Austria EU5 Guide
Master the Holy Roman Empire as the Habsburg dynasty. Build Vienna into an economic powerhouse, create a powerful vassal swarm, and unite Central Europe under your rule.
Why Play Austria?
Austria is an incredibly rewarding nation that showcases many of EU5's core systems. You'll start as a duchy, work your way to becoming Holy Roman Emperor, build Vienna into a wealthy trade hub through jewelry production, and manage a vast network of vassals while playing tall in a powerful position.
Austria's Core Strengths
- •HRE Emperor Path: Very likely to be elected Emperor in the 1337 start, unlocking powerful mechanics and expansion options
- •Jewelry Industry: Silver and gems can be turned into jewelry for massive profits—one of Austria's best economic paths
- •Habsburg Cabinet Bonus: Cabinet members from your dynasty give +12.5% crown authority, making Habsburgs-only cabinet optimal
- •Perfect Tall + Wide Mix: Can play very tall in Vienna while expanding through vassals and HRE mechanics
- •Balance the Budget: Parliament option that allows 100% minting with zero inflation—extremely powerful money exploit
Starting Situation (1337)
What You Start With
- • Government: Duchy of Austria—not yet Emperor but very likely to be elected soon
- • Crown Power: Under 25%—you'll lose trade income and cabinet efficiency until you fix this
- • Estates: Very powerful nobility at 50% power—they can rebel quickly if angered
- • Territory: Core Austrian lands around Vienna, plus some unintegrated provinces
- • Economy: Silver production potential, can build into jewelry industry
- • Neighbors: Surrounded by larger nations including Bavaria (rival), Hungary, Bohemia
Opening Setup & Estates
Opening Checklist (Day 1 — 1337)
Cabinet System & Crown Power
The cabinet replaces the old mana point system from EU4. You assign family members and courtiers to various tasks, and their effectiveness depends on their skills and your crown power.
Habsburg-Only Cabinet Strategy
A critical optimization for Austria: cabinet members from your dynasty (Habsburg) give you +12.5% crown authority each. With two cabinet slots, that's +25% crown power just from dynasty loyalty.
- •Always Choose Habsburgs: Even if their stats are worse, the crown authority bonus is worth it
- •Assign to Legitimacy: One cabinet member should work on legitimacy until you hit 100%
- •Assign to Centralization: The other should push towards centralized values
Parliament & Laws
Parliament convenes every 5 years and is your primary source of war goals (you can't just fabricate claims like in EU4). It's also essential for changing laws without spending stability.
Parliament Priorities
- 1.Change Distribution of Power Law: Traditional distribution gives decentralization and less crown power. Change to crown power focus (+20% crown power, +5% max taxation)
- 2.Fabricate War Goals: Use parliament to get CBs on neighbors—this is your main expansion method
- 3.Balance the Budget: The most broken parliament option—gives no inflation while minting (see Parliament Tricks section)
Economy & Production
Austrian Jewelry Industry
Austria's economic crown jewel (literally) is the jewelry industry. By building Jeweler workshops in Vienna, you turn silver and gems into jewelry for massive profits.
- •Silver + Gems → Jewelry: Build Jewelers in Vienna to process your raw materials
- •Salzburg: Has gems—acquire it early for jewelry production
- •RGO Builder: Use the automatic RGO recommendation to find the most profitable expansions
Early Building Priority
1. Armory (50 ducats): Gives 25% crown power and starts manpower production—essential for early professional army
2. Wheat RGOs: Build up food production before creating your market
3. Windmills on Grain: Passive buff to food production
4. Hospitals: Expensive but critical for Black Death survival
5. Marketplaces: Build these everywhere once you have your own market for trade capacity
Market Creation Strategy
Market Creation Prerequisites
- •Build Up Food First: Expand wheat RGOs and build windmills before creating market
- •Save Money: Market creation is expensive—save up after surviving Black Death
- •Food Spike: When you create a new market, expect 3 months of massive food costs as granaries fill up
Vassal Swarm Strategy
Instead of integrating uncored land directly (which uses cabinet slots), release provinces as vassals. They pay you tribute, and you can annex them later to inherit the cores they generated.
Releasing Custom Vassals
- •Path: Diplomacy → Relations → Current Relations → Create Subjects
- •Custom Subjects: Release a province as its own state—better than historical subjects for control
- •Choose Vassals over Fiefdoms: Vassals use your dynasty and are easier to integrate
- •Small Vassals = Low Capacity Cost: Many tiny vassals barely impact your diplomatic capacity
Vassal Benefits
• Free Cabinet: Your cabinet can focus on legitimacy/centralization instead of integration
• Income: Vassals pay you tribute—more efficient than uncontrolled land
• Core Generation: When you annex, you inherit any cores they created
• Feeding Vassals: You can grant conquered land to adjacent vassals
HRE Mechanics & Emperor
Austria is almost guaranteed to become Holy Roman Emperor in 1337. As Emperor, you gain extra diplomatic capacity, can call the Golden Bull, and work towards unifying the HRE through reforms.
Emperor Priorities
- 1.Improve Relations with Electors: Spend diplomat points to stay on good terms with those who vote for Emperor
- 2.Call the Golden Bull: At ~50 imperial authority, seal the Golden Bull to activate HRE reforms
- 3.Defend HRE Members: You'll be called into defensive wars—use Bohemia as your muscle
- 4.Manage Factions: Pull nations into your faction (like forcing Florence or others to join)
Black Death Survival
Black Death Preparation
- •Build Hospitals: Expensive but reduce population loss significantly
- •Prioritize Population Centers: Build hospitals in Vienna and major cities first
- •Watch Italian Ports: When plague appears in Venice/Genoa, it's coming for you
When the Plague Hits
- •Move Court to Hiding: Costs 10 stability but prevents ruler death
- •Segregate the Infected: Gives disease resistance and communalism
- •DO NOT Isolate Country: This modifier is useless and hurts you
- •Expect Negative Stability: Focus on survival, rebuild stability after
Military & Warfare
Combat Basics
- •Three Front Lines + Back Line: Troops deploy to three front lines and a reserve
- •Initiative: Determines how fast units reach the front—cavalry has high initiative for early strikes
- •Front Line Collapse = Flanking: When a front line breaks, you do massive flanking damage
- •Speed Settings: Never fight wars at speed 5—battles conclude too fast to react
Austrian War Tips
- •Common Militia Privilege: Makes levies much stronger—give commoners the right to bear arms
- •Use Bohemia: Ally them and let them do the heavy lifting—they're economically broken
- •Siege Carefully: Fort assaults can cost 8,000+ men—sometimes patience is better
- •12-Month Rule: You can't separate peace for 12 months after war start
Parliament Tricks
Balance the Budget Exploit
This is the most broken parliament option in the game. When "Balance the Budget" appears as a parliament option, it gives you zero inflation while minting during the debate period.
- •How It Works: While the motion is being debated, you get "no inflation" modifier
- •Set Minting to 100%: Crank minting all the way up during this period
- •When It Passes: You also lose 2.5% inflation retroactively
- •Result: Massive free income with no downsides
Other Parliament Strategies
- •Failing Intentionally: If nothing good is available, pick something easy to pass, lose intentionally (only -7 stability), and use the session to change a law or fabricate a war goal
- •Bribe Electors: Only bribe the members with the most votes—usually electors
- •Cathedral Discount: Sometimes parliament offers buildings at massive discounts (70 instead of 200)
Infrastructure & Control
Control spreads from your capital. Provinces far from Vienna will have low control and produce less. Focus development near your capital first.
Control Mechanics
- •Proximity Cost Modifier: Centralization reduces the cost of spreading control to distant provinces
- •Build Near Vienna First: 100% control = 100% output. Far provinces may only give you 60-70%
- •Roads Spread Control: Building roads helps control reach further provinces
Building Material Priority
Logs, stone, and sand are critical building materials. Build lumber camps, sand pits, and mason workshops to reduce construction costs throughout your campaign.
Campaign Timeline
Austria Campaign Milestones
1337-1340: Opening Moves
Set up estates, release vassals, build armory, start minting, ally electors, become Emperor
1340-1347: Pre-Plague Build-Up
Build food production, hospitals in major cities, expand wheat RGOs, first parliament for law changes
1347-1352: Black Death
Survive plague (lose ~1/3 population), hide court, segregate infected, maintain stability
1352-1370: Recovery & Expansion
Create Vienna market, build jewelry industry, call Golden Bull, ally/use Bohemia for wars
1370+: HRE Dominance
Push reforms, embrace Professional Armies institution, work towards Revoke the Privilegia
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Creating Market Too Early
Without sufficient food production, you'll hemorrhage money on imports and potentially go bankrupt
- Using Cabinet for Integration
Release uncored land as vassals instead—your cabinet is better used for legitimacy and centralization
- Ignoring the 25% Crown Power Threshold
Below this threshold, you lose massive trade income. Prioritize getting above 25% immediately
- Non-Habsburg Cabinet Members
Dynasty members give +12.5% crown authority each—always choose Habsburgs even if stats are worse
- Skipping Hospital Construction
Hospitals are expensive but the difference between losing 1/3 vs 1/2 of your population is enormous
- Taking Loans Carelessly
Loans hurt crown authority—avoid debt whenever possible, especially early game
- Fighting Wars at Speed 5
Battles conclude extremely fast in EU5—use speed 3-4 maximum during warfare
Social Values & Centralization
Social values are EU5's replacement for idea groups. They're influenced by estate privileges, events, and cabinet assignments. Austria starts very decentralized—your goal is to push towards centralized.
Key Value Directions for Austria
Push Towards
Move Away From