14 DAY TRIAL // The team at the Paradox Development Studio working on Europa Universalis IV is currently making the final changes to the soon to launch Wealth of Nations expansion, but it is also ready to deliver a major set of balance changes via a 1.6 patch that will be free for all those who already own the title.
Maybe the biggest modification is made to the Aggressive Expansion mechanics and the studio wants to make wars more realistic when it comes to their pace and how borders are likely to change.
The company explains on the official forums that, “vassalization now gives AE based on the number of provinces held by the country that is vassalized, though the AE gained from vassalizing is still lower than that you would get from conquering. A number of ideas and policies have also gained a new modifier called Aggressive Expansion Impact, which lowers the amount of AE you take from signing peace deals.”
Paradox also says that the stats of almost all land units included in Europa Universalis IV are changed in order to make the grand strategy title more balanced and lessen the impact that tech can have in the game.
Nations that choose to Westernize now keep their tech group units and some groups have been tweaked in order to peak at different times.
Europa Universalis IV will also include more powerful rebels, especially in newly conquered territories, which makes diplomatic annexation a better alternative, although it has also been changed to use diplomatic points.
Early colonization for the likes of Castile and Portugal has also been slowed down a little to give other powers a chance to grab some overseas territories and the administrative efficiency of countries is now improved to make it easier to gain colonial cores.
Paradox also offers info about buildings and the enhanced role of religion.
The Artificial Intelligence of other countries is also better than before, with the team adding, “the importance AI places on trust has been increased considerably, with AI nations much less likely to turn on a highly trusted ally. The way you make the AI trust you has also been reworked - it's no longer enough to be allied for a long time, you have to actually fight in their wars and give them things they want in your wars if you want the AI to trust you.”
Patch 1.6 for Europa Universalis IV also makes the AI smarter when it comes to wars and peace settlements.
Paradox also says that a lot of Dynamical Historical Events are tweaked to offer an improved experience.
Wealth of Nations and patch 1.6 will be out on May 29.