What is Absolutism?

[Das Boot]

I just entered the age of Absolutism, I am wondering what this mechanic does. Is having a high absolutism good? Is it bad?

[bri]

It's stupidly overpowered and they should reassess its inclusion...

[Das Boot]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย bri:

It's stupidly overpowered and they should reassess its inclusion...

That's not at all helpful to answering my question.

[Bird the III]

its the best thing since sliced bread.
so have fun reading those things from the wiki which is for such basic questions
https://eu4.paradoxwikis.com/Absolutism

[tonypa]

100 Absolutism gives you 40% Administrative efficiency, combined with 30% from Admin Tech levels, you can get 70% Administrative efficiency. This reduces core creation and diplo-annexation costs, overextension, warscore cost and aggressive expansion by 70%. You will be able to conquer very large countries without much problem.

[Bird the III]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย tonypa:

100 Absolutism gives you 40% Administrative efficiency, combined with 30% from Admin Tech levels, you can get 70% Administrative efficiency. This reduces core creation and diplo-annexation costs, overextension, warscore cost and aggressive expansion by 70%. You will be able to conquer very large countries without much problem.

and thats why he should read about it because
a) you forgot to meantion the discipline bonus (and Foreign core duration but who cares about that)
b) that its a % thing ranging from 0-100
c) that there might be a disaster conected to it
d) that depending on gov form he cant even reach 100

[Admod, the Equivocal]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย bri:

It's stupidly overpowered and they should reassess its inclusion...

But sir. I've yet to get the achievement Absolutely.

[bri]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย Admod, the Capricorn:

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย bri:

It's stupidly overpowered and they should reassess its inclusion...

But sir. I've yet to get the achievement Absolutely.

Not surprising since only a handful of nations can readily get 100 as their limit let alone keep you awake long enough to grind it that high.

[Amtep]

It's not really a grind. There are some quick ways to boost Absolutism, mostly by reducing autonomy. You just need a way to get provinces which have autonomy to lower in the first place.

- accepting demands of Particularist rebels gives +10% autonomy in lots of provs (best done right at the start when your absolutism is still 0, so that the -10 absolutism hit doesn't affect you)
- integrating a big vassal gives you land at 60% autonomy that's free to state
- conquering trade company land
- there are events that give +autonomy as a "penalty" which you can gladly take

The other way (often supplementing autonomy reduction) is by spending mil points on "strengthen government" and harsh treatment of minimum-size rebels. That's 50 MP per absolutism, or 25 MP if you have the age bonus that makes harsh treatment cheaper.

These approaches have synergy, lowering autonomy gives you rebels, which you can then treat harshly.

Once your Absolutism is at 50+, you can trigger the Court and Country disaster which gives some Absolutism-raising events and a permanent bonus to max autonomy if you handle it well. Whether that's worth it depends on the country and how much you want to conquer later. I often don't bother.

Btw all this does show that the absolutism mechanic is kinda broken. When penalties and disasters become eagerly sought after, something is wrong with the gameplay. However it does kinda match the "how to turn a democracy into a dictatorship" guidebook in real life. You need some disasters.