The Sovereign | Administration EU IV Guide
Last update: 11 May 2016
One of the changes implemented in the newest installment of Europa is a new set of rules and the altered significance of the ruler, in terms of the gameplay. Traditionally, the sovereign's abilities are determined by three factors - administration, diplomacy and military. The sovereign will be assessed, with respect to these categories, with grades ranging from 0 to 6, where 0 means an utter moron and 6 an absolute genius. This is more significant than in the case of the previous installments because of the introduction of a new resource, which is Monarch Power. As much as the king's higher statistics provided better or worse boosts for the specific domain, in EUIV, Monarch Power translates into the form of the currency used for specific actions like development of doctrines or technology, or even the construction of buildings, or hiring generals, Depending on your level, the monarch will generate a specific amount of points of three kinds (i.e. administrative, diplomatic and military), on a monthly basis.
This lends a new spice to the game and at the same time carries a greater risk. Even a strong and developed country may, at some point, face a great crisis when the monarch turns out to be completely inept. It may also turn out that you will have to alter your strategy by 180° out of a sudden, when the military genius will be succeeded by his son, who turns out to be incapable in these matters, but is an excellent diplomat nevertheless. Each country has its base increase in the MP points, depending on its technological group. The European and Islamic have 3 points per month. The Asiatic 2, and the African and the American 1.
Although, in general terms, the increase of the MP points is a permanent value, which is independent of factors like the country's wealth or size, to a certain extent you can manipulate its growth. First of all, there is an option of hiring advisors. At the same time, it is a quite expensive thing to do so, the best solution is to hire, temporarily, an advisor that offers a discount, onlu for the period necessary to implement changes that you want to implement, and fire him if you do not plan on any more sizeable purchases. Furthermore, while playing a republic, each time you elect the same sovereign, all of his statistics go up by 1 point. The downside of this solution is that you suffer the drop in the republican values, which may lead to a rebellion and the collapse of democracy. Also, while playing the monarch, the forms of manipulation are limited. If the heir turns out to be a complete nonentity, you can appoint him a commander and send him to a battlefield on purpose. Such battles are bound to be lost, which will result in the king's death and make it impossible for him to ascend to the throne. Of course, this is the most drastic of solutions and it is recommended only as a last resort. At the same time, you need to be prepared to face all the situations that come with it, like plummeting stability of the country. Finally, you can try and influence the increase of Monarch Power points by taking advantage of random events, often in exchange for money. If you are prepared to sustain such losses, it is a sound trade-off then.