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Wondering how to win when starting as Brandenburg in Europa Universalis 5? Here’s a guide to help you succeed in your playthrough.
The Electorate of Brandenburg in Europa Universalis 5 is one of many states that have received more narrative content than in the previous title in this series. It is located in the northeastern lowlands of Germany, with Berlin as the capital when you take over. While your primary task is to survive long enough to form the Kingdom of Prussia, there are many historical challenges you have to overcome first.
While it’s not a very difficult state to manage, some early-game historical events can instantly end your run if not checked in time. To help you out, here’s how you can win when playing as Brandenburg in Europa Universalis 5.
Overview of Brandenburg in Europa Universalis 5
When you start as the Electorate of Brandenburg in Europa Universalis 5, your main goal is to survive long enough to form the Kingdom of Prussia. During the early game, you are essentially loved by every surrounding state and area. However, your primary problems are the absence of a monarchy and the Wittelsbacher Neglect debuff, which appears very early on.
If you survive the initial historical events, the rest of the playthrough becomes a lot easier with a little bit of preparation and planning. That said, here’s what you have to do:
Early Game Strategy
Fix Existing Problems
At the start of your playthrough, pause the game to stop time and start taking the following actions to improve your starting condition:
- Assign different Cabinet members to improve some of the negative stats. One of the most important ones is Stability, which requires someone with high Administrative power.
- For your early game advances, queue up the following research:
- Organized Religion
- Guilds
- Classic Scholasticism
- Universal Christianity
- Peasant Connections
- Master Masons
- Clearing of Terrain
- Expanded Archives
- Improve your relations with most of the neighbours. You have marketplaces right from the start, so you can start trading for extra income.
- Revoke the Communal Lands privilege from the Commoners to start moving toward Centralization, as it provides Crown Power later on in the playthrough.
- Reform your Government to support Autocracy, as it provides a 10% boost to Crown Power gain.
Once you are done, unpause the game to start obtaining events that shape your entire run.
Wittelsbacher Neglect
The Wittelsbacher Neglect is a debuff you obtain from “The von Wittelsbach of Brandenburg” event, which appears almost immediately when you unpause. It lowers the gain of many vital stats, such as Control and Legitimacy. There are two ways to remove this:
- Remove all the members of the von Wittelsbach dynasty from ruling the country.
- Trigger “The von Wittelsbach vitalize Brandenburg”.
It is recommended to wait a month and let this event pass, as the first scenario is highly likely. However, you can also get events related to the von Wittelsbach that can give you points that lead to the second outcome.
Unfortunately, getting the debuff means you lose Control over most of your regions, which you need to slowly gain back. Start from your Capital and move your Cabinet member to slowly gain Control in your core regions.
Mid Game Strategy
Build Markets
Now that you are somewhat stable after the initial events, start building markets to boost your economy. If you have any allies, it’s best to begin opening trade routes with them to generate significant early-game income. Additionally, when you start expanding later on, most regions will stop trading with you. It is recommended to start in the south and spread out in one direction when making allies.
Prepare to Expand
To eventually become the Kingdom of Prussia, you need to meet several requirements before the year 1500 or begin expanding to claim more regions. Remember, once you start expanding, all neighboring regions will turn hostile, so you must prepare your standing army in advance to defend against enemy attacks.
If you have surplus money, it is recommended to hire mercenaries so your army can focus on attacking nearby regions.
Also Read: 5 Major Differences In Europa Universalis 5 (EU5) vs Europa Universalis 4
Late Game Strategy
Expand and Stabilize
Once you’ve completed all preparations, start from the northern locations and expand outward. Note that when you capture a new area, you inherit all the stats from that location, which are mostly debts and food shortages caused by the war. Therefore, take your time rebuilding important structures and avoid going into debt by spending money to fix up new regions.
Form Prussia
When you trigger the event that finally allows you to form Prussia from Brandenburg, it’s the best choice you can make in your playthrough. The game opens up considerably, as Prussia becomes a proper country with a much larger tech tree than Brandenburg. Moreover, it has many new events for the Europa Universalis 5 campaign.
Finally, you can expand across the world like any other late-game nation when playing as Prussia. The only thing to remember is to keep researching new technologies, as your enemies can easily overtake you if you slow down your research progress.
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