Eleanor Finch
Diplomacy is a crucial aspect of Victoria 2, but it comes with certain flaws and complexities. Players need to navigate the intricacies of alliances, great power dynamics, and the influence of AI nations. While diplomatic points are essential for engaging in diplomacy, the system can be influenced by various factors, including the actions of other countries. This introduction will delve into the challenges and strategies of mastering diplomacy in Victoria 2, exploring ways to exert influence, form alliances, and pursue national interests effectively.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Alliances | Unreliable, AI decides arbitrarily whether to help or not |
| Declaring war | AI can take over leadership and change the goals of the war |
| Sphering | Tedious and time-consuming, can be beneficial for guaranteed alliances |
| Great powers | Need to constantly monitor AI influence on allies and adjust diplomatic power |
| Diplomatic points | Accumulated at a rate of 0.2 per month, can be increased with debug command |
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What You'll Learn
Alliances are unreliable
Alliances in Victoria 2 are unreliable and are considered a joke by some players. When forming an alliance, a country can decide to call on its allies to join an offensive war, but the ally can then choose whether or not to join. If an ally declines the call to war, they will lose 10% of their prestige, and the alliance will be broken. However, this small penalty does not seem to deter many AI-controlled countries from declining calls to war, and players often find themselves in a situation where their allies refuse to honour their alliance.
Furthermore, the AI's decision-making process regarding alliances is unclear and inconsistent. When the AI decides whether to accept an alliance offer, it considers factors such as relations, army and navy strength, political interests, and the number of current allies. However, even with high relations, players often find that the AI refuses to ally with them. This inconsistency makes it difficult for players to form reliable alliances and plan their strategies accordingly.
The unreliability of alliances in Victoria 2 can be frustrating for players, especially when compared to newer Paradox Interactive games such as Europa Universalis 4 and Crusader Kings 2, which have more reliable diplomacy systems. In those games, the player has more control over their alliances and can rely on their allies to honour their commitments. In Victoria 2, however, the player often feels at the mercy of the AI's arbitrary decisions.
To mitigate the unreliability of alliances, some players suggest focusing on sphering countries instead. Sphering a country gives a guaranteed alliance that they will honour, providing more stability than regular alliances. Additionally, players should be mindful of the number of allies a potential ally already has, as countries are less likely to accept an alliance offer if they have many existing alliances.
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AI interference in wars
Diplomacy is considered one of the biggest flaws in Victoria 2. Alliances are unreliable, and the AI can arbitrarily decide whether to accept or decline an offer. In addition, if you are not a great power, you will likely never declare an offensive war because the UK owns and spheres a significant portion of the world.
When it comes to AI interference in wars, there are several strategies and mechanics to be aware of. Firstly, the AI tends to be cautious and may not always engage in offensive warfare, even when it has superior numbers. This can be frustrating if you are relying on a defensive strategy. To provoke the AI into attacking, you can try occupying some of their provinces or using your navy to send a small force behind their lines. Fortifying your borders with forts can also be an effective strategy, as it makes it easier to fend off attacks and maintain your defensive position.
Another strategy is to bait the AI into attacking by pulling back most of your army and then reinforcing when they attack. This allows you to inflict massive damage on the enemy, especially with the introduction of machine guns and forts in 1870. You can also use naval invasions to occupy their territory and force the enemy to attack or spike war exhaustion, making them less effective in combat. Cycling, which involves sending in small units and pulling them out into friendly territory when they are low on strength, can be an effective tactic during these battles.
Pre-1870 warfare is focused on using deathstacks, which consist of infantry, hussars, and artillery in a specific ratio, to destroy the enemy in massive battles. After 1870, when machine guns become available, attacking becomes more costly, and defensive strategies become more viable. In 1900, the introduction of Gas Attack and Defense further changes the dynamics of warfare, providing a temporary advantage to those who research and unlock these technologies first.
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Sphering is tedious
Sphering in Vic2 is a system where great powers assign points to generate influence in non-great powers. These points are in competition with other great powers, with the goal being to get nations with good resources into your sphere of influence. However, this process can be tedious and time-consuming.
One reason why sphering is tedious is that it requires constant monitoring and adjustment of diplomatic power. As a great power, you need to frequently check your diplomacy to ensure that other powers are not building influence with your allies. This can be a challenging and ongoing task, as you may need to counter their efforts and reinforce your own influence.
Additionally, the sphering process can be manipulated through war. By declaring war and occupying a nation, you can degrade them to a secondary power and add them to your sphere. While this can be an effective strategy, it requires careful execution and a significant investment of time and resources.
The tedium of sphering also stems from its repetitive and micro-heavy nature. The process involves competing for influence over nations, which can become repetitive and feel more like a chore than an enjoyable aspect of the game. This is especially true when other great powers continue to compete for influence over nations within your sphere, requiring ongoing attention and action.
Despite the tedium, sphering has its strategic benefits. It provides a guaranteed alliance, ensuring that your allies will honour their commitments, which is not always the case with regular alliances in the game. Additionally, sphering adds an interesting diplomatic element to the game, allowing players to find resources and markets through diplomatic means rather than solely through warfare.
While some players may find sphering tedious, it is a key aspect of the game's diplomacy and can be a useful tool for achieving your strategic goals. However, it is important to actively manage your sphere of influence and be prepared for ongoing competition from other great powers.
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Diplomatic points
In Victoria 2, diplomatic points are needed to perform diplomatic actions such as requesting an alliance or declaring war. You accrue diplomatic points passively at a rate of 0.2 per month. You can increase the rate at which you gain diplomatic points by achieving Secondary Power or Great Power status and by unlocking technologies in the commerce tree.
If you are a great power, you should check your diplomacy often to see if the AI has started building influence with your allies, and adjust your diplomatic power accordingly to maintain those relationships. If you are not a great power, you may find it difficult to declare offensive wars due to the prevalence of other great powers.
There are also cheat commands that can be used to grant your nation an infinite number of diplomatic points. In the unpatched game, typing "debug alwaysdiplo" will grant your nation 5.0 diplomatic points that can be used for diplomacy around the world without limit. This command is a toggle, so using it again will disable it. In the patched game, the command is "debug alwaysdiplo 5", which will grant your nation 5 diplomatic points.
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Great power status
In Victoria 2, the Great Powers are the eight most powerful nations across the globe. To become a Great Power, you need to raise your score by increasing your nation's prestige, military power, and industrial power.
One way to quickly increase your score is by raising your prestige. This can be done by researching Aesthetics and Philosophy technologies in the Culture category, which grant prestige whenever you get one of their inventions. The sooner you get them, the more prestige you will gain. Romanticism, for example, gives a 5% prestige bonus per tier. You can also increase your prestige by fighting a war of humiliation.
Another way to increase your score is by building your military power. Make sure you are on top of your military tech and build ships and armies. If you have the population and economy to field a decent-sized army, you can justify a war against weaker opponents in Asia and Africa. You can also build factories in states with a decent population density, as your literacy should be high enough to sustain industry.
It's important to note that achieving Great Power status can take time. Even after you have surpassed the least powerful of the current Great Powers, the nation that has been surpassed will have about a year to try and raise their score again before they lose their Great Power status and you take their place.
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Frequently asked questions
You can get unlimited diplomatic points by typing "debug alwaysdiplo" in the console.
If you are a great power, you should check your diplomacy often (about once a month) to ensure the AI isn't building influence with your allies.
Alliances in Vic2 are unreliable and are not a guarantee of help in wars. However, some players argue that sphering an ally can give you a more reliable alliance.
To form an alliance, you need to accumulate diplomatic power. This can be done by checking your diplomacy often and adjusting your diplomatic power on those who are threatened.
Belgium and the Netherlands are good starting factions for beginners. Belgium has a large population and an industrialized country, while the Netherlands has a large colonial empire and expansion options in Indonesia and Belgium.
