Victoria3 — Beginner’s Tips

Strategy Guide
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This page will mainly provide tips and information for those who are new to the Victoria series or those who have not yet played this title.

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What should I do at the beginning?

This title has a well-designed tutorial in the form of tips with actual play, so it is a good idea to start with that.

In the tutorial, you can choose any nation you like, but at first, you should study in a moderately sized civilized country, not a famous major power (British Empire, France, or the United States).

Conditions of a country suitable for beginners

The main conditions of a nation for beginners are the following

Not being a major power

As anyone who has played the game knows, powers are undeniably involved in battles in other countries’ wars and events.
Incidentally, the early powers are the British Empire, France, Prussia, Austria, and the Russian Empire, so it is best to avoid these countries.

no major powers nearby

The Ottoman Empire would quickly come to mind as a great power that was less than the powers of the time.
However, this country is not recommended because of the constant danger of war.
For the same reason, countries facing the powers, such as Bavaria, or countries cut off in history, such as Qing, should also be avoided the first time.

Some degree of economic power.

If a country has a large economy, it is difficult to feel that your actions are reflected in the economy.
On the other hand, countries with small economic power (small countries) have a much tougher economy, and the level of difficulty jumps dramatically.
Therefore, it is correct to choose a country with moderate economic power.

Countries suitable for beginners

Taking these conditions into account, the following countries are recommended.

Brazil

It is at war in the early stage, but since the opponent is an extremely small country, it can be ended quickly.
While it is safe to learn how to wage war, it is recommended to do whatever it takes because it is the most powerful country in South America after the end of the war.
However, don’t just pick a fight with the powers because of the proximity of their colonies.

Sweden

The home country of Paradox, the developer of this game. The key points are a high literacy rate and easy access to research.
Prussia and Russia are nearby, but you can easily avoid them by establishing friendly relations with the surrounding countries, so you can play it relatively safe if you pay attention to diplomacy.

Argentina

No belligerent countries in the vicinity, so it is safe to play.
On the other hand, it is not a powerful country, so it may be a little difficult to fight a war.

What to do immediately after starting

Once the game starts, let’s do the following before we move forward in time.

  1. select a technology
  2. build the construction sector
  3. check the market
  4. declare interest

select a technology

The economy is quite important in this title.
Therefore, unless there is something special, it is correct to proceed with production-related technologies.
However Basically, adhere to the chronology, since technologies are assigned a chronology and research prior to that chronology will be penalized.

  • Period I: before 1836
  • Period II: 1836~1850
  • Period III: 1850~1870
  • Period IV: Second Industrial Revolution
  • Period V: World War I period

Incidentally, research completed by other countries is automatically propagated. At worst, there is no problem in leaving un-researched technologies, especially those that are not necessary for one’s own country, unattended.

Naturally, research conducted by one’s own country is naturally subject to this system, and research conducted by one’s own country will flow out to foreign countries. This means that “even if you work hard to complete research on technology in future years, other countries can unlock it through propagation without research. It is not recommended to research next year’s technology, but not to research technology several years from now as it is not effective from this point of view.

build the construction sector

These facilities are necessary for building construction.
It is also advisable to build them all over the place, as simply constructing these will benefit the state.
However, each construction incurs a cost, so it is advisable to increase the number of facilities little by little, depending on the balance with finances. (It is recommended to build a few at first.)

check the market

Let’s check the surplus and shortage of goods in your country.
When building factories or expanding the scale of farms, priority should be given to those facilities that are necessary to produce the goods that are in short supply in your country.
In addition, it is necessary to check for shortages of raw materials for industrial products other than raw materials, as there are cases where raw materials are in short supply due to the production of those products.
Incidentally, do not build in the dark, but always build only what you need now or facilities that you will need soon in the future.
If you build in the dark, not only will economic development be delayed, as market prices will fall and you will be in the red, but you will also be hamstrung, which can lead to financial ruin.

declare interest

“Declaring interest” is necessary to occupy the land or to interfere with other countries.
War is not everything, but occupation of another country may be necessary as part of economic activities, so be sure to declare interest so that you can interfere in that area.

Points that beginners should pay attention to

The following is a list of points that beginners should be aware of.
Please note that this is only for beginners, as it may not apply to those who are more experienced.

Economic Activity

Build from what you need in your own country

This may be especially confusing to those who have played past titles, but in this title, trade basically takes place in each country’s own domestic market.
In other words, if you are in the U.S., you trade only in the U.S. domestic market for goods produced in the U.S. domestic market.
In addition, they will make individual contracts with the markets of other countries for imports and exports, but since this consumes bureaucracy, it is not possible to make many contracts, and it is basically useless.
Therefore, it is better to first prioritize products that can be sold in the home market.

Do not manufacture products that have no destination for consumption

This goes along with the above discussion, but the price of products that have no use will plummet, and the pop who work there will not see their income increase, leading to a vicious cycle that will not lead to tax revenues.
For this reason, let’s produce only what is necessary.

Raise pop’s standard of living

As you can easily imagine, the more money pops have, the more luxury goods they purchase.
In other words, the more money you have, the greater the demand for luxury goods, and the greater the income of the pops involved in the production of luxury goods.
This creates a cycle of increased tax revenue.

The number of peasants should be reduced to zero as much as possible

Peasants will be self-sufficient. In other words, they produce only their share, consume only their share, and do little economic activity.
For this reason, they can be said to be extremely low-value pop, so let them engage in some kind of productive activity as much as possible.
In order to engage these pop in productive activities, it is necessary to build some kind of production facilities and put them to work.
However, each facility has its own qualifications for employment, so they may not always be able to work at the facility of their choice.

Priority is given to upgrading buildings rather than constructing new ones

Since higher level facilities provide production bonuses, it is preferable to specialize in specific buildings instead of constructing the same buildings in various states.

Military and colonial activities

Preparation in advance is important for war

It is no exaggeration to say that there is very little that can be manipulated in war in this work.
Therefore, how well you can prepare in advance is important.
Preparation means the quality of equipment (research), the number of soldiers, the availability of allies, etc. None of these factors can be solved immediately, so it is important to be careful.

The quality of soldiers is important

In combat, the number of soldiers is important, but even more important is their quality.
For example, it is obvious who is stronger, a regular army equipped with state-of-the-art rifles and artillery or peasants armed with flintlock rifles.
First, let’s equip them with state-of-the-art weapons, and then expand them in numbers.

Settlements will not be too extensive

Settling more than one place at a time will reduce the speed of settlement per place, and as a result, you will be at a disadvantage when competing with other countries.
For this reason, it is advisable to focus on as few settlements as possible, except for those that you do not want to be taken.

Do not settle in the same state

One of the reasons for starting a war is that other countries are settling in the same state.
Therefore, it is important not to settle in the same state in order to avoid war.
On the other hand, it is possible to use this as a reason to start a war, so if you want to fight, you may dare to settle in the same state.

These are the points that beginners should remember when playing.
If I think of any more important points, I will write them down.
If you are an advanced player and have noticed anything, please contact me!