Summary
- Unlocking achievements in Europa Universalis 4 requires deep mastery of the game's mechanics and systems, and some luck.
- Achievements like "Eat Your Greens" and "One Faith" are incredibly difficult and require conquering vast territories or converting every province to a specific religion.
- Starting as weak nations like Kale or Theodoro makes achievements like "Eat Your Greens" or "Gothic Invasion" even more challenging due to powerful neighbors and limited resources.
With more than 100 different achievements to unlock, Europa Universalis 4, developed by grand strategy grandmasters Paradox Development Studios, is a real time-sink. While some of its achievements are super easy to unlock, others are bone crushingly difficult, with few players ever managing to get them. These achievements are definitely not for beginners.
Europa Universalis 4: 18 Easiest Countries For Beginners
These are the best starter nations for players new to Paradox Development's Europa Universalis 4, the 2013 Grand Strategy game.
These achievements are grueling tasks to undertake, requiring players to master the game's many mechanics, have a deep understanding of its systems, and maybe a bit of luck on their side as well.
10 Eat Your Greens
As Kale, own every grassland in Asia before the Age of Absolutism
To unlock the Eat Your Greens achievement players must play as the nation of Kale in Asia, a small and not very powerful country at the start of the game. But that's not all, because then players need to own every grassland province in Asia before the start of the Age of Absolutism.
Why This Is Hard
Kale is a weak country surrounded by many far more powerful countries - as well as their overlords. As Asia has many grassland provinces, there are many provinces which need to be conquered to unlock this achievement. Tough for most countries, even tougher for a country like Kale.
9 One Faith
Spread a religion to every region of the world
One of the most fun parts of EU4 gameplay can be spreading a country's religion throughout the world. This can be really satisfying, and since there's even an achievement tied to it, it can be worthwhile too. But spreading a religion to every single province in the world is much harder than it sounds, given that there are more than a thousand provinces. Some fans recommend using countries like Austria to attempt this achievement.
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Why This Is Hard
Some religions are extremely difficult to convert, and some religions aren't very good at converting in the first place. Additionally, players need to first conquer the province or otherwise control it through a vassal in order to change its religion.
8 The Three Mountains
As Ryukyu, conquer the world
Long hailed as one of EU4's most difficult achievements, The Three Mountains is an achievement which can only be unlocked through playing the minuscule and weak country of Ryukyu, an island nation in the Pacific Ocean. Players must conquer the entire game world in order to unlock this achievement, a difficult feat even for a much more powerful country.
Why This Is Hard
Ryukyu is small and weak at the beginning of the game, which means it's very difficult to expand. On top of its technological disadvantages, this makes conquering the entire world extremely difficult for Ryukyu.
7 The True Heir Of Timur
Begin as a Timurid subject, for the Mughals, and conquer India before 1550
India and the Middle East are both very tumultuous regions in the Europa Universalis 4 game world, with a lot of different countries vying for authority. To unlock the True Heir of Timur achievement, players must start as a subject to the Timurids, control every province in India, form the Mughals, and do it all by 1550. That's just over 100 years from the game start.
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Why Is This Hard
The Timurids can make it difficult to get around as one of their vassals, and the situation in the region is tricky to handle, especially for less experienced players. All this plus the timeline necessary to unlock the achievement means it's very hard to do.
6 Mehmet's Ambition
As The Ottomans, own all the Provinces needed to form the Roman Empire by 1500
To unlock the Mehmet's Ambition achievement, players need to start as the powerful Ottomans country and control every province needed to reform the Roman Empire by 1500. This is an incredibly big ask, but the Ottomans do have some key advantages which might make it easier.
Why This Is Hard
On top of just being made up of a whole lot of provinces, many of the provinces required to form the Roman Empire are held by very powerful countries with strong allies. Even with the Ottomans' many strengths, it's difficult to gather all of those provinces in a measly 56 years.
5 From Frankfurt To The Andes
As Frankfurt, form Jerusalem, then the Incas, while holding Mallorca in Europe
Starting as the minor nation of Frankfurt, unlocking From Frankfurt to the Andes requires players to form the crusader state of Jerusalem - an undertaking in and of itself - and then go on to form the Incas, all while holding the Mallorca province in Europe.
Why This Is Hard
Frankfurt is a weak country to start with, and it needs to find its way to Jerusalem, conquer enough land to form Jerusalem as a country, and then find its way to South America. If all of that doesn't sound hard enough, various parts of the process are time-limited or require cultural changes. Not for the faint of heart.
4 World Conqueror
Own or have a subject in every Province in the world
Conquering every single province in EU4 is an extremely ambitious undertaking, much like EU4 itself, which has been hailed as one of the best grand strategy games of all time. While it's possible, it's designed to be very difficult, and is something even many experienced players struggle with. But it's exactly how to unlock the World Conqueror achievement.
Why This Is Hard
Not only are there very many provinces in the game world, it's extremely hard to conquer them all due to other countries and their alliances. But that isn't all, as even when players do manage to conquer vast swathes of the world, it can be a real struggle to hold their empire together.
3 All Blue
As Portugal, ensure all of Europe is owned by countries colored "Blue"
One of the more unusual Europa Universalis 4 achievements, All Blue requires players to ensure that every province in Europe is owned by a country whose color on the map is blue... While playing as Portugal (also blue).
Why This Is Hard
Whether or not blue countries own provinces can come down to random luck, so often the best way is to simply conquer everything as Portugal and be done with it. But while Portugal is a powerful country, conquering the whole of Europe is easier said than done. So this achievement is one that can be very hard to unlock.
2 I Don't Like Sand
Reach 1000 Development while only owning provinces with Desert or Coastal Desert terrain
To unlock the I Don't Like Sand achievement, players must have more than 1000 development while only owning provinces with the Desert or Coastal Desert terrain.
Why This Is Hard
Desert and Coastal Desert terrain provinces are in fairly short supply, and even when players are able to amass them, they don't tend to be very high in development. Added to that is the fact that, although provincial development can be improved by spending monarch points, it's very expensive to do so in provinces of this terrain type.
1 Gothic Invasion
As Theodoro, conquer all Germanic provinces
Players wishing to unlock the Gothic Invasion achievement need to conquer all Germanic cultured provinces in the game as the minor nation of Theodoro.
Why This Is Hard
Many of the provinces necessary for this achievement are in the Holy Roman Empire, or belong to a powerful nation, meaning it can be very difficult for little Theodoro to take what it needs without courting the wrath of the Empire.
Europa Universalis 4
- Released
- August 13, 2013
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Paradox Development Studio
- Publisher(s)
- Paradox Interactive
- Platform(s)
- PC
- Genre(s)
- Strategy
