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Europa Universalis IV - Development Diary 4th of March 2024 - Aztecs, Mayans and Incas

While the European kingdoms are leaving the Medieval period and starting their centralization to the modern states, the New World these soon-to-be colonizers will discover is already home to other empires. The heart of Mexico is settled by the Nahuatl empire of the Aztecs, led by the great Moctezuma I who aims to centralize the Triple Alliance and establish a realm that drives fear to the hearts of its enemies. The Mayans, once controllers of the jungles of Chiapas and Guatemala have retreated to the Yucatan peninsula. Their once great realm is now splintered into a series of city-states, not all too unlike the Italian domains. In the heights of the Andes reigns the many different Inti kingdoms. One of them, Cusco, will be destined to unify the region under the rule of Pachacuti and his descendants, forming the first Incan Empire.

Welcome to our newest Development Diary for the upcoming DLC. Today, we will take a look at the content for Central and South America - namely the Aztecs, the Mayans, and the Incas. As always, all values you see here are NOT final. So without further ado, let us get started.

First, we shall take a look at Mexico and a few setup changes there:
image_1.png

The Mexico Trade Node has received some additional Centers of Trade, as well as a new province modifier added to a few selected provinces that represent the mining of obsidian. This is, however, only limited to those of the Mesoamerican technology group:
image_2.png

Next are some changes to the country of the Aztecs. They now start with the Empire rank instead of the Kingdom rank and their starting ruler, Moctezuma I, also starts with the guaranteed “Legendary Conqueror” personality trait.
image_3.png

However, the Aztecs were never as centralized as EU4 can realistically depict it. Historically, they were more an alliance of the city-states instead, though Moctezuma I was on his way to centralize the state. As such, the Aztecs also start with a new privilege:
image_4.png

Now let us take a closer look at the mission tree:
image_5.png

Note: Mission icons are still placeholders and will be of course replaced with the proper images for the release.

The mission tree is separated into 3 big chunks. The first block at the very top is about dominating the Mexican region, and as such is the main bulk of your New World conquest. The biggest highlight of this part is the opportunity to buff your Moctezuma progressively more as you continue through your missions.
image_6.png

Note: We might add a Monarch Lifespan modifier to these rewards so your Moctezuma can enjoy his newfound powers for a little bit longer. We also might consider changing his starting situation as a general into an event to further increase his survivability.

The second subtree is all about your government and, of course, your blood tribute to the gods. Some highlights from this part are the following:
image_7.png

Now a few of you might have noticed that certain keywords such as “Blood” and “Mesoamerican Tributaries” have been mentioned. These are part of the new government mechanics the Aztecs will now start with:
image_8.png

image_9.png

image_10.png

image_11.png

Note: The art is still work in progress.

The “Demand Sacrifices” peace option always requires a 50% War Score and grants 10 Blood.
image_12.png

Next are the Mesoamerican Tributaries which is a new subject type available to all Mayan and Nahuatl countries. You establish them with a new peace treaty:
image_13.png

image_14.png

They act just like normal tributaries, though you can sacrifice their ruler and you can annex them. On that note, all of your conquest missions in Mesoamerica can be completed via these tributaries or vassals.

Last but not least, the final subtree is all about the economic and military affairs of the Aztecs. I should also probably mention here that there are no Jaguar special units and a tease for them was not intentional whatsoever. With that being said, here are some highlights of these missions:

image_15.png

Note: these missions are more long-term based as you will require some higher advanced technologies to complete them. Also, the Telpochcalli Academy will probably have its Possible Number of Buildings penalty replaced.

Before we move on to the next country, one quick note for all the non-Aztec Nahuatl countries: as there was time for only the Aztec mission tree itself, every Nahuatl country gets a decision to adopt the Aztec mission tree if they conquer the Aztecs and own the Mexico provinces themselves.
image_16.png

Moving on to the Mayans, every Mayan country gets a small mission tree at the start which helps you out for the formation of the Mayan Confederation:
image_17.png

Note: With “Venus” we mean the planet Venus. That was localized before finding the name “Chac Ek” or “Noh Ek” to use instead. Will be fixed before release.

Highlights of these missions are the “The Sign of Venus”, “Campaigning Season” and “Reforming our Society” which have evolving rewards. Every time you unlock a Religious Reform, these three missions get reset (in other words “un-completed”) which allows you to complete them again. Their evolving modifier gets upgraded whenever you complete the missions again.

Another change to the Maya formable is that you now need only 2 Mayan Religious Reforms instead of the full 5. However, forming the Mayas will still be rather painful as whenever you enact a new Religious Reform you get a 5 year penalty to your Manpower Recovery Speed (-10%) and your Harsh Treatment Cost (+100%) which also disables the ability to Increase Autonomy and manually decrease War Exhaustion. You also gain +3 War Exhaustion whenever you undergo a reform.

Once you form the Maya you get the following mission tree:
image_18.png

Note: we are aware of the mission title leaving the GUI here. Will be fixed before the release.

Similar to the Aztec mission tree, the Maya one is about unifying Mesoamerica under your banner, as well as focusing on the economic improvements of your empire.

I will focus now on mentioning some highlights of the mission tree which are the following missions:
image_19.png

image_19_5.png

image_20.png

With that, we finish the Mayans and will now take a closer look at the Incas. The first thing that needs to be mentioned is that the map of the Andes does NOT get any additional provinces or tags. This also means that there are no new wastelands too. There are, however, some small setup changes. Similar to the Aztecs, Pachacuti starts with the “Legendary Conqueror” personality trait but has been reduced to a 4/3/5 (down from 5/4/6). The missions Cusco has received are similarly structured to the ones of the Aztecs as they buff your starting ruler:
image_21.png

Some early highlights in the mission tree are the following:
image_22.png

The decision to colonize the provinces requires you to defeat the local tribes and have 50 Ducats ready. Using the decision will then start a Frontier Colony in said province, and this decision can go far along the Andes as you can see in the following screenshot:
image_23.png

Note: All the green-striped provinces are ones you can colonize via the decision.

Additionally, you also have access to the following estate privilege:
image_24.png

Once you form Inca you gain the following mission tree as a whole:
image_25.png

While you have the original Cusco missions about the conquest, you also get four additional, smaller subtrees that have their own focus.

The first small subtree is about the Mitma - a policy of forced resettlement of the border provinces. The highlight here is the following reward:
image_26.png

Another subtree is about the religious nature of the Inca, highlighted by the following reward:
image_27.png

image_28.png

image_29.png

You might now notice that “Regenesis of History” mentions “Mummified Rulers”. As you can see, the Incan religion has an interesting and unique quirk which is the fact that your dead ruler is de jure still alive. They get mummified and continue to participate in all of your governmental activities. To represent this in EU4 you will now always trigger the following event upon your ruler’s demise:
image_30.png

The third subtree is about gold, idols, and economy represented by the following mission rewards:
image_31.png

Finally, the last subtree focuses on developing your lands and your military, giving you the following rewards:
image_32.png

And with that, we conclude the Incan missions. However, we are not entirely done as all the aforementioned countries get one mission subtree which is all about the so-called Sunset Invasion:
image_33.png

These missions are always at the very bottom and follow one major theme which is the invasion of Europe and Asia by the American powers - both main culprits of colonizing the new world in many EU4 campaigns.

I won’t go too much into detail with those missions as they are mostly focused on large conquest campaigns. However, some rewards are worth mentioning:
image_34.png

Last but not least, Fatherlorris' comic:
DD Americas.png

That was it for this week. Thank you all for reading today’s Development Diary! My colleague @Big Boss will continue next week with a DD on the Netherlands, Venice, and Italy.
 
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I'm a little worried that these changes will make the Aztec campaign too easy. A few things:
  • Montezuma is already a strong enough leader that keeping up in tech isn't that much of an issue if he stays alive. I recently completed a campaign where I devved all institutions until colonialism and teched up as Aztecs, and was still only a couple of techs behind the Europeans, and caught up on mil tech. If he is a 6 6 6 and lives to 105, where is the challenge?
    • Conclusion: He could perhaps get a life span buff or a mana points buff, but not both.
  • The addition of all the vassal force limit modifiers to Aztec will make flower wars trivial. As they are, they are already pretty easy. But the force limit modifier will allow you to get way more mercs, assuming there are companies available.
  • Gold: The Aztecs already get crazy strong from the gold mines they have. Making their gold mines even stronger just seems silly.
 
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Hi!
I thought it would be fun to add an achievement for the country of Wanka or Inca, which would be a reference to Willy Wonka from the film "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" or the new "Wonka". This achievement could be based on the fact that these countries would have to build a manufactory (plantation or farm estate) in a province that produces Cocoa. This achievement could be called "Wanka's Chocolate" or have another name referring to the film.
This is just my suggestion :)
 
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Hi!
I thought it would be fun to add an achievement for the country of Wanka or Inca, which would be a reference to Willy Wonka from the film "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" or the new "Wonka". This achievement could be based on the fact that these countries would have to build a manufactory (plantation or farm estate) in a province that produces Cocoa. This achievement could be called "Wanka's Chocolate" or have another name referring to the film.
This is just my suggestion :)
I don't know if PDX can get away with willy wankas chocolate factory as an achievement name.
 
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Is the doom mechanic still done away with after reforming the Religion? Although the penalty for hitting 100 Doom was harsh there were benefits to keeping it high; mainly they were trading technology cost for AE reduction and given that Aztecs get a whopping 90% cost reduction to Western Europe. Timing it with a High Doom would really allow a player to take full advantage of that.
I don't think it's a 90% cost reduction, but rather just 90% cost (i.e., a 10% reduction).
 
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Does Ichma get anything? As the only theocracy in the new world it feels like it should or at the very least keep the theocracy after reforming. Its not exactly the easiest start in the area.
 
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What issues? Any game i play the colonizers end up with all of america under their control. It just takes some actual effort on the colonizers part. I bet it will be the same this time as well. You cant just expect conquering america to be free territory.
More talking about the AI.
 
I am very excited to play all of these nations again.

Though i would love to add a few thoughts here to make this even better:

Sunset invasion missions:
-Could you please allow us to establish CNs like the east india trading company in thzose regions via decision or mission reward? Obviously the CN should have less tolerance of heathens and more missionary strength and culture conversion cost :)

Aztecs:
-Any intentions to review the decision of giving them american frontiers (asuming it works like siberian frontier)? They always had a tall feeling to me because of doom mechanics. With the siberian frontier mechanic you monpolize the new world in an instant and become a mega wide superblob. Might be wrong but sounds like a very dull gaming experience to me. I would prefer tall features or the ability to assign those lands to a CN-like subject so that i dont have to care.

General stuff:
-Can AI finally reform their religions? IIRC they were unable to click the last button. Also What will happen to exsisting vassals and new released once if I as a player reform my religion? Will they get reformed status too? Especially for potential Aztec gameplay with a vassal swarm this would be important.
-Can you review european AI behavior for colonizing mexico. It used to be that if the esturary in texas is blocked that they never try to land in mexico. Maybe a suggestion: if the primitive owner of mexico gets european deseases, the colonizer with the highest military rating gets terretorial cores on the east cost of Mexico.
-Do we get a proper European deseases disaster?
 
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Another subtree is about the religious nature of the Inca, highlighted by the following reward:

I hope the Andean Empire Tier 1 Government Reform would be available to Theocracies since Peru contains the ONLY theocracy in the new world, Ichma, and even the Inti religious mechanics consider this. Obviously this is relevant only if the tree is available to all Andean nations upon forming the Inca.

It's a bit of a shame that there were no particular improvements/changes to the reformation religious mechanics as a whole. Like for example interactions with Doom and Authority after reforming the religion, especially for Authority it's a shame losing its bonuses.
 
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No change in South America? How disappointing, I'm not saying that they add new provinces, but at least more flavor, new tags, new tribes, Araucanians, Aymaras, Diaguitas, Muiscas, Tupi and more, a more detailed South America, since currently it is so empty and boring
 
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Cool stuff! But this:

>The decision to colonize the provinces requires you to defeat the local tribes and have 50 Ducats ready. Using the decision will then start a Frontier Colony in said province, and this decision can go far along the Andes as you can see in the following screenshot:

Please include a special AI-only decision restarting that frontier colony, after the AI will inevitably remove it when getting low on money from some war!
 
A bit off-topic, but is India going to get an update as well? The regional tags are fine, but are Bharat and Hindustan going to get any changes? Right now the missions are just plain conquest (claims), nothing economic or religious. It doesn't have that wow factor when you form one of these countries, it lacks a bit of flavor.
 
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A bit off-topic, but is India going to get an update as well? The regional tags are fine, but are Bharat and Hindustan going to get any changes? Right now the missions are just plain conquest (claims), nothing economic or religious. It doesn't have that wow factor when you form one of these countries, it lacks a bit of flavor.
Not to mention, you can't even accept all cultures of India. At the very least, Bharat and Hindustan should get a special government reform that allows you to accept all cultures of India.
 
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While the European kingdoms are leaving the Medieval period and starting their centralization to the modern states, the New World these soon-to-be colonizers will discover is already home to other empires. The heart of Mexico is settled by the Nahuatl empire of the Aztecs, led by the great Moctezuma I who aims to centralize the Triple Alliance and establish a realm that drives fear to the hearts of its enemies. The Mayans, once controllers of the jungles of Chiapas and Guatemala have retreated to the Yucatan peninsula. Their once great realm is now splintered into a series of city-states, not all too unlike the Italian domains. In the heights of the Andes reigns the many different Inti kingdoms. One of them, Cusco, will be destined to unify the region under the rule of Pachacuti and his descendants, forming the first Incan Empire.

Welcome to our newest Development Diary for the upcoming DLC. Today, we will take a look at the content for Central and South America - namely the Aztecs, the Mayans, and the Incas. As always, all values you see here are NOT final. So without further ado, let us get started.

First, we shall take a look at Mexico and a few setup changes there:

The Mexico Trade Node has received some additional Centers of Trade, as well as a new province modifier added to a few selected provinces that represent the mining of obsidian. This is, however, only limited to those of the Mesoamerican technology group:

Next are some changes to the country of the Aztecs. They now start with the Empire rank instead of the Kingdom rank and their starting ruler, Moctezuma I, also starts with the guaranteed “Legendary Conqueror” personality trait.

However, the Aztecs were never as centralized as EU4 can realistically depict it. Historically, they were more an alliance of the city-states instead, though Moctezuma I was on his way to centralize the state. As such, the Aztecs also start with a new privilege:

Now let us take a closer look at the mission tree:
View attachment 1088913
Note: Mission icons are still placeholders and will be of course replaced with the proper images for the release.

The mission tree is separated into 3 big chunks. The first block at the very top is about dominating the Mexican region, and as such is the main bulk of your New World conquest. The biggest highlight of this part is the opportunity to buff your Moctezuma progressively more as you continue through your missions.
View attachment 1088914
Note: We might add a Monarch Lifespan modifier to these rewards so your Moctezuma can enjoy his newfound powers for a little bit longer. We also might consider changing his starting situation as a general into an event to further increase his survivability.

The second subtree is all about your government and, of course, your blood tribute to the gods. Some highlights from this part are the following:

Now a few of you might have noticed that certain keywords such as “Blood” and “Mesoamerican Tributaries” have been mentioned. These are part of the new government mechanics the Aztecs will now start with:

The “Demand Sacrifices” peace option always requires a 50% War Score and grants 10 Blood.

Next are the Mesoamerican Tributaries which is a new subject type available to all Mayan and Nahuatl countries. You establish them with a new peace treaty:

They act just like normal tributaries, though you can sacrifice their ruler and you can annex them. On that note, all of your conquest missions in Mesoamerica can be completed via these tributaries or vassals.

Last but not least, the final subtree is all about the economic and military affairs of the Aztecs. I should also probably mention here that there are no Jaguar special units and a tease for them was not intentional whatsoever. With that being said, here are some highlights of these missions:

View attachment 1088923
Note: these missions are more long-term based as you will require some higher advanced technologies to complete them. Also, the Telpochcalli Academy will probably have its Possible Number of Buildings penalty replaced.

Before we move on to the next country, one quick note for all the non-Aztec Nahuatl countries: as there was time for only the Aztec mission tree itself, every Nahuatl country gets a decision to adopt the Aztec mission tree if they conquer the Aztecs and own the Mexico provinces themselves.

Moving on to the Mayans, every Mayan country gets a small mission tree at the start which helps you out for the formation of the Mayan Confederation:
View attachment 1088925
Note: With “Venus” we mean the planet Venus. That was localized before finding the name “Chac Ek” or “Noh Ek” to use instead. Will be fixed before release.

Highlights of these missions are the “The Sign of Venus”, “Campaigning Season” and “Reforming our Society” which have evolving rewards. Every time you unlock a Religious Reform, these three missions get reset (in other words “un-completed”) which allows you to complete them again. Their evolving modifier gets upgraded whenever you complete the missions again.

Another change to the Maya formable is that you now need only 2 Mayan Religious Reforms instead of the full 5. However, forming the Mayas will still be rather painful as whenever you enact a new Religious Reform you get a 5 year penalty to your Manpower Recovery Speed (-10%) and your Harsh Treatment Cost (+100%) which also disables the ability to Increase Autonomy and manually decrease War Exhaustion. You also gain +3 War Exhaustion whenever you undergo a reform.

Once you form the Maya you get the following mission tree:
View attachment 1088926
Note: we are aware of the mission title leaving the GUI here. Will be fixed before the release.

Similar to the Aztec mission tree, the Maya one is about unifying Mesoamerica under your banner, as well as focusing on the economic improvements of your empire.

I will focus now on mentioning some highlights of the mission tree which are the following missions:

With that, we finish the Mayans and will now take a closer look at the Incas. The first thing that needs to be mentioned is that the map of the Andes does NOT get any additional provinces or tags. This also means that there are no new wastelands too. There are, however, some small setup changes. Similar to the Aztecs, Pachacuti starts with the “Legendary Conqueror” personality trait but has been reduced to a 4/3/5 (down from 5/4/6). The missions Cusco has received are similarly structured to the ones of the Aztecs as they buff your starting ruler:

Some early highlights in the mission tree are the following:

The decision to colonize the provinces requires you to defeat the local tribes and have 50 Ducats ready. Using the decision will then start a Frontier Colony in said province, and this decision can go far along the Andes as you can see in the following screenshot:
View attachment 1088932
Note: All the green-striped provinces are ones you can colonize via the decision.

Additionally, you also have access to the following estate privilege:

Once you form Inca you gain the following mission tree as a whole:

While you have the original Cusco missions about the conquest, you also get four additional, smaller subtrees that have their own focus.

The first small subtree is about the Mitma - a policy of forced resettlement of the border provinces. The highlight here is the following reward:

Another subtree is about the religious nature of the Inca, highlighted by the following reward:

You might now notice that “Regenesis of History” mentions “Mummified Rulers”. As you can see, the Incan religion has an interesting and unique quirk which is the fact that your dead ruler is de jure still alive. They get mummified and continue to participate in all of your governmental activities. To represent this in EU4 you will now always trigger the following event upon your ruler’s demise:

The third subtree is about gold, idols, and economy represented by the following mission rewards:
Finally, the last subtree focuses on developing your lands and your military, giving you the following rewards:

And with that, we conclude the Incan missions. However, we are not entirely done as all the aforementioned countries get one mission subtree which is all about the so-called Sunset Invasion:

These missions are always at the very bottom and follow one major theme which is the invasion of Europe and Asia by the American powers - both main culprits of colonizing the new world in many EU4 campaigns.

I won’t go too much into detail with those missions as they are mostly focused on large conquest campaigns. However, some rewards are worth mentioning:

Last but not least, Fatherlorris' comic:

That was it for this week. Thank you all for reading today’s Development Diary! My colleague @Big Boss will continue next week with a DD on the Netherlands, Venice, and Italy.
Cool stuff. I’m in favor of an event that lets you choose whether or not Moctezuma is a general or not.