Levies are early troops recruited from one’s province in Europa Universalis V during times of crisis. They can only be recruited during active rebellions and wars and aren’t available during peacetime. To maintain and gain more Levies, you need tact and strategy to increase your population base, improve their loyalty, and increase your reach to different provinces and estates. In this guide, we explain how you can get more Levies in Europa Universalis V.
Europa Universalis V – Levies Explained
Levies are soldiers from an estate’s population base in Europa Universalis V. Levies are recruited from your province’s population, turning people into soldiers ready to fight wars with other countries. Levies can only be recruited when fighting rebels or wars against opposing forces. The troops or levies who have survived the war will return to your province, but they’ll lose food and production when active, so be careful. Unlike regular army units, which are permanent, Levies return after disbanding and require maintenance.
The best way to get more Levies in Europa Universalis V is to expand your province’s population and increase your manpower as much as possible. This means avoiding deadly wars that will starve your population. Establish a country with a robust food storage, and do not needlessly declare wars with other nations. Life-threatening wars will lead to national instability, debt, loss of reputation, death of your troops, and worse negative effects. However, if you do start a war, make sure you have the Casus Belli first.
When wars eventually break out, you need to have as much manpower as possible, which means recruiting Levies from your population base. Remember, coastal provinces and rural settlements breed higher food growth, and the more the food supply is, the faster you’ll build your population base. As the ruler, it is your duty to keep a check on your population base and recruit manpower in times of crisis. So, make sure your Levies do not fight battles hungry and starving in Europa Universalis V.
How to Get More Levies in Europa Universalis V?
Expanding your population base isn’t the only way to recruit Levies in Europa Universalis V. There are other ways to do so, but it will require time, strategy, and control. Here’s how you can get more Levis from not just your province but also from other locations:
- Control Strategy: This strategy requires you to extend your reach and control to other locations via investing and creating high-quality infrastructure, building roads and bridges, improving your capital, going on naval journeys, and more. The more you can expand your control and reach, the more Levies you can recruit from other locations and utilize the manpower from every province.
- Estate Satisfaction: The satisfaction of your estate should be above 50% at all times to ensure a steady supply of manpower. You receive peasants, cavalries, nobles, and other troops from estates based on the laws you enact. Lowering an estate’s satisfaction can lead to a reduction in manpower, which further leads to lesser Levies during wars and battles.
- Improved Loyalty: The more loyal you are to your population base, the better Levies you’ll receive in Europa Universalis V. This means passing reforms and privileges that increase their loyalty, which will unlock Levies of different types and sizes across every estate. Implement reforms that enhance the loyalty of your estate to receive better military manpower from governments as Levies during wars.
However, this doesn’t mean you should be recruiting Levies at all times from your population base. The more Levies you recruit, the more food and raw material production your estate loses until they return home after the war. Every province you recruit Levies from loses about 20% of raw material and food production until they return home safe.
This is why you should recruit Levies at strategic intervals from different locations to avoid manpower, food, and raw material production shortages. Use Levies for quick battles since they lose experience at 2% each month. That’s all you need to know about Levies in Europa Universalis V. If you’re new to the game, check out our extensive guide on the Best Starting Nations to have a stronger start to your grand strategy journey.
