Victoria 3 1.7 and the Sphere of Influence expansion are right around the corner, so Paradox Interactive has given us our best look at what we can expect from the free patch yet. There are almost 100 new historical figures, a slate of new features, and plenty of reworks to be found in 1.7.
There’s a massive amount of new mechanics and changes coming to Victoria 3 with 1.7 and the Sphere of Influence DLC, so below you’ll find some of the highlights of the strategy game’s free update. New systems and reworks of older mechanics are at play here, giving you even more control, and in some cases extra variables to contend with.
Earning Recognition is a new journal entry being added in 1.7 for unrecognized major powers in Victoria 3. This is a diplomatic method of getting great power status, with a handful of actions filling the progress bar, like getting your GDP per capita into the top 20. The diplomatic tab will now let you manage your subjects, and the right-click context menus have been decluttered with drop-down menus.
There’s also a new building registry, which gives you info on every single one of your buildings and lets you sort all that you’ve built using an array of filters for easy navigation. 85 historical characters have been added, like Herbert Kitchener, thanks to modder ‘GalacticCactus.’
Victoria 3’s flow of goods has been given a big overhaul too as well, as in 1.7 you see arrows between locations on the map, with each showing where resources come from, where the finished product is going, and where the profits are being sent.
Diplomatic Catalysts are another new feature that comes from positive or negative events, with political lobbies potentially forming after they happen. So events can happen in the world where interest groups form a lobby together, and how you act, either in their interest or against it, impacts how they treat you and your nation.
Economic Dependence is added to the new feature pile, and it determines how dependent subject nations are on the ruler’s market. The better off the subjects are, the lower their liberty desire value, which governs their inclination to escape from the ruler nation.
Building ownership has changed too, as capitalists and aristocrats no longer work directly in your buildings, instead residing in their own manor houses and financial districts. Ownership now operates on a per-building basis, and structures can now be worker-owned, privately owned, or country-owned, with each benefiting the party that controls the structure.
Both the free Victoria 3 1.7 update and premium Sphere of Influence expansion release on Monday, June 24. The full changes and improvements can be found in the dev diary 122 article here.
Our Victoria 3 beginner’s guide can help any of you new players get started ahead of 1.7; otherwise, our picks for the best grand strategy games on PC can keep you busy until the patch drops.
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