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EU4 - Development Diary - 14th of May 2019

Welcome again to another EU4 Dev Diary. This week, I will be presenting a few of the German mission trees we have been working on that will come as paid content for those who buy the expansion that will accompany the large European update planned at the end of the year.

Our aim with the expansion is to provide the major powers of continental Europe (from Brest to Constantinople) with sizeable mission trees (15+ missions), adding to each country’s unique experience. These will be paid content. We also hope to (time permitting) add smaller, free mission trees of around 5-10 missions to various other interesting countries that, for one reason or another, we were unable to give full mission trees.

In the context of Germany (today, I speak of Germany in the modern sense of the word), Brandenburg-Prussia, Bavaria and Saxony have been given full mission trees, and we hope to add a few missions for the other regional formables (Franconia etc) and electors. I also hear @neondt has a soft spot for Dithmarschen, and certain other beloved minors may get some additions.

Now, onto those missions we’ve made.

NB: Most new missions presented have wip mission icons and will receive new ones before release.

Bavaria (available to Munich, Landshut, Ingolstadt and Bavaria)

Bavarian Missions.png


Bavaria already has a few free missions. These have been reworked a bit to reflect Bavaria’s new starting position and supplemented by a further 15 missions. In terms of conquests, the existing missions broadly focus on Bavaria’s historical gains over our time period, so the new missions go a bit further and represent the aims that a more successful Bavarian state may have had, giving you the chance to reclaim lands owned by the Bavarian stem duchy at its height (c. 975 AD) and various other territories the Wittelsbachs had once held (e.g. Brandenburg and the Netherlands). Furthermore, the new conquest mission tree includes the opportunity to request that the Emperor grant you the Palatinate’s elector status if you PU them (it also gives the appropriate CB to do so) and lets you set up your dynasty in Cologne.

Further branches of the new mission tree focus on developing your homelands and your nation’s capabilities, dealing with new ideas that might emerge among your subjects over the course of the game, and of course, assuming Bavaria’s rightful position among the states of Germany.


Saxony (available to Saxony and Thuringia)

Saxon Missions.png


Saxony had no country-unique missions. As one of the key powers of the HRE in the first half of our period, we decided to correct this and have added 16 new missions. The conquest missions focus, on the one hand, on avoiding the fragmentation with which they were beset in history and conquering lands that had once been part of the Saxon stem duchy (e.g. Brunswick, Westphalia), and on the other, on replicating the exploits of the likes of Frederick Augustus I, also known as Augustus II the Strong, who became the King of Poland-Lithuania as well as Prince-Elector of Saxony.

A further branch focuses on the prestige of the Prince-Elector and entails the foundation of Wittenberg University, winning the religious wars, spreading the dynasty far and wide (a branch of it still rules Britain under the name “Windsor”), and taking on the title of King.

Finally, the economic branch gives you the opportunity to change Dresden/Meissen’s trade good to porcelain, make Leipzig a centre of trade (it became an important commercial centre over this period) and industrialise Saxony.


Brandenburg-Prussia (available to Brandenburg and Prussia)

Brandenburg Missions.png


Like Bavaria, Brandenburg and Prussia already had a few missions. These have been incorporated into their new, larger mission tree, which focuses on the one hand on Prussia establishing itself as the preeminent German state, the unification Germany under them, and their conquests in the east; and on the other on replicating the feats of military organisation the Prussian state achieved in the 18th century, and generally on Prussia having the appearance as well as the military of a great power of Europe. Furthermore, in a tribute to alt-history, a couple of missions were dedicated to making a success of Brandenburg’s (historically abortive) colonial ambitions.

Note: The missions Army Reforms and An Army with a State only become available once Prussia is formed.

That’s it for today. Next week we’ll be back to map changes, with @Ofaloaf presenting the new-look Italy.
 
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There's still a long time before the release of our European expansion, so do let us know if there are any other minor nations you think are deserving of a little extra love.

Wurttemberg is my main, so I'd like to see some unique missions for them. Maybe some missions involving the Swabian League, or possibly even making Swabia a formable nation?
 
Very happy to see new missions, custom missions are a huge factor for me when deciding what to play.

There's still a long time before the release of our European expansion, so do let us know if there are any other minor nations you think are deserving of a little extra love.

I'd say Switzerland is a great candidate for an unconventional mission set with a low amount of expansion, besides taking back the cores from Savoy and maybe Constance/Ravensburg.

There are tons of flavorful options for Swiss missions that are different from the usual, such as achieving nationwide prosperity, upgrading forts, renting out Condottieri, converting to Reformed, maintaining high republican tradition over time, giving out loans, and constructing buildings.
 
Looks great. Whenever I tried hre nation, even bigger ones felt bit too generic. Now I will enjoy them more.
Looking forward to Italy and Balkans map changes. And new mechanics.

I would also like to see Knights having mission tree as they are enjoyable minor.
Jerusalem on the other hand, might be redone as well. It is also European, isn't it?
 
Will the old missions that got incorporated into the expansion missions tree still be available to who doesn't own the dlc?
 
What about ideas for Hannover, Kurland, and Hamburg? They all have made historical strides, and it would be nice to see what "could be." Also, myself and my fellow forumers would love to be able to suggest more stuff, if we only knew what new content said DLC was adding. :)
 
I'd say most nations in Germany that historically did something important for their country should have at least one or two missions about the cool thing they did. Like what if historically the small nation of Frankfurt managed to build the biggest city in Germany for a while?(I don't think this actually happened, but what if) At least one unique mission for each nation would provide a bit of flavor for each nation that would otherwise be lacking.

Also, Ulm needs a big mission tree. About the size of the British mission tree if not bigger. And an achievement called something like "The God Among Men" where you complete the Ulm mission tree. Dithmarschen was a good start, but the true powerhouse of Europe still lacks a mission tree(outside of the generic one).
 
Surprised that you went with the "Communist Dithmarschen" Theme. I must admit, that I did not expect that when I thought about Dithmarschen missions as it's a bit too farfetched. I need to give Dithmarschen Missions a second thought now.

"Bavarian Netherlands" sounds interesting. I always felt like German Formables should have conquest missions based on forming Germany and lands near the region they originate from (Bavaria - Austria; Rhineland, Westphalia - Low Countries; Swabia - Switzerland et cetera.) and exploring beyond these to be a goal for the mission tree for formable Germany but I'm not going to protest. Also, what's the deal with Union with Austria? Is it a PU CB reward? PU CBs are really strong and I hope it's based off historical event (can't really judge, I'm no expert on Bavaria). I just hope it's not overpowered just to attract customers looking for "Strong" flavor. Also, the "Deal with the Illuminati" mission seems really interesting :) I'm interested how it will work in game.

"Porcelain from Meissen" am I seeing connection between the new mission and the porcelain price change event? Also I wonder how "Spread the von Wettins" mission works, but I guess I will find that out when the DLC comes out.

Anyway, I must say this is a really nice dev diary and I am looking forward to seeing more of these!
 
Well the missions trees look pretty good so far and I assume we're getting one for Burgundy as well. I only hope than more than just 3 or 4 missions trees that are nice and fleshed out, as there are possibilities in nations like Switzerland, Lübeck, Holland, Frisia, Hamburg and many others (missions that aren't just "conquer this area"). I'd also like to see the pope being able to call Catholic countries to crusades if they have a high enough opinion although it may get overpowered. Some way to make Catholicism a strong force would be good as in most games only Iberia and Italy retain it.
In terms of other nations in Europe that would be more fun with a nice mission tree - The Livonian order, Naples and the Papal state.