what Idea groups for a aragon Mare nostrum run?

[geolas]

as the title says, what ideas are the best for a mare nostrum run. i know influence, administrative and religious are must haves, but i am not sure in what order i should take them. i am also considering if taking innovative first is worth it, or if influence first is a must have with byzantium as a vassal and the +50% liberty from naples

[Marquoz]

Admin--Diplo--Influence are the Big Three for any serious campaign, and I'd take them in either that order or as Diplo--Admin--Influence. To that, you add either Religious or Humanism (generally one, not both). If you want to colonize, Exploration and Expansion get added to the mix. You take them very early (first) as Castile or Portugal, later as other nations.

That's six idea groups right there. The last two don't matter because they come so late.

[Medicles]

Marquoz gave you the most optimal stuff, let me give you a slightly changed way.

Admin-Influence-Religious-Espionage-Innovative-Offensive-Economic-Trade

Admin and Influence should always be taken. I dont go for Diplomatic that much, even though its good, but i dont need the warscore cost reduction in most of my games.

Religious is for converting, Deus Vult and papal points synergie with Spain (which i assume you want to form eventually).

Espionage, Influence and Offensive are mainly for stacking siege ability, but they give some nice other bonuses as well.

Economic and Trade are just for the lulz, idea group 7 and 8 usually dont have much of an effect on the game and arent needed per se, so why not use them for more money.

There is also an option in the game where you can turn off the type idea limitation of the game, meaning you can theoretically go with three admin ideas consecutively, for example. I suggest you turn it off to have some more freedom, like choosing Innovative after Religious.

[RCMidas]

Note that if you're going for achievements, then changing this option is not...well, an option. Thankfully, you can just click the red button by the Ironman option to reset all options to achievement-compatible ones for that game.

[MasterYi]

Originally posted by geolas:

i am also considering if taking innovative first is worth it

It’s only worth if you are:
1: Anglican (England), cuz you get increased Innovativeness gain letting you reach 100

2: Korea, cuz you are confucian and should not take Religious Ideas since Confucianism penalises conversions.

So you have one more Admin idea slot freed up.

You have a god tier ruler so you will consistently take techs and ideas ahead of timex

Originally posted by geolas:

or if influence first is a must have with byzantium as a vassal and the +50% liberty from naples

No, if you’re going to be expanding using Vassals like reconqeuring Byzantine cores and following their mission tree for their permaclaims, you free up your own admin mana which allows you to take Administrative Ideas first, take at least the first 2 Ideas for -25% CCR before you start expanding yourself. Plus Byzantium’s permaclaims gives -25% CCR so it’s as if they have unlocked Admin Ideas too, they will core them cheaper than you would.

If you are desperate to annex Subjects you can go Influence 2nd for the -45% diplo-annexation cost.

But if you are able to delay their annexation until after the 3rd Idea Group, pick Diplomatic Ideas 2nd. The earlier you unlock AE decay and -25% warscore cost, the faster you can expand.

You can also get the Protected Market achievement with a cheese strat:

Move (Trade) Capital to Genoa > grant the Burgher privilege of Exclusive Trade Rights > gain 3 mercantilism > remove trader from Valencia > Auto-removes said privilege (Valencia is not capital and there’s no trader in Valencia, so Valencia has 0 trade power) > send Merchant to Valencia again > Exclusive Trade Rights > gain 3 mercantilism.

Repeat the above process 34 times to get 100% mercantilism, Aragon is probably the easiest nation to get this achievement, you just need around 2 yrs to save 200 mana to move your (Trade) Capital then spam the privilege which takes around 2 months.

You wanna have your trade capital in Genoa anyways since it is an End Node and superior to Valencia.

[Medicles]

Originally posted by RCMidas:

Note that if you're going for achievements, then changing this option is not...well, an option. Thankfully, you can just click the red button by the Ironman option to reset all options to achievement-compatible ones for that game.

If you are talking about the limited type idea option, it is indeed accepted for ironman.

[RCMidas]

Oh really? Huh, learn something new every day. Not that it makes a different to the strategy I use, but still!