7 Best Releasable Nations in EU4 – FandomSpot (2024)

There are many nations in the game that are not playable at the nation selection screen outright.

These usually represent polities and realms that recently stopped existing in 1444.

These nations start with cores in the territory they consider rightfully theirs. In many cases they also have unique national ideas and even mission trees! Some have unique achievements tied to them, although these can be cheesed by releasing them later.

You can make use of these nations in two ways:

You can obviously choose to play as them if you want. But the spicier way is releasing them as vassals and using their cores to conquer big chunks of rival nations for little to no aggressive expansion.

So without further ado, let’s see which nations lie hidden in EUIV, waiting to be released!

7. Syria

Syria opens the list as one of the preeminent nations used to conquer your rivals’ lands at little to no aggressive expansion.

With generic Arabian ideas and no unique missions, Syria isn’t a nation you would often choose to play as. Except if you really, really, like its position on the map or live there, I guess.

Who am I to judge?

Syria’s power lies in its core provinces.

Simply nabbing one province in the initial war is enough to release the nation. Then, in the following war against whoever controls the area (usually the Mamluks or the Ottomans) you just reconquer all the land in Syria’s name!

6. Bulgaria

Bulgaria can largely serve the same purpose as Syria.

If you want to drive the Ottomans out of Europe, Bulgaria is a great tool you can use.

With the Ottoman Balkans split evenly between Byzantium and Bulgaria, using them as vassals to reconquer all that land can help you drive the Turks out of Europe in only a couple of wars!

On top of that, Bulgaria has unique national ideas, a couple of unique missions, and starts with a great project (the Rila Monasteries) in the province of Konstendil. The Kosovo gold mine is also nearby and ripe for the taking. Not too shabby of a nation to play as.

Restoring the First Bulgarian Empire can make for a fun challenge!

5. Kazakh

Kazakh, not to be confused with the Tatar horde of Kazan to its west, gets its spot on the list for its capabilities as a vassal.

With generic horde ideas and a starting situation similar to its neighboring Horde nations, releasing Kazakh in order to play as them is not that appealing.

What is appealing though, is releasing them as a vassal to conquer Central Asia!

With 26 provinces and close to 130 development, you have a lot of work ahead of you. Giving all this land back to them will also massively boost their loyalty to you, making it unlikely for them to rebel anytime.

Kazakh makes for an excellent vassal in Russian campaigns especially.

You can use it as your go-to option whenever you want to pacify the steppes but do not want to directly control them yourself.

4. Gascogne

Gascogne is your best friend when playing in western Europe as anyone but the French.

Why is that?

Well, their purpose in your campaigns will be one and only:

Destroy the Baguettes!

Of course, if you want a unique experience in a French start, picking Gascogne to play as is always an option. A lot of development and a prime position to colonize will do wonders for your early game options.

However, Gascogne serves a much greater purpose as stated above. Simply release them in a province as a vassal and go ham on the French. This can be combined with other releasable French duchies like Champagne and Toulouse for maximum effectiveness.

3. Asturias/Leon

Asturias and León go hand in hand in this double entry.

While León has the slightly stronger idea set and more development, Asturias has a unique achievement.

As most achievements of releasable nations, this one can be cheesed by releasing and feeding Asturias the necessary provinces in the late game, annexing them, and then releasing and choosing to play as them.

The reason both these nations make the list is their national ideas and map position. Both get a free colonist from their ideas, which is quite a big deal. Not many nations have that luxury!

If you’re bored playing as the OG Iberian colonizers, you can always give these two a try. Just make sure to weaken Castile before releasing or you‘ll find yourself always looking over your shoulder.

Even if playing as a nation outside Iberia, if you conquer into Iberia, it’s always worth considering releasing Asturias and León as vassals.

Even if they won’t have exploration and expansion ideas (AI will never pick them as a vassal), they will put their free colonist to good use.

2. Smolensk and the Ruthenian Principalities

Smolensk, along with the other Russian principalities in Ruthenia and Belorussia, start the game integrated into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

All these nations have rather similar starting positions and similar idea sets. Ultimately, your goal will be to unify Ruthenia and bring all Eastern Europe under your control.

They can also be used to expand into Ruthenia efficiently. Choosing one or two of them and feeding them the Ruthenian lands is a great way to save on governing capacity and aggressive expansion.

Some of these principalities, though, are more interesting than the others. While Galicia-Volhynia has the most development and Kiev controls the original capital of the Rus, the two principalities that stand out are Smolensk and Zaporozhie.

Zaporozhie’s unique horde-like government is discussed in-depth in our list of the Best Horde Nations. They’re an excellent choice for a unique campaign, unlike any other involving Christian nations!

Smolensk is most unique due to its national ideas. If you haven’t noticed, Smolensk’s flag is a cannon. Oh boy if that isn’t fitting enough! Smolensk’s national idea set is all about artillery.

Seriously, Napoleon would have been proud.

Cheaper artillery (20% cheaper, borderline busted), a great bonus to land fire damage and artillery combat ability, and increased siege ability. These ideas are a late game powerhouse by themselves.

Add to all that some idea groups like quality and quantity and you have the only nation in the game that can field artillery-only armies and have a chance at winning engagements!

Maybe Portugal can do it too, but don’t take my word on it.

1. Nitra

Nitra gets the number one spot because it combines a little bit of everything.

It can be used to expand into Hungary, but not to the extent other nations in this list. Not the worst option, don’t get me wrong, but nothing exceptional.

What distinguishes Nitra among releasable nations is its unique achievement that encourages having an actual campaign with them.

The “Great Moravia” achievement can of course be cheesed the same way all other similar achievements can.

However, in the case of Nitra, doing the campaign yourself is something I greatly encourage. It is one of the most fun mini-campaigns I ever had in EUIV.

Starting as Nitra in 1444 you have decent development; low enough to be able to join the HRE. You start in control of a gold mine and have access to three more that are relatively close-by (Inntal, Cheb, Kosovo).

You have unique national ideas, the Slovak ideas. A great idea set, with a pair of traditions that can help you win tight early wars.

The infantry combat ability and Fort Defense can be lifesaving, especially in your mountainous terrain.

The rest of the set compliments the infantry buffs nicely with economical and other military bonuses.

While lacking a mission tree, if you wish to continue the campaign after finishing the unique achievement, you can always transition into forming another nation for extra flavor.

7 Best Releasable Nations in EU4 – FandomSpot (2024)

FAQs

What is the best country to colonize in EU4? ›

Portugal is many a player's top choice for colonization and for good reason. Portugal starts with a 25 percent bonus to their colonial range, but they're the European nation closest to the New World anyway via the Azores. Your best friend is Castile, which means you have no immediate enemies approaching you on foot.

Who is the strongest AI in EU4? ›

For the A.I the ottoman empire is the strongest nation in the game and the hardest to deal with for other A.I nations. In the hands of a player the Ottoman Empire can be made very very powerful but Russia definitely in the hands of a player is the strongest nation in the game.

Who has the best army in EU4? ›

That said, Poland is still by far the strongest military if well built up, even completely ignoring hussars. There's 0 competition here too.

Is Sweden overpowered eu4? ›

They are not remotely overpowered. It is a joke because Paradox is Swedish, and Sweden for some of the time period the game covers, Sweden could be considered a great power. Ingame they are far from OP imo as their provinces are quite poor and they have very strong neighbors compared to any of the other strong nations.

What is the best small country to play in eu4? ›

The Ottomans and Portugal are the best two choices for someone learning the game. The Ottomans have no strong neighbors and can expand for a while in any direction without running into problems. And Portugal can ally Castile and play the colonial game, largely ignoring Europe.

Can you play as USA in EU4? ›

As you try to spawn Colonialism institution in your country, you will eventually need to colonize California and Cascadia. In a full colonial game these Eastern Nations can form United States as well given that no other Europeans colonize East Coast.

Is Japan strong in EU4? ›

If the shogun vassalizes a country outside Japan, it will become a daimyo and gains the special Daimyo government. This makes Japan extremely powerful in practice as it is essentially allowed unlimited vassals.

What are the best tall nations in Europa Universalis 4? ›

Florence is a well known tall nation. Once you have an idea of what tall play is like holland is a strong nation or you can go omega tall with Riga. Florence is neat because you're often "forced" into playing tall by crazy alliance webs.

Which nation to start with EU4? ›

Portugal is traditionally the best nation for new players, and I still find it to be an enjoyable playthrough. You begin the game in a relatively stress-free position of the world surrounded on all land borders by your historical friend Castile. It will remain in your best interest to stay on their good side.

What is the best nation to form Persia with EU4? ›

The best starting nation to form Persia with if you're starting in 1444 is Ajam. That's the goal early on. The first thing to do is bringing all your troops to the Timurid Border.

What is the best nation to form Westphalia EU4? ›

One of the best nations to form Westphalia may be Munster. The bishopric starts out fairly large for its' part of the HRE in the 1444 start, and as a bishopric, tends to benefit more from the Catholic faith than its' neighbors, since almost all of them are too small to get a bishop.

References

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Recommended Articles
Article information

Author: Arielle Torp

Last Updated:

Views: 5961

Rating: 4 / 5 (61 voted)

Reviews: 92% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Arielle Torp

Birthday: 1997-09-20

Address: 87313 Erdman Vista, North Dustinborough, WA 37563

Phone: +97216742823598

Job: Central Technology Officer

Hobby: Taekwondo, Macrame, Foreign language learning, Kite flying, Cooking, Skiing, Computer programming

Introduction: My name is Arielle Torp, I am a comfortable, kind, zealous, lovely, jolly, colorful, adventurous person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.