EU4 Guide: Essential Military Idea Groups

In this video guide we will cover all 7 of the Military ideas in eu4, exploring the advantages and disadvantages of each group. If you're looking for an eu4 guide on the best and most useful idea groups you're in the right place - check out the diplomatic and administrative idea guides for more information.
Want to support my channel and vote for future videos? Check out my Patreon, here: / alzabohd
Special thanks to the following Patreon users who support me:
Andrew Bach, Charles Nadeau, Dante Killebrew, Io Moore, Jack, Kim Harder Fog, Nicholas Walker, Numan Baran Buyukbay, Paul Hutchison, Peter Hayward, Shamir Khodza, Shinde Miya
The music used in this video are "Dreams" by Jaokim Karud, "Lights" by Sappheiros, "A Cruce Victoria", "Eire" and "At The Gates of Constantinople" from the EU4 OST.
All music is owned and copyrighted under their respective owners. Europa Universalis IV is a grand strategy games published by Paradox Interactive. All rights reserved.
tags:
#europauniversalis4, #eu4, #eu4guide

[@AlzaboHD]

It's FINALLY here! If you are interested in seeing the other idea groups - Diplomatic and Administrative - they are available in the EU4 guide playlist section. What videos would you like to see in the future? Stay tuned for more content next week!

[@IronWolf123]

Best Colonial ideas

[@prime7AOE]

I think you underate aristocratics +1 To siege on leaders this gives at least a comparable Bonus to 20% siege ability and can be better because its far more likely sou Start St positive Chance even on lategame forts

[@Albiorix]

I would like to see videos where you detail which combination of idea groups are best for what given start, by using examples available in the game. For example, what is best to pick as france? What is best to pick as a denmark? What is best to pick as any country with similar characteristics to Taungoo? Also, I would like to see a generic overview of which units are better than the rest. Does an offensive morale pip benefit me more than a deffensive shock pip overall? That sort of things.

[@HoboBrute]

@@prime7AOE fully agreed, I was surprised he didnt mention it. Seiging forts is the biggest potential time consumer when going for WC, and given how highly he based ideas before based on their ability to help in WC's, I figured he would have given aristocrat at least something of a bone

[@betelguese18]

@Henry Calvert Also talk about which idea could be better on early game, middle game and late game.

[@seamuspink9098]

140% Discipline Prussia: "That's not even my final form"

[@sreckocuvalo8110]

*Starts dumping Sword mana into militarization*

[@Ben-qs9fw]

Sebastian Marquez the most discipline I've ever got as Prussia was 155%

[@zookkee1189]

I fear no man... but that thing... It scares me -Any nation in the same continent of Prussia, ever

[@boldizsarbajnoczi7586]

Having prussia as emperor really sucks...

[@abdelrahmanwael2551]

It's so fucking absurd

[@FoeReaper]

" If you ARE a pirate republic.." *shows Somali* Had me rolling

[@stevepickford3004]

Racist stereotype

[@FoeReaper]

@@stevepickford3004 bro you have the name of a fallout new vegas NPC shut up

[@stevepickford3004]

@@FoeReaper

[@harz632]

Don't forget that Army tradition boosts Morale 100 army tradition +10% Recover army morale speed +25% Morale of armies +10% Manpower recovery speed +5% Siege ability The 1 yearly together with forts should leave you at a resting 20-25 Army tradition giving a quarter of these bonuses which means 5-6% more morale and it decays slower so you will keep the bonuses longer. Also Offensive and defensive should be renamed into Tactical and Strategic

[@Kairac112]

I'm curious, does fighting rebels actually increase army tradition? Because if so, you can pretty much exploit rebels with lowering autonomy, which also helps absolutism and maintains army tradition. But I haven't tested that, barely 500 h in the game.

[@Kairac112]

@@harz632 Sorry, I don't speak german.

[@harz632]

@@Kairac112 No idea why i switched to german there. Yes and no, winning doesnt give much tradition losing does tho, so in order to do it you would have to lose lots of fights, wich costs presitge and manpower.

[@dexterzplace5553]

so does the extra prestige from land battles

[@rommelcandiani6358]

@@Kairac112 i have checked and yes, fighting rebels give you amry tradition but not that much

[@psychic_beth]

Naval is hilariously fun as Japan, you can just have an impenetrable island and keep bullying Ming for money (they will DOW you a lot but you can just blockade to 25% warscore and take their money over and over)

[@Jouzou87]

Blockade also causes devastation which in turn causes Mandate of Heaven to drop. Fun times all around! (if you're not China, that is)

[@meandmetoo8436]

If you go exploration, a united Japan as a larger naval force limit than Ming already.

[@theplumbum82]

Doing it as a Japan united under So (without actually forming Japan) is even better, given you're the only Pirate Republic in the area and there's tons of rich island provinces (including the Spice Islands and Taiwan, the latter of which really enables you to bully Ming for money) to colonise whilst being unassailable behind your wooden wall.

[@candyonion]

"The Liberation Act", huh? Top1 pick for US that's for sure

[@MouseDestruction]

Quantity gets the most respect from the AI in diplomacy. The extra man power and troop limit has the biggest effect on your power rating of any ideas I think. Low power troops get mowed by any country with a combat bonus though.

[@Kairac112]

Quantity is great for large blobs like France or Russia. But I think having someone with quality ideas as your ally really tips the balance. Prussia and Oda/Shimazu Japan should always pick quality over quantity.

[@Jaskiify]

@@Kairac112 why not both lol

[@Kairac112]

@@Jaskiify *mindblowndude.gif*

[@Johnny3Batony]

France with Quantity, Admin, Diplo and Quality/Offensive os a fucking beast

[@Bradley2806]

@@Kairac112 nah quality with russia isnt that good imo. Unless you are earning a ton of money, youre never getting up to force limit.

[@mjameshenry]

Not sure why you complimented plutocratic's +33% manpower policy but completely skipped over the exact same bonus in aristocratic ideas. You also called +1 siege pip an "incredibly rare and useful bonus" when talking about offensive policies but again completely ignored it when talking about aristocratic ideas. It's like you have some kind of weird grudge against the idea group.

[@nickc4063]

mjameshenry yeah and the -10% cost to mil almost pay for the idea in saved mil points.

[@AroundTheBest]

Aristocratic also gets a +33% manpower policy (on top of the 33% idea). In fact, aristocratic has some of the best early game policies. When taken 3rd with admin/innovative and exploration/influence, aristocratic is the only military group offering 3 free policies. The diplomat means you can do without diplomatic ideas.

[@tjaenig]

@@nickc4063 But you still use a slot that you could use on a stronger idea group.

[@Quintaner]

It’s not that he has a weird grudge, it’s that aristocratic just doesn’t give very good bonuses. If you look at plutocratic vs aristocratic, plutocratic gives a merchant instead of a diplomat, it gives mercenary discipline instead of just available mercs, the morale of armies instead of a usually pretty useless cavalry combat modifier, and a foods produced modifier, which if you anything about eu4 economy, is probably the single most important modifier, as goods produced also creates trade power. So we see that plutocratic does the jack of all trades idea group thing far better, and when stacked up against other military idea groups, aristocratic just doesn’t provide enough military bonuses. Even for nations that want cavalry, that extra 20% cav combat policy requires espionage ideas, so it’s basically dead in the water.

[@mjameshenry]

@@Quintaner Yeah, plutocratic absolutely has good ideas, but aristocratic does too, and he completely skipped over them. He didn't even mention them. It's like he was selectively ignoring evidence to make a case, which struck me as very strange and out of character for Alzabo.

[@veganstoiclinuxwarriormonk8187]

if you're playing on very hard, quantity is tier 1 just so you can get some respect in diplomacy actions.

[@michaelpothoven1041]

If AI paid attention to army quality, I would get the alliance every time 🙄

[@adrianrosicki3016]

@@michaelpothoven1041 it does but it values quantity more, as far as I know looking at militaty score comparation is best (cuz its only one we have) indicator

[@norbertzagozdzon1433]

I play without it. I can kill Otto as Spain with 70k troops to 300k

[@ironfreddy3192]

@@norbertzagozdzon1433 I had defensive and offensive as Mughals when Ottomans attacked me. My 100k vs their 300k (they only had quantity from military idea group and we were both at tech 18). They kept attacking me and my armies won every time. First year of the war and they already lost 200k troops and I only lost 40k. I lost the war. Why? One mistake cause my army to get caught by two of theirs and I lost 40k more troops. My manpower pool was 100k. I had no manpower after one more battle and they still had 200k troops. So, despite my superior army (100% professionalism as well) I lost because they kept throwing manpower at me and they had plenty of it. Offensive, Quantity and Quality are my go to combo for pretty much every nation, especially large expansioning ones like Ottomans, Mughals, France etc. You won't have cash problems as those nations either.

[@brianvieane3907]

@@norbertzagozdzon1433 you have to play slower though without quantity generally.

[@micgalovic]

Aristocratic is actually solid idea group. Leader siege pip is incredibly strong and 33% national manpower modifier is usually good enough to keep your manpower above 0. Quantity is often too much in my experience, you simply can't waste so much manpower in mid and end game. Monthly autonomy change is also a sweet modifier and it's hard to get. I really like the group.

[@meinnase]

It only has 3 useless ideas, AT decay, cav combat and available mercs (although the last one can be nice, i pick aristocratic in a britain game once, because i pretty much only had colonies and trade companys resulting in like 80k manpower with 500 forcelimit lol). Its definitely better than Quality if you dont go Innovative imo.

[@leviathan5530]

aristocratic underated for sure

[@orangesilver8]

@@meinnase Army tradition decay reduction is nice. You get extra army tradition. Yay.

[@meinnase]

@@orangesilver8 Yeah but i scales horrible, i didnt really try to understand the math but 1% decay reduction is like .1% tradition gain, thats like building a single fort in a mid sized nation.

[@meinnase]

@@orangesilver8 Found a chart: www.reddit.com/r/eu4/comments/56soxz/sustainable_army_tradition_chart/ it isnt as bad as i thought at high army tradition gain, but its still much worse than pure gain modifiers.

[@aidbotwoody939]

This is something of a weird point to bring up but I've found that Naval ideas are actually not terrible for nations in colonial regions that are vulnerable to Britain just paratroupering in 40k troupes. It helped when I ran Kilwa and also helped as the Phillipines though both are pretty niche on the grander scale of things

[@AlzaboHD]

You make a great point. If you can neutralize the enemy from ever landing in your territory, naval ideas are actually pretty useful. The only problem is bankrolling an economy powerful enough to maintain the heavy + light ships needed to overpower Britain + Spain or any other Euro power. I'm guessing those gold mines really helped out!

[@aidbotwoody939]

@@AlzaboHD The Europeans are pretty braindead a lot of the time and Britain for example will almost never take the bulk of its heavy ships from their own coastline

[@brianvieane3907]

I was thinking about trying naval ideas for a run. It's just the money problem. It's viable later game but otherwise I think quality or Maritime if trying to boost navy if you want too. Navy is more of a money game or a national ideas game imo.

[@redoputra1611]

@@brianvieane3907 I used naval as pasai and Ternate, it synchronised well with trade-oriented nations, especially in archipelago. I formed Malaya and manage 500 ships in mid-game which generates trade power (translates to more money and naval tradition) big enough to cover naval maintenance, even when you're go over the limit 😁

[@brianvieane3907]

@@redoputra1611 I agree that it can be good it's just very situational, like you were Malaya, which benefits a lot from ships. Others would be Japan, pirates, and like potentially a Venice or Genoa roleplaying game. I still think it's a second military idea group imo. Then light ships are bad until you get early frigates/frigates(mid game) If you went persay, maritime->naval->economic you're land forces would suffer fairly much unless you have national ideas to supplement your land army.

[@Times_Ticking]

Well done! Paradox could greatly enhance the game with some basic naval game aspect improvements! Game covers the age of sail!!!!

[@Blinks77]

Until and unless they put in supply lines Naval and Maritime ideas are always going to be bad picks. It's the age of sail, but all the forts to siege down are on land.

[@JohnSmith-bs9ym]

@@Blinks77 Naval aspect is really boring. Doesn't matter what you do with it. I would rather have the simplified boring shit we have now than the sophisticated boring shit that requires extra clicks.

[@AroundTheBest]

Aristocratic is underrated. When taken 3rd, after a combo of either innovative/administrative and exploration/influence you can get 3 free policies. The extra diplomat can be extremely helpful if you aren't using the diplomatic ideas.

[@vicentgalvan70]

Aristocratic is quite good overall. You can't really go wrong in the military ideas with the notable exception of naval ideas.

[@AroundTheBest]

@@vicentgalvan70 I actually dislike quantity and think quality is only good when innovative is taken. Quantity is great if you're Russia or if you plan on building tons of infantry, otherwise it's rather expensive to hit the higher force limit. Quantity's first two ideas are it's most useful by a wide margin.

[@MYPSYAI]

Polish ideas, Prussian govt, cossack estates, aristocratic ideas. You will break the game - cav only ottoman shtackwipe

[@andriyfadyeyenko4907]

"Almost everyone in MP picks defensive first" In my experience, the better the player, the more likely they are to go quality first. Defensive is possibly the best on its own and has a nice frontload but once you fill out the second group, quality-economic (or even quality-innovative) will dominate defensive-x due to far superior policies. Picking defensive first also means either a) ignoring quality ideas, which is the best idea group in the game with policies, b) putting off offensive for the last, which is questionable, or c) missing out on the quantity-economic policy and not being able to dev as efficiently as your opponents.

[@triggerhappy124421]

I will say i love taking naval ideas as an island nation or a colonial empire outside of Europe so i can kick Britain or the rest of the colonial powers teeth in. I did a phillipine tiger run where i was fighting several great powers that were bigger than me at once by making all my mainland territory vassals on scutage and then using my heavies to prevent anyone from reaching my homeland. I dont think i have used the various naval missions as often as i did in that run

[@janosv5401]

Congratz on such a quality work, you have put a very nice amount into it, well done!

[@thomassmithcozyambience7908]

i think quantity is a really good idea.The 50% army limit modifier can be awesome.In a France campain i had an army limit of 850 and i was unstopable.Coalitions were just mild incoviniences since my army was just too big and the game couldnt give me a rival as i had a 70% bigger army than the strongest nations.

[@Ulas_Aldag]

Offensive+ humanist with the policy means no rebellions anymore. It´s perfect for the age of absolutism

[@VenomousSpyro]

I go Offensive + Humanist every single game. It is too good.

[@empireempire3545]

I find your Humanism offensive.

[@Vincrand]

@Chicken Permission -1 unrest and 5 years of seperatism. This combined with the things humanism already gives ensures you will have minimal rebel spawns.

[@Vincrand]

I used to do this until they nerfed humanism's tollerance. Now I only do this when the country I play has other modifiers for tollerance vs heathens or religious unity. Without other modifiers you'll end up with a low religious unity if you blob a lot. Therefor I take religious nowadays. I'm nearly guaranteed rebels will spawn one time, but after they are converted they won't ever spawn again.

[@brianvieane3907]

They are good I think offensive is way better mid/late game. But it's still good to explore other ideas in the game imo. Like I did aristocratic+innovative first for my buganda Victoria 3 run with controlling most of Africa and was actually fairly good.

[@brianvieane3907]

@Anti-Federalist 1776 I'm not arguing the sieges it's really good. But hence it's more of a mid or late game military idea group when you can afford a lot of artillary and there are like tech 3 forts. I think it should never be a first idea group since the artillary can fire backrow at tech 16. It's expensive to afford even 3 artillary for most Nations early game to give bombard ability. Take defense/quantity/aristocratic early *if you are horde*Poland* Hungary*. Then take quality or offensive Second.

[@Beachdudeca]

If u are Not colonizing then Aristocratic can be a great early idea , this is about more then just the Calvary bonus. Cheap Mil Tech, Low Autonomy, Tons of Manpower which also means faster recovery, more Diplomats and Leaders , plus , Fast Sieges which results in less lost manpower and gold , just knowing u will always have strong leaders at Sieges is so powerful

[@zdhim2714]

Cool, we have seen endgmae and the episode on military ideas, what we need now is just Half-Life Three.

[@gwenrosalia3833]

Imzo Bud Don't forget Vic3

[@AxelQC]

This is the exactly the discussion I was looking for.

[@edwardaugustus9680]

Great guide. I am currently getting back into EU4 after a couple years and i am often stumped on what to take ideas wise.

[@AlzaboHD]

Thank you for watching! I hope the guide is useful - if you're looking for recommendations on Diplomatic and Administrative ideas they are also up on the channel. Cheers!

[@edwardaugustus9680]

@@AlzaboHD ah thank you, for some reason I missed those videos.

Aristocratic is second best military idea group in single player after offensive. Those "small" bonuses add up. +1 leader siege is huge. +1 diplomat is huge. +33% manpower is pretty sweet. +60 mana every tech is sweet. +1 Leader without upkeep means +1 mana/month late game as cap is never enough. −1% tradition decay means even more pips. And there's −0.025 Monthly autonomy change +0.10 Yearly absolutism on top, which are totally decent bonuses. Other idea group never help your sieges, and that's what armies will mostly be doing.

[@clintwhitney16]

Great guide, strait to the point.

[@purple4395]

I think aristocratic is underrated. Any nation that cant pick the reform that lower autonomy over time coud need this since its an incredible good thing if you want to make a wc. The siege and manpower isnt bad as well if the slots are rare but you would like to pick offensive or quantity

[@tropicalfruit4571]

I can confirm that a combo of quality, defensive, and offensive ideas is just unbeatable. I was having some rough game as Nepal but I had those ideas developed and omg I had army tradition at 50-55 at all times so generals were great, increased morales, infantry ability (Nepalese national ideas also give +10%), cavalry, landforce modifier was more than enough to make enough troops for what I had to defend and let me tell you... When you're winning a defensive war where your allies have abandoned you and you find yourself winning your 25k vs 35k as attacker in the mountains...... it's the best feeling there is!

[@zachtaylor8222]

thanks for explaining why defensive is so good. i think i'll start using it

[@williamshie4326]

Thanks for the guide

[@CountArtha]

Quality has _THE_ best policy in the game when combined with Innovative ideas, which are pretty darn good in their own right and save you a ton of monarch power if you get them early on.

[@WaKaSaWaKaSa]

Learned a lot, thanks

[@sardiniapiedmont]

You seriously underrated the +100% prestige from offensive. It let’s you disinherit as much as you want

[@user-qp5mq9uz1n]

Yes it in my opinion goes great with muslim nations or nations that have chance of new heir increased. Like in my trebizond run i had 4 terrible heirs in a row and thanks to my constant war with neighbors and offensive ideas picked i actually managed to disinherit them all and finally get a decent 426 heir which did my next few decades a lot easier and by far more pleasant

[@user-qp5mq9uz1n]

Though on the other hand you can get prestige by colonizing or converting provinces if it is reformation age quite succesfully

[@artofthepossible7329]

"Kept you waiting huh." That aside thank you for making these so now being op in every important field shall now be a landslide.

[@santawarrior9]

Thank you so much for this :)

[@googlevsf]

i understand your points against naval ideas but still it can save your ass against the ottomans or the mamluks if you're playing knights or cyprus .:D

[@MasterOfManyMuffins]

João Felipe k s In very special situations as very specific nations. on the overall scale naval is a joke idea group

[@googlevsf]

@@MasterOfManyMuffins yes pretty much lol is very ''niche''

[@Spectrum16]

Good as Japan vs Ming as well Part from that...idk

[@PyroManZII]

I would say most of the Italian Republics, the Hansa League nations, the North African nations, the Ottomans, the Iberian nations, the British nations, and the Scandinavian nations, can all benefit heavily from Naval and Maritime ideas (just to pick a few of the main one's). The main problem though is that for most players (including most players subscribed to this channel and other similar channels) they don't help too much to world conquest. Multiplayer is probably where they shine through best, because most of the players aren't as focused on world conquest and instead have long drawn out wars in a similar style to the Seven Year War.

[@hodajucidjedtv]

13:30 loving the guides and the jokes, this one made me laugh hard. Keep it up!

[@tornagh9200]

@alzaboHD in high level multiplayer most players take quality first and economic second for the discipline policy, defensive first is only taken if the player is expecting a war to the death before they could fill out 2 idea groups.

[@construtordemundos3420]

I am going to: Quality, Quantity, Defensive, Offensive, Economic and Humanist for the best Military. (Humanist helps if you want to expand due to increased religious unity)

[@construtordemundos3420]

@Emperor Pepe Flavius Memus Tbh I don't see a big reason for using innovative if you start with a custom nation with a similar bonus, using innovative would be a overkill in my opinion as there are other ideas that would help much more such as espionage and humanist. Quality and Quantity give you a massive army that's also very good, defensive makes your nation a fortress, offensive is basically Quality+ and economic gives you unlimited money. To keep the nation stable and have a good diplomacy I go for Humanist and Espionage, espionage gives a reduction in aggressive expansion while humanist reduces years of separatism and increases religious unity and that's the best pick for someone going world colonial and trade Empire like I like to go, if needed I replace quantity with expansion and get exploration as my second idea group. I usually play on the HRE so manpower isn't a big issue if you become the Emperor so you can throw quantity away if you want on that case. My main custom nation template starts with +10% infantry combat ability and the maximum discipline possible, with +10 morale of armies as the first national idea. Innovative loses meaning too because my fourth national idea is -10% technology cost. I pick economic idea to complement my +10 national taxes modifier (my second national idea). To help to reinforce my army I got a -15% reinforcement cost so I don't get a giant burden on my budget during wars.

[@antoineaublin3812]

I would have put quality in mid tier and quantity in top. As much as having elite troupes is fun, there's too many semi-useless ideas in the quality group (like copper bottoms). Quantity is super potent, especially in the early game but even throughout the whole playthrough. But overall I agree ! (I share your love of the plutocratic ideas they are so fun !)

[@AlcyonEldara]

I agree overall. I pick quantity in almost all my solo games, but I usualy play small nations for achievements so I need manpower for countless wars during the first century. I picked naval with the Aztec. In 1600, Spain was really big and strong, Great-Britain conquered France and Portugal was allied with both. I had to face them together sometimes, and I had to prevent their armies landing. It worked ^^

[@triplesharigan]

I usually pick Offensive + Quantity and either Defensive or Quality depends on if I actually care about having a navy. As long as your army quality isn't dreadful quality will always win. Would recommend watching blob battles where it became clear that better quality armies would lose to bigger armies who had either less moral/discipline or both. Its quite doable to get 110 - 115% discipline (without national ideas) with quantity which i would prefer over 5% more discipline or 15% morale and have a smaller army.

[@fan-ff4bl]

i am using naval for my portugal campaign and i am very happy with it for traveling along the oceans and fight against all rivals it could be the best option

[@jacklander9584]

I find quality really interesting from a design perspective because it has so many bad ideas, but its few good ones and its policies are so damn strong it doesn't even matter. Seriously those four ideas in the middle could just be blank slots and it'd barely change anything about the idea group. I'm not gonna say Aristocratic is great, but putting it in the same tier as Naval feels really unfair. +1 leader siege is absolutely fantastic and Serfdom is really more than enough of a manpower booster for most nations, allowing you to scoop up most of the reason you'd pick Quantity while still getting combat bonuses. Influence + Aristocratic is an overlooked policy too. +100% vassal force limit contribution gives you a LOT of extra force limit with a decent sized vassal swarm. Outside of combat, cheaper miltech across the board means the idea group ends up paying a lot of its cost back over the course of the game and it's easier to stay ahead of other nations and having an extra diplomat, faster autonomy decay and overall better army tradition are all... niceish? Again I'm not saying it's a great idea group, but it does do SOMETHING and I think it's something to consider picking up if you're playing a nation that gets innate cavalry bonuses like Poland or Manchu. Whereas even pirate republics and island nations should avoid Naval like the plague.

[@Notmyname1593]

You point out all the things that I pick aristocratic idea group. Also reduction in mil. tech cost is very useful when you start anywhere outside Europe. Extra general slot is also useful, when in those poor regions with no support limit so you can spread out your armies without having to worry about one of those armies without a general getting jumped on by the enemy while you are focused somewhere else. Also helps when the enemy has a shitton of forts, so you can spare a general to siege them. Speaking of poor regions, that extra diplomat comes in handy if you need good relations with those big blobs and you want to spend diplomatic mana on something that can fund your military rather than diplomacy.

[@PetrucciIbiza]

Dope video! Do best policies

[@jakehughes6087]

When you Choose Quantity and Quality and Offensive as Russia *URAA*

[@chichoskruch21]

Quantity is more powerful than you realise. If you intend to blob you should always pick this group, no matter if you start as a opm or a big country. Quantity is often more than quality in this game, especially against the AI.

[@ztare730]

You forgot to mention the +1 siege pip in Aristocratic ideas, which is really good and makes it almost worth it

[@nerdorama009]

The actual tiers are something like this: Top-tier: Offensive, Defensive Multiplayer-tier: Quality Single player-tier: Quantity Stealth Admin Group-tier: Plutocratic, Aristocratic Naval-tier: Naval Other than the top and bottom tiers, everything is pretty situational depending on your exact situation and your national ideas (even Defensive can be pretty redundant if you're France or Prussia and have another source of -WE, but those are special cases).

[@Redactedredacted5837]

5:47 Quality 7:04 Quality Policies 10:27 Offensive 13:53 CHART

[@FUnazis]

Quantity is really the most useful in the earlier game; especially the very first idea with the +50% manpower since you get that one right away and the + 50% limit modifier. The latter is always useful, though I have found that in the later game, it becomes less crucial because 1: you will have a high limit anyway and 2: you will have enough money to go over the limit if you have to (at least temporarily). I absolutely agree with Quality and Offensive, those are both essential to me, Defensive is also very good. Usually I either go Quantity, Offensive and Quality (in that order) or I take Defensive instead of Quantity.

[@MrThaes]

Aside from the sweet morale boost, another reason I really like to choose Plutocratic as an early idea group when playing as a republic is the policy you get with Economic/Plutocratic. That increase in Republican Tradition is always welcome.

[@zacharymohammadi]

My picks: 1: quantity ( I’m a spammy boi ) 2: quality: ( space marines ) 3: defensive ( early game advantage )

[@nichitagodonoaga196]

you're kind of getting to middle game by the time you get your 3rd idea group

[@seamuspink9098]

When you pick 3rd mil idea it's already 1600. That's not early game m8

[@zacharymohammadi]

John Smith good point I was just Listing my top 3 fav in order of picking: 1: defensive 2: quantity 3: quality

[@vohbovohborian28]

I just go Quantity - Offensive usually. I don't need stronger troops to win wars, I need to siege down stuff faster, and I can do that with more troops and faster sieging.

[@ragcharr___9204]

The most fun campaign I ever played was as a custom Norse Sicily, with May Raid Coasts in traditions, and taking Naval ideas first, Maritime ideas second. Raiding the entire Mediterranean, and being able to simultaneously fight Spain, France, Italy, Venice, Ottomans, Mamluks, Tunis & Morocco, since none of them can get troops onto any of my provinces, and blockading them into submission.

[@remembernavarro5344]

These puns are absolutely killing me!

[@grey3247]

You should do a follow up video on horde and divine ideas

[@usulordo]

Any Chance for in-depth CK2 Guides on your channel? I mean there are lots of beginner's guides. I think more of advanced strategies for culture conversion, artifact hunting, societies, genetics and the marriage and claims game. Learned to like your channel with your eu4-guides, Not often commenting but always watching.

[@Times_Ticking]

Quantity is a top tier because the increase in supply limit per province will reduce attrition significantly saving both manpower and ducats (reinforcements). The AI is less likely to declare on a nation with quantity, too. Even in multiplayer, quantity is an outstanding idea to take early in the game when discipline doesn't matter as much. Quantity + trade means 20% more goods produced, which is highly desirable. Thanks

[@samr8828]

He’s back bois!

[@SylvainsRamblings]

That's it I'm getting the maniple!

[@shadowyshadow6498]

I think you underestimate the power of quantity ideas. Too often does one have a strong economy, but not the forcelimit or manpower to back it up.

[@meinnase]

That barely ever happens, positive income is spend way better on monarch points than wasting it on more garbage troops. Quantity is the second worst idea group after whatever the naval one is.

[@zacharymohammadi]

URAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[@shadowyshadow6498]

@@meinnase It happens, for sure. Plus, if anything, it's good when you get in a really tough war, and then you have all that extra manpower. No way does something that doubles your manpower and force limit the second worst group in the game dude, no way.

[@meinnase]

@@shadowyshadow6498 Of course it is, because manpower or forcelimit are never a problem past the first 50 years, where you wont have quantity unless you want to be behind in mil tech.

[@shadowyshadow6498]

@@meinnase Not as big of a problem, but still a problem. If manpower is never a problem to you after the first 50 years you're probably not going to war enough.

[@Muhammed552]

Offensive + Quality+Defensive+Quantity always get them on most of my plays

[@stanisiaim8813]

I think aristocrative idea are really the underdogs !! The most important thing in War in Eu4 are not morale, discipline or even manpower but tech !!!( Get innovative idea + aristocratic idea )minus 20 % for army tech and ( +20 % production policy) . You will be like one tech or two tech advance at your ennemy in the same having good income + no war exhaustion and having +1 siege commandent. It’s great specially at the beginning !!!

[@ayykayyy6081]

Thanks

[@AlzaboHD]

Thank you for watching!

[@jsvaldes88]

Everything in the Aristocrat tree but the first idea is great though lol. Mil tech is the most important one to stay ahead in, extra diplomat and leader saves you monarch points and is great, it gives you a bigger manpower bonus than the base France bonus, more merc manpower is decent too. The army and navy tradition decay reduction is great, gives you better generals and all that good tradition stuff. Seems bad to call it bad for just 1 bad idea when other groups have crappy or mediocre ones like defensive outside of the first 2 ideas is kinda mediocre.

[@jsvaldes88]

Also passive absolution increase and leader seige pip?? Hello?

[@Miranda17137]

i take naval ideas to unlock board of admirals. it isn't good but it's goofy fun. i also add maritime for maximum bad good fun.

[@jordangoffin5112]

thank you for the explanations !!!!!

[@romaniacountryball568]

"Holy ship!"

[@MilkJugA_]

I think quantity should be top tier. It's so valuable in the early game for almost every nation. 50% manpower makes it so you can keep going for wars, and getting 15% less maintanance on your army which will last the whole game. The force limit increase can also make you reach new heights in the early game, as you don't need to fear going over the force limit anymore. Overrall, quantity is the most economical.

[@abdelrahmanwael2551]

Your french is amazing

[@classifiedforlife.1466]

This is the guide we needed, deserved, and longed for. Also first, and just fyi, AlzaboHD loves everyone, but I'm his favorite. ;)

[@AlzaboHD]

Damn dude you are fast! Thanks for being a fan!

[@classifiedforlife.1466]

Hey, no problem, bro you got that top tier Q U A L I T Y worth watching. :)

[@mees9704]

My favorite nation to play is Brandenburg. What Idears would you recommend that I take? for early to end game?

[@korvasterindar9672]

Hey Alzabo, I am trying to get the Dracula's revenge achievement. Can you help?

[@Leivve]

Should be noted that Autocratic ideas actually have a lot of non-military policies that can massively help your nation in both trade and production. Contrasted with Plutocratic which, though a better pool of "good stuff" ideas, has weaker policies.

[@meandmetoo8436]

Economic - Plutocratic - Quality is nice for a republic.

[@lazydk2654]

I know these are some time ago, but could u possibly make a 4th comparing them across the board and talk about how many from each is normal etc.

[@TinPanduric]

Idk if u ever played great britain vs whole world in mp, then sailor recovery is very important!

[@assasindroid9128]

One of my favorite ways to go is offensive, quality, and economic idea groups, lets you get 15% discipline off them

[@sniperpig049]

Quality always first

[@Swodah]

I really think quantity rates above quality, given that quality has a bunch of largely useless ideas and is only worth it with policies. Tier 1: Defensive, offensive, quantity reason: Offensive is spot on in your explanation, it's the ultimate mid/late game idea group, while quantity and defensive both work to keep your war machine running (saving or recuberating manpower and reducing the cost of your armies), but defensive gives a bit more quality, while quantity goes all in on the number game. Quantity also has great policies, if you for some reason find the need to pick trade ideas you can use the godly +20% goods produced modifer policy, and The common pick administrativ gives the -5% maintenance +15% manpower recovery policy. Finally quantity affects the power calculations of the AI, making it think you are way stronger than you really are, allowing you to keep away smaller coalitions, get better alliances and more favor gain(if you have the dlc) allowing you to use your allies more. Tier 2: quality, Aristocratic. Reason: Quality is good, for all of the reasons mentioned by you in the vid, but not as good as the top ones, simply for the wasted naval boni and the fact that it's best policy is locked to innovative ideas. I would still pick it together with economic ideas though. Aristocratic is way better than you let on, the siege bonus is insanely good, it gives extra manpower, without going overboard like with quantity, it makes cavalry cheaper and stronger, that's better than only stronger as we see it in quality, for nations that need more diplomats but need diplomatic points for other things the extra diplomat is also helpful, and the tradition decay reduction is for both navy and army, so it's even a bit helpful on naval side as well, finally the tech cost reduction can help you stay ahead in mil tech or keep up more cheaply. tier 3: plutocratic reason; It gives way too few military bonuses, and the other things it gives tend to be found in diplomatic groups and they up to date on diplomatic tech isn't usually as die hard important as maintaining the other 2 techs.(easier to throw diplo points into ideas for the bonus you want at almost any time, compared to the others which always have necessary places to spend them on). The trashcan tier: Naval. Reason: it's where we throw the garbage that we are no longer planning on using. There are only a few nations where the course of a war could be changed by this idea group, and they are mostly down to island nations fighting roughly equal power nations, such as GB fighting Spain, where the a small bonus can change the tide and both have tremendous power, but usually these nations would wreck or outgrow their naval rivals relatively early, so it tends to not be used.

[@andriyfadyeyenko4907]

I disagree with that way of thinking about it... Having useless ideas does not take away from the strength of stronger ideas

[@Swodah]

@@andriyfadyeyenko4907 If i thought the "not useless" ideas were strong enough to make up for the others then sure, but 3x 10% combat ability isn't really that strong, especially the cavalry one as cavalry isn't cost efficient late game unless you go ham on stacking modifiers with countries like poland or hordes. The 3 ship quality bonuses don't matter unless you are up against an equal sized navy opponent which usually doesn't matter, and you still pay 1200 monarch points for those. The army tradition is useful, but not "strong" by itself. The only truly "Strong" idea in quality is the dicipline, which with economic ideas you can get another 5 of and with innovative you can 20% infantry combat ability which is a good amount unlike 10%. I generally don't like innovative ideas but it has great policies. Defensive has 1 strong(morale) 3 good (attrition for enemies, reduces attrition for you, and land maintenance) 2 ok(army tradition and extra pip) 2 mildly useless (for one still saves you 0.10 ducats on every lvl 1 fort and makes them take longer to siege, reinforcement speed is nearly utter crap) Quantity has 2 strong (50% manpower means never run out of manpower again, 50% forcelimit means you can have a massive army and the ai calculates you to be far stronger than you may be) 3 good ones (man power rec 20% reinforces the first idea, unit cost and maintenance makes it more feasible to have the big army, and excess money can be spent on other things if you like) 1 ok ( attrition reduction is a good modifier, but the % is way lower than defensive) 2 mildly useless or useless ones (the supplylimit helps somewhat for your larger armies, while the garrison increase is useless). Offensive has 4 strong (Dicipline, pips and siege ability) 1 good (force limit) 3 useless ideas (prestige from battles, recover army morale, recruitment time) Quality has 1 strong 2 good 1 ok 4 useless, while the others are way better on their own, having more strong picks and less useless picks. If you take good policies then quality can be good, but without certain picks it's pretty bad compared to the others.

[@andriyfadyeyenko4907]

@@Swodah +1 AT = +5% morale and roughly +0.6/0.6/0.6/0.2 leader pips... that's like a quarter of the value of defensive and offensive in a single idea already. It's pretty much the single strongest standalone idea bonus, beating out 20% ICA from policies any time past 1550 or so, and narrowly edging out the 15% morale from defensive once you give it enough time to build up. Also, I disagree with your analysis of what's useful, as usefulness depends on how you play. I'll also say that it doesn't matter what you pick against AI, as a capable player should be a match for roughly 3x his numbers of AI. The real relevance of military ideas is in MP, where bonuses like attrition and siege ability are secondary to actually winning the war. I also disagree with the statement that innovative has great policies. It has one great policy (20% ICA), one situationally good policy (siege), and the rest are varying levels of useless (I call them useless because they come at the opportunity cost of running a good policy). Compare that to ideas like economic, trade, and quality, which are amazing policy-wise. You say that quality without policies is not very good, but I did some math on this and combat-wise it's stronger than offensive and on par with defensive. It's also stronger than quantity in an all-out war, though for dealing with small, gradual wars such as against smaller AI, quantity is better (though, as I said previously, it doesn't really matter what you pick against AI). Admittedly its secondary bonuses (navy) are inferior in most cases but that's what quality has the good policies to make up for.

[@kellymcbright5456]

A guy whose selection of ideas i do 100 percent support: i never thought that be possible :)

[@robloxgamerman8457]

Usually I would pick both defensesive offenvise and quilty

[@joshnicholson5100]

If you are playing as Semien and have counquered Ethiopia up to Somalia, but are worried about coalitions, what is the best military idea group for the situation?

[@srash8854]

So I'm thinking hard about it now. Is it better to have improve your generals, or your army quality? I like to take Quantity idea because it allows me to have more manpower, recovers it more quickly, and overall larger army. But the price for that is that i can't take Defensive+Offensive+Quality ideas. So, now I'm wondering if to go after Defensive or Quality idea after offensive. Defensive+Offensive pretty much guarantee good genetals, while Quality+Offensive gives you a strong army. So for example, in my current run as Great Britain, is it better to go for the former or the latter (I took Quantity too here so i can contend with France)

[@MrManiac360]

Most underrated idea Aristocratic + innovative, that gives you a -20% cost to military technology, which means you don't waste as much monarch point. I didn't understood why the AI was so advanced with their technology even nation quite far from europe was more advanced than me. Nations who are lucky I can understand but not some arabs far from europe should have better tech but they do sometimes if they pick the right idea that lower their technology cost. I think your guide isn't complete, the idea are more balanced than you think it is. Some are less useful for sure but aristocratic is a hidden ticking bomb, Innovative also. With better military tech you will beat the offensive and quality idea group and if you have spare military monarch points you can get more generals and more professionalism which would kick your idea group for sure, and even have another idea group unlocked before your enemies because you don't spend as much points. Aristocratic will be the first I will chose as an idea .

[@fanofcodd]

Naval ideas + pirate republic in the caraibes = best game ever. Can make a surprising and game changing thing in MP if the rules allow it. It destroys portugal , spain and great britain income , it changes everything in Europe especialy for Russia or any non colonial European Nation.

[@kaneminik]

Quantity is the best idea group in the game period. Early game is ALL about manpower and morale. Morale: Having a larger army than the enemy (more morale dmg) is superior to having a few % extra combat ability. Granted it's more expensive to maintain, but just don't build any cannons (they are really bad early) and only use a maximum of 4 cav per army (calculated by Remans Paradox to be the optimal number if you don't minmax engagements). Manpower: To preserve manpower early game you have two options; Quantity and Defensive. Morale from defensive makes stackwipes much easier (manpower save) but morale gets less important with tech. + because you're always rushing to military tech 6, defensive ideas will be picked as your second or third idea, making the morale slightly less significant for your early game wars. Defensive is a tad better nowadays with some of it's policies, but the flat manpower from quantity is still superior 95% of the time. Quantity is also awesome late game when you start blobbing. + you're gonna need offensive ideas to siege down tier 8 forts meaning you already have 2 military idea groups locked which is more than enough for all campaigns. You can add a third one like quality sometime mid-game but not necessary.

[@chloepechlaner7806]

Aristocratic is one of the better ideas for most nations... calvary is explicitly superior in the early game, and any nation with even minor bonuses to calvary benefits immensely. The diplomatic and economic elements make it a good, well rounded first idea, helps improve your new conquests, avoid coalitions, and as mentioned by others, you glazed over the powerful and early bonus of -10% mil ideas cost, +33% manpower, and siege pip. It has some very good policies as well. You seriously underrated it when its one of the first ideas grabbed by many players running world conquests or anything like that. Mil is by far the easiest 1st idea group, given you dont encour mil costs for expanding, and the tech cost reduction alone gets rid of the risk of falling behind on tech.

[@nilsbt3575]

Aristocratic doesn't deserve to be in the same tier as Naval, tbh. It's true that it's less focussed than the four "standard" groups, but the bonuses it provides are still fairly decent and - unlike Naval - actually relevant for most nations. And its policies are honestly quite excellent: +20% Religious Unity (w/ Humanist; great if your religion isn't top tier); +20% Production Efficiency (w/ inno); -1 Unrest twice (w/ Influence and Religious); +33% Manpower (w/ Explo). To be honest, I still pick Defensive and/or Offensive over it in almost every campaign, but Aristocratic far from being a waste of mil points like Naval. Otherwise, I might switch Quantity and Quality in their rankings, for the bonuses that they give beyond "win battles". In Quality's case, those additional bonuses are "win battles, BUT ON THE SEA", so it's largely useless, while Quantity is the idea group that makes you _look_ the strongest to the AI, so it's pretty useful for finding big, strong alliances a bit earlier. And in later stages of the game, the reduced attrition is quite nice when you need 40 artillery for the full siege bonus, so it never outlives its usefulness, either, while Quality often feels like a "win more" pick, at least in single player - fun, because Space Marines are awesome, but not exactly _necessary_. Don't get me wrong though - great video! I'm just a rather nitpicky person, I suppose. ;)

[@DylanSargesson]

I don't think it's fair to put Aristocratic in the same place as Naval. The ranks I'd do are: TOP TIER Defensive Offensive MID TIER Quantity Quality SITUATIONAL Plutocratic Aristocratic GARBAGE TIER Naval

[@eniotanaka2229]

Dylan Sargesson your list is better

[@archdukefranzferdinand567]

Plutocratic>Quantity

[@eniotanaka2229]

Plutocratic is almost garbage

[@DylanSargesson]

@@eniotanaka2229 10% Moral of Armies, -2 National Unrest and an extra merchant.

[@eniotanaka2229]

Morale is good, unrest too but nothing exceptional. The merchant,lmao, you don't need any

[@bobglob7560]

Tondo rules the waves!

[@sergeykonoplev7614]

Aristocratic + Espionage is overpowered pick for Polland - with loyal cossacks you can reach +83% CA for cavalry, its so nasty. Naval can be good in MP or for example for Japan in SP - you can use trade protection CB for Mingplotion or receiving reparations from Ming.

[@enKageKagen]

You strongly underrate aristocratic. You focused on cavalry and how weak it is late game. In fact it is extremely strong for cav nations and an obvious first pick for them. Why? 1. Early game cav is super powerful and aristocratic make cav also cheaper. 2. If military is Your first idea group you will probable fall behind in mil tech (except defensive as you only need 2 first ideas). Aristocratic gives discount on tech to counter it. 3. You said how strong defensive's army tradition is and forgot to mention aristocratic lowers tradition's decay. 4. You said how strong bonus manpower is and forgot to say aristocratic offers +33 manpower. 5. You said how rare and strong siege is but forgot to mention aristocratic boosts it too. 5. Diplomat is priceless early especially starting as a duchy. OTOH qualify and quantity seems to be overrate for me. And naval ideas are so weak that you still get innovativeness even if you pick it as the last idea set.

[@puruttyaaa]

+ i've never seen space marines ever defeat my space hussars :D

[@yoloswagtron6920]

He specifically said it was useful for cavalry-centric nations, just not for everyone else.

[@PagerNinerTwelve]

aristocratic isn't quite garbage tier. it's like a poverty quantity ideas with diplomatic benefits. also, i think that quantity is borderline overpowered. having zero issues with manpower while keeping your professionalism very high throughout the game is really great. you get mediocre bonuses from high professionalism, and you can blow through it to give yourself some emergency manpower for when you have to fight a twenty year coalition or something bonkers like that. i get quantity early pretty often on countries with good military bonuses or countries which will be bullying predominantly smaller countries without having to worry about being invaded by larger threats until the midgame.

[@spudeism]

Aristocratic is pretty great if the country has other techonology discount ideas or chance to get some. Something like Mughals (ambition -5% technology) with Sikhism as your religion (+10% morale and -10% mil. tech. cost) and Aristocratic (-10% mil. tech. cost) Assumin these are additive you have -25% discount in mil. tech. which allows you to easily stay at least one or two levels ahead in mil. tech. which can be more advantegous than having some bonuses, not to mention it frees lot of points for arty barrage during sieges which is always handy and can win you wars more easily.

[@lesdeuxanes6203]

Okay so I'm a total noob and I'm playing a Portuguese Colonial Empire. People say that once you have Exploration and Expansion for that you should choose offensive. This guide makes me think that defensive would actually be better to choose first for that, especially when fighting more developed places like in India and Asia. But Idk, if I want to do what I said above is it better to go with which one?

[@goksir5845]

Why do you make Quantity Ideas seem like some niche? They are insanely powerful, mainly for the force limit boost.

[@wilandren65]

Quantity is a must have for most nations who want to grow huge. You need more men to fight more wars on all edges of your empire.

[@thekingof300]

I think the best tip concerning military idea groups is to just take less of them. I find that ideas like diplomatic, humanist, administrative, and influence are way more useful. Espionage is another AMAZING idea, though I have to admit I often over look it since it's benefits are really mediocre late game. Some times I take it early game and refund it to take another idea group late game. The best way to make decisions if you're playing expansionist or WQ is to ask yourself "what is my limiting my expansion" and try to fix that. Very rarely have I found that to be military might. Military ideas are a luxury not a necessity. I think the only military idea that i'd consider 'situationally' necessary is Quantity and only for nations that don't have the economic ability to get merc armies or if for some reason even with mercs, your manpower is still very low. The early game of EU4 revolves around managing your diplomacy and economy to enable your conquests. Aggressive expansion is your greatest enemy. Whereas in late game you don't really care about that, and your biggest struggles are basically "how fast can you blob" and "how long can you remain concentrated". This is where I think military ideas truly shine. WQ is more of a mental commitment than a skill one. If you've played the first 200 years correctly, you can usually do a WQ in the last 200 years. Once you have imperialism (or revolutionary) and 100 absolutism, you consume most nations in just a single war. After around 1700's, you'll usually be waging anywhere from 1-4 wars at any given time. The ability to simply start a war and send a few armies onto enemy forts and know that the enemy will never attack them because you have 100 military tradition, 125% discipline, 135% morale, and a 5/5/4/3 generals makes it much easier. However, in WQ's colonial nations are extremely annoying to deal with if you don't have a colonial nation yourself, or if your colonial nations are weaker than your enemies. Even if you're not a colonial power, taking expansionist and quickly creating a colonial nations in the same region as a war enemy allows your to demand them to cede the entire region to you in a war without you having to take a fort. This saves you time because you can easily colonize 5 provinces in every region while you do anything else. If you're interested in WQ's or making them easier on yourself, my advice would be to nutter all of your late game annoyances in the early game. It's really easy to ensure Muscovy doesn't form Russia just take Moskva or Novgarade before admin 10. You can completely dismantle the ottoman in 2 wars before 1600 by taking 1 province to release bulgaria, byzantium, syria as vassals in the first war, and then launching a reconquest war afterwards and giving those vassals all their land in the second. Zero aggressive expansion, and they cannot come back from this. Try to destroy as many colonizers as you can at the start of the game. If you're playing in Europe you can usually knock 1 or 2 out if you try. If you're not, then whatever. Also, in the first age, the most OP age power is the ability to take other people's vassals for half the cost. You can take naples and norway with it. If you get Diplomatic, you can take Aragon and Sweden as well with the -20 war cost. I think you can even take Hungary from Austria with Diplomatic if they're missing some land. Also, if you take diplomatic and influence, you should easily be able to get your family on the Polish throne, It's free land, you really can't give it up if you're catholic. Another tip is that if you're going humanist (which you 100% should unless you're doing a 1 faith), don't take ANY decisions that give missionary power in exchange for tolerance. If you keep your tolerance of heretics/heathens above +0, your religious unity will always be above 100, and late game having to manage missionaries is just an annoyance. Besides that, I'd just say to try to limit your sessions to 3 hours. It's impossible to be at your max concentration at all times and if you're not fully focused, you'll be wasting precious in game time by playing inefficiently.

[@TudorSerban]

Can you make a Top 10 best steppe horde factions?

[@meandmetoo8436]

Actually the defensive ideas can be "replaced" by Plutocratic ideas. You have slightly less morale but the group is overall better.