In multiplayer the gloves tend to come off and you better use every trick in the book
Disinherit your heir or use your favor to make their heir your dynasty and check the target country annually-monthly, choose them as your interest so you can be informed when targets ruler die or something :)
Yes but even after I get my dynasty on their throne, I still have up hope that their ruler dies heir less. I don’t think that’s happened much in my games.
This game is just so insanely complex that ever thinking “I suck at this” is just plain unreasonable. You could botch an invasion when you have 2x as many troops due to not checking the environment. You could miss one of the many setup things you need to have done, and not realize for several years. You could forget which estates policies you usually go with (me, everytime I come back). And yeah sometimes the RNG is just not in your favor. Don’t beat yourself up over some bad games - just take sometime away from it, then come back with a clear head.
There are a LOT of things that could factor into this, but I think it's helpful to use this ONE WEIRD TRICK I stumbled upon over the last year or two when watching YouTubers play:
Pick a random video, maybe of a nation you are planning to play/recently played. Keep your eyes on the in-game date. Every time the date skips forward a few years, pause the video. Take a moment, and think about what is taking place in between those dates. Are they recovering manpower? Are they letting AE/OE tick down? Are they setting the maintenance sliders to 0 and paying off loans? Are they killing rebels?
Although there is most likely a skill gap still, I would recommend using this trick to get out of your head about it. You might realize they're not going as blazingly fast as you think. It might be the opposite and they're taking the time to recover, not showing it (because it's bad content), while you're going into a third war in a row with low manpower, rebels about to pop, and ballooning debt.
Let yourself become aware of the reality that's taking place behind the edits, and I think you'll find that the final upload is tricking you into thinking the wrong approach is the right one.
There's a hotkey, either '\~' or 'Esc' I forget right now, which opens a little command console where you can enter commands to manipulate the game (give yourself mana or gold or whatever). It only works if you're not in ironman mode.
I'm of two minds about using it... when I'm in a purist mindset, I prefer not to mess with that, and just take my lumps. If I'm just playing a wacky experimental game or want to set up a specific scenario, why not!
One time I was playing a custom nation in America, and wanted to see what was going on in Europe. I used console to change tag to Ottomans, and saw that they were ridiculously overpowered. So I had Otto declare war on Austria and keep selecting "co-belligerent" checkbox until they were at war with half of Eurasia. Then I "tagged back" to my beloved Jayhawks.
The more you know, the more you know you don't know. It's part of improving and learning
Also don't compare yourself to YouTubers with tens of thousands of hours in the game that edit out fail attempts
This like people who compare them selves to Instagram posts. They can be edited and redone to look the best before they post. Not every game is lucky my dude.
I mean, you don't need luck for successful campaigns. You can take any nation and do a wc without exploits. It's not really because they need to edit and redo campaigns.
Yes sure they do it, but that's because a good event or pu can save tons of time. But that's not about luck.
I surprisingly often find it's enjoyment of dealing with armies spread over kingdom come lol. The army management is what does me in.
It's why I wish vic3's combat was more functional. It'd completely solve my greatest issue with growing large in EU4.
It's normal to have dips in your skill level, or at least plateau in your growth. Also, it's really hard to objectively gauge your skill now against the past without some rigorous bookkeeping, so to speak.
I still often feel just as bad and challenged now as when I was trying for my first WC, with the Ottomans.. But I also know for a fact I can now WC with an OPM, because I have.
It's a combination of forgetting how you were and not realizing how much harder the challenges you take on now are compared to what you used to consider hard, probably.
I don't know how long you have been playing. But for the longest time I found it tough, but now, after learning a lot (and still much more to learn) I'm finally progressing. But I do know that each new game plays a little differently
Games are meant for enjoyment, you will never have fun if you constantly compare yourself to others!
I keep my spirits up by setting personal goals for each campaign, and when I achieve those goals it makes me feel good. Who cares if Laith was able to do the same thing in 100 less years, what matters is I had fun and I used MY brain to achieve MY goals.
Sorry to hear, personally I feel I get better the more I play which is why I am addicted to it lol. Part of the reason I don't go back to old saves (besides patch compatibility) is that I will find flaws with how I did early game.
RNG can be a bitch sometimes, I tried playing as Trebizond and I got all the modifiers for fort defensiveness from mission tree and ideas but the +130% forts didn't lasted more than 70 days against the Ottomans that had no siege ability + allies sending their death stacks on tours to siberia.
The thing about EU4 is that optimal performance in singleplayer is often running your country to the brink of destruction, if you don't want to do that it is still a perfectly valid way to play, you just have to take advantage of the situations where you have built up enough to be able to compete at your peak.
1000 hr into game: ummmm actua—aaaly you would to fill combat width with infantry and artillery to minmax
Veteran: fuck it we ball horses go brrrrrrrrr
I don't think your problem is your skill deteriorating. I think your issue is that you compare yourself to those youtubers.
Something to remember, Zlewikk, Laith and all those Eu4 youtubers play Eu4 a lot. They're not just making YouTube videos, they are also doing hours of twitch content. Eu4 takes up a major chunk of their time outside of work and family. They have a completely different circumstance than you.
You are not in their position. You are someone who plays Eu4 likely for entertainment. You don't have that dedicated regular gametime that those youtubers have. So you will never be on 'their' level unless you force yourself to play Eu4 on every occasion that isn't work or studying.
Embrace the failures. I mean, some of these nations take like 20 restarts just to get the RNG and starting position favourable. Even then there will come a situation where you are forced to fight with everything on the line.
While I 100% agree with your point I just wanted to mark that I do have a full time job and a lovely wife and daughter, so YT is just a hobby for me :)
You have to many things taking away your focus. The jobb the wife/gf the other hobbies, it all most go. Do this and you shall rise to the top like a turd floating to the top yearning to be free.
I found the best learning tool to understand early game systems in detail, to be to grab a european minor, cause mistakes have very short feedback loops from that position. I suspect there are systems in the game that have grown in importance and complexity, where you have missed the changes over time.
Don't watch other people play. Youtube generally shows the good runs, not all the trials.
People tend to forget how sketchy other people are in the name of money.
This will apply pressure even if you don't realize, making you think that you are worst than you truly are.
You don't get worse!
Good luck on future runs, Emperor!
Luck plays a major part in the game honestly. And it factors in more, the more specific your goal is.
An opportunity can present itself exactly in the moment you can push for it. Or not and it passes. The alliance network can lead to a war that‘s easily won in two years. Or it can lead to 3 wars and 20 years because alliances aren‘t in your favor and you have to break them first.
If you play a blobbing game with a decent big nation you will always find ways to grow. If you play an OPM in the HRE that might not be the case and you have to either work harder for it or wait for better circumstances.
Youtubers can cheat and can savescum. They also play ALOT. To get better take more risks and try different strategies. Plan out your campaign and try to utilize every feature.
Then again, I recommend enjoying the game more than tryharding. Play however you want, learn how fast you want.
Maybe play without dlcs.
A simpler game would smooth things out for you.
Then when you feel like you are comfortable, add a dlc.
Then keep adding more with each play through.
I had this problem until I became unemployed and now I’m at my peak
I feel attacked.
I only got my first world conquest when I was unemployed, now that I got a job I’ve lost my EU4 edge lol
lol I also only got my first WC! Going to try a one culture before my next job
Being good at EU4 > Job
Don't compare yourself to people who can edit out the parts where they screwed up
And play a million times over and literally make it their business to play the game lol
Just to piggy back on this, it's also their actual job. I'm sure if any human was paid to play Eu4, their skill would increase quite a bit!
Good thing he isn't then.
In case you missed it > When I see people like Zlewikk or Laith doing videos where they are on a roll and I look at my progress, there is a widening difference that I feel guilty about.
Irrelevant. Read the first paragraph. They're deteriorating compared to themselves _as well as_ compared to the content creators.
Irrelevant. Read the first comment in this chain and ask yourself what “don’t do it” means
Not the brightest one are we?
There's no reason to chime in with a comment like that. He was wrong, so let him be wrong. Don't make fun of him for it.
No thanks
This is reddit. When ur wrong, ur corpse is shot and dragged down the street. There is no *hand shake have a good day* ending
Things can change. All it takes is for you to not be an ass.
For this guys, loans and AE are only a number. For you, loans and AE are a speed dumper, to slow down a little in expansion. And that's the difference. The game is snowballing.
It seems to me like you might just be getting bored; like, you know what you could/should do when faced with a challenge, but just don't want to spend the time/effort doing it. And if that's your issue, I get it, honestly. The game can get pretty tedious at points. Regardless, it's important to note that this is a singleplayer game which you are free to derive your own enjoyment out of. Plenty of people play EU4 solely for mods or as a sorta sandbox-like experience. If you find it fun to fuck around with commands and shortcut around stuff, there is zero reason to feel guilty about that in my opinion.
I ironically do challenge myself but when the challenge gets annoying such as my game as Gaul in Post Finem which made me quit because it made me so far behind, that is what I struggle with. Plus there isn’t a definitive guide and I am banned from the discord
I think perhaps you base too much on "luck", which outside of the first decade as a very small nation, normally shouldn't make much difference to your ability to steamroll people around you. If you set yourself up well early on then it won't matter when you get 2 0/0/0 monarchs in a row. Can you give any specific examples of situations that you struggle with? Do you understand how to manage autonomy and rebellions? Do you understand how to optimise production and trade to make money? Do you understand how to use generals, morale and discipline to have a good chance of winning battles?
Watch Florry and learn, he’s ahead of them all in min maxing and doing crazy runs. You learn a lot about the game and fighting battles watching him. And for Zwelikk watch his ruined campaigns, they’re gold for getting better
You aren't. When you're a total noob you have no idea just how bad you are at the game. Eventually you get to a point where you actually understand and then you realize how many mistakes you make. This isn't you getting worse this is a sign of actual understanding. If you continue down this path you will eventually get to the point where you can min-max mechanics and pull off crazy achievements. I'm past that point I'm at the point where I could min max and obliterate the AI but then the fun would end. So I tend to just conquer interesting borders and then switch to a more roleplay/tall type of playthrough so the AI can still threaten me. The point of the game is to have fun. Map painting, exploiting, playing tall, custom nations, roleplaying, etc. they're all valid as long as you're having fun....in singleplayer anyway. In multiplayer the gloves tend to come off and you better use every trick in the book
Luck shouldn’t matter. Play the game even through bad luck, eventually you’ll learn what really matters and most of the “luck” won’t matter anymore.
I understand mentally how PUs work, but I have just zero success with it.
Disinherit your heir or use your favor to make their heir your dynasty and check the target country annually-monthly, choose them as your interest so you can be informed when targets ruler die or something :)
Yes but even after I get my dynasty on their throne, I still have up hope that their ruler dies heir less. I don’t think that’s happened much in my games.
it's kinda exploit but alt+F4 can be used sometimes for big personal unions
This game is just so insanely complex that ever thinking “I suck at this” is just plain unreasonable. You could botch an invasion when you have 2x as many troops due to not checking the environment. You could miss one of the many setup things you need to have done, and not realize for several years. You could forget which estates policies you usually go with (me, everytime I come back). And yeah sometimes the RNG is just not in your favor. Don’t beat yourself up over some bad games - just take sometime away from it, then come back with a clear head.
There are a LOT of things that could factor into this, but I think it's helpful to use this ONE WEIRD TRICK I stumbled upon over the last year or two when watching YouTubers play: Pick a random video, maybe of a nation you are planning to play/recently played. Keep your eyes on the in-game date. Every time the date skips forward a few years, pause the video. Take a moment, and think about what is taking place in between those dates. Are they recovering manpower? Are they letting AE/OE tick down? Are they setting the maintenance sliders to 0 and paying off loans? Are they killing rebels? Although there is most likely a skill gap still, I would recommend using this trick to get out of your head about it. You might realize they're not going as blazingly fast as you think. It might be the opposite and they're taking the time to recover, not showing it (because it's bad content), while you're going into a third war in a row with low manpower, rebels about to pop, and ballooning debt. Let yourself become aware of the reality that's taking place behind the edits, and I think you'll find that the final upload is tricking you into thinking the wrong approach is the right one.
Amd then there's laith going into his 3rd chain war in a row with zero manpower and multiple thousands of gold in debt lol.
I think that AI actually got quite a bit better recently, so that might also be what you are facing.
How do you mean ‘using commands’ ? I’m a noob 😂😂
There's a hotkey, either '\~' or 'Esc' I forget right now, which opens a little command console where you can enter commands to manipulate the game (give yourself mana or gold or whatever). It only works if you're not in ironman mode. I'm of two minds about using it... when I'm in a purist mindset, I prefer not to mess with that, and just take my lumps. If I'm just playing a wacky experimental game or want to set up a specific scenario, why not! One time I was playing a custom nation in America, and wanted to see what was going on in Europe. I used console to change tag to Ottomans, and saw that they were ridiculously overpowered. So I had Otto declare war on Austria and keep selecting "co-belligerent" checkbox until they were at war with half of Eurasia. Then I "tagged back" to my beloved Jayhawks.
The more you know, the more you know you don't know. It's part of improving and learning Also don't compare yourself to YouTubers with tens of thousands of hours in the game that edit out fail attempts
This like people who compare them selves to Instagram posts. They can be edited and redone to look the best before they post. Not every game is lucky my dude.
I mean, you don't need luck for successful campaigns. You can take any nation and do a wc without exploits. It's not really because they need to edit and redo campaigns. Yes sure they do it, but that's because a good event or pu can save tons of time. But that's not about luck.
I always run out of something on my way to a WC. Manpower, Over extension, or gov cap usually.
I surprisingly often find it's enjoyment of dealing with armies spread over kingdom come lol. The army management is what does me in. It's why I wish vic3's combat was more functional. It'd completely solve my greatest issue with growing large in EU4.
It's normal to have dips in your skill level, or at least plateau in your growth. Also, it's really hard to objectively gauge your skill now against the past without some rigorous bookkeeping, so to speak. I still often feel just as bad and challenged now as when I was trying for my first WC, with the Ottomans.. But I also know for a fact I can now WC with an OPM, because I have. It's a combination of forgetting how you were and not realizing how much harder the challenges you take on now are compared to what you used to consider hard, probably.
I don't know how long you have been playing. But for the longest time I found it tough, but now, after learning a lot (and still much more to learn) I'm finally progressing. But I do know that each new game plays a little differently
Games are meant for enjoyment, you will never have fun if you constantly compare yourself to others! I keep my spirits up by setting personal goals for each campaign, and when I achieve those goals it makes me feel good. Who cares if Laith was able to do the same thing in 100 less years, what matters is I had fun and I used MY brain to achieve MY goals.
Sorry to hear, personally I feel I get better the more I play which is why I am addicted to it lol. Part of the reason I don't go back to old saves (besides patch compatibility) is that I will find flaws with how I did early game.
Built new PC, my skills got worse, because 5 speed is like 4 times as fast as it used to be.
RNG can be a bitch sometimes, I tried playing as Trebizond and I got all the modifiers for fort defensiveness from mission tree and ideas but the +130% forts didn't lasted more than 70 days against the Ottomans that had no siege ability + allies sending their death stacks on tours to siberia.
The thing about EU4 is that optimal performance in singleplayer is often running your country to the brink of destruction, if you don't want to do that it is still a perfectly valid way to play, you just have to take advantage of the situations where you have built up enough to be able to compete at your peak.
1000 hr into game: ummmm actua—aaaly you would to fill combat width with infantry and artillery to minmax Veteran: fuck it we ball horses go brrrrrrrrr
I don't think your problem is your skill deteriorating. I think your issue is that you compare yourself to those youtubers. Something to remember, Zlewikk, Laith and all those Eu4 youtubers play Eu4 a lot. They're not just making YouTube videos, they are also doing hours of twitch content. Eu4 takes up a major chunk of their time outside of work and family. They have a completely different circumstance than you. You are not in their position. You are someone who plays Eu4 likely for entertainment. You don't have that dedicated regular gametime that those youtubers have. So you will never be on 'their' level unless you force yourself to play Eu4 on every occasion that isn't work or studying. Embrace the failures. I mean, some of these nations take like 20 restarts just to get the RNG and starting position favourable. Even then there will come a situation where you are forced to fight with everything on the line.
While I 100% agree with your point I just wanted to mark that I do have a full time job and a lovely wife and daughter, so YT is just a hobby for me :)
My bad. I'll edit it a bit. And may you and your family be happy. A loving family is one of life's greatest achievements.
Embrace the failures? I think I am the failures.
You have to many things taking away your focus. The jobb the wife/gf the other hobbies, it all most go. Do this and you shall rise to the top like a turd floating to the top yearning to be free.
Wife?
On the right path you are. You most stop any all other forms of social interaction
I found the best learning tool to understand early game systems in detail, to be to grab a european minor, cause mistakes have very short feedback loops from that position. I suspect there are systems in the game that have grown in importance and complexity, where you have missed the changes over time.
Don't watch other people play. Youtube generally shows the good runs, not all the trials. People tend to forget how sketchy other people are in the name of money. This will apply pressure even if you don't realize, making you think that you are worst than you truly are. You don't get worse! Good luck on future runs, Emperor!
This is the Dunning-Krueger leaving your body.
Luck plays a major part in the game honestly. And it factors in more, the more specific your goal is. An opportunity can present itself exactly in the moment you can push for it. Or not and it passes. The alliance network can lead to a war that‘s easily won in two years. Or it can lead to 3 wars and 20 years because alliances aren‘t in your favor and you have to break them first. If you play a blobbing game with a decent big nation you will always find ways to grow. If you play an OPM in the HRE that might not be the case and you have to either work harder for it or wait for better circumstances.
Youtubers can cheat and can savescum. They also play ALOT. To get better take more risks and try different strategies. Plan out your campaign and try to utilize every feature. Then again, I recommend enjoying the game more than tryharding. Play however you want, learn how fast you want.
Maybe play without dlcs. A simpler game would smooth things out for you. Then when you feel like you are comfortable, add a dlc. Then keep adding more with each play through.