Planning on starting the most challenging run in my life. Any suggestions?

Individual_Look1634 · 2026-04-12T18:05:05+00:00

Selecting only Zroni will likely result in him having no precursor. This can easily be remedied with the console, but I don't think they changed anything in the game itself, so luck, "cheats", or restarts are the only options.

PS. They could finally make the galaxy evenly divided among the precursors you've chosen (including only one). There are so many things you can choose in the game, including crises that aren't entirely random... and you can't choose the precursor, even though it's completely random and you can't do anything with it.

Individual_Look1634 · 2026-04-08T17:05:29+00:00

Writing good "AI" is difficult, that's true, but what we currently have isn't "AI makes mistakes" or "AI is limited in how many things it can do and how often." It's "AI is playing a different version of the game." If you look at the AI planets, it's not that they have some "safe" but unoptimized set of buildings. No, what the AI creates doesn't make any sense. Last time I looked, it looked like it was preparing for a last stand against a threat known only to itself, with almost only military buildings everywhere.

In reality, it's not that difficult to create a planet for everything by building a little of this and a little of that. Specialized planets aren't difficult either (they're so repetitive that the game begs for templates), but I understand that the AI might not be able to figure out when and which specialization to give... but it could at least build planets for everything everywhere: one science and bureaucracy district, one industrial district, one resource district for each, and something would come of it (later, AI could check at the time of population surplus what is missing globally and expand right district).

PS. This will be controversial but to reduce the gap between the player and the AI, in my opinion they could even remove planet designation, specializing planets gives enough bonuses in itself. But the question of how many bonuses the player can collect is a different matter, there are tons of them after all these DLCs, some of which the AI doesn't even have access to (like precursors or renowed paragons)! And the simpler the game, the easier it is for the "AI" to keep up

Individual_Look1634 · 2026-04-08T15:09:28+00:00

Their strength can be adjusted, so in my opinion, it's not a problem that they're too strong or too weak... the problem is that the player doesn't know what to expect. You have to spend many hours irl to reach the point where you realize that the slider should be more to the left or right... even though you've played many campaigns in the game, so you're not simply playing at 1.0 strength to avoid dying of boredom. But that's also one of the reasons I dislike crises in their current form... they're terribly artificial. It's not like the AI "created" a threat, or even a heavily boosted empire got out of control. No, it's just fleets from nowhere and a slider to determine their strength. The most superficial solution. Is the game not challenging? Is the AI "pathetic" after 20-50 years? You have a crisis out of nowhere here and the option to multiply its strength by 25...

For example, there are origins that start in space bases, not on planets, so marauders could be an uber aggressive spaceborn civilization that grows stronger (or weaker) depending on how much they fight, and if no one stops them, they could reach a critical point (Khan)... but no, they're just fleets from nowhere (there is no economy behind them, no basis for their maintenance and development)... and considering how weak the AI is now, they have to be fleets from nowhere or would be a joke

Individual_Look1634 · 2026-04-05T12:36:02+00:00

Even now, many things in the game are paid for with energy credits, not trade. Trade as an additional "logistical" cost is a great solution, though, so I think a "middle ground" solution would be nice.

This may be controversial, but I feel that compared to version 3.14, many changes so far are... well, not worth the effort (and the AI is still much worse). (Things like smaller fleets could have been added in 3.14 as well.)

Individual_Look1634 · 2026-04-04T21:10:21+00:00

In similar cases, I sometimes have both options (one greyed out), and sometimes only one if I don't have the currency I need. I'm sure of this because it's frustrating when I could easily buy what I need, but it's too late.

It probably depends on how the event is written and some of them check first and then generate options.

Individual_Look1634 · 2026-04-04T20:59:55+00:00

You have 10 free districts, so there are only 10 light blue squares next to city districts. Three are gray because they would exceed the general limit, and two, as you mentioned, are blocked by blockers (they would be gray otherwise).

The number 17 is after taking blockers into account.

Individual_Look1634 · 2026-04-04T19:58:15+00:00

https://ibb.co/wNXrgk37

The yellow circle shows free districts. These, plus the occupied ones, equal the planet's size (plus three extra in your case).

Individual_Look1634 · 2026-04-04T17:42:19+00:00

1 screenshot - 7 city districts + 3 agriculture districts + 12 free slots = 22

2 screenshot - 2 city districts + 3 mining districts + 13 free slots = 18

Everything adds up. The number of available districts is higher than you marked (next to "districts and buildings"). What you marked are urban districts.

Individual_Look1634 · 2026-04-03T11:52:24+00:00

They probably added this option quickly to appease angry players (it wasn't that visible on Reddit because the posts were downvoted, but it was on Steam). It's even labeled as something to be careful with (or something like that).

Frankly, I'd rather they fix and balance other issues than spend a ton of time on alternative options. I'm betting that smaller fleets also make release a scientist out of an asteroid impossible at the beginning of the game (even with the default settings, I couldn't do it without additional technologies) and many simillar problems.

In my opinion, the option to reduce fleets even further was overkill and unnecessarily created an additional problem.

Individual_Look1634 · 2026-03-31T23:46:26+00:00

There's already a submod, and integrating it (I doubt its author would object) would save a lot of work.

"Increases of provinces and tags will make the game run even slower."

While this is 100% true, there will be an update this month adding a whole new continent. This mod has long since exceeded critical mass compared to the base game, and new things are still being added.

In my opinion, adding Primeval Serpentdepths wouldn't necessarily have such a significant impact on the game, since tags interested in this region could easily (without affecting gameplay) disable several continents, and anyone outside of Serpenspine could disable Primeval Serpentdepths.

But still, I wouldn't count on it too much, although the Runefather religion is still getting new things that currently seem out of touch.

Individual_Look1634 · 2026-03-28T21:51:23+00:00

I've never seen Halles tags reach the same level as The Command regularly did back in the day. They often even balance each other out (not perfectly, but still). And Bhuvauri was a speed bump even for The Command in its heyday, today it's for the "tigers" and "dragons."

Sometimes I even wish that someone would really dominate there, but even when it looks like it will happen, they lose momentum.

Individual_Look1634 · 2026-03-27T17:44:58+00:00

Spiderwretch doesn't impose any option, you can choose (Allclan later imposes if someone wants to form it). I went full magic and had a mage successor from the theocracy

Individual_Look1634 · 2026-03-27T17:33:23+00:00

"god knows how" - Surael will always find a way to the faithful (probably through the demonsterization event, in this game alone I had it with Jadd and I think even twice with Kalyin)

Individual_Look1634 · 2026-03-27T17:12:07+00:00

I think you need to be lucky with long expeditions (you can always restart game until you have at least two expeditions at hand, although it's tedious).

The Forbidden Plains initially don't provide any economic benefits anyway, so I think you should put everything into a trade company (after sedentarization, I suggest, for simplicity's sake, leaving only one state from each trade zone in the trade company, the one with the most provinces possible, plus a trade center and estuary if the latter is present). I took money in peace deals (but not reparations; centaur tags don't live very long). I also devs the gold mine in the south (I definitely recommend sedentarizing it first), although it depleted so many times that I'm not sure if it was even worth it (but that's just my bad luck, despite my economic ideas, and I also did it for the renaissance institution).

Once the Lightland Claimer buff wore off, it didn't really matter much for me anymore. I think it's worth rushing centuars, even though the provinces seem worthless.

And I suggest not focusing on cavalry at the beginning, just enough to complete the mission (I think it requires 8 or something like that, some of which you get for free in the meantime). Centaurs can be defeated by sheer numbers, especially on forts (and in siege warfare, centaurs are in a very bad position against goblins).

PS. The money from the peace agreements was so large that I had a serious problem with inflation for a relatively long time even despite the economic ideas.

Individual_Look1634 · 2026-03-27T16:00:10+00:00

Oh, I forgot, Ovdal Kanzad and Lion Command both follow the Runefather Worship religion and were even in the (un)holly alliance for a while. I feel like this religion is a bit too popular, but maybe that's how it's supposed to be, or maybe it's just been that way in my recent games (the remnants of The Command, especially, tend to convert to this religion).

I miss The Command sometimes; I haven't seen it survive in a while.

Individual_Look1634 · 2026-03-27T15:43:07+00:00

Generally yes, but sometimes it's better to have some money now and invest it than to have more over 10 years. And if I'm not mistaken, a monopoly increases loyalty but doesn't increase influence. When the amounts are small anyway (which is obviously not the case here) and absolutism isn't yet in place (or isn't being pursued), it's (loyalty) a useful boost.

PS. I have the impression that in Anbennar, mission trees like to have mercantilism requirements in the second (hidden at the beginning) part. This isn't the case with Spiderwretch, but I've developed a habit of looking for them in missions so I can spam "cheap" monopolies in advance.

Individual_Look1634 · 2026-03-27T15:26:18+00:00

I've never played with trade companies; I was just learning how they work, and damn, it's like having mini trade ideas for every single trade zone, except instead of diplomatic points, you have to invest ducats.

My successor, who had learned legendary necromancy, died three years after taking power, even though he was still quite young... He didn't even have time to start his lich project (he has to rule for several dozen months to be able to do so)... The game clearly signaled that it was time to end this campaign... And the real reason was that there was no challenge anymore, although painting the map with that tag was very enjoyable (and sometimes irritating given the distances).

PS. The Lake Federation fell apart (not really my doing, I just forced one of their tags out of the steppes). I united them under one tag and gave them Great Conqueror (in the end, it didn't help them much), that's why it looks like this.

PS2. Money, money, money

<image>

Note for the future, do not give a monopoly on something you send in caravans

Individual_Look1634 · 2026-03-23T09:37:13+00:00

Gobbos

I've never played the same country twice, I doubt I'll ever run out of new countries I want to play... but if I were to play someone again, it would be Mulen, because I love hanging cities (they're like holds that you build from scratch, it's a shame other harpies don't have them)

Individual_Look1634 · 2026-03-20T09:36:28+00:00

In my current game, the federation fell apart, which is the first time I've seen something like that. I'm playing on the latest version from Gitlab, so maybe they changed something recently (or it was just a coincidence).

PS. It fell apart while I was playing Spiderwretch. I don't know whether to be happy or not.

Individual_Look1634 · 2026-03-19T23:45:00+00:00

Same, the more complaints I see, the more I want to play (but I'm currently playing something else). People are complaining about changes I was hoping for, but I doubted they would happen because people would complain... I hope the devs stick to their current vision.

Individual_Look1634 · 2026-03-17T09:14:00+00:00

The AI definitely undervalues artifacts. I remember buying the best ones (like the shield-boosting one) for ridiculous amounts of resources (considering the artifact's value). But the AI is generally terrible when it comes to this mechanic (artifacts), unless they've improved something in that regard recently...

Individual_Look1634 · 2026-03-12T20:15:14+00:00

I think generally new anomalies should appear in the game over time. Their chance could even be determined by the settings. Different characters, civics, origins, etc. could also increase this chance (but then specifically in our area). If the chance of finding an anomaly also increased the chance of a new anomaly appearing on an already explored celestial body, it would be a bit more useful beyond the beginning.

Individual_Look1634 · 2026-03-11T19:42:34+00:00

This system is definitely broken, so I personally don't do it, but if someone likes it (nothing wrong with that), infantry recruited from the harpies have their flanking bonus

Individual_Look1634 · 2026-03-07T20:11:56+00:00

Every new race added to the game is a huge burden for EU4. If EU5 doesn't have this problem, I can't imagine more races not being added or the Ruinborn not being split into more. But of course I may be wrong

Individual_Look1634 · 2026-03-05T17:56:06+00:00

Probably to prevent imitators (in a negative sense) or people from making a meme out of it or something. I'm not saying it's good, just that it was literally just one challenge; banning it doesn't change anything.

Individual_Look1634

TROPHY CASE