Advisor

Advisors are located on the government interface

An advisor is a person with deep knowledge in a specific area that offers advice to a country's leader. Tasks such as conducting warfare, promoting scientific advancement and managing an economy are three examples of areas an advisor can offer aid.

Advisors can be managed in the Court panel of the Country interface. In EU4, there are 7 advisors for each of the three kinds of monarch power, so there are 21 advisor types in total. Each advisor provides a fixed bonus based on his type. For example, all Traders increase trade efficiency by 10%.

Advisors are further divided by their inherent skill level. Skill ranges from +1 to +5, each providing additional monarch points relative to their level (i.e. a level 2 diplomat provides +2 per month). (Note that in the Base game, without the Promote Advisors mechanic unlocked in the Cradle of Civilization DLC, +3 will be the cap. The cost of hiring and maintaining an advisor increases quadratically with the advisor's skill level. The advisor's skill level affects only the cost and the monarch power generated. The skill level does not affect the advisor type bonus (e.g. a level 1 and a level 3 Philosopher will output the same amount of prestige).

If the Government Reform "Attorney General" is enacted, Advisors wil also increase yearly Republican Tradition by 0.02 times their Level

Advisors eventually die and must be replaced.

Advisor pool

A country can only have one active advisor of each type at a time; however, there are ways to increase the pool of options to choose from. In the 1444 start, each country starts with a pool of at least 3 advisor choices for each type. Countries with a total monthly income of less than 50 ducats will not have access to level 3 advisors (except by event). Each country has access to at least one skill 2 advisor at start.

Gaining new advisors

New advisors will only arrive upon event or when a free slot is opened, either by increasing the advisor pool or a previous advisor dying. If the Common Sense expansion is activated, the player may also spend the initial cost of hiring an advisor to remove them from court. New advisors will appear at the start of the month.

Notifications can be set to alert the player of the arrival of new advisors. Advisors begin to have a chance of dying once they are past age 40, and new advisors will always be at least age 30. The consequently low rate of replacement means it is typically not worth waiting for an ideal advisor. Picking idea groups that give extra advisor slots can improve the odds of having an advisor with the desired abilities.

Female advisors

New advisors have a 2% chance of being female. This chance can be increased by the following:

	Traditions	Ideas	Bonuses	Policies
+75%	Kaurna traditions Tiwi traditions	—	—	—
+50%	—	Bregenzer idea 2: Securing the Countess's Rule Federation idea 5: Gender Parity Kamilaroi idea 5: Matrilineal Lineage Samoan idea 3: Maulu'ulu	—	—
+25%	—	—	—	Diplomatic-Plutocratic: Mandatory Service
+20%	—	Mantuan idea 2: The Countess's Studiolo	—	—
+10%	—	North Western Native idea 4: Mother and Father	—	—

The only other sources of female advisor chance are (all the event modifiers are permanent):

	Condition
+100%	from the event The Militant Order of Saint Joan for Orleans or country who was Orleans.
+50%	from the mission The Beloved Woman for Cherokee.
+50%	with the government reform Matrilineal System for Nubian culture tribal governments.
+33%	with the government reform Equal Electorate for revolutionary republics.
+25%	with the government reform Meritocratic Rule for non-revolutionary republics.
+25%	from the event The Soldiers in Petticoats for british revolutionary republics.
+20%	from the event The Laws of [Root.Monarch.GetTitle] [Root.Monarch.GetName] for Burgundy.
+20%	from the event The Education of Women for Muslim theocracies.
+10%	from the event The Muxe in Court for countries with Zapotec as primary or accepted culture

Theocracies with heirs and with over 100% female advisor chance will get only female heirs.

Enlarging the advisor pool

This can be increased by the following:

	Condition
+2	for being the curia controller.
+1	for being a lucky nation (AI only).
+1	for having a ruler with ‘Well Advised’ personality.
+1	for the Holy Roman Emperor.
+1	for being Reformed.
+1	for being Jewish.
+1	for being Mayan.
+1	with Catholic, Mayan or Jewish as syncretic faith.
+1	for having the Bureaucrat faction in power ( Ming with factions only).
+1	for all player countries if the difficulty is set to ‘very easy’.

Ideas and policies:

	Traditions	Ideas	Bonuses	Policies
+2	—	—	—	Defensive-Administrative: The Spy Discovery Act
+1	Chachapoyan traditions Kuban traditions Mainzian traditions Samoan traditions Vijayanagar traditions	Administrative idea 2: Local Rule Innovative idea 4: Dynamic Court Ajuuraan idea 4: Muslim Migrations Aymaran idea 2: Yatiri Healing Candarid idea 4: Anatolian Center for Learning Chimu idea 5: Artisan Relocations Chinese idea 1: The Keju Examination Cilli idea 6: Italian Baroque Client State idea 7: Foreign Advisors East Frisian idea 4: Dutch Migrants Krakowian idea 5: Jewish Communities Lotharingian idea 5: The Court of Europe Manx idea 3: Tynwald High Court North Western Native idea 4: Mother and Father Offaly idea 2: Irish Hospitality Pskovian idea 1: Veche of Pskov Shawnee idea 5: Autonomous Clans Shiba idea 6: Rein in the Shiba Retainers Tyrconnell idea 6: Land of Exiles West African idea 1: Griot Tradition Württemberger idea 1: Estates of Württemberg	—	—

Decisions, missions and events:

	Event modifier	Trigger	Duration
+1	Terakoya	Japanese event: “Terakoya” Option: ‘Establish Terakoya in all of $COUNTRY$’	until ruler changes.
+1	Good Advice	Administrative ideas event: “Good Advice”	for 10 years.
+3	Golden age of Timbuktu	Songhain event: “Golden Age in Timbuktu”	until ruler changes.
+1	Attracting the right people	Bahmani event: “Attracting the right people” Option: ‘Let us double our efforts.’	for 10 years.
+1	Dhimmi Administrators	Dhimmi event: “Administrators from the $ESTATE_DHIMMI$.” Option: ‘Let's put these learned men to good use.’	for 15 years.
+1	Elaborate Court Life	Nobility event: “The Levee” Option: ‘An elaborate and lengthy ceremony for the most influential.’	for 25 years.
+2	Sanssouci palace	Prussia event: “Sanssouci Palace” Option: ‘Excellent.’	Until the end of the game.
+1	The chancellorship	Germany mission: “Establish the Chancellorship”	Until the end of the game.

Cost

Modifiers affecting advisor salaries can be seen in the Economy panel.

An advisor's cost depends on their skill, the current year, and other modifiers (if any). Hiring costs depend on their age, while monthly costs do not. Historical advisors receive a discount to employ.

Active modifiers can be seen by hovering over "Advisors" in the "Expenses" column of the Economy panel. These values show multiple decimals points (see picture for example).

Monthly cost

The monthly cost of an advisor is calculated from a base amount, which is the square of their skill level (1, 4, 9, 16 or 25). This base cost increases over time by 0.5% of the original base cost every year. Thus by 1644 (200 years), the base costs of 1, 4, and 9 will double to 2, 8, and 18. By the end of game time (1821, 377 years), they will be 2.88 times (base + 188.5% base) the starting value. Any additional increases from modifiers are calculated from this new base cost.

Hiring cost

The one-time hiring cost is a simple multiple of the monthly salary. The advisor's skill level only enters into the hiring cost inasmuch as his skill level has already helped determine his salary.

As hiring costs are multiples of the monthly cost, they also increase over the years.

The value of the multiplier depends solely on the advisor's age, ranging from a high of 16 at age 30 (the youngest age possible) down to 10 at age 60. (The oldest advisors available in the pool are rarely more than their high 50s.) It is strictly linear, dropping 0.2 per year (a.k.a., a whole point every five years). The advisor's age is used "as is"; there are no hidden fractions for being, e.g., "50 and a half".

${\text{Hiring cost}}=\left(22-{\frac {\text{age}}{5}}\right)\cdot {\text{monthly salary}}$

For more regarding age, see the section on Longevity (below).

Example

For a 50 year old Skill 2 advisor (base 4 per month) in the year 1544, with inflation of 10%:

${\text{Base cost}}=4\cdot (1+0.005\cdot 100)=6.00{\text{ per month}}$

${\text{Total monthly cost}}=6\cdot (1+0.10)=6.60{\text{ per month}}$

${\text{Hiring cost}}=(22-10)\cdot 6.60=79.2$

Factors modifying advisor cost

Note that these modifiers are applied after applying the change in base cost due to the current year.

• Inflation: +variable 0-100%
• Bankruptcy: +100%
• Meritocracy: scaling from +25% at 0 Meritocracy to −25% at 100 Meritocracy
• Monarchy Government Reform Tier 4: Meritocratic Recruitment: −10%
• Confucian harmonized with Theravada: −10%
• Trading in Tea: −10%
• Tengri with Shia, Ibadi, Jewish or Reformed as syncretic faith: −10%
• Theravada: −10%
• Fetishist with Haymanot cult: −10%
• Ruler with ‘Well Connected’ personality: −20%
• Being Curia controller: −20%
• Ceremonial fire pit Native building: −50%
• Advisors with ruler's culture when having Mamluk Government: −25%
• Parthenon: −10%/−20% while either province religion is Pagan and same as owner or culture is Greek and accepted(only with )
• Pyramid of Cheops: −5%/−10%/−15% while either province religion is Pagan and same as owner or culture is in the Levantine group and accepted(only with )
• Mehrangarh Fort: −10%/−20%(only with )
• Santa Maria del Fiore: −10%/−20% while the province religion is christian and the same as the state religion of its owner(only with )
• Kanbawzathadi Palace: −20%(only with )
• Gyeongbok Palace: −5%/−10%/−20% while the culture is Sino-Korean or Korean and is accepted by its owner and The province religion is Confucian which is either the state or syncretic religion of its owner orThe province has the state religion of its owner who has Confucian as a syncretic religion (only with )
• Various events: −variable%
• Maximum discount: 90%

Some National Ideas and Idea sets give advisor cost to all advisors:

	Traditions	Ideas	Bonuses	Policies
−20%	—	—	Full Innovativeness	Espionage-Administrative: The Royal Commission Act
−15%	Pueblo traditions Smolenskian traditions	Espionage idea 4: Agent Training Ashikaga idea 5: Bugyoshu and Hokoshu Majapahit idea 7: Reformed Bhattara Saptaprabhu Offaly idea 2: Irish Hospitality Semien idea 6: Lost Tribe of Beta Israel Siouan Federation idea 5: Oyate Sumatran idea 4: Center of Scholarship	Great Qing ambition	Innovative-Diplomatic: The Diplomatic Cooperation
−10%	Bohemian traditions Byzantine traditions Cherokee traditions Dahomey traditions Khmer traditions National traditions Saxon traditions	Arakanese idea 6: Muslim Advisors Ashanti idea 1: Elder Council Candarid idea 4: Anatolian Center for Learning Catalan idea 2: Consell de Cent Chachapoyan idea 5: Chachapoyan Endurance Chickasaw idea 4: Unconquered and Unconquerable Deccani Sultanate idea 7: Joint Marathi-Habshi State Franconian idea 7: Franconian Bourgeoisie Greek idea 4: Greek Diaspora Hatakeyama idea 4: Hatakeyama Retainers Hindustani idea 2: Persianate Courtly Culture Korean idea 1: Uijeongbu Latin idea 3: Byzantine Bureaucracy Luzon idea 6: A Safe Haven Malabari idea 2: Cultural Melting Pot Norman idea 2: Norman Philosophers Ouchi idea 7: Retainer Factions Palatinate idea 2: Heidelberg University Permian idea 1: Capital of Prikamye Pueblo idea 1: Ancient Pueblo Legacy Russian idea 6: The Table of Ranks Ryazan idea 7: Western Contacts Somali idea 7: Arab and Persian Influx Sulu idea 2: Makhdum's Teachings Swabian idea 5: A Miserly People Tirhuti idea 1: Scholars and Poets Wallachian idea 4: Foreign Advisors	Tibetan ambition	Influence-Innovative: Foreign Advisors Innovative-Plutocratic: The Education Act

Others give only advisor cost to advisors that are the same culture as your ruler:

	Traditions	Ideas	Bonuses	Policies
−25%	California Native traditions Samoan traditions	Bohemian idea 7: Czech Nationalism Cirebonese idea 2: Tari Topeng Utrecht idea 6: Cultural Resilience Westphalian idea 4: Assimilation of the Rhenish People	—	—
−20%	—	Ava idea 4: Patronize Burmese Literature Irish idea 2: The Clanns Kitabatake idea 5: Men of Quality Moroccan idea 1: Powerful Viziers Shirvani idea 4: Persianate Patronage	—	—
−15%	—	Hojo idea 7: Council in Odawara	—	—
−10%	—	—	—	Court-Economic: Financial Miracle Act

Type specific discounts

There are also cost reductions for specific types of advisors. These stack additively with generic advisor cost reductions. The three basic estates (Nobles, Burghers, and Clergy) each have a privilege for −25% Military, −25% Diplomatic, and −25% Administrative advisor cost, but at a +10% . Kanbawzathadi Palace gives −10/−20% Diplomatic advisor cost. (only with ) Note that these cost reductions not only lower upkeep, but also hiring cost.

Promote advisor

It is possible at any point to promote the rank of an advisor once they are hired, provided they are of an accepted culture, to a max rank of 5. This can be done for the cost of 60 times the advisor's monthly salary (the cost of a 5-year salary).

As advisor's monthly salary increases quadratically with rank; it is recommended to make sure the economy can sustain the cost before promoting the advisor. With this, an even higher emphasis is put on advisor age as they are less likely to die early and risk the loss of investment.

Types

The bonus and the allowed decisions are listed for each type of advisor.

Hiring a level 3 advisor enables the trigger of an advisor event.

With the Women in History DLC activated, any of the advisors can be generated as female. The chance is flat 2% across the board. There are also some events that can add a female advisor to the pool. These advisors have a silver border around their portrait, as opposed to a golden one. The game allows advisors to be restricted to one gender, but the base game doesn't do this.

Administrative

Administrative advisors help in situations that are regarded as domestic policy. Their job is to improve a nation internally: reforming the tax system and promoting cultural patronage are two examples.

If the Finnish Mission "Finetune our Finances" has been completed, every Administrative Advisor will also grant +5%, times their Level, national Tax Modifier.

Advisor	Effects	Decisions	Requirements
Artist	Stability cost modifier: −10%
Inquisitor	Missionary strength: +2%		90% reduced spawn rate on province not following the owner religion
Master of Mint	Yearly inflation reduction: +0.10
Natural Scientist	Production efficiency: +10%
Philosopher	Yearly prestige: +1
Theologian	National unrest: −2	Revoke Restraint of Appeals Pass Advancement of Religion Act
Treasurer	National tax modifier: +10%

Diplomatic

Diplomatic advisors address matters related to the navy in general and foreign policy. Their job is to promote naval advancement as well as conducting foreign diplomacy: increasing a nation's trade competitiveness and improving diplomatic relations are two examples.

Advisor	Effects	Decisions	Requirements
Colonial governor	Tariffs: +10%		The province owner: has at least 1 colonist. is not a colonial nation.
Diplomat	Improve relations: +20%
Naval reformer	Morale of navies: +10%		The province has a port. The province owner is not primitive.
Navigator	Colonial range: +20%		The province owner: has at least 1 colonist.
Spymaster	Spy network construction: +25%	Hire Ninjas
Statesman	Diplomatic reputation: +1	Formalize Separation of Powers Construct the Forbidden City
Trader	Trade efficiency: +10%

Military

A military advisor's sole function is to enhance a nation's military, offensively or defensively. Thus, their job involves improving a nation's army and overall defensiveness against foreign attackers: implementing logistical reforms and increasing resistance to sieges are two examples.

Advisor	Effects	Decisions
Army Organizer	Land force limit modifier: +10%
Army Reformer	Morale of armies: +10%
Commandant	Discipline: +5%
Grand Captain	Land maintenance modifier: −10%
Master Recruiter	National manpower modifier: +10%
Military Engineer	Fort defense: +20%
Quartermaster	Reinforce speed: +33%

Longevity

EU4 Advisor Life Expectancy

Once an advisor is hired, their tooltip will display their percentage death risk, which depends on their age.

For every year over 40, advisors gain 2/3rds of a percent (0.67%) chance of death, or an increase of 2% for every 3 years of age after 40. At age 55, the yearly death risk will be 10%. At age 100, it will be 40%. The percentage is rounded down in the tooltip, but probably not in calculations. This means that at age 41, an advisor's yearly death risk will be 0.67%, but will show as 0% in the tooltip.

${\text{Death rate}}=\left({\text{Age}}-40\right)\cdot {\frac {2}{3}}\ \%/{\text{year}}$

The cumulative effects of this are severe (inset at left). By a median age of 53.7, only half of advisors will be alive. By 65, only 1 in 10 will remain. Only 1 in 100 will make it to 75. (This is the overall mortality curve; if an advisor has already survived to 50, their curve is different.)

Advisor portraits

Advisor portraits locations

Here are the portraits of all advisors the player can hire. DLC is required for all of these except the generic and Asian male portraits. All female portraits requires the activation of Women in History free DLC. Advisor portraits are tied to the culture of the advisor.

Advisor portraits by province

Generic Russian Cossack African Muslim Persian

Indian Asian North American Mesoamerican South American

Table with all available advisor portraits

Type	Advisor	Generic	Russian	Cossack	African	Muslim	Persian	Indian	Asian	Southeast Asian	North American	Mesoamerican	South American	Aboriginal Australian	Polynesian
	Army Organiser
	Army Reformer
	Artist
	Colonial Governor
	Commandant
	Diplomat
	Fortification Expert
	Grand Captain
	Inquisitor
	Master of Mint
	Master Recruiter
	Natural Scientist
	Naval Reformer
	Navigator
	Philosopher
	Quartermaster
	Spymaster
	Statesman
	Theologian
	Trader
	Treasurer

Strategy

The below is one of many player suggested strategies for Advisor. Bear in mind, due to the dynamic nature of the game, it may unfold differently for other players.

When not to use advisors

Advisors are powerful, but costly in ducats. In this regard, hiring and maintaining advisors is a trade-off: ducats spent on advisors cannot be stockpiled, or spent on army or navy.

In certain circumstances, it may be strategically beneficial to leave some advisor slots vacant, or even to have no advisors at all for a period of time.

Such circumstances include:

• Playing as a small country with a weak economy at game start. For some countries, even a single +1 advisor can be very expensive in relative terms at the start of the game. Military conquest can be helpful in expanding the economy (and thereby affording advisors in future), but the army must be paid.
• Engaging in costly wars. Army maintenance and reinforcement are both costly. It can sometimes be decisively advantageous to hire some mercenaries, or to hire additional regiments beyond the forcelimit. Spending too heavily on advisors at the same time may drive the country into debt.
• Paying off a heavy loan debt. If loans are being paid off too slowly, inflation will repeatedly climb as the loans are extended. This situation may be improved by firing some existing advisors, or by not replacing advisors after they die, until the loans have been repaid.

Longevity vs hiring cost

EU4 Advisor Life Expectancy

Since the hiring cost decreases with age, and advisors have a calculable life span, it is possible to calculate the ideal age to hire an advisor.

It's simple for ages 30 to 40, where the hiring-cost multiplier changes, but the advisors do not die. As mentioned, the median life expectancy of an advisor is 53.7 years. So if an advisor is hired at age 30, they have an expected useful life of ~24 years (until they're 53.7), at a hiring-cost multiple of 16. This provides 1.5 years of useful life expectancy per hiring multiple (24/16). If an advisor is hired at age 40 (hiring multiple 14), they have 14 years of expected life, or 1.0 years per multiple (14/14). Clearly, the 30 year old advisor is the better bargain.

At ages over 40, the mortality curve begins to change; their median life expectancy (expected age of death) increases as their actual age of hiring increases. (An advisor who is already 55 is obviously no longer expected to die at 53.7.) While the Useful Years in the graph was a straight line between ages 30 and 40 (because there is no mortality there), it becomes a curve at 40. Thus, the useful life expectancy drops faster than the hiring-cost multiplier, which means that younger advisors are better. By 50 one has reached 0.59 years per multiplier, and by 60, it is 0.42.

Still, while 30 years may be the best relative bargain, the hiring multiplier only has a range of 10 to 16, which is to say, there's only half a year's salary involved in any case. There will likely not be a significant impact on the player's income, unless they are very low on it. The effects of the advisor's special bonus are generally more significant.

References

Mechanics

Customization

Nation designer • Random New World

Ages and Institutions

Ages • Institutions

Innovativeness and Technology

Innovativeness • Technology

Defense

Fort • Zone of control