Paradox Games

Stellaris Dev Diary #65: Music from Utopia

Woo, blitz-reformed Norse from Stamford Bridge as not-Erik.

Fun use of false conversion: join the Hermetic Society, then reveal your true faith. You get to stay in, even as a faith that can't normally join (though I opened it to all reformed pagans by modding afterwards). Other than that I got little from the mechanic because nobody wanted to vote for me, so I just stopped faking it, quit the council, and took the throne by force, then took Naumadal and Sjaelland, then went turboraiding and blew the dosh on a bunch of temples.

So, in the process of trying to get elected before it became apparent none of the dukes were going to stop voting for Stenkil's youngest son, I seduced every duke in Sweden... and then my husband gets Great Pox (later also lunatic), even though he can't even take a focus because he's unlanded.

I find it funny that I was the one who went out deliberately seeking to sleep around and came out clean, while a character that made no such effort gets the biggest badded STD in the game.

Welp, I hate the Caliph now. Trying to play a Zoroastrian game and suddenly he decides that I should lose a lot of my provinces, so he's repeatedly revoking my titles (even my emirate capital) and either giving them to other people or himself, like he did to my capital. I eventually put my foot down but he's likely going to kick my ass XD

Oh well. That just means that I can't wait until the Abbasids get invaded for decadence and I can declare independence and take back what's mine.

Fake convert, gobble some other vassals, then once you're feeling strong enough, reveal that you never were actually Muslim.

No, it's not a question of conversion, he's just taking my stuff suddenly XD

Easy explanation: You're a heathen and Iqtas have depowered councils so he can just revoke stuff if he wants.

And because you're a heathen nobody will care.

Yeah, if you convert (or fake it), he has no revoke reason on you, and thus, at the very least, must eat tyranny to revoke your titles. Also, he'll like you more, and thus be less likely to demand you give him your clay.

Though I have to ask when you're starting, since it seems that in both 769 and 867, the Caliphate has no authority to revoke titles. Though that may not be the case if you don't play with Conclave (I honestly don't recall if you have or use Conclave).

edited 19th Mar '17 9:42:55 PM by Balmung

I use Conclave. And he voted in favor of Revocation titles, I think.

Regardless, fake converting should help keep the Caliph of your back - he won't hate you for being an infidel and if he gets the religious control mandate, he won't have a revoke reason. At that point, the biggest concern should be if one of your titles is his de jure capital, in which case, he'll revoke pretty much no matter what you do.

edited 20th Mar '17 7:49:55 AM by Balmung

Pretty sure it isn't since I'm Zoroastrian and control an emirate on the southern coast of the Caspian Sea.

I probably should false-convert anyway...or at least my heir should considering my current guy is likely to be imprisoned for rebelling.

You might get a game over if you wait for your liege to imprison you - because if you're an infidel he can just revoke all your titles without the rest the realm (except other infidels) giving a shit.

Fake-convert ASAP, if you want to continue. :/

Ah, true.

I started a Stellaris campaign last night as the United Ycima Confederacy. A custom race rolling with Wormholes, Ballistics, and Peaceful Bureaucracy. We've gotten far into the mid game, with an enigmatic observer to our north (Ring Galaxy) and a rival to our south. Every time I run into a primitive civilization, I enlighten them and work them into the greater country over time. I've got a bunch of different races under my control. And both the Fallen Empires I've seen are now only Superior instead of Overwhelming. So I know I'm on the right track.

So, the year is 1086 and I decide I want more MA and to try to collapse the Catholics under the 30% threshold when they can start converting to escape holy wars. I already have Kent and the Muslims took Santiago, so go all in on Paderborn so I can take Koln next time. The Emperor calls in everyone, but loses and teaches me that my levies are worth a lot more than their levies. And then the Pope decides Catholicism needs to get swole and roids out to the tune of four holy orders. So far, so normal. And then the Pope decides that, with the mighty army and shiny new CB he just got, he must destroy the greatest threat to Christendom - some Lollard duke in the middle of the Francesplosion that happened.

Feeling kinda snubbed here, so I'm gonna go steal the Pope's house and give it to my second son or third daughter or something when they come of age.

In better news, I have published a top-tier magnum opus on planetary movement and the Danes are no more. Also, I have a pet Salian in my zoo vassal collection. Naturally, she renounced the corpse god first, but I do enjoy putting remnants of dynasties I unseat in minor duchies like they were pokemon or something.

Yeah, Crusade targeting needs some more work. One of the reasons why reformed Norse and Islam are so strong, player controlled religious heads are nuts.

If only tribes weren't such a PITA.

That's why you start as Jorvik or Nantes in 867 or Erik the Heathen in 1066 - you start feudal and don't have to deal with all that tribal bullshit.

Also, the crusade targeting probably wouldn't be so bad for Zoroastrianism, Judaism, West African, or Romuva - you're small and relatively homogenous and likely control all or most of your own faith, so your Great Holy Wars are basically just an excuse to grab an entire neighboring kingdom at random every thirty years or so.

Meanwhile, Catholicism and AI Sunni Islam are in the worst situation here - they're large and fragmented and any heretics are likely to divert a Crusade/Jihad from taking an entire de jure kingdom to swatting a heretical duke that could have been handled by a normal holy war or two.

edited 21st Mar '17 10:46:06 AM by Balmung

So, ten-ish years later and the Catholics are finally making progress at reclaiming France from the Lollards, despite having four holy orders, the HREmperor (sans the kingdom of Germany, mind), two Doges (Venice and Genoa) the king of Aquitaine who has a huge event stack since he liberated the kingdom and I have 6x revolt sizes on, and a mess of Welsh minors. Curiously absent is the actual king of France who would benefit from all this.

In other news, I was educating my little sister and noticed that she had ridonkulous stats and the was already patient and diligent, so I took the option to make her ambitious and my rival with a plan to turn that around. Once she came of age, I took Silesia from the king of Poland and gave it to her so she'd like me in the short term, then I fired my old apprentice (Henrik Fahraeus of the Paradox staff) and hired her. One round of stargazing and she was so impressed by my observatory that she switched from rival to friend. Now I have a high stat loyalist on the council (27 diplomacy).

By the way, if you want to know how insane 6x revolts are, Armenia has the largest army in the world by an insane margin - over 100k (roughly 93.5k of which are event troops) under the command of king Tigran the Liberator. He could probably solo the entire Muslim world to reclaim Cairo for the Coptic church.

edited 21st Mar '17 4:47:47 PM by Balmung

Well, that didn't work. The Caliph continued to revoke my titles even after I'd falsely converted.

Have you tried telling him no?

Alternatively, try 867 and start independent instead of as a subject.

Maybe also try using a favor to force your way onto his council in the place of a loyalist and buying favors from the other councilors to try to block the title revocation law.

If he has absolutism, try to push for more council power.

edited 22nd Mar '17 7:14:59 AM by Balmung

Meh xD I may just start over instead and convert sooner.

Banks is going to break saves, so if you have any outstanding Stelaris saves, finishing them today would be prudent.

Well I haven't played a game recently XD

edited 5th Apr '17 12:20:20 PM by theLibrarian

Ye, dev diaries have made me enter into "Can't play the game until dlc is released" mode since dlc anticipation o-o

I think it'll be the first game in a while that I've played without mods active.