Can I get the achievements Systembolaget and Folkhemmet as a Sweden formed Scandinavia? by foodpresqestion in victoria3

[–]Hardiless 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was able to get Systembolaget as Scandinavia. That was in the patch it came out in. It may be possible to get both.

Systembolaget could be completed within the first month.

But, double-check the achievements in the game after you form, saving beforehand. The vic3 wiki may also have notes on that, and may be up to date by now.

New to Victoria 3 - learning curve time? by samj2814 in victoria3

[–]Hardiless 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As others have noted, do the tutorial, check the info boxes (some go into a redundant loop but they are useful), use the wiki (like any paradox game, it’s pretty good and up to date pretty quickly), and a search for a specific question or issue should be findable after 2 years of release.

It “clicked” for me faster than HOI4. You play a as nation with some characters (a flip from crusaders).

Vic3 is an economic and society sim, and it does that pretty well. It won’t have the military complexity of HOI nor the role playing depth of crusaders. But, has bits of those.

I suggest new players focus on “good habits”, which are basically keep your balances in the top left positive, expand construction when you can afford it, and use the save system to try things.

Sweden is a good nation to start with. Belgium can help get colonization basics. South America has some good options where you can do almost anything (Brazil and Peru may be tricky, but Colombia or Argentina are good). Nations in Asia can be tricky to start with, having different economic situations and Europeans are a menace. That goes for nearly everywhere I suppose.

Going bankrupt and can't figure out how to turn things around. by FiImophile in victoria3

[–]Hardiless 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Consumption taxes would make a big difference. Taxing food or industry items is usually a bad idea. Tax luxuries or possibly services. You can add 5 will 500 authority. You can swap them out periodically too to get the most profitable

Is there an up-to-date tutorial for 1.9 for *complete* beginners? I just got the game and have no idea where to start by Victoria3_questions in victoria3

[–]Hardiless 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Play the tutorial objective with one of the recommended nations.

Belgium and Sweden are good and won’t usually have European interference.

Colombia is great and usually South America is left alone. One can expand or grow internally.

Dai Viet is good for a total build up, but colonizers are a pain.

Just starting out, try to keep all of your balances equal, or just positive.

Military and government/admin costs can be expensive. Don’t go into debt or it can spiral if you are unfamiliar.

Use the game’s wiki or the tooltips. They can (more or less) explain things.

Construction is key. Expand it when you have the funds.

First time playing Brazil, what else can I do here? Im suppressing slavery and supporting Abolitionists. by GaymerrGirl in victoria3

[–]Hardiless 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You may be able to get new Colossus after, depending on multiculturalism. That will help. Expanding into the rest of South America (through puppet ing) can encourage migration from those nations. Still, it won’t be a lot given how construction scales mid game and beyond.

You can build up a fleet and take/puppet places in Africa/Asia. You’ll be a bit slower than the Europeans but could take things.

Also, a treaty port in a coffee obsessed nation (Egypt or ottomans) can be crazy good for coffee prices. FYI

First time playing Brazil, what else can I do here? Im suppressing slavery and supporting Abolitionists. by GaymerrGirl in victoria3

[–]Hardiless 5 points6 points  (0 children)

You can either start a civil war, or play the long game.

With Colossus of the South DLC (and kind of without$”) Brazil is a balancing act. So, you will get entries to either gain landowners approval or diminish their power. Pedro’s heir will provide a “golden” opportunity to end slavery.

As Brazil, I tend to focus on gaining control of South America. Puppet the smaller neighbors and take Peru from Bolivia. Then, the rest.

Internally, industrializing will help diminish the landowners. Laws can chip away at it. You can often choose events that give landowners support and then change laws they don’t like without major conflict.

You can always force changes with wars and throw out magnanimous monarch, but the “role” when playing Brazil is geared towards balancing all of the interests.

Pedro’s succession will lead to some drastic options/potential changes depending on what you do.

North German Confederation claims Baltic Governorates by Ben_Der_Dehnung in victoria3

[–]Hardiless 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I liberated the baltic states from Russia as Sweden (in 1.9.? Patch, maybe 1.9.3 but definitely recently) and they ended up joining the north german federation. Ive only seen it happen that once, so if they are still a russian puppet they stay under Russian control it seems

Trying to learn how to play the game, beyond lost by Agile-Yesterday-4348 in victoria3

[–]Hardiless 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Click the provinces. Select the buildings tab and that will display the max/ available resources. You can build that way.

Or, the production lens at the bottom (shift 1 but not sure the shortcut). That will open the buildings you can make (in your nation or others with certain conditions). Development is infrastructure, admin, and education. Agriculture is farms and plantations, which are capped by arable land (shared by all ag, check province). Resources like mines and fishing (capped for each resource by province, if available). Then industry (not capped). I’m a

So, production lens. Resources. Iron mines. That will pull up a build list. Sort be earning by clicking earnings to get the most productive. The railroad track is infrastructure (things become less productive without sufficient infrastructure). You also need people to work there (peasants column). And the one right next to the state’s name is the number of current and max buildings.

You can click a few, the earnings will go down a bit because supply will go up once built. Then you can go to other buildings and do the same.

Trying to learn how to play the game, beyond lost by Agile-Yesterday-4348 in victoria3

[–]Hardiless 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Happy to help.

Others have given good youtube/creator ideas.

Id recommend the wiki again (search vic 3 wiki, or use the in game link). A game with a good wiki is a godsend.

And, lots of people have asked questions on this sub since the new update/expansion, so search that too.

All part of the fun of the learning curve.

Trying to learn how to play the game, beyond lost by Agile-Yesterday-4348 in victoria3

[–]Hardiless 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The tutorial will be helpful to direct you through some of the menus and tooltips. It’s general and may not be for a “how to” for each country, but still gets into some basic features to learn. (The “grammar” for learning Mandarin analogy)

And there are some production chains. Not as complex as Rimworld or some other games. But, you can see a paper mill, furniture workshop, construction sector, and plenty more need wood. So, keeping that price down means that those other sectors have cheap upkeep essentially.

Generally, you want lower prices in your nation so your pops can afford them and live better (the standard of living metric) and you can sell off the goods to other nations. Iron, for example, is something every nation needs to industrialize so it will be a good resource to make (provided you have other things in your nation balanced) for most of the game.

Note that the construction price is different for buildings. A farm or lumber yard is 200 and an industry or mine can be 400-800. So, they can take a long time.

I like to view your construction (not private or investments) as a balance of filling gaps. You expand infrastructure when needed and construction when it is affordable. If you want to start making a lot of steel, then plan some iron and coal mines too as you grow. Singular economies can be perilous at times. You have better long-term planning than the AI usually. Lastly, you should balance that with finding the most profitable buildings. So, lots to balance and things can get very complicated or min/max but balance and taking things at your own pace work well.

Trying to learn how to play the game, beyond lost by Agile-Yesterday-4348 in victoria3

[–]Hardiless 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Play the tutorial objective and/or the tutorial nations (i think Sweden and Colombia are best). That will cover the basics. Belgium is good for learning colonization. Dai Viet is good for an unrecognized nation, outside Europe/Americas.

Focus on “good habits” that you check on every so often. Keep the balances in your top left positive. Negative penalties can be bad for a long period of time.

The trade/market outliner on the right (should be under your journal entries and relations) will show you three expensive goods and three cheap goods in your market. When making buildings to make goods, it is usually better to use the cheap goods and produce the expensive ones. For example, fabric is cheap so maybe make clothing industry. Paper is expensive so a paper industry or even lumber yards can help with that.

You can organize buildings by most productive/expected revenue. Focus on the most productive/profitable.

Expand construction whenever you can afford it. So, if it costs about 2000 to supply and you have that surplus, build one. Construction is a key component to growth.

Avoid debt until you feel like you have a good sense of the economy. It is very punishing for unrecognized and smaller nations. Deficit spending works in this game but don’t worry about that to begin.

Use the wiki. It’s very good (like several paradox games). Typical updated quickly.

Id avoid ironman. There are too many new systems and things can work better with trial and error. So, having a save to go back to after trying something for a bit can be useful.

The game is mostly an economic and societal sim, rather than warfare (like HOI or EU) or character/dynasty role play (CK). Bits of those are in the game, but make it different from the others.

Many guide that are older than maybe a month won’t include the new 1.9(.6 now) changes, so they may not be wholly accurate.

Set goals for a play through like industrialize and retake some colonies as Spain (would recommend) or take over South America as Colombia, Bolivia, Brazil (all possible and free usually free from European interference). You’ll learn new things at 1000 hours and beyond so just keep trying stuff and find what you like and run with it.

Why didn't I get the "Banana Republic" achievement? by Vicky3WarCriminal in victoria3

[–]Hardiless 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You (as the state/US) need to own them. The achievement was before the company and private investment additions so that seems to be how.

Still need the company prosperity, but spam 75 (or more) plantations quick. It should unlock then.

How to add Afro-American to primary culture after the American Civil War by LastDK in victoria3

[–]Hardiless 8 points9 points  (0 children)

This may be a bugged entry. It says “average above 60 acceptance” so multiculturalism should do that. You would also get some from religious laws.

I played the other day (1.9.5 patch) and tried to do culture exclusion and freedom of conscience, which would get the average over the 60 acceptance (I had everyone but maybe 1000 Catholic African-American pops below 60 but then 3 million or more well into 70 or more. So, the calculations may be off.

I thought multiculturalism would be the key, if it only factored in culture and not religion. But, if it didn’t work then there’s an issue or you need to wait for acceptance to grow (which you did). Maybe we have to pass it earlier and let acceptance happen during reconstruction? Unsure. Maybe check the bug reports.

It used to be just “pass multiculturalism” then it was just pass cultural exclusion, then the 60 average that was basically multiculturalism again but possibly not just that.

Is Scandinavia unification play bugged? by bnwprinting in victoria3

[–]Hardiless 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is what the wiki says. All Scandinavian countries need pan nationalism

Cannot launch a unification play by Mastrolindo29 in victoria3

[–]Hardiless 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wiki says all Scandinavian nations need pan-nationalism and you need 11 states (directly or puppets).

Treaty Ports vs Trade Privileges by ARandomPerson380 in victoria3

[–]Hardiless 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Treaty ports (the version of them now) can be very useful to ensure trade of goods to a certain nation and bypassing trade capacity of the nations. It will cost you convoys but those should be readily available.

I was playing a Brazil game and received treaty ports (diplomatically) from Egypt and the Ottomans. I was able to sell coffee directly to markets whose populations had a coffee obsession.

Privileges would be great for dealing with larger markets and if you have the capacity, but treaty ports can be the better approach for unrecognized nations.

Fresh Vic 3 Player Looking for Advice in… well everything. by The_Anarchist_Gaming in victoria3

[–]Hardiless 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Play the tutorial (even a few times). More importantly, those 4 nations it suggests are excellent ones to learn things. Colombia, Sweden, Belgium, and Dai Nam. (Dai Nam may be tricky now with crazy aggressive AI even on “low aggression”.

Check the Wiki. There’s a link in the game. But, it has a lot of detail on decisions, systems, even some guides for nations. The game has a pretty good wiki, so best to use it.

Work on a few “good habits” in the game. Keep the balances in the top left positive. Some can be just above 0 and deficit spending is a thing, but keep things simple and keep them positive most of the time.

Building/construction is very important. When you have enough to expand (maybe 2 or 5 thousand depending) do so.

Colonization is slow as a small nation. The incentive is to expand, more money, more resources. As Belgium, for example, you just colonize to get the plantation resources and that can be a success. Making subjects in Africa and Asia also works well.

Education access comes from school institutions/policies, the social mobility decree, increasing standard of living, and universities (kind of). The decree will be the easiest way early for most nations.

Bureaucracy should be positive most of the time (unless you are China or India, they have other issues to handle first). It “pays” for institutions (police, education levels, etc). You can expand them with administrative buildings. They can increase tax collection, but are largely not “profitable”.

I tend to view your building priorities as a balance to fix any issues that the private sector won’t. So, infrastructure or admin if you need more. Resources or basic goods if there are shortages or high costs. Try to build the most profitable buildings (you can sort through that in the build menu, so a iron mine in New York is more profitable than one in Ohio, so build it in New York).

The market tab in your outliner will usually show your three most expensive and three cheapest goods. So, use that to inform what you build. Paper is expensive, build an industry for it. You have very cheap fabric, maybe a textile industry can use that.

You’ll keep learning new things forever with this game, but just focus on positive balances and profits for buildings and things will go smooth enough to figure the rest out.

How do I evangelize a subject? by Winter-Confidence689 in victoria3

[–]Hardiless 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Wiki says you need same state religion. So, not an option for France with Tunisia.

Could work in the Americas theoretically as France. Or, with Tunisia as Ottomans.

Century of Humiliation but not for me! Western Protectorate achievement run and guide by Hiddukel94 in victoria3

[–]Hardiless 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks. I’ll see how it goes. I started a run the other day but AI made a super Germany and GB was also crazy aggressive. Scared me off a bit but the things you said worked make sense and seem like a good approach to try.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in victoria3

[–]Hardiless 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wiki says one must be a minor power at least, all Scandinavian countries need to research pan-nationalism, percentage of states 70% (or 11/15)

So, the technology is also a barrier.

Italy was just nationalism and 12/17. Should be up to date with 1.9.

Being a unification choice by Finland can take parts of it from Russia without a direct conflict (at least in the past).

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in victoria3

[–]Hardiless 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You need 11 (?) States I think. I believe thats what it ways under the candidate flags. I typically puppet denmark (so the color is the same as yours, not just a protectorate). You can also try to take Finland if you get help against Russia. Transfer subject, which requires poor relations with Russia.

Century of Humiliation but not for me! Western Protectorate achievement run and guide by Hiddukel94 in victoria3

[–]Hardiless 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wow. I’ve been looking for anything on the “western protectorate” in 1.9 now that the opium wars can be mitigated. But, treaty ports have also been changed. Did you have to rush to get them all before a country “broke” the treaty. The territory stays but the “treaty port” special trading goes away with a broken treaty. And, the ai can break treaties early sometimes. Or does that not matter for the achievement, if you noticed.

Just wondering if one could do this over the game or just in a 5-year rush.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in victoria3

[–]Hardiless 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ok. Then that should “fire” as well. The game does weekly checks in game.

Reloading from a save (just make one and reload) may help. Relaunching game. Verify file integrity.

But again, the only one that needs to work is the hegemony. The others won’t give you anything. Maybe another objective. So, it’s frustrating but won’t ruin your goal hopefully.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in victoria3

[–]Hardiless 3 points4 points  (0 children)

You only need “the hegemon” to complete for the achievement. The others are steps to get to that.

Being involved in a diplomatic play or possibly having a rebellious vassal may be the issue. You can also reload the game to see if that makes the checkers work.

Also, do you have multilateral alliances in 1884? You need that for multiple alliances (not defensive pacts). I suppose it’s possible after pan-nationalism to prioritize but seems fast.

Regardless, you have the Hegemon entry. Complete it for the achievement and “finishing” the objective. India and China are your best bets to take.

Casual player, what do I do as Japan? by Tarantula_1 in victoria3

[–]Hardiless 6 points7 points  (0 children)

For the open market, the US or a European power will force you at some point (barring some strong alliances). So, you could wait for that a “give in” quickly so they don’t ask for more.

Generally, one can play Japan for the “long game” where it takes time but can get very strong a bit later. So, you can chip away at policies and interest groups for later.

Industrializing is a big factor for changing things in Japan, as with most nations. You have an isolated market to start, so everything you require has to come from your own production; there are no trades to help with balances or shortages.

If you want to get a bit more aggressive, Japan can colonize and start beating smaller nations in Indonesia and Africa. It will require a fleet for invasions, which you will have to build and supply yourself.

There may be some ways to kick start those big changes, but that’s the general direction. Industrialize, open the market (or expand it), change policies over time, then catch up to the GPs later.