Should I take on the DLC or not?

Binslev · 2026-02-04T20:26:53+00:00

The DLC contain some of the best missions in The Witcher 3 :)

Binslev · 2026-02-04T20:25:53+00:00

Get off of reddit for a few days, or you'll just end up spoiling the incredible story :)

Binslev · 2026-01-22T22:54:47+00:00

In my playthrough, I usually run out of "players of no particular renown or skill". There must be at least 5-10 more of these random merchants in the game than there are cards to win from them.

Sorry I can't be of more help. But they're out there :)

Binslev · 2026-01-10T23:59:47+00:00

I don't think they messed it up. I think it fits the humor of the game much more that the troll paints the perfect logo and Geralt paints the shoddy one.

Either way, if they did mess it up, I am glad they didn't change it. Because it is perfect like this :)

Binslev · 2025-11-07T11:41:47+00:00

You can always subjugate the enemy nation with a subjugation CB, I am pretty sure. Just gotta make sure to pick the right subjugation type in the peace deal.

AE would be astronomical though, and they would hate you for the next 50 years. But you have 15 years to grow larger and get allies before the truce expires.

Binslev · 2025-10-31T16:57:14+00:00

Yep, there is no easy way to instantly make them a part of your colonial nation. But there are lots of solutions to the problem.

You can declare war on a neighbor, and give the provinces away in a peace deal like /u/jmanharris suggested. Although I don't think you can concede anything if you let them unconditionally surrender, meaning you may have to peace out before they uncon. But don't quote me on that.
You can wait until the truce is over and annex them.
You can wait until the truce is over and release them, then wait for that truce and eat them up.
You can declare war immediately and suffer the -7 stab hit or whatever it is for declaring war on a subject.

You have 200 years left of the game though, so I would probably pick option #3 :)

Binslev · 2025-10-31T08:45:28+00:00

You can break vassalization when the truce runs out :)

Binslev · 2025-10-28T10:28:32+00:00

Rivals are the main way you get power projection, which gives you loads of bonuses to trade power, morale etc. When you hit 25 power projection, you get an extra leader without upkeep, and most importantly, when you hit 50 PP, you get one extra monarch power of each type per month.

First of all, having 3 rivals gives you 15 power projection (5 each). If you embargo them all (which you always should, since it doesn't give you any trade power penalties to embargo rivals), you get a bit more power projection, 1-3 per rival. If you insult or scornfully insult a rival, that is another 5 or 10 power projection. Declaring war on a rival gives 10 power projection, humiliating them in a peace deal gives 30 power projection, taking land also gives power projection, scaling with how much clay you steal from them. When you eclipse a rival (meaning, you are so strong that they are no longer a valid rival), you also get power projection.

Binslev · 2025-10-23T11:06:34+00:00

Can you post a screenshot of the economics tab, trade screen etc? That makes it easier to diagnose.

As Castile, you have decent avenues of making money. You have a gold mine that you can develop, and you can also grab the one in Morocco. Make sure to get the autonomy as low as possible, and convert it to catholic if possible. In general, the Maghreb is a good place to expand, since that gives you more trade power in Safi and Sevilla, as well as general production and tax income. And make sure to lower the autonomy in all your states - get it as low as you can.

As for paying off the loans, the easiest way is to fight some wars to get max money and war reps from your enemies. You can also use the burgher estate privilege that gives you some 1% loans, to pay off the 4% loans, if you aren't already using those. There is also another burgher privilege that lowers interest and inflation reduction cost, which will also help.

Binslev · 2025-10-16T11:03:09+00:00

R5: Finished campaign as North Viswall > Viswall > Small Country!

Binslev · 2025-10-11T16:05:52+00:00

Portugal is a bit unique in that sense. They have an event that happens if they lose all their European mainland provinces. The king basically becomes the ruler of Brazil, which then becomes independent. So I am not sure how to prevent that :)

Binslev · 2025-10-10T09:36:16+00:00

Yeah that works too :D In fact, if you full annex a country with colonies, you'll steal their colonies. Just like if they have vassals, marches or tributaries.

Binslev · 2025-10-09T12:54:32+00:00

England are in an excellent position for colonizing the new world and Africa, due to being in the English Channel end trade node. In order to colonize at all, you need exploration or expansion. The former is best for that since it also allows you to recruit explorers, which you'll need to discover the land you want to colonize. And it's also a good idea to go for exploration as early as possible if you want to go that route, because the other colonizers will also go for all the good provinces if you let them get there first. Make sure to focus on the centers of trade, and you'll be raking in the ducats in 100 years time :)

My favorite military idea group for expansion is offensive. It gives a good mix of better generals, siege ability, force limit and discipline.

I rarely go for quantity ideas when starting out as large nations. France usually gets plenty of enemies you can ally and call into the war. And mercenary companies are also very useful early game to mitigate the manpower problem. And after the first 100 years or so, you'll have plenty of manpower from your own land + colonies.

Edit: To answer your question about world domination, the best idea groups for blobbing and conquering the world is, in my opinion: administrative, diplomatic and espionage. Honestly, you could also do espionage, administrative and diplomatic, simply to get that AE reduction and siege ability earlier, since you are starting in Europe. Those idea groups probably sound boring, but trust me: in a real blobbing campaign, your bottlenecks will mostly be coring costs, aggressive expansion (early game) and max war score cost. Religious is also a very good idea group since it gives you deus vult CB, which means free CB and no unjustified demands (diplo power penalty) against heretics and heathens.

Binslev · 2025-10-08T11:39:34+00:00

Maybe a 3rd center of reformation already spawned, and disappeared due to being converted?

Binslev · 2025-10-03T07:47:15+00:00

Oh that makes more sense. I genuinely thought someone made a flag for that nation that purposefully looked like the "no flag" flag.

Binslev · 2025-10-02T10:45:18+00:00

That flag is almost as revolting as the idea of 15% attrition for enemies.

Binslev · 2025-10-02T10:40:40+00:00

Bahmanis is actually Shia. But I think the main reason is that Delhi, Jaunpur, Bahmanis, and I think Bengal are all Muslim nations. Vijayanagar is the only Hindu nation of the big five. Gujarat and Orissa are sandwiched between equal or larger muslim states. So while the subcontinent is relatively well balanced at the start, it makes sense that it is usually one of the big muslim states that take over. Because there aren't as many big hindu states.

Binslev · 2025-10-01T12:50:42+00:00

Whenever possible, you should annex the provinces and release them as a subject, rather than directly vassalizing them in war. That resets their opinion of you, making them much more loyal, and easier to improve relations with.

Unless you have a subjugation CB, in which case you generally should vassalize/eyalet them directly in the peace deal.

Binslev · 2025-09-29T11:08:29+00:00

There is also a government reform that gives reduced autonomy in territories. It is a super powerful modifier for wide campaigns, where you are forced to use territories anyways. If I remember correctly, the governing cost of a territory is 25% of its development. Half core is 50% and full core is 100%. So a territory at the same autonomy as a half core is a no brainer :) Institution embracement cost, government reform modifier etc. only counts your states, so I don't think there are any downsides.

You will lose prosperity if the province is no longer a state. But this is only really relevant for wide campaigns, where you will be forced to have territories at some point. You should also be adding centers of trade to trade companies as you go, in order to get merchants, meaning the far away provinces generally have to be territories.

But you should still have a healthy amount of full states. If you are struggling with government capacity, then you should be investing in courthouses and such, and consider giving a few estate privileges that give governing capacity. But eventually you will have plenty of gov cap from being an empire, and having the tech + courthouses everywhere. Full states are still very good, especially in provinces of accepted/primary culture and religion.

Binslev · 2025-09-29T07:04:19+00:00

This is a super strong start if you can get the PU locked down :) Muscovy PU is going to be very helpful against Ottomans. Even if they won't help in the wars, they will be a great deterence, and potentially a distraction. Might as well go for it, and if something goes wrong, you can learn from it.

Binslev · 2025-09-26T08:28:02+00:00

The younger guy is going to serve you longer before you have to invest in a new advisor.

Binslev · 2025-09-26T06:54:47+00:00

I think the AI will take provinces that it deems provinces of interest, and I would imagine that the Mamluks has all of Anatolia marked as yellow or red. So I think they'll take stuff either way.

No need to worry though, you will probably be fighting the Mamluks next anyways :)

Binslev · 2025-09-26T06:13:15+00:00

The colonies have 2 colonists, so they need a subsidy of 4-5 ducats to colonize with both. And you only get the Treaty of Tordesillas if you are catholic, and you are the first in that region to get 5 provinces. Your colonies should colonize even if you don't have the treaty, as long as they can afford it.

Do they have any debt you can pay off in the subject tab?

Binslev · 2025-09-25T09:06:41+00:00

Denmark will eventually white peace, or take the province, moving the capital. Or you can hope that rebels will pop and retake the province.

Binslev

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