[2022] Developer Diary - Commonwealth

A lil somethin somethin: You can find the details for this event on the announcement page here.

Dzień dobry! Welcome to today’s developer diary! We will be taking a first look at the new Polish, Lithuanian and Commonwealth trees!

But first, allow me to introduce myself. I am Big Boss, the newest addition to the Content Design team. I started playing Europa Universalis during 2011 and have loved spending time looking at and painting maps since then. More recently, I have been working on several mods, so some of you may know me from my work there. I am genuinely very excited to share with you all the hard work the team has been putting into this update and praise the immense amounts of support I have received from my new colleagues and mentors! As we delve into this developer diary, please keep in mind that the icons and event images as well as numbers displayed are by no means final!

The beginning of the game finds Poland rudderless, with her King, who maintained a union over Lithuania, Hungary and Croatia, having died a mere day earlier, after risking his fate against the Ottomans at the battlefield of Varna. Thus, Poland starts at a quite precarious state: a vacant throne, the Nobility’s Golden Liberty in full effect, and surrounded by powerful neighbors. At the same time, the Ottomans in the South and the Muscovites in the East are taking great steps to consolidate and expand their domain.



So what’s new for Poland? For starters, they have access to two new T1 Government reforms. The first one is the Great Sejm reform, granted to them at game start:



Bear in mind that any and all numbers you see in this Developer Diary are strictly work-in-progress and are subject to change, especially in response to valuable feedback from the community!

The second T1 reform is a special reform for Poland upon accepting the Union with Lithuania:



Unlike the Great Sejm reform, the Polish Elective Monarchy grants the ability to elect various princes to the throne, a steeper absolutism malus and, similarly to the Great Sejm, it enables the Parliament and grants a reduced Unrest bonus.

Speaking of the union with Lithuania, it should be noted that some changes were made to that event. Now, it will fire even if Lithuania is a player. A Player Lithuania will be able to decline, but AI Lithuania will always accept. This was done in order to further facilitate the idea that Poland and Lithuania make a great co-op campaign, which is also complimented by both mission trees granting bonuses that follow the spirit of cooperation between the two nations. Here’s how the new event plays out:





To further immerse the players into the gravity of their choices, I went ahead and added a few dynamic missions for Poland, based on your choice between the local noble or the Lithuanian PU. Accepting the Lithuanian union will lead you towards developing the Lithuanian core as well as elevating their nation financially and (later on) artistically as you prepare them for the eventual integration:





This branch ends with you declaring the Imperial Commonwealth, which grants a powerful temporary bonus:



On the other side, declining the PU with Lithuania will grant you the path that leads you towards the West via entering the Empire, leading it and passing reforms.



Note: You will still receive claims on Lithuania and be able to form the Commonwealth!
The first mission’s reward is an event for the current Emperor to admit you in the Empire:



This path will also contain new and innovative rewards such as the new modifier ‘Reasons to Elect’:



The final mission for the Imperial path of the West will imbue Poland with a sizeable bonus to their Imperial Authority Gain as well as extra Diplomatic skills for her ruler.

Main Body of the Polish Tree
Addressing the aftermath of the Varna crusade will have a profound impact on the rest of the missions further below. Opting to pursue friendship with Hungary and/or Bohemia will lead both parties to a shared sphere of prosperity, historical friendship and powerful bonuses to last as long as the alliance is maintained. However, should you choose to rival and become antagonistic towards them, the reward will switch to a PU CB / Permanent Claims based on the country’s union eligibility. To be clear; you can pursue friendship with one of them and antagonize the other, the choice rests entirely with you!



Internally, Poland needs to address the growing influence of the nobility. Regarding that, in the mission ‘Leverage the Magnates’, you are granted the opportunity to cooperate with them and win their favor via great concessions or directly oppose them. Keep in mind that due to their tremendous influence, opposing them is quite difficult. Working alongside them will reduce the cost of Parliamentary Bribes (which will be increased by default for 1.34) and grants a small Loyalty bonus until you pass further legislation as the Commonwealth to reduce their authority. Alternatively, if you dare to oppose their authority, you will gain an event to face a major uprising of Magnates that will also reward you with a unique new modifier:





The missions directly below it follow the turbulent history of Poland and will have you attempt to pass legislation and reform the government by undoing nobility influence. Choosing to oppose the nobles in the mission shown above will also impact the following few missions!

The mission ‘Great Sejm’ will unlock a new personality type ‘Reformist’ which grants more reform progress growth as well as new unique Parliamentary Issues for Poland! The new personality can be assigned to all rulers with at least 4 Administrative Skill.

Resolving the matter of Hungary and Bohemia will yield dynamic rewards based on whether you completed them via conquest or diplomacy. This also impacts the reward for ‘Balance the Princely Lands’:



Moving on, you will also be tasked with harnessing the Polish Renaissance, dealing with the Piasts of Mazovia and developing Krakow:





On the Conquest front, you will be led towards quelling Roman’s Rebellion in the South and seizing control of Wallachia, raising troops from nobility strongholds and assisting the Prussian Confederation:







Note: Assisting the Danzig merchants may lead to the formation of Royal Prussia as a subject under the Polish crown which will have its own few missions to break free from your hold!

Of course, the Polish tree holds many many more cool new additions, events and rewards and they are up to you to discover!

Finally, Poland (and the Commonwealth in general) will have access to a new special unit, the Winged Hussars! I am very excited to finally talk about this new unit.

• They will be available for Poland and PLC via a national idea
  
• In our current build you may recruit 1 Winged Hussar per 100 Development
  
• They come armed with +1 Cavalry Shock and +100% Reinforcement Cost
  
• They are further empowered by your choices in the mission tree!

The Winged Hussars have arrived!

As a side note, we currently have not chosen yet what colour the Carolean and Hussar unitbox will have. Janissaries are red, Cossacks are orange. Feel free to suggest potential colours!

The Lithuanian Mission Tree
Alongside Poland, Lithuania will be getting her very own missions. It builds upon the old mission tree and greatly expands it, honing and improving upon the unique aspects of playing as Lithuania:



Among the highlights of the Lithuanian tree are the ability to call upon a host of Cossacks, new unique T1 Government reforms (yes, plural!) and the potential to utilize the Tribes Estate for a limited time.







Alongside these new additions, Lithuania will gain access to new events and flavor:



If you choose to remain as Lithuania for a little longer beyond Administrative Tech 10, we made sure to accommodate your stay with flavorful missions that will entice you to stick around a while in order to get all the rewards and complete the tree:



The Commonwealth
Building upon the solid foundation that is the Polish mission tree, Commonwealth missions originally appear as part of the Polish tree, marked as “Locked Missions”. Unlike other formables, we took the creative decision to showcase the Commonwealth tree to the Polish player, before accessing it. The reason behind this is to prepare the player for whatever challenges and requirements the PLC missions will ask for and ensure the player is not caught off guard.

Thus, if you hover your mouse over the Locked Missions, you will see the requirements as well as potential rewards beforehand.

Now that’s out of the way, let’s take a look at some of the missions we have in store for the Commonwealth, starting with this one, my favorite, ‘A Lifetime of War’:





Note; Since the mission only requires one of the listed requirements for it to be completed, you may see fewer choices in your version of the event, based on which way you choose to complete the mission. Shape and sharpen your army the way you want to!

Note: Please be aware that these numbers are not final!

A PLC tree would not be complete without its ‘Invest in Eastern Poland’ Mission, which requires you to have 40 provinces with a manufactory or a level 3 Center of Trade and either 40% Global Trade Goods Produced or 7 ‘Trading-in’ Bonuses. Here is the reward:



Following in the steps made before forming the PLC, and after completing the Great Sejm mission, you will gain access to flavor missions that will assist you in passing and repealing the Articles of Agreement (Pacta Conventa) and even rewriting them completely from scratch, with more favorable terms on the behest of the monarch, if you chose to oppose the Magnates in a previous mission:



The conclusion of the major flavor part of the tree is the mission ‘Dominate the Markets’ which grants a new mechanic we made specifically for the PLC, the ability to reset or extend a Golden Era:





External Affairs of the Commonwealth
No major mission tree would be complete without a robust conquest path. That much is true for the PLC, which will be granted missions, a new Casus Belli and even gain Streltsy as a one-time reward from one of their missions:







Moving on, ‘Prevent the Deluge’ will task you with dealing with whoever the ruler of Scandinavia is, be it Sweden or anyone else. You may deal with them in a multitude of ways, including diplomacy or conquest. Should you choose to approach Sweden diplomatically, both nations will be positively impacted by a wave of prosperity. Sweden will gain +25% increased production for its metals and historical friendship while you will gain direct access to Scandinavian copper and iron, reducing your overall military costs:



The final conquest mission for the Commonwealth will set you up to become a supreme great power, requiring you to be a hegemon and have a tremendous amount of development under your belt:



Note: Development Efficiency’s number will be green in the final build!

The philosophy of the PLC missions is that of a tree whose content should last the average player till around the 1700s at the very least, so expect a lot of hard work and very worthwhile rewards from every single mission in this tree!

While we are on the subject of the Commonwealth, I would like to showcase some new implementations that the team worked hard for. As I mentioned above, the PLC will now enjoy a lot of new content including 2 different sets of National Ideas. One for nations whose primary culture is Lithuanian and one whose primary culture is not Lithuanian (namely Poland as an example):

Polish PLC Ideaset:

PLC_ideas = {
start = {
nobles_loyalty_modifier = 0.1
num_accepted_cultures = 2
}

bonus = {
monthly_reform_progress_modifier = 0.25
}

trigger = {
tag = PLC
NOT = { primary_culture = lithuanian }
}
free = yes

plc_prosperous_folwarks = {
global_trade_goods_size_modifier = 0.10
}
pol_jagiellonian_university = {
idea_cost = -0.10
}
plc_the_obrona_potoczna = {
drill_gain_modifier = 0.25
army_tradition = 1
}
pol_winged_hussars = {
cavalry_power = 0.3
can_recruit_hussars = yes
}
plc_refine_our_golden_liberty = {
monarch_admin_power = 1
}
pol_royal_guards = {
infantry_power = 0.10
}
plc_tempered_by_neighbors = {
discipline = 0.05
}
}

Lithuanian PLC Ideaset:

PLC_LIT_ideas = {
start = {
global_manpower_modifier = 0.25
tolerance_heretic = 3
}

bonus = {
governing_capacity_modifier = 0.15
}

trigger = {
tag = PLC
primary_culture = lithuanian
}
free = yes

warlord_dukes = {
max_hostile_attrition = 1
}
plc_tempered_by_neighbors = {
discipline = 0.05
}
new_magdeburg_laws = {
development_cost = -0.1
global_trade_goods_size_modifier = 0.05
}
reciprocal_guarantee_of_two_nations = {
all_estate_loyalty_equilibrium = 0.05
diplomatic_annexation_cost = -0.15
}
lithuanian_hussars = {
cavalry_power = 0.2
can_recruit_hussars = yes
}
statutes_of_lithuania = {
global_unrest = -2
}
lithuanian_renaissance = {
technology_cost = -0.05
}
}
I am at your disposal for any questions you may have about the trees, as I’d love to read and answer your feedback, and also feel free to suggest tweaks as well. Thank you for taking the time to read my very first Developer Diary! Next week my colleague Ogele will come back, to talk about some sea-related new content.