God Tier
Start date is 11 November 1444.- Playing in
ironman mode. - Provinces with historical tax and manpower values.
- No custom nations.
Not using a random New World.
The player's country:
religion is not 
catholic- religion is not
sunni 
is defender of the faith of tier 5
God Tier is the name of an achievement included in the game with patch 1.30, requiring the player to become a tier 5 defender of the faith while being neither Sunni or Catholic. Tier 5 requires at least 50 other nations to follow the same religion as the player's nation. The achievement is hidden without the 
Emperor DLC, but it is possible to get the achievement without the DLC, by having 50+ nations following the faith you are defender of.
Strategy[edit | edit source]
The strategy here assumes the goal of the playthrough is only this single achievement (it is, of course, possible to complete this at the end of a run for a different achievement).
When counting the number of nations for a defender of the faith tier, subjects are included, even subjects of the current defender of the faith. This makes this achievement extremely easy to get. First, ensure that the player's nation is of a Christian or Muslim denomination that is neither Sunni nor Catholic, as all other religions do not allow a defender of the faith. Next, ensure the player owns at least 50 provinces converted to their religion that are on the same continent as the nation's capital, or connected to the capital by a direct land connection. After reaching 
diplomatic technology 23, the player should proclaim their nation as defender of the faith. In 49 of the provinces the player's nation owns, create a client state, making sure to grant each client state only a single province. Once the player creates 49 client states, they will have 50 nations following their religion as defender of the faith, earning the player the achievement.
The player can create a client state only in the continent their capital is located in, or bordering another client state, so they should ensure they create the correct client states. A nation may only have a maximum of 100 client states, and the game may only have a maximum of 100 client states at a given time, so the player should ensure they are not planning to exceed this amount. Additionally, there do not necessarily need to be 49 client states, other subjects of the player's nation following the same faith, or independent nations, will reduce the amount of client states the player needs to create.
It is important to realize that having nearly 50 subjects will undo much of the progress of the player's campaign so far, so the player should ensure that if this is being paired with other achievements it is the last one they complete.
Recommended nations[edit | edit source]
Muscovy is the easiest nation to earn this achievement as. It starts out 
Orthodox, has a bonus to 
missionary strength in its national ideas, starts out with a large number of provinces, and has missions over low 
development provinces of the correct religion. Simply conquer enough provinces and wait till the player can create client states to earn the achievement. It is also easy to earn as a 
Protestant or 
Reformed former 
colonial nation, or as the 
Shia nation of Bahmanis in India.
Alternate strategy: Protestant HRE[edit | edit source]
Bohemia is a good candidate since its mission tree allows you to spawn a Hussite Center of Reformation by 1455; when Protestantism spawns, the Hussite Traditions event allows you to convert without costing any prestige, as can any other Hussite countries.
While waiting for the Reformation, you'll want to move aggressively against Hungary, following the mission tree. Ideally, this will allow you to establish a personal union over Hungary before Austria does and weaken them in advance of the League Wars.
When the Reformation starts, convert to Protestantism and claim the Defender of the Faith title to prevent any Protestant countries from being annexed. Force-converting OPMs in any wars you happen to fight will boost the count of Protestant countries, but try to minimize your own expansion in the HRE since that's where most of your coreligionists will come from.
Once the religious leagues form, watch for opportunities to declare war and install Bohemia's king as Holy Roman Emperor. Powerful countries outside the HRE (England, Muscovy, the Ottomans) will often join on the Protestant side given time, but if you can win without waiting so much the better.
As Holy Roman Emperor, you can use the Enforce Religious Unity action to instantly convert a country to Protestantism if it consents in exchange for 1 Imperial Authority. This will cause a large relations hit with all other countries of that religion (making it harder to gain their consent in the future), but if you Enforce Religious Unity on multiple countries simultaneously, it won't give time for the relations to be recalculated. You can also boost relations with heretic countries to make them more willing to convert.
Large countries and Free Cities cannot be converted peacefully this way.
A Protestant HRE will get you close to fulfilling this achievement, if not already there; releasing nations from Protestant provinces (either from your own territory or in peace deals) and force-converting minors will do the rest.
