Europa Universalis V: 11 Control Tactics to Dominate Your Realm
Europa Universalis V turns grand strategy into statecraft, demanding you steer a nation through centuries of turmoil — and it all starts with one brutal truth: without control of your provinces, your empire collapses before it begins.
Europa Universalis V wants you to run a country, not just click troops around. Sounds simple until the game quietly asks: do you actually have Control over your provinces? If you don’t, the economy coughs, the manpower dries up, and your glorious map paint starts peeling.
What Control actually is
Control is a new stat that measures how much authority your state has in a province. It runs from 0 to 100 and directly impacts two big things: how much tax you can collect and how much manpower you can pull. Higher Control means more money and bodies. Lower Control means your provinces shrug and hand you pocket change.
The catch: distance matters. The farther a province sits from your capital, the more Control leaks away thanks to a distance penalty the game calls "Proximity Cost." It’s one of those deep mechanics details that explains why a shiny overseas conquest can feel less shiny when it stops paying for itself.
How to raise it (and keep it from nosediving)
- Build connective tissue: Roads between key towns, expanded ports on your coasts, and an active fleet to keep sea lanes alive all help your administration actually reach those far-flung provinces. That directly chips down Proximity Cost, especially for territories nowhere near your capital.
- Keep people satisfied: Provinces with higher local satisfaction trend toward higher Control. Balance your estates and pass stable, sensible laws to keep the mood steady.
- Stay on top of unrest: Rebels and local disruptions chew through Control fast. Keep garrisons strong, keep national stability high, and crush uprisings quickly before they snowball.
- Invest in administration: Building out your administrative infrastructure doesn’t just look good on a ledger; it actively boosts and stabilizes Control.
Bottom line: Control is the backbone of your empire. Build infrastructure to connect the dots, manage satisfaction so your provinces want to cooperate, and keep a firm hand on security. Do that, and those distant lands will actually start paying off instead of bleeding you dry.
Europa Universalis V is developed by Paradox Tinto and is scheduled to release on November 4, 2025.